TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION THIS INVENTION relates to a method and apparatus for applying a decorative plaster pattern to a surface and in particular but not limited to application of a textured pattern to a ceiling, wall or the like.

BACKGROUND ART Decorative plaster ceiling and wall designs are customarily made by hand or are premoulded and applied to the wall or ceiling. Examples of these premoulded designs include cornice and ceiling rose designs and the like. OUTLINE OF THE INVENTION

It would be desirable to provide a simple, less expensive alternative to the traditional methods.

With the above and other objects in mind, the present invention resides in one broad aspect, in a method for applying a decorative plaster pattern to a surface of a ceiling, wall or the like, the method comprising the following steps:-

(i) preparing a template including cut-outs defining a pattern to be applied; (ii) applying a temporary adhesive to a surface of the template; (iii) applying the surface of the template having the adhesive to the ceiling or wall to temporarily hold the template in place in complete surface contact with the surface of the ceiling, wall or the like; (iv) applying a plaster paste to the template and thereby to the ceiling or wall through the cut-outs in the template; and

(v) subsequently removing the template from the ceiling or wall to reveal the plaster pattern. In a further aspect, the present invention resides in an apparatus for carrying out the above process. The template can be made from any suitable robust flexible or semi- flexible material. In one form the template is made from a thin plastic sheet .5 to 1 mm thick. In another embodiment a paper or thin cardboard is used.

Typically a paper of 500 gsm thickness is employed, the paper being commonly known as unlined boxboard, solid grey multiply board having characteristics of good flexibility, strength and being reusable as a template approximately five times. This type of paper is commonly used to support plasterboard sheeting and is known for this purpose. In the case of paper the adhesive is provided by soaking the template in water for 3-4 minutes so that the water serves the adhesive properties required. In this case release of the template is better than using a proprietary adhesive and reduces feathering around edges of the plaster. The plaster is typically applied to 3 mm - 6 mm in thickness. The surface can be pretreated with paint before the template is applied, the template can be removed and then reapplied as a mask so that the pattern can be painted.

Typically, the template includes a marginal portion and a plurality of repeated pattern elements within the marginal portion, the repeated pattern elements being connected to the marginal portion by evenly spaced bridging portions so that the template is of one piece construction. The template preferably is in two parts including an inner template and an outer template, the outer template being, in use, spaced from the inner template to define an unbroken plaster border around the pattern defined by the inner template.

Step (ii) of the process typically involves the use of a transparent applicator having a planar surface adapted to sandwich the template between the planar surface of the applicator and the ceiling or wall and thereby enable application of a uniform force over a major portion of a central region of the template as the template is being applied to the ceiling or wall.

The plaster can be any suitable plaster type paste material including material which can be applied by roller, brush or trowel. In one form, a plaster paste is made up and mixed with a PVA glue as additive to improve adhesion between the plaster particles. Preferably, the invention employs a kit comprising a trowel, template and paste. In one preferred form the trowel includes an arcuate flexible blade for applying paste to curved cornice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the present invention can be more readily understood and be put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings and examples and wherein:- Figures 1 to 5 illustrate application of the present invention to provide a decorative pattern to a ceiling;

Figure 6 is a drawing illustrating application of the present invention to cornice;

Figure 7 is a drawing illustrating a preferred kit; Figure 8 is a plan view of a cornice template; and

Figures 9 to 1 1 are respective perspective, end and side views of a tool for applying the present invention to cornice.

METHOD OF PERFORMANCE

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated the steps in the process wherein Figure 1 illustrates a template 10 having an annular marginal portion

1 1 and cut-outs forming repeated pattern elements 12, the pattern elements being connected to the marginal portion 1 1 by bridges 13 at evenly spaced intervals about the pattern.

As can be seen, the pattern elements 12 include in this case a concentric structure where different portions of the pattern are bridged inwardly toward the centre at 14. This construction produces a fairly robust template that can be reused and has relatively long life.

This bridging aspect is illustrated in further detail in the inset of Figure 1 . A second template in the form of a ring (shown in part in Figure 2) can be applied so that the final pattern has a complete plaster border.

Figure 2 illustrates application of a temporary contact adhesive. The applicant has found that proprietary glues are suitable for this purpose and has selected a glue sold under the brand name "Fullers Spray Bond" which is a typical instant contact adhesive. The adhesive is designed to only stick to the surface of the template and not to the ceiling or wall so that when the template is removed, there is minimal adhesive residue on the wall or ceiling.

The applicant has found that the use of the instant contact adhesive provides a closer fit between the template and the wall or ceiling so that a better finish is obtained when applying the flowable material to the template.

In the case of a paper template water can be used as the temporary adhesive media by soaking the template beforehand.

Figure 3 illustrates application of the template to the ceiling and as can be seen, a transparent applicator 15 is employed to assist the operator in positioning the template 10 on the surface in the desired position.

Figure 4 illustrates preparation of the flowable material for a textured finish and in this case, a proprietary plaster mix is used as illustrated at 16. The applicant has found that the product marketed by CSR of 768 Boundary Road, Coopers Plains, Queensland, under the brand name "Interior Texture Compound" is suitable for this purpose. It is preferable to modify the proprietary product by the inclusion of 250ml to 300ml of PVA glue marketed under the brand name "Bond Crete" by Seal wall of Carole Park, Queensland, in a proportion of 250ml to 300ml to a 20L batch of the prepared interior texture compound product (prepared according to the makers instructions).

Figure 5 illustrates application of the textured compound to the template as positioned according to Figure 3. Referring to Figure 6 there is illustrated a plaster cornice 20 shown in part, a template 21 is secured to the surface of the cornice and a tool 22 is shown being drawn across the template to apply plaster to the cornice. The template is then removed to leave the paster pattern. A typical cornice template is illustrated in Figure 8. The tool 22 includes an arcuate spoon-like surface and the spoon-like surface is adapted to flex under pressure to follow the shape of the cornice so that the plaster is applied evenly. A typical tool 22 is illustrated in Figures 9 to 1 1 .

Figure 7 illustrates a do-it-yourself kit employing a pack of templates shown rolled up at 23, a spatula at 24 and a squeeze bottle of ready made plaster paste at 25.

The kit can include the cornice templates, round ceiling rose templates,

square wall templates and the cornice tool 22. Other variations are also clearly possible

Once the plaster mix has been applied to the template, the template can be simply peeled away from the wall leaving the finished pattern. It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the present invention provides a very simple cost effective and fast procedure for applying a textured pattern to a wall or ceiling using a template that can be reused over and over again. It will also be appreciated that the present invention can be utilised with templates of any shape. It will also be appreciated that a flowable material of varying viscosity can be applied using the present invention extending from relatively thin to relatively thick flowable materials.

Accordingly, whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the present invention, many variations and modifications thereto will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the broad ambit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.