Template for matching any wallcovering pattern used to cover wall plates with the wallcovering pattern adjacent to said wall plates

A template to guide wallcovering applicators, be they professional or amateur, in the matching and cutting of any patterned wallcovering used to cover electrical switch and/or receptacle plates with the same patterned wallcovering applied to the wall contiguous to said wall plates.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 referring in detail to the drawings, this invention includes the transparent template 1 on which are the switch openings 2 , receptacle openings 3 , attachment openings 4 , cut-guideline openings 5 for conventional wall plate cover-wrapping, cut guideline curved slot openings 6 for custom wall plate inserts, and graphic outline guides 7 delineating the several switch and/or receptacle combinations included in this one template tool. FIG. 2 is an elevational view of this invention showing the template 1 mounted over a double switch 8 around which wallcovering 12 is applied to the wall, the template 1 attached to the switch 8 mechanism by means of temporary attachment fasteners 9 . Three pattern-key elements 11 of the surrounding wallcovering 12 are shown pencil-drawn in outline on the template 1 over the outline of the pattern-key figures on the wallcovering 12 thereunder.. FIG. 3 illustrates the template 1 with the pattern-key elements 11 of wallcovering identical to but remote from the wallcovering in FIG. 2 pencil-drawn on the template 1 , said template 1 temporarily taped over the pattern of the remote wallcovering 12 exactly matching that immediately surrounding the double switch openings 2 in the template, said openings shown astride the double switches illustrated in FIG. 2 . Wallcovering cut-key guideline openings 5 marking the four corners of the matching wallcovering to be cut to wrap a conventional wall plate are shown. For cutting a match-pattern insert for wall plates designed to enclose and shield that wallcovering insert, only the pencil-marking of the four curved cut-key corners 6 on the underlaying wallcovering 12 is necessary to accurately cut said match-patterned insert. FIG. 4 illustrates a double switch decor backer-plate 20 centered within the four curved cut-key corners 6 penciled on the patterned wallcovering 12 that the template which is the centerpiece of this invention has located on the remote rolled-out same-pattern wallcovering 12 . The pattern-matched insert thereunder 13 can now be cut in a variety of ways. A recommended method is scissor-cutting a two-inch-oversized piece of the wallcovering 12 in which the decor backer-plate 20 , taped to and centered in the four cut-key corners which exactly outline the corners of the desired pattern-matched insert 13 , is cut out of the rolled-out wallcovering 12 . Using a razor-point blade, with the decor backer-plate 20 as a template taped 14 over the pattern-matched insert 13 , and with an out-dated magazine as a cutting board, first cutting the two switch holes 2 . Finally, cutting the perimeter of the insert 13 , using the edge of the periphery of the decor backer-plate 20 as a guide, but cutting the wallcovering under the four strips of tape 14 one at a time, replacing each strip of tape 14 after the wallcovering under its position is cut when the remainder of the insert's 13 perimeter is cut. FIG. 5 illustrates the matched-pattern wallcovering insert 13 shielded in a wall plate assembly 22 , the pattern match of the insert 13 and the adjacent wallcovering 12 now being clear. FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of one quick-attachment type of fastener 9 temporarily securing the template 1 to a switch 8 and over the wallcovering 12 . The template 1 may also be temporarily attached to switches 8 and/or receptacles by means of the flathead screws that are included with the wall plate assembly 22 . Many modifications can be made in the exemplary structure described above without exceeding the scope of the present invention. The invention is applicable also to switches and receptacles of any configuration and the cover plates therefor by simply producing the tool of a different size and holes configuration. While a certain embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail herein and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention without departing from the material spirit thereof.