GB2271395A

GB2271395A - Sanitaryware seal

Info

Publication number: GB2271395A
Application number: GB9318708A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Barry Hugh Mccomb
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1992-09-10
Filing date: 1993-09-09
Publication date: 1994-04-13
Anticipated expiration: 2013-09-09
Also published as: AU4977393A; GB9219204D0; GB9318708D0; GB2271395B; WO1994005193A1

Abstract

A seal for sealing between a rim, preferably the upper rim, of a sanitaryware item and a surface, such as, a wall, adjacent which the item is installed, comprises a water-impervious tape (21) having respective upstand and sealing parts (22, 23). At least the sealing part (23) is coated with an adhesive (24) and a removable release strip (25) is provided. In use, the sealing part (23) is brought into contact with the rim of a sanitaryware item, such as, a bath (10), which is then installed against a wall or other surface, so that the upstand part (22) is against the wall. Tiles are adhered to the wall to cover the upstand part (22) which may be perforated to enhance such adhesion. The sealing part, on the surface facing away from the bath may have a spring steel rod (37) Fig 6 (not shown) or a compressible resilient bead (47') Fig 8 (not shown) to aid in pressing the sealing part against the bath.

Description

SANITARYWARE SEAL DESCRIPTION This invention relates to a seal of the type comprising a water-impervious sealing tape and is especially, but not exclusively, related to such a seal for application to an upper outer rim of an item of sanitaryware, such as, a bath, basin or shower tray, to prevent seepage of water between the sanitaryware item and an adjacent wall or other surface against which the item is installed.

With known types of seal comprising plastics adhesive strips, tapes or rubber/silicone mastics, most of which are normally applied after the sanitaryware item has been installed, it has been found that they have a limited effective lifespan.

This may be attributed to several reasons; for example with the seal being exposed, light from the sun's rays can reduce the flexibility of the associated plastics or rubber materials, as can the effect of soap, detergents and most cleaning agents.

Thermal or structural movement between, say, a bath and an adjacent wall, may also cause weakening of the seal therebetween, as may poor adhesion of the seal to the bath rim due to interfacial contamination prior to installation.

A further, and possibly more satisfactory, method of preventing this type of water seepage is the formation during manufacture of an upstand around the outer perimeter of the bath, shower tray or other sanitaryware item, over which wall tiles for sealing the upstand may be laid to form a natural gravity drip, to direct water away from any gap between the upper rim of the sanitaryware item and the adjacent wall or other surface against which it is installed.

However, to date, the upstand is formed on one, two or three sides of the sanitaryware item and, as such, has to be predetermined before manufacture. As a result, such items are non-standard and are consequently more expensive and difficult to obtain than standard items of sanitaryware.

Furthermore, such upstands are extensions of the rims of the sanitaryware items and, as such, are made of a comparatively rigid material which cannot subsequently be shaped easily to follow the possible undulations of an adjacent wall or other surface against which the item is installed.

Also, once installed, such a comparatively rigid upstand may cause stress and consequential breakage of adjacent tiles and/or surrounds, due to its inability to absorb thermal or structural differential movement.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome, or at least substantially reduce, the disadvantages associated with known water seals of the types described above.

Accordingly, one aspect of the invention provides a seal for sealing between a rim, preferably the upper rim, of an item of sanitaryware and a surface, such as, a wall, adjacent which the item is installed, comprising a water-impervious tape having respective upstand and sealing parts.

Preferably either or both the upstand and sealing parts are flexible, whilst the tape may be of a polyester material.

In use, the sealing part of the tape, which is preferably coated with an adhesive, is brought into contact with the outer part of the rim of the sanitaryware item in such a manner as to allow the flexible upstand part of the tape to project above that rim, usually the spill-over level of, say, a bath, basin or shower tray. Thereafter, and once the item has been installed adjacent a wall or other surface, any tiles or other covering medium applied thereto, may be laid over the upstand part, thus forming a drip to direct water away therefrom.

In one embodiment, and in order to facilitate installation, the tape, with any adhesive coating and associated release film, may be made in such a way as to allow that part of the width of the tape coated with adhesive to be exposed by removing a corresponding portion of the release film along its length, whilst the remainder of the tape, namely, the upstand part thereof, remains covered by the remaining portion of release film. This may be achieved, for example, by pre-perforation of the release film along its length or by application of two or more separate lengths of release film applied to the seal during manufacture.

In another method of providing a further embodiment of inventive seal, an upstand strip, the width of which is sufficient to form the upstand part of the seal tape, is laid over an adhesive-coated tape which also provides the sealing part thereof during manufacture or installation.

In a further embodiment of the inventive seal, only the flexible sealing part of the tape, with an adhesive coating applied to only one side thereof, has a release film applied to that coating. For longevity, the adhesive is preferably bitumen-based with compounds added which permanently prevent it from hardening and, thus, from losing its flexibility and adhesive properties.

Alternatively, a polyolefin adhesive may be employed, preferably consisting of polybutene, atactic polypropylene, mineral oil, white pigment and talc or other filler and having a softening point of 1500C and a cone penetration of 30 to 60. This type of polyolefin adhesive is more aesthetically pleasing than the bitumen-based adhesive, in that it is whitish grey in colour, rather than black.

A feature may be incorporated into the seal, whereby a continuous row or rows of perforation holes are provided adjacent the upstand part of the tape, preferably along the top edge thereof, to facilitate the bonding of ceramic tiles thereto upon completion of an installation.

In another embodiment of the inventive seal, the sealing part of the tape has adhesive applied to 75% of its width on one side and to the remaining 25% of its width on the reverse side of the upstand part, thus allowing one side of the tape to be adhered to the rim of a sanitaryware item and the other side to an abutting wall or other surface against which the item is installed.

Yet a further embodiment of the seal includes the addition of means for applying a substantially constant pressure to the tape or part of its width along at least part of its length, once brought into contact with the outer rim of a sanitaryware item, thereby ensuring a proper seal between the tape and rim without total dependence upon any adhesion.

This feature may be advantageous where the tape is used in locations subject to excessive thermal or structural movement or where the risk of water penetration to areas below the sanitaryware item cannot be tolerated due to the possibility of causing extensive damage to equipment, such as, electrical or electronic components.

A preferred method of achieving such a constant pressure might be the provision of a spring steel rod and clips, an example of such a provision being described in more detail hereinbelow.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method of installing an item of sanitaryware against a wall or other surface, comprising providing a seal in accordance with the invention, bringing the sealing part of the tape into sealing contact with a rim of the sanitaryware item to be installed, such that the upstand part of the tape extends above that rim, and installing the sanitaryware item adjacent the wall or other surface to bring the upstand part of the tape into confronting relationship therewith.

Further, tiles or other forms of covering medium may be applied to the wall or other surface with which the upstand part is in confronting relationship to cover at least a portion of the upstand part.

Preferably, at least part of the seal tape, more preferably the upstand part thereof, is transparent.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, preferred embodiments of seal in accordance therewith will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figures 1 and 2 are respective front and sectional elevations of a first embodiment of seal; Figure 3 is a sectional view of a bath sited in the corner of a room with tiled walls, part of which is shown removed to expose the location of the first embodiment of seal; Figure 4 is a cut-away view of a second embodiment of seal also for use in the installation of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a section through the upper rim of the bath installation of Figure 3 incorporating the second embodiment of seal of Figure 4; Figure 6 is a section similar to that of Figure 5 but showing the addition of means for applying a constant pressure to the seal during use;; Figure 7 is a perspective view of the bath shown in Figure 6 ready for installation; Figure 8 is a section of a further embodiment of seal but with a modified form of constant pressure means shown in use; and Figure 9 is a cut-away view in partial section of the seal used in the installation of Figure 8.

Referring firstly to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, a first embodiment of seal in accordance with the invention comprises a water-impervious flexible tape made of a suitable plastics material, such as polyester material, and indicated generally at 1.

The tape 1 has an upstand part 2 and a sealing part 3. The lower sealing part 3 of the tape 1 is provided on one side thereof with a coating 4 of a suitable adhesive. The outer face of the adhesive coating 4 remote from the sealing part 3 of the tape 1 is provided with a strip of release film 5.

In use of the seal 1, the release film strip 5 is removed from the adhesive coating 4 which is brought in contact with, and thus adhered to, the outer surface of the upper rim of an item of sanitaryware, such as, a bath (not shown). The sanitaryware item is then installed adjacent a wall or other generally vertical support, with the tape 1 in contact therewith. Subsequently, any tiling or other wall covering may be secured, such as, adhesively, to the wall or other generally vertical support with the upstand part 2 of the tape 1 sandwiched therebetween.

In this manner, water cannot seep between the soinstalled sanitaryware item and the associated wall.

A typical bath installation incorporating the inventive seal is illustrated in Figure 3 wherein a bath 10 is installed in a corner of a room.

The inventive seal tape 1 adhered to the outer surface of the upper rim 11 of the bath 10 has its upstand part 2 extending thereabove in contact with the adjacent wall 12. A row of tiles 13 immediately above the upper rim 11 of the bath 10 have their lower edge regions extending over the upstand part 2 of the tape 1, such that the part 2 is sandwiched between that lower row of tiles 3 and the adjacent wall 12, thereby preventing any seepage of water between the bath 10 and that wall.

In Figure 4, there is shown a second embodiment of seal comprising a tape 21 of a water-impervious, flexible plastics material of suitable width.

The tape 21 is provided with an adhesive coating 24 of a bitumastic-based, non-setting adhesive over the whole width of one side thereof. A plastics strip 22 extends along one edge, namely, the top edge, of the seal on the outer surface of the adhesive coating 24, thereby sandwiching the corresponding portion of that coating 24 between it and the tape 21. This plastics strip 22 overlies the upstand part of the tape 21 and has a width which is approximately 25% of that of the tape 21.

A removable release strip 25 of paper covers the whole width of the tape 21 and extends beyond the opposed edges thereof, in order to prevent the coating 24 from adhering to itself at the opposed edges of the tape when the seal is rolled up for storage purposes and to facilitate its removal.

Spaced perforation holes 26 extend along the seal adjacent the upper edge of the tape 21, adhesive coating 24, upstand strip 22 and paper release strip 25.

In use, as shown in Figure 5, the seal is installed between the downwardly depending lip 11' of the upper rim 11 of a bath 10 and an adjacent wall surface 12 against which the bath 10 is installed.

Upon installation, the seal is cut to the required length and has the paper release strip 25 removed to expose the upstand part constituted by the plastics strip 22 and the sealing part 23 having the adhesive coating 24 applied thereto.

Then, the adhesive coating 24 of the sealing part 23 of the tape 21 is applied to the depending lip 11' of the bath rim 11, with a lower portion thereof being wrapped around, to extend upwardly from, the lower edge of that lip 11'.

Approximately 50% of the width of the adhesive coating 24 is in contact with the outer surface of the depending lip 11', whilst approximately 25% is in contact with the lower edge and adjacent inner surface of that lip.

Subsequently, the bath 10 is installed against the wall surface 11 with approximately 75% of the width of the tape 21 sandwiched therebetween. After such installation of the bath 10, tiles 13 are applied to the wall surface 12 above the bath rim 11, such that the lower edges of the bottom row of the tiles 13 overlap the upstand part 22 of the seal tape 21.

In this manner, a gravity drip is provided, to prevent seepage of water or other liquids between the bath rim 11 and the wall surface 12. A gap between the lower edges of the tiles 13 and the upper bath rim 11 is filled with grout 14 or flexible mastic, depending upon the aesthetics of the installation and the degree of flexibility required.

Turning now to Figures 6 and 7 of the drawings, here the installation of the bath 10 is substantially similar to that described above with reference to Figures 4 and 5. However, in this particular embodiment, a spring steel rod 37 and associated spring steel clips 38 are used to apply a constant pressure along the length of the seal once it has been brought into contact with the upper rim 11 of the bath 10. As described above in relation to the second embodiment of Figures 4 and 5, the tape 31 of the seal has its lower, sealing part 33 adhesively in contact with the outer surface of the depending lip 11' of the upper bath rim 11 and its upper, upstand part 32 being covered by the bottom edge region of tiles 13 applied to the wall surface 12.

In this manner, and as discussed above, a constant pressure is applied along the length of the seal, thereby ensuring an adequate seal between the tape 31 and the upper rim 11 of the bath 10, without total reliance upon the adhesion therebetween.

A fourth embodiment of seal is shown in Figures 8 and 9, wherein the spring steel rod 37 and spring steel clips 38 of the third embodiment of Figures 6 and 7 are replaced by a compressible resilient bead 47, as shown in Figure 9. In Figure 8, the resilient bead 47 is shown in its compressed form 47' after installation of the seal in conjunction with a bath 10.

Once again, the remaining components of the seal are the same as those of the third embodiment of seal described above with reference to Figures 6 and 7, in that they comprise a flexible tape 41 having respective upstand and sealing parts 42, 43 to which are applied the adhesive coating 44. The strip of release paper 45 is also used but removed before use of the seal in the bath installation.

It is to be appreciated that although the respective sealing parts 3, 23, 33 and 43 of the embodiments described above are at least partially coated with adhesive, such adhesive may be omitted, as long as those sealing parts provide an adequate waterimpervious seal against the upper rim 11 of the associated bath 10.

Claims

1. A seal for sealing between a rim, preferably the upper rim, of an item of sanitaryware and a surface, such as, a wall, adjacent which the item is installed, which seal comprises a water-impervious tape having respective upstand and sealing parts.

2. A seal according to claim 1, wherein either or both the upstand and sealing parts of the tape are flexible.

3. A seal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least the sealing part of the tape is coated with an adhesive.

4. A seal according to claim 3, wherein the adhesive is a bitumen-based or polyolefin adhesive.

5. A seal according to any preceding claim including a removable release film extending at least partially along the length of the tape.

6. A seal according to claim 5, wherein the release film extends over the width of the tape, with that portion of the film extending over the sealing part of the tape being removable to leave the remaining portion of the film covering the upstand part of the tape, optionally for subsequent removal therefrom.

7. A seal according to claim 6, wherein the respective portions of the release film extending over the upstand and sealing parts of the tape are separated by perforations.

8. A seal according to any preceding claim, wherein an upstand strip, the width of which is substantially the same as that of the upstand part of the tape, overlies that tape part which is also adhesive-coated.

9. A seal according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein only the sealing part of the tape, with an adhesive coating applied to one side thereof, has a release film applied to that coating.

10. A seal according to any preceding claim, wherein a continuous row of holes is provided along the upstand part of the tape, preferably adjacent the top edge thereof.

11. A seal according to any preceding claim, wherein the tape has adhesive applied to at least its sealing part on one side thereof and to at least its upstand part on the other side thereof.

12. A seal according to claim 11, wherein the width of the sealing part to which adhesive is applied on one side of the tape is 75% of the width of the tape and the width of the upstand part to which adhesive is applied on the other side of the tape is 25% of the tape width.

13. A seal according to any preceding claim, including means for applying a substantially constant pressure to the tape along at least part of its length, once the sealing part of the tape has been brought into contact with the outer rim of a sanitaryware item.

14. A seal according to claim 13, wherein said constant pressure application means comprises a spring steel rod and associated clips.

15. A seal according to claim 13, wherein said constant pressure application means comprises a compressible, resilient bead extending at least partially along the length of the tape.

16. A seal according to any preceding claim, wherein at least a portion of the tape is transparent.

17. A seal according to any preceding claim, wherein the tape is made of a polyester material.

18. A seal substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

19. A method of installing an item of sanitaryware against a wall or other surface, comprising providing a seal in accordance with any of claims 1 to 18, bringing the sealing part of the tape into sealing contact with a rim of the sanitaryware item to be installed, such that the upstand part of the tape extends above that rim, and installing the sanitaryware item adjacent the wall or other surface to bring the upstand part of the tape into confronting relationship therewith.

20. A method according to claim 19, wherein tiles, or other forms of covering medium may be applied to the wall or other surface with which the upstand part is in confronting relationship to cover at least a portion of the upstand part.

21. A sanitaryware installation incorporating a seal according to any of claims 1 to 18.

22. A sanitaryware installation substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.