Patent Application
20190218798
The inventive subject matter relates to dry wall tape applicators, specifically to a hand held combined tool for drywall taping.
It is common in the construction industry to attach pre-manufactured gypsum boards to the underlying structural members of wall and ceilings of homes, offices, and other habitable structures to cover the walls and give a finished and smooth surface to apply paint or wallpaper. Typically, after attaching gypsum boards to the interior walls and ceilings of framing members with screws or nails, all of the gaps, joints, and seams of the intersecting individual drywall boards, must be sealed by applying a first coat of compound to the intended joint and then a paper tape is embedded onto the first coat. Then the first coated is coated with joint compound in several successive layers. After drying and sanding each layer the wall achieves the smooth, even and finished appearance. The first layer is usually accomplished with hand trowels, which are similar to lath and plaster process used for same effect on a finished wall. However, applying the correct amount of joint compound with trowels, takes a significant degree of skill in order to avoid using too little compound creating air gaps. Although this trowel process is still acceptable for smaller projects, it is too slow for large projects such as an entire home or office.
In recent years automatic mechanical devices that apply the compound to the tape from a tube filled with compound, and which holds a tape roll near the top have been developed. This tube would act as a reservoir for the compound and as a handle that allowed the operator to extend their reach to high ceilings and apply the combined two components to the drywall joints. The operator, would then automatically cuts the tape expelled from it which coated with compound to the proper length in one step.
They are often referred to in the drywall trade as “Bazookas”, which was so named by one of the pioneer company in the development of this type taping mechanism. However, this type device is very expensive for the average person who wants to do their own dry wall tape application process. U.S. Pat. No. 7,766,065 (Verhaar) discloses a small device that attach to bucket of compound that deliver pre-coated tape for the same purpose. The tape from a roll, hung from the device at the top of a bucket of joint compound where it is keep dry, would travel through a series of guide pins and rollers to the bottom. Then guided from the bottom of a bucket back up to the operator where it would be coated with compound. The operator would then cut and remove the necessary amount of pre-coated tape and attach it to the wall joint. The major problem associated with this device is the difficulty in using as the semi wet tape may prematurely break, while being pulled through or out of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,331 (Plasencia) discloses a tape and adhesive applicator for dry wall taping has an adhesive dispensing nozzle adapted to be mounted on a caulking gun and an applicator roll mounted adjacent the outlet of the nozzle.
US Pat No. 2001/0003563 (Schauer et al) discloses an apparatus for the application of joint compound onto a taped drywall joint. The applicator uses an electrically powered, positive displacement pump which supplies a continuous flow of compound from a hopper to the applicator head via a fluid path.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,691 (Conboy) discloses an automatic dry wall applicator having an applicator head connected to a translucent body with a quick release mechanism for easy cleaning and a gas spring dispensing system which moves a piston head in the body to dispense joint compound.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,260,638 (Cleon) discloses a dry wall taper and mastic applicator comprising an elongated mastic-receiving barrel, a mastic-ejecting piston slidably mounted in said barrel, a housing mounted on one end of said barrel and having rear and forward walls, top and bottom walls, and side walls forming a mastic-receiving chamber communicating with the interior of said barrel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,337 (Johnson et al) discloses a tape applicator and mastic dispenser for dry wall taping comprising a holder for a replaceable cartridge, means for forcing mastic material from said cartridge through a discharge outlet onto a tape, tape advancing means for feeding a tape from a supply roll beneath the discharge outlet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,080,240 (Dysart) discloses an applicator for dispensing a tape coated with an adhesive compound onto a dry wall, particularly along the abutting margins of the dry wall panels, the applicator including a housing containing a reel from which the tape is dispensed, and a chamber through which the tape passes, the chamber having a distributor nozzle which applies a joint compound to the tape.
Although these prior art devices generally serve their purpose, they nonetheless each have limitations that affect their overall usefulness. For example, some of the devices require an attachment mechanism for operating or an electrically powered pump for continuously supplying the compound. These features add to the cost of equipment needed to perform a drywall operation. Still others are devices that combine the tape dispensing and compound containing functions, requiring the repeated transfer of compound from the container into the dispenser of the dispensing device.
Thus, it would be desirable to have a handheld drywall tape applicator device attached to a drywall smoothening knife that is easy and quick to use, simple to manufacture and overcome the problems associated with prior art devices.
The present inventive subject matter describes a drywall tape applicator device for uniformly applying joint compound to both sides of a pre-cut dry wall tape of desired length, without being scraped clean of the required necessary amount of compound when the drywall tape is pulled through the device.
It is an objective to provide a hand-held dual functional device, including a drywall tape applicator for uniformly applying a joint compound to a drywall tape and a smoothening blade for smoothening the embedded tape with excess joint compound.
It is also an objective of to provide an improved method to pre-apply joint compound to a drywall tape for the direct application to the intersecting drywall joint.
It is another objective to provide an improved hand-held dual functional device including a drywall applicator attached to a smoothening device and the slot of the drywall applicator operative by a spring or hinged mechanism controlled by the user.
Yet another objective to provide a drywall tape dispenser that allows for even application of joint compound to both sides of a section of drywall tape, regardless of the amount of joint compound in the compound container and to preserve the excess scrapped off joint compound in the container for further use.
Still another objective is to provide a drywall tape dispenser that can be used to apply drywall tape to either flat surfaces or corners formed by adjacent pieces of drywall.
Another objective is to provide a drywall tape applicator that provides an even coating of joint compound to a pre-cut piece of drywall tape. The invention further avoids the inadvertent scraping of joint compound from the drywall tape regardless of the angle at which the tape is pulled from the dispenser
Another objective is to provide a protrusion gate to guide the drywall tape into a slot with ridges and to be held securely by a user before dipping in a container of joint compound. And then once the drywall tape has been coated with the joint compound the user pulls the tape out through the slot to obtain a uniform coating of joint compound on both the sides. In one embodiment the slot has linear structure, while in other embodiments the slot can have a U-shaped or V-shaped structure. In yet another embodiment the slot opening is adjustable.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of examples that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of any claimed subject matter that may later claim priority to the present description. Furthermore, the scope of any such claimed subject matter would not be limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or contained herein.
Many aspects of the present invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present inventive subject matter. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
The embodiments in this disclosure, as illustrated in
Existing methods of finishing a drywall consists of three distinct steps or coats, a drywall tape coat, a drywall fill coat and a finishing drywall coat. The first coat, or “tape coat”, is an initial thin coat of joint compound applied onto a drywall joint, which is later covered with a drywall tape. The second coat of joint compound, or “fill coat”, is applied after the “tape coat” has dried with a wider putty knife, creating a thin secondary coat. The final step in finishing drywall is called the “finish coat” and is the application of another layer of joint compound with a very wide drywall knife, 10-12″. Thus, the finished dry wall is now all prepared for sanding and priming.
An embodiment is as illustrated in
In one embodiment, the drywall applicator device 100 comprises a base plate 110 that may be attached to a handle 120, for convenient handling by a user. In other embodiments the base plate 110 with its handle 120, may be detachably mounted at a tangential angle onto a container containing joint compound for a convenient use of the drywall applicator device 100.
Further, the dry wall applicator device 100 includes a guiding structure 130 attached orthogonally nearer to the handle end 115 of the base plate 110. Other embodiments might include a guiding structure 130 that is manufactured as part of the base plate 110, or ones that comprise a variety of means of attachment. For example, the base plate might comprise screws, clamps or other like fasteners to permit secure placement of the guiding structure 130 on the base plate 110. Other exemplary embodiments include a guiding structure 130, which is flat and planar or having a curved structure orthogonal to the base plate 110, for ergonomic convenience. Such variations on the guiding structure design are obvious to those skilled in the art and not considered to be limiting with respect to the operation of the inventive subject matter.
The guiding structure 130 further includes an upper section 130A and a lower section 130B. The upper section 130A of the guiding structure 130, hosting a slot 140 for feeding the pre-cut dry wall tape. The slot 140 is gated by a vertical protrusion gate 150 on a front face 130C of the guiding structure 130 facing away from the handle 120. The vertical protrusion gate 150 includes, an upper protrusion gate 150A and a lower protrusion gate 150B for guiding the pre-cut dry wall tape into the slot 140. The lower section 130B of the guiding structure 130, hosting a thumb support 160 on a rear face 130D of the guiding structure 130, facing towards the handle 120. The user intending to use the drywall tape applicator device 100, while holding the handle 120 may conveniently place his/her thumb on the thumb support 160.
Referring to
The vertical gate protrusions 150A and 150B as illustrated in
Referring to
In another embodiment a drywall tape applicator and smoothening device 500 is as illustrated in
In an embodiment the drywall tape applicator and smoothening device 500 is completely made of sturdy plastic material or the drywall tape applicator is made of plastic material but the smoothening knife is made of steel for having a smooth surface. The drywall tape applicator and the smoothening knife can be made of any suitable material falling within the scope if the inventive subject matter.
In yet another embodiment as illustrated in front view
Referring to
The many aspects and benefits of the invention are apparent from the detailed description, and thus, it is intended for the following claims to cover all such aspects and benefits of the invention which fall within the scope and spirit of the invention. In addition, because numerous modifications and variations will be obvious and readily occur to those skilled in the art, the claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described herein. Accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents should be understood to fall within the scope of the invention as claimed herein.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/448,772, filed Jan. 20, 2017, entitled as “Drywall Compound To Tape Applicator”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
