Patent Application
20070022687
The present invention relates to decorative structures for walls, floors and ceilings. More specifically, the present invention is concerned with a decorative stone module for building a decorative stone façade.
Pre-fabricated panels that emulate natural stone surface structures are known in the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,496, issued to Savignac, teaches a laminated panel to be mounted to a surface; the panel is constructed from natural stone.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,177 issued to DePoorter teaches a panel having a main panel area that is randomly subdivided into smaller, variously sized and configured portions by grooves formed therein which are filled with solder.
International Patent Application having publication number WO 2004/033799 A1, teaches a decorative panel comprising a plurality of irregular shaped stone elements of the same or differing thickness embedded in a backing layer or base to form a tile or panel of a predetermined thickness. A flowable displacement material may be employed in the interstices between adjacent stone elements. The irregular space between adjacent stone elements of adjacent panels allows the formation of an optically seamless tiled surface.
A drawback with the prior art is that it does not provide a panel for a single stone element. Another drawback of the prior art is that it does not provide panels for pre-fabricated cobblestone like structures. A further drawback of the prior art is that the panels are not large enough to provide free spaces that can be worked on or that can receive materials thereon.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved decorative stone module for building a decorative stone façade.
More specifically, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a decorative stone module comprising:
a backing panel comprising a peripheral contour, a decorative face and an opposing structure mounting face; and
a decorative stone formed on the decorative face, wherein said module is configured to be mounted on a structure surface in a side by side fashion with other like said modules thereby creating a decorative stone structure façade.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a kit for covering a surface structure thereby creating a decorative stone façade, the kit comprising:
a plurality of like decorative stone modules, each module comprising: a backing panel comprising a peripheral contour and a decorative face and an opposing structure surface mounting face; and a decorative stone formed on the decorative face; and
mounting elements for mounting the like modules to the surface structure
wherein said like modules are configured to be mounted on the structure surface in a side-by-side fashion thereby creating the decorative stone structure façade.
In an embodiment, the backing panel comprises a generally rectangular configuration. In an embodiment, the generally rectangular panel comprises two pairs of opposite sides, said opposite sides being configured to be mated with like opposite sides when assembling a plurality of like said module so as to create a decorative stone structure façade. In an embodiment, the generally rectangular backing panel comprises at least one cut corner backing panel comprises a generally hexagonal configuration. In an embodiment, when assembling a plurality of like said modules, the backing panels are positioned in a side-to-side fashion. In an embodiment, panel comprises an adhesive in said structure-engaging side.
In an embodiment, the decorative stone covers at least a substantial portion of said decorative stone thereby providing for backing panel exposed portions. In an embodiment, the decorative stone comprises a cross sectional relief comprising a first portion at one end thereof, a second portion at another end thereof and a generally downward sloped portion therebetween, said first portion having a height greater than the height of said second portion. In an embodiment, the decorative stone emulates a cobblestone-like structure. In an embodiment, the panel is mountable to a structure via mounting elements drilled through the exposed portions.
In an embodiment, the structure surface is selected from the group consisting of a wall, a floor and ceiling.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of building a decorative stone façade on a surface structure comprising:
a) providing a plurality of decorative stone modules, each module comprising: a backing panel comprising a peripheral contour and a decorative face and an opposing structure surface mounting face; and a decorative stone formed on the decorative face; and
b) mounting the modules side-by-side on the structure surface.
In an embodiment, the mounting step comprises adding adhesive to the surface engaging side of the panel and then mounting the surface engaging side to the surface structure. In an embodiment, the panel comprises a generally rectangular configuration, the decorative stone covering a substantial part of the decorative face thereby providing baking panel exposed portions, the method further comprising cutting these exposed portions before the mounting step.
Other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following non restrictive description of embodiments thereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the appended drawings where like elements are referenced by like reference numerals and in which:
With reference to the appended drawings an embodiment of the invention will be herein described so as to exemplify the invention and not limit its scope.
As shown in
As shown in
When assembling modules 12 to form a plurality 10 on a wall, floor or ceiling structure, the panels 14 are placed in a side-by-side fashion, in a plurality of side-by-side rows such as 30A, 30B, 30C and 30D. The modules 12 are placed in a given row by placing the lateral edges 26 and 28 of two adjacent modules such as 12A and 12B of
It should be noted that the modules 12 are positioned with their respective relief W being in the same general direction, so as to create a structure having a wave-like surface emulating a surface made from cobblestones or like stones.
The structure engaging side 20 of a panel 14 may have an adhesive material or an adhesive material may be added thereto.
As shown in
After having mounted a plurality of modules 12 as illustrated in
The panels 14 may be any type of variety of panels such as wood, plastic, metal or any other type of convenient material. In one embodiment, hard material such as wood is used which permits the user to quickly place panels 14 in a side-by-side fashion as shown in
The corners of panels 14 may be cut as shown in
In a further embodiment shown in
The invention also includes kits for building stone structure façades using the modules of the present invention as well as mounting elements.
It is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described hereinabove. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practised in various ways. It is also to be understood that the phraseology or terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and not limitation. Hence, although the present invention has been described hereinabove by way of embodiments thereof, it can be modified, without departing from the spirit, scope and nature of the subject invention as defined in the appended claims.
