1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for shielding paint or any other coatings and finishes such as stucco, stains and the like, from being sprayed or inadvertently applied, onto a buildings' soffits, walls or other areas (depending on the desired surface to be painted/protected) and specifically, a paint shield configured to be temporarily self-retained to the soffit/wall structure to shield the soffit or wall from overspray while painting a wall or soffit of a building or home.
2. State of the Art
When painting it is desirable that surfaces that should not receive paint, do not receive paint. When painting, stuccoing or applying any other coating on a building or home, large surfaces in general, the most efficient and expeditious way to apply paint is often achieved by utilizing a paint or any other coating specific type sprayer. While expeditious the use of paint sprayers often lead to overspray and the painting of undesired surfaces. To address this problem, several paint shields have been developed over the years.
The existing paint shields on the market (with one exception, the paint shield for roof structures, U.S. Pat. No. 7,854,212, of my design), requires a person to hold the shield through the means of a handle or other means in one hand and the spray gun on the other, or having a second individual holding the shield. A waste of time and valuable labor as well as unnecessary strain on the workers.
The hand held paint shields due to limitations on length, forces that the spraying of the paint on the desired surface, be done on short bursts, preventing an even coat of paint to be applied to the desired surface. At times accidental over spray occurs due to overshooting of the hand held shield. Adding to the shortcoming of hand held paint shields is that the repeated spraying of paint onto the hand held shield causes paint build up on the shield surface, often causing contamination of the surfaces where paint is not to be applied.
The hand held shields have to be continuously repositioned, implying that the person holding it, have to move several times, in many instances having to climb up and down ladders, decreasing productivity and increasing the chances of injures from falls, as well as increasing the risk of long term injuries to workers due to repeated climbing of ladders. It is common for career painters to develop booth hips and knee injuries.
Due to the above described problems and shortcomings of the existing paint shields and the inefficient and wasteful use of masking films paper and tape, there is a need for a paint shield that is specifically designed to allow for the use of sprayers while diminishing the strain on workers, increasing productivity and improving the quality of the job and the performance of the paints used.
Furthermore, there is a need for a paint shield that protects large areas or an entire soffit/exterior wall, interface areas of a whole building, or entire wall, limiting the number of mistakes and overspray of undesired surfaces.
There is also a need for a paint shield that is self retained, freeing the worker to perform its tasks, without the need to handle awkward hand held shields or slow wasteful masking materials.
There is a need of a paint, stucco or other coats, shield, that once properly installed provides the desirade protection from overspray and that it can be remotely removed, and that it is reusable.
In view of the shortcomings in the art it would be advantageous to have a paint shield that easily and temporarily attaches to a soffit or wall structure while spray painting a home or building. A paint shield that is reusable and that it can be remotely removed, from a distance or in the case from the ground.
Accordingly the present invention refers to a paint shield that is reusable, temporarily attaches to a soffit, wall structure or the like, freeing the worker from the duty of holding an awkward shield. A paint shield that once placed, stays where is put and that it can be remotely removed from the ground.
One embodiment of the present inventions consist of a pad or sheet of cardboard plastic or any suitable material, in which the pad or shield itself is configured so on one of its longer edges, the shield is configured with a grove or opening. The said groove made on such a way as to provide an opening in which the lower “lip” of a “J” shaped soffit trim, can be fitted, providing a support for the shield.
Another embodiment of the present invention consists of a pad or shield per se, and an attaching portion that booth attaches to the shield in one edge and to the soffit on the other edge. The attaching pad having a cross section of a modified “H” shape or any other suitable shape to fulfill the desired function. The attaching part being made by extrusion or any other suitable method, being made of plastic or any material suited to the function.
Another embodiment of the present inventions consist of a pad or sheet of cardboard or plastic or any other suitable material, in which one of its longitudinal edges is of a small thickness allowing it to be inserted in between adjacent parts of a home or building in a manner that the interference or “grip” created by the adjacent surfaces on the attaching part of the shield holds the shield in place.
One embodiment of the invention the shield is fitted with hooks or any other grasping device that allows for a string or any other string like apparatus to be attached to it, on a way that a person familiar with the invention, when pulling on the said string are able to remove the shield from its placed position.
In another embodiment of the invention a combination of any of the above described embodiments can be incorporated in one shield.
Another embodiment of the present invention, that can be combined with any of the other embodiments, Incorporates a “secondary” shield, attached to the shield, on a different plane then the shield, overlapping the adjacent shield, that way providing protection against overspray in the area between shields.
While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming that which is regarded as the present invention, the advantages of this invention may be ascertained from the following description of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended. Alterations and further modifications of the inventive feature illustrated herein, and additional applications of the principles of the inventions as illustrated herein, which would occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the invention.
In reference to
In one embodiment the paint shield can attach to the edge of the “j” molding 5, of the soffit structure 6, in a self sustained way. The “j” molding 5 being an integral part of the soffit structure 6 and designed to hold the soffit structure 6 in place.
Aluminum, plastic, vinyl, steel or any other suitable material, soffits structures 6 are often used over existing wood soffits in older houses or building, to eliminate the need for such older wood trims to be painted or maintained. Further more, soffit structures made of man made materials that do not require or demand frequent painting or maintenance, are often used in newer buildings, as opposed to traditional materials that requires periodic painting or other forms of maintenance. As stated, soffits structures 6, are typically the undesired painting/stuccoed surfaces of a home or building. According to the present invention, the paint shield 1 is so configured as to provide a substantial shield, therefore preventing paint overspray of excessive stucco form contaminating the “j” molding 5, and the soffit structure 6.
In one embodiment, the paint shield 1, is configured to have a longitudinal groove 2, alongside one of its edges, as illustrated in
In another embodiment of the present invention, the shield 1, is attached to a longitudinal apparatus 20, with a cross sectional shape of a modified H figure, that once properly fit to one of the edges of the shield by means of attrition, interference or an adhesive material, stays in place and due to its cross sectional shape, provides for a attaching structure to which the shield 1 together with the apparatus 20 becomes temporarily attached to the “j” molding 5, providing the desired protection of the soffit structure 6 and “j” molding 5 from paint overspray or other coatings materials that might be applied to the building 10.
On occasion, the exterior of a building 10 is build on a certain way that the “J” molding 5, that supports the soffit structure 6, becomes obstructed by the exterior wall material, rendering it unviable for the use of booth, the unitarian configuration of the shield 1 with the groove 2 feature, as well as the two part configuration with the longitudinal apparatus 20, from
All the embodiments above disclosed described and illustrated on the drawings may benefit from a secondary shield 9, permanently attached to the primary shield 1. Such secondary shield 9, readily visible on
All the embodiments above disclosed described and illustrated on the drawings benefit as well from the hooks 3 that provide a temporary anchoring place for the release line 4, which is used for the remote retrieval of the paint shields 1 in all its configurations and embodiments. The benefits of the remote release of the paint shields from afar, without the need to climb ladders yet another time to remove what would be traditional masking is not small. The reduction in the number of climbs and ladder moves has the potential of reducing the number of booth long and short term injuries as well as greatly increasing productivity.
While the invention may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and have been described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention includes all modification, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.