"Improvements in or Relating to Apparatus and/or a Method to Apply Past to a Wall Covering Material" "

I KEVIN JOSEPH MCMENAMIN, a British Subject of 201 Brook Street, Nelson, New Zealand hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:

This invention relates to an apparatus and/or a method fo continuously applying adhesive paste to a wall covering material , and is intended particularly though not necessarily solely for applying paste to wallpaper.

Wallpaper paste can be applied to wallpaper using a brush similar article. However, this is a messy and time consuming process. In order to obviate these disadvantages wallpaper applicators have been developed which employ rotatable roller positioned adjacent one another. One disadvantage of these systems is encountered when the leading edge of the wallpaper passed between the rollers as it is difficult to ensure the paper passes efficiently between the rollers. Further, due to the frictional drag created by the glue and the positioning of the paper between the rollers it is difficult to draw the wallpaper through the rollers. This process therefore require substantial physical strength on behalf of the operator.

Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus and/or method to continuously apply adhesive paste t a wall covering material which will go at least some way towar obviating the foregoing disadvantages of which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.

Accordingly, in one aspect the invention consists in an apparatus for continuously applying an adhesive paste to a wall covering material, comprising: a container to contain adhesive paste;

a plurality of roller members mounted in association with said container and at least partially retained within said container, said roller members being arranged substantially adjacent and parallel to one another, and being rotatable about the longitudinal axes thereof; and drive transfer means on at least one end of each of said roller members such that rotation of any one roller member is transmitted by said drive transfer means so as to produce rotation in the other said roller members; the construction and arrangement being such that in use a length of said wall covering material may be passed between said roller members and said roller members rotated thereby and at least one surface of said wall covering material is thereby brought into substantially continuous contact with adhesive paste contained by said container.

In a further aspect the invention consists in a method of continuously applying adhesive paste to a wall covering material, comprising the steps of: providing a container and; a plurality of roller members mounted in association with said container, said roller members being arranged substantially adjacent and parallel to one another and being rotatable about the longitudinal axes thereof; drive transfer means being provided on at least one end of each of said roller members so that rotation of any one said roller member is transmitted by said transfer means so as to

produce rotation in the other said roller members; placing adhesive paste within said container to a predetermined level with respect to said roller members; and continuously drawing said wall covering material between said roller members so that said roller members are rotated thereby and at least one surface of said wall covering material is continuously brought into contact with said adhesive paste.

To those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The disclosures and the descriptions herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

A preferred form of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a plan view of an apparatus to continuously apply adhesive paste to a wall covering material in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 shows a diagrammatic cross section of the apparatus of Figure 1 taken along the line A-A and including a mounted roll of wall covering material; and

Figure 3 shows a side elevation of the apparatus of Figure 1 when partially disassembled.

Referring now to the figures, an apparatus to continuously apply adhesive paste to a wall covering material is provided,

comprising a container 1 to contain adhesive paste 2. A lid (not shown) may also be provided which can be positioned over the container 1 for ease of transport. The lid may for example be connected to the container 1 by a hinge and may be completely disengageable from the container 1 in use.

A plurality of roller members 3, 4, and 5 are mounted in association with the container 1 and at least partially retained within the container 1. The roller members 3, 4 and 5 are arranged so that they are substantially adjacent and parallel to one another. The roller members 3, 4 and 5 are also rotatable about their longitudinal axes. The apparatus further includes drive transfer means 6 on or adjacent at least one end of each of said roller members such that rotation of any one of the roller members 3, 4, 5 is transmitted by the drive transfer means 6 so as to produce rotation in the other roller members 3,

4, 5.

There are preferably three roller members 3, 4, 5, arranged so that a central roller member 4 is substantially nearer the base 7 of the container 1 than the other roller members 3, and

5. The other roller members 3 and 5 may be provided at substantially the same height.

The drive transfer means 6 preferably comprises interlocking gears on the roller members 3 , 4, 5. The gears may suitable be formed from plastics or metal material. The teeth of the gears may transfer the rotational movement between the roller members 3, 4 and 5.

The apparatus preferably further includes mounting means, such as a shaft member 8 and notches 9 provided in the upper edge of both sides of a frame 14. The notches 9 may for example receive the ends of the shaft member 8 so that a roll 10 of wall covering material 11, for example wallpaper, may be mounted. When mounted, the longitudinal axis of the roll 10 is substantially parallel with the longitudinal axes of the roller member 3, 4 and 5.

Desirably, the roller members 3, 4, 5 may comprise tubes of for example a plastics material which are mounted by way of projecting shafts 13 of, for example, stainless steel to the frame 14. One or more of the roller members 3, 4 and 5 may be covered with suitable covering material which may improve the frictional force created between the rollers and therefore the mechanical functioning thereof. The frame 14 may, for example, be comprised of perspex or any other suitable material. By way of example, the ends of the shafts 13 may be received and held in place by notches or apertures in the frame 1 .

A brace 15, may additionally be provided, being fastened to each side of the frame 14 and serving as an infeed means to direct the wall covering material 11 to the roller members 3, 4 and 5. A guide member 22 may also be provided which directs the wallpaper from the roll 10 to the first roller 3. The guide member 22 may comprise a substantially flat plate and may be connected to both sides of the frame 14. The guide member 22 may be desirably turned downwards at the leading edge 23 thereof

and curved slightly upwards at the second edge 24.

The apparatus optionally includes guide means 12 to guide the wall covering material 11 from the roller members 3, 4 and 5 to a position external of the container 1. The guide means 12 is suitably pivotal about a pivot point 16, which can enable the guide means 12 to vary in position according to the direction in which the wall covering material 11 is being drawn from between the roller members 3, 4, 5 in use. Alternatively, the guide means 12 may merely comprise the side wall 21 of the container 1 which may be provided at a suitable angle in order to guide the wallpaper out of the container 1.

Suitably, the frame 14 together with mounted roller members 3, 4, 5 as well as the mounting means 8, guide means 12 and brace 15 may be removable as a unit from the container 1, as shown in Figure 3.

The use of the invention according to its preferred embodiment is as follows.

To continuously apply adhesive paste to a wall covering material, adhesive paste 2 is placed within the container 1 to a predetermined level 17 with respect to the roller members 3, 4, and 5. For example, about 2 to 3 cms depth of a suitable starch paste may be placed in the container 1, so that the level of paste approximates the bottom level of the surfaces of the upper roller members 3 and 5.

Preferably, the roll 10 of wall covering material 11 is then mounted so that the longitudinal axis of the roll 10 is

substantially parallel to the longitudinal axes of the roller members 3, 4, 5. By way of example, shaft member 8 may be placed throug the centre of the roll 10 and the ends of the shaft member 8 located in the notches 9. The wall covering material is thus continuously drawn between the roller member 3, 4 _r 5 so that the roller members 3, 4, and 5 are rotated thereby. Tbe lower surface 19 of the wall covering material 1 is continuously brought into contact with the adhesive paste 2 at point 20 for example.

The wall covering material 11 is suitably drawn through th apparatus nd brought into contact with the paste 2 by feeding the leading edge 18 of the wall covering material 11 under the brace _ae_aber 15-- The wall covering material 11 is then drawn over the guide Member 22 and under the first roller member 3. Rotation of the gears 6 (such as manual rotation thereof) then serves to draw the wall covering material 11 between the rolle members 3 a__& 4 and it can then be further fed between the roller members 4 and 5. Continued rotation of the gears 6 forces the wall covering material 11 out the front of the apparatus over guide means 12.

By manually drawing the leading edge 18 of the material 11 upwards, the βaterial 11 can be continuously drawn between the rollers providing adhesive paste on the underside surface 19 only.

Suitably, in use for pasting wallpaper, the apparatus can b placed close to the desired wall surface, preferably within

approximately 30 cms of the base of the wall, and the wallpaper can be drawn directly up into position and smoothed onto the wall. Alternatively, the apparatus may be placed on a table, for example, and lengths of pasted wall covering material drawn to be cut to length.

The device can be made substantially light-weight by constructing the device from plastics material. This makes the device as portable as possible when fully operational. All the relevant working parts are lubricated by wallpaper paste which is a lubricant in itself.

Thus it can be seen that an apparatus to continuously apply adhesive paste to a wall covering material and/or a method of continuously applying adhesive paste to a wall covering material are provided. The apparatus is simple to operate and enables continuous pasting of wallpaper using a minimum amount of equipment. This avoids the use of brushes covered with adhesive which must be picked up and put down, thus causing mess. The adhesive paste can be retained within a simple container, which is refillable during use. The apparatus may suitably be provided as a removable unit. Thus, it is not necessary to come into significant manual contact with the paste nor does it tend to be spread around inadvertently.

Further, provision of drive transfer means on each of the rollers ensures that the wallpaper passes efficiently from the first roller to the next. Also, the drive transfer means passes the rotational force between the rollers and thus makes it easier for the user of the apparatus to draw the wallpaper throuσh the rollers.