Patent Publication Number: US-2005126100-A1

Title: Seamsaver for drywall

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to drywall devices, and particularly to a device for preventing ridged butt joints between drywall sheets by recessing butt joints.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      The so-called “factory edges” of a sheet of drywall are beveled. When hanging drywall, it is best if the sheets are hung with these manufacturer tapered edges facing each other. The slopes of the edges form a slight recess that may be filled with joint compound and covered with a tape, then coated with joint compound to level the seam. However, drywall inevitably needs to be cut in order to adequately cover the desired area. The cut edges are not beveled and form what is known as a butt joint. There is no recess at a butt joint as there is with the tapered beveled edges. Consequently, when an attempt is made to cover the resulting seam with joint compound and embed the tape to cover it, a slight hump remains visible and it is difficult to level the seam, a result known as ridging. This problem is compounded by the natural settling of the wood used to construct the frame of the building. Over time, the ridge may become more and more defined as the wood settles, making the seam more visible and therefore more unsightly.  
      Attempts have been made to address this problem. One method involves “veeing” a recess by hand using a utility knife. However, as this may be difficult and time consuming, another more common method is to use a device placed behind the butt joint to create a recess which my be more easily concealed without ridging. In spite of the availability of such devices, a professional may find that a different type of recess creator is necessary for the job. For example, if the joint happens to fall near a stud, it may not be desirable to attempt to force the drywall into a recess, as bending drywall braced too near an immovable fixture might cause the drywall to break. Alternatively, the placement of other building elements, such as pipes, outlet fixtures, etc., may limit the amount of available spacing to install a device to create a recess in the seam.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 4,237,669, issued Dec. 9, 1980 to G. S. Hunter, describes a bracket designed to be attached to and to extend horizontally between two studs. The butting edges between two wallboard joints can be nailed or screwed to the bracket, thereby creating a concave area in the wallboard. This area would be filled with a joint compound and covered with tape, leveling the seam.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,599, issued Aug. 19, 1997 to R. J. Peterson, describes a rectangular elongated post with two end raised sections designed to be vertically attached across the two seams between a set of three rows of horizontal plasterboard sheets. The raised sections at the end of the post are screwed to the two outer plasterboard sheets. The elongated lowered section of the post is aligned with a butt joint between two plasterboard sheets in the middle row. The ends of these two middle-row plasterboard sheets are screwed into the lowered elongated section of the post, thereby creating a recess which may be filled with joint compound and covered with tape.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,458, issued Sep. 1, 1998 to M. R. Ferguson, describes a V-shaped back blocking device. The two adjoining edges of the butt joint are screwed into the V-shaped panel, creating a recess which may be filled and taped over.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,990, issued Aug. 29, 2000 to S. M. Klamer, describes a panel designed to be used as a joint support that creates a recess along the seam of the joint. The panel has two raised edges running the length of the panel. When two sheetrock panels are screwed into the lowered middle section of the panel, a recess is created along the seam.  
      None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a seamsaver for drywall solving the aforementioned problems is desired.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The seamsaver for drywall is a recess creating device available in one of three embodiments. Each embodiment is designed to prevent the potential ridging and crowning of butt joint seams in different situations. The first embodiment comprises an elongate, rectangular panel with a single ridge attached on the front face, vertically centered and horizontally to one side and extending over one-half the length of the length of the panel. This embodiment is used to create a one-sided recess. The second embodiment is identical to the first except that it has an additional ridge attached on the same face but opposite side. This embodiment is used to create a uniform recess across the seam. The third embodiment has no ridges but comprises an elongated rectangular block of wood with a uniform, elongated dip running length-wise, which is used to create an elongated recess running along the seam instead of across the seam.  
      The ridge may be formed in a variety of ways. The ridge may be formed by a block-shaped or wedge-shaped strip attached to the front face of the rectangular panel, or by a U-shaped channel or elongate, L-shaped angle in which the front flange of either the U-shaped channel or L-shaped angle is wedge shaped, being thicker at the outer edge of the rectangular panel and tapering to a narrow thickness towards the center of the rectangular panel.  
      Advantageously, the seamsaver is not attached to the studs. The newly created seam is therefore not affected by the settling of the wood in the frame of the structure.  
      The seamsaver embodiments are particularly useful for creating different types of recesses as needed in the variety of settings that may be faced while installing drywall. The location of studs, pipes or outlet fixture may make increase the risk of breaking the drywall if a recess is created too near the immovable fixture. The first embodiment should be used in such a situation so that the recess is created by bending only one side of the seam. The drywall sheet that is near the fixture remains flat, but the one-sided recess provides enough indentation to be filled and taped to cover the seam. In other settings, the layout of the fixtures and positioning of the seams may require the use a narrower recess creating device. In such a situation, the third embodiment should be used.  
      Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a seamsaver for drywall that creates a joint recess in a butt joint between drywall sections.  
      It is another object of the invention to provide a seamsaver for drywall that prevents the development of cracks in a drywall butt joint.  
      It is a further object of the invention to provide a seamsaver for drywall for preventing cracks in drywall joints that is both easy to implement and economical in construction and use.  
      Still another object of the invention is a seamsaver for drywall that does not require a device attached to the studs, so that the drywall joint integrity is not affected by the settling of the wood in the frame of the structure.  
      It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.  
      These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a seamsaver for drywall according to the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a seamsaver for drywall according to the present invention.  
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  are perspective and side views, respectively, of a third embodiment of a seamsaver for drywall according to the present invention.  
       FIG. 4  is an environmental, perspective view of the first embodiment of the seamsaver according to the present invention partially installed.  
       FIG. 5  is an environmental top view of the first embodiment of the seamsaver for drywall according to the present invention completely installed.  
       FIG. 6  is an environmental top view of the second embodiment of the seamsaver for drywall according to the present invention completely installed.  
       FIG. 7  is an environmental, perspective view of the third embodiment of the seamsaver for drywall according to the present invention partially installed.  
       FIG. 8  shows an exploded view of an alternate configuration of the ridges in a seamsaver according to the present invention.  
       FIG. 9  is an exploded top view of the ridge configuration of  FIG. 8 .  
       FIG. 10  is a top view of the ridge configuration of  FIG. 8  with the seamsaver completely installed to join two sheets of drywall.  
       FIG. 11  is an exploded top view of another alternate configuration of the ridges in a seamsaver for drywall according to the present invention.  
       FIG. 12  is top view of the ridge configuration of  FIG. 11  with the seamsaver completely installed to join two sheets of drywall. 
    
    
      Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      The present invention is a seamsaver for drywall, including three embodiments designated generally as 10, 12, and 14 in the drawings. The seamsaver is designed to create a recess at a butt joint between drywall sheets, in one of three ways as shown in  FIGS. 5, 6 , and  7 .  
      Referring first to  FIG. 1 , the first embodiment 10 of the seamsaver is shown. The first embodiment comprises a wood panel  16 , forty-eight inches long, between about four to ten inches wide, and about one-half inch thick. A ridge  18  is attached to the front face of the panel  16  on one side. The ridge  18  is centered vertically in its placement so that there is a space above or below the ridge  18 , from the ridge  18  top or bottom to the corresponding top or bottom of the panel  16 . The ridge  18  measures between about twenty-eight and thirty-four inches long, one-half inch wide and one-sixteenth to one-eight inch thick. The seamsaver  10  is generally designed to be used with forty-eight inch drywall sheets.  
      As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the first embodiment seamsaver  10  is designed to be used when the butt joint between two drywall sheets falls near a stud  30  or other fixture. After the drywall sheet  26  near the stud has been hung, the seamsaver  10  is placed behind the drywall  26  using five or six screws, equally spaced, linearly aligned and parallel to the seam, as shown in  FIG. 4 . Approximately five inches of the seamsaver  10  should remain exposed. The adjoining piece of drywall  28  is then hung. Approximately one-half inch away from the seam, six screws, equally spaced, linearly aligned and parallel to the seam are inserted through the drywall and into the wood panel  16 . The ridge  18  of the seamsaver  10  causes the edge of the drywall sheet  28  to bend slightly inward, creating a one-sided recess as shown in  FIG. 5 . This recess may be filled with joint compound and taped for leveling purposes.  
      If there is no stud or other fixture nearby, and therefore no danger that the drywall sheet may break under stress, the second embodiment 12 may be used to create a fuller recess. The second embodiment 12 is identical to the first embodiment 10 except that it has two ridges,  20  and  22 , on either side instead of one. The same steps listed, above in the description of installing a first embodiment seamsaver  10  should be followed when installing a second embodiment seamsaver  12 . The result will be a two-sided recess along the seam, as shown in  FIG. 6 .  
      Whenever space is short or the butt joint falls between two fixtures, the third embodiment 14 may be used. The third embodiment comprises an elongated block of wood, fifty-three inches long, two and one-half inches wide and one and one-quarter inches thick, as shown in  FIG. 3A . A gradual, uniform slope or concave taper runs along the length of the seamsaver  14 . The slope begins two and one-half inches away from the edge of the seamsaver  14 , reaches a maximum depth of one-eight inch in the middle of the seamsaver  14  and ends two and one-half inches away from the other end of the seamsaver  14  as shown in  FIG. 3B . In total, the slope is forty-eight inches long, as the seamsaver  14  is designed to be used primarily with forty-eight inch drywall sheets.  
      When installing the third embodiment seamsaver  14 , one sheet of drywall is hung first. As shown in  FIG. 7 , the seamsaver  14  is placed behind the sheet of drywall  26 . Approximately one and one-fourth inch of the seamsaver  14  should remain exposed to be attached to the second drywall sheet. Five to six screws should be used to attach the drywall  26  to the seamsaver  14 . The screws should by linearly aligned and equally spaced and parallel to the seam. The second drywall sheet should then be hung and likewise attached. The resulting recess will run along the length of the seam, and may be filled with joint compound and taped.  
      In  FIGS. 1, 2 ,  4 ,  5 , and  7 , the ridges  18 ,  20 , and  22  are shown as being generally square or rectangular in cross section. However, the cross-sectional shape of the ridges is not critical to the invention, nor is the method of attaching the ridges to the elongate rectangular panel.  FIGS. 8-12  illustrate alternate configurations of the ridges, shown in the double ridge configuration of  FIGS. 2 and 6 , although they may also be used in the single ridge configuration of  FIGS. 1, 4 , and  5 .  
       FIG. 8  shows the elongate rectangular panel  24  with elongate ridges  40  being attached to the sides of the panel  24 . Panel  24  may be between four and twelve inches wide, and is preferably about forty-eight inches in length. Ridges  40  are preferably between twenty-eight and thirty four inches long, and are centered vertically along the side edges of panel  24 . As shown in  FIG. 9 , the ridges  40  are substantially U-shaped channels, having front  42  and rear.  44  flanges joined by a web  46 , although ridges  40  may be J-shaped, if preferred. Rear flange  44  is substantially flat and planar, while front flange  42  is wedge-shaped, being thicker at the edge joined to the web  46  and tapering to a narrow free end. As shown by comparison of  FIG. 10  with  FIG. 6 , ridges  40  serve the same function as ridges  20  and  22 . Drywall panels  26  and  28  are attached to the center of rectangular panel  24  by drywall screws  48 , the drywall panels  26  and  28  bending slightly over the protuberance  50  formed by the thickened, wedge-shaped end of front flange  42 , thereby forming a recess which is covered by drywall tape and joint compound  54  to cover the seam at the junction of drywall panels  26  and  28 .  
       FIG. 11  shows another configuration of ridges  60  which are generally L-shaped in cross section. Like ridges  40 , ridges  60  are elongate, being between about twenty-eight and thirty-four inches long, a front view being identical to  FIG. 8  and therefore omitted. Ridge  60  is formed by front flange  62  normal to side flange  64 , therefore forming an elongate angle iron shape. Like front flange  42 , front flange  62  is wedge-shaped, having a thick edge at the junction with side flange  64  that tapers to a narrow fee edge. By comparison of  FIG. 12  to  FIGS. 6 and 10 , it will be seen the ridges  60  perform the same function as ridges  20 ,  22 , and  40 . Drywall panels  26  and  28  are secured to the center of rectangular panel  24  by columns of drywall screws  48 , the ends of panels  26  and  28  bending slightly inward over the protuberances  50  formed by the thick outer edges of front flanges  62  in order to define a recess which is filled with tape and joint compound  54  to cover the seam at the junction of drywall panels  26  and  28 .  
      Ridges  40  and  60  may be formed from any appropriate rigid structural material, such as wood or molded or extruded plastic, and may be attached to the edges of elongate rectangular panel  24  by any conventional method, such as adhesive or fasteners.  
      It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.