US2270419A - Covering material - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 20, 1942. H. F. DEBO COVERING MATERIAL Original Filed Nov. 18, 1936 AT ORNEY R 0 T N E V m Haw/a F 0550 Patented Jan. 20, .1942

UNITED STATES PATEN T OFFICE COVERING Henry Debo, Kenmore, N. Y., assignor to Certain-teed Products Corporation, .New York, 'N. Y., a corporation o'f'Maryland Application November 18, 1936, Serial No. 111,427 Renewed January 6, 1939 6 Claims.

:This invention relates to covering materials, especially coverings for walls or surfaces of build- :ings. The invention particularly relates to wall boards having indicia for positioning the means :of fastening the wall boards to the building frameor support.

It has been proposed heretofore to apply to the surface of a wall board Or panel for covering a wall or the surface of a building structure marks for locating the nails or other fastening means so that they may properly engage the supporting structure. Wall boards of fibre, plaster, laminated wood and other materials commonly are manufactured in such sizes as to be suitable for erection upon the building frame,

particularly upon the members thereof which form the partition or side walls and. the ceiling beams of a room. Especially in wood frame structures such as dwelling houses, in which Wood studs ordinarily 2 by l are used for the partition and side walls and in which ceiling beams usually 2" in thickness and of depths 6"" to 10" are used, wall boardsare fastened to the studs and to the ceiling beams for the most part by nails driven through the boards into the studs. In ordinary practice'such wall boards have a width which spans atIleast three studs Or ceiling beams and ordi'narily'iour studs or ceiling beams, such studs and ceiling beams being on 24" centers or on 16 centers respectively. Thus a com- 'mon width for such wall boards is 4 feet. The length of such wall boards may vary from '6 to 12 feet.

In some cases in such wall boards, as hereinabove referredto, the marks have been spotted thereon in rows and uniformly spaced in the rows, said rows being parallel to the long edges of the board at distances laterally spaced from said edges such that said rows will become superimposed or coincident with the studs or beams which are intermediate those studs or beams to which said long edges of the board are'fastened. In a panel 4 feet wide two such rows each at 16" from a lateral edge and separated by a space of 16" have been marked upon the board to cor respond with stud spacings of 16" centers. Such panels also have carried a center row of marks for studs spaced at 24" centers. boards and panels are the subject of the application of Homer H. Van Hagan, Serial No. 704,832, filed January 2, 1934, said application having a common assignee with the present application.

'Theinvention of the present application relates to wall boards of the type which have been Such wall ad U described "and particularly to wall boards carrying marks spotted as dots on the face thereof as proposed in said application of Homer ZH.-Van v Hagan, Serial No. 704,832. The invention of the present application, therefore, utilizes the advantages obtained by marking wall boards with dots which are visible only on close inspection so that the workman may readily find the location at which the nail is to be driven into the intermediate stud behind the board being erected. its proposed in said application of Van Hagan, Serial No. 704,832, these spots or dots in the present invention may be made superficially on the sur face of the wall board, for example with a diameter of about 9: and with an ink of such a character that it will not spread into the fibrous material or the structure of the wall board, thus to mar the appearance of the board.

According to the present invention, however, I propose to utilize an ink which will have the property of fading when exposed to light or to the atmospheric conditions under which the wall board is being erected. It thus becomes possible with wall boards embodying the present inven tion to leave thesurface of the board uncovered by paints or other finish without having any marks showing upon said surface of the board after such a period of time aswill effect fading of the ink applied to the boards to form the spaced marks in said rows as described. Moreover, because I utilize a fading ink 'I may make the marks more conspicuous, or darker or of other greater contrasting character, and may makethem somewhat larger so that the work man will'be able with even greater facility than is possible with the marks as proposed by Van Hagan to locate the nails or other fastener for driving intoor fastening to the stud behind the board. Because the ink utilized in the present invention fades out when exposed upon the wall or ceiling,'such marks of pronounced character or size may become unnoticeable or disappear from the surface of the wall when completed, thus leaving no marks which would spoil the appearance of the wall such as is the case when, in the erection of ordinary boards without marks, the workman draws a line across the face of the board for guiding him in locating the studs behind the board. Especially in wall boards which, as manufactured, have a finished surface, such as the imitation of wood grains or in wood panels bringing out the grain itself of the wood, the ultimate elimination of nailing marks is very desirable and heretofore has not been possible. Theinvention may be illustrated as in the acof the panel 3.

companying drawing which shows wallboards embodying the invention erected on studding.

In the figure of the drawing upon the studs I and spanningtherebetween so that the edges of the panel are positioned approximately at the center line of the stud is fastened the panel 'or wallboard 3 by nailing along the edge of the panel or wallboard at suitable intervals. Also, as shown in the figure, intermediate studs are provided into which the nails are driven through the center portion of the panel to fasten the panel or wallboard to the stud. At the center line of the panel in dotted outlines is shown the position of a stud I which is used in some cases instead of the two studs 5. As referred to above, in common practice the panel 3 may have a width between studs I of 4' or 48". The studs 5 then may be positioned at 16" centers so that the nails driven through the panel into the studs may be placed upon lines which are respectively 16" from the lateral edges 9 For the alternative spacing referred to above, and as disclosed in said prior application of Van Hagan, Serial No. 704,832, the nails alternatively may be driven on a line at the center of the panel into the studs I. The studs 5 in such case not being used, no nails would be driven on the lines at the locations of these studs.

In order to accomplish the correct nailing of the panel to the studs, and particularly for the different stud spacings illustrated the invention proposes, as does said application of Van I-Iagan Serial No. 704,832, to apply to the panel 3 lines, preferably formed as rows of dots or spots I3, in such locations with respect to the edges 9 of the panel as to register with the studs 5 or the stud I whichever maybe used in a given construction. Preferably, these lines are applied to the face of the panel by spacing the dots in the, line or row at a distance of 3 When the panel, as illustrated in the drawing, is erected upon studs of a side wall the nails I I may be driven at every third spot or dot, thus leaving unused two spots or dots between nails to secure a spacing of between nails. When, however, such a panel is erected upon a ceiling and nailed to the joist or beams thereof the nails may be driven at every other spot or dot to secure a spacing of 7" between the nails in order to provide more secure fastening and support of the panel applied to the ceiling.

Similar rows of spots or dots may be applied, if desired, at the edges of the panels or these may be omitted. In the latter case, suitable and secure nailing of the panel is possible because these nails are driven' near the edge of the panel and with care no difiiculty is experienced by the carpenter or applicator in making sure that the nail enters the stud. The spacing of the nails in such case may be gauged by eye. The application of the spaced spots or dots, however, is advantageous in securing uniform spacing of the nails along the edges 9 of the panel 3.

Similar arrangement of the spots or dots may be used for the line which is marked at the center of the panel 3 to register with the stud I for constructions which utilize only a single stud, at 24" centers between the edges of the panel in the particular embodiment illustrated. The nails I I may be driven in this line at every third spot or dot in the same manner as in the lines which register with studs 5, or at every other spot or dot for panels on ceiling beams or joists.

It will be understood from this description of the drawing that, some of the spots or dots l3 being unused between the locations at which the nails II are driven, the spots or dots are not covered by a nailhead and remain exposed. By forming the spots or dots upon the face of the panel with a fugitive or fading ink, according to the proposal of the invention, those not used may disappear from the face of the panel or become so modified as to not be conspicuous upon said face. Moreover, when a line for indicating the location of the stud I is not used, as in the particular case illustrated, or when, on the other hand, the lines for indicating the locations of the studs 5 are not used, this line or these lines, being in excess of the number of marks or lines used for locating the studs and being formed of fugitive or fading ink, may disappear leaving the panel face unmarred by the nailing marks.

It is now the practice, for the purpose of shipping wall boards of various kinds, and particularly plaster boards having upon the face thereof to be exposed upon the wall a paper liner which may have a finished surface, in colors or of other decorative character, to assemble two such wall boards with said faces to be exposed together in a bundle or package. Said two boards may be held together by tapes pasted over their ends and lapped upon the outside edge surfaces of the bundle. Such tapes commonly are of paper and may readily be cut when it is desired to use the boards but have sufficient strength to hold the boards together without slippage of one upon the other during shipment and handling. The faces of the board to be exposed, therefore, are thoroughly protected against damage in handling.

In my invention I propose to utilize such bundles and the means of forming such bundles with tapes or in any other manner which will maintain the two faces of the board which are to be exposed in contact witheach other not only to prevent damage, as heretofore has been the case, but also to prevent the light reaching the fading ink with which I propose to make the marks upon the board for locating the fasteners or nails. Within the scope of the invention I may utilize various means for forming the bundle or package but the invention includes a bundle or package of at least two boards so fastened together in the bundle as to prevent access of light to the faces to be exposed of the boards, such boards having nailing or fastening marks thereon as described above formed with a fading ink.

Within the meaning of the term fading ink I intend to include any means of marking the surface of a covering sheet such as a Wall board panel with a material which will fade out or disappear when the Wall board is erected in place so as to leave the surface of the board which is exposed after erection substantially unmarked by such applied material or ink. If with the material used such fading takes place under ordinary conditions under which such wall boards are erected in building structures, whether due in whole or in part to atmospheric conditions or to the light to which the board is subjected, I contemplate such fading action to be within the scope of my invention and the invention includes all materials which may be applied to the surface of the board to secure such a result.

As examples of the materials which may be used for the purpose of the invention may be mentioned the analine dyes, such as Bismark Brown and Chrysoidine. Other fading inks or fugitive dyes also may be used. I have also found that phenolpthalein mixed with a solution of an alkaline material, such as sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide, the solution being of suitable strength to avoid permanent change of the substance of the wallboard or covering material, may act as a fading ink.

Some materials used in making coverings and wall boards contain dyes. For example, the paper liners on some gy sum wall boards contain Metanil Yellow and auramine, In such a case an acid such as oxalic, citric or tartaric acid or, in suitably diluted strength, hydrochloric acid, may be used as the material to be applied on the surface to form the mark. In the presence of such acids the dye contained in the covering material acts as an indicator and the markis formed as if printed with a dye. Such a mark may fade out and disappear when exposed to light and to the conditions of use of the covering material or Wallboard.

In order to improve the printing qualities of some materials which are capable of acting as a fading ink I may mix with the liquid suspension thereof a thickening agent such as a gum, for example karaya gum, gum tragacanth or locust bean gum, to secure the necessary consistency and adhering quality of the fading ink.

Having thus described my invention I now claim:

1. A wall board having on the face to be exposed thereof marks for locating the fasteners to be inserted therethrough into the supporting structure, said marks being greaterin number than the number of locations of fasteners to be inserted and being made with a fading ink.

2. A wall board having a width to span at least three studs or ceiling beams set at predetermined spacings, said wall board having upon the face to be exposed thereof marks for locating the nails to be driven into an intermediate stud or beam, said marks being in greater number than the number of locations of the nails to be driven and being made with a material capable of fading under the conditions to which said Wall board is subjected when erected in the building.

3. A wall board having a width to span at least three studs or ceiling beams set at predetermined spacings, said wall board having upon the face to be exposed thereof at least one row of marks spaced in the row to serve as locations for nails to be driven through the face of the board into a stud or beam, said row extending parallel to the edges of the board which are to be fastened to the outer studs or beams and at a distance from said edges to register with the intermediate stud or beam, said marks in said row being greater in number than the munber of the nails to be driven in said row and being formed upon said face of the board with a material capable of making the mark visible for locating the nail but capable of fading under the ordinary conditions of light and atmosphere to which said wall board is subjected after erection upon said studs.

4;. A covering material having the surfaces thereof marked to provide locations for fasteners for fastening the covering material to a support in excess of the locations required in a given construction in order to adapt said covering to different constructions, the marking being made with a material capable of making the mark visible for locating the fastener but capable under the ordinary conditions of light and atmosphere to which said covering is subjected after erection in said construction of itself changing its color to become substantially that of the surface of the covering upon which it is marked.

5. A wall board having on the face to be exposed thereof a plurality of spaced marks for locating fasteners to be inserted therethrough into a supporting structure, the number of said marks being in excess of the number of fasteners to be used in a given construction to provide locations for fastening the board to different structures, said marks being made with a material capable of making the mark visible for locating the fastener but capable under the ordinary conditions of light and atmosphere to which said wall board is subjected after erection upon the supporting structure of itself changing its color to become substantially that of the surface of the wall board upon which it is marked.

,6. A wall board having on a face thereof a plurality of marks for locating fasteners to be inserted into studs of a wall structure, the arrangement of said marks on said face of the board providing for alignment thereof with studs at different spacings, the number of said alignments being in excess of the number of studs intermediate the edges of said wall board in a given construction, said marks being made with a material capable of making the mark visible for locating the fastener but capable under the ordinary conditions of light and the atmosphere to which said wall board is subjected after erection upon said studs of itself changing its color to become substantially that of the face of the wall board on which it is marked.

HENRY F. DEBO.

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