Patent Application
20090107613
1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the field of wallpaper application tools. More particularly, the invention pertains to an apparatus and method for the application of wallpaper border to a wall adjacent to a perpendicular surface such as a ceiling.
2. Description of Related Art
The present invention pertains particularly to the application of wallpaper border. Wallpaper border is distinguished from wallpaper by its size and by the manner in which it is applied. While wallpaper is typically about 24 to 27 inches wide and is applied by placing a number of vertically adjacent strips to cover a surface, border is narrower (typically less than 12 inches) and is normally applied horizontally as a single strip to provide a decorative accent to a surface. Most frequently, wallpaper border is applied at the top of a wall along its juncture with the ceiling.
When one applies wallpaper border to a wall, the best appearance is achieved if the border is applied evenly. This is especially important when the border is applied where a wall intersects an adjacent surface such as a ceiling—here any unevenness in the application of the border results in a conspicuous and unsightly misalignment with the adjacent surface. The appearance is also superior if the border is applied in long continuous strips so that the number of seams between discrete pieces is minimized.
The process of applying border normally begins by applying adhesive (paste) to the back surface of the entire length of a strip of border to be hung and then consolidating the length of border into a loose roll for easier handling. The border is then applied to the wall paste side in. Typically, this is done manually by holding the roll of border in one hand while drawing border from the roll and placing it in its desired position on the wall using the other hand. This may be followed by the use of a roller or wiper to smooth the border and ensure good contact between the adhesive and the wall.
It requires considerable skill to quickly and evenly affix the border to the wall in the brief period during which the adhesive remains moist. The process can be particularly challenging if the border is applied in long lengths or at a height that requires the use of a ladder (such as at the juncture with the ceiling). A worker applying the border with a ladder can reach only a limited section of a wall from a given ladder position. Thus, after applying border to that section of wall, the worker must reposition the ladder before applying additional border. This process may need to be repeated numerous times to apply a single long piece of border. It will be apparent that this can be a difficult process for a lone worker who must hold the pasted roll of border without allowing the portion already affixed to the wall to move, while repositioning the ladder. This situation can be simplified by using scaffolding, but scaffolding is expensive, time consuming to erect, and is typically not available for do-it-yourself projects. The process can also be simplified by applying the border in shorter sections but, as noted above, that compromises the appearance of the finished border installation.
Because of these challenges, a number of tools intended to simplify the installation of wallpaper border have been developed. One such tool is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,432 to Vester. Vester's apparatus is designed to be attached to a wall at the height at which the border will be applied. The apparatus supports a rolled length of pasted wallpaper such that it can be paid out and applied to the wall without the need for the installer to hold the roll in one hand. Similar tools are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,328,543 and 6,173,749. These latter devices, rather than fastening to the wall, consist of poles which rest on the floor and support a roll of border at the desired installation height. These devices still require a worker to repeatedly move and ascend a ladder to complete the installation at ceiling height.
A different class of tools in the prior art hold a roll of pasted border on a spool and include a handle that a user can hold in one hand. An end of the border is placed on the wall and the tool is drawn along the wall. Rotation of the roll around the spool allows the border to be dispensed as the tool is moved along the wall. Tools of this type are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,280,869, 5,453,152, and 7,059,375. A similar device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,430 to Araujo et al. In addition to the spool and handle of the devices above, Araujo's device includes a roller to press the border against the wall, and a wiper blade to remove excess paste from the face of the border as it is applied.
None of the tools described above provide a way to conveniently apply wallpaper border at a defined distance from an adjacent surface or provide an auxiliary roller to aid in the application of border in corners. There remains a need for a device that allows for a single unskilled worker to easily apply wallpaper border in long sections such that the border is applied quickly and evenly relative to an adjacent surface.
The present invention pertains to a tool for the application of wallpaper border that simplifies the process of applying wallpaper border. The tool is especially useful in situations where the border is applied to a wall at its juncture with a ceiling.
The tool includes of a base plate with a surface on which a spool for holding a roll of wallpaper border, an applicator cylinder for pressing border fed from the spool onto a wall, a paper guide for retaining the border on the application cylinder, and an auxiliary roller that aids in applying the border, especially at corners of rooms, are all mounted. The spool that holds the paper has an adjustable platform that allows wallpaper border of different heights to be supported and applied. In addition, the tool includes following elements that provide smooth motion against a surface perpendicular to the wall. These allow the apparatus to accurately follow a surface adjacent to the wall to which the border is being applied, and result in even alignment of the border with the adjacent surface. This greatly simplifies the task of evenly aligning the border during application. The base plate has a handle attached to its other surface. The handle can be of sufficient length (or can accept extensions) to permit a user to apply border at ceiling height without use of a ladder.
The paper retaining spool 3 is present to retain a roll of pasted wallpaper border and to allow the roll to rotate as material is drawn from it. The spool 3 is non-rotatably attached to the base plate 2. The attachment of spool 3 to base 2 may be achieved by any suitable means including, but not limited to: being retained by fasteners; having a threaded portion adapted to mate with a complementary threaded element integral to or attached to the base plate; gluing; welding; or by molding, casting, or forging the spool and base plate as a single piece. In the embodiment illustrated in
The paper retaining spool 3, supports upon its length an adjustable paper holding platform 8. The platform 8 supports the roll of wallpaper border, while keeping the edges of the roll in the same plane (i.e. square) and to allow the user to adjust the height upon the spool 3 at which the roll of border is supported. Platform 8 has a planar upper surface 8a that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of spool 3. The platform 8 has a through hole 9 to accommodate the shaft of the paper retaining spool 3, and includes a means to adjustably secure platform 8 at various positions along the shaft of spool 3. In the embodiment shown in
The shape of the adjustable platform 8 is not critical to the operation of the border application tool, however the platform preferably has a planar surface sufficiently large to effectively support an entire roll of pasted, loosely rolled, commercially available border. In this way the roll of border is supported with its edges evenly aligned in a plane defined by the surface of the platform. The border is thereby kept square and will remain straight as it is applied to the wall. In the embodiment shown in
The applicator cylinder 4 extends from surface 2a of the base plate, and its longitudinal axis is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of spool 3. The applicator cylinder 4 applies the wallpaper border along a wall's surface. It performs this function by rotating and rolling the paper between the surface of the cylinder and the surface of the wall, thereby pressing the adhesive surface of the wallpaper border to the wall as the cylinder is rolled along the wall. The applicator cylinder 4 includes a fixed shaft 4a attached to the base plate 2, and a cylinder 4b rotatably mounted upon the shaft. Both the shaft 4a and the cylinder 4b are parallel to the shaft of spool 3.
The cylinder 4b may be mounted upon the shaft 4a by any suitable rotatable mounting known in the art including, but not limited to, simple passage of the shaft 4a though a sized hole in the cylinder, or mounting upon one or more bearings of any design as is well known in the art. As best shown in
The paper guide 5 is adjacent to the applicator cylinder 4. The paper guide 5 guides border being drawn from the spool onto the applicator cylinder 4. Paper guide 5 helps to retain the border in the proper position for the applicator cylinder to act upon it. Paper guide 5 may be either rotatable or fixed. As shown in
The auxiliary roller 6 is similar in design to the application cylinder. The purpose of the auxiliary roller 6 is two-fold. First, as shown in
The border application tool 1 preferably also includes surface following elements 13 that allow the tool to accurately follow a surface adjacent to a wall. Surface following elements 13 allow a user to accurately apply wallpaper border next to—or a predetermined distance from—an adjacent surface such as a ceiling. Preferably, there are at least three such surface following elements 13 which define a plane. The plane defined by the surface following elements 13 is preferably parallel to the planar upper surface 8a of the adjustable platform 8. The surface following elements 13 may be positioned and retained by any suitable manner including, but not limited to: attachment to one or more shafts or frames specifically provided for that purpose, such shafts or frames may be attached to other elements of the border application tool 1 such as the base plate 2 or adjustable platform 8; attachment to the upper ends of one or more of the paper retaining spool 3, the applicator cylinder 4b, or its shaft 4a, the auxiliary roller 6b, or its shaft 6a, and the paper guide S; or by a combination of any of the above. In the embodiments shown in
The surface following elements 13 should provide low friction movement of the border application tool 1 against a surface they are in contact with such as a ceiling. Suitable surface following elements include, but are not limited to: ball bearings; roller bearings; rotatable wheels (optionally pivotable); beads; low friction plastics or coatings; or other such elements well known in the art. Suitable low friction plastics or coatings include, but are not limited to: materials such as fluoropolymer compositions; polyethylene plastics; urethane plastics; and coatings thereof on other materials.
The lower surface 2b of the base plate 2 is coupled to a handle 7. The invention places no particular restrictions on the configuration of the handle 7, its purpose being simply to allow a user to comfortably hold and manipulate the border application tool. In the embodiment depicted in
To apply wallpaper border to the upper edge of a wall at its juncture with the ceiling using a border application tool 1 of the present invention, the user would proceed as follows. First, the border application tool 1 is adapted to the height of the selected wallpaper border by fixing the adjustable platform 8 at a suitable height on the spool 3. Normally, this height is selected so that the top edge of the border is even with or slightly below the plane defined by the surface following elements 13. This adjustment process may be aided by the optional length scale 12 imprinted upon the shaft of spool 3. Preferably, scale 12 directly indicates the distance between the planar surface of the adjustable platform 8 and the plane defined by the surface following elements 13. Therefore, for an application where the border will be even with the ceiling following elements 13, the user simply adjusts the platform surface 8a to a height on spool 3 corresponding to the height of the wallpaper border being applied. At this time, if the handle 7 permits adjustments, it is desirable to attach or adjust the handle so that the border application tool 1 may be comfortably wielded at a height and angle suited for the particular installation.
Next, a roll of wallpaper border 23 is selected and adhesive is applied to its backside. In most cases, this step includes wetting a moisture-activated paste already present on the border. The adhesive-bearing border 23 is loosely rolled up and placed upon paper retaining spool 3 of the border application tool 1, so that the lower edge of the roll is square and is in complete contact with the planar upper surface 8a of platform 8. The outer end of the roll is then withdrawn from the roll and directed through the space between the paper guide 5 and the application cylinder 4. The end of the roll is placed on the application cylinder 4 with its adhesive-bearing side facing outward.
The border application tool 1 is next brought to the point on the wall 20 where the user wishes to begin. The border application tool 1 is manipulated so that the application cylinder 4 presses the end of the border 23 onto the wall at the desired point. Simultaneously, the surface following elements 13 are brought into contact with the ceiling. The border application tool 1 is then moved along the wall maintaining pressure between the application cylinder 4 and the wall sufficient to cause the cylinder 4b to rotate upon its shaft 4a. This movement of the border application tool 1 and the rotation of the application cylinder 4 will withdraw border 23 from the roll and press the it against the wall 20. If the user also keeps the surface following elements 13 in contact with the ceiling, the border will be applied in a strip even with the juncture of the wall and ceiling. As shown in
When the user reaches an inside corner between two walls, such as the 90 degree corner 21 depicted in
In addition to the application described above, the border application tool 1 may also be useful for application of wallpaper border in other orientations, such as along the edges of walls at inside corners, adjacent to floors, or at intersections with other architectural elements. The border application tool 1 may also be used without engaging the surface following elements 13 to apply border in locations where an adjacent perpendicular surface is not present. Alternatively, to take full advantage of the surface following elements 13, a temporary perpendicular surface (such as a board or shelf) may be held against, or attached to, a wall and removed after the border installation is completed.
Accordingly, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention herein described are merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Reference herein to details of the illustrated embodiments is not intended to limit the scope of the claims, which themselves recite those features regarded as essential to the invention.
