Tackless Carpet Stripping

Abstract

A tackless carpet stripping for attaching carpet or the like to a floor in a room wherein the stripping is fastened to the floor along the peripheral edge of the floor adjacent the walls of the room. The tackless carpet stripping is a one-piece integrally molded structure having an elongated member with its lower surface positioned on the floor and fastened thereto by means of nails or the like. The upper surface of the elongated member has a plurality of integral sharp-ending holding members projecting toward the wall at an angle inclined with respect to the upper surface of the elongated member. In the preferred embodiment the stripping has a plurality of regularly spaced apertures extending from the upper to the lower surface of the elongated member and is fabricated from a plastic material, such as polystyrene.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a means for fastening carpeting or the like to a floor and, in particular, to tackless carpet stripping of the type that is fastened to a floor and has sharp upwardly projecting members that engage the undersurface of the carpeting and retain the same in position.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Heretofore, numerous fastening devices have been employed for attaching carpeting to a floor and tackless carpet stripping has become the most common type of fasteners employed for installing carpeting in both residential and commercial building. The conventional tackless carpet generally comprises a strip of wood approximately four feet in length, 1 inch in width and a quarter of an inch in thickness with the bottom surface of the tackless carpet stripping being positioned on the floor and fastened thereto by nails driven through the wooden strip and into the floor. The upper surface of the wooden strip is provided with a plurality of sharp-edged nails or spikes that are driven from the underside of the wooden strip and project above the outer side at an angle inclined with respect to the upper surface of the wooden trip such that the spikes project toward an adjacent wall when installed. Although such wooden tackless carpet stripping is well known and widely used and offers substantial advantages in the installation of carpeting over older methods, this type of wooden strip construction unnecessarily adds to the expense of carpet installation as several steps are required in the fabrication of the wooden tackless carpet stripping. In addition, during the installation of the carpeting and, in particular, when nails are driven through the wooden strips to attach the same to the floor, the strips tend to split or crack causing the carpet installer to replace the strip.

Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a new and improved tackless carpet stripping which is simple and inexpensive to fabricate and yet one which is durable and of high strength.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention which will be described subsequently in greater detail comprises a tackless carpet stripping comprising an elongated member fabricated from synthetic material such as polystyrene and having a plurality of regularly spaced integrally formed projections extending upwardly from one surface thereof at an angle inclined with respect to said last-mentioned surface, said projecting members having sharp ends for engaging the underside of a carpet and retaining the same in position.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved tackless carpet stripping fabricated from synthetic material and being of an integral one-piece construction.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved tackless carpet stripping which is of a simpler and inexpensive design and which is of great strength and durability.

Other objects, advantages and applications of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art of tackless carpet stripping when the accompanying description of one example of the best mode contemplated for practicing the invention is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The description herein makes reference to the accompanying drawing wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a room having carpet installed by means of a tackless carpet stripping constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plane view of the tackless carpet stripping illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged perspective view of the tackless carpet stripping illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the tackless carpet stripping taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawing, and in particular, FIG. 1 wherein there is illustrated a fragmentary perspective view of a corner of a room having a floor 10 and a pair of intersecting walls 12 and 14 which are disposed along the peripheral edge of a floor 10 in the conventional manner. A plurality of end-to-end aligned tackless carpet strippings 16 are illustrated as being fastened to the floor 10 along the peripheral edge thereof adjacent each of the walls 12 and 14, all of which will be described in greater detail hereinafter. The tackless carpet strippings 16 are employed to fasten a carpet 18 to the floor 10. As is conventional in carpet installation, a floor padding (not shown) is disposed over the floor 10 and nailed thereto with any suitable fasteners, such as tacks and the like, with the peripheral edge of the padding terminating at the tackless carpet strippings 16, the padding being approximately the same thickness as the strippings 16. The carpeting 18 has an area which is generally equal to that of the floor and is positioned in such a manner that the undersurface of the carpeting 18 is adapted to be engaged and retained in position by the tackless carpet stripping 16 as will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

Referring now to FIG. 2, 3 and 4 wherein there is illustrated in greater detail a tackless carpet stripping 16 which comprises an elongated base member 24 approximately 48 inches in length, 1 inch in width and a quarter of an inch in thickness, having an upper surface 26 and a lower surface 28 (FIG. 4), the latter surface 28 being adapted to be positioned on the floor 10 adjacent the walls 12 and 14 as aforementioned. The base member 24 is provided with a plurality of regularly spaced, triangularly-shaped apertures 30 which extend completely through at an inclined angle from the upper surface 26 to the lower surface 28 forming inclined web members 32 which interconnect successively disposed body portions 34 located on the opposite sides of the base member 24 throughout the full length thereof with the apex of each triangular aperture 30 terminating at a base portion 34. In the preferred embodiment the aperatures 30 are approximately six-tenths of an inch apart as measured along the longitudinal axis of the base member 24 and three-tenths of an inch apart as measured across the web members 32; however, the exact dimensions disclosed may be varied.

As can best be seen in FIG. 3 and 4, the base member 24 has a plurality of sharp-ended projections 36 extending outwardly from the upper surface 26 of the base member 24 and inclined with respect to the plane in which the upper surface 26 is disposed. The sharp-ended projections 36 are successively disposed on the opposite sides of the upper surface 26 at regularly spaced intervals, that is, at the body portions 34 and adjacent the apex of the triangularly-shaped aperture 30 associated with each body portion 34. The projections 36 are spaced approximately 1.38 inches from adjacent projections 36 on the same side of the base member 24 with the projections 36 on one side of the base member being approximately 1/2 inch from the projections 36 disposed along the opposite side of the base member 24.

The projections 36 are of a generally pyramid shape extending approximately 1/4 of an inch above the upper surface 26, with the rectangularly-shaped base of each projection 36 being approximately one-tenth of an inch in width.

The tackless carpet stripping 16, that is, the base member 24, the projections 36 and the apertures 30 are preferably formed by an injection molding process resulting in an integral one-piece construction. In the preferred embodiment, the tackless carpet stripping 16 is fabricated from a polystyrene material. However, other similar materials may be employed, such as polyester, polyether, polyureas, and polyurethane.

As can best be seen in FIG. 4, the longitudinal side edges 40 and 42 of the base member 24 are disposed in parallel planes which are inclined with respect to the upper and lower surfaces 26 and 28 and generally project in the same direction as the inclined projections 36. This, in addition to the inclined walls of the apertures 30, permits the forming of the base member 24 with sharp projections while permitting an easy withdrawal of the formed stripping 16 from the forming die.

In use the tackless carpet stripping 16 is positioned along the peripheral edge of the floor 10 adjacent the walls 12 and 14 as shown in FIG. 1, with the projections 36 pointing toward its associated wall such that when a carpet installer stretches the carpeting in a conventional manner and lays the peripheral edge of the carpeting 18 over the upper surface 26 of the member 28, the sharp-edge projections 36 will engage and securely grasp the under side of the carpeting 18 and retain the carpeting in an installed position as is conventionally done with the aforementioned wooden strippings. Excess carpet extending over or beyond the strip 16 toward the wall is cut in the conventional manner. The apertures 30 permit the tackless carpet stripping 16 to be broken easily to provide shorter lengths of stripping where needed to accommodate varying lengths of walls along which the carpeting 18 is being installed. When the tackless carpet stripping 16 is positioned along the peripheral edge of the floor adjacent the walls 12 and 14, the strippings 16 are fastened to the floor 10 by any suitable means, such as nails or tacks, which are driven through the web portions 32 and into the floor 10. In the event the carpet stripping 16 is to be employed in installing carpeting on a concrete floor, the stripping may be attached to the concrete floor either by a suitable adhesive or by concrete nails driven through the stripping 16 and into the concrete flooring itself.

It can thus be seen that the present invention has provided a new and improved tackless carpet stripping which has all of the advantages of existing carpet strippings but, in addition, it is much less expensive to manufacture, easier to use and more durable in its construction and longer lasting in life.

Although only one embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed, it should be understood by those skilled in the art of tackless carpet stripping that other forms may be had all coming within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A tackless carpet stripping for attaching carpeting to a floor in a room wherein the stripping is normally fastened to the floor along the peripheral edges thereof and adjacent the walls of said room, said stripping comprising:

an elongated member of a predetermined length, a lower surface thereof being positioned on said floor along said peripheral edge;

means for fastening said elongated member to said floor at said last-mentioned position;

a plurality of longitudinally-spaced, sharp-ended holding members carried on the upper surface of said elongated member and projecting therefrom at an angle inclined with respect to said upper surface; said holding members projecting toward said adjacent wall when said stripping is fastened to said floor, said holding members being integrally-formed projections of said elongated member, and alternately spaced on opposite sides of said member along the longitudinal length thereof, said tackless carpet stripping further comprising a plurality of spaced apertures in said elongated member, said apertures extending from said upper to said lower surface said holding members being centrally located between each successively spaced aperture, said holding members being spaced apart and non-contiguous with the apertures, said side walls of said elongated member connecting said upper and lower surfaces are disposed in planes which are inclined with respect to said upper and lower surfaces and project toward said wall when said stripping is attached to said floor; the walls of said apertures being disposed in planes which are inclined with respect to said upper surface, said walls of said apertures and side walls being parallel and said holding members beng inclined generally in the same direction as said walls of said apertures.

2. The tackless carpet stripping as defined in claim 1 wherein said elongated member and said integrally-formed holding members are fabricated from a material selected from the group consisting of plastic, polyurethane, polyethylene, polyester, polyether, polyreas and polystyrene.

3. A tackless carpet stripping for attaching carpeting to a floor in a room wherein the stripping is normally fastened to the floor along the peripheral edges of the room and adjacent the walls of said room, said stripping comprising:

an elongated member of a predetermined length having longitudinal side edges connected by transverse end walls, the lower surface of said elongated member being positionable on said floor and adapted to be fastened to said floor;

A plurality of end to end inclined web members extending between said side edges, each web member traversing a longitudinal axis of said elongated member and extending between the opposing longitudinal side edges of said stripping to define between successively spaced web members a triangularly shaped aperture having a base parallel to one longitudinal side edge of said elongated member, apex of said aperture opposite said base being inwardly spaced from the other longitudinal side edge of said elongated member;

A plurality of longitudinally spaced, sharp-ended holding members carried on the upper surface of said elongated member and projecting therefrom at an angle inclined with respect to said upper surface, said sharp-ended holding members being located on said upper surface of said elongated member between the apex of said triangularly shaped aperture and said other longitudinal side edge.

4. The tackless carpet stripping defined in claim 3 wherein aid holding members are integrally formed projections of said elongated member.

5. The tackless carpet stripping defined in claim 4 wherein said elongated member and said integrally formed holding members are fabricated from a material selected from the group consisting of plastic, polyurethane, polyethylene, polyester, polyether, polyreas and polystyrene.

6. The tackless carpet stripping defined in claim 4 wherein said holding members are of a pyramid shape the axis of which is inclined with respect to said upper surface of said elongated member.