Foam articles
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorPhillip J. Bouic
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A foam article for use as a masking material when spray painting a vehicle comprises a plurality of foam strips 1a, 1b, 1c joined together by a common seam 4 along at least one side edge to form a cord 6. The cord 6 can be adapted for masking across gaps of different size in different locations by superimposing the appropriate combination of foam strips 1a, 1b, 1c to provide the required thickness of cord 6. The cord 6 may be secured by wedging in the gap or by attaching an adhesive stripe 2 on at least one of the foam strips 1a to a surface on the inside or outside of the gap. The cord 6 may also be re-used by removing any painted foam strips or by re-arranging the foam strips to conceal any painted foam strips.
Claims34
A foam article for use as a masking material comprising a plurality of elongate foam strips, each strip having a longitudinally extending edge and being joined at said longitudinally extending edge to a longitudinally extending edge of at least one further elongate strip by a seam common to all said strips.
A method of manufacturing a foam article for use as a masking material including the steps of providing a plurality of sheets of foam material, superimposing the sheets of foam material, joining the sheets of foam material at a plurality of spaced positions by longitudinally extending parallel seams, and separating the sheets of foam material along the seams to produce a plurality of elongate foam articles, wherein each foam article comprises a plurality of foam strips joined together by at least one seam a side edge of the foam strips.
A method according to clam 20 wherein the foam material is cold weldable and the seams are formed by compressing the sheets of foam material to fuse the sheets together along the seams.
A foam article for use as a masking material comprising a plurality of foam strips, each foam strip having a body portion and side edges, and a cold weld seam releasably securing the foam strips together along at least one side edge whereby, in use of the foam article as a masking material, the arrangement of the foam strips can be adapted to enable the foam article to be re-used.
A foam article for use as a masking material comprising a plurality of foam strips, each foam strip having a body portion and side edges, and a cold weld seam releasably securing the foam strips together along at least one side edge whereby, in use of the foam article as a masking material, the arrangement of the foam strips can be adapted to vary the thickness of the foam article.
A method of masking a gap between two parts of a vehicle when painting at least one of the parts, the method comprising the steps of providing an elongate foam article comprising a plurality of elongate foam strips joined together by a seam along at least one side edge, and positioning the foam article to mask the gap.
A foam article for use as a masking material comprising a plurality of superimposed foam strips releasably secured together.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.