WO1991019445A1

WO1991019445A1 - Carpet laying method and apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO1991019445A1
Application number: PCT/AU1991/000266
Authority: WO
Inventors: Earl Eugene Schuster
Original assignee: Earl Eugene Schuster
Priority date: 1990-06-21
Filing date: 1991-06-21
Publication date: 1991-12-26

Abstract

A method of attaching carpet pieces (26, 27) or other floor covering to a floor (9) by means of double sided adhesive membranes (1). The membrane (1) being permeable in order to overcome the possibility of accumulation of air, water or the like between the floor (9) and the membrane (1), membrane (1) allowing for the removal of the carpet pieces (26, 27) from the floor (9) with a degree of ease.

Description

CARPET LAYING METHOD AND APPARATUS

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for the laying of carpets. Whilst the invention is according to one embodiment directed towards and primarily described with reference to the laying of carpets, and in particular foam back carpets, it is anticipated that the invention is suitable for the laying of a variety of floor coverings.

BACKGROUND

In existing carpet laying systems, carpet is typically attached to a .sub-floor by means of an adhesive or by mechanical (pin or tack) means. There are problems associated with carpet having been adhesive fixed to the sub-floor, particularly at the time of removing the carpet in readiness for relaying the area with a new carpet. One problem is the costly and time consuming labour intensiveness and mechanical means required to remove the carpet off the sub-floor. Another problem is the removal of the existing adhesive layer prior to the application of a new adhesive layer. In the case of foamback carpets, the problems arise when say at the end of carpet wear-life, the carpet needs to be lifted from the sub-floor, the carpet delaminates from the foambacking, generally leaving the foamback still adhered to the sub-floor. It becomes a costly and time consuming operation to clear the sub-floor surface, in domestic situations and even more so in commercial situations when relaying of new carpet is over a large area such as in offices, commercial and public buildings etc.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention seeks to alleviate the problems associated with removing carpet which is typically attached to a sub-floor by means of an adhesive.

In one broad form the present invention is a method of removably fixing a floor covering to a floor by means of an adhesive membrane, said membrane adapted to removably adhere to said floor, said floor covering being adhered to said membrane .

In another form the present invention is a method of removably fixing a carpet portion to a floor by means of a double sided adhesive membrane, said membrane adapted to removably adhere to said floor and said carpet portion being adhered to said membrane.

In a further form the present invention is a method of removably fixing a floor covering to the floor, said method comprising the steps of

(a) adhering at least one double sided adhesive membrane to the floor and

(b) adhering said floor covering to said membrane. In a further form the present invention is an adhesive membrane adapted for the removable adherance of a floor covering to a floor.

The invention will now be described by way of a non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanying illustrations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Figs, la and lb illustrate one embodiment of a double sided adhesive membrane of the present invention in perspective and elevation views.

Fig. 2 illustrates a number of adhesive membranes layed out on the floor.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the adhesive membranes of Fig. 2 with one of the membranes having the peelable protective film being pulled back.

Fig. 4 depicts a perspective view of laying a single piece of carpet in accordance with the present invention.

Figs. 5-8 depict views of laying and joining two carpet pieces in accordance with the present invention. MODE FOR CARRYING OUT INVENTION

The double sided adhesive membrane 1 (see Figs, la and lb) is adapted for the removable attachment of carpets to floors.

The membrane 1 is a material having a suitable adhesive on the upper surface 2 and on the lower surface 3. The membrane 1 being manufactured with a peelable protective film attached to both adhesive surfaces to protect them during storage and handling prior to use.

In a preferred embodiment the membrane 1 is polypropylene material approximately lm wide and 50 microns thick. The peelable protective film is High Density Polyethylene approximately 20 microns thick. The adhesive used on the polypropylene membrane 1 being a pressure sensitive water based acrylic co-polymer whilst the peelable protective film is provided with a suitable silicone release agent to facilitate its removal from the membrane. A number of suitable silicone release agents are easily applied to polyethylene by means of bath dipping and curing by ultraviolet radiation.

Additionally in the preferred embodiment the membrane 1 is perforated in variegated formation along its length and across its width thus making it permeable.

Additionally in the preferred embodiment the membrane 1 has two separate peelable protective film strips on the lower surface 3. The first strip being a narrow strip 6, 10cm wide along one edge of the lower surface 3, the second strip being a wide strip 7, 90cm in width. The upper surface 2 having a single peelable protective film strip 8 or alternatively for instance have two peelable protective film strips (not shown) both 50cm in width. It should be noted that in further embodiments the thickness and width of the membrane 1 and the peelable protective film strips can be of a variety of dimensions and/or number.

In order to utilise the membrane 1 for a refurbishment or re-carpeting situation:

(i) Remove all furniture out of the room;

(ii) Take up old floor covering and remove; -

(iii) Ensure all old tacks, staples, carpet gripper, underlays etc. are removed from sub floor surface;

(iv) Carry out floor patching and floor preparations as appropriate to relevant flooring industry standards;

(v) Vacuum clean floor surface to remove all dust and grime. Alternatively thoroughly sweep.

In the case of laying on new sub-floors only steps (iv) and (v) of the abovementioned steps is necessary to utilise the membrane.

The installation method will now be described with reference to Figures 2 to 8.

Starting from one side of the room in Fig. 2, place one length of membrane la against skirting board 4 with upper surface 2 facing upwardly and lower surface 3 on the floor 9.

Any excess length of the membrane la may be trimmed neatly with a knife at either end, as along skirting board 5. Alternatively all trimming can be left till later.

Making sure that the membrane la is properly laid out and is neatly fitted at skirting boards 4 and 5 a person stands on membrane la in the vicinity of point 20. The person then reaches under the membrane la and removes the 10cm wide peelable protective film narrow strip 6 from the lower surface 3 completely down the edge from point 20 to point 21, which then allows the adhesive along the 10cm strip of the membrane la to contact with the sub-floor or floor 9 surface. The person then smooths away any air bubbles along this 10cm edge between points 20 and 21.

The next length of membrane lb is then laid out next to membrane la and neatly fitted against the edge running between points 20 and 21. Any excess length of membrane lb may be trimmed at each end, as along skirting board 5. A person then stands on the membrane lb in the vicinity of point 22. The person then reaches under the membrane lb and removes the peelable protective film narrow strip 6 from the lower surface 3 completely down the edge from point 22 to point 23, which then allows the adhesive along the 10cm strip of membrane lb to contact with the sub-floor surface. The person then smooths away any air bubbles along this 10cm edge between points 22 and 23.

The layout of subsequent membranes is continued across the room in a similar manner as to the layout of membranes la and lb.

The final length of membrane at the other side of the room is laid out in a reverse manner i.e. the 10cm peelable protective film strip is run along the edge of the preceding membrane and not along the edge of the room. In Figure 2 membrane lc depicts the final length of membrane at the other side of the room. Similarly to previous lengths, after membrane lc is fitted, a person stands in the vicinity of point 24 and reaches under membrane lc and removes the peelable protective film narrow strip 6 from the lower surface 3 completely down the edge from point 24 to point 25, which then allows the adhesive along the 10cm strip of membrane lc to contact with the sub-floor surface. The person then smooths away any air bubbles along this 10cm edge between points 24 and 25. The person then trims around the skirting boards.

The room now has lengths of membrane 1 laid out neatly and cut to length, each length fixed to the floor along a 10cm strip.

The next step is to remove the remaining peelable protective film wide strips 7 from the lower surface 2 of the membranes 1.

Starting with the final length membrane lc, a person pulls back the membrane lc to where the 10cm strip is already fixed to the floor 9. The person then commences to peel away the peelable protective film wide strip 7, pulling from the floor surface edge towards himself and allows the membrane lc to lie back on the next piece of membrane lb.

The person then moves to the middle of membrane lc which has just had the wide strip 7 removed. With both hands together the person picks up the membrane lc and moves forward, keeping tension on and slowly laying it forward onto the sub floor. A plan view of the membrane lc in this configuration is shown in Figure 3. The person then slowly affixes the rest of the membrane lc one side at a time, smoothing away any air bubbles.

The remaining membranes la and lb have the remaining peelable protective film wide strips 7 removed and the membrane affixed to the floor 9 in a like manner to membrane lc.

Once the membranes are attached to the floor 9 the next step is to lay the carpet. The laying techniques described are for foam backed carpet, however jute backed carpet etc can also be similarly layed.

Two carpet laying techniques will now be described. The first installation technique is typically for small rooms where one complete piece of carpet will cover the floor area required. The second installation technique is for where two or more pieces of carpet need to be joined.

In the first technique the complete piece of carpet is layed out over the affixed membranes on the floor and is checked for fitting of the floor space. The carpet is then folded back to preferably half the floor space area, as depicted in Figure 4. A person may then remove the peelable protective film strip 8 from the upper surface 2 of the uncovered membranes 1, thus exposing the adhesive surface of the membranes. The carpet half which has been folded back may then be lifted and lowered onto the exposed adhesive surface of the membranes, thus allowing fixture of this half of the carpet to the membranes. The next step is to pull back the other half of the carpet and similarly remove the peelable protective film from the upper surface of the uncovered membranes, and likewise lower and affix that half of the carpet piece to the adhesive surface of the remaining membrane lengths.

In the second technique two or more pieces are required to cover the floor space. In this example two pieces of carpet will be affixed for ease of description. The two carpet pieces are brought into the area and laid out in lengths and the pattern matched on selvedges if necessary, see Fig. 5. The carpet pieces depicted as pieces 26 and 27. After fitting the two pieces of carpet perfectly together at the seams, carpet piece 27 is folded back say one third of a width as depicted in Figure 6, making sure not to move the whole piece. The same is then done to carpet piece 26 (see Figure 7).

The next step is to peel away the the peelable protective film from the upper surface of the uncovered membranes depicted in Figure 8 as area 28, between both pieces of the pulled back carpet, thereby exposing the adhesive surface. A person then stands behind the middle of folded back carpet piece 26 and picks up the folded back portion with two hands and lifts up straight and moves forward, slowly letting the carpet fall back into its original position onto the exposed adhesive surface of the membrane, and then slowly feeds each remaining side of the carpet to the exposed adhesive surface of the membranes, smoothing out the carpet piece 26. A portion of carpet piece 26 is now affixed to the membrane.

The next step is to apply a bead of seam weld onto the foam back edge of carpet piece 26 along the selvedge join, as depicted in Figure 8.

After the bead of seam weld has been run down join edge of carpet piece 26, the person moves behind the middle of carpet piece 27 already pulled back one third of a width. The person picks up the folded portion of carpet piece H and lifts up and moves forward, carefully lowering the carpet so that the middle of the edge of carpet piece 27 meets the beaded seam weld edge of carpet piece 26, making sure that the pattern (if any) is matching up. The person moves to the other side of carpet piece 27 feeding the foam backing of this piece against the foam backing of piece 26, with the seam weld attached so that they meet together. The carpet piece 27 is then firmly pressed onto the adhesive surface.

The remaining unattached portions of the carpet pieces 26 and 27 may be folded back, the peelable protective film removed from the membrane, and carpet pieces lowered onto the surface in a similar manner as previously described.

The use of an adhesive membrane to fix carpet to a floor according to the abovementioned embodiment allows the carpet and membrane to be easily removed when necessary, leaving the sub-floor surface clean and free for relaying of new carpet as the occasion should arise.

In an alternative embodiment the double sided adhesive membrane can be stored in a roll form, such that in use the membrane can be attached to the floor at its free end and simultaneously unwound and attached to the floor. The exposed surface of the membrane adapted such that the carpet or other like covering can be attached thereto.

As mentioned earlier in the preferred embodiment the membrane 1 is 1 metre in width, however other practical widths of the membrane between 0.2m to 2m could be used. For practical purposes membranes less than about 0.2m in width would require many lengths of the membrane to be used whilst membranes greater than about 2 metres in width would be difficult to handle and position in use.

As mentioned earlier, the adhesive membrane may be perforated, thus making the membrane permeable . The perforations assist in preventing the accumulation of moisture due to condensation, or air and the like between the membrane and floor, particularly important if the floor is concrete. Alternatively, a foam composition adhesive membrane which is permeable may be used.

The present invention therefore provides a method and apparatus suitable for the removable laying of carpets.

It should be obvious to persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and modifications could be made to the method and apparatus of the present invention as described and with reference to the illustrations without departing from the overall scope or spirit of the invention.

Claims

/19445 _ g _The claims defining the invention- are as follows:

1. A method of removably fixing a floor covering to a floor by means of an adhesive membrane, said membrane adapted to removably adhere to said floor, said floor covering being adhered to said membrane.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said adhesive membrane is permeable.

3. A method as claimed in claims 1 or 2 wherein adhesive is provided on both sides of the adhesive membrane.

4. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said adhesive membrane is polypropolene.

5. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said membrane is 50 microns in thickness.

6. A method as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 6 wherein said adhesive is a pressure sensitive water based acrylic co-polymer.

7. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said floor is concrete.

8. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said floor covering is carpet.

9. A method of removably fixing a floor covering to the floor, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) adhering at least one double sided adhesive membrane to the floor; and

(b) adhering said floor covering to said membrane.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein in step (a) a plurality of lengths of the double sided adhesive membranes are adhered to the floor adjacent to each other.

11. A double sided adhesive membrane adapted for the fixing of a floor covering to a floor.

12. A double sided adhesive membrane as claimed in claim 11 wherein said membrane is permeable.

13. A double sided membrane as claimed in claim 12 wherein said membrane is perforated.

14. A double sided adhesive membrane as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 13 wherein said membrane is polypropylene.

15. A double sided adhesive membrane as claimed in claim 14 wherein said membrane is 50mm in thickness.

16. A double sided adhesive membrane as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 15 wherein the width of the membrane is in the range of 0.2 metres to 2 metres.

17. A method of removably fixing a floor covering to a floor as substantially herein described and with reference to the accompanying illustrations.

18. A double sided adhesive membrane adapted for the fixing of floor covering to a floor as substantially herein described and with reference to the accompanying illustrations.