Patent Publication Number: US-2007119554-A1

Title: Insect screens that can be replaced

Description:
This is a Continuation-In-Part of application Ser. No. ______ 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      Insect screens frequently need to replaced because they are damaged by environmental incidents, deterioration or by human intervention. The screens are found in cages over lanais and swimming pools as enclosures and in window coverings as well as rolling doors.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      The copending application emphasizes that recent hurricanes caused great damage to the above mentioned enclosures by simply blowing the screens from their supports be it vertical or horizontal supports These screen enclosures are no match for the high winds occasioned by the hurricanes, the force of the rain and/or flying debris.  
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The inventive replaceable screens using a simple tape instead of the well known splines or the VELCRO tapes that are attached to both the support and the screen material. In the copending application, through the use of VELCRO, it is necessary to apply a tape to the spline that is attached to the support stanchions of either a loop or a hook system and the opposite tape of the other selected hook and loop system. When a storm approaches, it is easy to peel the screen off the splines and to store the screen material in a safe location. After the storm passes it is easy to reassemble the screen enclosure. It is happening that one of the screen edges get torn or damaged when removed, whereby a new loop or hook strip of the VELCRO system has to be reattached or a new piece of material has to be prepared.  
      The inventive concept makes it much easier to initially install the screen material, remove the existing screen material or to build an entirely new enclosure. The inventive concept relies on only one tape having tiny mushroom tipped stems that can easily penetrate the interstices of the woven screen material to firmly lock the material in place. The tape is manufactured by the 3M™ Co. under the Trademark Dual Lock™. The above identified fastening system consists of two tapes having the same tiny mushroom heads that interlock with each other. The Dual Lock™ system is a unique attachment system that creates quick, reliable and separable connections. The inventive concept uses only one tape whereby the tiny mushroom heads can easily penetrate into the interstices of the woven screen material to provide a firm hold of the screen material. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a representation of the prior art;  
       FIG. 2  is an installation of screen material in a window, in part of an enclosure or a sliding door;  
       FIG. 3  illustrates a connection of screen material in either a horizontal or vertical support column;  
       FIG. 4  shows how the screen material is attached to a single tape having mushroom heads. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       FIG. 1  is a typical prior art installation of a screen cage over a pool area. The same or similar installation can be found in a cage or enclosure over a lanai. The cage consists of upper, middle and lower horizontal connecting beams  10 ,  12  and  13 . The connecting beams are attached to the upright columns or stanchions  15  which have roof trusses  11  attached at their tops.  
      The columns and the horizontal beams are of a hollow construction and are made of aluminum or other strong extruded plastic material. Mostly they have either a square or rectangular profile or cross section. They are also profiled to have grooves therein to receive longitudinal fastening strips therein that will receive the screen material thereon which will be explained below. At  14  is shown a deck of a swimming pool which could also be a terrace of a lanai.  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a frame having a screening material thereon which frame could be attached over a window, it could be part of a sliding screen door or could be part of the enclosure as shown in  FIG. 1 . The numeral  1  depicts an upper frame member and  2  is a lower frame member. The numerals  3  and  4  illustrate right and left frame members, respectively. There is also shown a center frame member  20  which could be any of the frame members  10 - 13  and  15  of the enclosure shown in  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 3  is a more detailed illustration of how the screen material is attached to the various frame members. In this illustration there is shown a basic longitudinal frame member  20 . The frame member could be made of extruded aluminum. The illustration shows a double stanchion having two depressions or channels  21  and  22  therein although only one would suffice in certain areas of any installation where an end of a structure appears.  
      In  FIG. 3  either one or the other or both of the channels  21 ,  22  receive a fastening tape  25 ,  26  which is identified as a mushroom head stem tapes wherein the stems are each carrying or having attached thereto a tiny mushroom head (see  FIG. 4  to be explained below). The mushroom head tapes have been identified as being made by the 3M™ company under the trade name of Dual Lock™ attachment system is known as the tiny mushroom-shaped stems, less than a millimeter in diameter provide a rapid connections. There are up to 62 such tiny heads per square centimeter. The Dual Lock™ Tape is available in  170 ,  250  and  400  stems per square inch. A selection would depend on the weave of the screen material that is being used in any of the planned constructions. One other advantage of using the above identified fastening tape is that the screen material can be placed over the fastening tapes for purpose of adjustment or aligning without adhering to the tape. This is another advantage over the VELCRO tapes of the prior art where an instant adhering may be happening. After the screen material has been aligned over the inventive tape without adhering to it, it can now be connected to the tape by a hand or a certain tool.  
       FIG. 4  shows a partial adherence of the screen material  34  over the tiny heads  33  of the mushroom stem tape  31 . The tape itself could be chosen from a wide selection of the 3M™ Acrylic foam tapes that are available in many different thicknesses. This adhesive technology makes it easy to bond the 3M™ Dual Lock™ fasteners to any selected components. The channels could be constructed or extruded so that the tape would have a snap-fit connecting within the channel so that the tape could also be recovered, when the need arises by forcibly pulling the tape out of the channel. This could only be accomplished when the tape is pulled straight out of the channel and not laterally thereto. The interstices in the weave of the screen material will easily slip over the mushroom heads and will thereafter be held firmly in place. A manual force will peel the screen material away and from under the mushroom heads if the necessity arises such as replacing a damaged screen or changing the basic construction of any enclosure. The removed screen material can be used all over again in a different environment or installation.