TEXTURIZING A WALL OR CEILING WITH NON-ACOUSTICAL JOINT COMPOUND

Abstract

A method of texturing a wall or ceiling with non-acoustical joint compound by providing a collapsible bag having an opening at its top and is adapted to contain non-acoustical joint compound for forming a textured coating on the wall or ceiling and providing a spray nozzle having a low pressure input port, a joint compound suction port attached to the opening at the top of the collapsible bag, and an output port for spraying the non-acoustical joint compound. A low pressure stream of air from an air gun attached to the low pressure input port urges a small quantity of the non-acoustical joint compound to be sprayed out of the spray nozzle when the bottom of the collapsible disposable bag is raised above its top to either allow or force the joint compound to flow into the suction port and into the interior of the spray nozzle.

Claims

1. A system for texturing a wall or ceiling with non-acoustical joint compound comprising: a collapsible bag having an opening at its top which is adapted to contain non-acoustical joint compound that is to form a textured coating on the wall or ceiling; a spray nozzle having a low pressure input port, a joint compound suction port attached to the opening at the top of the collapsible bag, and an output port for spraying the non-acoustical joint compound; and an air gun attached to the low pressure input port to spray a small quantity of the non-acoustical joint compound out of the spray nozzle by a low pressure stream of air; wherein the bottom of the collapsible disposable bag is raised above its top to either allow or force the non-acoustical joint compound to flow into the suction port and into the interior of the spray nozzle.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the collapsible bag is disposable.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the opening at the top of the collapsible bag is a cylindrical neck.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the cylindrical neck is made of a plastic.

5. The system of claim 3 wherein the air gun is adapted to be connected to a source of air having a pressure of between 80 psi and 140 psi above atmospheric pressure.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the non-acoustical joint compound is white.

7. The system of claim 5 wherein the non-acoustical joint compound is colored.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the collapsible bag is filled with joint compound from a joint compound supply bag wherein the consistency of the non-acoustical joint compound can be moved into the suction port of the venture type spray nozzle and be sprayed out of the output port with a steady uniform flow.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the collapsible bag is purchased with non-acoustical joint compound having a consistency that can be moved into the suction port of the venture type spray nozzle and be sprayed out of the output port with a steady uniform flow.

10. A method of texturing a wall or ceiling with non-acoustical joint compound comprises: providing a collapsible bag having an opening at its top and is adapted to contain non-acoustical joint compound for forming a textured coating on the wall or ceiling; providing a spray nozzle having a low pressure input port, a joint compound suction port attached to the opening at the top of the collapsible bag, and an output port for spraying the non-acoustical joint compound; and attaching an air gun to the low pressure input port wherein the air gun urges a small quantity of the non-acoustical joint compound to be sprayed out of the spray nozzle by a low pressure stream of air; wherein the bottom of the collapsible disposable bag is raised above its top to either allow or force the joint compound to flow into the suction port and into the interior of the spray nozzle.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the collapsible bag is disposable.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the opening at the top of the collapsible bag is a cylindrical neck.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the cylindrical neck is made of a plastic.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the air gun is adapted to be connected to a source of air having a pressure of between 80 psi and 140 psi above atmospheric pressure.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the non-acoustical joint compound is white.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the non-acoustical joint compound is colored.

17. The method of claim 10 wherein the collapsible bag is filled with non-acoustical joint compound from a joint compound supply bag wherein the consistency of the non-acoustical joint compound can be moved into the suction port of the venture type spray nozzle and be sprayed out of the output port with a steady uniform flow.

18. The method of claim 10 wherein the collapsible bag is purchased with non-acoustical joint compound having a consistency that can be moved into the suction port of the venture type spray nozzle and be sprayed out of the output port with a steady uniform flow.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claim, and the accompanying drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference numerals.

[0029] FIG. 1 is a side view of a low pressure air gun attached to a joint compound supply bag prior to spraying a wall or ceiling with a texture coating of non-acoustical joint compound in accordance with the principles of the invention;

[0030] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a collapsible holding bag used to fill the supply bag with non-acoustical joint compound in accordance with the principles of the invention;

[0031] FIG. 3 is a view of the holding bag connected to fill a supply bag with non-acoustical joint compound; and

[0032] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the low pressure air gun attached to a venture type spray nozzle prior to being attached to a supply bag having non-acoustical joint compound in accordance with the principles of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0033] This invention relates to using a low pressure air gun to spray a ceiling or wall with a coating of joint compound to obtain a textured finish

[0034] Joint compound normally is purchased in a ready to use five gallon plastic bucket. It has a spreadable consistency, however, if the joint compound is too thick, a small amount of water can be mixed in until a desired consistency is obtained. If, prior to being used, the joint compound starts to thicken or dry, the addition of water can help it to bring it back to the consistency desired.

[0035] The texture material may be applied to an entire surface such as a wall or a ceiling or it may be applied to small areas on a wall or ceiling. The coating, when dry, will have a distinctive surface texture. By varying the consistency of the joint compound that is sprayed onto the surface such as the amount of water that is added to the joint compound, the texture of the surface can be varied to provide different textures. Depending on the air pressure that is fed to the gun, the spray pattern that is obtained with the venture type spray nozzle and the consistency or thickness of the joint compound, the texture pattern obtained may be varied to obtain a variety of textured finishes such as for example, a fine texture; a medium splatter texture, a heavy splatter texture, etc.

[0036] Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a side view of a low pressure air gun attached to a joint compound supply bag prior to spraying a wall or ceiling with joint compound to obtain a desired texture finish. The air gun 12 is connected to a portable air compressor (not shown) which can be set to provide a supply of air at a preset pressure of between 80 psi and 140 psi above atmospheric pressure. The air gun has a trigger which controls the supply of air fed to the tip 14 of the air gun. A venture type spray nozzle 16 having a low air pressure input port 18, a joint compound spray output port 20 and a joint compound suction port 22 is located between the air gun 12 and a joint compound supply bag 24. The joint compound suction port 22 of the venture type spray nozzle is press fit into a cylindrical neck top member 26 which can be made of a polastic on a joint compound supply bag 28.

[0037] In this embodiment the suction port of the venture type spray nozzle is not connected to a joint compound supply feed tube. The joint compound is fed to the suction port of the venture type spray nozzle by either squeezing the collapsible bag 24 to move the non-acoustical joint compound in the bag up to and into the suction port 22 of the venture type spray nozzle or by raising the bottom of the bag relative to the top of the bag so that the non-acoustical joint compound in the bag flows down to the top of the bag and into the suction port 22 of the venture type spray nozzle.

[0038] Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a perspective view of a collapsible holding bag which can be used to mix non-acoustical joint compound with water and is then used to fill a supply bag with the non-acoustical joint compound. Bag 30 has a relatively wide opening 32 at one end which can be sealed with a twist on top and is used to place non-acoustical joint compound into the bag. A loop is attached to the bag at its top to allow the bag to be placed on a hook. Located at the bottom of the bag is a tube 34 for transferring non-acoustical joint compound from holding bag 30 to a supply bag 24.

[0039] The non-acoustical joint compound is normally purchased from a building supply store and has a consistency of whipped cream. If desired, the consistency of the joint compound can be modified by mixing a selected amount of non-acoustical joint compound located in holding bag 30 with a small amount of water. In some applications the amount of water used is such that the consistency of the non-acoustical joint compound is slightly more fluid than the consistency of the purchased non-acoustical joint compound. The final consistency of the joint compound should be such that it can be moved into the suction port of the venture type spray nozzle and be sprayed out of the output port at a steady uniform flow.

[0040] Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown is a view of the holding bag being connected to and filling a supply bag with joint compound. The supply bags are collapsible disposable items which, after being used, are discarded. They are not cleaned or reused. In another embodiment of the invention, a user of this invention will purchase supply bags which are filled with non-acoustical joint compound having a specific consistency and which are either white, off white or have a color of choice where color pigment is added to the non-acoustical joint compound in the supply bag the way that color pigment is added to a can of white paint to obtain a desired color.

[0041] By adding color to the joint compound before it is sprayed onto a wall or ceiling, painting of the textured wall or ceiling is virtually eliminated.

[0042] Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a perspective view of the low pressure air gun 12 attached to the venture type spray nozzle 16 prior to being attached to a supply bag filled with non-acoustical joint compound which is either white or has been mixed with one or more pigments to have a desired color.

[0043] In operation the joint compound suction port of the venture type spray gun is press fit into the cylindrical shaped neck member 26 on a joint compound supply bag 28 that is filled with non-acoustical joint compound of a desired color and the tip 14 of the low pressure air gun is inserted into the low pressure input port 18 of the venture type spray gun. At this time the air gun is attached via an air hose to a portable air compressor which is operating to supply low pressure air to the air gun. The user now holds the air gun in one hand and, while holding the supply bag with the other hand, either squeezes the supply bag or raises the bottom of the supply bag to be above the suction port of the venture type spray nozzle to either allow or force the non-acoustical joint compound to flow into the suction port and into the interior of the spray nozzle.

[0044] At this time the user squeezes the trigger of the air gun while pointing the output port of the spray nozzle at a wall or a ceiling to direct a small quantity of non-acoustical joint compound which is sprayed out of the spray nozzle by the low pressure stream of air toward the wall or ceiling. Through trail and error, the user quickly learns how to regulate the amount of joint compound that is fed to the suction port of the spray nozzle.

[0045] While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention and not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are entitled.