GB2380517A

GB2380517A - Sheet alignment device

Info

Publication number: GB2380517A
Application number: GB0217726A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Douglas
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-07-31
Filing date: 2002-07-31
Publication date: 2003-04-09
Also published as: GB0118625D0; GB0217726D0

Abstract

There is described a trueing device for aligning a sheet of wallpaper vertically on a wall. The device has a retaining means, in the form of two pivoted halves 12,14 of a clip, one half of which is provided with an edge engaging means 16 which engages the edge of the sheet of wallpaper. The device is provided with a pivoted pointer 18 and an indicator means 22 which are aligned such that the pointer points at the indicator means when the engaging means, and the edge of the wallpaper, are vertical.

Description

TRUEING DEVICE The present invention relates to a trueing device, and particularly, but not exclusively, to a trueing device used to align wallpaper vertically when it is hung on a wall.

It is important when hanging wallpaper to hang the first sheet on a wall vertically. Existing devices which are used to perform is initial alignment include a plumbline, a weight on a string, which has the disadvantage that it can easily become tangled when not in use and that it can be difficult to use whilst the position of the wallpaper is altered. Furthermore, small movements of a plumbline, for example as the wallpaper is realigned, can result in the plumbline swinging making it very difficult to accurately determine where the true vertical is within the swing of the plumbline.

An alternative trueing device is described in UK Patent No 2190422. This describes a clip, which is attached to an edge of the wallpaper which is to be vertical, and has a spirit level which can be used to indicate when the edge, to which the device is attached, is vertical. Such a device has the advantage over a plumbline that it is possible to make adjustments to the position of the wallpaper whilst the device remains attached. However, it is difficult to produce a cost effective and accurate spirit level of reasonable size for use in such a device. For example, if a two metre long strip of wallpaper is hung with this device attached at the top and the spirit level appears to show the paper is vertical but it is in fact one degree away from the vertical, the bottom of the wallpaper will be some 35mm away from its required position. It is particularly difficult to produce a spirit level which

can easily be read to an accuracy greater than one degree. It would typically be necessary to either calibrate each device individually or to produce a device which is sufficiently large that such an accuracy can be reasonably expected from each device. As a result, the cost of manufacture of an accurate device of this patent may be prohibitively high or the device may be so large as to be excessively cumbersome for easy use.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention seek to overcome the above described disadvantages of the prior art.

According to the present invention there is provided a trueing device comprising :- attaching means for attaching the device to a sheet of material; alignment means for aligning the device with an edge of said material; pointer means pivotally suspended in use from said attaching means; and indicator means for indicating when said pointer is aligned at a predetermined angle relative to said alignment means.

By providing a trueing device having a pivoted pointer, the advantage is provided that an accurate device can be provided which is not excessively expensive to produce and can still be of a size and weight which is practical to use. In particular, the device is easy to calibrate. In order to produce a device with which paper can be hung vertically, the gap between the pivot of the pointer and the alignment means should be the same as that between the indicator means (normally a line painted on

the device) and the alignment means. Furthermore, since the above device does not require any liquid, in the form of the spirit level, a large device, providing even further accuracy, need not be excessively heavy. In particular, the accuracy can be increased by increasing the length of the pointer and the device that the pointer is attached to. Whereas, if a spirit level device were to be used an equivalent increase in accuracy would require a significant increase to the volume of the spirit level with a resultant increase in weight.

The attaching means may comprise at least one clip.

In a preferred embodiment at least one said clip comprises at least one respective first retaining portion biased towards at least one respective second retaining portion, the or each first and second portions thereby adapted to grip said material therebetween.

In another preferred embodiment said alignment means comprises edge engaging means adapted to engage at least one edge of said material.

In a further preferred embodiment said edge engaging means comprises an edge of a portion of said attaching means adapted to substantially match an edge of said material.

The edge engaging means may be substantially linear.

The pointer means may comprise an elongate member having at least one pointed end.

In a preferred embodiment said pointer means further comprises a slot extending substantially along the length of said member, and having a suspension means slidably located therein.

By providing the pointer means with a slot within in which the suspension means, the fulcrum upon which the pointer pivots, is able to slide, provides the advantage that the device can be used either left or right handed. If the device is being used in the left hand the suspension means would be located at one end of the slot. If the device is then rotated through 180 , approximately about the suspension means, the pointer will slide along the suspension means such that the suspension means is located at the other end of the slot.

The pointer means may be enclosed within protection means having at least one transparent portion therein.

By enclosing the pointer within a sealed protection means the advantage is provided that the accuracy of the device will not be interfered with by wallpaper adhesive.

In a preferred emboidment, said predetermined angle of said pointer is substantially parallel to said alignment means.

The indicator means may comprise at least one mark located on a portion of said attaching means.

In a preferred embodiment, said indicator means comprises at least one line which is visible within said slot when alignment means and pointer are at said predetermined angle.

By providing a line which is visible within the slot of the pointer when the wallpaper is vertical, the advantage is provided that it is easy to see whether the line (and therefore the paper) are vertical. Dependent upon the width of the slot and the thickness of the line it would be possible to align the paper vertically to less than 10 from vertical without requiring a very long pointer. It would certainly be possible

to provide a greater degree of accuracy that is possible with an equivalently sized device containing a spirit level.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, and not in any limitative sense, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :- Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a device of the present invention; Figure 2 shows a plan view of a first engaging portion of the present invention; Figure 3 shows an end view of the portion shown in Figure 2; Figure 4 shows a plan view of a second portion of a device of the present invention; Figure 5 shows an end view of the portion shown in Figure 4; Figure 6 shows a plan view of a pointer means of the present invention; and Figure 7 is a plan view of a hinge used in the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, a trueing device 10 has attaching means in the form of attaching portions 12 and 14 and an alignment means in the form of an engaging means in the form of edge 16 of second attaching portion 14. The device 10 also has pointer means 18 which is suspended from suspension means 20 and indicator means 22 and 24.

First attaching portion 12 of the attaching means has a gripping edge 26 for gripping the wallpaper and has a handle

28. Second attaching portion 14 also has a handle 30. The first and second attaching portions 12 and 14 are hinged relative to one another by hinge 32 and the handles 28 and 30 are biassed away from each other by spring 34. Pointer 18 is also provided with slot 36.

In use device 10 is brought into engagement with the long, edge of a sheet of wallpaper (not shown). The attaching means is opened, approximately as shown in Figure 1, by pressing handles 28 and 30 towards each other against the biassing forces spring 34 with the fingers of one hand. The edge of the wallpaper is pressed into engagement with engaging means 16 such that the edge of the paper is engagement along all of the length of engaging means 16. This attachment of device 10 would normally occur once the wallpaper has been pasted and is ready to be hung on the wall. The wallpaper is then offered up to the wall with the paper held just above the location of the device 10. The pointer 18 will hang approximately in the direction of the indicator 22 and the alignment of the paper against the wall can be altered such that the pointer points directly at indicator 22. The device 10 may also include lines, such as-chose indicated at 38, in particular a line which is visible through slot 36 makes it easy to see whether this line is parallel with the sides of slot 36 and therefore whether the paper is indeed vertical.

The device as shown in Figures 1 and 2 is oriented for use in

the right hand. If the user of the device wished to operate it L with their left hand the device is rotated through 180 about pivot 20, and slot 36 of pointer 18 slides along pivot 20.

Pointer 18 now points towards indicator 24.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only, and not in any limitative sense, and that various modifications and

alterations are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. For example the engaging means may be provided on the first retaining portion, rather than as shown on the second retaining portion, as this would increase the accuracy of the device. The calibration of the device (ie the application of the indicator means) could be done easily in relation to the same portion of the retaining means on which the engaging means is located.

Claims

Claims 1. A trueing device comprising :- attaching means for attaching the device to a sheet of material; alignment means for aligning the device with an edge of said material; pointer means pivotally suspended in use from said attaching means; and indicator means for indicating when said pointer is aligned at a predetermined angle relative to said alignment means.
2. A device according to claim 1, wherein said attaching means comprises at least one clip.
3. A device according to claim 2, wherein at least one said clip comprises at least one respective first retaining portion biased towards at least one respective second retaining portion, the or each first and second portions thereby adapted to grip said material therebetween.
4. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said alignment means comprises edge engaging means adapted to engage at least one edge of said material.
5. A device according to claim 4, wherein said edge engaging means comprises an edge of a portion of said attaching means adapted to substantially match an edge of said material.

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6. A device according to claim 5, wherein said edge engaging means is substantially linear.
7. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said pointer means comprises an elongate member having at least one pointed end.
8. A device according to claim 7, wherein said pointer means further comprises a slot extending substantially along the length of said member, and having a suspension means slidably located therein.
9. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said pointer means is enclosed within protection means having at least one transparent portion therein.
10. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said predetermined angle of said pointer is substantially parallel to said alignment means.
11. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein indicator means comprises at least one mark located on a portion of said attaching means.
12. A device according to any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein said indicator means comprises at least one line which is visible within said slot when alignment means and pointer are at said predetermined angle.
13. A trueing device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.