Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes – Mechanical shaping or molding to form or reform shaped article – To produce composite – plural part or multilayered article
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-22
2001-06-26
Davis, Robert (Department: 1722)
Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes
Mechanical shaping or molding to form or reform shaped article
To produce composite, plural part or multilayered article
C425S087000, C425S113000, C425S464000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06251324
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to devices for applying a sealant to glass blocks and methods using these devices when building glass block panels or walls. More particularly, this invention relates to applicators for applying sealant to a selected portion of glass blocks, and to methods for applying the sealant when building glass block panels or walls.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the construction of glass block panels or walls, mortar or silicone sealant can be used to secure glass blocks to each other. Mortar poses several problems in its application onto glass blocks. It is difficult properly apply the correct amount of mortar needed to secure the glass blocks to each other. If too little mortar is used or it is improperly located the bond formed between mortar and glass is often inadequate. Mortar has a tendency to crack and become unsightly. Problems are known to occur when the glass blocks are improperly placed onto each other, causing the mortar to be squeezed out and the glass blocks to become misaligned. Mortar is often hand applied and its application, to make it reasonably sightly, is labor intensive and thus expensive.
In an attempt to mitigate these problems when mortar is used, silicone has been substituted. Silicone has been found to bond better with glass than mortar and to provide a more flexible bond, thus reducing the possibility the bond would crack. Along with the change to silicone, different methods and devices for applying silicone were developed. These methods include constructing glass wall panels in a controlled setting where integral spacers between the glass blocks are used to assure proper alignment of the glass blocks. Such methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,864 issued to Rosamond and U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,702 issued to Sholton.
Another highly effective apparatus and method for constructing glass walls in a controlled setting is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/873,127 filed on Jun. 11, 1997, and now U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,335, by Fox. The apparatus used includes a spacing rack for positioning glass blocks in a properly spaced alignment and automatic, controlled application rods for the silicone sealant.
Devices and methods for extrusion of resins on the peripheral edges of glass panels are known in the art. One such method for forming moldings (trims) on glass panels is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,828 to Yada et al. In this method two glass panels and an extrusion die are moved relative to each other, so that a flange of a synthetic resin or rubber is formed, thereby joining both panels. A device, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,785 to Cornilis et al., is used in a process of manufacturing an automobile pane, where a polymer frame is extruded on the pane while the pane is being moved through a recess in an extrusion head. Alternatively, a molding may be formed on a peripheral edge of a horizontal article while either the extrusion die or the article is being moved, as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,939 to Ito et al.
Hand tools known in the art include devices used to evenly apply a mortar layer on building units, including glass blocks. Such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 823,593 issued to Fisher and U.S. Pat. No. 2,403,335 issued to Bortolotti. They are not helpful, however, in providing a properly controlled amount of a sealant, such as silicone, in a form of a stream, as is needed when glass blocks are being sealed.
None of these prior art apparatii or methods are truly helpful, when there is a need, on-site, to build a mortarless glass wall, and especially when the construction conditions will not allow for use of spacers or a spacing rack, or if the major part of the wall is already built and there remains only an oddly shaped or sized part of the wall to be built. Similarly, none of these devices and methods adequately allow for supplementing the automated devices and methods in the construction plant when an odd sized or shaped glass wall needs to be built.
In view of the above it is apparent there exists a need in the art for a device and a method that can be used to build a regular or an oddly shaped or sized glass block wall on-site or to supplement automated devices and methods of building glass walls under controlled conditions, when the stream of sealant, such as silicone, is accurately and in an appropriate amount placed along the edges of the glass blocks to be sealed, without highly intensive and expensive labor skills being involved.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Generally speaking this invention provides an applicator capable of continuously applying a stream of a sealant on one of four vertical surfaces of a glass block and along each opposing edge of a glass block comprising two horizontal surfaces and four vertical surfaces, wherein said edges are formed respectively by each horizontal surface and each vertical surface perpendicular to said each horizontal surface, comprising:
a first planar surface having a first end and a second end, the first planar surface having a length substantially the same as the width of the each vertical surface of said glass block to which the sealant is to be applied;
a second planar surface parallel to the first planar surface, having a first end and a second end; an entrance orifice defined by the second surface, for receiving the source of the sealant;
an enlarged chamber for accommodating the source of the sealant, extending from the entrance orifice substantially downwardly below the second planar surface;
a sealant receiving orifice in flow communication with the enlarged chamber, opposite the entrance orifice;
a first vertical surface extending substantially downwardly from the first end of the second planar surface;
a second vertical surface extending substantially downwardly from said second end of said second planar surface;
a connecting channel having a first end portion and a second end portion, extending from the first vertical surface to the second vertical surface;
a connecting channel orifice in flow communication with the connecting channel, substantially centrally located within the connecting channel;
a sealant receiving channel extending from the sealant receiving orifice to the connecting channel orifice;
at least two delivering channels extending outwardly from the connecting channel;
at least two delivering orifices in flow communication with the two delivering channels;
a leading surface extending substantially vertically and downwardly from the second planar surface and substantially perpendicularly to the first and the second vertical surfaces;
at least two grooves in flow communication with the at least two delivering orifices, said two grooves defined by the first planar surface and the leading surface, the grooves so located with respect to the first end and the second end of the first planar surface, that the distance of the each groove respectively from the first end and the second end of the first planar surface is substantially equal to the distance of the plane of the edge of the horizontal surface of the glass block from the plane of the edge most near it, on which the sealant is to be applied, parallel to the horizontal surface;
and a third and a fourth substantially vertical surface respectively extending downwardly from the first end of the first planar surface and the second end of the first planar surface to guide the applicator along the opposing edges of the glass block, as to accurately position the stream of the sealant at the intended location of application by manually sliding the applicator along the each two opposing edges of the glass block.
In certain embodiments of this invention the applicator further includes a first and second removable closing cap, fitted respectively into the first and the second ends of the connecting channel which allow the applicator to be internally cleaned at the end of a particular application or other convenient time. In still further embodiments of this invention the entrance orifice is substantially circular and the two delivering orifices are substantially oval.
This invent
Forte Paul R.
Fox Robert E.
Davis Robert
Hall Priddy Myers & Vande Sande
Trend Products Inc.
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