US3715844A

US3715844A - Floor construction including carpeted trench headers

Info

Publication number: US3715844A
Application number: US00118415A
Authority: US
Inventors: R Breading
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-02-24
Filing date: 1971-02-24
Publication date: 1973-02-13
Anticipated expiration: 1990-02-13

Abstract

In a floor construction especially of the type which includes a floor slab and a trench header embedded in the floor slab and covered by a trench header cover, carpet on the floor slab and on the trench header cover has abutting edges where it meets. A carpet strip is secured to the abutting edges, having an elongated base underlying the carpet backing, and having an upstanding edge portion secured to the base and running along the edge of the carpet. The edge portion with the base makes an angle between 80* and 84*, preferably 83* . The edge portion at its top is below the top of the pile, and it extends above the carpet backing, locking the carpet at the edge. The carpet strip is secured to the carpet and to the floor slab or the trench header cover as the case may be. The back of the carpet strip preferably is of diminishing thickness at the edge remote from the upstanding edge portion.

Description

United States Patent 1 1 Breading FLOOR CONSTRUCTION INCLUDING CARPETED TRENCH HEADERS [76] lnventor: Robert P. Breading, 714 Pine Street,

Philadelphia, Pa.

22 Filed: Feb. 24, 1971 21 Appl.No.: 118,415

UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,722,660 7/1929 Connelly ..52/288 2,881,485 4/1959 Hyman ..16/7 X 3,204,378 9/1965 Stuessel et al... .....52/221 607,457 7/1898 Rasmussen ..52/179 1,789,875 1/1931 Loudenslager ..52/179 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS France ..16/16 1 1 Feb. 13, 1973 Primary ExaminerAlfred C. Perham Attorney-Jackson, Jackson & Chovanes 7 ABSTRACT In a floor construction especially of the type which includes a floor slab and a trench header embedded in the floor slab and covered by a trench header cover, carpet on the floor slab and on the trench header cover has abutting edges where it meets. A carpet strip is secured to the abutting edges, having an elongated base underlying the carpet backing, and having an upstanding edge portion secured to the base and running along the edge of the carpet. The edge portion with the base makes an angle between 80 and 84, preferably 83. The edge portion at its top is below the top of the pile, and it extends above the carpet backing, locking the carpet at the edge. The carpet strip is secured to the carpet and to the floor slab or the trench header cover as the case may be. The back of the carpet strip preferably is of diminishing thickness at the edge remote from the upstanding edge portion.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEB13 i975 3.715.844 SHEET 1 [IF 2 l "'IIII',

Wren rue ROBERT P. BREADING 5/ Q QWJ M FLOOR CONSTRUCTION INCLUDING CARPETED TRENCH HEADERS DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improved carpet edge retaining device, intended particularly when the abutting edges of carpet meet some distance out from the wall of the room, as in the case where the floor has carpeted trench header covers. The invention is also applicable to the edges of the carpet which adjoin the wall of the room.

A purpose of the invention is to lock and retain a carpet having a pile and a backing by a carpet protecting strip, which has a base underlying the carpet and secured thereto, and an upstanding edge portion extending along the exposed edge of the carpet, and making with the base an angle between 80 and 84, preferably 83, so that it will overlie the backing of the carpet but will end below the top of the carpet pile.

A further purpose is to provide upstanding edges of a carpet strip as described which are back to back around the limiting edge of a trench header cover, permitting the trench header cover to be removed and replaced without damaging the carpet.

A further purpose is to provide a feather edge on the edge of the base of the strip remote from the upstanding edge of the strip.

Further purposes appear in the specification and in the claims.

In the drawings I have chosen to illustrate one only of the numerous embodiments in which my invention may appear, selecting the form shown from the standpoints of convenience in illustration, satisfactory operation and clear demonstration of the principles involved.

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective of a building floor to which the invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section showing the meeting of a trench header cover with the floor slab.

FIG. 3 is a vertical section of the carpet protecting strip of the invention.

In the prior art, in constructing buildings having concrete floor slabs which make the ultimate floor of the building, it is common practice to embed in the floor slab an electrical distribution system consisting of Q decks or conduits connecting to trench headers. When an electrical outlet is desired, it is then possible to drill through the floor at the location of a conduit and make electrical connection. Trench headers are open-topped troughs running through the floor, and covered by covers which must be from time to time taken up to change the electrical distribution.

When the trench headers and the floor slab were covered by tile, such as asphalt or vinyl tile, the construction did not present serious difficulties. However, due to the cost of maintaining tile floors, it is now the general practice to carpet the floor slab and the trench covers. This necessitates abutting edges of the carpeting around the outer limits of the trench header cover and where two trench header covers meet.

This abutting edge of the carpet presents a serious problem. It cannot be bound in the way carpet is commonly bound at the edge of the room because this leaves an unsightly exposed portion, which is not uniform on the surface of the pile, and in which persons are likely to catch the heel or toe of a shoe. Merely providing cement on the edge of the backing is not adequate because the carpet has a poorly supported first row of pile, and tends to unravel at that point or at least allow the edgemost row of pile to lean over, disastrously affecting the appearance.

The present invention is also applicable to protecting the edgemost portion of the carpet where it adjoins the wall of the room.

According to the present invention, a carpet protecting strip of L-shape is provided having a base which underlies and is secured as by cement to the base of the carpet and having an upstanding edge portion adjoining the edge of the carpet. The upstanding edge portion forms a re-entrant angle with the base of the strip, the angle between the two being between and 84, preferably 83, providing a slight setback when looking down on the joint The setback is preferably of the order of one-sixteenth inch per carpet.

The upstanding edge portion has a height which is not greater than and preferably less than the height of the top of the carpet pile and a height which is at least as great as the carpet backing, so that it forms a lock or engagement over the top of the carpet backing and will not permit the carpet to be dislodged. The upstanding edge is suitably cemented to the backing of the carpet.

The base of the strip preferably has a feather edge or a progressively diminished thickness on the edge remote from the upstanding edge, and since the strip is cemented to the slab or the trench header cover below, it protects against a sudden change in height of the top of the pile which might cause wear or contribute to danger of catching the foot in the carpet.

In effect, therefore, where the header cover meets of the slab there are on all sides back to back upstanding edges of the carpet protecting strip which allow the trench header cover to be removed without damage to the carpet.

In the construction of the invention, a floor slab 10 has conduits or Q-floor 11 embedded in it and the conduits connect to a trench header 12 which has side rails 13 supporting trench header covers 14.

Set on the slab as by cementing to it is slab carpet l5 and supported on the trench header cover is trench header carpet 16 cemented at the back at 17. Each carpet consists of a backing 18 which in the usual case involves a fabric backing l9 and a foam rubber backing 20. Depending on the construction of the carpet, whether woven or tufted, the fabric backing will change its character, but the invention is equally applicable to any carpet of pile construction. The carpet has a cut or uncut pile 21 secured in the backing.

A carpet protecting strip 22 is preferably of extruded plastic, for example polyvinyl chloride, although it may be made of any extruded plastic such as nylon, polyethylene, polypropylene, or the like. The plastic chosen is preferably an elastic rather than a rigid material. The strip 22 may be made of metal such as asluminum alloy or magnesium alloy.

Each carpet protecting strip consists of an elongated base 23 which is of diminishing thickness at a feather edge 24 so that its increase in thickness will be gradual. The base joins at 25 an upstanding edge portion 26. This forms an angle 27 with the base which is slightly less than a right angle and between about 80 and 84, preferably 83. The top 28 of the upstanding edge has a height greater than the thickness of the backing of the carpet and less than the thickness of the backing plus the height of the pile so that it overlies the backing of the carpet adjoining the edge and thus protects against the carpet rolling up at the edge.

The strip is cemented above the base to the carpet at 30 and at the end of the base the upstanding edge is cemented to the carpet at 31. There is cement at 32 which joins the bottom of the base to the surface below.

Thus, the trench header cover can be lifted up with the carpet without pulling up or marring the carpet on the slab and the trench header cover can be restored into position without damaging the carpet on the slab.

In case the principles of the invention are to be applied to the outer perimeter of the carpet, it will be understood that there will be only one carpet protecting strip in that case as it will adjoin the wall of the room. In case trench header covers adjoin one another, it will be understood that at one edge the carpet on the trench header covers will have carpet protecting strips back to back.

The invention is applicable to carpet using any type of pile, including natural wool pile and synthetic fiber or blends of wool and synthetic fiber.

It is preferable to use a solvent type synthetic rubber adhesive cement for gluing the carpet strip to the floor and the plate. it is preferable to use a water base latex cement for gluing the carpet to the carpet strip and for gluing the carpet to the floor.

The carpet protecting strip may also be cemented to the carpet and to the slab or trench header cover below by any suitable cement, it being evident that if it is difficult in obtaining adherence, a surface treatment of the carpet protecting strip may be used as common in printing on plastic, as for example, with flame, electrostatic discharge, or the like.

In view of my invention and disclosure, variations and modifications to meet individual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident to others skilled in the art, to obtain all or part of the benefits of my invention without copying the structure shown, and I therefore claim all such insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of my claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a building, a floor slab having a horizontal top surface, an electrical distribution system including a trench header in the floor slab and having an open top, a trench header cover on the trench header flush with the top of the floor slab, carpet secured on the floor slab having abutting edges around the trench header cover, carpet secured to the trench header cover having abutting edges where it meets the carpet on the floor slab, the carpet having pile and backing, and a carpet strip at each of the abutting edges having a base underlying the carpet and secured to the carpet and to the floor slab and the trench header cover, as the case may be, and having an upstanding edge secured to the base, extending along the edges of the carpet back-toback with the upstanding edge of the similar strip, making an angle of to 84 with the base of the strip, having a top below the top of the pile and overlying the backing of the carpet.

2. A building of claim 1, in which each carpet strip base has a feather edge on the side away from the upstanding edge.

Claims

1. In a building, a floor slab having a horizontal top surface, an electrical distribution system including a trench header in the floor slab and having an open top, a trench header cover on the trench header flush with the top of the floor slab, carpet secured on the floor slab having abutting edges around the trench header cover, carpet secured to the trench header cover having abutting edges where it meets the carpet on the floor slab, the carpet having pile and backing, and a carpet strip at each of the abutting edges having a base underlying the carpet and secured to the carpet and to the floor slab and the trench header cover, as the case may be, and having an upstanding edge secured to the base, extending along the edges of the carpet back-to-back with the upstanding edge of the similar strip, making an angle of 80* to 84* with the base of the strip, having a top below the top of the pile and overlying the backing of the carpet.