Tape applicator
This is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 600,459 filed July 30, 1975, now abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Tape applicators for applying strips and sheets of adhesive materials are known in the art. These include applicators for applying adhesive materials with liners such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,274,038 and 3,737,360, as well as applicators for applying two strips such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,150,027 and 1,739,269. However, heretofore there has not been known an applicator for applying one or more strips of tape with exceptional accuracy, with positive surface pressure for starting the tape strips when they are applied, and yet, because of its unique design, which is totally disposable so that the tape and applicator can be marketed as a unit and the purchase buys a new applicator with each tape purchase. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The tape applicator of this invention generally comprises a frame constructed from a cutout of a paperboard or the like having ear portions which are folded along foldlines to form opposing sides. The sides are connected by a flat, elongated bottom portion at the end of which are located guides for tape strips so they are fed from tape rolls. A mandrel is mounted between the sides with the tape rolls mounted thereon, and the tape strips are fed from the rolls past the guides and beneath the elongated portion with the adhesive side down for application to a selected surface. The elongated portion extends forwardly of the sides and includes marking means for accurately applying the strips. The applicator is designed for operation with one hand with the thumb and third finger on opposite sides of the mandrel and the first and middle finger on top of the forwardly extending portion of the frame. The user operates the applicator by in effect wiping the flat, elongated portion over a selected surface with the tape strips feeding off the rolls through the guides and beneath the elongated portion and onto the selected surface. 
     The guides are located directly at the point of application and thereby provide a very accurate means for applying the tape. The applicator design of this invention is readily adaptable to either single or multiple strip applications, and its simplicity particularly allows for use of very inexpensive materials, thus providing an applicator that is truly disposable. The applicator of this invention can be seen to be useful in applying tape for many different purposes, but is particularly useful for applying pinstriping because of its ease of operation and accuracy. 
     Thus, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a tape applicator for applying one or more strips of tape to a selected surface easily and accurately, and further to provide such a device that is truly disposable allowing the purchaser to buy an applicator with each tape purchase. This and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description to follow. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a tape applicator of this invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the tape applicator of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a left end view of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a right end view of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 5 is a bottom view of FIG. 2, but with the side frontal flaps shown in dashed lines and in a flat configuration; 
     FIG. 6 is an enlarged view in section taken generally along the lines 6--6 of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of the tape applicator of FIG. 2 showing the path of travel of a tape strip and its liner as the strip is applied from the roll to a selected surface; 
     FIG. 8 is a plan view of the applicator frame in its flat configuration; 
     FIG. 9 is an end view of the mandrel used in the applicator of this invention; 
     FIG. 10 is a side view of the mandrel of FIG. 9; 
     FIG. 11 is an end view of a spacer used in the applicator of this invention; and 
     FIG. 12 is a side view of the spacer of FIG. 11. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the drawing, there is shown an applicator 18 of this invention comprising a frame 20 made preferably from a flat cutout as best shown in FIG. 8. The frame includes parallel creases or foldlines 21 and 22 located in the middle and running the length of the frame. These creases divide the frame into a bottom section 24, a side section or ear 25, an ear 26, a side frontal section 27, and a side frontal section 28. The ears 25 and 26 fold along the lines 21 and 22 to stand upright and perpendicular to the bottom section 24, and have circular holes 30 and 31, respectively, which are aligned when the ears are in their folded parallel configuration. It can be seen that the entire frame can be made of a very inexpensive material such as a diecut of paperboard or the like. 
     As best shown in FIG. 6, end caps 32 and 33, having central holes 34 and 35 forming external recesses 36 and 37, are inserted through the holes 30 and 31, respectively, with the central hub portions of the caps extending through the holes and toward each other past the ears 25 and 26. A cylindrical mandrel 38, as best shown in FIGS. 6, 9, and 10, is mounted on the central hubs of the caps 32 and 33. 
     Mounted on the mandrel 38 are tape rolls 39 and 40, the rolls having suitable cores through which the mandrel extends. The tape rolls are rotatably mounted about the mandrel 38 for rotation within the frame. A cylindrical spacer 41 is located between the rolls 39 and 40 and has a central bore 42 through which the mandrel 38 extends for rotatably mounting the spacer on the mandrel. The spacer 41 holds the tape rolls a selected distance apart and is preferably made of a material which does not stick to the adhesive on the tape. It is to be understood that where a single tape roll is used, a spacer may not be necessary, and where more than two tape rolls are used, spacers should preferably be located between each of the rolls to maintain them approximately the same distance apart as the applied strips. 
     Rectangular guides or slots 44 and 45 are located near the front end of the bottom section 24 of the frame. These slots are sized so as to be slightly greater than the width of the tapes to be applied from the rolls 39 and 40, but should not be so large as to allow any appreciable play. The width tolerances of the slots should be sufficiently close so that the tape strips will not wobble from side to side as they feed through the slots during application. The slot 44 is aligned with the tape roll 39, and the slot 45 is likewise aligned with the tape roll 40 to provide a smooth feed of the tape from the rolls and onto the selected surface. There should be as many aligned slots as there are tape rolls. 
     The flaps 27 and 28 of the frame can be in either the flat configuration with the bottom section 24, as for operation of the applicator, or can be folded upwardly for shipment as shown in FIG. 3. The flap 27 has a notch 50 in its front end, the flap 28 has a notch 51 in its front end, and another notch 52 is formed in the front end of the bottom section 24. These notches serve as markers for use as desired in applying the tape, such as where the user wished to follow a thin, preselected path, or the like. The frame 20 is cut away at its rear portion as shown at 60 to allow easy access to the tape rolls for threading the strips through the guides 44 and 45. 
     OPERATION 
     To assemble the applicator the caps 32 and 33 are inserted through the holes 30 and 31 in the ears, and the ears are folded along the line 20 and 22. One end of the mandrel 38 is then fitted over the hub of one of the caps 32 and 33, after which the roll 39, spacer 41, and roll 40 are slipped over the mandrel. 
     With the tape rolls and spacer in place on the mandrel, the ears 25 and 26 are then brought to a parallel configuration until the other end cap is inserted in the opposite end of the mandrel. When this occurs, the ears 25 and 26 are perpendicular to the bottom section 24. 
     It is to be understood, of course, that the rolls 39 and 40 are placed on the mandrel in an appropriate order so that the width of each roll corresponds to the width of its associated slot. The spacer 41 insures proper alignment. 
     After the rolls 39 and 40 are inserted within the applicator frame, the tape is unwound from each roll and fed through its corresponding slot 44 or 45 at the front of the applicator. If the tape is of the type having a liner on the adhesive side, the liner is first peeled away from the tape at the front of the applicator before the tape is inserted through the slot (FIG. 7). The tape strips are then directed rearwardly from the slot beneath the elongated bottom section 24 with the adhesive side down, and with the liners (if present) extending forwardly from the slots on top of the section 24. 
     With the tape so threaded, they are ready for application. This is accomplished by placing the bottom side of the section 24 firmly against the surface to which the tape is to be applied. With the thumb and third finger of one hand in the recesses 36 and 37 of the caps 32 and 33, and with the index and middle fingers extended forwardly in contact with and pressed against the flaps 28 and 27, the applicator is moved forwardly over the surface. As the applicator is moved, the bottom flat, elongated section 24 presses the tape onto the surface to provide positive pressure contact, and the tape is continuously pulled off the rolls and through the slots 44 and 45 with the tape strips being applied accurately and equidistantly. The location of the slots 44 and 45 directly at the pressure surface 24 further insures accurate and equidistant application of the strips. As the strips are applied, the liners (if present) are automatically peeled away by contact with the upper surface of the section 24 at the location of the notches 44 and 45, with the liner feeding in the forward direction. Because of the curved nature of the liner in the tape roll, it tends to curl upwardly and then backwardly as it is separated, and therefore does not interfere with application of the tape. The applicator can be moved in either straight or curved lines, and the notch markers 50, 51, and 52 at the front of the applicator can be used as desired for guiding the applicator along a selected path. 
     It can be seen that the applicator is operated with one hand, freeing the other hand from other operations, and the entire applicator is made of relatively few parts and of very inexpensive materials, the entire frame being a flat cutout of paperboard or the like, the mandrel being, for example, a paperboard cylinder, and end caps being, for example, of plastic. Thus, the applicator can be made so inexpensively that it can be supplied as a kit with each tape roll or rolls as a disposable unit. With this invention, one need not invest in an expensive applicator for one time use. 
     Thus, there has been described a tape applicator of this invention which is very inexpensive to manufacture and therefore disposable, which is easily adaptable for use in applying single strips or multiple strips of tape, which may be used with either lined or unlined tape, and which includes improved means for positively applying the tape to the desired surface and for doing so accurately. 
     Various changes and modifications may be made in this invention, as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are within the scope and teaching of this invention as defined by the claimed appended hereto.