GB2387626A

GB2387626A - A sealing member for sealing a gap between two adjacent components, e.g. a shower tray and a wall

Info

Publication number: GB2387626A
Application number: GB0208889A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Brian Watson
Original assignee: Polypipe Building Products Ltd
Current assignee: Polypipe Building Products Ltd
Priority date: 2002-04-18
Filing date: 2002-04-18
Publication date: 2003-10-22
Anticipated expiration: 2022-04-18
Also published as: GB0208889D0; GB2387626B

Abstract

A sealing member 1 comprises a double-sided self-adhesive tape which includes a carrier layer 2, adhesive layers 3 and peel-off protective backing layers 4. Adhesive layers are provided either side of carrier layer 2. Backing layers 4 are provided with a broken portion 5 to facilitate easy removal of one half of a backing layer 4. The sealing member is used to provide a seal between a shower tray and a wall against which the tray is mounted.

Description

It: SEALING MEMBER

The present invention relates to a sealing member for sealing a gap between two adjacent components requiring a seal therebetween, and to the combination of a sealing member with a slower tray and a wall.

In many circumstances it is required to provide a seal between two adjacent or abutted components. Such a seal can prevent water, dust, dirt and other items from getting into a gap between the two components. Witllout a seal between two such components contaminants sully as dirt, water etc. can enter the gap region in between tle two components, and over a period of tinge, force tile two components apart. In situations where the components are required to co-operate closely in use, such a gap is undesirable.

Previous methods of sealing two components have included mechanical fastenings such as nuts and bolts and sealant "mixtures" designed to "plug" and fill tile gap between the sealed components.

However, it is difficult to obtain a good quality water tight seal with mechanical components. However, a sealant mixture or "putty" mixture can provide a good quality seal but Nay be messy and inconvenient to use and may require significant skill and practice to apply correctly.

It is therefore desired to provide an improved sealing member for sealing two components.

Accordingly, tle present invention provides a sealing member for sealing a gap between two adjacent components, said sealing member including at least two adhesive portions located on opposite major surfaces of tile mender, tle arrangement being such that said adhesive

portions, in use, are spatially offset from one another and bond a respective surface of the member to a component to be sealed.

Thus the sealing member provides a common link between the components to be sealed and the adhesive portions are advantageously located on opposite major surfaces of the member to co-operate with surfaces of components to be sealed.

The adhesive portion of the sealing member may include self-

adhesive. This type of adhesive is particularly convenient for modular assembly of components. Sealing with self-adhesive can be effected by a user on site quickly, easily and cleanly without need for preparation of a separate adhesive.

Furthermore, the member may be flexible. This enables the sealing member to be easily fitted and shaped around the components that require to be sealed. Such a flexible sealing member does not place strict requirements on the shape or close proximity of the components to be sealed, as it can adjust its shape to different components and stir] provide a good quality seal.

The adhesive portion of the sealing member may extend along part of the length of the member or extend along the entire length of the member. Such arrangements of the adhesive portion increase the versatility of the sealing member.

The,elf-adhesive portion of the sealing member may comprise any form of self-adhesive as known in the art. However, preferably, the self-adhesive portion comprises a self-adhesive layer (on a carrier layer) and a protective layer over the self-adhesive layer. The protective layer is preferably removable by peeling. This is a further

advantageous feature of the sealing member that makes sealing two components with the sealing member a simple procedure. The protective layer protects and preserves the adhesive nature of the self-

adhesive layer until the sealing member is required in a sealing operation. Preferably, the removable protective layer includes an easytear portion, such as a slit or broken line. This enables portions of the protective layer to be easily removed by a user without removing the entire protective layer.

The protective layer of the sealing member may further include printed features on its surface, such features naay include wording giving instructions to the user such as, for example, "Remove this backing and fix to wall" or "Remove this backing and fix to outside top edge of shower tray". Such printed features can advantageously provide information and instruction about the sealing operation to a home user or technician in a handy and easily accessible form.

The sealing member may be constructed *om two sealing elements bonded together. In such a construction the sealing elements are provided with an adhesive portion on only one major surface and the sealing elements are bonded together at their respective adhesive portions in use in order to produce a sealing member. Such a Nodular construction advantageously provides a sealing member produced from multiples of a basic component, wherein the basic component is a sealing element provided with an adhesive portion on only one major surface, for example, single-sided adhesive tape.

The adhesive portion of the sealing member may comprise bitumastic.

The material of the sealing member may comprise polyethylene.

The sealing member may be in the form of a kit. Thus, construction and manufacturing costs may, advantageously, be reduced as smaller, less complex components are required.

The present invention also provides an assembled combination including a sealing member as described above, a shower tray and a wall. This provides an advantageous seal between a shower tray and a wall of, for example, a bathroom. That assembled combination including the present invention may be provided in the form of a kit.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a sealing member (in side view) in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a sealing member (in side view) in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram (side view) of two complementary sealing elements.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram (side view) of a sealing member in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention, formed fron1 the sealing elements of Fig. 3 Fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram (side view) of the sealing member of the present invention in use in combination with a shower tray and a wall.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown sealing November l for sealing a gap 50 in between adjacent components 51, 52, including at least two adhesive portions 55, 56 on opposite major surfaces of the member 1 wherein such adhesive portions 555 56 are spatially offset from one another, the arrangement being such that adhesive portions 55, 56, in use, bond a respective surface of tle member 1 to a component 51, 52 to be sealed.

Fig. 1, shows an embodiment of the sealing member l of the present invention wherein the sealing member l comprises a double sided selfadl1esive tape. The sealing member 1 comprises carrier layer 2, adhesive layers 3 and peel off, protective backing layers 4.

Adhesive layers 3 are provided either side of carrier layer 2. Backing layers 4 are provided with a broken portion 5 to facilitate easy removal of only one half of a backing layer 4.

Fig. 2, shows an alternative embodiment of the present invention in which adhesive layer 3 is selectively provided at top 7 and bottom 6 regions of opposite major surfaces of November 1. In this embodiment peel off protective backing layer 4 is provided only in those regions with adhesive layer 3.

Fig. 4 shows a further enbodin1ent of the sealing member of the present invention, constructed from two single sided self-adhesive tapes 21 shown in Fig. 3. Single sided self-adhesive tapes 21 each comprise carrier layer 22, adhesive layer 23, and peel off protective backing layer 24. Protective backing layer 24 is broken at position 26.

Sealing member 1 shown in Fig. 4 is constructed by removing peel off backing layer 24 starting at cut 26 and bonding the revealed adhesive portions of the two single sided self-adhesive tapes 21 together, forming the structure shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 5, shows the sealing member of Fig. 1 or Fig. 2 in use in bonding a shower tray 51 to a wall 52 and thus providing a seal therebetween. In use, the embodiment shown in Figs. l, 2 and 45 having a length (not shown) equal to the length of the shower tray 51, is placed between the shower tray 51 and the wall 52 and fitted as set out below.

Protective layer 4, 24 is removed from the lower section 6 of the major surface of the sealing member 1 and the sealing member 1 is bonded to the outside of the shower tray 51 as shown in Fig. 5. The tray 51 is then pushed into position against wall 52 and protective backing layer 4, 24 is removed from upper section 7 and is then bonded to wall 52.

Prior to using the sealing member 1 as described above it may first be necessary for the user or technician fitting the sealing member 1 to clean and degrease the surface of the wall 52 and the shower tray 51, in order to facilitate a strong bonding of the adhesive to those surfaces.

After fitting the sealing member 1 a seal is provided at 50, preventing water, dirt and other debris from entering the gap region 60 between the wall 52 and the shower tray 51.

After the sealing member of the present invention has Leon fitted as described above tiles may be adhered to wall 52 and over upper section 7 of sealing member l down to the top edge of shower tray 51 in order to provide a neat finish and to obscure the sealing member 1 from general view. Furthermore, in order to improve the wear and sealing properties provided by the sealing member 1 a silicone gel, or

other waterproof gel may be provided at sealing point 50, along the length of the sealing member.

In order to facilitate easy application and fitting of sealing member 1, the peel off protective layer 4, 24 can be printed with instructions. For example, "remove this backing and fit to wall" may be provided in upper region 7 and printing "remove this backing layer and fix to outside top edge of shower tray" may be provided on the backing layer 4, 24 on lower section 6. The peel off protective backing layer provided on the sealing n1ember 1 is preferably non-stick in order to facilitate easy storage and handling of sealing men1ber 1.

It will be appreciated that the above-described embodiments are given by way of example only and that various modifications thereto may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, a sealing member 1 as described above could be attached between a wall and a bath, sink or other bathroom, kitchen, washroom components where a seal is required. In addition, other materials, such as rubber, could be used for the sealing member and other types of adhesive material, or self-adhesive material could be used, although the applicants have found that a high tack adhesive is particularly suitable for the embodiment described above.

Claims

SEALING MEMBER CLAIMS

1 A sealing member for sealing a gap between torso adjacent components, said sealing member including at least two adhesive portions located on opposite major surfaces of the member, the arrangement being such that said adhesive portions, in use, are spatially offset from one another and bond a respective surface of the member to a component to be sealed.

2. A member according to Claim 1 wherein an adhesive portion includes a

self-adhesive.

3. A member according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the member is flexible.

4. A member according to any preceding claim wherein an adhesive portion extends along part of the length of the member.

5. A member according to any preceding claim wherein an adhesive portion extends along the entire length of the member.

6. A member according to any of claims 2 to 5 wherein the self-adhesive portion comprises a self-adhesive layer and a protective, peelably removable layer on the self-adhesive layer, the arrangement being such that, in use, the protective layer is removed to expose the adhesive for sealing.

7. A November according to claim 5 wherein the protective layer includes a broken portion, the arrangement being such that a portion of the protective layer can be easily removed.

e

8. A member according to Claim 6 or 7, wherein the protective layer includes printed surface features.

9. A member according to any preceding claim wherein the member comprises at least two sealing elements provided Title an adhesive portion on only one major surface, said elements being bonded together at their adhesive portions in use to produce a sealing member.

10. A member according to any preceding claim wherein the adhesive is bitumastic.

11. A member according to any preceding claim wherein the member comprises polyethylene.

12. A member according to any preceding claim wherein the member is provided in kit fond.

13. The assembled combination of a shower tray and a wall and a sealing member according to any preceding claim.

14. The combination as claimed in claim 12 wherein the combination comprises a kit.

15. A member substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.