RU2764632C2 - Tool for distributing a coating - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: building.

SUBSTANCE: present invention relates to the field of tools for distributing a coating over the surface of walls, floor or ceiling or over a structure attached on a wall, floor or ceiling. The technical result is achieved by the fact that the tool for distributing a coating over a surface comprises a gripper part connected with a trowel extending in a first direction and a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, wherein the trowel has a working surface and a gripping surface, and wherein the trowel has a row of teeth extending along one side of the trowel extending in the first direction, wherein the working surface in the second direction has a recessed profile extending in a first direction, and the trowel is made of elastically deformable plastic.

EFFECT: creation of a spatula effectively controlling the thickness of the distributed coating, therein guaranteeing more convenient use and low cost of the tool.

21 cl, 17 dwg

Description

The present invention relates to the field of tools for spreading a coating over a wall, floor or ceiling surface or over a structure fixed to a wall, floor or ceiling.

State of the art

Spatulas or trowels 1 for wall coating are known. Such a spatula consists of a spatula 2 or a thin plate on which a handle 3 is fixed, as can be seen in FIG. 1. The thin plate may have various shapes, such as rectangular or substantially triangular.

At present, the thin plate is made of metal or metal alloy, and the handle is fixed on the thin plate or on an intermediate base attached to the thin plate by welding or soldering or gluing or screwing.

The use of this spatula consists of placing the optimum amount of coating on the wall and manipulating the spatula to spread the coating. To do this, the user tilts the trowel against the wall surface to distribute the coating, giving it the desired thickness.

However, dosing to the desired thickness is not easy to achieve. One solution is to provide on one side of the thin plate a series of teeth 4 of sawtooth type, more specifically on the side of the thin plate in contact with the wall during the spreading of the coating. This row of teeth allows for better dosage of the thickness of the coating, since it allows only part of the coating to pass between the teeth. In addition, the user tilts the spatula to a greater or lesser extent when applying the coating and smearing it. In this way, the user achieves better control of the coating thickness on the wall.

However, the spatula according to the prior art has a number of disadvantages.

First, although the use of notches makes the trowel easier to apply, it does not guarantee a consistent coating thickness. Indeed, the maximum coating thickness is obtained when the blade is perpendicular to the surface to be coated. Thus, the inclination of the blade relative to the surface to be coated will change this thickness. As a consequence, when spreading a coating, a change in slope entails a change in the applied thickness.

Further, upon contact, the friction of the teeth against the wall results in abrasion of the teeth. This abrasion makes the tooth spacing less regular and results in less precise control.

In addition, these teeth make it difficult to clean the spatula. Indeed, it is not easy to clean a conventional spatula, since the corners of the thin plate may hit the corners of the bucket or get stuck in the sponge, resulting in damage to the bucket and/or sponge, and these corners may also be damaged. However, the presence of teeth further increases the risk of damage to the sponge.

As a consequence, these wear or damage problems require frequent tool replacement.

This wear is also a danger to the worker when he is sharpening teeth, in particular during cleaning.

In addition, metal rubbing against a rigid substrate causes noise that can annoy the coating worker.

The spatula according to the prior art, due to the fact that it is made of metal, is difficult to handle.

The essence of the invention

Thus, the present invention proposes to overcome these drawbacks by using a spatula that effectively controls the thickness of the spreading coating, while guaranteeing more convenient use and low cost of the tool.

To this end, the invention relates to a tool for distributing a coating on a surface, comprising a gripping means attached to a blade extending in a first direction and in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, said blade having a working surface and a gripping surface, in addition, said blade has a row of teeth located on one side of the blade and passing in the first direction, characterized in that the working surface has a recessed profile in the second direction, constant or changing in the first direction, and in that said blade is made of elastically deformable plastic.

The advantage of the present invention is that it allows the coating to be applied more efficiently. Indeed, the notched surface causes the position of the tool relative to the coating surface to be more constant, correcting for the natural inclination of the hand.

According to one example, the section of the blade in the second direction contains at least one first section and at least one second section.

According to one example, said first section is straight and said second section is curved.

According to one example, said first section is straight and said second section is straight, wherein the first section and the second section are at an angle to each other.

According to one example, the section of the blade in the second direction further comprises a third section, rectilinear and located so as to be adjacent to and intersect with the first section.

According to one example, the section is arranged so that the working surface has a radius of curvature making it concave, the radius of curvature being constant in the second direction.

According to one example, the gripping surface has a radius of curvature making it convex, the radius of curvature being constant in the second direction.

According to one example, the radius of curvature of the gripping surface is equal to the radius of curvature of the working surface.

According to one example, the recessed profile is constant in the first direction.

According to one example, said teeth also extend on the side of the blade in a second direction.

According to one example, said teeth extend along the lines of continuation of the working surface.

According to one example, the gripper comprises a ball-shaped grip attached to the blade.

According to one example, the grip means comprises an L-shaped handle having a single point of attachment to the shoulder blade.

According to one example, the gripping means comprises a U-shaped handle having two attachment points to the blade and extending in a first direction.

According to one example, the gripping means is attached by means of adhesive.

According to one example, the gripping means is fastened by means of screwing, wherein said blade for each fastening point has on its working surface a blind hole for receiving a screw.

According to one example, the gripping means and the blade are made of the same material.

According to one example, the gripping means and the paddle are made of elastically deformable plastic.

According to one example, the handle extends in the first or second direction.

According to one example, the elastically deformable plastic has a flexural modulus in the range of 25 to 2300 MPa, preferably 25 to 250 MPa.

According to one example, the elastically deformable plastic is selected from the following list: TPO (thermoplastic olefin elastomers), TPV (elastomeric alloys), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), SEBS (polystyrene-block-poly(ethylenebutylene)-block-polystyrene), NBR (butadiene- acrylonitrile copolymers), PEBA (ether amide block copolymer), EPDM rubbers (ethylene propylene diene monomer).

Description of figures

Other features and advantages will become apparent from the description which is given below for information, but not limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

- fig. 1 schematically shows a tool according to the prior art;

- fig. 2 schematically shows an instrument according to the invention;

- fig. 3 and 4, 5a, 5b, 5c and 6 schematically show the profile for two variants of the tool blade according to the invention;

- fig. 7, 8a, 8b and 8c show the tool according to the invention and its teeth;

- fig. 9 schematically shows the placement of the tool according to the prior art and the tool according to the invention relative to the surface to be coated;

- fig. 10-13 schematically show examples of a gripping means for a tool according to the invention.

Detailed description of the invention

FIGS. 2 and 3 show a coating spreading tool 100 according to the invention. This coating is applied to the surface of a wall, floor or ceiling, or to a structure attached to a wall, floor or ceiling. The tool 100 includes a spreading paddle 200 to which a gripper 300 is attached to allow the user to manipulate said tool. The tool 100 may be a tool that can be manipulated with one hand, or a large tool that can be manipulated with two hands.

The tool blade 200 extends in a first direction, referred to as the length, and a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, referred to as the width, to obtain a substantially rectangular shape. It is clear that the length of the blade 200 is greater than the width. The paddle 200 has a working surface 201 on which the coating is located and which serves to distribute the coating, and a gripping surface 202 on which the gripping means is attached.

According to the invention, the blade 200 has a special design. In this case, the working surface 201 should not be straight. More specifically, it is provided that the working surface 201 has a profile that is recessed/hollow/recessed in the second direction. Such a recessed/hollow/recessed profile can be defined in that it has a gap E between the working surface of the blade 200 and a plane P passing through the ends of said blade, as seen in figure 4, and the plane P can be, for example, a surface for coating.

In the first embodiment, the section of the blade 200 in the second direction contains at least one first section 200a and at least one second section 200b.

According to the first example shown in Figure 5a, said first section 200a is straight and said second section 200b is straight, with the first section and the second section at an angle to each other.

Preferably, the first section, on which the gripping means is located, extends over a greater part of the blade than the second section. For example, the first portion occupies at least 70% of the width of the blade 200, preferably at least 80%, preferably at least 90%, and even more preferably at least 95%.

The angle between the first section and the second section is from 90° to 135°.

According to the second example shown in figure 5b, the section of the blade in the second direction further comprises a third section 200c, straight and located so as to adjoin the first section and be at an angle to it. Thus, the tool 100 can be arranged so that the second section 200b and the third section 200c have a different inclination relative to the first section 200a.

According to the third example shown in Figure 5c, said first section 200a is straight and said second section 200b is curved.

In the second embodiment, the working surface 201 of the blade 200 is configured to have a radius of curvature. This radius of curvature is implemented so that the working surface 201 can be concave. The working surface 201 of the blade 200 is designed so that the radius of curvature is constant in the first direction.

It should be understood that in both embodiments, the implementation of the recessed profile may be unchanged or change in the second direction. For example, for the first example from Figure 5a, the non-constant recessed profile means that the first section 200a and the second section 200b intersect in the second direction, but the angle formed by these sections may vary. In the case of the second embodiment, in which the working surface 201 of the blade 200 is curved and has a radius of curvature, it should be understood that the radius of curvature may or may not be uniform. Under the uniform radius of curvature is understood that it is the same throughout the profile of the working surface.

As for the grip surface 202, it may be made flat as seen in Figure 3, or it may have a radius of curvature as shown in Figure 6. In the case of the grip surface 202 having a radius of curvature, it will be considered a convex grip surface 202, then there is a gripping surface 202 and a working surface 201 are parallel.

In accordance with the present invention, this arrangement of the working surface 201 of the blade 200 is accompanied by a certain choice of material from which the plate is made. Indeed, the plate is made of a flexible material, preferably plastic. This material is selected, for example, from the following list: TPO (thermoplastic olefin elastomers), TPV (elastomer alloys), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), SEBS (polystyrene-block-poly(ethylenebutylene)-block-polystyrene), PEBA (simple block copolymer ester and amide), EPDM (ethylene-propylene-diene monomer), NBR (butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymers, also called nitrile rubbers). Of course, the above list of elastomeric materials is not exhaustive and other plastics may be used depending on design or thickness.

Thus, the material used is a plastic having a flexural modulus of 25 to 2300 MPa, preferably 25 to 250 MPa. This material is preferably elastically deformable, that is, the material is capable of deforming under stress and returning to its original shape when the stress is removed.

Said material is also selected depending on various properties, such as fracture toughness, which should be between 0.3 and 4 MPa⋅m ^0.5 , or hardness Shore A75-A90 or D25-D40. The use of such a material makes it possible to reduce the force required for spreading and to reduce noise. This reduction in noise is accompanied by a change in the nature of the noise, with the frequency range changing, becoming less high. This results in increased comfort during use.

In addition, the blade 200 of the tool according to the invention also contains a row of teeth 400, as can be seen in figure 7. This row 400, consisting of sawtooth teeth 401, is provided on one of the sides and extends in the first direction. The tines 401 of this row of tines 400 are used to control the amount of applied coating and extend beyond the paddle 200 into the continuation of the working surface, as shown in Figures 8a, 8b and 8c. In the case where the grip surface 202 and work surface 201 are curved and parallel, the teeth are positioned to extend in continuation of the grip surface 202 and work surface 201.

In the first embodiment, the teeth 204 of the row of teeth are preferably provided at the level of the second section 200b.

In the second embodiment, each tooth 401 has a front side 402 in continuation of the working surface 201 of the blade 200 and a back side 403. It should be understood that in the case of a flat grip surface 202 shown in figure 8c, the teeth 401 of the row 400 of teeth are located so that the front side 402 of each prong extends into the working surface, while the back side 403 of each prong 401 does not extend into the grip surface 202. with the specified grip surface 202.

These teeth 401 can either protrude beyond the blade 200 or can be obtained by cutting said blade 200. In the case of protruding teeth 401, the area of the teeth 401 is added to the area of the blade 200, while in the case of cut teeth, the area of the blade 200 is reduced by the area between the teeth .

In the case where the grip surface 202 and the blade grip surface 201 have the same radius of curvature and are parallel, the front side 402 and the back side 403 of each tooth 401 extends, respectively, the grip surface and the grip surface, as can be seen in Figures 8a and 8b. .

In both cases, the teeth 401 are substantially straight, and the edge of each tooth 401 can be ground and rounded.

This configuration of the spreading tool 100 with a plastic blade 200 having a non-flat working surface 201 and containing teeth 401 allows a more uniform distribution of the coating with a more comfortable use of the tool.

Indeed, such a coating spreading tool 100 is used by coating the coating surface S, followed by using the spreading tool. To do this, the tool 100 is positioned by positioning the work surface 201 against the coating surface S, said work surface 201 being inclined at an angle of less than 90° to the coating surface. Thereafter, the tool 100, i.e. the spatula, is manipulated so as to distribute said coating. The design of the invention is sophisticated in that the curvature of the working surface 201 allows for a smaller angle between the plane of the teeth 401 and the plane O orthogonal to the plane of the coating surface S. Indeed, figure 9 shows the positioning of a tool 1 according to the prior art and a tool 100 according to the invention. A tool 1 according to the prior art is shown with its gripping surface at an angle β1 with respect to the coating surface S. Considering that the blade 2 is flat and that the teeth 4 run straight in the same plane as said blade 2, the teeth form an angle α1 with a plane orthogonal to the coating surface S.

In the first embodiment of the invention, an example containing a second section 200b, the plane of which intersects with the plane of the first section, allows the teeth 401 to form an angle α3 with the O plane orthogonal to the coating surface S, which is less than the angle α1 formed in the case of a completely flat blade 2 .

In the case of the tool 100 according to the second embodiment of the invention or the third example of the first embodiment, the tool 100 is shown with the tangent to its gripping surface at the same angle β1 to the coating surface. Given the curvature of the working surface 201 and that the teeth 401 extend straight in the continuation of the working surface, the teeth 401 form an angle α2 with a plane O orthogonal to the coating surface S. However, the curvature of the working surface 201 of the tool 100 according to the invention causes the angle α2 to be smaller than the angle α1. Therefore, with the same angular position of the tool 100 relative to the coating surface, the teeth 401 of the blade 200 according to the invention have a closer angular position to the plane O orthogonal to the coating surface than the teeth 4 of the tool 1 according to the prior art. Thus, the thickness of the coating dispensed with the tool 100 of the present invention will be greater.

In addition, during the spreading of the coating, the blade 200 is deformed. This deformation advantageously allows the teeth 401 of the series of teeth 400 to maintain a substantially identical angular position with respect to plane O orthogonal to the coating surface. Indeed, the vane 200 is made of a plastic material that is elastically deformable. However, when spreading the coating, the friction between the coating surface and the blade 200 results in stresses on said blade 200, with the elasticity of said blade allowing it to deform resiliently. This deformation generally allows said teeth 401 to maintain a close angular position with respect to the coating surface S, so that the thickness of the spread coating remains substantially constant, with little change in thickness.

In the first version of the second embodiment, the blade 200 of the tool 100 of the present invention is designed to have optimized flexibility. To do this, this version offers a vane 200 with adjustable deformation. To this end, the present version proposes that the blade 200 has a variable thickness, as can be seen in Figure 10. This variable thickness is already present in the embodiment in which the blade tip 201 has a radius of curvature while the grip surface 202 is flat. However, in the present embodiment, the feature "variable thickness" is used to locally change the stiffness and thus the response to stress, given that the greater the thickness, the stiffer the blade will be and therefore the more difficult it is to deform.

This embodiment advantageously makes it possible to control the deformation of the blade 200 and thus its behavior during coating distribution. Thus, it is possible to provide for an increase in the thickness of the blade at the level of the reinforcement zone, for example, at the level of the central part of the blade 200, in order to make this central part more rigid and less deformable than the zone containing the teeth 400.

The gripping means 300 are used to apply the tool. These gripping means 300 can be very different.

In the first example, the gripping means comprises an L-shaped handle 301 having a single point of attachment to said blade 200, as can be seen in Figure 11. This L-shaped handle 301 can be positioned on the blade 200 so as to extend in the first direction or in the second direction. , i.e. at an angle of 90° to the first direction, as can be seen in figure 12.

In a second example, the gripping means 300 comprises a U-shaped handle 302 having two attachment points to said blade 200, as can be seen in Figure 2. This U-handle may be positioned on the blade 200 so as to extend in a first direction.

In the first and second examples, the handle may be rounded or have convex corners.

In a third example, the gripper 300 comprises a ball grip 303 as shown in Figure 13. Such a ball grip 303 consists of a flattened spherical element. This flattening is used to provide contact between said sphere and blade 200.

The gripping means can be made from various materials, such as wood, metal or plastic.

Fasteners are used to attach the blade to the gripper.

In the first embodiment of the fastener, the gripping means is attached by means of gluing. To this end, a bonding point is provided between the blade 200 and each point of contact with the gripper 300. The U-handle has two gluing points, the L-handle has a single gluing point.

In the second embodiment of the fastener, the gripping means is screwed to the blade. To do this, the blade 200 is drilled and a blind hole is provided on the gripper 300 at each point of contact between the gripper 300 and the blade 200. Each hole in the blade 200 is placed against a blind hole in the gripper 300 and a screw is inserted which is then turned to secure. In one modification of this embodiment, each blade hole is configured to be shaped to prevent the screw head from protruding from the hole in the blade. For example, for a frusto-conical screw head, the blade blade is drilled so that the profile is also frusto-conical.

In one modification of the first embodiment and the second embodiment, an intermediate member called a base may be provided on the blade 200 and used to fix the gripping means.

In the third embodiment of the fastener, the gripping means is integral with the blade. To this end, the gripping means and the blade are made of the same material. This property allows the paddle and gripper to be molded in a single extrusion or plastic injection molding step.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated example, but may be subject to various changes and modifications as may occur to a person skilled in the art.

Thus, it can be provided that the blade can have different shapes, such as a triangular shape, and different sizes. Thus, it is possible for the tool according to the invention to have a length of about 30 cm and a width of about 15 cm, or a length of about 60-100 cm with a width of about 30-45 cm.

In addition, it is possible to provide that the teeth extend on one of the wide sides of the blade, which makes it possible to use said tool in two different ways.

Claims (21)

1. A tool (100) for distributing a coating on a surface (S) containing a gripper (300) connected to a blade (200) extending in the first direction and a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, the blade having a working surface (201) and gripping surface (202), and moreover, the blade (200) has a number of teeth (400) extending along one side of the blade, passing in the first direction, characterized in that the working surface (201) has a recessed profile in the second direction, extending in the first direction, and in that the blade is made of an elastically deformable plastic. 2. The tool according to claim 1, wherein the blade profile in the second direction comprises at least one first section (200a) and at least one second section (200b). 3. The tool according to claim 2, wherein the first section (200a) is straight and the second section (200b) is curved. 4. The tool according to claim 2, wherein the first section (200a) is straight and the second section (200b) is straight, the first section and the second section intersecting each other. 5. The tool according to claim 4, wherein the section of the blade in the second direction further comprises a third straight section (200c) located adjacent to and intersecting the first section (200a). 6. The tool according to claim 1, wherein the section is arranged so that the working surface (201) has a radius of curvature making it concave, the radius of curvature being constant in the second direction. 7. Tool according to claim 6, wherein the gripping surface (202) has a radius of curvature making it convex, the radius of curvature being constant in the second direction. 8. Tool according to claim 6, wherein the radius of curvature of the gripping surface (202) is equal to the radius of curvature of the working surface (201). 9. The tool according to claim 6, wherein the recessed profile is constant in the first direction. 10. A tool according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the teeth (400) additionally extend on the side of the blade in a second direction. 11. A tool according to claim 10, wherein the teeth (400) extend along the working surface. 12. A tool according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the gripper (300) comprises a ball-shaped gripper (303) attached to the blade. 13. Tool according to one of paragraphs. 1-11, wherein the gripping means comprises an L-shaped handle (301) having an attachment point to the shoulder blade. 14. Tool according to one of paragraphs. 1-11, wherein the gripping means comprises a U-shaped handle (302) having two attachment points to the blade (200) and extending in a first direction. 15. A tool according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the gripping means is attached by means of adhesive. 16. Tool according to one of paragraphs. 12-14, in which the gripping means (300) is attached by screwing, wherein the blade has on its working surface a blind hole for each attachment point to receive a screw. 17. A tool according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the gripping means and the blade are made of the same material. 18. A tool according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the gripping means and the paddle are made of elastically deformable plastic. 19. A tool according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the handle extends in the first or second direction. 20. Tool according to one of paragraphs. 18, 19, wherein the elastically deformable plastic has a flexural modulus of 25 to 2300 MPa, preferably 25 to 250 MPa. 21. Tool according to one of paragraphs. 18-20, in which the elastically deformable plastic is selected from the following list: TPO (thermoplastic olefin elastomers), TPV (elastomeric alloys), PVC (polyvinchloride), SEBS (polystyrene-block-poly(ethylenebutylene)-block-polystyrene), NBR ( butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymers), PEBA (ether-amide block copolymer), EPDM rubbers (ethylene-propylene-diene monomer).

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