The present invention relates generally to a device for applying a fluid coating material onto a building surface, such as to a building wall, by moving the de vice across the surface in contact therewith as the fluid coating material is be ing continuously supplied to the device.

Such devices of the invention generally comprise a mouthpiece having a front end for discharge of the fluid material onto the building surface and a rear end defining an inlet for the fluid material into the mouthpiece, and a body including a handle for hand holding the device. The handle extends from the rear end of the mouthpiece and includes a conduit for supplying the fluid material to the inlet, the mouthpiece being connected to or integral with the body to establish a fluid tight connection between the inlet and the conduit. The mouthpiece de fines one contact face for contact of the device with the surface.

Devices of this type are disclosed broadly in US201 1/0297327, US5882691 , US2666323, US1828738 and CN201007081Y

The object of the present invention is inter alia to provide an improved device of the aforementioned type, allowing for the application of adjacent lanes of the coating material on a building surface, wherein the transition between the adjacent lanes is smoothened to thereby largely avoid clear demarcations be tween the adjacent lanes. One lane is applied on each pass of the device over the building surface, and after each pass is the device shifted sideways by a distance corresponding to about the width of the lane, to apply as it is then moved an adjacent lane while simultaneously trimming the edge portion of the previously applied lane. Some embodiments of the present invention allow for the device to be sup ported against the building surface in a highly stable manner by providing sev eral contact faces.

According to claim 1 , the mouthpiece of the device of the invention, which de vice may be as shown broadly in i.a. fig. 7 herein, further comprises i) two opposite side walls, the material flowing between opposite insides of the two opposite side walls from the inlet to the front end (the inside of the side wall being oriented towards the inside of the mouthpiece), ii) a top wall having at said front end a first face defining together with the building surface a first gap defining the thickness of the lane of the material applied onto the building sur face by the device, and iii) a flange portion extending along the outside of an adjacent one of the two side walls, the flange portion having a second face defining together with the building surface a respective further gap having a height that increases from the level of the first face towards the rear end. This flange portion is for contacting a surface part of a lane of the material previ ously applied to the building surface by the device. An edge of each of the two side walls defines a respective portion of said one contact face. The two side walls diverge away from one another in a direction away from the rear end, such that the outer surface of the two side walls also diverge away from each other.

The aforementioned flange portion smoothens/evens out the transition be tween adjacent coating material lanes applied using the device, and may ex tend along one or both side walls of the mouthpiece.

To achieve an even better smoothening out of the aforementioned transition, in an embodiment the flange portion includes a surface extending from the level of the first face, opposite to and along with at least a portion of the length of the outside of an adjacent one of the side walls, i.e. a portion of the one of the side wall surfaces that is oriented away from the inside of the mouthpiece, to define a channel tapering towards the front end of the mouthpiece; a funnel ling action on coating material crests along the edge of a lane previously ap plied is thereby created by the cooperating surfaces.

In one embodiment the aforementioned body further includes a base extending in a first direction away from the rear end of the mouthpiece and along at least a part of the handle, the base defining a second face for contact between the device with the surface, the first and second faces extending in a common plane for simultaneous contact with the surface when applying the coating ma terial. The first and second faces are in one further embodiment located spaced apart to define between them a recess that may receive minor spot like projections on the surface, such as small stones, to reduce any tendency of the mouthpiece to rock which may give rise to the application of material coating layers with an uneven thickness or irregular surface appearance.

In a further embodiment the device may be coupled to a supply pump via two U-shaped sections of a material delivery conduit, to allow for a high flexibility and ease of movement of the device when applying the material.

In a further embodiment the handle extends from the rear end away from the base with the axis of the conduit of the handle extending at an angle to the plane, preferably an angle of between 20° and 60° to the plane.

Further advantages and effects resulting from the use of the device of the in vention will appear from the following detailed description of embodiments of the device.

Brief description of the drawings

Fig. 1 is a front view of a building wall, illustrating at the same time a top view of a first embodiment of a device of the invention, Fig. 2 is a side view of the first embodiment of the device of fig. 1 ,

Fig. 3a is a perspective view of a similar, second embodiment of the device, with a recess portion formed in a base of the device, and showing a first type mouthpiece before it is connected with a separate body to form the device of the invention,

Fig. 3b show front views of three different embodiments of the first type of mouthpiece ,

Fig. 4a is a side view of the second embodiment of the device with the first type mouthpiece, in use thereof,

Fig. 4b is a top view of the second embodiment of the device, with the first type mouthpiece, being moved essentially linearly in direction T in use thereof.

Fig. 4c is a partial perspective view of a second type mouthpiece, seen from the rear end, before it is connected with a separate body to form a device of the invention,

Fig. 4d is a bottom view of the second type mouthpiece of fig. 4c,

Fig. 4e is a side view of the mouthpiece of fig. 4c,

Fig. 5 is a view similar to fig. 4b, showing a third embodiment of the device, without any recess portion,

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the use illustrated in fig. 4b, and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the device for applying a fluid coating material to a building surface and having a first type mouthpiece configured in accordance with the principles shown in fig. 3b.

Detailed description

The invention will now be explained in more detail below by reference to em bodiments thereof.

Fig. 1 is a top view of a first embodiment of the device 10 of the present inven tion, in operation where neighbouring parallel rows or“lanes” C1 , C2 of a coat ing material C are applied onto a vertical brick wall surface 1 by a person (not shown) holding with his hand around a handle 22 of the device 10 and moving the device 10 horizontally in direction T, in sliding contact with the surface 1 of the brick wall. The direction T may alternatively be up/down, such as vertical.

As shown in fig. 2 the device 10 of the invention generally comprises a mouth piece 40 having a front end 45 for discharge of the coating material C in fluid form, and an opposite rear end 65 that defines an inlet 70 for the coating ma terial C in fluid form into the mouthpiece 40, as well as a body 20 including the handle 22, which handle 22 extends away from the rear end 65 of the mouth piece 40 and includes an internal conduit for supplying the fluid material to the inlet 70. The conduit preferably has the shown outwardly fanning part defined at the end of the handle 22 proximal to the mouthpiece 40.

The mouthpiece 40 is preferably connectable to the body 20, such as to the aforementioned outwardly fanning part, by releasable connecting elements es tablishing at the end of the internal conduit a fluid tight connection between the inlet 70 and the conduit 100 and being designated broadly reference numeral 12. The connecting elements 12 may be arranged on the aforementioned out- wardly fanning part, and may include, as in the shown first embodiment, re spective cylindrical structures, of which one or both may be threaded, receiving bolts or screws connecting the mouthpiece 40 with the body 20 by engaging the cylindrical structures as well as corresponding structures 502 on a rim 500 of the mouthpiece 40, see fig. 2. Any other type of connecting elements 12, such as releasable complementary engagement structures arranged on or in tegral with the mouthpiece 40 and the body 20, may alternatively be used, the connecting elements 12 allowing removal of the mouthpiece 40 from the body 20 without destroying the body 20, such as when the mouthpiece 40 is worn down due to its sliding contact with the building surface, or when it is desired to replace the mouthpiece 40 with another one providing a different thickness of the coating material applied to the surface 1 . As may be understood, the body 20 may preferably be for long-time use in combination with different mouthpieces 40.

Fig. 3a shows clearly the aforementioned outwardly fanning part of the internal conduit 100, comprising in the shown embodiment and at the end thereof a peripheral wall for contacting the mouthpiece 40, which peripheral wall may include separate sealing means (not shown), such as an elastomeric sealing ring, and which may as shown carry or include the connecting elements 12.

As seen best in the side view of fig. 2 the mouthpiece 40 has a contact face 14 configured for contacting the building surface 1 in use of the device 10, and the body 20 further includes a base 24 extending in the shown direction D away from the rear end 65 of the mouthpiece 40 and along at least a part of the handle 22. The base 24 has a further contact face 16 of the device for contact of the device 10 with the surface 1 , the one and further contact faces 14, 16 extending in the shown common plane P, see fig. 2. As will be under stood, in use of the device 10 the one and further contact faces 14, 16 simul taneously contact the building surface 1 , see fig. 2, to reliably support the de vice 10 against the surface 1 . The contact faces 14, 16 may be relatively smooth and/or even/flat, to allow the device 10 to slide against the surface 1 with a relatively low friction.

As seen in fig. 2, and also in figs. 3a and 4a that show an alternative embodi ment, the one and further contact faces 14, 16 are arranged spaced apart in the aforementioned direction D to define between them a portion R of the de vice 10 that is not in contact with building surface 1 in use of the device 10 when the one and further contact faces 14, 16 contact the building surface 1 , the second face 16 being at an end 25 of the base 24 remote from the mouth piece 40. As shown in figs. 3a and 4a the portion R may be constituted by a recess formed in the base 24 and being delimited by a third base 24 face 16’ also extending in the shown common plane P.

Providing such a non-contact portion R, preferably extending across the entire width (perpendicular to direction D) of the base 24 as shown in fig. 3a and 4a, is of particular benefit when applying coating material to irregular surfaces 1 having spot-like projections, as illustrated by numeral 200 in fig. 4a, such as small particles or stones 200, which projections 200 become received in the portion R until reached by the second contact face 16 as the device 10 is moved across the building surface 1 in direction T. Fig. 5 shows how the device would move with a rocking motion absent such a non-contact portion R upon reaching such a projection 200, giving rise to a relatively uneven thickness of the coating material C of lane C2, as illustrated schematically in this figure.

As seen in the drawings it may be preferred that the handle 22 extends from the rear end 65 away from the base 24 with an axis 100’ of the conduit 100 of the handle 22 extending at an angle to the plane P, preferably an angle of between 20° and 60° to the plane P. The handle 22 may be molded integrally with the base 24 from a plastic material, or may otherwise be connected to the base 24 to conveniently form a unitary structure. As shown, the handle 22 may be releasably connected to a delivery conduit for supplying the fluid material from a fluid material supply via a pump. Specif ically, the delivery conduit may comprise a hose H only partially shown in fig. 1 and a delivery conduit portion DCP including two U-shaped sections 151 , 158 similar to those disclosed in WO2017/182513 connected by a swivel joint 180 configured for mutual rotation of the two sections 151 , 158 about an axis A2, one 151 of the two U-shaped sections being connected by a coupling 150 to the handle 22 for rotation relative to the handle 22 about an axis A3 and the other one 158 of the two U-shaped sections being connected to the hose H for rotation relative to the hose H about an axis A1 along the length of the hose H. This allows for easy operation of the device 10.

As seen perhaps best in figs. 3a and 3b the mouthpiece 40 includes in the shown embodiments and at the front end 45 two opposite side walls 51 , 52, a top wall 54 and preferably also an opposite bottom wall 56. The two side walls 51 , 52 diverge away from one another in the direction away from the rear end 65.

The top wall 54 has an angled front part 55 extending or projecting beyond an end E of the side walls 51 , 52 in a direction away from the rear end 65, the front part 55 of the top wall 54 defining a first face F1 for defining together with the building surface 1 a gap G1 ; the height W1 of this gap G1 defines the thickness of the layer C1 of the material applied onto the surface 1 in use of the device 10.

Fig. 3b illustrates alternative mouthpieces 40 where the two side walls 51 , 52 diverge less away from one another in the direction away from the rear end 65, a smaller angle of divergence allowing for application of a more narrow coating layer lane C1 , C2 which may be thicker if the same material supply pressure is used, compared to the embodiment of the mouthpiece 40 shown to the left of fig. 3b where the angle of divergence is relatively large. For struc tural strength there may be a central wall M inside the mouthpiece 40, con necting the top wall 54 with the bottom wall 56 and splitting the material flow.

Fig. 4b shows by letter B discrete coating material crests that are formed as the device is moved across the building surface 1 . These crests B, of a height greater than the aforementioned height W1 , are due to part of the coating ma terial exiting the mouthpiece 40 sideways in an uncontrolled manner at the side of the mouthpiece 40 where no previously applied adjacent lane C1 is there to constrain the material.

As shown in i.a. fig. 4b a respective flange 60 connected to or integral with the front part 55 of the top wall 54 has a flange portion 61 extending along the outside of a respective one of side walls 51 , 52. This flange portion 61 defines an inclined second face F2 (see fig. 3b) which together with the building sur face 1 defines a respective further gap G2 open towards the rear end 65 of the mouthpiece 40. Through the inclination of the second face F2 the further gap G2 on each side of the mouthpiece 40 has a height W2 that is relatively larger closer to the rear end 65 of the mouthpiece 40, with the height W2 of the further gap G2 at the front part 55 being at least the same as the height W1 of the first gap G1 .

The second, inclined face F2, when contacting the coating material crests B along the edge K of a lane C1 previously applied to the surface 1 , will smoothen the transition between two coating material lanes C1 , C2 applied next to each other on the building surface 1 as the device 10 is moved along direction T, by the aforementioned crest material B being“funnelled” sideways and downwards towards the surface 1 through the combined action of the sec ond, inclined face F2 and the outside of the adjacent wall 51 , 52, which outside is at an angle to the direction of movement T as a result of the side walls 51 , 52 diverging form one another. This reduces formation of demarcations be tween the parallel lanes C 1 , C2, represented schematically by letter W in fig. 4b. The gap G1 , G2 heights W1 , W2 referred to above may be understood as the distance between the plane P and the respective gap faces F1 , F2, see fig. 2.

Fig. 4c shows a second type mouthpiece providing an even better smoothen- ing out of the transition between adjacent coating material lanes C1 , C2, by to an even larger degree eliminating the surface pattern W shown schematically in fig. 4b. For this, at least one of the flange portions 61 includes a depending surface 300 extending along the outside of, and opposite to, at least a portion of the length of the adjacent side wall 51 , 52, but never below the level of the first face F1 so as to prevent the surface 300 from digging into the depth of the material of the lane C1 already applied. This surface 300 defines together with the surface of the adjacent side wall 51 , 52 a channel CH (see fig. 4d) tapering towards the front end 45 of the mouthpiece 40 where there is a transition (at the shown line L) between the first face F1 , defined by the angled front part 55, and the second face F2 and where the further gap G2 then has a height W2 that corresponds to the height W1 of the first gap G1 . The height W2 of the further gap G2 at the first face F1 is less than the height of the further gap G2 close to the rear end 65 due to the second face F2 being inclined. This channel CH, by the combined action of the inclined face F2 and the tapering channel CH, very effectively funnels the material forming the crests B as this material enters the channel at the rear end 65 when the device 10 provided with this second type mouthpiece is moved in direction T, as shown in figs. 1 and 4b. Note that, as perhaps seen best in fig. 4c, the surface 300 (and possi bly even also the opposed surface of the wall 52) may be inclined at some angle different from 90 degrees relative to the second face F2 to provide an additional force, oriented towards the building surface 1 , on the crest B mate rial passing in the further gap G2. The second face F2 may be a planar, inclined face as shown schematically by the broken line in fig. 4e, or be slightly curved.

The mouthpiece 40 may be an integrally molded plastic material structure, and the body 20 or alternatively the delivery conduit H, DCP may include a control device 21 configured for wireless activation of the pump (not shown) supplying the coating material.

In a fourth embodiment of the device 10 shown in fig. 7 no base as described above is provided, and the body 20, defined in this case by of the handle 22 only, may be integrally formed or separate from the mouthpiece 40, with only the mouthpiece 40 having a contact face 14 for contacting the surface 1 . For this fourth embodiment the mouthpiece 40, with or without any connecting el ements for connection with the handle 22, is configured as broadly discussed above with reference to fig. 3b, with a respective flange 60 being connected to or integral with the part 55 of the top wall 54, the flanges 60 having a portion 61 extending alongside a respective one of the two side walls 51 , 52 and de fining together with the building surface 1 the respective further gaps G2 open towards the rear end 65, which further gaps G2 preferably each has a relatively larger height W2 (compared to the height W1 of the gap G1 at the front 50) nearer to the rear end 65, the portion 61 being for contacting a layer C1 of the material already applied to the building surface 1 , as shown in fig. 6.

Although not shown, the base 24 shown in any of figs. 1 -6 may be provided as a separate item attachable to the handle 22 for providing the second contact face 16.

Such a separate base 24 may also be provided for attachment to the handle 22 of the fourth embodiment of the device 10 shown in fig. 7, or any other handle forming part of that device 10.