GB2343203A

GB2343203A - A flexible floor covering marking device and method

Info

Publication number: GB2343203A
Application number: GB9823635A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Clatworthy
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-10-28
Filing date: 1998-10-28
Publication date: 2000-05-03
Anticipated expiration: 2018-10-28
Also published as: GB2343203B; GB9823635D0

Abstract

A flexible floor covering marking device 10 and method for marking flexible floor covering so that it can be cut to fit snugly against an edge surface such as a wall. The device comprises a sheet of material 20 with a band of a marking substance 30 (eg. carbon black) along an edge of the sheet. The device is held against a wall such that the marking band faces outwards and abuts the floor, the flexible floor covering is pushed against the device such that a line corresponding to the marking band is left on the underside of the floor covering. This line is used as an indication of where to cut the flexible floor covering.

Description

A FLEXIBLE OOR COVERING MARKING DEVICE AND METHOD This invention relates to a flexible floor covering marking device for providing a mark to indicate where to cut a flexible floor covering such that it fits against an edge surface, such as a wall or kitchen units, and a method of cutting the flexible floor covering.

The laying of flexible floor coverings such that they fit snugly against an edge surface is not a straightforward process. Flexible floor coverings are often heavy and unwieldy and are awkward to cut accurately in the angle between the floor and an edge surface such as a wall. Furthermore, inaccuracies that result in too much being cut from the flexible floor covering result in a portion of the floor adjacent to the edge surface not being covered, such an error is difficult to correct.

At present the cutting of flexible floor coverings is generally performed in one of three ways. One method involves the use of a plastic moulded vinyl cutter, these cutters are relatively expensive to purchase and are quite awkward to use.

Alternatively, a knife with a straight or hooked blade can be used. A problem with both of these methods is that the floor covering is cut in situ, which involves manipulation of the knife or cutter while pushing the floor covering into the junction between the edge surface and floor, this makes the cutting awkward to do.

Furthermore, it is difficult with thicker, stiffer floor covering to accurately judge where the junction between the floor and edge surface lies. A further alternative is to use a pencil to mark the floor covering, the floor covering is then cut with a pair of scissors.

This has the avantage that the floor covering does not need to be cut in situ and can be cut away from the floor and edge surface junction. However, marking the floor covering with the pencil is not easy and the positioning of the line is not accurate. This leads to gaps between the edge surface and floor covering or in the floor covering overlapping with the edge surface.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a flexible floor covering marking device for providing a mark indicating where to cut a flexible floor covering so that it fits against an edge surface, comprising : a sheet of material at least one edge of which comprises a band of a marking substance adapted to mark any flexible floor covering that it contacts.

Thus the device of the present invention alleviates the problems of the devices of the prior art by providing a device that is cheap to manufacture and easy to use and produces an accurately positioned marking line. The flexible floor covering can then be cut along the marking line away from the floor and edge surface junction.

In preferred embodiments the sheet material is flexible. This allows it to be accurately placed against a surface, even one that is not straight.

Although the sheet material can be a variety of different shapes it is preferred that it is substantially rectangular and that the marking band is disposed along a long edge of the rectangle. A rectangular shape is easy to manufacture, store, package and handle. By positioning the marking band along a long side a corresponding length of marking line is produced on the floor covering.

Advantageously, the sheet material is between 20 and 30 cm long, and 5 and 15 cm wide, and the marking band is between 2mm and 20mm wide, preferably substantially 22 cm long, and 10 cm wide and the marking band is substantially 1 cm wide. These dimensions of the sheet material are found to be particularly practical being easy to manufacture, store and handle.

In another embodiment the sheet material comprises a non permanent adhesive on the opposite side of the sheet material to the marking band. The provision of a non permanent adhesive on one side of the marking device allows the marking device to be placed against the wall and to be temporarily held there by the adhesive. This allows a long length of the marking device to be placed against an edge surface without an operator having to hold it in position. Preferably in this embodiment, the material is adapted to be rolled up and is stored as a roll. The storage of the material as a roll allows a long length of the material to be conveniently stored and handled.

Although the marking band can be made of any material that produces a line when it contacts a flexible floor covering, it is preferred that the marking band comprises a layer of carbon black. A marking band formed of carbon black is found to be fairly cheap to produce and leaves a clear line on the flexible floor covering. It can also be used repeatedly for a certain number of times.

In preferred embodiments, the sheet material is adapted to be cut with a blade.

This enables the user to cut the material with, for example, scissors so that it can fit into confined spaces such as between a door frame and the comer of a wall.

Preferably, the sheet material is card. Card is cheap and easy to produce, it is flexible and it is can be cut with scissors. Card is also thin and therefore does not materially affect the position of the edge surface.

In certain embodiments both faces of the sheet material can carry bands of marking material. This enables both faces to be used as the marking face thereby prolonging the life of the device. Alternatively, different edges of the sheet material can carry marking bands so that the card can be rotated and different edges used to mark the floor covering.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of cutting a flexible floor covering to fit against an edge surface comprising the steps of: placing the flexible floor covering to cover a floor surface such that it overlaps the edge surface; placing a flexible floor covering marking device according to any of the preceding claims against a portion of the edge surface, such that the marking band abuts against the floor and faces outwards from the edge surface; pushing the flexible floor covering against the intersection of the floor surface and the edge surface such that the flexible floor covering contacts the marking band and a line corresponding to the marking band is left on the flexible floor covering ; repeating the previous two steps for further portions of the edge surface; cutting the flexible floor covering along the marked line.

Thus, the method of the present invention provides a method of cutting flexible floor covering that alleviates the problems of the prior art. The method produces an accurately positioned line that enables the flexible floor covering to be accurately cut along the marking line away from the floor and edge surface junction. The task of cutting flexible floor covering to fit snugly against an edge surface has therefore been simplified.

Although the above method can be used for any sort of flexible floor coverings, for example carpets, it works particularly well with cushion floor covering, linoleum or vinyl floor coverings.

In preferred embodiments the width of its marking band is chosen dependent on the floor covering to be cut. When a thick, stiff floor covering is to be cut, which cannot be pushed as far into the junction between the floor and edge surface as a thinner more flexible floor covering could be, a thicker marking band is chosen to ensure that the flexible floor covering contacts the marking band.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 illustrates a flexible floor covering marking device according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 illustrates a flexible floor covering marking device according to a second embodiment of the present invention; With reference to Figure 1, there is shown flexible floor covering marking device 10 comprising a rectangular sheet 20,22cm long and 10 cm wide with a 1 cm wide band 30 of a marking substance along one of the long edges. In the embodiment illustrated, the sheet is made of card. The marking substance comprises carbon black.

The flexible floor covering marking device is used in the laying of flexible floor coverings. The flexible floor covering, for example a vinyl cushioned floor covering or linoleum, is laid to cover a required floor space with the flooring edges arrange to overlap with the surrounding edge surfaces such as walls or kitchen units.

The device of the present invention is then placed against an edge surface such as a wall so that the marking band faces outwards and abuts the floor. The floor covering is then pushed into the junction between the edge surface and floor and folded back at this point. The crease in the floor covering then contacts the flexible floor covering marking device and the action of folding and creasing the floor causes it to move against the marking band on the marking device and thereby be marked. A line corresponding to the marking band is left on the underside of the floor covering, this line is used to indicate where to cut the floor covering. The previous steps are then repeated using the same marking device for a different portion of the edge surface and floor, until the vinyl floor covering is marked along the complete length of the edge surface or surfaces. For small portions of the edge surface such as between door frames and corner, the flexible floor covering marking device can be cut to an appropriate size to fit into these small gaps. Scissors can then be used to cut the floor covering such that the marking line is cut off. This produces a piece of flexible floor covering that fits snugly against the walls, being approximately 0. 5mm from the wall..

Figure 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, wherein the flexible floor marking device 10 has two marking bands 30,32 on opposite edges of the sheet material 20.

A carbon black marking band can typically produce about thirty lines on the flexible floor covering before the lines start to become faint and/or the card edges become worn. When this happens a new marking device can be used. Alternatively, if a marking device having more than one marking band along more than one edge, such as is illustrated in Figure 2, or on a different face is used, then the card can be rotated such that the new unused marking band abuts the floor and faces outwards from the edge surface.

If thicker floor covering that does not bend so easily into the junction between floor and wall is to be cut, a wider marking band and possibly a thicker sheet material can be used so that the floor covering is still marked in the correct position. In the case of thicker floor coverings it may be necessary to cut along the middle of the marking line rather than cutting the marking line off in order to achieve an accurate fit.

In an alternative embodiment the marking device may be in the form of a long piece of card that is stored as a roll, the rolled material having a non permanent adhesive on the opposite side of the device to the marking band. In this embodiment the marking device can be unrolled and temporarily stuck against an edge surface, the floor covering is then marked in the same way as for the rectangular marking device.

An avantage of this embodiment is that a long length of floor can be marked in one go using a long length of the unrolled marking material.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A flexible floor covering marking device for providing a mark indicating where to cut a flexible floor covering so that it fits against an edge surface, comprising : a sheet of material at least one edge of which comprises a band of a marking substance adapted to mark any flexible floor covering that it contacts.
2. A flexible floor covering marking device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet material is flexible.
3. A flexible floor covering marking device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sheet of material is substantially rectangular in shape and the marking band is disposed along a long edge of the rectangle.
4. A flexible floor covering marking device according to claim 3, wherein the sheet of material is between 20 and 30 cm long, and 5 and 15 cm wide, and the marking band is between 2mm and 20mm wide.
5. A flexible floor covering marking device according to claim 4, wherein the sheet of material is substantially 22 cm long, and 10 cm wide and the marking band is substantially 1 cm wide.
6. A flexible floor covering marking device according to claim 2, wherein the sheet material comprises non-permanent adhesive on the opposite side of the sheet material to the marking band.
7. A flexible floor covering marking device according to claim 6, wherein the sheet material is adapted to be rolled up and can thus be stored as a roll of material.
8. A flexible floor covering marking device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the marking band comprises a layer of carbon black.
9. A flexible floor covering marking device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the sheet material is adapted to be cut with a blade.
10. A flexible floor covering marking device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the sheet material is card.
11. A flexible floor covering marking device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the sheet material comprises marking bands on each face of the card.
12. A flexible floor covering marking device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the sheet material comprises marking bands along more than one edge.
13. A flexible floor covering marking device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the sheet material comprises marking bands on all edges.
14. A method of cutting a flexible floor covering to fit against an edge surface comprising the steps of: placing the flexible floor covering to cover a floor surface such that it overlaps the edge surface; placing a flexible floor covering marking device according to any of the preceding claims against a portion of the edge surface, such that the marking band abuts against the floor and faces outwards from the edge surface; pushing the flexible floor covering against the intersection of the floor surface and the edge surface such that the flexible floor covering contacts the marking band and a line corresponding to the marking band is left on the flexible floor covering ; repeating the previous two steps for further portions of the edge surface; cutting the flexible floor covering along the marked line.
15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the flexible floor covering is a cushion floor covering.
16. A method according to claim 14, wherein the flexible floor covering is linoleum.
17. A method according to claim 14, wherein the flexible floor covering is a vinyl floor covering.
18. A method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein the flexible floor covering marking device and in particular the width of its marking band is chosen dependent on the floor covering to be cut.
19. A method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, further comprising the step of cutting the floor covering marking device such that it fits along a given length of the edge surface.
20. A flexible floor covering marking device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
21. A method of cutting a flexible floor covering to fit against an edge surface substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.