US3050232A

US3050232A - Door frame protector

Info

Publication number: US3050232A
Application number: US819583A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lionel M Sutherland
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1959-06-11
Filing date: 1959-06-11
Publication date: 1962-08-21
Anticipated expiration: 1979-08-21

Description

Aug. 21, 1962 L. M. SUTHERLAND DooR FRAME PROTECTOR Filed June 1l, 1959 BY QJ; @Q

ATTORNEYS.

United States attent 3,050,232 DOOR FRAME PROTECTOR Lionel M. Sutherland, 74 River Drive, Tequesta, Fla. Filed `lune 11, 1959, Ser. No. 819,583 2 Claims. (Cl. 229-40) This invention relates to protective coverings for use in building construction, and more particularly, it relates to a disposable protective cover for exposed construction materials for use during 'the building operation. During the operations incidental to the construction of various building structures, and in the accompanying moving period, there is a constant danger of causing costly damage to exposed finished and partly finished construction elements such as doorways, [trimmed openings, partition ends, and closet openings. Attempts have been made to alleviate such damage, for example it is customary to nail a wooden strip at each side of a door frame for this purpose. This method, however, is inadequate and costly in that the protection is afforded to only two of several exposed surfaces and the incidental damage caused by the nailing requires the making of repairs by skilled labor.

It is an object of this invention to provide an economical protective structure which may be used to cover finished and partly finished exposed construction elements during various stages of building.

It is another object of this invention to provide such a protective article which can be applied rapidly by unskilled labor.

It is another object to provide a protective covering for construction material which is re-usable in that it may readily be removed from one construction job and be subsequently applied to other construction jobs as building operations progress.

It is another object of this invention to provide such a protective structure which will absorb rthe shock inherent in collisions which occur during normal building operations, thereby protecting fnished and semi-finished construction elements.

It is another object to provide a self-supporting protective cover for construction material, which may be applied to and removed from construction elements in a building without incidental damage to the protected material.

It is another object to provide a protective article for covering construction material which may readily be applied and removed from a construction element in sequence with the various building operations performed upon that element.

Other objects and advantages of the article of this invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specication and from the drawings wherein:

FIG. l is a broken perspective view of an article constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective View of a door opening in a building wall to `which the article of this invention has been applied.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the lines and in the direction of the arrows III-III of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a broken perspective view taken of a corner of the section shown in FIG. 3, showing the means of applying the article of this invention to a construction element.

The article of this invention generally comprises an elongated flexible sheet-like member having shock absorbing characteristics, and having formed therein a plurality of transverse elongated flap portions along the longitudinal edges thereof and coextensively therewith, and a plurality of readily deformable elongated fastening members affixed to one surface of the sheet-like member, each fastening member overlying a major portion of the longitudinal dimension of a ilap portion, whereby the sheet-'like member may be removably attached so as to cover a threesided construction element by folding the sheet-like member with the fastening members exposed around the three sides of the construction element and deforming the fastening member and the underlying flexible ap por-tions so as to engage projections of the construction element. The specific embodiment of this invention chosen for representation and shown in FIG. 1 comprises a flexible elongated sheet member 11 which consists of an outer liner 12, an inner liner 13, and a shock absorbing core 14. Core 114 is here shown as a corrugated sheet material which `may economically be formed from material such as paper, impregnated fabric, and fthe like. Alternatively, core 14 may be a sheet of resilient foam-like material of natural or synthetic origin. However, it is essential that core 14- have shock absorbing characteristics for use in accordance with the principles of this invention. Directed inwardly of the longitudinal edges of member 11 are a plurality of elongated transverse aps 17 which are formed by cutting through member 11 in a transverse direction along

lines

18 and 19. Other similar liaps may be located as desired along the longitudinal edges as required. There is placed longitudinally coextensive with each flap 17 a readily deformable fastening member 20 having an innermost end portion 21, which is securely fastened to the body of member 11 by a plurality of fasteners 22 (see also FIG. 3). Fastening member 20 may be readily formed from an inexpensive material such as a thin sheet of soft metal or from a readily deformable plastic material. Portion 21 of member 20 may be also fastened to the outer liner 12 by any suitable fastening means such as adhesives and the like. For the purposes of the embodiment of this invention shown in FIG. l, a pair of

parallel score lines

23, 24 have been spaced transversely of the outer liner 112 running longitudinally thereof whereby member 11 is easily adapted to be shaped in accordance with the principles of 'this invention as hereinafter described.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the article of this invention is shown in use as a protective covering material for a door opening in a building wall 30. At the base wall 30 lare shown the conventional baseboards 31. By referring also to FIGS. 3 and 4, it is seen that the door opening consists of framing studs 32, 33, door jamb 34, door stop 35,

moldings

36, 37, and finished surfaces 38. Three measured sheets 11 of the article of this invention have been applied Ito the door opening thus constructed so as -to completely cover the exposed surfaces thereof which would be normally subjected to `damage by reason of contact :by tools, other elements of building construction, and painting and cleaning liquids, for example. Each sheet 11 of the protective article of this invention is applied to a uni-directional surface of the door opening by folding the sheet 11 along the previously scored

lines

23, 24, or at other points as required by the particular measurements of the individual construction members. Having conformed the sheet 11 generally to the prole of the door opening, the aps 17 with their adjacent deformable fastening members 20 are securely crimped behind the

molding members

36, 37, thereby holding the member 11 in place. In this manner adequate protection is given to the exposed construction elements so as to resist the normal abuse inherent in the building operations conducted in the vicinity of the door opening. By thus applying the sheets 11, it is seen that complete protection is alforded to the door stop 35, the jamb 34, and

molding strips

36, 37 Likewise, added protection is incidentally provided for a portion of the baseboa'rd 31.

When it is desired to remove the protective sheet 11 from the construction element, it is only necessary to partially straighten -the combined flap and fastening member arrangement, thus allowing the complete article to be removed from the protected construction element. When thus removed, the sheet 11 may be transferred to another like construction element for similar use, or may be replaced on the same construction element during a later stage of construction, or even during the incidental moving operations which -follow the completion of the construction program. 4For example, the door opening shown in FIG. 2 may have several nishing opera-tions performed thereon and likewise, the plaster surface 38 of Wall 30 may require certain inishing operations. In such a case the sheet 11 `may be required to be removed several times before the completion of construction. Because of the possibility of various of the construction elements becoming wet at various times, it is desirable to form the outer and

inner liners

12, 13 of a moisture resistant material, thereby prolonging the useful life of the protective article of this invention.

From the above description it will lbe apparent that the protective article described herein provides a simple and economical means for protecting a great number of construction elements in their completed or partially completed Iforms. The article of this invention Vmay -be -applied to construction members without the use of skilled labor, thereby resulting in considerable economic savings. An additional advantage provided by the article of this invention is its reusable nature. n It may be possible in certain circumstances to continue using pre-cut protective articles formed in accordance with the principles of this invention on several independent building projects, thereby tremendously increasing the economic advantages to be gained 30 from the use of this protective material.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred embodiment. Various changes may be made in the shape,

size, and arrangement of the parts. For example, equivalent elements may be substituted for those illustrated and described herein, parts may be reversed, and certain teatures of the invention may be utilized independently of the use of other features, all Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A protective article for installed construction materials comprising in combination an elongated exible sheet of cellulosic material consisting of an outer layer, a corrugated core, and an inner layer; the sheet having formed transversely of each of its longitudinal edges'a three-sided integral flap, the outer free edge of the ap being aligned with the respective longitudinal edge of the sheet; a readily deformable fastening member aixed to the outer layer of the sheet, the fastening member having a width not greater than that of the ap and a length such that it overlies a major portion of the ap in alignment therewith.

2. The article in accordance with claim 1 wherein the outer and inner layers are Water resistant.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 625,858 Thornton May 30, 1899 1,221,755 Lehman lApr. 3, 1917 1,561,471 Kress Nov. 17, 1925 2,731,191 Layne Jan. 17, 1956 2,794,761 Williamson June 4, 1957 2,837,787 Wright June 10, 1958 2,895,431 Ford July 21, 1959 2,979,257. Bergstein Apr. 1l, 1961