TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing patterns on surfaces, and particularly but not exclusively to producing raised patterns on the surfaces of the walls or ceilings of buildings.

BACKGROUND ART

It has been known for very many years to apply raised decorative patterns to the walls and ceilings of buildings and in particular it has been known to provide fancy decorative plaster work to the surfaces, both internal and external, of buildings such as houses. The application of such fancy plaster work has involved skilled workmanship, although to some extent the amount of skill required has been reduced in recent times by the use of pre-formed moulded decorations.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention provides an apparatus and a method for facilitating the production of raised patterns on surfaces. The apparatus of the invention is in the form of a stencil comprising a sheet of material having apertures through which fluent material can be applied to a surface to be treated to produce a desired pattern on the surface characterised in that the sheet is flexible and carries on at least one face a coating of tacky adhesive by which

the sheet can be secured to the surface to be treated before and during application of said material and which permits removal of the sheet from the surface after the material has been applied. Preferably, the stencil sheet is part of a separable multi-sheet assembly, the other sheets of which protect the stencil sheet before use.

The provision of a coating of tacky adhesive (e.g. a so-called low tack adhesive) enables the stencil sheet to be temporarily secured to the surface to be treated during the process and to be readily removed therefrom without damaging the surface thereafter. The stencil may be in the form of a panel or a strip of a flexible sheet material such as paper or plastics so that for example a frieze can be formed along a wall. The apparatus may also comprise a range of different spatulas by which the coating material is applied to the stencil and thereby to the surface to be treated in a range of different thicknesses. The method of the invention comprises providing a three-dimensional (i.e. raised) pattern on a surface characterised by temporarily securing a stencil as hereinbefore described to the surface by the adhesive, applying a layer of a setting paste-like surface coating material to the stencil to obliterate the apertures therein, and removing the stencil before the coating material has set to leave a raised pattern corresponding

to the apertures on the surface.

It has been found that by using this method the thickness of the raised pattern can be varied by adjusting the thickness to which the stencil is coated by the surface coating material so that different decorative effects can be achieved. The surface coating material can be of any desired kind for example a plasticised plaster or cellulose based material but is preferably a surface coating material sold under the registered trade marks HANTEK and ALLTEK by International Coating Products (UK) Limited.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The attached drawings show, by way of example only, one embodiment of apparatus in accordance with the present invention and one form of product made using it. In the drawings :

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a composite strip or tape containing a stencil sheet in accordance with the invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale on line II-II of Fig. 1 ,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on an even further enlarged scale of the area shown ringed at III in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a plastered area including embossments.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 3, a tape assembly comprises a lexible stencil sheet 10 provided on one side (the underside as viewed in Figs. 2 and 3) with a coating 11 of a tacky adhesive (preferably, a so-called "low tack" adhesive). The sheet 10 has apertures 12 shaped and arranged to provide a desired pattern. The sheet 10 is preferably made of strong paper with a gloss upper surface which is covered by a protective, unapertured sheet 13 of transparent plastics film having on its underside a coating 14 of tacky adhesive by which the sheet 13 adheres to the stencil sheet 10. Below the stencil sheet 10 is provided a similarly apertured protective sheet 15 of ^' similar material with a gloss upper surface, to which the adhesive coating on the stencil sheet 10 adheres. The sheet 15 is not itself provided with adhesive.

In use, the sheet 15 is peeled off the stencil sheet 10 to expose its adhesive coating 11, by which it is then secured in the desired orientation on the surface to be treated. During the securing operation, the sheet 10 is stabilised and risk of distortion is minimised by the presence of the protective sheet 13. After the sheet 10 has been secured to the surface the sheet 13 is peeled off to expose the apertures 12 in the sheet 10. Plaster or like material is then applied to the stencil sheet 10 to a desired thickness, which is normally substantially greater than the thickness of the sheet 10. The sheet 10

is then peeled off the treated surface before the plaster material has set, to leave raised patterns of plaster on the surface, which then set to provide permanent attachments to the surface. Fig. 4 shows, schematically, a cross-section of a product of the present invention, in the form of a sub-strate 19 of plaster, which provides a coating for a ceiling, having raised patterns or embossments 20 which have been applied thereto by the apparatus and method described above. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The invention therefore provides apparatus and a method for producing raised patterns on surfaces, such as those of the walls and ceilings of buildings. Although the invention has been described with particular reference to decorative patterns it can of course be used to apply patterns such as letters and numerals to a surface if so desired. Also the surface coating material could be applied to the stencil by various means e.g. by brush or by spraying to achieve different effects. Depending on the surface coating material which is selected, it can be applied to different surfaces such as plaster surfaces, painted surfaces, wood panelling and so on.

The invention thus provides a simple but effective method and apparatus for applying decorative patterns and the like to surfaces without the need for great skill or complicated or expensive apparatus.