Seaming tool for floor coverings

The seaming tool has elongated upper and lower plates hinged along their long edges to open like a book. The bottom of the lower plate has stops parallel to the hinge. The stops engage the edge of already laid floor covering and the to-be-laid material is positioned between the plates. The free edge of the upper plate now serves as the cutting guide. It is slightly closer to the hinge than the stop means to ensure a slight overlap of the materials to require a tight or force fit at the joint.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
A tool for improving the quality and reliability of seams in various floor 
coverings. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Many types of floor coverings come in sheets of substantial width. Forming 
a proper joint between the abutting edges of the floor covering is 
difficult. If not done properly there will be gaps in the seam. In view of 
the expense of the floor covering material, there is great interest in 
ways to improve the reliability and quality of the job. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of this invention is to provide a seaming tool for use in 
conjunction with laying floor covering. The tool has elongated rectangular 
upper and lower plates each having a long edge connected to the other by 
means of a hinge so the plates can be opened and closed. Stop means fixed 
on the bottom of the lower plate position the hinge parallel to the free 
edge of the already laid material on which the bottom plate is positioned 
with the stop means engaging said free edge of the material. This 
positions the free long edge of the upper plate parallel to the hinge so 
the edge of material cut along the long edge of the upper plate will be 
parallel to the free edge of the laid material. 
A further object is to provide such a seaming tool designed so the plates 
are substantially parallel when closed on material of the thickness for 
which the tool is designed. 
Still another object is to provide such a seaming tool in which the free 
long edge of the upper plate is slightly closer to the hinge centerline 
than the stop means so the material between the plates which is cut along 
the edge of the upper plate will, when laid, slightly overlap the already 
laid material under the lower plate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
The tool or cutting guide 10 has an elongated, rectangular upper plate 12 
connected to elongated, rectangular lower plate 14 by means of piano hinge 
16 running the length of the long sides of the plates. The tool is 
designed to be used with a specific thickness of floor covering material 
so the plates 12 and 14 will be substantially parallel when closed on the 
material as best seen in FIG. 3. Here the leaves 18, 20 of the hinge lie 
inside the plates 12, 14 so the plates are parallel when closed on the 
material 22. Somewhat thinner material (22) could be accommodated by 
placing one plate (12 or 14) inside one of the hinge leaves prior to 
welding the plates to the leaves. Or the plates can be formed to 
accommodate thicker material. Preferably only the upper plate will be 
formed so the lower plate will lie flat on the floor 24. 
The upper plate 12 is welded to leaf 18 accurately so the free edge 26 is 
parallel to the hinge. Edge 26 is the cutting guide. Two stops 28 are 
welded to the bottom of the lower plate 14 parallel to the hinge and 
spaced far apart so as to simplify accurately positioning the lower plate 
relative to the material 30 already laid on the floor. When the stops are 
pushed up against the free edge of material 30, the hinge will be parallel 
to the edge. 
Now the material 22 which is to be abutted to the piece 30 is laid on the 
upper surface of plate 14 to lie under plate 12 when plate 12 is closed 
onto material 22. Edge 26 is about 1/16" closer to the hinge than the face 
32 of the stop 28. Therefore, when the knife 34 (or other cutting tool) is 
run along the edge 26 of the upper plate, the material 22 will have a 
1/16" overlap on the lower material 30. This insures a tight fit when the 
tool is removed and the material 22 is laid on floor 24. Since the joint 
has to absorb the 1/16" overlap, the seam will be tight and practically 
invisible. 
With this tool the quality of the finished job is greatly increased. 
Obviously the edge on the lower or already-laid piece 30 has to be 
straight for the joint or seam to be right. The edge on the material as it 
comes from the factory is quite good. If such an edge cannot be used for 
referencing this tool, then the worker must first provide a straight edge. 
This tool is preferably made of rather heavy steel to withstand rough 
handling and abuse. It is easily carried by the aligned hand grip holes 36 
at the balance point near the hinge.