WO2000037185A1

WO2000037185A1 - Foam backing for wool pad paint applicators

Info

Publication number: WO2000037185A1
Application number: PCT/US1999/030688
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mark E. Snetting
Original assignee: Wagner Spray Tech Corporation
Priority date: 1998-12-21
Filing date: 1999-12-21
Publication date: 2000-06-29
Also published as: AU2380200A

Abstract

A foam interlayer (32) for connecting a paint application pad (30) of wool material to a rigid backing plate (28), where the paint application pad has a woven textile layer glued to the foam interlayer and the foam interlayer is glued to the rigid backing plate. The rigid backing plate is sized to be received in a sliding fit with a paint pad handle (14) to permit interchangeability of paint on the handle.

Description

FOAM BACKING FOR WOOL PAD PAINT APPLICATORS

Background of the Invention The present invention relates to the field of paint applicators, more particularly, to pad applicators which apply paint and can be used to blend the paint on the surface to which the paint is applied, to create, for example, faux finishes- Most particularly, the present application is directed to wool material type paint pad applicators in which the pad is removable and replaceable on a handle- As used herein "wool material" is to be understood to mean a material that is at least partially formed of natural wool, and which has the texture and appearance of natural wool, but which preferably includes a man-made structure of (at least part natural wool) attached to a woven textile layer.

It has been found that securing relatively thick wool material directly to a non-porous plastic backing plate results in an unacceptably long drying time for the wool material after painting and cleaning. In addition, bonding the wool material directly to the backing plate resulted in interference with a handle that was designed to receive the backing plate in a sliding relationship, where the backing plate was planar. It was found that the bulk of the wool material interfered with the sliding mating reception of the plate in the handle.

The present invention has been found to overcome these deficiencies by providing a foam interlayer between the wool material and the backing plate, resulting in decreased drying time for the wool material and avoiding the interference between the relatively bulky wool material and the engagement with the handle.

Brief Description of the Drawing's Figure 1 is a perspective view from above and to the left of a wool material type paint pad applicator assembly and handle useful in the practice of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view from below and to the right of the handle of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a section view taken along line 3-3 of

Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the wool material type paint pad applicator assembly and handle of Figure 1 from below and to the right. Figure 5 is a exploded view of the wool material paint pad assembly useful in the practice of the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention Referring to the Figures, and most particularly, to Figures 1, 2 and 3, a paint pad applicator assembly and handle combination 10 may be seen. Combination 10 is preferably made up of a paint pad applicator assembly 12 and a handle 14. Handle 14 includes an upper portion 16 suitable for manually grasping and controlling the combination 10, and a lower portion 18 adapted to slidingly receive the paint pad applicator assembly 12 in a planar groove or track 20. A projection 22 extends below a plane of the groove 20 to retain ^'the applicator assembly 12 to the handle 14 and to prevent inadvertent separation therebetween in the event the combination 10 is dragged forward across a surface to be painted. An aperture 24 is formed in the lower portion 13 of the handle 14 to permit deforming the applicator assembly 12 out of plane and below the projection 22 when it is desired to remove the applicator assembly 12 from the handle 14. Once so deformed, the assembly 12 is then slid out of the groove 20 until separated from the handle 14. The lower portion 18 of the handle 14 preferably has transverse ribs 26 to support the paint pad assembly 12 in use. It is to be understood that the assembly 12 will slightly and temporarily elastically deform as it moves past projection 22 during installation, as well as during removal .-

Referring now also to Figures 4 and 5, the paint pad applicator assembly 12 of the present invention may be seen in mere detail. The paint pad applicator assembly 12 is formed of a relatively rigid backing plate 28, a paint application pad 30 formed of a wool material, and a foam interlayer 32 permanently secured between the backing plate 28 and the wool material paint application pad 30. The backing plate 23 may be formed of any suitable material which is relatively rigid, but which may be elastically deformed in the manner described above to permit installation in and removal from the handle 14. ^'Preferably plate 23 is made of a planar sheet of about l mm thick polyvinylchloride plastic, 114 mm wide by 203 mm long, with arcuate ends to match the ends of handle 14. The wool material for applicator pad 30 may be any suitable wool material, including all natural wool or a combination of wool and synthetic material such as polyester attached to a woven textile layer 34, cut or otherwise formed to be of suitable length and width less than or equal to the length and width of the plate 28, and preferably between about 12 to about 15 mm thick. The foam interlayer is preferably open- celled, relatively soft foam material (generally in a range of about 2.2 to about 2.4 lb/ft³) with a length and width the same or less than the length and width of the plate 28 and a thickness of about 5 mm. The material of the foam interlayer is preferably a polyester foam.

Preferably a conventional moisture- cured adhesive is used as a first glue joint to secure the foam interlayer 32 to the plastic backing plate 28, and a conventional mois ure- cured or other adhesive is used as a second glue joint to secure the wool material pad 30 to the foam interlayer 32. It is to be understood that the first and second glue joints may extend across all or less than all, but still a substantial part of the respective surfaces to be joined and still be effective. Care must be taken that neither the first nor the second glued joint will interfere with the sliding engagement of plate 28 with groove 20, however. This may be accomplished by making the wool material coverage (and the second glue joint) less than the length and width of the plate 28, and by spraying or otherwise evenly coating the adhesive forming the first glue joint and then punching or stamping out the subassembly of the backing plate and foam interlayer before attachment of the wool material. It is to be further understood that the a certain amount of irregularity of the wool material is, in part, what is desired as a characteristic of the paint applicator pad 30. The preferred ratio of natural wool fiber to synthetic fiber in pad 30 is about 80/20, more precisely 83/17.

The invention is not to be taken as limited to all of the details thereof as modifications and variations thereof may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Claims

What Is Claimed Is:

1. A paint pad applicator assembly comprising: a) a rigid backing plate; b) a relatively thick paint applicator pad formed at least in part of a wool material; and c) a foam interlayer permanently secured between the backing plate and the paint application pad.

2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the foam interlayer is secured- to the rigid backing plate by a first glue joint.

3. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the rigid backing plate is formed of plastic.

4. The assembly of claim 3 wherein the first glue joint is formed of a moisture- cured adhesive.

5. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the material of the paint applicator pad is formed of wool and polyester.

6. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the material of the paint applicator pad is secured to a woven textile layer.

7. The assembly of claim 6 wherein the woven textile layer of the paint applicator pad is secured to the foam interlayer by a moisture cured adhesive.