EP1429894A1

EP1429894A1 - Door dressing tool

Info

Publication number: EP1429894A1
Application number: EP02765042A
Authority: EP
Inventors: James Eric Coombes
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-09-26
Filing date: 2002-09-24
Publication date: 2004-06-23
Also published as: WO2003026851A1; GB0123089D0

Abstract

A door dressing tool has an elongate flat blade (1) with abrasive particles (3) secured to a carrier strip (31) which is bonded to the blade by a pressure-sensitive adhesive (32). A moulded support member (2) is provided at one end of the blade for supporting said end in use such that when the tool is placed on a floor the support member holds one end of the blade above the floor. The blade is formed of springy material such that when a door is swung on its hinges to move over the blade the blade exerts a continuous upward pressure on the bottom of the door to abrade material from the door. The carrier strip can be peeled off the blade, and strips having different grades of abrasive may be provided.

Description

DOOR DRESSING TOOL

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a door dressing tool.

BACKGROUND

Doors are often found to jam, or at least become difficult to move, due to contact between the bottom of the door and a floor or floor covering over which the door swings. In the normal course of events, a carpenter is called in to remove material from the bottom of the door. This may involve removing the door at its hinges, finding or providing a suitable surface on which to support the door, sawing a strip from the bottom of the door, planing it flat, sanding and then re-hanging the door. Often, the door and its hinges will also require repainting to make good any resulting damage to the painted surfaces. All this is very time consuming, inconvenient and costly.

The present invention seeks to provide a new and inventive tool which can be used to remove material from and dress doors whilst they are still hung on their hinges.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention proposes a door dressing tool which is characterised by an elongate flat blade having an abrasive surface, and a support member at one end of the blade for supporting said end in use such that when the tool is placed on a horizontal floor the support member holds one end of the blade above the floor, the tool incorporating resilient means such that when a door is swung on its hinges to move over the blade the blade exerts a continuous upward pressure on the bottom of the door.

The resilient means is preferably provided by forming the blade of a springy material, such that the portion of the blade in contact with the door tends to adopt a generally horizontal attitude whilst still maintaining an upward pressure.

Different grades of abrasive may be provided on carrier strips secured to the blade by a pressure-sensitive adhesive or similar releasable means. A coarse abrasive may be used for removing material from the door while a fine abrasive can be used to achieve a smooth finish once the required amount of material has been removed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following description and the accompanying drawings referred to therein are included by way of non-limiting example in order to illustrate how the invention may be put into practice. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a general view of a door dressing tool in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the tool;

Figure 3 is a side view of the tool, showing the tool in use;

Figure 4 is a detailed section through the blade portion of the tool; and

Figure 5 is a general view illustrating the main use of the tool.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to Fig.s 1 to 3, the tool includes a blade 1 and a support member 2. The blade 1 is generally about 500 mm long by 50 mm wide and is formed of a flat elongate strip of springy metal, similar to a paint spatula. An upper surface of the blade carries a strip of abrasive material 3. The blade has a rounded end 10 while the opposite end, shown in outline in Fig.s 2 and 3, is formed with a flattened tang 11 having an enlarged tip 12.

The support member 2 is preferably formed of a solid polyethylene, polypropylene or similar strong low-cost thermoplastic which is moulded about the tang 11. The support member is of elongate shape, having shallow longitudinally arcuate top and bottom surfaces 20 and 21 each terminating in straight edges 22 and 23 which lie on a plane extending substantially parallel to the blade 1. Thus, when the support member is placed against a floor F or similar flat surface held down by means of a shoe S, the blade is spaced above the floor in the position indicated by the dashed lines in Fig. 3. The sides of the support member, 26 and 27, are also of shallow longitudinally arcuate shape.

As shown in Fig. 4, the abrasive layer 3 is formed of hard particles 30 bonded to the upper surface of a flexible carrier strip 31 of strong paper, cloth, plastics sheet or similar material. The lower surface of the carrier layer 31 has a layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive 32 which, prior to attachment to the blade 1 , is protected by a peelable backing layer 33. The user is provided with a choice of strips, some having relatively small abrasive particles (preferably between 80 and 200 grit) while other strips have relatively a relatively coarse abrasive (preferably less than 60 grit). After removing the backing layer 33 the adhesive is used to bond the required strip to the blade 1. The adhesive layer 32 has a high shear strength such that the carrier layer remains firmly secured to the blade when an abraded surface moves across the abrasive layer. However, the adhesive has a low tensile strength enabling the carrier layer 31 to be peeled from the blade to replace the abrasive layer.

In use, the tool is inserted into any gap which can be found along the bottom of the door, as shown in Fig. 5. Normally there is such a gap, but if not, it is possible to start working at the outer edge of the door. The tool is supported on the floor F, either directly on a floor surface or on top of a carpet or other floor covering. The user places his/her foot S on the tool as shown. Since the blade is thin, a door D to be dressed can be moved over the abrasive surface of the blade. The support member 2 raises one end of the blade 1 above the floor surface but the door causes distortion of the blade as shown in Fig. 3. By swinging the door back and forth on its hinges the abrasive removes material from the bottom of the door. The inherent springiness of the blade causes the blade to curve downwardly so that it maintains an upward pressure on the bottom of the door and, in addition, the portion of the blade in contact with the door is depressed towards a position in which it is approximately parallel with the floor.

When the required amount of material has been removed from the door the tool can be moved along the door to remove further material which might be causing the door to bind. By using the fine-grade abrasive any rough surfaces can be smoothed in the same manner.

If desired, a fine-grade abrasive can be applied to one surface of the blade and a coarse abrasive may be applied to the opposite surface so that the tool can be used for coarse or fine dressing simply by turning it over.

The shape of the support member 2 also allows the tool to be used as a powerful hand sander with the support member held as a handle. Thus, the tool is not limited to removing material from doors, although it is particularly adapted for this purpose. It will be appreciated that the features disclosed herein may be present in any feasible combination. Whilst the above description lays emphasis on those areas which, in combination, are believed to be new, protection is claimed for any inventive combination of the features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A door dressing tool which is characterised by an elongate flat blade having an abrasive surface, and a support member at one end of the blade for supporting said end in use such that when the tool is placed on a horizontal floor the support member holds one end of the blade above the floor, the tool incorporating resilient means such that when a door is swung on its hinges to move over the blade the blade exerts a continuous upward pressure on the bottom of the door.

2. A door dressing tool according to Claim 1 , in which the resilient means is provided by forming the blade of a springy material

3. A door dressing tool according to Claim 1 , in which the abrasive surface is provided by a layer of abrasive particles secured to a carrier strip which is, in turn, bonded to the blade by an adhesive layer interposed between the carrier strip and the blade, said adhesive layer having a high shear strength in a direction parallel to the blade such that the carrier strip remains firmly secured to the blade when an abraded surface moves over the abrasive layer and a relatively low tensile strength whereby the carrier strip can be peeled from the blade to replace the abrasive layer.

4. A door dressing tool according to Claim 3, in which the adhesive layer of the carrier strip is protected by a peelable backing before the carrier strip is secured to the blade.

5. A door dressing tool according to Claim 4, which includes a plurality of such strips having abrasive particles of different sizes.

6. A door dressing tool according to Claim 1 , in which the support member has an arcuate undersurface terminating in substantially straight edges which lie on a plane extending generally parallel to the blade.

7. A door dressing tool according to Claim 6, in which the opposite upper surface of the support member also has an arcuate surface terminating in substantially straight edges which lie on a plane extending generally parallel to the blade.

8. A method of dressing a door which is characterised by swinging the door on its hinges to move a bottom surface of the door over a tool having an elongate flat blade with an abrasive surface and a support member at one end of the blade which supports said end above a horizontal surface, the tool incorporating resilient means whereby the blade exerts a continuous upward pressure on the bottom of the door.

9. A method according to Claim 8, in which the user places his or her foot on the support member whilst swinging the door on its hinges.

10. A method according to Claim 8, which includes removing the abrasive layer from the blade secured to a carrier strip which is, in turn, bonded to the blade by an adhesive layer interposed between the carrier strip and the blade, said adhesive layer having a high shear strength in a direction parallel to the blade such that the carrier strip remains firmly secured to the blade when an abraded surface moves over the abrasive layer and a relatively low tensile strength whereby the carrier strip can be peeled from the blade to replace the abrasive layer.