1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to vertically disposed backsplashes separately attached to horizontally disposed countertops such as in kitchens, and more particularly those made of solid plastics having a curved or coved interface at the approximate intersection of the backsplash and countertop. The coved interface being to provide an aesthetically pleasing and easy to clean interface between the two members.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Countertops with backsplashes which extend upward for at least a short distance above the countertop are desireable and common. Backsplashes most often are placed against a wall, but sometimes extend vertically upward from the countertop in locations which are not against a wall, to serve to terminate or designate the countertop work space. Countertops and backsplashes made of solid plastics, that is, non-laminated plastic solid surfacing material have become quite popular in recent years in kitchens, bathrooms, and offices of both residential and commercial buildings. The popularity of the use of plastic solid surfacing materials to define countertops and backsplashes is primarily due to the material having the qualities of high durability and ease of damage repair, ease of cleaning and sterilization, and beauty.
Solid surfacing materials as they are known in the plastics industry, are non-foamed, non-laminated polymer based materials, or in short, solid plastics in sheet form useful for defining surfaces. Plastic solid surfacing materials are most often manufactured and sold in sheet form, typically in 30 inch wide.times.12 foot lengths in thicknesses between 1/4 through 3/4 inches. Such plastic solid surfacing materials are sometimes referred to by the general public as cultured marble. These polymer based solid surfacing materials are typically manufactured substantially of polyester or acrylic resins, or alloys thereof, depending on the manufacturer, and often contain smaller quantities of other components or additives both natural and synthetic to form desired color, visual pattern designs, and other desirable physical and visual characteristics in the plastics.
Plastic solid surfacing materials are available from several U.S. manufacturers such as E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co., Inc. of Wilmington, Del. 19898 U.S.A., who market their polymer based solid surfacing materials under the trademark of "Corian". "Corian" is a trademark of duPont which refers to their solid surfacing polymer based material for use as a building material. "Corian" is a substantially rigid, non-foamed, non-laminated, non-coated solid material composed primarily of acrylic components. "Corian" is most often made and sold in sheet form. U.S. Pat. No. 3,847,865 issued Nov. 12, 1974 to R. B. Duggins and assigned to E. I. duPont de Nemours & Co., teaches one formula for making plastic solid surfacing material of the general nature of that referred to in this disclosure.
Another manufacturer of polymer based solid surfacing material is the Nevamar Corporation located at 8339 Telegraph Rd., Odenton, Md. 21113 U.S.A. The Nevamar Corporation markets their solid surfacing material under the trademark of "Fountainhead". "Fountainhead" is a substantially rigid, non-foamed, non-laminated, non-coated solid material composed of a polymer alloy comprised mostly of polyester components normally having therein a smaller percentage of acrylic components. "Fountainhead" is most often made and sold in sheet form.
Another manufacturer of polymer based solid surfacing material is the Formica Corporation, located at 155-T Rte. 46, W., CN-980, Wayne, N.J. 07470 U.S.A. The Formica Corporation sells their solid surfacing material under the trademark name of "Surell". "Surell", like "Corian" and "Fountainhead", is a dense rigid plastic most often made and sold in sheet form. "Surell" is a substantially rigid, non-foamed, non-laminated, non-coated solid material composed substantially of polyester components.
DuPont, the Nevamar Corporation, and the Formica Corporation, and several other companies not specifically mentioned, whom produce very similar polymer based solid surfacing materials to one another, manufacture and sell polymer based solid surfacing building materials in sheet form intended for use as walling or countertops, and sometimes make and sell cast or heat-formed shapes made of the same polymer based materials useful as kitchen and bathroom lavatories.
Some of the recognized advantages of using polymer based solid surfacing materials such as "Corian", "Fountainhead" or "Surell" over other available materials such as wood, metal, ceramic tile, and high pressure plastic laminates for countertops, exists in the fact that the material is a solid, polymeric non-laminated structure which the color or decorative color patterns extend completely therethrough, and therefore allow repeated refinishing of the material over many years using abrasives or sanding. If polymer based solid surfacing material does become stained, burned or scratched so deeply that the damage cannot be removed with a common household abrasive cleanser, the damage can be easily removed by light sanding with steel wool or fine sand paper, and this due to the fact that the material is solid, and the color or visual patterns extend completely therethrough. Furthermore, plastic solid surfacing materials typically have a high tensile strength, are quite hard, dense and rigid, and are resistant to chipping, cracking, splitting, warping, burning, and staining, all of which cannot be said about many other materials which could be used as substitutes therefore. Another attractive quality associated with polymer based solid surfacing materials such as those sold under the tradenames of "Corian", "Surell" or "Fountainhead", is the ease of adhesive bonding with available colored glues. Additionally, the polymer based sheets can be easily cut to size or otherwise shaped with mechanical material removal methods and tools using sawing and shaping tools such as router bits, power saws and shapers and the like, similar to those used to cut and shape wood.
Polymer based solid surfacing materials such as "Corian", "Surell" or "Fountainhead" may be manufactured at a relatively low price to very closely resemble in texture and visually simulate marble, granite, and other natural stone products which have long been desired and used as building materials due to recognition of the durability and beauty of such natural substances.
It is the above stated qualities and advantages among others which make plastic solid surfacing material a good choice, and an increasingly popular choice for a countertop with backsplash.
Due to excessive costs primarily related to the large number of different available colors from which consumers may now choose, and sizes which would be required to be made, shipped and stocked, countertops of plastic solid surfacing material are not widely manufactured with the backsplashes as integral one piece units. Although plastic solid surface materials have in the past been manufactured as countertops with the backsplashes as integral one piece units by either casting or heat forming, these countertops with integral backsplashes have for the most part been relatively short, narrow, straight lengths generally specifically for bathroom vanities. Due to the significant number of available colors and color patterns of solid surfacing material in sheet form, coupled with the frequent need to custom cut to size and shape countertops and backsplashes, the majority of solid plastic countertops with backsplashes are custom cut from sheet material and assembled in a countertop fabrication shop or at the installation site. This custom cutting and fabrication of countertops with attached backsplashes is particularly prevalent with kitchens and the like having large amounts of countertop space with the countertops and backsplashes intersecting one another at angles such as 90 degrees.
With countertops having attached backsplashes made of plastic solid surfacing material, one simple prior art system, and the most common one, of affixing the backsplash onto the countertop simply involves a butt-joint, which includes adhering the backsplash to the countertop at a right angle, thereby forming a right angled interior corner as may be ascertained from the attached prior art FIG. 1 drawing. The disadvantage of this butt-joint method being that the right angled corner is difficult to keep clean since dirt and water naturally accumulate along the seam, and the sharp angle (90 degrees) of the joint renders it difficult to get a sponge or like cleaning tool into the tight corner. Therefore, a visible joint is rendered more visible with the accumulation of dirt, distracts from the aesthetic appearance of the countertop, and may be unsanitary.
One solution to the difficult to clean right angled joint between the countertop and backsplash is to fashion a radius or coved interior corner joint between the two members which provides much more open space to access with a sponge for cleaning.
A prior art method for creating a radiused or coved interior joint or intersection in plastic solid surface countertops with attached backsplashes, as is illustrated in the attached prior art drawing FIGS. 2A and 2B, is to adhesively affix a rectangular strip of plastic solid surfacing material along the right angled interior corner of the abutted backsplash and countertop, and then mechanically cut to remove a portion of the rectangular strip, such as with a router, leaving a radius or cove between the backsplash and countertop. This process involves utilizing a specialized jig or tool guide for holding the router at a forty-five degree angle to cut the radius. There is little room for error with this procedure, since routing the cove too deeply would cut into the backsplash or countertop, and too shallow a cove would require extensive sanding, therefore the installer must be quite skilled in this procedure. This procedure is quite time consuming, requires a high level of skill, and is therefore relatively expensive. Another disadvantage of this type of coved joint is that the longitudinal edges of the cove are quite thin, feathering out to a very thin edge so as to make a smooth transition or blend into the backsplash and countertop without leaving a highly visible seam. These thin feathered edges, particularly the feathered edge which lies in the horizontal plane of the countertop, can result in an area quite susceptible to wear. Even though the thin feathered edges at first may blend in quite well with the backsplash and countertop, they can eventually wear thin with repeated cleaning, particularly with abrasive cleansers. Chipping of the thin edges of the cove can eventually result. The chipped edges leave recesses which accumulate dirt and become harder to keep clean with time. Sometimes the adhesive shows through the chipped thin feathered areas, which is not very aesthetically pleasing when the adhesive is not an exact color match to the material, and the adhesive is seldom an "exact" color match. The showing of the adhesive through the thin feathered edges is particularly noticeable on the feathered edge which lies in the horizontal plane of the countertop because of the angle at which overhead lighting strikes the joint, and not so noticeable with the feathered edge lying in the vertical plane of the backsplash, again, because of the angle at which overhead lighting strikes the seam. As the thin feathered edges wear, more of the adhesive is exposed, and more dirt begins to collect and the joint becomes more visible with time. The problem with wearing of the thin feathered edges is most prevalent with the lower feathered edge which resides in the horizontal plane of the countertop, and not so much with the upper feathered edge residing in the vertical plane of the backsplash, as normally the horizontal plane receives far more vigorous cleaning.
Another prior art method of creating a coved interior joint or intersection on countertops with attached backsplashes of plastic solid surfacing material, as is illustrated in the attached prior art drawing FIGS. 3A and 3B, is to countersink the lengthwise bottom edge of the backsplash and an edge of an elongated rectangular strip into a rabbet (recess) formed along the upper lengthwise back edge of the countertop. A portion of the rectangular strip is then mechanically removed in the same manner as the first described prior art procedure to define a coved or curved joint. This process also involves utilizing a specialized jig or tool guide for holding the router at a forty-five degree angle. There is also little room for error in the depth of the routing of the cove, and therefore the installer must be quite skilled in this procedure. In this procedure, only the upper edge of the cove lying in the vertical plane of the backsplash is thinly feathered, and this has not been found to be a major problem. However, this method is very time consuming, requires a relatively high level of skill, and is also therefore quite expensive.
It is these shortcomings in countertops with separately attached backsplashes made of plastic solid surfacing material which the present invention overcomes. There is a significant need for an improved system of attaching a backsplash to a countertop made of solid plastics with the resultant joint between the two members being curved or coved for easy cleaning, and one which is very durable, inexpensive, and which the seam(s) is virtually invisible for many years.