Multi-angle exterior drywall corner bead

Abstract

A drywall corner bead made of high-impact plastic or other material that can be in-elastically bent to any angle at the bead itself. The corner bead can have a front layer of paper or other material capable of directly receiving paint or texture and an optional backing layer of paper or other fibrous material. The bead can be bent and re-bent inelastically as many times as needed to fit a corner.

Description

This application is related to and claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/665,412 filed Mar. 25, 2005. Application No. 60/665,412 is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to the field drywall construction and more particularly to an exterior and drywall corner bead that in-elastically bends at the bead to match any corner angle.

2. Description of the Related Art

The use of gypsum drywall board in modern construction is well known. Manufactured drywall sheets are nailed to studs to form interior walls and ceilings. Before these sheets can be painted or textured, the joints must be taped and sealed with joint sealing compound (drywall mud).

For exterior corners, it is common to use a product generally called corner bead. Corner bead consists of a thin strip of metal bonded to a paper tape with a small protruding nose running down the centerline. In addition to regular corner bead, other corner beads are in common use which include both straight and “bullnose” or rounded versions. To use a standard corner bead, it first must be cut from a standard length. The bead is nailed into position using short nails approximately every foot. The worker must: 1) keep the bead plumb or level, and 2) keep the bead at the proper angle to prevent slipping too far to one side or the other.

Once the bead is installed, the worker must “first coat” the bead. This means to coat it with mud for the first time. This is very labor intensive, and it uses a large amount of mud. After the first coat, the mud is allowed to dry. Drying takes about a day. After the “first coat” is dry throughout the building, the worker has to sand this first coat of mud. This is especially difficult with bullnose bead. After the “first coat” is sanded, the worker proceeds to “second coat” the bead repeating the entire process again and waiting another day to dry. The worker finally must again sand the bead carefully looking for imperfections, and touching these up. At this point, the bead is ready for texture or paint. The entire process uses considerable mud, and is very labor intensive, especially the sanding. In terms of total construction time, it requires two to three days to complete all the corners of a typical residence.

It would be advantageous to have a corner bead for finishing drywall on the interior of buildings that can be in-elastically bent to different angles while retaining the perfect finished appearance that is required for texturing or painting, as well as a product that could be installed without nailing and could be prepared to directly receive paint or texture without having to mud over the entire bead.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Reference is now made to several figures of embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of a particular embodiment.

FIG. 1B shows and end view of the embodiment of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2 shows an expanded cross-section of the structure of a particular embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the present invention in various angles.

Several illustrations and figures have been presented to better aid in the understanding of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is not limited to the figures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a drywall corner bead that includes an elongated semi-rigid non-metal flange with a central apex along a centerline end-to-end, the apex forming a bead in-elastically bendable at the bead along the centerline to form any angle, and a covering layer on a room-facing surface of the semi-rigid flange where the covering layer is capable of directly receiving paint or texture. The covering layer can be cupstock paper or other similar material. The semi-rigid flange can be made from high-impact plastic. There can also be a backing layer of fibrous material on a wall-facing side of the semi-rigid flange. The flange can taper from the apex to each of a pair of edges. The apex can be a sharp point or can be bullnose or any other shape.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to a new corner bead that in-elastically bends at the bead to form any angle. This product can be extruded from a piece of high-impact plastic that is coated on one or both sides with paper. Any other semi-rigid material is within the scope of the present invention. The new bead can be attached to an exterior corner by putting mud on each side of the corner, fitting the bead to the corner by bending it in-elastically at the bead to any desired angle, pressing it onto the corner, applying mud to the edges of the flanges, and feather the edges with a wide blade tool. Any method of mudding the corner can be used including a drywall bazooka or mudding box. The bead can optionally be nailed if desired or necessary.

Turning to FIGS. 1A-1B, a perspective and end view of an embodiment of the present invention is seen. Elongated flanges 2 form an angle from a center bead 4 an apex. The flanges 2 can have an outer paper cover 3 and an inner paper cover 1 in various embodiments. Instead of a rounded apex bead 4, the product can be made in bullnose shapes known in the art, or other bead shapes. The outer paper covering 3 can optionally extend beyond the edge of the semi-rigid flange 2. The optional inner paper or covering material 1 can be in two parts as shown in FIGS. 1A-1B, or it can be continuous. The entire piece can be extruded in a single operation. When manufactured this way, the outer fibrous material layer (paper) adheres to the plastic flange without glue.

The bead 4 is made such that it can be bent inelastically to any angle without the difficulties encountered in prior art metal beads. FIG. 2 shows a magnified side view of the structure of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1A-1B. It can be seen that the bead 4 has a small groove or indentation 5 on the inner side that runs along the centerline. If material similar to high-impact plastic is used to form the flanges 2, the material bends easily in an in-elastic manner to assume and hold any shape. If a bend is made to the wrong angle, the angle can be adjusted many times without undue fatigue or permanent hold. Prior art metal beads work-harden upon bending and will fatigue quickly under subsequent bends. In addition, they have a tendency to hold the first bend made in them, not giving it up in subsequent attempts to re-bend. Also, metal beads are very difficult to bend to the same angle along a long piece. Rather, they tend to form an angle that snakes along the length of the bead. The present invention allows easy bending and re-bending to any angle quickly and efficiently along the entire length of a corner.

The outer paper 3 can over lap the semi-rigid flange 2, or optionally, it can be flush with it. This paper or other fibrous surface 3 can be of a type of material that can directly receive paint or texture eliminated the need for mudding over the entire surface and bead. A preferred material is cupstock paper.

The semi-rigid flanges 2 can be optionally tapered so that they become thinner toward their outer edges. This embodiment makes it easier to feather the edges with mud to produce a professionally looking, finished corner.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the present invention bent to various angles. Bending the device to any angle is within the scope of the present invention.

Several descriptions and illustrations have been presented to better aid the understanding of the present invention. One skilled in the art will realize that many changes and variations are possible. All of these changes and variations are within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A drywall corner bead comprising:

an elongated semi-rigid non-metal flange with a central apex along a centerline end-to-end, said apex forming a bead in-elastically bendable at said bead along said centerline to form any angle;

a covering layer on a room-facing surface of said semi-rigid flange, said covering layer capable of directly receiving paint or texture.

2. The drywall corner bead of claim 1 wherein said semi-rigid flange is high-impact plastic.

3. The drywall corner bead of claim 1 further comprising a backing layer of fibrous material on a wall-facing side of said semi-rigid flange.

4. The drywall corner bead of claim 1 wherein said covering layer is cupstock paper.

5. The drywall corner bead of claim 1 wherein said flange is tapered from said apex to each of a pair of edges.

6. The drywall corner bead of claim 1 wherein said apex is a sharp point.

7. The drywall corner bead of claim 1 wherein said apex is bullnose.

8. A drywall corner bead including a non-metal elongated flange with an inelastic centerline region that can be bent along a center line to match any wall angle and wherein, the flange is covered with a layer of cupstock paper, and the flange is tapered from a thicker region along the centerline region to thinner regions along its edges.

9. The drywall corner bead of claim 8 wherein the flange is high impact plastic.

10. The drywall corner bead of claim 8 wherein said layer of cupstock paper extends beyond said edges.

11. A universal drywall bead comprising a pair of elongated high impact plastic flanges connected together side-by-side with an inelastic center region, said flanges being capable of being bent and re-bent repeatably to a plurality of different angles about said centerline, said flanges also being tapered from said center region outward to edges, the flanges covered on a room-facing side with a layer of cupstock paper.

12. The universal drywall bead of claim 11 further comprising a layer of paper on a wall-facing surface of said flanges.

13. The universal drywall bead of claim 11 wherein said flanges contain a plurality of holes.