Parking lots and other similar traffic surfaces are often subject to excessive wear and exposure to the elements. In order to prevent deterioration, such surfaces are often coated with a protective sealant after a certain amount of use and wear. For example, blacktop sealant is commonly applied to a parking lot surface in order to restore the surface to a more desirable condition and extend its useful life. The blacktop sealant is typically a coal tar material that must be spread in a thin layer over the parking lot surface. Because the tar material is very difficult to remove from a surface once it is applied, great care must be taken to ensure that the blacktop sealant is only applied to the desired parking lot surface and not to adjacent objects. Particularly, care must be taken to not unintentionally apply the sealant to bumper blocks, curbing, sign poles, and other objects located on or around the parking lot surface. As may be appreciated, coating these objects in the typically black sealant usually results in an undesirable appearance.
The most common method for coating parking lot surfaces with sealant is to use a mechanical spraying device. The spraying device is typically connected to a tank for storing and mixing the blacktop sealant, and includes numerous other components to help ensure that the sealant is evenly applied. In order to avoid coating bumper blocks and the like, all of the bumper blocks are often physically removed from the surface before applying the blacktop sealant. Although this method may allow the mechanical spraying device to coat the entire surface in an efficient manner, moving the bumper blocks can be an extremely costly, time-consuming, and difficult task. There are large numbers of such blocks, and most bumper blocks weigh between 150 and 220 pounds and require at least two workers with a dolly to remove and replace them. Also, metal rods that secure the bumper blocks in place are often bent during removal and must be replaced. Furthermore, once the sealant is applied, the bumper blocks must then be moved again and returned to their original positions. Therefore, there are significant drawbacks with removal of bumper blocks from the lot surface.
Alternatively, instead of removing the bumper blocks, some workers apply the blacktop sealant by hand to small areas around each bumper block. The workers typically use brooms, squeegees, or other special equipment to carefully coat a three to four foot perimeter area around each bumper block. This technique significantly slows down the process and thus is less efficient and more costly. In addition to being time-consuming and labor-intensive, this method also results in more pieces of equipment that must be transported between job sites and cleaned after use. If a mechanical spraying device is used to coat the rest of the surface around a bumper block, this burden can become particularly undesirable because the spraying device itself includes numerous components that must be transported and generally maintained.
In another technique, the bumper blocks might be covered with paper or plastic which is taped to surround the block. However, such preparation is particularly time-consuming. Furthermore, it is messy as the paper or plastic has to then be pulled off of the block when it is covered in sealant. Still further, such a technique has not proven adequate as the seal formed around the bumper block and parking lot surface is usually not adequate to prevent sealant from reaching the block.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved method for applying protective coatings to parking lot surfaces containing bumper blocks. Particularly, it is desirable to complete such a task in a more timely, convenient, and economically efficient manner. And thus, there is a need for an apparatus for achieving such goals.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds