WO2012150447A1

WO2012150447A1 - Curved support for flooring material

Info

Publication number: WO2012150447A1
Application number: PCT/GB2012/050944
Authority: WO
Inventors: Danny Higgins
Original assignee: Danny Higgins
Priority date: 2011-04-30
Filing date: 2012-04-27
Publication date: 2012-11-08
Also published as: GB201107231D0

Abstract

A curved support (10) for use at a wall-floor interface to support two adjacent pieces of sheet flooring material (27) laid on the floor (26) and extending up a lower marginal region of the wall has first and second parts (11,12) both having upper sections for adhering to the wall and merging into lower sections that engage the floor and define the required curved shape between the wall and the floor. The first and second parts (11,12) are integrally-formed at 90° or 180° to each other with common side edges (18) at the junction between the parts. A knifing guide (20) is formed along the length of the common side edges (18) to assist the cutting with a knife blade of two adjacent pieces of sheet flooring material (27) laid on and supported by the two parts of the support (10) so that the cut edges of the flooring material lie closely adjacent each other. Sealant is applied to the gap between the cut edges, to bond the flooring edges together and to bond the flooring material to the support.

Description

CURVED SUPPORT FOR FLOORING MATERIAL

This invention relates to a curved support for use at a wall/floor interface, to support two adjacent pieces of sheet flooring material. In certain aspects, the invention relates to a curved support for a join between two pieces of sheet flooring material, and in particular, but not exclusively, the invention relates to a curved support for use with sheet flooring material to provide a coved corner where the two walls of a room are disposed with a reflex angle therebetween - that is, an external corner, usually with 270° between the walls.

This invention is particularly concerned with sheet flooring material of an impervious, flexible plastics material such as vinyl flooring, but is not limited to such flooring material. Vinyl flooring is commonly installed in commercial buildings, such as hospitals, factories, kitchens and so on, where the floor may become wet either accidentally, or deliberately by washing and cleansing. It has become the usual practice to install in such buildings a floor covering typically of vinyl sheet material that overlies the floor and also a lower portion of the surrounding walls, adjoining sheets being sealed together to provide a waterproof surface. A capping strip is usually fitted to the wall to overlap the upper edge margin of the sheet material so as to provide a neat finish. As a right-angle bend cannot be provided in vinyl and many other semi-rigid sheet flooring materials, coving is normally furnished along the wall/floor interface to give support to the flooring material, the coving defining a radius of curvature slightly greater than the minimum radius through which the sheet flooring material can be bent. Thus, the flooring material is supported by the coving and takes up the predefined radius thereof.

When fitting coving to the wall/floor interface of a room, the formation of a corner requires some skill to obtain a neat mitred joint. The two adjacent sheets of flooring material must be cut appropriately so that the two cut edges of the sheets at the corner lie closely alongside one another for bonding together to form a waterproof joint. In the case of an external corner (usually of 270°) between walls, there is a particular problem since the sheet material supported by the projecting coving is likely to be subjected to impact and abrasion. There is thus a need to take particular care to produce a strong and well-formed external corner in the coving, to support the flooring material.

It is known to use a corner former to be used with lengths of coving installed to each side of the corner, along the wall/floor interface of a room, such as has been described in my earlier UK Patent No. 2,465,645. Even if such a former is employed, there still can be problems in accurately cutting the sheet flooring material in the case of an external corner to provide a neat joint which can be sealed against water ingress.

Another problem when installing sheet flooring material can arise when effecting a join between two adjacent sheets along a straight wall. It can be difficult accurately to cut the sheets so that there is a constant narrow gap therebetween, suitable for receiving a bonding agent to join together the cut edges in a waterproof manner. Though coving lying under the sheet flooring material will give support for the bonding agent, if the flooring material extends higher up the wall than does the coving, the bonding agent may flow through the gap between the cut edges resulting in an inadequate bond.

It is a principal aim of this invention to provide a sheet flooring material curved support that addresses the problem of accurately cutting sheet flooring material, either at an external corner or at a flooring material join on a linear wall, when coving is furnished along the wall/floor interface to support the sheet flooring material with a defined minimum radius of curvature. As an adjunct, it is also an aim of this invention to provide a support that reduces the need for highly skilled fitters or specialist tools in cutting the sheet material to be used with the support.

According to the invention there is provided a curved support for use at a wall-floor interface to support two adjacent pieces of sheet flooring material laid on the floor and extending up a lower margin region of the wall with the flooring material taking up a curved profile at the junction,

- a first part having an upper section for adhering to the wall and merging into a lower section that defines the required curved shape between the wall and the floor, the upper and lower sections defining a first surface on to which a first piece of flooring material may be laid, the upper and lower sections having a continuous edge at one end of the first part;

- a second part having an upper section for adhering to the wall and merging into a lower section that defines said required curved shape, the upper and lower sections defining a second surface on to which a second piece of flooring material may be laid, the upper and lower sections also having a continuous edge at one end of the second part;

- the first and second parts being integrally-formed at a required angle to each other with said continuous edges of the two parts being adjacent one another; and

- a knifing guide formed along the length of said continuous edges to assist the cutting with a knife blade of two adjacent pieces of sheet flooring material laid on the two parts of the support so that the cut edges of the flooring material lie closely adjacent each other.

The angle between the first and second parts may be substantially 180° so that the upper sections of the first and second parts are substantially co- planar. Such a support may be used on an essentially flat wall, at a location where two pieces of flooring material are to be joined together, with the join running up the adjacent wall and the two pieces bonded together to provide a waterproof join. Another possibility is for the included angle between the upper sections of the first and second parts to be substantially 90° so that the support may be fitted to an external corner between two adjacent walls with the first part attached to one wall and the other part attached to the adjacent wall, at the corner. If it is known that the support is to be fitted to a corner between two walls which lie at an angle other than 270°, it would be possible for the support to be manufactured with a corresponding angle between the upper parts to facilitate the laying of flooring at that corner.

In order to use a support having 90° between the upper sections of the first and second parts, the curved support is adhered to the wall/floor interface at an external corner between two walls by securing the upper section of the first part to one wall and the upper section of the other part to the other wall, with the lower edge of each lower part bearing on the floor. The wall/floor interface is then furnished with coving extending away from the support, with the ends of two lengths of coving abutting the two outer edges of the support opposed to said adjacent continuous edges. Once the coving has been completed, sheet flooring material is laid over the floor and is curved up to overlie the lower region of the wall, the coving and support providing support for the flooring material and allowing the flooring material to take up the radius defined by the coving and support. The edges of the flooring material at the corner must be cut to lie closely adjacent each other and this may be achieved by using a sharp knife the tip of which is run along the knifing guide provided by the support, to cut through the flooring material.

The installation of sheet flooring material using a support having the upper sections of the two parts substantially co-planar is in essence the same as has been described above with reference to a reflex corner, except that the support is secured to a linear part of a wall in the region where the join between two pieces of the sheet flooring material is to be effected. Then, the knifing guide may be used to cut the edges of the two adjacent pieces so there is a uniform narrow gap therebetween, whereafter a bonding agent may be used to seal together those two cut edges with the support supporting the bonding agent.

Having regard to the use of the support (whether the two parts are at 180° or at some other angle) as has been described above, this invention also provides a method of forming a join between two adjacent pieces of sheet flooring material laid on a floor and extending up a lower margin region of the wall with the flooring material taking up a curved profile at the junction using a support as claimed in any of the preceding claims, which method comprises the steps of:

- attaching the upper sections of the first and second parts to the wall;

- securing along the wall-floor interface to both sides of the support respective lengths of coving matching the lower sections of the first and second parts, with in each case an end of the coving abutting the support; and then in either order: (a) adhering first and second sheets of flooring material to the floor and support with a sheet to each side of said continuous edges of the former; and

(b) cutting the first and second sheets with a knife blade run along the knife guide;

and thereafter applying a bonding agent along the cut edges of the first and second sheets.

Once the two edges of the flooring material have been cut along the length of the continuous edges of the support, the flooring material is adhered to the floor, the coving to each side of the support and to the support itself as well as to the wall. Then, the adjacent edges of the flooring material are sealed together, using a known jointing or bonding agent. This agent may comprise an adhesive, a solvent, a sealant, a heat fusion agent or a chemical welding agent. Another possibility is to use a strip of a material which is laid along the adjacent edges of the two sheets, the strip then being activated by heat or chemically, to fuse to and bond together the adjacent edges. Advantageously, the jointing or bonding agent unites the adjacent cut edges of the two sheets and also bonds to the support itself.

The support may provide two parallel and adjacent knifing guides, respectively for the flooring material to each side of the adjacent continuous edges of the support. The or each knifing guide may comprise a groove formed along said continuous edges, between the first and second parts of the support. In either case, the groove advantageously extends for substantially the whole length of the continuous edges.

The or each groove may be of arcuate cross-sectional shape or of part- circular cross-sectional shape, so long as the groove is able to guide the knife blade being used for cutting the sheet flooring material.

Another possibility is for a bead of bonding agent to be disposed in the or each groove, to bond (when activated by heat or chemically) to the adjacent edges of laid flooring material. In this case, the knifing guide may be defined by an edge of the bead of bonding agent, or possibly two knifing guides may be defined by opposed edges of the bead.

The support advantageously is substantially rigid to give sufficient support to the flooring material and also to resist cutting when guiding a knife blade. This is particularly important when the support is being used at an external corner between two adjacent walls, in order to resist impacts at the installation site for example by careless handling of trolleys or even by people walking.

The marginal regions of the edges of the first and second parts (other than at the adjacent continuous edges) may be tapered, for example by chamfering the first and second (outer) surfaces of the support. This allows the support to blend to the wall and floor surfaces and allows the flooring material to run smoothly on to the support as well as on to abutting coving and reduces the likelihood of the support being apparent when the flooring material has been laid.

In turn, this reduces the likelihood of the flooring material cracking at the edges of the support. Similarly, as is usually the case with the known techniques, the coving should be correspondingly shaped to the support.

Preferably a capping strip is mounted to the wall to conceal the upper edge of the flooring material and also the upper edge of the support, though if the support is manufactured from a relatively thick material to provide sufficient rigidity and strength, the capping strip may terminate at the edge of the support opposed to the adjacent continuous edges thereof.

The support could be made in one piece from a substantially rigid plastics material using a technique such as vacuum forming or another moulding process.

Alternatively the support could be made from metal. The rigidity of the support is important as it must provide adequate support for the flooring material at a corner and also have sufficient strength so that the corner can withstand impact such as from feet, trolleys and so on.

By way of example only, two specific embodiments and variations thereof, all of this invention, will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front isometric view of a first embodiment of a support of this invention, intended to serve as a corner former;

Figure 2 is a side view of the support shown in Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a sectional view through the upper parts of the support of Figures 1 and 2, with sheet flooring material (shown in part) adhered thereto;

Figure 4 is an isometric view of two walls defining an external corner to which the support of Figures 1 to 3 is mounted, along with coving and sheet flooring material;

Figure 5 shows a variation of the support of Figure 1 and having two knifing grooves;

Figure 6 shows a support similar to the corner former of Figure 1 but including during manufacture a bead of bonding agent; and

Figure 7 is a section through another embodiment of support, intended for use along the length of a straight wall but otherwise similar to that of Figure 6.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings, there is shown a support in the form of a coving corner former 10 for use on an external corner defined by two walls extending substantially at 270° to each other - that is, at a reflex angle. The former 10 has first and second parts 1 1 ,12 and typically is made in one piece by a moulding operation from a suitably hard grade of plastics material. Each part 1 1 ,12 is sheet-like and has opposed front and rear surfaces 13,14, upper and lower edges 15,16, outside edges 17 and a common edge region 18. The upper section of each part is generally rectangular and planar whereas the lower section of each part is curved so as to project forwardly of the respective upper portion. Each lower portion has a radius of curvature of approximately 4cm and curves through approximately 90^Q such that the rear surface 14 adjacent the lower edge 16 lies in a plane substantially perpendicular to the upper section. The front surfaces 13 of both parts are chamfered along the marginal regions thereof along the upper edges 15, lower edges 16 and outside edges 17, so that those marginal regions taper towards the rear surface 14 of the respective part.

Along the entire length of the common edge region 18 of the two parts

1 1 ,12, there is a interconnecting zone 19 which joins the two parts 1 1 ,12 so that the included angle between the rear surfaces 14 of the upper sections is substantially 90^Q. The interconnecting zone 19 along the common edge regions defines an external part-circular groove 20 that extends for the full length of the common edge region 18, though the depth of the groove runs out at the two ends of the common edge region as shown in Figure 1 , in view of the chamfer at the upper and lower edges 15,16 of each part. Internally, the interconnecting zone 19 provides an angled wall 21 (Figure 3) joining the rear surfaces 14 of the two parts 1 1 ,12.

Referring now to Figure 4, there is shown a vinyl sheet flooring installation using the corner former 10 mounted at an external corner defined by two adjacent interior walls 24,25 and a floor 26 of a building. The faces of the walls 24,25 lie at an angle of approximately 270^Q and may be finished with a dry lining or plaster whereas the floor should be prepared to receive flooring material, for example vinyl sheet flooring material 27 drawn from a roll thereof, typically 1 m or 2m wide. The former 10 is presented to the walls 24,25 at the corner such that the rear surfaces 14 of the upper sections bear against the walls 24,25 and the lower sections bear against the floor 26. The former 10 is secured in position by adhesive, though nails, screws or other fasters could instead or additionally be used. Lengths of pre-formed coving 28 are mounted along the interface between the walls 24,24 and the floor 26 to each side of and abutting the former 10. Each length of coving 28 has an external radius of curvature equal to that of the forwardly projecting lower sections of the former and has an end face cut at 90° to abut the outer edge 17 of the associated lower section.

Sheet flooring material 27 is then laid on the floor 26 and is curved upwardly at the walls, using the coving 28 and former 10 to give support for the flooring material and also to define the radius of curvature thereof at the wall/floor interface. The flooring material 27 may at this point be adhered to the major part of the floor, or may just be held in position until the edge of the flooring material has been cut to the required shape at the common edge region 18 of the former, at the corner between the walls. This cutting is achieved by using a sharp knife (not shown), the tip of the blade of which is located in the groove 20 at the common edge region 18. The blade is then run along the groove so as to cut the flooring material to the shape of the common edge. Once done, the second sheet of flooring material is also cut in the same way, but with the knife blade held at an opposed angle. The width of the gap between the two sheets of flooring material may be controlled by holding the blade at appropriate but opposite angles when effecting the two cuts, as shown by the broken lines marked on Figure 3.

When both sheets of flooring material have been cut, that material may be fully adhered to the floor 26, the coving 28 and the former 10. Depending on the angle at which the knife blade was held when cutting the edges of the flooring material there may be a relatively narrow gap between the cut edges or a relatively broad gap, as shown. The cut edges are then sealed together by using a bead or strip of heat-fusible bonding material which is pressed into the gap between the cut edges and is then heated so that the bonding material melts and bonds to the two pieces of sheet flooring material. Provided the gap between the cut edges is sufficiently broad, as shown in Figure 3, the heat fusible material may also enter the groove 20 and bond to the former. The installation is completed by fitting a capping strip 30 along the wall to overlie and conceal the upper edge of the flooring material and the upper edge 15 of the corner former 10.

Figure 5 shows an alternative former to that of Figure 1 and which allows the cutting of the flooring material 27 to give a greater gap between the cut edges of that material. Like parts with those of Figure 1 are given the same reference numbers. The former 32 of Figure 5 has two grooves 33,34 formed in the interconnecting zone between the first and second parts 1 1 ,12 of the former, the two grooves 33,34 being closely spaced (though this spacing is a little exaggerated in Figure 5) and running parallel to each other. This gives a broad gap for adhesive to be applied between the cut edges and also to bond to the former itself, to ensure a fully waterproof and strong construction, on completion of the laying of the flooring material. Figure 6 is a cross-section through another embodiment of former, where a bead of adhesive or other bonding agent is provided as a part of the former, during the manufacture thereof. In the former 36 of Figure 6, the adhesive bead 37 is bonded to the groove 20 before the former is attached to the corner region of a wall. Two knifing guides 38,39 are provided along the length of the interconnecting zone, immediately adjacent the adhesive bead 37, such that each piece of the sheet flooring material may be cut to have its cut edge lying closely adjacent the adhesive bead 37. In this embodiment, each knifing guide comprises a V-shaped groove formed in the material of the former, immediately adjacent the groove 20 carrying the adhesive bead 35. After fitting, the former is used in much the same way as has been described above except that there is no need to apply a bead of adhesive after cutting the sheet flooring material; rather, it is only necessary to activate the adhesive bead by the application of heat or a chemical agent, as appropriate for that adhesive.

Figure 7 shows a further support, used in essentially the same manner as that described with reference to Figure 6 but for use on a linear run of a wall, to effect a join between two adjacent pieces of flooring material. Such a support 40 facilitates the formation of a stable and waterproof joint between the two adjacent pieces of flooring material, the cut edges of the flooring material being bonded to each other and to the support. In all other respects, this support of Figure 7 corresponds to that of Figure 6 and will not be described in further detail here.

By using the supports of this invention as described above, it becomes possible to provide a particularly neat and strong joint between adjacent pieces of flexible sheet flooring material such as of vinyl sheeting. In the case of an external corner former as shown in Figures 1 to 6, this allows the provision of a joint between adjacent sheets of flooring material at an external corner between adjacent wall surfaces, in a particularly easy manner. In all cases, the support allows the sheet flooring material to be run partly up the lower margin of a wall so that the flooring adopts a smooth shape having a uniform curvature. When completed, the flooring material gives a waterproof flooring surface, without the need to deploy highly skilled labour or special tools.

Claims

1 . A curved support for use at a wall-floor interface to support two adjacent pieces of sheet flooring material laid on the floor and extending up a lower margin region of the wall with the flooring material taking up a curved profile at the junction,

2. A curved support as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the angle between the first and second parts is substantially 180° so that the upper sections of the first and second parts are substantially co-planar.

3. A curved support as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the included angle between the upper sections of the first and second parts is substantially 90°, so that the support may be fitted to an external corner between two adjacent walls, with the first part attached to one wall and the other part attached to the adjacent wall.

4. A curved support as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein there are two parallel and adjacent knifing guides, respectively for the flooring material to each side of the adjacent continuous edges.

5. A curved support as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the or each knifing guide comprises a groove formed along said continuous edges, between the first and second parts.

6. A curved support as claimed in claim 5, wherein the or each groove extends for substantially the whole length of the continuous edges.

7. A curved support as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the or each groove is of arcuate cross-sectional shape.

8. A curved support as claimed in claim 7, wherein the or each groove is of part-circular cross-sectional shape.

9. A curved support as claimed in any of claims 4 to 8, wherein a bead of bonding agent is disposed in the or each groove, to bond to the adjacent edges of laid flooring material.

10. A curved support as claimed in claim 9, wherein the knifing guide is defined by an edge of the bead of bonding agent.

1 1 . A curved support as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the support is substantially rigid.

12. A curved support as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the marginal regions of the edges of the first and second parts other than at the common edges are tapered.

13. A curved support as claimed in claim 12, wherein the first and second surfaces are chamfered to give rise to said tapered marginal regions.

14. A curved support as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the support is moulded in one piece from a plastics material, with said knifing guide formed integrally with the two parts of the support.

15. A method of forming a join between two adjacent pieces of sheet flooring material laid on a floor and extending up a lower margin region of the wall with the flooring material taking up a curved profile at the junction using a support as claimed in any of the preceding claims, which method comprises the steps of:

- attaching the upper sections of the first and second parts to the wall; - securing along the wall-floor interface to both sides of the support respective lengths of coving matching the lower sections of the first and second parts, with in each case an end of the coving abutting the support; and then in either order:

(a) adhering first and second sheets of flooring material to the floor and support with a sheet to each side of said continuous edges of the former; and

16. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the bonding agent comprises one of an adhesive, a solvent, a sealant, a heat fusion agent and a chemical welding agent.

17. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the bonding agent comprises a strip of a material which is laid along the adjacent edges of the two sheets and is then heated or chemically activated to fuse to and bond together the adjacent flooring material edges.

18. A method as claimed in any of claims 15 to 17, wherein the bonding agent unites the adjacent cut edges of the two sheets and also bonds to the support.

19. A method as claimed in any of claims 15 to 18, wherein the first and second parts of the support are attached by means of an adhesive to underlying wall surfaces.

20. A method as claimed in any of claims 15 to 19, wherein the first and second parts are disposed with an angle of substantially 180° therebetween and the upper sections of the first and second parts are adhered to the same wall surface.

21 . A method as claimed in any of claims 15 to 19, wherein the first and second parts are disposed with an angle of substantially 90° therebetween and the upper sections of the first and second parts are adhered to adjoining wall surfaces at an external corner between the walls.