Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
AGGREGA _____________ 1E APPLICATOR AND METHOD OF USE FOR COVERING A SURFACE
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELA __ fED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This is the first application filed for the present invention.
lECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] This application relates generally to: construction and building
renovation for indoor and outdoor wall
finishing, decoration or rendering by adding a texture to walls, fences,
swimming pools, or any type of structure or
object when one wishes to apply aggregate to a surface, such as a
substantially vertical surface, by adhering to wet
medium, and more particularly to an aggregate applicator and method of use for
covering a surface.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Pebble dash rendering, consisting of throwing sand, gravel, pebbles
or little rocks on a wall freshly covered
with wet cement or plaster to add texture, is known construction technique.
Some specialists use trowels, scoop or
shovels to throw the aggregate, while others may use powered tools or
mechanically driven tools to shoot the aggregate.
A known problem of the current pebble dash practices is that they may require
a thick coat of plaster or cement to
prevent the aggregate from just bouncing off the wall.
SUMMARY
[0004] . One general aspect includes an aggregate applicator for applying
aggregating media for fixing an aggregate
to a surface, the aggregate applicator including: a media container for
receiving the aggregating media and selectively
dispensing it; an applicator roller for rolling the aggregating media to fix
it onto the surface; and means of mounting the
applicator roller below the media container so that the force of gravity is
used to selectively dispense the aggregating
media from the media container onto the applicator roller.
[0005] Another general aspect includes a method of use of the aggregate
applicator including the steps of: covering a
surface with at least one applied under coat of wet aggregating medium; using
the aggregate applicator to apply dry
aggregating medium to the undercoat covered area; and waiting for the wet
aggregating medium to dry.
1
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-06-22
[0006] Other aspects and features of the present application will become
apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art
upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of a
aggregate applicator and method of use for
covering a surface in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] Embodiments of the present application will now be described, by way
of example only, with reference to the
accompanying drawing figures, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of the example aggregate applicator;
FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the example aggregate applicator;
FIG. 3 is a top view of the example aggregate applicator;
FIG. 4 is a side view of the example aggregate applicator;
FIG. 5 is a front view of the example aggregate applicator;
FIG. 6 is an example flowchart of a method of use of an aggregate applicator;
FIG. 7 is a side view of the example aggregate applicator in a level position
at the base of a wallFIG. 8 is a side
view of the example aggregate applicator in a forward inclined position at the
base of the wall;
FIG. 9 is a side view of the example aggregate applicator in a forward
inclined position midway up the wall;
and
FIG. 10 is a side view of the example aggregate applicator in a forward
inclined position at the top of the wall.
[0008] Like reference numerals are used in different figures to denote
similar elements.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] According to a broad general aspect of the application, one
principal difference from the existing practices is
that the technique disclosed herein uses an aggregate applicator that feeds
the dry aggregate from a top container directly
to where a roller (or a set of rollers) presses it or directs it against the
substrate covered with wet medium.
[0010] As used in this description and in the appended claims, by wet
medium we mean paint, plaster, glue, cement,
varnish, lacquer or any other material that is wet when applied and that one
may use to cover the substrate before
dispersing a dry aggregate over it. By aggregate we mean pebbles, stones,
gravel, sand, chips of metal, chips of plastic,
chips of clay, etc. or any other material that one may wish to disperse over a
surface, such as a substantially vertical
surface, by adhering to the wet medium. By roller we mean any type of roller
that may be used to press the aggregate
against or direct it to a surface, such as a substantially vertical surface.
2
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-06-22
[0011] There is disclosed herein adherence of aggregate to both thick and
thin coats of wet mediums which widens
the variety of mediums that can be used and facilitates the process. For
example, the techniques can be used with paints
and varnishes which is not possible for standard pebble dashing.
[0012] Referring to the drawings, FIGs. 1-5 show an example aggregate
applicator 10, including a media container 2,
an applicator roller 4, mounting brackets 6, a roller axle 7, and a handle 8,
provided in accordance with an embodiment
of the present application. FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of the example
aggregate applicator. FIG. 2 is a front
perspective view of the example aggregate applicator. FIG. 3 is a top view of
the example aggregate applicator. FIG. 4 is
a side view of the example aggregate applicator. FIG. 5 is a front view of the
example aggregate applicator.
[0013] All dimensions shown in the drawing are exemplary, and any
adaptation of those dimensions in view of the
present disclosure is contemplated to be within the scope of the present
application.
[0014] The media container 2 is delimited by a rectangular bottom surface,
a rectangular back surface, and a pair of
triangular side surfaces defining a tapered side profile extending form a back
end of the media container to a front edge
of the media container 2. The back, side, and bottom surfaces of the media
container 2 are substantially at perpendicular
angles to each other thereby defining a wedge shaped region for receiving
media, such as for example, aggregate.
[0015] The applicator roller 4 is of a tubular shape, with circular ends,
having a length that coincides substantially
with the length of the front edge of the media container 2.
[0016] The applicator roller 4 attached to the media container 2 by the
pair of mounting brackets 6 and an axle 7
going through the centre of the applicator roller 4 at its ends as well as the
ends of each mounting bracket 6 so that the
applicator roller 4 sits with its axle 7 substantially below the front edge of
the media container 2.
[0017] The assembly including the media container 2, the applicator roller
4, mounting brackets 6, and axle 7 results
in a structure which, when placed on a horizontal surface, at a level
position, the bottom is slopped towards the back so
that any media put therein would slide towards the back and not fall off the
front edge. This level position is ideal for
adding media to the media container 2.
[0018] A handle 8 is attached to the media container 2 so that by
manipulating the handle, the assembly can be
selectively moved between the level position, to a backwards sloped position,
or a forwards sloped position. In all of
these positions, the back and sides prevent any media that is put into the
media container 2 from flowing out the bottom,
back, or sides. While in the inclined forwards position, the tapered profile
facilitates media to flow out the front edge of
the media container to fall onto the applicator roller 4.
3
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-06-22
[0019] Although not expressly shown in the drawing, in alternative
embodiments a set of two or more applicator
rollers 4 are used, as well as a set of two or more aggregate containers 2.
The handle 8 can be of a different shape or
there can be two or more handles or no handle at all. The media container 2
may be made of another shape provided that
the media can be fed in a more or less continuous manner to ensure its
dispersion. The aggregate applicator 10 may have
a different type of fixture that holds the applicator roller 4 and the media
container 2 together including but not limited
to another type of mounting brackets 6, axle 7, springs, hinges, pistons,
cylinders, wire, rope hangers, or clamps, or the
like, provided the applicator roller 4 and the media container 2 comprise one
single assembly and the media, such as
aggregate,. is fed to the applicator roller 4 from above. The applicator
roller 4 may be covered with a material, such as
non stick material like parchment paper, TeflonTm sheet, latex sheet, etc. to
prevent media, such as aggregate from
sticking to it.
[0020] Referring now to FIGs. 6-10, FIGs. 6-10 illustrate a method of use
of the aggregate applicator of FIGs. 1-5,
provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present application. FIG. 6
is an example flowchart of a method of
use of an aggregate applicator. FIG. 7 is a side view of the example aggregate
applicator in a level position at the base
of a wall. FIG. 8 is a side view of the example aggregate applicator in a
forward inclined position at the base of the wall.
FIG. 9 is a side view of the example aggregate applicator in a forward
inclined position midway up the wall. FIG. 10 is a
side view of the example aggregate applicator in a forward inclined position
at the top of the wall.
[0021] An example method of use flowchart 11 of the aggregate applicator
10 includes a first step 12, a second step
14, an optional third step 16, a fourth step 18 and an optional fifth step 20.
At the first step 12, the act of covering a
surface, such as a wall, with one or two generously applied under coats of wet
medium takes place. FIG. 7 shows a wall
22 with a an undercoat of a wet medium 24. At the second step 14, the act of
using the aggregate applicator to apply dry
aggregate to the undercoat covered area ensues. The black arrows in FIGS. 7-10
show the motions that the aggregate
applicator 10 takes to cover the undercoat covered area 24 of the wall 22 with
the result that aggregate 26 becomes fixed
28 to the undercoat covered area 24 of the wall 22. At the optional third step
16, the act of optionally repeating the
previous step to ensure substantially equal dispersion of the aggregate over
the covered area, for example two or three
runs with the aggregate applicator, optionally ensues. At the fourth step 18,
the act of waiting for the wet medium to dry,
for example completely according to its manufacturer's recommendations,
ensues. At the optional step 20, the optional
act of covering the surface, for example the wall, with a top coat of a
covering medium, for example paint or a clear
varnish, optionally ensues in order to further fix the aggregate in place.
4
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-06-22
[0022] In a preferred embodiment, the dry aggregate shall be applied as
soon as possible after covering the wall with
a wet medium. If the medium starts to dry it may impair the adhesion of the
aggregate. The aggregate shall be
completely dry otherwise it may not adhere well to the wet medium. If
different types of aggregate are applied the
aggregate with bigger particles shall be applied first. For example, gravel
may not adhere well to the wall that has been
previously covered with sand.
[0023] Another example is using a pre-painted aggregate mixture. The
mixture is made of two or more parts where
some of the parts are coloured in different shades of one colour. For example,
one part is coloured in dark green, one
part is coloured in light green, one part is coloured in medium green. A paint
of a colour close to medium green may be
used as wet medium under coat for application of the pre-painted aggregate
mixture. Thus particles of different shades
of green on a medium green background may give an aesthetically pleasant
finish to a wall.
[0024] In alternative embodiments, it is contemplated that an applicator
roller 4 can be provided with surfaces or
rolls that are suitable to apply each of three kinds of aggregating media used
by the method, including the undercoat
media, the aggregate media, and the overcoat media, thereby enabling a user to
reuse the media container 2 of the
aggregate applicator 10 to dispense the different forms of aggregating media
using the corresponding applicator roller 4.
[0025] The above-described embodiments of the present invention are
intended to be examples only. Those of skill
in the art may effect alterations, modifications and variations to the
particular embodiments without departing from the
scope of the application, which is set forth in the claims.
5
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-06-22
