Abstract:
Method and apparatus for enabling a solo carpet installer to unroll, cut, and reroll large floor covering rolls such as carpet rolls. The cutter-free apparatus is designed so that it can be easily transported and moved by a single individual, eliminating the need for a second installer at small installation sites.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     Carpet rolling and unrolling devices are well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,391,940 (the &#39;940 patent) describes a sophisticated apparatus for unrolling, measuring, cutting, and rerolling rolled floor covering material such as carpet. A well known limitation of such devices is that they are large and require two or more people to move and are designed for a warehouse rather than a job site. A machine requiring two people is not a severe limitation for large commercial jobs, but a machine requiring two people to operate would be severely limiting for smaller residential jobs. Smaller installation shops often consist of a solo carpet installer. It is not cost effective for solo carpet installers to own and deploy solution like the &#39;940 patent. The device taught by the &#39;940 patent is designed and is generally useful in a warehouse setting, but is too large for a solo carpet installer and is not designed to be taken to a job site.  
         [0002]     Other techniques have been deployed to make carpet unrolling and rolling devices more portable. However these so-called portable machines are still designed for warehouses and are too large to take to a job site. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,169 (the &#39;169 patent) teaches of such a device. The device taught by the &#39;169 patent, although still very large, has wheels so that the device can be moved to different locations at the warehouse.  
         [0003]     Another carpet unrolling and rolling device is the device taught by U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,882 (the &#39;882 patent). The &#39;882 patent teaches of a device for receiving, measuring, and cutting rolled floor coverings such as carpet rolls. The device of the &#39;882 patent has a sophisticated mechanism for receiving and rerolling carpet and a cutter bar used to cut the material to the desired length. The &#39;882 is described as a portable device in that it can be configured to fit inside of a standard installation van.  
         [0004]     The &#39;882 is an attractive solution for larger companies and carpet installation teams. However, the cost and size of the &#39;882 patent, while an improving over older solutions such that taught by the &#39;940 patent, is too feature laden, making it both too costly and too large for solo carpet installers. The &#39;882 is also limited in that it performs the rerolling, measuring, and cutting functions of carpet installation but is not integrated with a device to unroll the carpet, thereby requiring the installing to come up with second device or platform for managing the unrolled carpet. Although the &#39;882 is somewhat portable, it is too large for a single individual to move easily, and its portability is compromised when combined with a device for unrolling carpet, making it too large too large to fit inside a standard installation van.  
         [0005]     These well known devices all work well in situations where a team of installers are available, but, because of their size and cost, are not practical for a solo carpet installer. A solo carpet installer needs a device specifically designed to allow a single individual to manage large carpet rolls. What is needed is a carpet rolling and unrolling device that can be transported to a job site, operated, and relocated easily by a solo carpet installer.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The present invention overcomes limitations of traditional carpet rolling/unrolling devices and realizes new benefits by teaching a new carpet rolling/unrolling device that can be operated by a solo carpet installer and easily transported to a job site. Specifically, the present invention teaches a device wherein each component is weight limited so that it can be transported when necessary by a single individual. The present invention further avoids the prior art use of a large cutting blade and instead teaches a system designed for efficient utilization of a hand held knife for a carpet cutting device.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING  
       [0007]      FIG. 1  show generally the preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0008]      FIG. 2  illustrates the use of a hand held cutting device in conjunction with the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     The preferred embodiment of the present invention is generally described in  FIG. 1 . Referring to  FIG. 1 , the preferred embodiment generally comprises an unroller  10 , a cutting support  15 , and a reroller  30 . In order to enable the apparatus to be moved and handled by a single individual, the unroller  10  is comprised of several smaller discrete rollers  20 ,  20 ′, and  20 ″. The smaller discrete rollers  20 ,  20 ′, and  20 ″ are arranged linearly, end-to-end, to form a single logical unroller  10 . Each discrete roller is weight limited to approximately 50-70 pounds so that the unroller  10 , too large to be moved as a whole by a single individual, can be moved by moving each subroller separately. Likewise, the reroller  30  is comprised of a number of discrete rerollers  35 ,  35 ′,  35 ″,  35 ′″, and  35 ″″, each which is also weight limited.  
         [0010]     The cutting support  15  is a flat surface that is also weight limited to a weight that can be moved by a single individual. Unlike prior art cutting supports, the cutting support  15  itself is knife free, having no cutting mechanism at all. The lack of any cutting device enables the cutting support  15  to be sufficiently weight limited. Instead of including a large cutting blade, the carpet is cut along the cutting support  15  by the use of a handheld cutting system  55 .  FIG. 2  show an enlargement of the handheld cutting system illustrating the use of a handheld knife  60 .  
         [0011]     In the preferred embodiment, the unroller  10  and the reroller  30  are unpowered. In an alternate embodiment, a power device  50  is added to the unroller to facilitate power unrolling of a carpet roll.  
         [0012]     To use the invention, the system is disassemble into pieces, each piece weight limited so it can be lifted, loaded, and unloaded by a single individual when desired. The system can then be transported to the job site by a low cost vehicle such as an automobile, pickup, van, or trailer. Upon reaching the job site, the system is assembled as shown in  FIG. 1  at a convenient location. Alternatively, the device can easily be assembled and transported in a standard utility van, An unroller carpet roll  40  is placed on the unrollers  10 . Carpet is unrolled to a desired length, across the cutting support, and the section to be installed is rerolled into a new smaller roll  45  by the reroller  30 . The unrolling process is generally done manually, although in the alternate embodiment, the power supply  50  provides for power unrolling and rerolling. Once the measured amount is on the reroller  30 , the operator stands on the cutting support  15  and, while walking along the cutting support  15  uses the handheld cutting device  55  to cut the carpet. The rerolled portion  45  is then carried to the actual installation site at the job site.  
         [0013]     This description is provided for purposes of illustration, not limitation. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, several aspects of the invention could be implemented in different ways without affecting the spirit of the invention. For example, the illustrations show the unroller divide into 3 discrete motors, but the actual number deployed could be large or smaller, as long as each discrete unit is weight limited. Likewise the unroller is depicted as five discrete pieces, but the actual number, is not important. In addition to the knife  55  shown, a variety of alternate cutting technologies could be deployed in the spirit of this invention.  
         [0014]     This invention is only to be limited by the claims below.