Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE OF THE INVENTION
DECORATIVE STONE MODULE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
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 facade.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Pre-fabricated panels that emulate natural stone
surface structures are known in the art.
United States Patent 4,218,496, issued to Savignac,
teaches a laminated panel to be mounted to a surface; the panel is
constructed from natural stone.
United States Patent 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
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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.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an
improved decorative stone module for building a decorative stone
facade.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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 facade.
In accordance with another aspect of the present
invention, there is provided a kit for covering a surface structure
thereby creating a decorative stone facade, the kit comprising:
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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 facade.
In an embodiment, the backing panel comprises a
generally rectangular configuration. In an embodiment, the generally
rectangular pane! 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 facade. fn 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.
Ira 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
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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
facade 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.
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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.
5 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the appended drawings where like elements are
referenced by like reference numerals and in which:
Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a plurality of
modules in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 2 is a lateral view of a module in accordance to
the present invention;
Figure 3 is a top plan view of two side-by-side
modules in accordance with another object of the present invention;
Figure 4 is a plan view of two side-by-side modules in
accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT
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.
Figure 1 shows a plurality 10 of side-by-side stone
modules 12.
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As shown in Figure 2, the modules 12 have a backing
panel 14. The panel 14 includes a decorative face 16 on which a
decorative stone 18 has been formed and an opposite structure
mounting face 20. Each panel 14 is bounded by a peripheral contour.
In this example panel 14 has a generally rectangular configuration and
the peripheral contour thereof comprises opposites top and bottom
sides 22 (see Figure 1 ) and 24 and opposites lateral sides 26 and 28.
As shown in Figure 2, the pre-cast artificial decorative
stone 18 comprises a wavy relief "W" that emulates cobblestone for
example. The wavy like relief "W" of the decorative stone 16 defines a
decorative stone having a larger portion "!_" near panel lateral side 84,
a smaller portion "S" near lateral side 22 and a curved, concave-like
slope "P" there between. It should be understood that the decorative
block 18 can be provided a variety of a precast artificial stones in order
to emulate various natural stones.
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 Figure 1 in a side-by-side fashion with the aforementioned sides
26 and 28 being placed flush with each other. Rows 30A, 30B, 30C
and 30D positioned together by placing the top and bottom edges 22
and 24 of two adjacent modules 12 such as modules 12C and 12D of
rows 30A and 30B respectively, flush with one another. For a
decorative effect emulating a real stone structure, two adjacent
modules 12C and 12D are placed together with the lateral edges 26
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and 28 of module 12C being offset with the lateral sides 26 and 28 of
module 12D. Thereby, the adjacent rows such as 30A and 30B, 30C,
and 30D, are placed in an offset fashion as shown in Figure 1. As
such, the modules 12 when assembled create a decorative stone
structure facade such as a wall, a ceiling or a floor.
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 Figure 1 and Figure 2, a top portions 16A
of the panel 14 are exposed and hence mounting elements such as
screws and the like can be drilled thereto for mounting on a surface
structure.
After having mounted a plurality of modules 12 as
illustrated in Figure 1 on a given surface structure, the space between
the decorative stones 18 that is defined by adjacent exposed portions
16A of panels 14 can be filed with a variety of materials such as mortar
and the like or be left exposed.
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 Figure 1.
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The corners of panels 14 may be cut as shown in
Figure 3 thus defining sides 32A, 32B, 32C and 32D. In this way,
panels 14 can be positioned as shown in Figure 3 in with the side 32B
of module 12E in contact with the side 32D of module 12F.
In a further embodiment shown in Figure 4, modules
34A and 34B comprise circular-like prefabricated stones 36 defined on
a generally hexagonal backing panels 38 having sides 40, 42, 44, 46,
48 and 50. These modules 34A and 34B can be placed in a side-by
side fashion as shown in Figure 4 and are assembled in a similar
fashion as the modules 12.
The invention also includes kits for building stone
structure facades 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.
