U.S. patent application number 11/804707 was filed with the patent office on 2007-12-06 for drywall mud hopper for inside and outside corners.
Invention is credited to Timothy E. Smythe.
Application Number | 20070277475 11/804707 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46327908 |
Filed Date | 2007-12-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070277475 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Smythe; Timothy E. |
December 6, 2007 |
Drywall mud hopper for inside and outside corners
Abstract
A drywall hopper assembly that contains a double blade that can
apply drywall mud to both interior and exterior drywall corners
with no blade change. A zigzag blade can contain two grooves, one
for interior corners and one for exterior corners. With this blade
arrangement, an operator can quickly move from one type of corner
to another without using multiple tools, multiple blades or hand
application methods to apply mud. The present invention can contain
a pliable release port to present mud equally to an interior or an
exterior corner. There can be such a port on both the top and
bottom of the blade so that mud is smoothly applied as trim moves
through the hopper or the hopper is moved along the trim.
Inventors: |
Smythe; Timothy E.; (Bend,
OR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Clifford Kraft
320 Robin Hill Dr.
Naperville
IL
60540
US
|
Family ID: |
46327908 |
Appl. No.: |
11/804707 |
Filed: |
May 18, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10745958 |
Dec 27, 2003 |
7220317 |
|
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11804707 |
May 18, 2007 |
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60436998 |
Dec 28, 2002 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
52/741.1 ;
52/749.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04F 21/08 20130101;
E04F 21/1652 20130101; E04F 21/1655 20130101; E04F 21/165 20130101;
E04F 21/026 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
052/741.1 ;
052/749.1 |
International
Class: |
E04D 15/00 20060101
E04D015/00 |
Claims
1. A mud dispensing hopper for applying mud to both exterior and
interior drywall corner trim comprising: a hopper body for holding
a reservoir of wet mud; a mud outlet opening in said hopper wherein
wet mud can pass through said opening; a zigzag blade attached to
said hopper body in proximity to said mud outlet opening, wherein
said zigzag blade contains a convex part and a concave part, and
wherein said convex part applies mud to trim for interior corners
and said concave part applies mud to trim for exterior corners; at
least one control plate in proximity to said mud outlet opening and
said zigzag blade, said control plate controlling flow of said
mud.
2. The mud dispensing hopper of claim 1 further comprising a
dispensing port mounted in proximity to said control plate.
3. The mud dispensing hopper of claim 2 wherein said dispensing
port has teeth to control mud flow.
4. The mud dispensing hopper of claim 1 wherein said control plate
is metal.
5. The mud dispensing hopper of claim 1 wherein said control plate
is plastic.
6. The mud dispensing hopper of claim 2 wherein said dispensing
port is plastic.
7. The mud dispensing hopper of claim 1 wherein said zigzag blade
is removable.
8. A mud hopper for use in drywall finishing work where mud is
applied to trim for both interior and exterior drywall corners, the
mud hopper being filed with wet mud from the top and dispensing the
wet mud from the bottom through a mud dispensing port, the mud
hopper comprising a zigzag blade mounted in proximity to the bottom
of the mud hopper so that wet mud flows out of the hopper and along
the blade and onto a piece of drywall corner trim, flow of wet mud
being controlled by at least one control plate mounted in proximity
to the zigzag blade in a position to control rate of flow of the
mud, the control plate being adjustable to allow different mud flow
rates, the control plate being shaped to approximately match the
contour of the zigzag blade, and wherein said zigzag blade contains
a convex part and a concave part, wherein said convex part applies
mud for interior corner trim and said concave part applies mud for
exterior corner trim.
9. The mud hopper of claim 8 further comprising a dispensing port
behind the control plate to better control the dispensing of the
mud.
10. The mud hopper of claim 8 wherein the control plate and zigzag
blade are made of metal.
11. The mud hopper of claim 9 wherein the dispensing port is made
of plastic.
12. The mud hopper of claim 9 wherein said dispensing port contains
a plurality of teeth.
13. A method of dispensing drywall mud to both interior and
exterior corner trim comprising the steps of: loading a hopper body
with wet mud; loading drywall trim into said hopper; allowing said
wet mud to exit said hopper body along a zigzag blade adapted for
both interior and exterior drywall trim; controlling flow of said
wet mud with a control plate mounted in proximity to said hopper
body and said zigzag blade, said control plate being adjustable to
control mud flow rate onto said trim.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein said control plate and said
zigzag blade is made of steel.
15. The method of claim 13 wherein said dispensing plate has teeth
on a surface exposed to said flow of wet mud.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein said teeth are made of fibrous
material.
17. The method of claim 13 wherein said dispensing plate is made of
plastic.
Description
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of application
Ser. No. 10/745,958 filed Dec. 27, 2003 to be issued as U.S. Pat.
No. 7,220,317 on May 22, 2007. Application Ser. No. 10/745,958 was
related to and claimed priority from U.S. Provisional Patent
Application 60/436,998 filed Dec. 28, 2002. Applications Ser. Nos.
10/745,958 and 60/436,998 are hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to the field of drywall
installation and more particularly to a drywall mud hopper that
allows application of mud to both interior and exterior drywall
corners.
[0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0005] Prior art hoppers only allow finishing of exterior drywall
corners. This is because prior art hoppers only contain an exterior
blade. Some hoppers allow changing of the blade; however, no prior
art hopper contains a double blade that will allow the operator to
finish both interior and exterior corners with the convenience of
not having to change blades. Applying mud to inside corners without
a hopper is a slow and tedious process. What is needed is a drywall
mud hopper that will allow finishing of both interior and exterior
corners with no blade or tool change or setup.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The present invention relates to a drywall hopper assembly
that contains a double zigzag or other blade that can apply drywall
mud to both interior and exterior drywall corners with no blade
change.
[0007] The zigzag blade of the present invention can contain two
edge grooves, one for interior corners and one for exterior
corners. With this blade arrangement, an operator can quickly move
from one type of corner to another without using multiple tools,
multiple blades or hand application methods to apply mud.
[0008] The present invention can contain a pliable polymer release
port to present mud equally to an interior or an exterior corner.
There can be such a port on both the top and bottom of the blade so
that mud is smoothly applied as the operator moves the tool along
the seam or as trim material is moved through the tool.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0009] FIG. 1 shows a side perspective view of an embodiment of the
present invention.
[0010] FIG. 2 shows the same view as FIG. 1 with the hopper rotated
ninety degrees.
[0011] FIG. 3 shows a view looking into the top of the hopper.
[0012] FIGS. 4A and 4B show details of an embodiment of a
dispensing port with two parts.
[0013] FIGS. 5A and 5B show how the dispensing port meshes with the
corner matching piece.
[0014] FIG. 6 shows the view of FIG. 5A turned 90 degrees.
[0015] Several illustrations have been presented to better explain
the present invention. The scope of the present invention is not
limited to the embodiments shown in the figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] FIGS. 1-2 show general perspective views of the present
invention. A hopper 1 with slanted side walls 2 narrows into a
metal blade 3 at its base. The blade 3 can contain two parallel
sub-blades in the form of a zigzag, one for exterior corners 4 and
one for interior corners 5. Above the blade can be a control plate
8 that can be secured to the slanting side walls 2 with a
protruding screw and wingnut. The unique shape of the zigzag blade
3 and control plate 8 allows instant application of mud to both
interior and exterior corners with no blade change and no manual
application necessary. The hopper 1 can be made of any durable
material with plastic being preferred. The blade can be any hard,
very rigid material with steel or aluminum being preferred.
[0017] FIG. 3 is a top view looking into the hopper 1. The slanted
side wall 2 is visible along with a mud outlet opening 6 in the
bottom of the hopper 1. The mud opening 6 dumps mud onto the blade
top surface 4.
[0018] FIGS. 4A-4B show details of the control plate 8. The hopper
1 has a slanting outside surface 7 (FIG. 2) that can be secured to
the blade assembly 3 so that the hopper 1 dumps drywall mud into
it. The blade assembly 3 contains a double blade with a section
grooved for exterior corners 5 and a section grooved for interior
corners 4 if the assembly is moved against a wall, and interior
corners 5 and exterior corners 4 if a piece of trim is moved
through the assembly. A control plate 8 is secured onto each end of
the blade with a stub screw and can be adjusted to control the
release of mud. This adjustment of the end plate 8 along the stub
screw determines the exact quantity of mud dispensed. FIG. 4B in
particular, shows a dispensing port 10 that can be mounted behind
the control plate 8 at each end of the blade 3. The dispensing port
10 is specially shaped with teeth to control the outflow of mud. It
can be seen that the end port 10 has the general shape of the blade
grooves 4, 5 and has teeth 12, 14 to allow and control the outflow
of mud. The end port can be shaped various ways with optional
protrusions 13 to reinforce the teeth.
[0019] FIGS. 5A and 5B show how the control plate 8 meshes with the
blade 3. Both the control plate 8 and the dispensing port 10 can
contain a slot 9, 11 that follows the stub screw and allows for
adjustment of the control plate 8 and dispensing port 10. The end
plate can be any rigid material with steel or aluminum being
preferred. The teeth 13, 15 that are attached to the dispensing
port 10 can be clearly seen. These teeth allow mud to pass out as
well as controlling the amount of mud. It can be seen the
dispensing port 10 also follows the general shape of the blade 3
from previous figures. The dispensing port 10 is equipped with a
similar slot 11 that matches the slot 9 in the control plate 8.
Both the dispensing port 10 and the control plate 8 can be made of
metal such as steel or aluminum or the dispensing port 10 can be
made of plastic or a fibrous material, or the teeth 12, 14 can be
made of a fibrous material. It should be generally noted that
better performance is obtained if the dispensing port 10 is
flexible. It can be made from flexible plastic, rubber or other
material that bends or flexes easily. Thus the dispensing port 10
can be made out of any durable, flexible material with a polymer
being preferred. Various soft plastics work well. The dispensing
port 10 generally is able to bend slightly to dispense mud
properly; however this bending action is optional.
[0020] FIG. 6 shows a side view of the blade 3, the control port 8
and the dispensing port 10 at each end of the blade. The assembly
shown in FIG. 6 fits on the bottom of the hopper body 1 with the
outside hopper wall 7 generally mating with the blade 3 and the
dispensing port 10.
[0021] It should be noted that alternate removable blades are
possible and are within the scope of the present invention. These
optional removable blades could replace the blade 3 shown in the
figures and be configured for different types of corners or
joints.
[0022] The drywall mud hopper tool of the present invention can be
used in two different manners. First, the tool can be moved along
the seem to dispense mud on the sheetrock. Second a piece of trim
material can be moved through the tool, or the tool can be moved
along the piece of trim material to dispense mud on the trim
material. In these two different applications of the tool, the role
of the interior and exterior zigzag sub-blades is reversed. In the
first case (tool moved), part of the double blade 5 is used for
exterior corners. In the second case (trim mudded by the tool), the
part of the double blade 5 is used for interior corners since it is
the trim rather than the drywall that is being mudded. The same
principle applies for the other part of the blade 4. For the first
case this part of the blade 4 is used for interior corners, and in
the second case this part of the blade 4 is used for exterior
corners.
[0023] Several descriptions and illustrations have been used to
explain the present invention. One of skill in the art would
realize that many changes and variations are possible. These
changes and variations are within the scope of the present
invention.
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