Foamseal, Inc.

Bruce T Guilmette

N Keith Merser

Glen P Lloyed

A control for dispensing foam into hollow body cavities includes an index hole positioned adjacent to a dispense hole to receive the foam. The index hole carries information that is read by a sensor associated with a foam spray gun, wherein the information is selected to correspond to the desired amount of foam for the particular body cavity. With the inventive foam spray gun and method, an operator merely inserts the dispense nozzle into a dispense hole, and the sensor reads the information from the index hole. The sensor signal then allows control of the amount of foam dispensed into the dispense hole. This eliminates problems that have been experienced in the past wherein operators were forced to remember the amount of 'shots' of fixed volumes of foam for each hole. In the past, operators may sometimes have dispensed too little foam or too great an amount of foam for a particular hole. Further, in the past, operators may sometimes have dispensed foam into a hole that should not have received any foam. The foam spray gun is preferably of the type having a reciprocating plunger controlling flow of the foam components to the dispense nozzle. The plunger is controlled by a trigger, which in the prior art was actuated for each of the fixed volume 'shots.' With the inventive method, the use of repeated 'shots' to supply a particular volume may be eliminated. Thus, the plunger may be actuated a single time for the entire volume needed for the particular body cavity. This increases the life of the foam spray gun, as lifetime is frequently limited by the number of reciprocations of the plunger.

Control for spraying foam into hollow body cavities

A clamp holds a wall panel against an adhesive bead on a wall frame support assembly as the adhesive bead cures. The clamp is actuated to secure the clamp to the support assembly adjacent the panel and hold the panel against the adhesive bead as the bead cures. In a preferred embodiment, the clamp includes a clamping portion having vacuum chambers and a reference surface. A vacuum is drawn on the vacuum chamber, thereby pulling the edges of abutting panels against the reference surface, drawing adjacent panel edge portions of the panels in the parallel relation. The clamping portion also includes a mechanical control which secure the clamping portion to the support assembly holding the panels against the adhesive in coplanar relation. In a method according to this invention polymer adhesive is applied to coplanar surfaces of support members. A clamp is placed adjacent a panel and actuated to hold the panel against the first surface of the clamp. Securement structure is then actuated to hold the clamp and panel at a desired location as the adhesive cures.

Method and apparatus for holding wall panel against adhesive

A clamp holds a wall panel against an adhesive bead on a wall frame as the adhesive bead cures. The clamps are automatically actuated to first secure the clamp to the structure adjacent the panel, and then hold the panel against the adhesive bead as the bead cures. In a first embodiment, the clamp is placed across the abutting edges of two adjacent panels, and a vacuum is drawn on both of the panels to draw edges of the panels against a reference surface. The reference surface insures that the edges of the panels an in abutting aligned relationships as the adhesive cures. In other embodiments of this invention the clamp may include a pusher member that receives a fluid pressure to drive the pusher member against the panel and hold the panel as the adhesive cures. With these embodiments there is also securement structure for holding the clamp against the panel. The securement members may be threaded screws driven by motors into the floor and ceiling. The securement structure may include separate cylinders which receive hydraulic pressure to hold securement members against structure such as the ceiling and floor, or may include suction cups. In a method according to this invention the clamp is initially placed adjacent a panel, and the securement structure is actuated to hold the clamp at a desired location. The clamp is then actuated to hold the panel against the first surface of the clamp as the adhesive curves. The first surface ensures that the panel is in a location where it will be in contact with the adhesive bead as the adhesive cures.

Clamp for holding wall panel against adhesive

A foam delivery system includes a pump for delivering a pressurized flow of material to a dispenser through a flexible hose. The hose is encased in a flexible, expansible sheath which contains any material which may leak along the hose. The sheath expands in the region of the leak to accommodate the released material and to indicate the presence of the leak. The system also includes a monitor which senses a leak condition and then terminates the pressurized flow of material.

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Ortonville, MI, United States of America

Bruce T Guilmette