Patent ID: 7347244

Claim:
An apparatus for applying a membrane to a substantially flat surface, the membrane having a front side and an adherent back side; the apparatus comprising a wheeled carriage adapted to ride on the surface to be covered with the membrane, a roll mount system provided on said carriage to support a roll of membrane on said carriage, a press roll mounted to said carriage and engageable with the front side of the membrane to press the back side thereof against the surface to be covered as the membrane is being unrolled from said roll mount system as a result of a displacement of said carriage on the surface, a guide roll having a straight axis is mounted to said carriage between said roll mount system and said press roll, said guide roll and said press roll being parallel, said guide roll having an outer diameter and longitudinally opposed first and second ends, said outer diameter gradually decreasing in a direction away from said first and second ends to reach a minimum at midway between said first and second ends, a heat source mounted to said carriage and heating the back side of the membrane between the guide roll and the press roll, and a tension roll pivotable between an idle position and an operational position wherein the roll applies a tension on the membrane downstream from the roll mount system relative to an advancement direction of the membrane through the apparatus, said tension roll pressing the membrane against a transfer roll mounted between the roll mount system and the press roll.