Carpet stretcher

This invention is directed to a carpet stretcher which does not require knee kicking, and instead uses a hand operated sliding hammer to stretch the carpet. The stretcher can fit to a conventional gripper head, or can be purpose-built.

The most popular carpet stretching tools used are the manual knee kicker stretcher, the lever action stretcher, and a powered stretcher. The invention can be seen as an improvement on the manual knee kicker stretcher.

Carpet stretchers are very well known and are used to stretch a carpet towards the perimeter of the floor to eliminate creases and bulges, and to tension the carpet over the smooth edge which is a strip of timber with protruding spikes or nails, and which is attached to the floor around the base of the walls. The carpet is stretched over the spikes which holds the carpet in place.

The most popular unit used to stretch the carpet is a knee kicker. The knee kicker is typically formed from two main parts. The first part is the gripper head. The gripper head typically has a rectangular head portion having a bottom face containing protruding spikes which bite into the carpet. A shank or shaft extends behind the gripper head which may be tubular, or channel shaped. The second part of the knee kicker contains a shank or shaft which makes with the shank or shaft on the gripper head. A soft thick pad is fitted to the rear part of the shank or shaft, and the pad is hit by the knee of the carpet layer to cause the gripper head to move forwardly and therefore to stretch or tension the carpet.

The knee kicker needs to be kicked by the knee of the carpet layer while the carpet layer is in a kneeling position. This action causes impact which results in serious knee, hip, leg and spinal injuries.

Another disadvantage with this type of device is that the carpet layer must be positioned behind or next to the knee kicker. This means that the device cannot be easily used in very confined spaces such as in cupboards or underneath overhangs. Often, the carpet is only partially stretched or is not stretched at all in these confined spaces which results in creases or bulges forming in the carpet over time.

Attempts have been made to improve the efficiency of knee kickers. For instance, it is known to provide a knee kicker where a sliding weight slides along the shaft or shank which extends between the gripper head and the knee pad. When the carpet layer kicks the knee pad, the weight is propelled towards the gripper head and it is hoped that this provides some intensification of the force of the blow to the gripper head. In practice, this arrangement increases the weight of the kicker, which is undesirable, and provides no advantage to the problems with confined spaces. Also, the device still needs to be kicked by the persons knee which provides no solution to the injury problem.

Another known type of carpet stretcher has a gripper head which is more or less conventional. Behind the gripper head is a rather long tubular member. A long rod slides within the tubular member and is weighted. The rear end of the rod has a hand grip. In practice, the rod is retracted to be almost out of the tubular member, and is then forced back through the tubular member by pushing hard on the hand grip. The front end of the rod extends through the tubular member and strikes a stop in the tubular member. It is hoped that this provides a decent forward force to the gripper head. This arrangement has the advantage that it does not need to be kicked by the persons knee. However, the plunger and rod type assembly is rather long (almost 1 m when in the retracted position) which makes it difficult for use in confined spaces. Also, the rather long stroke of the device when the rod is retracted and pushed forwardly through the tubular member, makes it difficult to provide a quick series of blows to stretch the carpet. The device also has the disadvantage that it is, not very versatile and can only be used as a hand carpet stretcher. Occasionally, there are still advantages in being able to use a knee kicker, and this device does not allow it to be used as a knee kicker when required.

Carpet stretchers are known which do not require kicking. For instance, carpet stretchers using a lever action are known, but these stretchers are rather slow and require the device to be pinned to the floor to prevent it from moving backwards as the lever forces the carpet forwards. These devices are also completely unsuitable for use in confined spaces.

Powered devices are known and these do not require knee kicking. However such powered devices are expensive and require a source of power which is not always readily available. The devices can be quite large and unsuitable for use in confined spaces.

It is an object of the invention to provide a carpet stretcher which does not require knee kicking, does not require electrical or hydraulic power, does not have a lever action, and which may overcome at least some of the abovementioned disadvantages.

In one form, the invention resides in a carpet stretcher which comprises a gripper head and a body portion, the body portion having an elongate member which has a front end and a rear end, a hand operable sliding hammer slidably attached to the member, and a strike face which is adapted to be struck by the sliding hammer.

In another form, the invention resides in a sliding hammer apparatus which is attachable to a gripper head part of a carpet stretching device, the apparatus having a body portion having an elongate member which has a front end and a rear end, a hand operable sliding hammer slidably attached to the member, a strike face which is adapted to be struck by the sliding hammer, and attachment means to attach the apparatus to a gripper head part of a carpet stretcher.

The carpet stretcher of the invention can be used instead of the conventional knee kicking carpet stretching devices. The size of the carpet stretcher may be similar to conventional knee kicking carpet stretching devices. However, larger or smaller stretchers are envisaged.

The gripper head may be of a more or less conventional design, and gripper heads are well-known in the marketplace. The gripper head is typically substantially rectangular or square shaped when viewed in plan and can have a length and width of between 5-20 cm. The gripper head is typically formed of steel. The gripper head typically has a bottom face which is provided with an array of spikes or teeth which bite into the carpet. The length of the spikes or teeth is typically adjustable and can be adjusted by a dial which is on the top face of the gripper head. The gripper head typically has a tapered front nose portion and a substantially abrupt rear portion. This type of gripper head is well-known in the art.

Also known in the art is a gripper head having a rearwardly extending shaft or shank to form a first part which is typically called a “gripper head part”.

The body portion has an elongate member to support the sliding hammer. The elongate member typically comprises a rod member. The rod member is typically in a substantially horizontal position. The rod member may be formed from steel or other suitable material. The rod member is typically cylindrical, although it is possible for the rod member to have a square cross-section or other type of cross-section shape. The rod member may have a cross-section size, or diameter if the rod member is cylindrical of between 5-20 mm. The rod member may have a length sufficient to allow the sliding hammer to be used effectively. The length will depend on the size of the carpet stretcher, and the size of the sliding hammer. A typical length of the rod member can be between 20-50 cm. It is envisaged that the elongate member may comprise a rail member, other types of guide members, a substantially flat or plate like member and the like, as long as it can support a sliding hammer for sliding movement along the elongate member

The body portion may have two extending portions between which the rod member can locate. Suitably, the body portion is plate like and has an upwardly extending rear end portion an upwardly extending front end portion between which the rod member can locate, and a connecting main body portion which connects the two end portions.

The body portion has a strike face which is adapted to be struck by the sliding hammer. The strike face the may comprise the upwardly extending front end portion. This front end portion may be formed from fairly thick material (typically metal) to allow it to function efficiently as a strike face without damage.

The sliding hammer is slidably attached to the rod member. Typically, the sliding hammer comprises an elongate weighted member and is typically formed from metal. The sliding hammer may be coupled to the rod member by various means. In a preferred form, the sliding hammer has a longitudinal bore through which the rod member passes to sliding the attach the sliding hammer to the rod member. The shape of the bore is typically the same shape of the rod. For instance, the bore may be circular if the rod is cylindrical or may be slot like if the rod is an elongate plate or strip. Other forms of attachment means are envisaged. For instance, the attachment might be via a pin-in-slot arrangement, a stud-in-channel arrangement, and the like.