Resin baseboards

A baseboard made from a resin material comprises an upright body formed with a backwall which abuts with a room wall, a front cover on the upright body and an internal hollow between the backwall and the front cover. The front cover is releasably secured to the upright body for gaining access to and then covering the internal hollow.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a resin material baseboard having an 
internal hollow. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
In order to give a room a finished appearance it is often completed with a 
baseboard located at floor level and rising to a height of several inches 
at the base of the room wall. Conventional baseboards have a wooden 
construction and are typically installed by a carpenter. 
There are drawbacks with conventional wooden baseboards. Firstly, 
carpenters are expensive and substantial care must be taken to ensure that 
the paint does not get onto the flooring beneath the baseboard. 
Furthermore, the baseboard itself is subject to damage and paint chipping 
and generally requires frequent maintenance. 
Conventional wooden baseboards have no function other than their esthetic 
appeal. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a baseboard made from resin material. The 
baseboard comprises an upright body formed with a backwall which seats 
against a room wall and has a front surface including a front cover and an 
internal hollow between the backwall and the front cover. The front cover 
is releasably secured to the upright body of the baseboard which allows 
access to the internal hollow which can be used to receive speaker wire 
and the like. The cover when fitted onto the baseboard covers the internal 
hollow and anything which is placed in the hollow. 
The resin backboard can be manufactured in various different colors 
eliminating the requirement for painting. Furthermore, because of its 
resin construction with integrated coloring the baseboard of the present 
invention is extremely durable and stands up to substantial abuse without 
the requirement for constant maintenance. 
The resin baseboard is relatively easy to install and does not require the 
expensive services of a carpenter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION ACCORDING TO THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT 
INVENTION 
FIG. 1 shows the interior of a room having an upright wall W and a floor F. 
The floor may either be carpeted or uncarpeted. 
Running around the base of the wall at the floor level is a baseboard 
generally indicated at 1. In accordance with the present invention 
baseboard 1 has a resin and preferably an extruded vinyl construction. 
As seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings, baseboard 1 has a relatively tall 
or upright narrow construction and is formed with a flat backwall 3 and a 
front surface comprising an upper front portion 5 and a front cover 7 
below the upper front surface 5 of the baseboard. 
Although the entire baseboard has a generally hollow construction, it 
includes an accessible internal hollow region generally indicated at 17. 
This internal hollow region is located between the front cover 7 and the 
backwall 3 of the baseboard. As clearly shown in comparing FIGS. 2 and 3, 
cover 7 is removable from the baseboard for gaining access to the internal 
hollow 17. 
Located internally of the baseboard is a screw port 19. This screw port 
leads towards the flat backwall 3 of the baseboard and is used to receive 
a screw for securing the baseboard to the wall. As will be appreciated a 
number of these screw ports are provided along the length of the 
baseboard. 
Screw port 19 is located within the hollow 17 and is accessible by removing 
cover 7 from the baseboard. Once the screws have been fitted through the 
baseboard secured into the wall, they are then covered by cover 7. 
In the preferred embodiment cover 7 has a right angle step 8 near its lower 
end. Step 8 includes an end barb 9. The body of the baseboard includes a 
corresponding right angle step 13 which receives barb 9 on step 8 at the 
bottom end of the cover. The body of the baseboard also includes an 
undercut 15 at the upper end of the hollow 17 and the upper end 11 of 
cover 7 fits into the undercut recess 15. Since the cover is bendable the 
cam shaped barb 9 is then slid and snap locked into the undercut recess 
13. 
As will be appreciated, in order to release the cover, the upper end 11 
must be deflected downwardly out of the undercut recess 15 which then 
allows the cover to be pulled off of the baseboard. As will be further 
appreciated, the resilient or flexible nature of the vinyl or other resin 
construction of the baseboard results in the ability to bend the cover in 
and out of its interlocking position with the baseboard. 
The baseboard includes flexible skirts 21 and 23 at its upper and lower 
ends. These skirts which are formed integrally with the main body portion 
and the cover are made from a vinyl material having a substantially lower 
Durometer hardness than that of the rest of the baseboard and will easily 
flex to cover wall and floor imperfections. The lower skirt 23 can also be 
made as part of the main body of the baseboard rather than as part of the 
cover. 
It will be understood from the description above, that installation of the 
baseboard is accomplished in a simple and efficient manner. Furthermore, 
the baseboard can be co-extruded with a covering material of a desired 
color and the color cannot easily be chipped or worn off of the baseboard. 
The flexible skirts 21 and 23 would also be co-extruded with the 
baseboard. 
Another benefit of the baseboard is that it can be used to hide items which 
would otherwise be exposed at the base of the wall. For example, FIG. 1 
shows a speaker S located in the room. Speaker S is wired back to an 
amplifier by means of wires W. These wires would normally be seen running 
around the base of the wall or in the case of a carpeted floor can be 
hidden beneath the carpet. However, in accordance with the present 
invention, the wires are fed directly into hollow 17 where they are hidden 
internally of the baseboard. The fitting of the wires into the hollow is 
an extremely simple operation by simply removing cover 7, fitting the 
wires inside the baseboard and then replacing the cover to hide the wires 
within the baseboard. In order to initially fit the wire through cover 17, 
the cover may be provided with small wire receiving openings as shown. 
Although various preferred embodiments of the present invention have been 
described herein in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the 
art, that variations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit 
of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.