Patent Abstract:
A floor groover used to facilitate specialized heat welding of floor covering materials. The groover cuts a groove for receiving a welding rod at the edges or seam of abutting pieces of flooring materials. The groover can provide for a groove not only up to the wall, but also up the wall and in the radius of the coved-sticked area. Some embodiments of the groover can provide enhanced freedom of movement, which can be helpful when creating grooves of certain shapes in the flooring.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/579,358, filed Dec. 22, 2011, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     When installing certain floor coverings in specialized environments, such as surgical rooms, laboratories, or other environments where floor covering requires an impermeable barrier, the abutting of the floor covering material, also known as a “seam,” requires a heat welding process, such as by using hot air, to fuse the adjacent flooring materials together. Flash coving can be integral with the flooring and can travel up the wall, vertically, in some applications by approximately four to six inches. The coving can also include a radius to ease and support the flooring material as it continues up the wall, to act as a containment and non-permeable barrier. Typically, a groove is made at the seam for receiving a welding rod that is heated to melt the rod and secure the connection between adjacent floor coverings. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     The floor groover is used to facilitate specialized heat welding of floor covering materials. The groover cuts a groove for receiving a welding rod at the edges or scam of abutting pieces of flooring materials. The groover can provide for a groove not only up to the wall, but also up the wall and in the radius of the cove stick area. The cover stick can be reinforcing material that is disposed between the floor and the wall to provide a concave or rounded transition at the 90° intersection between the floor and the wall to ensure that the floor covering material is guided smoothly up the wall without crimping, buckling, or cracking. This provides reinforcement from impact from furniture, cans. or other objects. Some embodiments of the groover can provide enhanced freedom of movement, which can be helpful when creating grooves of certain shapes in the flooring. 
     The groover provides a manually operated device which is ergonomically designed for hand-use with a wide and comfortable grip. It can house one or more guide-wheels, such as at near the front and middle of the groover, suitable for following tight seams. The groover can also include one or more grooving blades, such as near the front and rear. The groover can provide a continuous and uniform groove. 
     The rear blade can pivot into one or more grooving positions. For example, in some embodiments, the rear blade can be moved to one position for horizontal floors up to an abutment and other positions for a vertical wall and a radius coved-area. 
     The middle grooving blade is inclined rearwardly, with its grooving tip located behind the two guide-wheels. The positioning of this blade can permit a controlled ejection of the chip, such as in a low plane near in the middle of the tool and between the two wheels so as not to ensnare, tangle, or cause interference as the seam is grooved. With both of the guide wheels mounted in front of the grooving blade, the expelled chip is directed downwardly and underneath the tool, and between the rear wheels for later disposal. 
     The rear grooving blade can cut both upwardly (vertical) and downwardly so as to complete the cut in the wall and the cove stick area. The groover can be reversed, and then inverted, to cut down, and in the same reversed position, but not inverted, the device can be moved in an upward direction to complete the groove up the wall. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a an embodiment of a floor groover; 
         FIG. 2  is a bottom side perspective view of the floor groover of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a top plan view of the floor groover of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the floor groover of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a front side view of the floor groover of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a rear side view of the floor groover of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a side view of the floor groover of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 8  is another side view of the floor groover of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 9  is a rear perspective view of the floor groover of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a bottom view of the floor groover of  FIG. 1  with the secondary grooving blade in a retracted position; 
         FIG. 11  is a rear side view of the floor groover of  FIG. 1  with the secondary grooving blade in a retracted position; 
         FIG. 12  is a fragmentary side view of the floor groover of  FIG. 1  with the secondary grooving blade rotated to show the apertures permitting various positioning of the secondary grooving blade; 
         FIG. 13  is a side view of a locking pin for the secondary grooving blade of the floor groover of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 14  is a plan view of a grooving blade holder for the floor groover of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 15  is another plan view of a grooving blade holder for the floor groover of FIG;  1   
         FIG. 15A  is a side view of the floor groover of  FIG. 1  in a reversed and inverted position disposed to complete a cut down a wall and around a radiused cove stick area between the wall and an adjacent floor. 
         FIG. 15B  is a side view of the floor groover of  FIG. 1  at the completion of a cutting stroke initiated from the position shown in  FIG. 15A . 
         FIG. 15C  is a fragmentary side elevation view of a floor groover according to multiple embodiments of the invention, illustrating curvature regions extending around a portion of a handle thereof. 
         FIG. 15D  is a fragmentary side elevation view of a floor groover as shown in  FIG. 15C , including labeling of the curvature of the handle at regions unlabeled in  FIG. 15C . 
         FIG. 16  is a perspective view of another embodiment of a floor groover; 
         FIG. 17  is a fragmentary bottom perspective view of the floor groover of  FIG. 16 ; 
         FIG. 18  is a top plan view of the floor groover of  FIG. 16 ; 
         FIG. 19  is a bottom view of the floor groover of  FIG. 16 ; 
         FIG. 20  is a front side view of the floor groover of  FIG. 16 ; 
         FIG. 21  is a rear side view of the floor groover of  FIG. 16 ; 
         FIG. 22  is a side view of the floor groover of  FIG. 16 ; 
         FIG. 23  is another side view of the floor groover of  FIG. 16 ; 
         FIG. 24  is a side view of a further embodiment of a floor groover; 
         FIG. 25  is a top view of the floor groover of  FIG. 24 ; and 
         FIG. 26  is an exploded side view of the floor groover of  FIG. 24 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-12 , a floor groover  100  is shown. The floor groover  100  can include a body  102 , a handle  104 , one or more main wheels  106 , one or more guide wheels  108 ,  110 , one or more grooving blades  112 ,  114 , a locking pin  116 , and one or more blade adjustment mechanisms  118 . The body  102  can be made of any suitable material and can be rigid to support the various components of the floor groover  100 . The body  102  can include a sight guide  120  near the front of the groover  100  to permit a user to observe the path of the groover  100  with respect to a seam. The handle  104  can be attached to the body  102  and can include one or more pieces, such as two pieces disposed on opposing sides near the rear of the body  102 . The handle  104  can have a suitable shape for providing an ergonomic grip for a user&#39;s hand. For example, the handle  104  can include a suitable contour for contact with a user&#39;s palm, and an undercut for a user&#39;s fingers. The handle  104  can also be made of any suitable material. 
     The main wheels  106  can be disposed near the rear of the device and can be of a suitable size to provide a controlled movement across a surface. The main wheels  106  can include bearings to further smooth their rotation. 
     The groover  100  can include one or more guides suitable for insertion into, and movement along, a seam. As shown, the guide wheels  108 ,  110  can be relatively thin discs having V-shaped cross-sections extending downwardly below a bottom side of tool body  102  to pointed edges that can be inserted into the seam and can rotate as the groover  100  is moved along the seam. In other embodiments, the guide can have an alternative suitable shape, such as generally square or rectangular when viewed perpendicular to the seam, that can fit within a seam. As shown, two guide wheels  108 ,  110  can be used to enhance the steadiness of the movement of the groover  100  and permit the groover  100  to accurately follow the seam. The guide wheels  108 ,  110  can be disposed at any suitable position on the body  102 , such as near the front of the groover  100  and near a midpoint of the groover  100  and/or near a grooving blade  112 . 
     The groover can have any suitable number of grooving blades disposed in any suitable positions on the groover  100 . For example, the groover  100  can have a main grooving blade  112 , which is a generally U-shaped grooving blade having a cutting edge  113  and a groove cutting channel  117  as indicated in  FIG. 2 , disposed generally centrally on the body  102 . The main grooving blade  112  can be disposed at a suitable angle to provide a controlled and reliable grooving of the flooring material. The main blade  112  can be removably attached to the body  102  such that it can be replaced when it becomes worn. An adjustment mechanism  118  can include a thumbscrew  122  for raising and lowering the main grooving blade  112  to a desired position. This permits the user to adjust the depth of the groove. A locking screw  124  can be used to lock the position of the main grooving blade  112  and to release the blade  112  for raising and lowering with the thumbscrew  122 , and removal. 
     The groover  100  can also include a secondary grooving blade  114 , which is a generally U-shaped grooving blade having a cutting edge  115  and a groove cutting channel  119  as indicated in  FIG. 2 . The secondary grooving blade  114  can be used to groove the flash coving and the wall. The secondary grooving blade  114  can be pivotable between any suitable number of positions. For example, when the secondary grooving blade  114  is not being used, it can be pivoted to a retracted position within the body  102  and/or handle  104 . When the wall us being grooved, the secondary grooving blade  114  can be pivoted to an extended position (or “wall grooving orientation”) for grooving the wall, in which cutting edge  115  is disposed rearwardly of tool body  102 . Similarly, when grooving the flash coving, the secondary grooving blade  114  can be moved to another extended position such that the blade  114  can reach into and groove the radius of the flash coving. 
     A locking pin  116  can be provided to permit both the adjustability and position locking of the secondary grooving blade  114 . The locking pin  116  (see  FIG. 13 ) can slide out of and into engagement with a the handle  104 , body  102 , and rear blade adjustment block  126 , which is attached to the secondary grooving blade  114 , to respectively release and retain the secondary grooving blade  114  in a desired position with respect to the body  102 .  FIG. 12  shows the rear blade adjustment block  126  pivoted out of the body  102  and handle  104  such that adjustment openings  128  can be seen in the block  126 . The locking pin  116  can slide into the adjustment opening  128  corresponding to the desired position of the secondary grooving blade  114 . For example,  FIGS. 10 and 11  show the secondary grooving blade  114  in a retracted position, and  FIG. 9  shows the secondary grooving blade  114  pivoted to an extended position. The adjustment block  126  can have any suitable number of adjustment openings  128  disposed at any suitable position to position the secondary grooving blade  114 . In applications where it is not needed for the groover  100  to groove the wall and flash coving, the secondary grooving blade  114  can be excluded from the device. 
       FIGS. 14 and 15  show a suitable grooving blade holder  130  for use with the floor groover. When assembled, the grooving blade holder  130  can be disposed within the body. The grooving blade holder  130  can be coupled to the grooving blade  112  and can be part of the blade adjustment mechanism  118 . The grooving blade holder  130  can be attached to the thumbscrew  122  to raise and lower the grooving blade. The grooving blade holder  130  can be locked in place via tightening of the locking screw  124 , which can contact the grooving blade holder  130 . 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 16-23 , another embodiment of a floor groover  200  is shown. This embodiment of the floor groover  200  has a configuration suitable for grooving complicated patterns (for artistic or other purposes) in the flooring. The arrangement of the components can be such that the floor groover  200  has a relatively small radius of curvature allowing it to make sharp turns. For example, the floor groover can have a length approximately equal to or less than five inches. As a further example, the floor groover can have a length of approximately 4 inches. In another example, the floor groover can have a length of approximately 4 and 3/32 inches. It will be appreciated that the floor groover  200  may be any suitable shape and size. 
     The floor groover  200  can include a body  202 , a handle  204 , one or more main wheels  206 , a guide wheel  208 , grooving blade  212 , and one or more blade adjustment mechanisms  218 . The body  202  can be made of any suitable material and can be rigid to support the various components of the floor groover  200 . The body  202  can include a sight guide  220  near the front of the groover  200  to permit a user to observe the path of the guide wheel  208  with respect to the seam. The handle  204  can be attached to the body  202  and can include one or more pieces, such as two pieces disposed on opposing sides near the rear of the body  202 . The handle  204  can have a suitable shape for providing an ergonomic grip for a user&#39;s hand. For example, the handle  204  can include a suitable contour for contact with a user&#39;s palm, and an undercut for a user&#39;s fingers. The handle  204  can also be made of any suitable material. 
     The main wheels  206  can be disposed near the rear of the device  200  and can be of a suitable size to provide a controlled movement across a surface. The main wheels  206  can include bearings to further smooth their movement. 
     The groover  200  can include one or more guides suitable for insertion into, and movement along, a seam. As shown, the guide wheel  208  can be a relatively thin disc such that it can be inserted into the seam. In other embodiments, the guide can have an alternative suitable shape, such as generally square or rectangular when viewed perpendicular to the seam, that can fit within a seam. The guide wheel  208  can be used to enhance the steadiness of the movement of the groover  200  and permit the groover  200  to accurately follow the seam. The guide wheel  208  can be disposed at any suitable position on the body  202 , such as near the front of the groover  200  and near the grooving blade  212 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 15A and 15B , the operation of tool  100  to cut downwardly along a vertical portion and a radiused portion of a seam at a coved area of flooring is illustrated. In particular,  FIG. 15A  shows tool  100  in a reversed and inverted position at the initiation of a downward cut along a seam s extending along a vertical wall base portion W of a section of flooring material and a radiused curve r joining wall base portion w with a floor portion F of the flooring material, to form vertical and curved segments of a groove q cut from seam s. Depicted in  FIG. 15B  is the position of tool  100  at the end of the downward and curved continuous cut made by pivoting tool  100  counterclockwise from the initial position shown in  FIG. 15A , a cutting motion inherently and advantageously facilitated by the curved profile of handle  104 , which permits tool  100  supported by handle  104  on floor portion F to rock smoothly through the downward and curved cutting motions. Distinct curved segments  132 ,  134 ,  136 ,  138 ,  140 ,  142 ,  144 ,  146 ,  148 ,  150  of handle  104  according to an illustrated embodiment are shown in  FIGS. 15C and 15D  for a handle  104 ,  204 ,  304  and body  102 ,  202 ,  302  of a floor groover  100 ,  200 ,  300  according to any of the illustrated embodiments, each having a suitable radius of curvature value (in inches) designated. It will be appreciated that larger radii of curvature  140  (2 45/64  in.),  138  (3⅛ in.), and  136  (3 1/8  in.) at a top region of handle  104 ,  204 ,  304  facilitate forming a nearly straight downward groove cut from the initial position of groover  100  shown in  FIG. 15A , and the smallest radius of curvature  132  ( 49/64 in.) facilitates forming a tightly curved groove cut when blade  114  is disposed in the portion of seam s corresponding to radiused curve r. 
     The groover  200  can have a main grooving blade  212  disposed in a suitable position on the body  202 , such as disposed generally centrally on the body  202 . The main grooving blade  212  can be disposed at any suitable angle to provide a controlled and reliable grooving of the flooring material. The main blade  212  can be removeably attached to the body  202  such that it can be replaced when it becomes worn. An adjustment mechanism  218  can include a thumbscrew  222  for raising and lowering the main grooving blade  212  to a desired position. This permits the user to adjust the depth of the groove. A locking screw  224  can be used to lock the position of the main grooving blade  212  and to release the blade  212  for raising and lowering with the thumbscrew  222 , and removal. 
       FIGS. 24-26  show a further embodiment of a floor groover  300  combining features of the embodiments described above. For example, as in the embodiments above, the floor groover can have features such as a body  302 , a handle  304 , wheels  306 , guide wheels  308 ,  310 , a main grooving blade  312 , a secondary grooving blade (not shown), a locking pin  316 , a blade adjustment mechanism  318 , a sight guide (not shown), a thumbscrew  322 , a locking screw  324 , and any other suitable features. Thus, the groover  300  can operate similar to the groover  100  to cut a groove in a floor, wall, and/or flash coving. 
     Unlike the groover  100 , the groover  300  is convertible from a groover similar to groover  100  into a groover similar to the groover  200 . The groover  300  can have a body  302  with a first body portion  332  and a second body portion  334 . The first body portion  332  can be separated from the second body portion  334  to permit the second body portion  334  and the rest of the groover attached to the second body portion  334  to have a smaller turning radius in order to make the groover  300  more maneuverable. Removeable fasteners  336  can be used to attach the first body portion  332  to the second body portion  334 . The fasteners  336  can be inserted into apertures  335  in the second body portion  334  and corresponding apertures  340  in a connection portion  338  of the first body portion  332  to secure the first body portion  332  to the second body portion  334 . The space vacated by the connection portion  338  upon removal of the first body portion  332  forms a sight guide in the second body portion  334 . 
     In general, at least two types of grooving blades can be used with the groover, a planar grooving blade and a rod-like grooving blade. The planar grooving blade can have an elongated rectangular shape and can be formed by folding the blade in half into a general U-shape. The planar grooving blade can be attached to the grooving blade holder  130  of  FIGS. 14 and 15 , which fits within the body  102  and is attached to the thumbscrew  122 . 
     Alternatively, a rod-like grooving blade can be attached directly to the thumbscrew  122  or an intermediary fitting can be used to attach the rod-like grooving blade to the thumbscrew  122 . For example, the rod-like grooving blade can generally be an elongated rod with an opening near an end of the rod. When using a rod-like grooving blade, the blade can extend from the blade opening in the body to contact a surface for grooving. The rod-like grooving blade can be held in place with a set screw. Accordingly, the groovers described herein are capable of being used with either of these types of grooving blades, or any other suitable grooving blade. 
     All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein. 
     The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention. 
     Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1