Transition support for flooring material

Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Specified wear or friction-type traffic-carrying surface – Exposed embedded element or inserted filler

Reexamination Certificate

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C052S273000, C052S287100, C052S717040, C052S717030, C052S717050, C016S248000, C016S017000, C248S188300

Reexamination Certificate

active

06763637

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to supporting flooring materials extending on adjacent underlying flooring of different heights and spanning the transition between the adjacent flooring and including a platform or tack strip so that the junction of the materials can be in a separate vertical plane from the juncture of the underlying flooring, making the transition generally unnoticeable to people walking on flooring over the juncture or to wheeled vehicles which will not be jostled or upset when crossing the transition at the juncture.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In many institutions such as factories, exhibitions halls, shopping malls, transportation facilities and the like, floors of hard materials such as tile, marble granite, brick, quarry stone or ceramic are frequently adjacent to floors of concrete or wood. The adjacent floors usually meet at a juncture, and there is an interface or juncture between the floor area of the relatively high height and the floor area of the relatively low height. Transition flooring is often put over all of the floor areas to make it easier and safer to walk across the floor areas and the juncture, and to make it easier for wheeled vehicles to traverse the juncture of the floor areas. It is common to ramp up to the higher floor area.
However the transition flooring, which can be a flexible vinyl or rubber based sheet, or flexible vinyl or rubber based tiles or a carpet material, or a hardened resilient material, such as vinyl composition or hard rubber tiles, must extend from the juncture onto the floor area of the relatively low height. If no transition support is provided, there could be a sharp incline in the flooring at the juncture. People could trip or at least be surprised and jarred when they step on the flooring at the juncture, especially if they are unaware that the difference in heights exists. In addition, wheeled vehicles could be jostled, tipped or possibly overturned if they reach an unexpected abrupt change in the height of the flooring. Moreover, the transition flooring could become frayed, cracked or torn over time, especially if the juncture is in an area of high traffic.
In most instances in commercial buildings where the sharp transition between floor materials of different heights is made more gradual, a worker uses a trowel to lay by hand cementitious material, such as a latex underlayment, at the juncture between the high and low flooring levels. This is time consuming and expensive, and the time to lay the material depends on the ability and skill of the troweler. Once the troweler has laid the cementitious material, he or she uses adhesive to connect the flooring material to the cementitious material. In other cases, workers stack old tile to reduce the steepness of the juncture between the adjacent flooring areas.
The difference in height between the two areas of the floor as discussed above is generally not great, often around ¼ inch, so the problem has not been previously and seriously addressed. Architects have no standard for addressing the problem. Compensating for the difference in heights between adjacent flooring areas is a real problem.
There are various patents which have been issued relating to the support of carpets near walls, including U.S. Pat. No. 530,096 (Eckman 1894), U.S. Pat. No. 1,070,273 (MacLean 1913), U.S. Pat. No. 1,401,490 (Rathjens 1921), U.S. Pat. No. 1,483,941 (Kasson 1924), U.S. Pat. No. 1,833,732 (Barrows 1931), U.S. Pat. No. 1,988,603 (McLaren et al. 1935), U.S. Pat. No. 2,677,145 (Adams 1954), U.S. Pat. No. 3,086,262 (Krantz 1963), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,656 (Lutz 1980).
However, the foregoing patents are not directed to the support of flooring at or near the juncture between adjacent floor areas of different heights. U.S. Pat. No. 1,128,061 (Schroeter 1915) is directed to metal edge binding in linoleum. Which is also not a problem to which the present invention relates. Rather, Schroeter provides an edge binding which securely holds the floor covering in place and protects the edge of same. Schroeter wants to protect the flooring against, for example, breakage or wear by shoes or truck wheels, but Schroeter is not concerned with people or vehicles crossing the floor. U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,953 (Greenfield 1995) relates to an edge molding strip for protecting the floor covering between first and second floors of different heights, but it relates to the objects of the present invention in only a very general way. U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,798 provides a wedge shaped finishing member for draining water away from a bathtub, and it too is not directed to the problems to which the invention is directed.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,142,832 (Bell 1939) discloses a mat construction made of a multiplicity of rubber blocks arranged in an overlapping, laterally abutting relationship. The mat has a nosing strip running along its edge. Bell does not recognized recognize the problem of providing a transition between two levels of flooring.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/801,010, from which this application derives, discloses a gradual ramp or wedge which supports flooring at the juncture of materials of different heights at the transition at the juncture between materials, so that the transition is generally unnoticeable to people walking on flooring over the juncture or where wheeled vehicles will not be jostled or upset when crossing the transition at the juncture. However, the device in this prior application is entirely ramped; no flat surface is provided. Thus the device must abut the higher flooring and the flooring height must begin to change at this juncture.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention solves the problem of the prior art by providing a gradual ramp along with a narrow platform and sometimes a carpet tack strip to transition between two different flooring elevations. Unlike prior methods this invention creates a smooth transition without costly labor and curing time, enhancing both the visual aesthetics and life-safety characteristics of flooring. The floorings supported by the invention do not necessarily join where the floor changes height; instead, one flooring can extend over the juncture of the floor heights and meet the other on a level surface. Significantly reducing the fraying, cracking and tearing of the floorings at the juncture. Further, the flooring height need not begin to decrease where the invention abuts the existing flooring support. The platform found in the invention is a continuation of the wedge but flat across the top. The carpet tack strip, which adheres to the platform, is comprised of numerous carpet pins set typically at an angle of about 60 degrees and extending from the surface of the tack strip a distance of advantageously {fraction (7/32)}″. In addition to the carpet pins, the tack strip typically has ⅝″ concrete nails or 1″ wood floor nails equally spaced across the tack strip length to secure the tack strip to the platform.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a support for flooring covering floor areas of different heights where the floorings can join in separate vertical plane from the juncture of the sections of the floor.
Another object of the invention is to provide a support for flooring, such as those having vinyl or rubber components or those made of carpeting, which cover the juncture of floor areas made of different materials and have different heights, such that the juncture of the floorings is not vertically above the juncture of the floor areas, and the carpet or rubber components can be tacked on to the support at the tack strip to reduce wear and tear at the juncture of the floorings.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a transition support for flexible sheet flooring at the juncture of floors made of ceramic or tile, and floors made of concrete or wood where there is a difference in heights between the two sections of the floor, such that the juncture of the flooring may not be vertically above the juncture of the floor

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