Hot melt carpet seam roller
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates in general to tools employed in the laying of carpets and more particularly to a hot melt carpet seam roller. 
     Hot melt seaming irons have been heretofore employed for forming seams from contiguous sections of carpets. Such rollers have been heretofore manufactured and sold by Burgess Tape Co. Many methods have been heretofore used for pressing contiguous sections of carpet into the hot melt adhesive tape to form seams from contiguous sections of carpet. Such well-known methods have heretofore used tool trays, flat boards, weighted flat pieces of iron and hand rollers. Hot melt carpet seam rollers have also been made with metal star disc wheels. The Orcon Company has produced a hot melt carpet seam roller comprising metal star disc wheels. The Gundlock Corporation has manufactured and sold a hot melt carpet seam roller with metal star disc wheels mounted on axles. 
     The U.S. patent to Rice et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,693,893, issued on Nov. 9, 1954, for a Tool For Use In Resurfacing Room Enclosures discloses a tool used to assist in the application of flexible sheets of wall covering, such as wallpaper, for reinforcing room enclosures. The tool comprises rotatable cylindrical rollers mounted on respective axles for rotation. The angle between each axle and the longitudinal axis of the frame is between 85° and 88°, when an acute angle is desired. When an obtuse angle is desired, the angle between each axle and the longitudinal axis of the frame is between 92° and 95°. The angle was selected to avoid slippage that occurs from two small an angle and to avoid bunching and tearing which occurs when the angle is too large. The selected angle permitted the application of force by the rollers to effectively position wallpaper to a wall to form a butt seam. 
     In the U.S. patent to Sparks, U.S. Pat. No. 3,617,082, issued on Nov. 2, 1971, for Carpet Roller, there is disclosed a carpet roller for tacking a carpet to a tack strip. The carpet roller has toothed wheels which are adapted to slide over and between the tacks of a tack strip without damaging the tacks and while depressing the mat of a carpet between the tacks. 
     Norwegian Pat. No. 80213 to Gunnar Nilsen issued on May 12, 1952, shows a handle with an angle disposed at one end of the axle. It appears that the axle is formed with two sections. Each section of the axle is directed away from the handle. The angle between the two sections of the axle appears to be 135°. A roller is mounted on each section of the axle. 
     U.S. Pat. No 3,899,801 and 3,981,042 were issued to Vernon J. Carrier. U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,801 issued on Aug. 19, 1975, for Castor For Use With Pile Carpet. U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,042 issued on Sept. 21, 1976, for Pile Carpet Castor. Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,801, is a castor for use on a pile carpet that comprises a plurality of separate spaced bosses extending from the surface of the cylindrical roller. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,042 discloses a castor for use with jute carpet, which comprises a plurality of separate wheels located on a sleeve. The sleeve is rotatably mounted on an axle. The wheels are formed with bosses extending from the periphery thereof to engage a jute carpet. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A carpet seam roller includes a handle. A roller is mounted on one end of the handle. The roller comprises an axle having sections directed away from the handle and toward one another in which the angle therebetween is in the range of 140°-175°. A plurality of carpet engaging discs is mounted on each axle section for rotation with the axes of the carpet engaging discs coincident with the axis of the axle section along which they are mounted. 
     A feature of the present invention is that each carpet engaging disc is formed with radially disposed, angularly spaced teeth along the periphery thereof. 
     The roller of the present invention causes the carpets which it engages to move together to form a seam between contiguous carpets. By virtue of the present invention, contiguous carpets are drawn closer together in forming the seam. Heretofore, adhesive was collected below the joining edges. As a consequence of the present invention, the adhesive is drawn up to join the seam at the location of the separation or the split, which is the natural location of the seam, rather than having the adhesive remain below the natural location of the seam. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a carpet seam roller embodying the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the carpet seam roller shown in FIG. 1 taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the carpet seam roller shown in FIG. 1 taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 4 is a fragmentary top view of the carpet seam roller shown in FIG. 1 with the roller discs thereof removed. 
     FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of a carpet engaging disc employed in the carpet seam roller shown in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 6 is a radial section view of the disc shown in FIG. 5. 
     FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic illustration of the carpet seam roller shown in FIG. 1 drawing carpets together to form a seam. 
     FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic illustration of the carpet seam roller shown in FIG. 1 engaging a carpet during the seam forming operation thereof. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Illustrated in FIG. 1 is the hot melt carpet seam roller 10 embodying the present invention, which comprises a suitable handle 15. Fixed to one end of the handle 15 is an axially extending member 20. At the free end of the member 20 is a cylindrical opening 21 which has an axis disposed at right angles to a longitudinal axis of the handle 15. The opening 21 may be of a suitable configuration to accommodate a central portion of an axle 30. 
     In the exemplary embodiment the axle 30 is received by the opening 21 and is fixed to the support member 20. The support member 20 at the free end thereof is recessed along each side thereof and tapered in a direction away from the handle 15 to accommodate washers 35 mounted on the axle 30. 
     According to the present invention, the axle 30 is formed into two sections 30a and 30b. The axle sections 30a and 30b are directed toward one another and away from the handle (FIGS. 3 and 4). The angle between the axis of the axle section 30a and the axis of the opening 21 is in the range of 21/2°-30°. Similarly, the angle between the axis of the axle section 30b and the axis of the opening 21 is in the range of 21/2°-30°. In the preferred embodiment, the axis of each axle section 30a and 30b will be directed with respect to the axis of the opening 21 at the same angle. The range of angles between the axes of converging axle sections 30a-30b is between 140°-175°. In the preferred embodiment, the angle between the axis of the opening 21 and the axis of each of the axle sections 30a and 30b taken individually is 5 ° and in the preferred embodiment the angle between the axes of the converging axle sections 30a and 30b is 170°. In an exemplary embodiment, the angle between the axis of the opening 21 and the axis of each of the axle sections 30a and 30b, respectively, is 71/2° and in the exemplary embodiment the angle between the axes of the converging axle sections 30a and 30b is 165°. 
     A first set of carpet engaging discs comprised of discs 40a is mounted on the axle section 30a for rotating with the axes thereof coincident with the axis of axle section 30a. A second set of carpet engaging discs comprised of discs 40b is mounted on the axle section 30b for rotation with the axes thereof coincident with the axis of the axle section 30b. In the preferred embodiment, each disc 40a and 40b is made of a hard or rigid nylon and is formed, respectively, with radially disposed, angularly spaced teeth 45a and 45b along the periphery thereof. The teeth 45a and 45b are suitably shaped for gripping carpet. The carpet engaging discs 40a and 40b are conventional and well-known in the art. Each end of the axle 30 is suitably capped by retaining means 46 (FIG. 3) for retaining the discs 35a and 35b on the axle sections 30a and 30b, respectively. In the preferred embodiment, the discs 35a and 35b are freely rotatable about the axle sections 30a and 30b, respectively. 
     The hot melt carpet seam roller 10 is employed after a hot melt iron is used. The roller 10, through the discs 40a and 40b, engages the carpet and presses the carpet into a molten hot melt adhesive. In the preferred embodiment, the longitudinal axis of the handle 15 is disposed at approximately a 45° angle from the generally horizontal surface of the carpet (FIG. 8). The roller 10 is moved away from the hot melt iron in the direction shown by an arrow 50 in FIGS. 1 and 8. 
     When the roller 10 is employed in the maneuver above described, it causes the carpets which it engages through the discs 40a and 40b to move together to form a seam between contiguous carpets. The contiguous carpets are drawn together to form a seam. The molten hot melt adhesive is drawn up to join the seam at the location of the separation or the split, which is the natural location of the seam, rather than having the adhesive remain below the natural location of the seam. The discs 40a and 40b draw the carpets toward the seam in a direction at right angles to the direction of the seam. 
     In the exemplary embodiment, each of said discs 40a and 40b is two inches in diameter and each tooth 45a and 45b is 3/8 of an inch in length. The tip of each tooth 45a and 45b is rounded and tapers to a reduced cross-sectional area in the radial direction away from the axis of the associated disc. The angular space between center lines of successive teeth is 15°. The cross sectional areas of each tooth is generally rectangular.