GB2431131A

GB2431131A - Surface mounted decorative element removal device

Info

Publication number: GB2431131A
Application number: GB0520867A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Winston Ashmore
Original assignee: P T PROFILES Ltd
Current assignee: P T PROFILES Ltd
Priority date: 2005-10-14
Filing date: 2005-10-14
Publication date: 2007-04-18
Also published as: GB0520867D0

Abstract

A tool for removing decorative elements (eg. tiles, skirting boards, dado rails) which are affixed to a surface, whilst minimising damage to the element or the surface. The tool comprises a planar section 12, the front edge of which is chamfered 28 such that its upper surface 14 overhangs its lower surface (26). A cranked section 16, which may be integral with or attached to the planar member, supports a handle 18. The lower end of handle 18 is strengthened to resist blows from eg. a hammer or mallet without significant damage. The handle points forwardly of the cranked section, its longitudinal axis forming an acute angle with the plane of the planar section. In use, the planar section is lodged under the edge of an article to be removed and then hammered fully under it, before being used as a lever to remove the said article. The reverse chamfer on the planar section ensures that the planar section is not driven into the surface on which the article is mounted and the cranked section provides room for the user to apply hammer strokes without impacting on that surface.

Description

SURFACE-MOUNTED DECORATIVE ELEMENT REMOVAL DEViCE The present invention

relates to a removal device for removing a decorative item attached to a supporting surface, and to a method of using such a device It is presently difficult for a trades person or a do-it-yourself' person to cleanly remove tiles, dado rails, skirting and other types of decorative items fixed to walls and floors Typically, in the past, chisels of various types have been employed. However, these have the significant disadvantage that, because of their geometry, they tend to dig' into and damage the supporting surface as they are being urged beneath the decorative item The present invention seeks to solve this problem.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a removal device for removing a surface-mounted decorative item, the device comprising. a locating element having a resilient planar portion for positioning beneath a decorative item attached to a supporting surface, and a cranked portion; and a handle attached or attachable to the cranked portion of the locating element, the cranked portion being cranked such that the handle is spaced from the plane of the planar portion, so that, in use, [lie planar portion can be urged, via the cranked portion, beneath the decorative item without damaging the supporting surface Preferable and/or optional features of the first aspect of the invention are set forth in claims 2 to 8, inclusive According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of removing a decorative item attached to a supporting surface, the method comprising the steps of: a) urging at least part of the planar portion of the locating element of the removal device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims between the decorative item and the supporting surface, and b) tilting the planar portion away from the supporting surface, so that the decorative item is separated from the supporting surface Preferably, in step (a), the planar portion is urged between the decorative item and the supporting surface by striking the cranked portion. The cranked portion is thus advantageous, since it spaces the striking point away from the supporting surface According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a removal device for removing a surface-mounted decorative item, the device comprising a locating element having opposing upper and lower major surfaces and including a resilient planar portion for positioning beneath a decorative item attached to a supporting surface; and a handle attached or attachable to the locating element, a leading edge of the planar portion having a chamfer which forms an acute included angle with the upper major surface of the locating element, whereby the upper major surface overhangs the lower major surface According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a removal device for removing a surface-mounted decorative item, the device comprising a locating element including a resilient planar portion for positioning beneath a decorative item attached to a supporting surface; and a handle attached or attachable to the locating element, a longitudinal axis of the handle forming an acute angle with the S planar portion of the locating element.

The present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a removal device, in accordance with the first, third and fourth aspects of the invention, and Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the removal device, shown in Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a removal device 10 for removing a surface-mounted decorative item. The removal device 10 comprises a locating element 12 having a planar portion 14 and a cranked portion 16, and a handle 18 removably connected to the cranked portion 16 and having a grip 20 located over a distal or free end thereof.

The locating element 12 is typically formed from hot-rolled plate steel, due to the resilient nature of this material.

The planar portion 14, in this case, is a flat plate having upper and lower major surfaces 24, 26, and leading and trailing edges 28, 30. The cranked portion 16 is contiguous with the planar portion 14, extending from the trailing edge 30 thereof. The planar portion [4 preferably has a thickness of no less than 1 6 millimetres (mm) The leading edge 28 of the planar portion 14 includes a reverse chamfer 32. The chamfer 32 forms an acute included angle with the upper major surface 24 of the planar portion 14 In this way, the upper major surface 24 overhangs or projects beyond the lower major surface 26.

The handle 18 is attachable to the cranked portion 16 so that it projects away from an upper surface 34 thereof The cranked portion 16 is cranked so that the handle 18 is spaced from plane P of the planar portion 14 The handle 18 includes a threaded opening 36 in a base 38 of the handle 18, and iS the cranked portion 16 includes an aperture 40 for accepting a screw-threaded fastener 42, such as an Alan-key headed bolt. To attach the handle 18, the base 38 of the handle 18 is first positioned on the cranked portion 16 so that the aperture 40 in the cranked portion 16 and the threaded opening 36 in the base 38 align The screw-threaded fastener 42 is then inserted through the aperture 40, from a lower surface 44 of the cranked portion 16, and screw- threadingly engaged in the screw-threaded opening 36.

The handle 18 is removed by simply disengaging the screw-threaded fastener 42 The handle 18 is generally oriented in the direction of the leading edge 28 of the planar portion 14 A longitudinal axis X of the handle 18 forms an acute angle with the planar portion 14 To provide for this orientation, the base 38 of the handle 18 includes a bottom surface 46 which is non-perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the handle The base 38 of the handle 18 also includes a toughened portion 48 to allow striking The toughened portion 48 is formed from iron or steel. The handle 18 is tubular, with the toughened portion 48 being an insert located in the base 38.

Alternatively, the handle 18 can be a rod entirely formed from steel or iron, thus inherently including the toughened portion at the base 38 thereof In use, the handle 18 is attached to the locating element 12 at the cranked portion 16 so that it is angled forwardly. The leading edge 28 of the planar portion 14 is positioned between the decorative item to be removed and the supporting surface to which the decorative item is attached The handle 18 is struck at the toughened portion 48 with a striking implement, typically being a hammer or mallet, to drive the planar portion 14 between the decorative item and the supporting surface Due to the cranked portion 16 spacing the handle 18, and thus the toughened portion 48, away from the supporting surface, the supporting surface is not, or is less likely to be, damaged by the striking implement.

Due to the reverse chamfer 32 at the leading edge 28 of the planar portion 14, the planar portion 14 does not exhibit a tendency to dig into the supporting surface as the planar portion 14 is driven between the decorative item and the supporting surface.

Once the planar portion 14 is partly or fully interposed between the decorative item and the supporting surface, the locating element 12 is tilted by either raising the cranked portion 16 to pivot the planar portion 14 about the leading edge 28, or angularly displacing the handle 18 to pivot the planar portion 14 about the trailing edge 30. This movement results in the decorative item being cleanly separated from the supporting surface The method is then repeated to remove the rest of the decorative item, or to remove a further decorative item The handle can be permanently attached to the locating element It is envisaged that the handle can be shaped to extend around the edge of the 1 5 cranked portion, so as to be attached or attachable to the lower surface of the cranked portion Alternatively, or additionally, the handle itself can include a crank to allow it to extend in a first direction, for example perpendicularly from the upper surface of the cranked portion, before then extending in a generally forwards direction.

The handle could extend rearwardly of the planar portion. However, this is not preferable since it makes it more difficult to position the planar portion of the locating element at or adjacent to a corner.

The planar portion can include prongs, or openings. Various differently dimensioned and/or shaped locating elements can be provided to enable inter-operable selection, depending on the dimensions of the decorative item to be removed.

The cranked portion can include an upwardly turned edge or edges to act as a chip guard It is thus possible to provide a removal device which, due to the flat plate planar portion, can be easily driven beneath a decorative item to be removed The provision of the cranked portion allows the planar portion to be easily urged beneath the decorative item without damage to the supporting surface. The reverse chamfer on the leading edge of the planar portion prevents the planar portion from being redirected into the supporting surface The provision of a removable handle permits simple and compact storage The embodiments described above are given by way of examples only, and various other modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

I A removal device for removing a surface-mounted decorative item, the device comprising a locating element having a resilient planar portion for positioning beneath a decorative item attached to a supporting surface, and a cranked portion, and a handle attached or attachable to the cranked portion of the locating element, the cranked portion being cranked such that the handle is spaced from the plane of the planar portion, so that, in use, the planar portion can be urged, via the cranked portion, beneath the decorative item without damaging the supporting surface.

2 A removal device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the planar portion and the cranked portion are unitarily formed as part of the locating element 3. A removal device as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the planar portion and the cranked portion are contiguous with each other 4 A removal device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein a longitudinal axis of the handle forms an acute angle with the planar portion of the locating element A removal device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the handle includes a toughened portion, the toughened portion enabling striking with a striking implement without or substantially without damaging the handle.

6 A removal device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the toughened portion is positioned at and/or adjacent to the base of the handle adjacent to the cranked portion 7 A removal device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a chamfer at a leading edge of the planar portion, the chamfer forming an acute included angle with an upper major surface of the locating element, whereby the upper major surface overhangs a lower major surface of the locating element 8. A removal device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the locating element is formed from hot-rolled steel 9 A removal device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. A method of removing a decorative item attached to a supporting surface, the method comprising the steps of: a) urging at least part of the planar portion of the locating element of the removal device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims between the decorative item and the supporting surface; and b) tilting the planar portion away from the supporting surface, so that the decorative item is separated from the supporting surface 11. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein, in step (a), the planar portion is urged between the decorative item and the supporting surface by striking the cranked portion.

12 A removal device for removing a surface-mounted decorative item, the device comprising a locating element having opposing upper and lower major surfaces and including a resilient planar portion for positioning beneath a decorative item attached to a supporting surface, and a handle attached or attachable to the locating element, a leading edge of the planar portion having a chamfer which forms an acute included angle with the upper major surface of the locating element, whereby the upper major surface overhangs the lower major surface.

13 A removal device for removing a surfacemounted decorative item, the device comprising a locating element including a resilient planar portion for positioning beneath a decorative item attached to a supporting surface, and a handle attached or attachable to the locating clement, a longitudinal axis of the handle forming an acute angle with the planar portion of the locating element