Foam articles

Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Structurally defined web or sheet – Including variation in thickness

Reexamination Certificate

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Details

C428S158000, C428S317100, C428S317300, C428S319300, C428S315900, C428S316600, C428S071000, C428S088000, C428S192000, C428S304400, C428S309900

Reexamination Certificate

active

06797361

ABSTRACT:

This application claims priority to United Kingdom Patent Application Number 0190177.6, filed Apr. 12, 2001.
FIELD
This invention concerns improvements in or relating to foam articles. The invention has particular, but not exclusive, application to foam articles for use as masking materials when painting part of a vehicle to protect another part of the vehicle so that paint is only applied to the selected part of the vehicle. The invention also concerns a method of manufacturing such foam articles.
More specifically, the invention relates to foam articles for use as masking materials to block temporarily a gap between two parts of a vehicle to prevent paint entering the gap when the vehicle is being spray painted. The foam articles of this invention are especially suitable for use in vehicle body shops when re-spraying part of a vehicle following a repair.
BACKGROUND
It is already known to use masking materials in the form of an elongate foam strip to fill the gap between a movable part of the vehicle such as a door, hood or trunk and an adjacent part of the vehicle. Typically the foam strip has a longitudinally extending stripe of pressure sensitive adhesive by means of which the foam strip can be secured in the required position prior to painting and subsequently removed after painting.
The size and shape of the gap, and the available surface for mounting the foam strip may vary according to the position of the gap. For example, in a vehicle, the “A” post is the pillar situated between the vehicle body and the front edge of the front door, the “B” post is the pillar situated between the rear edge of the front door and the front edge of the rear door, and the “C” post is the pillar situated between the rear edge of the rear door and the vehicle body.
Typically, the “A” post supports the hinges for the front door, the “B” post supports the catch for the front door and the hinges for the rear door, and the “C” post supports the catch for the rear door. Often, a different type of foam strip is required to block the gap formed at each of these positions with each type of foam strip being provided in a range of sizes to accommodate variations in the dimensions of the gap between different makes or models of vehicle.
As a result vehicle body shops have to stock many types of foam strips in a variety of sizes to cover all possible applications. This is expensive both in terms of the amount of stock required and the space required to store the stock.
Furthermore, the user has to select and fit the correct type and size of foam strip for a given application, and use of the wrong foam strip may allow paint to penetrate the gap requiring corrective work to be carried out. This involves extra time and materials to complete a repair which reduces efficiency and profitability.
A foam strip is disclosed in International Patent Application No. WO99/52646 assigned to the assignee of the present application having a generally elongate cross-section with rounded ends which can be used as a masking material in more than one position when painting a vehicle. In particular, the foam strip of this application can be used to mask the gap formed at the “A” or “B” post of a vehicle as well as the gap formed between the rear edge of the vehicle body and a tailgate.
Such foam strip reduces the number of types of foam strip required for use at different positions of the vehicle and offers significant advantages and benefits to the user by allowing the same foam strip to be used in more than one location.
The problem still remains however that a given thickness of foam strip may not be capable of masking gaps of different size and different thicknesses of foam strips may still be required for effective masking of these gaps.
Moreover, the foam strips currently used as masking materials including the foam strip of WO99/52646 require access to the gap to be masked for securing the foam strip by means of the adhesive stripe and particular problems arise when masking the “A” post. Thus, there is only limited access to the gap in both the closed and open position of the door for inserting and sticking the foam strip to the appropriate surface. As a result, attaching the foam strip in the required position to mask across the gap when the door is closed is often a difficult and time consuming operation.
Furthermore, the existing foam strips including the foam strip of WO99/52646 are only suitable for use once and, after painting, are removed and thrown away. Thus, on first use, the exposed portion of the foam strip is painted and the foam strip cannot be re-attached to conceal the painted portion and present a new, clean portion of the strip. As a result, re-use of the foam strip is at best unsatisfactory and is generally avoided.
SUMMARY
The present invention provides a foam article which can be used as a masking material having an even wider range of application for masking gaps of different types and different sizes than existing masking materials.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a foam article for use as a masking material that is capable of being secured in position without the use of adhesive.
Moreover, the present invention provides such a foam article for use as a masking material that can be used where access to a surface for adhesively securing the article is limited or restricted.
Additionally, the present invention provides such a foam article for use as a masking material that can be used more than once.
More specifically, the present invention provides a foam article, the manufacture of such article and the use thereof as a masking material to mask a gap when painting a vehicle which has generally universal application for masking gaps at different locations and in a range of sizes.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a foam article for use as a masking material comprising a plurality of elongate foam strips, each strip having a longitudinally extending edge and being joined at said longitudinally extending edge to a longitudinally extending edge of at least one further elongate strip by a seam common to all said strips.
By forming the foam article from a plurality of foam strips, the foam article can be adapted to provide masking material of the required thickness for use in any selected one of a range of different types and size of gap by the selection of the appropriate number of foam strips to mask the gap.
Moreover, it may be possible to locate and retain the masking material without the use of adhesive by relying on the compression of the masking material through the selection of the appropriate number of foam strips to wedge the masking material in the gap.
Furthermore, after use, the masking material can be re-used by arranging the foam strips to mask a gap with fresh or clean surfaces of the masking material exposed.
Typically, each foam strip is of generally elongate cross-section having longitudinally extending edges on opposite sides of a longitudinally extending body portion.
In one embodiment, the common seam joins all the foam strips along one side edge and the other side edge is free. In this way, the foam strips are secured longitudinally to radiate from said common seam. As a result, the foam strips can be arranged to superimpose different combinations of the foam strips to provide different thicknesses of masking material.
Advantageously, the foam strips are separable along said common seam. In this way, any foam strips that are not required can be removed to leave the desired thickness of masking material.
Furthermore, after use, any foam strips that are painted can be removed and the remaining foam strips arranged to provide masking material for another use.
Removing any painted foam strips reduces the thickness of masking material that can be produced with the remaining foam strips. It may be possible to re-use the masking material without reducing the thickness by re-arranging the foam strips so that any painted foam strips are concealed by unpainted foam strips when the masking material is secured in position.
In another embodiment, the common seam joi

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