Coating processes – Frictional application
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-27
2001-06-26
Talbot, Brian K. (Department: 1762)
Coating processes
Frictional application
C427S154000, C427S282000, C118S076000, C401S082000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06251468
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a masking means comprising a substance provided to be deposited onto a surface in order to mask the latter, and protect it from outer affection.
Such masking means are widely used during painting of various objects. Thereby, the masking has as its main objective to protect against any outer affection by preventing colour from being applied to adjacent surfaces that are not to be painted. Masking is normally required during the painting of houses, furniture, cars, boats, etc., and it is important that the masking means used are both reliable and easy to handle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A very common masking means is masking tape, which in its most simple form is formed by a paper which is provided with glue on one side thereof. There are also more sophisticated types of masking tapes, where the glue is present only along the edge regions of the tape or where a strip or the like provided with glue is applied to the egde regions of a masking tape as the latter is applied to the surface which is to be masked. There are also varioust, more or less sophisticated devices for the application of the masking tape.
In those cases, when a precise masking of surfaces that have a complicated shape is required, it may, however, often be difficult to mask these surfaces with reliability and precision by means of conventional masking tapes. Thereby, one normally uses different types of templates, from which a surface corresponding to the one which is to be painted is, for instance, cut or sheared, after which the template may be placed at the intended location, and painting may subsequently take place. It is important that the template bears tightly against the support at Its border towards the surface which is to be painted, in order to prevent paint from penetrating in between the support and the template. Therefore, the template often needs to be provided with some kind of adhesive or in some other way be brought to a tight contact against the support. This contributes to make the practical handling of such templates somewhat complicated and/or time demanding. In those cases when one side of the template is pre-preparated with some type of adhesive, the template also tends to be of a disposable type, which in many cases results in a huge consumption of material, as it might be neccessary to use a plurality of templates. Moreover, templates, as well as masking tape, may be very hard to apply to curved surfaces in a suitable way. For this purpose, there is often required a very precise adjustment of the template or the masking tape, which might be both difficult and time demanding, particularly for an amateur.
Those more developed types of tapes, application devices and templates that are to be found at the market today are relatively expensive, resulting in the additional cost for these not being seen as motivated by the one who, with a non-professional objective, is planning to paint and mask surfaces.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One object of the present invention is to provide a masking means which can be applied by very simple measures to a surface which is to be masked and protected, which can easily be removed from the surface when no longer needed, which is not material or resource demanding, and offers a inexpensive and uncomplicated alternative to the masking means of prior art. By protection, a shielding of the surface from an adhesive, preferably lacquer or paint, is referred to.
This object is fulfilled by means of the masking means as initially defined, which is characterised in that the substance is provided to be deposited as an easily releasable film on said surface by being brushed against said surface.
According to a preferred embodiment of the masking means, the substance is present in a generally solid state. Thereby, painting is permitted immediately or nearly immediately after the substance has been deposited and formed a solid masking film on its support. The handling of the masking means, or more precisely the substance, is also facilitated as the latter is present in a solid state without practically any tendency to being sticky. This condition preferably is true for temperatures in the order of room temperature, somewhat thereabove and therebelow, for example below 40° C. However, under any circumstances, the substance should be sufficiently soft to be deposited onto the support through abrasion and/or affinition thereto when being brushed thereagainst at the application temperature. The substance is in bulk shape, unlike tapes and the like, which is advantageous from a handling point of view as well as a productional costs point of view.
According to another preferred embodiment of the inventive masking means, it comprises a casing provided with at least one opening, inside which casing the substance is displaceably arranged in such a way that it might be brought to project with at least one portion from said opening. Thereby the handling is further facilitated, and a user may grip around the casing instead of around the substance during the application of the latter, such that the substance is not unneccessarily deposited onto the hands of the user. The risk of having it deposited onto other surfaces, that are not to be masked, is also reduced. Moreover, the casing may act as a container that prevents the substance from being mechanically damaged or the like during the storing thereof.
According to another preferred embodiment of the inventive masking means, the casing comprises at least one heel which projects from the peripheral edge of the casing around the opening and forms an elongation of said edge along at least a portion of the periphery of the opening. Preferably, the heel is an elongation of said edge and has a rectilinear extension in the peripheral direction along a portion of the periphery of the opening. The heel is advantageous because it can be used as a shoulder against a frame, a fillet or the like, which is to be painted, while, at the same time, the masking means is pulled along the frame or the fillet, and the substance, which projects generally as far away from the opening as does the heel, is brushed against the support, and is deposited at a distance from the fillet or the frame that corresponds to the width of the heel. In the case where the masking means is intended for the masking of windows in connection to the painting of windows, the width of the heel is preferably in the order of 1 mm, such that, as is usual, a thin strip of paint, in the order of 1 mm, is permitted to be deposited on the window, the fillet of which is to be painted.
According to another preferred embodiment of the masking means, the substance has the shape of a stick, and the cross-section of the surface of this stick, that is provided to bear on the surface that is to be masked, comprises at least one corner which has an angle that is less than or generally equal to 90°. Thereby, it is easier to reach into corners with the substance during the application thereof, something that often, for instance in the above case concerning the painting of frames and fillets, is of utmost importance in order to obtain a good result. Moreover, the inner periphery of the casing preferably corresponds to the outer periphery of the stick, something that promotes an exact and precise application.
According to another preferred embodiment of the masking means, the substance comprises at least one organic compound as a substantial component, and said organic compound comprises at least one of a wax and a fat as a substantial component. Particularly the use of a wax has proven itself to be advantageous. Thanks to the content of wax and/or fat, the substance obtains hydrophobic properties which make it water rejective, and thereby water resistant. Thereby, it may form a film which resists the penetration of water-based paint. The substance also obtains such properties that it is not dissolved by solvent-based paints and lacquers, and, accordingly, it forms a functional masking film also during pai
Hovey Williams Timmons & Collins
Talbot Brian K.
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