Drywall tape and mud dispenser

The present application is a continuation in part of and claims the priority of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/307,134, titled “DRYWALL TAPE AND MUD DISPENSER”, filed on Jan. 25, 2006.

This invention relates to improved methods and apparatus concerning applying strips of tape to wall joints and wall joint corners.

Many devices are available for automatically dispensing mastic or adhesive coated tape for application to wall forming panel joints, ceiling or corner joints. Most of these devices are not effective and some will not even work. Others are relatively complicated, ineffective and difficult to clean as result of being formed by a plurality of interengaging or moving parts and therefore are relatively expensive.

In one embodiment of the present invention a device is provided with which joint tape may be more efficiently and rapidly “mudded” or coated with an adhesive filler mixture, joint compound, or “mud” usually applied to one side of joint tape for filling and covering joints in a dry wall construction utilizing panels generally known by the trademark Sheetrock.

This invention in one embodiment provides an elongated mud or joint compound containing box having a dispenser paying out a length of tape at one end of the box and a means for severing the tape at the other end of the box which is easily and cheaply constructed and easily cleaned.

An elongated, generally rectangular upwardly open container which may be called a “mud box” supports a quantity of joint compound or drywall mud and features a rectangular bottom conforming to the dimensions of drywall tape across which a length of the tape is drawn from a roll at one end of the box. A reel holder secured to the box permits a peripheral portion of a roll of tape to remain tangent with the plane defining the bottom of the mud box.

The respective end wall of the mud box defines a tape passing slot for sliding movement of the tape while simultaneously coating it with wall filler mud as it moves through the box. The principal object of this invention is to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive combination tape dispenser and mud applicator which includes means for holding a roll of tape with its exit end tangent with the bottom of a mud box and controlling a quantity of mud applied to the tape as well as means for severing the coated tape at a selected length. The “lip up” of stainless steel on each side of the base (on each side of the tape) also keeps the tape in alignment as the “mud box” is being used.

The tape holder swings up or down by the means of an “arm action” for easy reloading. As the roll of tape sits on a base, gravity and friction keeps the roll from “Free Wheeling” as the tape is pulled through.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a container is provided having a periphery and a base, which enclose a cavity. The periphery and the base are connected together, the periphery upwardly extending from the base. The periphery has a first slot and a second slot. Each of the first and second slots is sized to permit a first end of a tape located nearest the roll to be slid through it. A tape holder may be connected to the container so that the tape holder lies outside of the cavity of the container. The roll of tape can be placed on the tape holder so that the roll can be rotated and the tape thereby unwound. The second slot that the tape passes through is gauged to permit the proper thickness of “mud” or joint compound to be applied to the tape.

The periphery may be comprised of a first side wall, a second side wall, a first end wall, and a second end wall, which together with the base form an open box configuration. The first side wall has a bottom connected to the base, a first end connected to the first end wall, and a second end connected to the second end wall. The second side wall lies spaced apart from and opposite of the first side wall, and wherein the second side wall has a bottom connected to the base, a first end connected to the first end wall, and a second end connected to the second end wall. The first end wall has a bottom connected to the base, a first end connected to the first side wall, and a second end connected to the second side wall. The second end wall lies spaced apart from and opposite of the first end wall, and wherein the second end wall has a bottom connected to the base, a first end connected to the first side wall, and a second end connected to the second side wall.

The first slot may be located in the first end wall. The second slot may be located in the second end wall. Each of the first side wall, the second side wall, the first end wall, and the second end wall may be truncated triangular in shape. Each of the first and second slots are may be parallel and adjacent to the base. The open box configuration may be elongated. Each of the periphery and the base may be elongated.

In one embodiment, a method is provided including providing a container having a periphery and a base which enclose a cavity and connecting a tape holder to the container so that the tape holder lies outside of the cavity of the container. A roll of tape can be placed on the tape holder so that the roll can be rotated by pulling the tape through the “mud box” and the tape thereby unwound. The method may include placing the roll on the tape holder, threading the tape through the “mud box”, and placing joint compound into the cavity so that the tape will be exposed to the joint compound but only on the top side of the tape.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device in operative position containing a quantity of drywall mud, indicated by a dotted line;

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Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture

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