WO2001094722A1

WO2001094722A1 - Connector for cornices

Info

Publication number: WO2001094722A1
Application number: PCT/AU2001/000666
Authority: WO
Inventors: John Arthur Ellis
Original assignee: John Arthur Ellis
Priority date: 2000-06-06
Filing date: 2001-06-05
Publication date: 2001-12-13
Also published as: NZ523056A

Abstract

A connector (4) for mounting a pair of cornice strips (2,3) to a wall is disclosed. The connector (4) comprises an element (9) having a front major surface (13) of concave configuration and a rear major surface (14) of convex configuration. The element (9) may comprise two portions (10, 11) extending at 90 degrees to each other for mounting over the corner (19) of the walls (20, 21). The connector (4) is sandwiched between the walls (20, 21) and the cornice strips (2, 3) mounted on the wall. The line of separation of adjacent strips is positioned over the front surface (13) of the connector (4) and the rear surface of both the strips (2, 3) are attached to the front surface of the connector across the full face thereof. A method of mounting a connector and cornice strips to the wall is also disclosed.

Description

CONNECTOR FOR CORNICES

This invention relates to a connector for cornices. This invention also relates to a cornice assembly including a plurality of cornice strips and connectors between adjacent cornice strips. It also extends to a method of mounting a cornice assembly on a wall, eg of a house.

The invention relates particularly but not exclusively to cornice strips having a concave outer or front surface and made of plasterboard. These cornices are commonly found in modern Australian homes. It will be convenient to hereinafter describe the invention with reference to this example application. However it is to be clearly understood that the invention is capable of broader application.

Cornice assemblies typically comprise a plurality of cornice strips arranged end to end along the internal walls of a house. The cornice strips are positioned at the top of the walls bridging diagonally across the intersection of the wall with the ceiling when viewed in section. Thus the cornice strips conceal the junction or intersection between the wall and ceiling. The purpose of the cornice assembly is to provide a finished look to the internal walls. Cornice strips contain aesthetic features, e.g. in the form of an arched outer surface or other more complex features.

The cornice strip is affixed to the wall and ceiling by means of cornice adhesive at respectively the top and bottom of the strip. The basic structure of a cornice assembly is shown in Fig. 2.

Often adjacent cornice elements are attached to each other at corners, e.g. perpendicular corners, as shown in the drawings accompanying this specification. Typically this attachment is effected by means of adhesive, e.g. cornice adhesive, which is applied to the ends of the cornice strips and which adheres the ends to each other when they are in end to end abutment. This corner attachment of the cornice strips is shown in Fig. 1. In addition to the corner attachments cornice strips are also arranged end to end in linearly extending fashion, e.g. on lengthy linear sections of wall. These linearly extending attachments of cornice strips, without a change in direction, are called butt attachments and are in some respects simpler than the corner attachments.

A problem with existing cornices is that adjacent cornice strips are prone to detaching from each other and leaving an unsightly crack as shown in Fig.3. The problem is widespread in the building industry. Very often the cracking occurs soon after the cornice assembly has been fitted.

The cracks are ugly and detract from the internal finish in a home. The cracks are also a major problem for the building industry who are often required to fix the cracks after they have completed a contract. This is a major productivity cost in an industry which traditionally has thin margins. Often the plasterers bear the brunt of this problem being called out to fix cracks for no charge. In addition after the cracks have been fixed they often reappear.

Clearly it would be highly desirable if a way of reducing the incidence of cracking of cornice strip attachments could be devised. Property owners and building industry professionals would all benefit.

There is speculation that the cause of the cracking might be movement due to truss deformation. There is also speculation that the causes of cracking might movement be due to slab heaving which can apply upward pressure to the wall and ceiling.

Some attempts have been made to solve this problem. One attempt involved freeing the bottom edge of the cornice strip from the wall so that it can move relative to the wall. However this is a relatively complicated solution and causes other problems. Any successful solution will have to be relatively simple and inexpensive to implement. Clearly therefore it would be advantageous if a contrivance or method could be found for lowering the incidence of this problem. It would result in substantial productivity savings in the building industry. It would also result in improved interior finishes with fewer visible cracks between adjacent cornice strips. It would also be advantageous if a solution could be provided that did not interfere with or alter the aesthetics of the cornice such as being hidden out of sight.

According to an aspect of this invention there is provided a connector for connecting adjacent cornice strips to each other, the connector including: an element having front and rear major surfaces, the rear surface in use being adjacent to both a ceiling and/or a wall, and the front surface in use having a pair of cornice strips arranged end to end mounted thereto so that the connector is sandwiched between the wall and the cornice strips, the element overlapping the point of interconnection of the cornice strips so as to enable each of the cornice strips to be adhered to the front major surface thereof.

The applicant has recognised that the end to end adhesion of adjacent cornice strips with cornice adhesive does not produce a strong joint and a small amount of movement can cause it to crack. The applicant has therefore focussed on strengthening the attachment of adjacent cornice strips to each other rather than trying to identify and remove the source of the movement of the wall and/or ceiling. This is different to prior approaches that have focussed on the source of the movement and how to accommodate it.

In use the face to face contact of connector to cornice strips as distinct from the edge to edge contact of cornice strips provides a substantially greater surface area in adhesive contact with the cornice strips and this provides for a more secure attachment. This attachment resists the strips from moving apart from each other and producing a visible crack.

Typically the element is mounted to both the ceiling and the wall, eg directly, although this is not essential. It may for example be mounted to the wall by means of an extension extending from the element, eg downwardly to a point spaced from the element.

The element may comprise first and second portions extending substantially perpendicular to each other. This enables the connector to be used to attach cornice strips to each other at points where the wall surface forms a perpendicular corner. Each of the first and second portions may have a length of at least five centimetres, preferably at least 10 centimetres.

Put another way the connector may extend at least five centimetres on either side of the junction of adjacent cornice strips, preferably at least seven centimetres, most preferably at least 10 centimetres.

Advantageously the front major surface of the connector element is concave and the rear major surface is convex. This way the front surface complements the rear surface of the strip facilitating a face to face abutmeηt of the element and strip across the full face of the element.

Typically cornice adhesive or cornice cement is used to attach the element to the strips. However clearly other adhesive materials may also be used.

The element may have a plurality of apertures defined therein from the front to the rear major surfaces. Optionally the apertures may be arranged broadly in the form of an array and there are at least 10 said apertures more preferably at least 20 apertures.

The apertures enable adhesive to pass through the element from the front to rear surfaces

The apertures enable adhesive to pass through the element from the front to rear surfaces. It is desirable that the apertures are spread across the area of the area of the element to permit the passage of adhesive there through across the full surface area thereof.

Advantageously the connector may be made of a plastics material, eg polyethylene, eg by an injection moulding process. Alternatively the connector may be made of substantially the same material as the cornice strips, eg. a plaster board type material. This is convenient if standard cornice adhesives are to be used as the adhesive bonds strongly to this material.

Typically the connector element is a unitary piece of material.

In one form the element may be configured to connect cornice strips forming an external mitre, e.g. on an external corner of a wall.

In another form the element may be configured to connect cornice strips forming an internal mitre, e.g. on an internal corner of a wall.

In yet another form the element may be linearly extending for connecting cornice strips extending linearly with respect to each other, eg a butt attachment.

The connector will also be sufficiently thick to confer the appropriate structural rigidity on the element. At the same time the connector must fit into the space between the cornice strips and the walls. This is a very limited and confined space and will certainly impose constraints on the thickness of the connector. The space constraints alluded to above are particularly severe for connectors for internal mitres.

According to another aspect of this invention there is provided a cornice strip assembly including at least one connector as described above with reference to the first aspect of the invention, and a plurality of cornice strips attached end to end mounted over and adhered to the front major face of the connector. The assembly may include two or more cornice strips, typically more than two cornice strips and a connector at each point of interconnection of adjacent cornice strips.

The connectors may include any one or more of the optional or preferred features of the connector described above, for example first and second portions extending perpendicularly to each other.

Naturally the cornice assembly may also include adhesive for adhering the connectors to the respective cornice strips eg cornice adhesive.

The major face of the connector overlaying the cornice strips is adhered to the cornice strips across substantially the full face thereof providing a strong attachment.

The invention also extends to a building structure, eg a house, including at least one cornice assembly as described above with respect to the second aspect of the invention.

According to yet another aspect of this invention there is provided a method of mounting cornice strips to a wall and a ceiling of a structure, the method including: providing a connector comprising front and rear major surfaces and a plurality of apertures extending through the element from the front to the rear surface; applying adhesive to the rear surface of the connector; placing the connector in position on the wall and/or ceiling with the adhesive holding the connector in position ; placing a first cornice strip in position superimposed over a first portion of the connector; pressing the cornice strip against the connector so that adhesive oozes through the apertures in the connector onto the front surface thereof and attaches the connector to the cornice strip; placing a second cornice strip in position superimposed over a remaining second portion of the connector; and pressing the second cornice strip against the connector so that adhesive oozes through the openings in the connector and attaches the connector to the second cornice strip.

Thus the apertures perform the important function of permitting the cement to be displaced from the rear to front surface and then to adhere the strips to the connector as a result of the pressure applied to the strips when they are mounted on the wall. This means that a plasterer does not have to use their hands to do it.

The method may include the additional step of wiping excess adhesive, eg cornice cement, from the cornice strips after pressing the second cornice strip over the second portion. The method may also include filling in any gaps between the ends of the adjacent cornice strips with adhesive or cornice cement.

The connector may include any one or more of the preferred features of the connector described above with respect to the first aspect of the invention. Further the front major surface of the connector may be concave and the rear surface of the cornice strips may be a complementary convex configuration. For example the first and second portions of the connector may extend at right angles to each other.

A cornice assembly and a connector in accordance with the invention may manifest itself in a variety of forms. It will be convenient to hereinafter describe in detail several preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. The purpose of providing this detailed description is to instruct persons having an interest in the subject matter of the invention how to carry the invention into practical effect. It is to be clearly understood however that the specific nature of this description does not supersede from or in any way narrow down the scope of the preceding broad statements of invention. In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a schematic 3-dimensional view showing the prior art method of attachment of a cornice assembly to a wall and ceiling;

Fig. 2 is a sectional front view of a prior art cornice assembly showing adjacent cornice strips to respectively the wall and ceiling; Fig. 3 is a 3-dimensional view of a prior art cornice assembly showing adjacent cornice strips detached from each other leaving an unsightly crack;

Figs. 4a and b are front and rear three dimensional views of a connector for an external mitre and Fig 4c is a cornice assembly having an external mitre;

Fig. 5 is a 3-dimensional view of a connector for an internal mitre mounted on a wall;

Figs. 6a and b are front and rear 3-dimensional views of a cornice assembly incorporating the connector shown in Fig. 5 having an internal miter ( some detail of the wall is omitted for clarity from Fig 6 b); and

Fig. 7a is a front view of a cornice assembly having a butt attachment of adjacent cornice strips and Fig 7 b is sectional view of the cornice assembly of Fig 7a; and

Figs 8 to 10 show the sequence of steps undertaken to mount a cornice assembly including a connector on a wall.

Figs. 1 to 3 show a prior art cornice assembly. These drawings have been described in some detail in the preamble to the specification and will not be described in further detail here. The reference numerals used in these drawings correspond to those used to indicate the various components in Figs 4 to 10 unless otherwise indicated.

Fig. 4 illustrates a cornice assembly indicated generally by reference I in which adjacent cornice strips form an external mitre.

Broadly the cornice assembly 1 comprises adjacent cornice strips 2, 3, and a connector indicated generally by reference 4. The connector 4 extends across the point of connection of the strips 2, 3. The cornice strips are well known in the art. Specifically the strips 2, 3 have a concave outer surface 7 and a complementary convex inner surface 8. The cornice strips illustrated in the drawings are fairly simple. It will be appreciated however that other cornice strips with more complex and intricate aesthetic features may also be used.

The connector 4 comprises broadly an element 9 having a first portion 10 and a second portion 11 extending orthogonally to the first portion 10. The front surfaces 13 of the first and second portions 10, 11 are complementary to those of the cornice 2, 3 so as to enable the connector 4 to fit snugly against the cornice strips 2, 3. For example the front face 13 of the first and second portions 10, 11 of the connector 4 is concave to complement the convex rear surface of the cornice strips 2, 3. The rear major surface 14 is typically convex although this is not essential.

The connector has an array of apertures 12 extending through the element 9 from the front major surface 13 to the rear major surface 14. Each of the apertures 12 is sufficiently large to permit cornice adhesive to be squeezed there through without excessive resistance.

Typically the element 9 is made out of a plastics type material. The element may conveniently be formed as a unitary article by an injection moulding process using a polyethylene plastics material.

In use the cornice assembly is mounted to the wall in a series of steps as illustrated in Figs 8 to 10.

Firstly adhesive 16, eg cornice cement is applied to the rear major surface 14 of the connector element 9 in fairly liberal quantities. The element 9 is then placed in position in the top corner 19 of a wall and ceiling. The element 9 is held in position by the cement which provides sufficient adhesion to hold the element even though it has not yet set. Thereafter a first cornice strip 2 is placed in position along a first wall surface 20 and overlaying the first portion 10 of the connector 4. The strip 2 is then firmly pressed against the element 9 causing cement to ooze through the openings 12 in the element 9 and attach the strip 8 to the element 9. Again the cement has sufficient adhesion to hold the strip 8 in place even before it has set. This process is then repeated for the second cornice strip 3 on a second wall surface 21. The cement is then allowed to set to provide a firm secure attachment of adjacent cornice strips 2, 3. Naturally any excess adhesive can be wiped off the cornice strips.

Typically the connectors 4 are installed as part of the cornice assembly when the house is built. Alternatively they may be retrofitted.

Fig. 5 illustrates a cornice assembly in which the adjacent cornice strips form an internal mitre.

The structure and function of the cornice assembly and connector used in this embodiment are structurally and functionally very similar to those described with reference to Fig.4. Accordingly the same reference numerals will be used to refer to the same components unless otherwise illustrated.

This connector is used on internal corners such as occur in the four corners of a room as distinct from the external corners on which the external mitre is used.

Fig. 6 illustrates a cornice assembly including the connector of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 illustrates a cornice assembly for the linear attachment of the strips to each other. This is known as a butt attachment.

Again the structure and function of this embodiment is similar to the Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 embodiments and the same reference numerals will be used to refer to the same components. The principal characteristic of this embodiment is that the adjacent cornice strips and the connector element are linearly extending. They do not have the perpendicular bend of the Fig.4 and Fig.5 mitres.

An advantage of the connector element described above with reference to the drawings is that it is simple and can be inexpensively produced and fitted during a building operation. In fact its installation does not require substantially more work than existing techniques. Further the additional cost of the connectors will be very low. The applicant has found that it can be very efficacious in reducing cracking of cornice assemblies. Applicant has found it to be effective on all of external mitres, internal mitres and butt joins.

The reduction in the incidence of post-building cracking obtained with preferred embodiments of the applicant's invention will lead to major cost and productivity savings particularly in the repairing of cracking cornice assemblies. It will also improve the long term aesthetics of cornice assemblies by reducing the incidence of cornice cracking. This is a major problem in the building industry.

A key feature of this invention is that the connector when fitted is concealed from view and thus does not interfere with the standard look of the normal cornice assembly. It is not a capricious addition mounted in front of the cornice strip. Rather the connector is tucked unobtrusively out of view. The advantage is that it is not necessary for a customer to embrace the look of the connector when deciding to use it and as a result one design can be used for all applications and uses.

The above has been given only way of illustrative example of the invention. All modifications and variations which would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the scope and ambit of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A connector for connecting adjacent cornice strips to each other, the connector including: an element having front and rear major surfaces, the rear surface in use being adjacent to both a ceiling and/or a wall, and the front surface in use having a pair of cornice strips arranged end to end mounted thereto so that the connector is sandwiched between the wall and the cornice strips, the element overlapping the point of interconnection of the cornice strips so as to enable each of the cornice strips to be adhered to the front major surface thereof.

2. A connector as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the rear surface of the connector in use is mounted to the ceiling and wall.

3. A connector according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the element comprises first and second portions extending substantially perpendicular to each other.

4. A connector according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the front major surface is concave and the rear major surface is convex.

5. A connector according to claim 3, wherein the first and second portions extend perpendicularly to each other for mounting on a perpendicular corner of a wall.

6. A connector according to claim 5, wherein each of the first and second portions has a length of at least five centimetres.

7. A connector according to claim 6, wherein each of the first and second portions has a length of at least centimetres.

8. A connector according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the element has a plurality of apertures defined therein from the front to the rear surfaces.

9. A connector according to claim 8, wherein the apertures are arranged broadly in the form of an array and there are at least 10 apertures.

10. A connector according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the element is a unitary piece of plastics material formed by means of a moulding operation.

11. A connector according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the element is sufficiently thick to confer the appropriate structural rigidity on the element and also fit into the space between the cornice strips and the wall to which it is mounted.

12. A connector according to any one of claims 1 to 11 , wherein the. element is configured to connect cornice strips forming an external mitre on an external corner of a wall.

13. A connector according to any one of claims 1 to 11 , wherein the element is configured to connect cornice strips forming an internal mitre on an internal corner of a wall.

14. A connector according to any one of claims 1 to 11 , wherein the element is configured to connect cornice strips extending linearly with respect to each other along a linear section of a wall.

15. A cornice strip assembly including at least one connector as defined in claim 1 , and a pair of cornice strips arranged end to end with the line of separation between the strips positioned over the front face of the connector, each strip being adhered to the front major face of the connector.

16. A cornice strip assembly according to claim 15, wherein the connector is as defined in any one of claims 2 to 14.

17. A cornice strip assembly according to claim 15, including two or more cornice strips and wherein there is a connector at each point of interconnection of adjacent cornice strips.

18. A cornice strip assembly according to any one of claims 15 to 17, further including adhesive for adhering the connectors to the respective cornice strips.

19. A cornice strip assembly according to any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein the front major face of the connector is adhered to the cornice strips across substantially the full face of the connector.

20. A building including a plurality of walls and a ceiling and at least one cornice assembly as defined in claim 15 mounted to a said wall.

21. A building according to claim 20, wherein the cornice assembly is as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 19.

22. A method of mounting cornice strips to the wall and ceiling of a structure, the method including: providing a connector comprising front and rear major surfaces and a plurality of apertures extending through the element from the front to the rear surface; applying adhesive to the rear surface of the connector; placing the connector in position against the wall and ceiling with the adhesive holding the connector in position on the wall and/or ceiling; placing a first cornice strip in position superimposed over a portion of the connector; pressing the cornice strip against the connector so that adhesive oozes through the openings in the connector and attaches the connector to the cornice strip; placing a second cornice strip in position superimposed over the remainder of the connector; and pressing the second cornice strip against the connector so that adhesive oozes through the openings in the connector and attaches the connector to the second cornice strip.

23. A method according to claim 22, wherein the connector is as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 14.

24. A method according to claim 22 or claim 23, wherein the structure is a residential house and a cornice assembly is mounted to most of the internal walls in the house.