Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B44—DECORATIVE ARTS
  • B44F—SPECIAL DESIGNS OR PICTURES
  • B44F9/00—Designs imitating natural patterns
  • B44F9/04—Designs imitating natural patterns of stone surfaces, e.g. marble

Definitions

• the present invention relates to articles and items of furniture which from a distance appear to be made from, or to have visible surfaces of, solid stone wherein the effect is created by the appearance of a finely divided material when seen at a distance.
• the present invention also relates to a method of obtaining the solid stone-like appearance.
• articles and items of furniture includes, but is not limited to: sculptures; large and small household items; wall cladding and coverings; domestic utensils; domestic and commercial furniture, fixtures and fittings; souvenirs; housing for clocks; and ornamental items and jewelry.
• a stone-like finish has been found to be possible, by packing a volume of space within an article or item of furniture with finely cut-up material.
• the packing must be extremely dense within the packed volume, otherwise the material tends to settle over a period of time.
• the resultant visible air gap at the top of the material destroys the visual appearance of a stone-like finish. This settling effect is apparent, after a period of time, even when the material is initially densely packed.
• An object of the present invention is to provide articles and items of furniture which overcome these difficulties and present visible surfaces with a solid stone-like appearance.
• a further object of the invention is the provision of a method for making such articles and items of furniture.
• the present invention provides articles and items of furniture which from a distance appear to be made from, or to have one or more visible surfaces of, solid stone, said articles and items including: a volume of space filled with at least two different types of material, a first type of material which is translucent, and at least one second type of material the or each type of second material being a closely packed, finely divided material; a translucent medium covering all of the visible surface of said space (when filled); and means to secure said materials within said space.
• the securing means includes the translucent medium.
• transmisent includes, but is not limited to, transparent or clear.
• Said translucent medium may be rigid or flexible, depending on the article or item, e.g. a solid base for lamp (rigid medium) or a flexible table mat (flexible medium).
• said medium if rigid, is clear glass (which may or may not be non-reflective) or a rigid clear plastics material.
• Said medium, if flexible, preferably is a plastics material capable of being sprayed onto a surface and allowed to set or harden, or applied by other known means.
• Said first type of material is in the nature of a filler, and is a liquid which sets to a solid or semi-solid.
• a filler is a plastics material which is liquid when worked with, but sets to a solid (e.g. a bonding material), and can also act as an adhesive.
• Each said second type of material may be any material which is capable of being cut up, crushed (etc) into discrete, fine pieces or that are in this state naturally.
• the second type of material may be wood shavings, paper, fabric, mineral salts, stone chip, shells, sands and so on.
• the second type of material may also include material which is capable of forming discrete fine pieces, but which is worked with as a liquid, e.g. paint.
• said second type of material is a fabric or paper which is printed or dyed on at least one side in one or more colours.
• the printing on the material, where it occurs, is preferably dense.
• the material is thin, and is printed on both sides.
• the material is paper in the form of currency notes, of pre-determined denomination(s), that have been withdrawn from public circulation by the duly authorized government body or bank.
• said securing means includes said bonding material which is used to secure some or all of said first type of material to the inner surface of the translucent medium.
• said distance is of the order of 1 metre or more.
• the present invention also provides a method of making an article or item of furniture which from a distance appears to be made from, or to have one or more visible surfaces of, solid stone, said method including: providing one or more pieces of a translucent medium, each of which forms an external part of said item or article when made; filling a space adjacent to and touching the inner surface of each said translucent medium with at least one closely packed, finely divided second type of material, said material being as described above; securing said second type of material within said space, with a first type of material to exclude all air from the area immediately adjacent the inner surface of each said piece of translucent medium; and completing the making of said item or article.
• the above method may further include the step of forming said space (into which said first and second types of material are secured) in the shape of a mould of the article or item.
• the translucent medium is then secured around the mould, and the making of the article or item completed.
• the faces of a number of pieces of the transparent medium for example the glass sides of a lamp stand, have a layer of an adhesive filler (a first type of material) applied thereto.
• the filler is then covered with a layer of finely cut-up currency notes, all of the same denomination (a second type of material).
• the paper is closely packed across the surface of the filler.
• Pressure is applied (either manually or mechanically, in known manner) to flatten the pieces of notes against the glass and to push them into the layer of adhesive filler.
• the filler is allowed to set.
• the glass sides are then assembled to make the lamp stand, in known manner.
• the thickness of the material adhering to the translucent medium, the glass in the above example will depend on the nature of the second type of material.
• the desired thickness of the materials adhering to the glass is between one and five millimetres.
• the desired thickness is between 1 and 1.5 millimetres.
• the adhesive filler may be any material which is worked as a liquid but which sets to a solid.
• the filler should also be one which when set is translucent or transparent when less than 1 millimetre thick. In practice it has been found that flexible polyvinylacetate is the most suitable filler.
• a money box with the above described external appearance may be made by filling a mould for the desired shape of box with a mixture of finely cut-up currency notes of the same denomination (as the second type of material), and an adhesive (as the first type of material), in known manner. After the mixture has set and is removed from the mould it can either be sprayed with a translucent plastics material, or the translucent material may be molded onto the exterior of the box in known manner to exclude all air adjacent the inner surface of the translucent material.
• the finely cut-up paper may be obtained by known means, e.g. cutting paper shredded into long thin strips; using paper that has been cut and shredded by the one machine, etc. It will also be appreciated that the finely cut-up paper may be non-uniform or uniform in shape, depending on the desired effect. If the cuttings are of uniform shape then preferably each piece is very small, e.g. 5 mm x 10 mm, to attain a mottled stone effect from a distance. If a non-uniform shape of piece is used the size of the pieces may be bigger than those described above to create the same effect.
• the distance at which the desired stone-like appearance is achieved will depend on the size of the finely cut-up paper, the density to which it is packed, and to a lesser extent the density of the printing on the paper and whether it is printed on one or both sides.

Landscapes

• Laminated Bodies (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=8205618

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (1)

Citations (6)

• 1990
  • 1990-11-21 EP EP90312708A patent/EP0486737A1/fr not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (6)

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