Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E04—BUILDING
  • E04F—FINISHING WORK ON BUILDINGS, e.g. STAIRS, FLOORS
  • E04F13/00—Coverings or linings, e.g. for walls or ceilings
  • E04F13/02—Coverings or linings, e.g. for walls or ceilings of plastic materials hardening after applying, e.g. plaster
  • E04F13/04—Bases for plaster
  • E04F13/06—Edge-protecting borders
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E04—BUILDING
  • E04F—FINISHING WORK ON BUILDINGS, e.g. STAIRS, FLOORS
  • E04F19/00—Other details of constructional parts for finishing work on buildings
  • E04F19/02—Borders; Finishing strips, e.g. beadings; Light coves
  • E04F19/022—Borders; Finishing strips, e.g. beadings; Light coves for use at vertical intersections of walls
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E04—BUILDING
  • E04F—FINISHING WORK ON BUILDINGS, e.g. STAIRS, FLOORS
  • E04F13/00—Coverings or linings, e.g. for walls or ceilings
  • E04F13/02—Coverings or linings, e.g. for walls or ceilings of plastic materials hardening after applying, e.g. plaster
  • E04F13/04—Bases for plaster
  • E04F13/06—Edge-protecting borders
  • E04F2013/063—Edge-protecting borders for corners

Definitions

• drywall sheets are nailed to studs to form interior walls and ceilings Before these sheets can be painted or textured, the joints must be taped and sealed with joint sealing compound (drywall mud)
• Flex bead consists of two thin strips of metal bonded to a two inch paper tape
• Flex bead consists of two thin strips of metal bonded to a two inch paper tape
• a length of "flex bead” is folded by hand to create a crease
• the bead is then installed in the angle This requires a good eye for straight lines since the "flex bead” will not make a straight line by itself
• the worker must move the bead around to the best of his abilities to set it as straight as possible
• the worker will end up with a line that is not straight, this condition is called “snaking "
• the first coat procedure is started Most journeymen only coat one side of the angle at a time If one tries to coat both sides at the same time, the mud flops over to the other side, and the knife digs a line into the
• corner beads are in common use These include both straight and “bullnose” or rounded versions These are used on exterior corners at windows and other openings
• a standard corner bead it first must be cut from a standard length of 8 feet or 10 feet The bead is nailed into position using short nails approximately every foot The worker must 1 ) keep the bead plumb or level, and 2) keep the bead at the proper angle to prevent slipping too far to one side or the other If this latter condition occurs, a "shiner”, as it is called in the trade, results This is where the bead is too far toward one side of the corner making the other side flange hard to coat
• the worker must "first coat" the bead This means to coat it with mud for the first time This is very labour intensive, and it uses a large amount of mud After the first coat, the mud is allowed to dry Drying takes about a day
• the present invention relates to a drywall finishing system product that includes inside and outside, multi-angle, non-coatable trim, and non-coatable corner bead that forms 1 ) normal corners, 2) stub wall or closet corners, 3) window wrap corners, and 4) L-metal for window sills and areas where drywall ends against some other surface like brick
• the system includes accessory products for each of the pieces mentioned
• the present invention eliminates most of the intense labour associated with present methods since none of the parts need to be coated with mud or sanded In addition, the parts form straight, finished lines and angles as soon as they are installed
• the present invention relates to corner bead and trim pieces that are simply placed on top of a coat of applied mud at the corner
• the corner can be an exterior or interior angle No nails are required, since the invention pieces stick to the mud
• the pieces are paper, plastic, or other suitable material for texturing and painting They can be tapered on their edges to blend into the adjacent wall when the edges are "killed" with a wide blade knife and a small amount of mud
• it is selected from stock and cut to length if not exactly the right length
• a flat coat of mud is applied to both sides of an exterior or interior angle, and the device is placed over the mud and smoothed into place Since it is preformed, the piece makes a straight line at the required angle Once, the piece is in place, the edge is "killed” once with a small amount of mud and a wide blade At that point the corner is complete except for drying It does not need to be sanded or touched up When dry, it can be directly textured or painted
• FIGURES 1A and 1 B show a no-coat natural corner piece
• FIGURES 2A and 2B show an embodiment that forms a speciality piece for the no-coat natural corner of Figure 1 A
• FIGURES 3A and 3B show a stub wall or closet opening no-coat trim
• FIGURE 4 shows a no-coat stub wall or closet speciality piece
• FIGURES 5A and 5B show an embodiment of no-coat window trim
• FIGURES 6 shows a speciality piece for no-coat window trim
• FIGURES 7A and 7B shown an embodiment of a no-coat L-metal or L- member piece
• FIGURE 8 shows an ultra-flex corner trim piece
• FIGURE 9 shows a cross-section of the embodiment of Figure 8
• FIGURES 10 and 11 show cross-sections of a right-angled drywall corner trim and a bullnose trim, respectively, constructed in accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention It should be understood, of course, that the invention is not necessarily limited to the particular embodiments illustrated herein
• Figures 1A and 1 B depict an embodiment of a no-coat natural corner
• the piece consists of two long flanges 1 of suitable material, preferably paper or other material that will adhere to mud, that form the corner angle
• the width of each flange is approximately seven inches, however, this size is not critical, and other sizes can be used from less than 3 inches to wider than 14 inches
• the piece can be supplied in standard 8 or 10 foot lengths, or any other length that is convenient
• the thickness of the flange can be from thinner than 0 015 inches to greater than 0 625 inches
• the edge of the flange can be tapered to better merge into the wall board when the edge is "killed" While tapering is preferred, it is not necessary to the functioning of the invention
• a key feature of the invention is the ability to "kill" the edge with a small amount of mud and a wide blade knife In this process the mud is spread into an extremely thin layer over the edge to merge the edge into the surrounding wallboard This step is preformed only once right after the desired piece is put into place After this step, the installation of the piece is complete It is important to note the no nails or other fastening means is used The pieces are simply stuck on to the wet mud Of course nails or other fastening means can be used if desired, and a version of the present invention using nails could be made, however, nails are neither necessary nor desirable since they require time and skill to use, and have the tendency to rust
• a strip of plastic, metal, or other material 2 is bonded or glued to the flange to give it rigidity and support
• This support member 2 cooperates with the flange and forms a perfect corner seam
• the fact that the corner piece is preformed prevents the corner from wandering away from true even when the underlying construction is imperfect
• the support member is generally narrower than the flange and can be made from about 2 inches to 15 inches, with 5 inches being preferred on a 7 inch flange
• the support member can be cut flush with the flanges, or it can extend in length beyond the flange at one end and be shorter than the flange at the other end This allows mating more than one piece when required for longer seams
• the angle 4 of the flanges relative to one-another is around 89 degrees This angle can vary, and different types of pieces can be manufactured for different wall angles Any angle is possible, however, 89 degrees is the best angle to use for a typical 90 degree corner This causes the flanges to slightly grip the wall pieces and the wet mud
• An optional method of constructing the corner piece is to use a second covering made of paper or other material, inside the support member to form a sandwich (not shown) This has the advantage of providing better adhesion to the wet mud when the piece is first put up
• the outside seams can be straight or bullnose of any radius, or any other shape Bullnose corner beads of the conventional type are popular in residential construction Bullnose pieces are simply fitted with a bullnose strip on the outside of the corner seam
• Figures 2A and 2B depict an embodiment that forms a speciality piece for corners that can be used in conjunction with the natural corner shown in Figure 1A
• the piece of Figures 2A and 2B is shaped to be used where two right angle walls join a ceiling at an opening
• An outer flat flange 5 fits the higher wall and extends over the opening
• a second flat piece 6 runs the vertical wall forming the opening and also along the top of the inside of the opening
• the angle between the wall parts 10 and the angle between the top of the opening and the wall 1 1 should be around 89 degrees for a right angle system, however, parts can be manufactured with any angles for special requirements or special construction angles
• the edges 7 and 8 can be tapered to make the "killing" process easier and the final blend into the wall more perfect, however, tapering is optional
• the speciality piece shown in Figure 2A and 2B is made from plastic or other suitable material It can be any length, however it is preferably around 7 inches along the short sides, and around 10 inches along the longer sides
• the exterior seams can be
• Figures 3A and 3B depict a stub wall or closet opening no-coat trim embodiment
• Its length can be a standard 8 foot or 10 foot, or it can be any length
• These can be paper or other suitable material, and the support member can be plastic or other material for rigidity
• the plastic can be moulded or extruded
• the flange thickness is similar to the flanges shown in Figure 1 In this embodiment, the flanges are coupled to a flat back piece 13
• the back piece can contain a spacer if necessary This spacer is used to eliminate the need to wrap the opening with drywall
• This embodiment of the invention is used for typical closet doors and stub walls (walls that end in a room)
• the invention caps the wall or door
• the back piece 13 can be different widths (distance between the flanges 12) depending on the construction In the case of a 3 1/2 inch stud and two 1/2 sheets of drywall, the back piece 13 would be around 4 1/2 inches wide In the case of the same stud with two 5/8 sheets of drywall, the width would be around 4 3/4 inches Different versions of this piece can be made for typical construction situations, specialised versions can be made for any situation
• the width of the flanges 12 can be between 3 inches and 15 inches, with about
• the thickness of the back piece 13 can be around 3/8 inch to form a finished wall This thickness is not critical to the invention, and many other thicknesses are possible As with other embodiments of the present invention, the piece is first attached with wet finishing mud, and then the edges are "killed" or made to merge into the surrounding drywall with a flat blade tool The edges can be optionally tapered to merge better
• Figure 4 shows a speciality piece to accompany the wall piece of Figure 3 This is another embodiment of the present invention, and is used where the wall or door previously described meets the ceiling This piece simply continues the previous piece through the wall ceiling transition It can be seen from Figure 4, that the flanges 15 continue the design around the transition
• the back spacer 13 of Figure 3 is made to have two parts 16 Its dimensions are similar to those of the embodiment of Figure 3 This piece can be made entirely from plastic, paper, cardboard or any other suitable material, or its construction can be the same as the piece of Figure 3
• the back piece 16 should have thickness to match that of the piece of Figure 3 which it transitions from As with all embodiments of the present invention, the outside seams can be straight or bullnose or any other speciality shape
• the outside corners of the piece 17 do not have to be square as shown in Figure 3, but may be rounded to make them easier to "kill" While the piece can have any dimensions, the preferred size is around 7 inches on the bases, around 3 inches in the corners, and around 10 inches on the long sides 15
• the width 16 can
• Figures 5A and 5B show a no-coat window trim embodiment of the present invention
• This piece is used to provide a transition from wall drywall to window
• This piece is similar to other embodiments with two substantially flat flanges 18 forming an approximate 90 degree angle or other speciality angle of any number of degrees
• the actual angle 21 is chosen around 89 degrees of a right angle system for reasons previously explained
• a support member 19 is used inside the flanges 18 for rigidity
• this piece can be plastic or other rigid material It is used to give strength and shape to the piece
• One of the flanges contains a spacer 20 of the type previously desc ⁇ bed This spacer is used to eliminate the need to wrap the opening with drywall
• the window piece is constructed so that one flange 18 is from around 3 to around 7 inches, with around 7 inches being typical
• the other flange may be shorter to fit a window, with a typical width being from around 3 inches to around 6 inches
• the piece can be supplied with several different sized flanges to fit different construction
• Figure 6 shows a speciality piece which is an embodiment of the invention similar to that shown in Figure 4 except that this embodiment is specially shaped to continue the window trim piece of Figure 5
• this embodiment is specially shaped to continue the window trim piece of Figure 5
• a right angle extension 24 follows the shape of the window corner
• the edges 23 can be optionally tapered to make "killing" easier
• the corner 25 can be rounded or any other shape as well as pointed
• the exterior angles for right angle construction are around 89 degrees as in the previously described embodiments Again all outside seams can be straight, bullnose, or some other shape
• FIGS 7A and 7B show a non-coatable L-metal or L-member embodiment of the present invention
• This piece is used under window sills, or wherever drywall abruptly ends such as an interface with brick It is constructed like the previously described embodiments Even though the piece is being referred to as an L-metal or L-t ⁇ m, this does not imply that any actual metal is used in its construction
• the narrow flange can be from around 1/2 inch to around 5/8 inch or greater
• the wide flange can be from 3 inches to over 7 inches
• the length of the piece can be the standard 8 or 10 foot, or any length dictated by the construction
• the support member 26 is very similar to the support members of the previously described embodiments With a 7 inch wide flange, it can be around 5 inches
• the flanges can be paper, however, the preferred method for this piece is to use paper covered plastic for shape and strength As before, the outside corner can be straight, bullnose or other shape
• an alternate embodiment of the present invention can be made by causing the support member 2 to be constructed as two separate strips with only the flange material 3 along the seam
• This embodiment forms a non-coatable flex trim where the worker can adjust the piece for wall corners of any angle
• the support member 2 strips should be brought very close together with only a small open region between them While the distance is not critical, it is important that they not be too far apart since they must support the corner in the folded position
• This embodiment can be of an exterior or interior form
• the construction can be entirely of paper or other flange material, an exterior piece must be stronger and may be made from cardboard or plastic or other suitable material
• This flex trim embodiment of the present invention ca be supplied as standard 8 foot or 12 foot lengths, or any other length
• the interior version can be supplied on a roll of 25 feet or 100 feet, or in any other length straight or rolled
• an embodiment of the present invention that will be called "Ultra-Flex” is seen This embodiment can be used for interior or exterior corners Its construction is that of an elongated semi-rigid member with exterior layers of covering and finishing materials
• the semi-rigid member can be plastic, metal, or other flexible, but strong material, with high impact plastic such as that used to construct modern cola bottles being preferred
• the member can be supplied in 10 or 12 foot lengths, or any other convenient length, or it can be supplied on a roll of 100 feet or an other convenient length
• Running the length of the member can be a groove 32 This groove allows the piece to form two flanges that can be repeatedly bent to form any angle from 0 degrees to 360 degrees In this manner, the piece can be bent to match any interior or exterior corner
• the elongated semi-rigid member has a first surface 29 that is split into a left part and a right part by the groove 32 It also has a second surface 30 that is continuous (the groove 32 does not penetrate all the way through)
• Figure 9 shows a possible cross section of the "Ultra-flex" piece
• the groove 32 is V-shaped, and the overall cross section (without the groove) is triangular
• the semi-rigid member 33 gives the piece strength and support
• the groove 32 allows the piece to be repeatably bent to any angle between 0 degrees and 360 degrees by forming a hinge If the material chosen for the semi-rigid member is high-impact plastic, bending does not fatigue the hinge, and the member can be bent any number of times without breaking Also, the member in that manner is extremely strong and can resist numerous direct blows to its surface and hinge without any damage
• the groove 32 separates the first surface of the piece into a left half and a right half These two halves do not have to be the same width In fact, one of the halves can be considerably wider than the other to form an L-t ⁇ m member or similar type member if desired
• the first surface of the semi-rigid member 33 can be covered by two strips of covering material 29 firmly bonded to the semi- rigid member 33 This covering material can be paper similar to that used on drywall, or joint tape paper, or other suitable material to be placed against drywall wallboard
• the second surface of the semi-rigid member can be covered by a strip of finishing material 30 also firmly bonded to the semi-rigid member 33
• This material can be a finished surface such as cup stock paper that can directly receive paint or texture It can be any other material that can directly receive paint or texture without the need of sanding or mud By bonded, what is meant is any process that firmly attaches the material to the member Glue could be used, but it is preferable to extrude the entire piece
• the embodiment shown in figures 8 and 9 is only one way of making this type of piece
• the piece can be made with any number of grooves to form flexible speciality pieces In particular, it can be constructed with two grooves to form a stub wall piece
• the groove can be of other suitable cross sections as required
• One great advantage of this embodiment is that the groove allows the piece to be bent to form perfect corners There is no "snaking" of the corner line, even on uneven walls or construction Also, since this type of piece can be used at any angle, it can be used anywhere in a modern building
• a rigid piece used for exterior corners can be constructed using the techniques illustrated in Figure 9 without the groove
• the piece is made with an extruded fixed angle of near 90 degrees or any other desired angle
• This piece is ready to receive paint or texture and is installed by simply placing it on wet mud, aligning it correctly, and then killing or feathering the edges with a small amount of mud.
• Such a piece takes the place or current exterior drywall corner pieces leading to a perfectly sculptured preformed corner without the extreme labour associated with building up mud, sanding, and finishing convention corners.
• a copolymer-based plastic support 42 is dimensioned such that it is thickest at the apex 43 of the right-angled drywall corner trim 40.
• the plastic support 42 then tapers down to its thinnest point at the peripheral edge of the plastic support 42.
• a typical thickness is about 45 thousandths in the middle, tapering to about 18 thousandths.
• the plastic support 42 is covered with a quality paper surface 45 that is pre-finished and ready for paint or texture.
• the fibres of the paper surface absorb paint or texture, eliminating chipping and peeling which occurs when mud is applied on corners in traditional methods.
• a surface paper overhang 46-47 is provided. When laid into mud with a corner drywall knife, the overhang 46-47 eliminates all cracking along the edge. The overhang 46-47 also eases feathering and increases bonding capabilities.
• joint tape 48 (or the like) is applied to an interior surface of the plastic support 42 and lends to a complete bond to the wall surface.
• Each flange of joint tape is typically two inches wide creating an improved bonding surface. Indeed, when the flanges are installed and dry, they become an integral part of the wall.
• the bullnose trim 50 again contains a preformed plastic support 52, a quality paper surface 45 that is pre-finished and ready for paint or texture, a surface paper overhang 46-47 and joint tape 48 (all as desc ⁇ bed in relation to Figure 10)
• the plastic support has a uniform cross-section 54 that extends around the radius of the bullnose and only begins to taper at a point approximately half an inch after the bullnose has straightened
• the uniform cross-section has a thickness of about 34 thousandths which is carried to a point beyond the curve and hence into the straight section of the pre-formed trim
• tapering only begins to occur some time after the straight sections of the trim 50 commence
• the present invention also comprises a method of installing the various embodiments of the non-coatable, preformed drywall corner pieces
• the worker first applies drywall mud to both flat sides of the corner to be finished
• the pre- formed piece is cut to length and placed in the corner against the wet mud
• the piece is positioned for final appearance and pressed into place, then the edges are "killed” by applying a small amount of finishing mud to the edges and smoothing them with a wide blade knife so that they merge into the surrounding drywall There is no further finishing When the mud dries, the corner is ready for painting or texturing This represents a considerable savings in time and money over existing methods
• variable cross-section of the semi-rigid (support) member is applicable to the numerous embodiments described herein Specifically, an ability to kill the dry wall trim into the drywall board is significantly enhanced by using a cross- section that varies from a central apex of the drywall trim to the periphery of the dry wall trim. Indeed, killing of the dry wall trim becomes much simpler and is achieved In a straight-forward one-step process.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Architecture (AREA)
• Civil Engineering (AREA)
• Structural Engineering (AREA)
• Finishing Walls (AREA)
• Floor Finish (AREA)
• Application Of Or Painting With Fluid Materials (AREA)

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• 1998
  • 1998-04-02 WO PCT/US1998/006523 patent/WO1998044218A1/fr active IP Right Grant
  • 1998-04-02 EP EP98917983A patent/EP0975846B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-04-02 CA CA002285345A patent/CA2285345C/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-04-02 AU AU71000/98A patent/AU723842B2/en not_active Expired
  • 1998-04-02 DE DE69841432T patent/DE69841432D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-04-02 AT AT98917983T patent/ATE454517T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation

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