Patent Application
20250091098
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The disclosure relates to sticker removal devices and more particularly pertains to a new sticker removal device for removing stickers from application surfaces.
Adhesives used to attach stickers to application surfaces can often present a challenge in removing the stickers from the application surfaces in one piece. The adhesives may be so strong and the stickers may comprise easily torn paper. Some stickers, such as parking violation stickers, may be particularly designed to create such a challenge, because the user does not want another to remove the sticker from the application surface. The challenge increases in difficulty when such stickers are placed on vertical or near-vertical surfaces because solvents which absorb the adhesives used will readily drain away from the sticker.
The prior art describes several scrapers and other sticker removal devices to help remove stickers from application surfaces, but it fails to disclose a kit comprising a barrier that couples to application surfaces and holds a pouch which contains a solvent. Such a kit may facilitate removal of the sticker through a process of opening the pouch when the barrier holds the pouch against the application surface to release the solvent and hold the solvent against the sticker. After the solvent absorbs at least some of the sticker's adhesive, the sticker may be scraped off, such as with a scraper.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a barrier comprising a panel which has a size and a shape such that the panel is configured for covering a sticker. The panel defines a recess on a rear side of the panel and is removably couplable to an application surface. A pouch is positionable in the recess of the panel, and a solvent is contained in the pouch for dissolving a sticker adhesive of the sticker.
Another embodiment of the disclosure includes a method of removing a sticker from an application surface. The method comprises coupling a panel to the application surface when a pouch containing a solvent is positioned in a recess on a rear side of the panel such that the rear side of the panel covers the sticker and the pouch lies adjacent to the sticker. The pouch is opened to release the solvent from the pouch and into the recess such that the solvent lies against the sticker. The solvent dissolves a sticker adhesive which bonds the sticker to the application surface. The panel is removed from the application surface to release the solvent from the sticker. The sticker is removed from the application surface.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A pair of retaining ledges 32 of the barrier 12 is coupled to the rear side 18 of the panel 14 and extends over the recess 26. The retaining ledges 32 are laterally spaced from each other across the recess 26. A pair of removal tabs 34 of the barrier 12 is coupled to a front side 16 of the panel 14. Each removal tab 34 of the pair of removal tabs 34 is positioned adjacent to an associated lateral edge 22 of the pair of lateral edges 22 of the panel 14. A barrier adhesive cover 36 is removably coupled to the barrier adhesive 30. The barrier adhesive cover 36 is configured for preventing the panel 14 from inadvertently adhering to other objects and is removed prior to adhering the panel 14 to the application surface 66.
A pouch 38 is positionable in the recess 26 of the panel 14, and a solvent 50 is contained in the pouch 38. The solvent 50 is configured to dissolve a sticker adhesive 64 of the sticker 62. The pouch 38 comprises a first wall 40, a second wall 42, and a perimeter wall 44, wherein the perimeter wall 44 is coupled to and extends between the first wall 40 and the second wall 42. The first wall 40 is integrally formed with the second wall 42 and the perimeter wall 44. The pouch 38 has a pair of creases 46, each of which is positioned at an associated junction of a junction of the first wall 40 and the perimeter wall 44 and a junction of the second wall 42 and the perimeter wall 44. The pair of creases 46 facilitate tearing the perimeter wall 44 from the first wall 40 and the second wall 42 to open the pouch 38 and release the solvent 50 therefrom. The pouch 38 further comprises an opener tab 48 which is coupled to the perimeter wall 44 of the pouch 38.
A scraper 52 is provided which tapers to a scraping edge 54 such that the scraping edge 54 of the scraper 52 is configured to be inserted between the sticker 62 and the application surface 66. The scraper 52 has a planar surface 56 and a concavely arcuate surface 58 which join at the scraping edge 54. The scraper 52 also comprises a handle 60 which is positioned opposite the planar surface 56.
The sticker removal kit 10 is used to remove the sticker 62 from the application surface 66 as detailed below. The sticker removal kit 10 is particularly intended to be used when the application surface 66 is positioned in a non-horizontal orientation such that the solvent 50 is less likely to drain past a gap formed between the upper edge 20 of the panel 14 and the application surface 66. But, the sticker removal kit 10 also may be used on the application surface 66 when the application surface is oriented in a horizontal orientation.
As depicted in
The pouch 38 is opened, such as by pulling the opener tab 48 to tear open the pouch 38, to release the solvent 50 from the pouch 38 and into the recess 26 such that the solvent 50 lies against the sticker 62. The seal retains the solvent 50 against the sticker 62, and the solvent 50 dissolves a sticker adhesive 64 which bonds the sticker 62 to the application surface 66. The panel 14 is removed by the application surface 66, which may be done by gripping and pulling one or both of a pair of removal tabs 34 coupled to a front side 16 of the panel 14. The solvent 50 is thereby released from the sticker 62 and may be collected in a container, absorbed by a cloth, allowed to drain away, or the like. The sticker 62 is removed from the application surface 66, such as by scraping the sticker 62 off by a scraper 52.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
