SEALANT SMOOTHER

This invention relates to a sealant smoother, that is, a device for smoothing a sealant immediately after it has been applied to a joint. The sealant may be silicon or other material. Usually the object is to provide a waterproof seal, for example along the right-angle joint between a bath and a wall. The sealant remains malleable for at least several minutes after application to the joint, from a cartridge or other source.

Sealant smoothers are available as attachments to a sealant cartridge so that sealant is dispensed and smoothed at the same time, but considerable manual dexterity may be needed to manipulate the two devices simultaneously.

Sealant smoothers for use independently of a cartridge are also known which provide a convex surface on the sealant in the right angle, as disclosed in the specification of German Patent No. DE 197 91 128 C1, Grell, or which provide a flat face on the sealant in the right angle as disclosed in the specification of US

Patent No. 3 744 079, Krause, but many people prefer a concave surface on the remaining strip. On the other hand, removal of all excess sealant leaving only the tiny gap-filling residue may result in a weak seal which is likely to fail. This may be the result of using the tool described in German Offenlegungschrift DE 198 59

393 A1, Schmid.

A concave surface on the sealant filling the gap gives a strong seal and an attractive appearance. Many people use a wetted finger to achieve this result, but a tool to give the same effect is believed to be desirable.

Such a tool is described in French Patent Application, Publication No. 2 608 195,

Dupille. This is a four-sided tube with three angles all being of different radius of curvature and the fourth being a right angle. By running one of the angles along a recently-applied bead of sealant, a smooth concave surface can be obtained

and excess material removed by scooping it into the tube, but the length of the tube needed to allow it to be gripped by the hand may make the tool somewhat unwieldy to use.

An approximately similar device is disclosed in European Patent EP 0 810 337 B1 , Franz, but the three different angles are formed on a disc, which again may be inconvenient to hold.

It is an object of the invention to provide a sealant smoother which is simple in shape and easy to manipulate.

According to the invention a sealant smoother comprises an elongate flexible member having a substantially centrally located scoop section and two opposing arms, the arrangement of the arms and scoop section being such that when the smoother is flexed during use the opposing arms of the flexible member may be brought together to deform the flexible member into a U shape with the scoop section being located towards the bottom of the U shape.

The elongate flexible member may be substantially flat or planar along its elongate axis; this being the axis along which the member is deformed during use. The dimensions of the elongate member in an axis perpendicular to the elongate axis may be varied along the elongate axis. For example the scoop section may be of larger dimensions than the ends of the two arms. In this embodiment the member may be made from flat plastic sheeting.

In a further embodiment the elongate member is not flat or planner but is in the form of a shallow dome with the edges of the member being slightly raised relative to the centre of the member, the domed flexible member being capable of being deformed in the same manner as a flat flexible member to provide a U shaped scoop. In this arrangement the base of the U shaped member is curved both the elongate axis of the member and the axis perpendicular to this axis.

In one embodiment of the present invention there is provided, a sealant smoother which comprises an elongate handle and a generally U-shaped flexible sealant scoop having two arms, the two arms of the scoop extending generally in towards the handle and the base of the U-shaped scoop being remote from the handle. In this embodiment the flexible elongate member may be made by being moulded from plastic material.

In one embodiment the arms may extend in a generally axial direction to that of the handle. In further embodiments the axis of the arms may be at any angle to the axis of the handle and the ends of the arms may be attached to the end of the handle such that the axis of the arms may be at up to 90° or more to the axis of the handle. It is possible that the scoop may be rotated relative to the handle about the point of contact between the arms of the scoop and the handle.

Optionally when a handle is used the U-shaped sealant scoop is detachable from the elongate handle, there being further provided attachment means.

Optionally the sealant scoop is made of a flexible plastics material and may, before assembly into the handle, be a flat sheet.

Optionally, the U-shaped sealant scoop is wider at its base than at the ends of its arms so that the two U-shaped edges of the scoop form different angles with the axial direction of the handle.

Optionally the elongate handle is made of a rigid plastics material and the scoop is provided with apertures in the U-shaped arms which cooperate with projections on the handle to hold the scoop and handle together.

Optionally the elongate flexible member and/or the U shaped flexible scoop may have a shaped leading edge; that is the edge which first comes into contact with the sealant during use. The shaped leading edge may be in the form of a

fillet or preferably a chamfer. In this way the leading edge, being the contact point, is thinner than the body of the member or scoop and facilitates the scooping action during use of the sealant scoop.

A sealant scoop according to the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-

Figure 1 is an exploded view of a sealant smoother;

Figure 2 shows in section the smoother as assembled; Figure 3 is a first view of a sealant smoother in use with a pulling motion;

Figure 4 is a section through a joint showing the sealant smoother in use;

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the sealant smoother in use;

Figures 5a and 5b show one form of sealant scoop before and after use;

Figure 6 is a sectional view of the locking mechanism holding the handle and tool together, and

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a sealant smoother with integral scoop and handle.

In Figure 1 a sealant smoother 10 comprises an elongate handle 12 and a U- shaped scoop 14. The arms of the scoop 14 each have a circular aperture 20 which, in the assembled tool shown in Figure 2, cooperate with a boss 22 on either side of the handle 12, the boss being part of the locking mechanism (which will be described later) to hold the handle and scoop firmly together.

The U-shaped scoop 14 may be made of a flexible plastics material such as polythene. The handle 12 has on either side a longitudinal rib 24 from which a number of curved transverse ribs 26 extend in such a shape as to provide a comfortable grip, and the end of the handle remote from the scoop is curved to form a lain 3, again to assist comfort. The handle 12 may be made of a rigid plastics material. The tail end (13) may also be used during use to scrap out old sealant or to clean a joint before applying new sealant. It is also envisaged that

the handle may also include (not shown) an integral sealant tube top cutter.

While the scoop 14 may be pre-formed into the U-shaped scoop, an alternative and advantageous arrangement is to use a scoop which before use is flat and which is formed into a U-shape by the user's fingers. This will be described with reference to Fig. 5.

The arrangement of Figure 5 may be used without the use of a handle as described in Figures 1 to 4 and 6. When used without a handle the apertures 52 may be omitted. When used in this way the user may pinch the arms of the elongate flexible member together between their fingers to form a usable U shaped scoop arrangement.

As seen in Figure 1, the scoop 14 is wider at its base, dimension a, than at the ends of its arms, dimension b. As seen more clearly in Fig.2 a first U-shaped edge 16 of the scoop 14 lies, as assembled, parallel to the axis A of the handle

12 while the second U-shaped edge 18 of the scoop lies at an acute angle X to the axis A. Further, the base 17 of the scoop between edges 16 and 18 is not perpendicular to the axis A but makes an angle Y with the axis, where Y is about 80 degrees.

Figure 3 shows the tool in use to provide a smooth surface to the sealant in the right angle joint between a wall 30 and the edge of a bathtub 32, shown schematically. Previously an initial strip of sealing material 34 has been applied to the joint, e.g. from a cartridge, the initial strip having a generally convex surface. The tool 10 is placed so that the scoop 14 can be pulled in the direction P along the still-malleable initial strip 34 in the joint, leaving a smooth concave- surfaced sealing strip 36. [Excess sealant which has been removed 38 is retained in the scoop 14.

The sectional view of Figure 4 shows the convex surface of the smoothed sealing

strip 36 more clearly.

Figure 5a shows a variation of the scoop before use and Figure 5b shows that scoop after use.

The scoop 50 in this example is initially flat, and is essentially boomerang- shaped, with the apertures 52 formed towards each end. To assemble the tool, the scoop 50 is pinched between the user's fingers and inserted into the handle 12. The locking mechanism will be described below with reference to Fig.6. During use the scoop 50 collects a ball of sealant 38 as shown in Fig. 3. When the scoop is removed from the handle the scoop 50 again flattens out, as shown in Fig 5a. The ball of sealant 38 can be cleaned off and the scoop re-used, but alternatively a fresh scoop 50 can be inserted into the handle of the tool.

Figure 6 illustrates in section one example of a locking mechanism to hold the handle 12 and scoop 14 firmly together. The handle 12 terminates in two integrally-moulded projections 40 with a shorter projection 42 between, all in the axial direction, leaving two slots 44 between them. Each projection 40 carries on its outer side the bosses 22 and, on the side of the bosses 22 towards the scoop 14, a circular projection 46 of diameter just less than the diameter of the circular apertures 20 in the scoop 14. Each projection 46 is tapered towards the scoop 14 to be thinner at its outer radius 48.

The rigid plastics material of which the handle 12 is made has sufficient flexibility to allow the projections 40 to flex inwards into the slots 44, under manual pressure on the bosses 22 in the direction of arrows Z1 , 22. To remove a scoop

14, pressure is applied until the outer radii 48 of the circular projections 46 are clear of the apertures 20 in the scoop which can then be pulled free. To assemble a scoop onto the handle, pressure is applied to the bosses 22 and the scoop 14 is pushed towards the handle until the projections 46 click into the apertures 20.

If an initially flat scoop 50 as shown in Fig 5 is used, it is first formed into a U- shape by finger pressure.

The flexibility of either form of scoop allows any imperfections in the wall of the right angle joint to be accommodated very easily.

The scoop 14 may be made of a transparent plastics material. This has the advantage of allowing the user to see when the excess material removed by the scoop is close to filling the scoop, which can then be detached for cleaning or replacement.

While the scoop has been shown as detachable from the handle, the tool could alternatively be provided as a single integrated piece. However, an advantage of a detachable scoop is that several replacements can be provided so that as each becomes soiled with excess sealant, it can be replaced and the advantage of a transparent scoop retained.

Figure 7 illustrates a smoother (80) in which the scoop (81) is integral with the handle (82).