A magnet is a material that can exert a noticeable force on other materials without actually contacting them. This force is known as a magnetic force and may either attract or repel. While all known materials exert some sort of magnetic force, it is so small in most materials that it is not readily noticeable. With other materials, the magnetic force is much larger, and these are referred to as magnets. Some magnets, known as permanent magnets, exert a force on objects without any outside influence. The iron ore magnetite, also known as lodestone, is a natural permanent magnet. Other permanent magnets can be made by subjecting certain materials to a magnetic force. When the force is removed, these materials retain their own magnetic properties. Although the magnetic properties may change over time or at elevated temperatures, these materials are generally considered to be permanently magnetized, hence the name.
All magnets have two points where the magnetic force is greatest. These two points are known as the poles. For a rectangular or cylindrical bar magnet, these poles would be at opposite ends. One pole is called the north-seeking pole, or North Pole, and the other pole is called the south-seeking, or South Pole. This terminology reflects one of the earliest uses of magnetic materials such as lodestone. When suspended from a string, the north pole of these first crude compasses would always “seek” or point towards the north. This aided sailors in judging the direction to steer to reach distant lands and return home.
Currently magnet applications include compasses, electric motors, microwave ovens, coin-operated vending machines, light meters for photography, automobile horns, televisions, loudspeakers, and tape recorders. A simple refrigerator note holder and a complex medical magnetic resonance imaging device all utilize magnets.
When making magnets, the raw materials are often more important than the manufacturing process. The materials used in permanent magnets (sometimes known as hard materials, reflecting the early use of alloy steels for these magnets) are different than the materials used in electromagnets.
In the field of modular floor covering unit installation, existing methods of installing such floor coverings typically involve a very labor and material intensive process. The process involves individually gluing down floor covering units using an adhesive. The adhesive is heavy, difficult to apply, costly, difficult to remove, and prone to failure. Using the prior art method, adhesive must be applied to the entire supporting surface or the entire underside of a floor covering unit. This process is costly in both labor and money and creates additional costs if floor covering units are to be replaced or removed.
Another method known in the art for installing modular floor covering units involves using adhesive connectors to connect modular floor covering units with adjacent units. Such “connector systems” of the prior art allow the modular floor covering to “float” on top of the supporting surface. These prior art systems use an adhesive to hold the edges of the adjacent flooring units together. One such system and method is the SYSTEM FOR CARPET TILE INSTALLATION, U.S. Pat. No. 8,434,282, issued May 7, 2013 (Scott et al.), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The method described in Scott et al. utilizes a one sided pressure sensitive adhesive tab that is approximately 72 mm square that has a releasable protective layer to join four sections of modular flooring units together. There a several problems with using this method to install a modular floor covering.
The modular flooring units are typically heavy in nature and the bond between the tile connector and modular flooring unit is relatively weak compared to traditional adhesives. In the Scott et al. tile connector, the connector is formed from an inert plastic that is coated with an adhesive. Although the connector is water resistant, it is not completely waterproof. This may cause the connector to fail under some conditions. Floor covering units are constantly under attack from moisture. The Scott et al. prior art claims the connectors are water resistant because the connectors only have adhesive on one side, the upwards facing side, making the connector less susceptible to moisture from the subfloor. However, this ignores adhesive failure from moisture sources above the connector. For example, a business such as a hotel may steam clean the floor covering unit connected by a Scott et al. type adhesive connector. Further the floor frequently may have liquids spilled on it and may experience wet winter conditions. This “wetting” occurs from above and moisture leeches down onto the face of the prior art connector, making it highly susceptible to moisture and potential connector failure.
The Scott et al. type prior art tile connectors have a high rate of failure in areas of heavy traffic and along modular flooring unit seams. Heavier traffic from office equipment, foot traffic, chairs etc. puts a strain on these connectors. The strain from heavier traffic may cause the connectors to fail in one or more ways.
The first type of failure for the Scott et al. type adhesive connectors is that the glue will stretch or fail under a heavy force such a chair rolling or other heavy object being moved across the floor covering. To address this problem, modular floor covering installers may use a spray adhesive in a can to supplement this type of adhesive connector system to give the seams of the modular floor covering extra strength. However, doing so removes most of the advantages of this type of connector system and introduces volatile organic chemicals (“VOCs”) into the installation area. VOCs present in the installation area require at a minimum additional ventilation and may also necessitate installing the modular floor covering after work hours when an area is subject to much lower traffic.
The second type of failure occurs if there is an excessive force in one direction. If such a force is imparted on the connector, the adhesive connector will fail altogether and “bunch up” underneath the modular flooring unit causing a “profiling” underneath that can be seen above the surface of the modular flooring unit.
Furthermore, the Scott et al. type prior art connector may only be used with modular floor covering units having a proprietary backing (e.g., a composite glass backing) that is used in the manufacturing process.
There also exist other carpet seaming methods for joining together two segments of floor covering material along long, straight seams. Such methods include CARPET SEAMING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF UTILIZING THE SAME, U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,664, issued Sep. 1, 1998 (Covert), and SEAMING APPARATUS AND METHOD, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/309,632, filed Jun. 19, 2014, (LeBlanc et al.), both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Additional methods exist for securing modular floor covering units together in a “floating floor” configuration that overcomes the problems and issues presented by the Scott et al. prior art. Such methods include MODULAR CARPET SEAMING APPARATUS AND METHOD, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/618,752, filed Feb. 10, 2015, (Lautzenhiser et al.) which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Additionally, problems exist with the manufacture of modular floor covering units. All flooring coverings are cut into sections. The sections may be strips 12 feet in length and one to two feet wide, 24″ by 24″ square carpet tiles, or carpet strips or tiles in other standardized or custom lengths and widths. Flooring and in particular commercial flooring, which may be modular flooring units (e.g., carpet, vinyl, resilient flooring (vinyl composition tiles (VCT), luxury vinyl flooring (LVF), luxury vinyl tile (LVT) or luxury vinyl plank (LVP)), and hardwood), or carpet strips, is under constant stress at its seams due to any number of stresses on the seam. The stresses may include sub floor moisture and spills, glue degradation, stress caused by the movement of heavy objects, excessive foot traffic, temperature changes, or other environmental factors.
Currently modular flooring carpet, and in some instances broadloom carpet, is typically manufactured from a tufted carpet layer, a scrim layer, and a bonding agent layer. First, the bonding agent is created by first blending either a proprietary or standardized blend of raw materials that may be either pelletized or powered or both. The type of materials used may vary and depends on the intended use of the carpet but may include PVC, polypropylene, rubber, fiber glass, graphite, and various other compounds. Carpet or modular carpet for the carpet layer is typically tufted and further comprises a primary backing as part of the carpet layer. Initially, the carpet comprises the tufted fabric with a primary backing. The carpet enters the manufacturing line pre tufted and may be on a 12′ or 15′ roll. The carpet roll is then put through a series of rollers to be stretched out to the desired tension. This tensioning reduces the likelihood of wrinkles forming in the finished carpet when the secondary backing is bound to the tufted fabric and primary backing later in the manufacturing process.
At the same time as the tufted fabric is being tensioned, a roll of scrim tape, which may comprise a fiberglass scrim tape, is also similarly tensioned. The pellet and powder mix described above is also blended and heated to form a semi solid compound that may have a viscosity and consistency similar to a caulking material. The fiberglass scrim tape, which is under a tension force and stretched flat on an assembly line, is constantly moving at a set forward speed through the assembly process.
The blended semi solid compound is squirted out of nozzles directly onto the fiber glass scrim tape and subsequently squeegeed to a desired height and thickness. The squeegeeing process is guided by a set of edge dividers. This process causes the semi-solid compound to join with and be pressed into the fiberglass scrim tape, forming a single fiber tape and semi-solid compound layer. This fiber glass scrim with the semi-solid compound is then compressed beneath the aforementioned tufted fabric by a series of rollers forming a sandwiched layer of tufted fabric, primary backing, semi-solid compound, and fiberglass scrim tape. After these components have been joined or bonded together, the layers are baked in an oven at a constant temperature while still being moved along the assembly line. After the baking process, one or more coatings may be applied to the now finished backing system and carpet roll. After the compression and baking stages of the process, the now finished carpet moves on to be laser cut. The cut carpet is then buffed on the edges to remove the stray tufts of fabric and bits of scrim or “fuzzies” from said cut carpet. The aforementioned manufacturing process is typically used for manufacturing modular flooring carpet units.
Carpet manufactured according to the aforementioned process is subject to a curling force at its edges due in part to the process involved in manufacturing the carpet. This curling stress adds to the external stresses on carpet seams. This type of curling stress is particularly problematic in modular flooring applications. Typically as part of the manufacturing process broadloom carpet or modular flooring goes through a heat up and cool down process in an environmental chamber that occurs after the primary assembly of the carpet or modular flooring unit is complete, i.e., after the carpet has been compressed, baked, and cut. The environmental chamber will change the relative humidity and temperature from one extreme to another, e.g., high to low or low to high, causing the carpet to curl in a particular direction. Depending upon which direction the carpet curls, the batch of carpet will undergo a process wherein the exact opposite curling will be applied to the carpet. Applying this type of treatment and curling process to the carpet reduces the probability of the edges of the carpet curling up at the seams after installation of said carpet.
Additionally with some existing magnetic floor covering systems, the floor coverings must be installed in a certain direction relative to the underlayment as the systems are anisotropic and may only be installed in one particular orientation.
In the field of wall coverings, the process of constructing wall coverings is time consuming, expensive, and messy. In typical residential and commercial buildings, a frame is erected for interior walls. On this frame a set of gypsum, sheetrock, or drywall boards are typically hung. These drywall boards are attached with screws or nails to the frame, which may be metal or wood. The boards must then be finished prior to painting. The finishing process for drywall boards typically involves mudding and taping. Mudding involves applying a wet-mix compound to mesh or paper tape that has been applied to the seams of the drywall board. The seams and edges must then be sanded prior to finishing. The finishing of drywall boards typically involves priming the surface with a primer type paint and then painting on the final wall cover on the primed surface. This process creates particulate dust contaminants that are difficult to clean and control. The process also may create an undesirable chemical smell due to volatile organic compounds (“VOCs”) present in the paint, primer, and drywall boards.
Other methods of finishing a wall include: using wood boards or panels including “ship-lap” style panels; applying stone, masonry, or brick; applying wall-paper using glue and a decorated paper roll; applying wall trim pieces; and securing thin wooden boards and applying a plaster coating. For any of these methods, it may also be desirable to insulate the wall by placing an insulation layer for thermal or acoustic insulation behind the finished wall. Insulating is an additional step that must be completed prior to finishing the wall and may be time consuming and messy.
For all of the above mentioned methods, replacing the covering may be difficult and time consuming. Replacing a masonry wall covering, for example, requires extensive demolitions and clean-up. Replacing wall-paper may require replacing the drywall board the paper is secured to. Many of the above methods require destructive removal to replace.
Additionally, gymnasiums, fitness facilities, tennis courts, parks and recreation and any other like facility all have problems with constant wear and tear from the environment, people etc., and are very hard to maintain and clean properly. They are also typically single purposed with no ability to be used for anything but the given activity the surface was designed for. The underlayment could have a peel and stick adhesive backing, or an attached shock pad needed for some sports, or attached cushion for playgrounds to meet ASTM standards.
Furthermore, in current countertop installations, whether a countertop is granite, stone, tile, laminate, or any other material, it is conventionally applied using a concrete like substance, an epoxy or an adhesive substance that is permanent. Typically, a plywood board is cut into the shape of the underlying cabinets and is screwed into the cabinets. Then a concrete board is screwed into the substrate board if a tile product is going to be the finished layer. Then the finished product is laid upon either the single plywood substrate or dual substrate depending on the finished product. In this manner the countertop is permanently affixed to the cabinets. If an end user wished to change their countertop, it would be impossible to do without tearing the countertop back down to the cabinets. In this process there is significant potential to also damage the underlying cabinets and is a time consuming process leaving the kitchen area unusable for a prolonged period of time.
Additionally, in existing roofing systems, whether a roof is covered with shingles, metal sheets, terra cotta or other stone, the roof is installed over a composite wood and glue type board that has a “tar” paper or other underlayment type material to resist moisture. The materials tend to overlap each other and flashing materials are put into corners and a caulk like material around vents to create a water tight roof. Shingled roofs are made almost exclusively with petro chemical (oil) based products with a grit like sand that has been dyed to a specific pattern. If a problem occurs in these roof systems it is very expensive to identify a problem, because of the “overlapping” of the finish coat to ensure a water type seal. This is a permanent product and if there is a failure (e.g., leak) large areas must be removed and replaced all the way down to the substrate. It is often difficult to match a repair to the remaining roof structure so that it looks seamless.
What is needed is a direction independent method for installing modular floor covering units that does not requiring the gluing down of the floor covering units to provide for simple replacement and re-use of the modular floor covering units whether the floor covering units are carpet, vinyl flooring, resilient flooring, or hardwood flooring and a system and method for installing modular wall covering units that does not require the use materials that are difficult to install and is easy to replace. Additionally, what is needed is a magnetic direction independent underlayment configurable in various configurations suiting the individual facility and a magnetically receptive top coat that is quasi-permanent but is easily removed when the top coat needs to be cleaned, has outlived its lifespan, or requires a change in use. Also, what is needed is a modular roofing system that has a magnetic bond, that allows a roof to hold up to various building codes in strength, is lighter weight and can be made with other “greener” materials. Moreover, what is needed is a quasi-permanent bond that is strong enough to hold the finished countertop material in place, but also be removed with little to no abatement.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds