DECORATIVE COVING

Abstract: The invention relates to coving having a decorative surface. A decorative coving comprises in combination a length of plain coving member (10) formed of plaster or other mineral based material or expanded plastics material, the plain coving member (10) having means (15) to receive a length of a narrower member (17) carrying decoration (18) on its surface.

Description: DECORATIVE COVING This invention relates to coving and particularly to coving having a decorative surface It is well known to conceal the joint between a ceiling and a wall by coving which is provided in lengths, usually having a concave curved exterior surface, and which is adhered or otherwise attached to the wall and ceiling so as to cover the joint between them The coving may be plain, i e undecorated, and is conventionally formed in lengths of expanded polystyrene or gypsum plaster, the latter usually being enclosed in a card or paper carrier Decorative coving, known as cornice, is also known and is usually produced in fibre-reinforced solid plaster, timber or expanded polyurethane to have three- dimensional surface decoration, well known varieties being Egg and Dart, Dentil, Acanthus Leaf etc Plain coving, generally manufactured by extrusion, or continuous forming, clearly, is much cheaper to produce than decorative coving and the price differential may be as much as between 5 and 10 times It is an object of the present invention aims to provide high quality decorative coving of reduced cost and which can be easily and readily installed It is also an object of the invention to provide the basic elements of decorative coving in long lengths while reducing or eliminating the problems associated with long lengths of some currently available products, e g heavy weight, tendencies to bend in manufacture and transit and breakages in transit and during installation Accordingly in one aspect the invention provides a decorative coving comprising in combination a length of plain coving member formed of plaster or other mineral based material or expanded plastics material, the coving member having means to receive a length of a narrower member carrying decoration on its surface The narrower member is preferably a moulding, hereafter a decorative moulding, and the invention will be more specifically descπbed below with reference to that embodiment The plain coving member is preferably plaster-based and as such will normally be faced in the conventional manner with card or paper Thus the plain coving member may be formed at high speed by conventional manufacturing means for traditional plain plaster coving, i e continuously and/or in long lengths By 'plain coving' it will be appreciated that it is meant to include coving having profiling which extends essentially in the longitudinal direction only since such profiling can readily be imparted during the manufacturing process, e g by extrusion Decorative coving, on the other hand, may require profiling in both the transverse and longitudinal direction of the coving Hence, it does not lend itself to high speed continuous production in long lengths and must be formed in shorter lengths by more expensive moulding techniques Conventionally, therefore, the production of decorative coving has been limited by the constraints of manufacturing technique for the required multi-directional profiling Thus a solid conventional plaster cornice is normally made by casting in a rubber mould of predetermined and relatively short length, fibrous plaster or glass fibre products may be laid up in individual moulds and solid wood products hand-carved or routed or pressed by machine Such products are, therefore, expensive, of relatively short length and are more likely to suffer from production defects, each unit being in effect a 'one off' production The present invention enables the production techniques of the plain coving to be maximised and combined with a decorative product whose cost is minimised by being only a proportion of the overall product For example, in a typical product of the invention, the decorative portion may represent as little as 20% or less of the visible surface of the product with the plain coving providing the rest Thus the manufacture of the relatively inexpensive part of the product is in effect separated from the relatively expensive part to obtain the desired advantages of both at optimal cost The decorative narrower length of moulding may be made, for example, of wood, medium density fibreboard (mdf), fibre-reinforced plaster or of plastics material, e g polyurethane It may have the decoration integrally formed as a relief pattern during the moulding of the length or it could be applied afterwards, e g by carving routing or pressing The means to receive the length of decorative moulding on the plain coving may be any convenient means but a longitudinally-extending slot or channel in the plain coving is preferred The plain coving may be formed and installed by conventional means and the decorative moulding may then be slotted into the already fitted plain coving Alternatively the lengths of both members, having been cut to the desired length for the room in question, may be fitted together and the combined product then adhered in place However, it may be preferred to position the decorative moulding to cover or stagger joints in the already installed plain coving It will also be appreciated that the plain coving and decorative mouldings can be made in different lengths, e g the plain coving may be cut to length of 2 to 5 metres while the decorative moulding may be moulded to any convenient length, e g 1 m By limiting the decorative mouldings to length of, say 1 m, they can be readily produced regardless of material and manufacturing technique used They are not too heavy, have a reduced tendency to bend and a reduced tendency to break during transport or installation The coving may be painted, as is conventional, to match the decor of the room and if desired, the decorative relief pattern may be painted or stained to contrast with the plain coving The invention allows decorative coving of reduced cost to be produced, distributed and installed in a manner much the same as in conventional mass market plain coving Thus the invention advantageously provides a convenient and relatively inexpensive means of providing a room with decorative coving or cornice It also provides a flexible means of offering a larger range of combinations of plain and decorative covings from a small range of the individual plain and decorative mouldings For example, standard lengths, e g of 2 to 5 metres of plain coving may be provided in, say, two widths, e g 110 mm and 150 mm and the decorative moulding of length depending on the material used and method of manufacture, may be provided in a number of decorative pattern options, but all of a shape to mate with the plain coving Accordingly in another aspect the invention provides a set of covings comprising lengths of plain coving member of at least two different widths, each plain coving member being formed of plaster or other mineral based material or expanded plastics material and having means to receive a length of a narrower member carrying decoration on its surface, and lengths of said narrower member The set may contain lengths of said narrower member of different surface pattems The invention also provides a set of covings comprising lengths of plain coving member of the same width, each plain coving member being formed of plaster or other mineral based material or expanded plastics material and having means to receive a length of a narrower member carrying decoration on its surface, and lengths of said narrower member of different surface decoration As indicated above, by 'plain coving' herein, is meant coving substantially free of surface decoration or profiling except for any longitudinal profiling, e g as associated with the means to receive the decorative moulding or any profiling along or adjacent the edges of the length, to assist attachment to walls and ceilings By 'width' of the coving is meant the transverse dimensions between the two longitudinal edges of the length The invention will now be further described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a transverse section of coving and moulding of the invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view showing a length of decorative moulding being fitted to a length of plain coving, and Figure 3 is a similar view to Figure 2 showing the coving lengths fitted together In the drawings a length of plain plaster coving 10 is attached to a wall 11 and ceiling 12 to cover the joint 13 between them Plain coving 10 has a concave exterior surface 14 and carries no transverse relief patterning It is formed, however, to have a stepped recess or channel 15 The coving will normally be fixed using conventional adhesive to the wall at 19 and the ceiling at 20 Additionally the coving may be 'nailed' at 16 A length of moulded decorative coving 17 carries a relief decorative pattern 18 on one surface Length 17 has a cross-sectional shape corresponding to the stepped recess or channel 15 of coving 10 Length 17 may be held in place in channel 15 of coving 10 by friction fit, or may be glued at surfaces 21 and 22 When locked together by this means, a decorative coving having a plain concave surface portion and a decorative surface portion is provided The invention is not limited to the embodiment shown The means to receive the length of decorative moulding may be a projection rather than a slot or recess in the plain coving A series of intermittent slots and tongues, rather than continuous slots and tongues, may be used Joints between the lengths of the decorative moulding may be 'filled', if necessary, using conventional filler after fixing The decoration on the length of narrower member may be surface decoration in the form of, for example, the wood grain effect of a plain strip of wood, i e it is not essential to have profiling in both the transverse and longitudinal directions in order to obtain the visually distinct, separate lengths used in the present invention

Claims: CLAIMS 1 A decorative coving comprising in combination a length of plain coving member (10) formed of plaster or other mineral based material or expanded plastics material, the plain coving member having means (15) to receive a length of a narrower member (17) carrying decoration (18) on its surface 2 A decorative coving according to Claim 1 , in which the length of narrower member (17) is made of wood, medium density fibreboard, fibre-reinforced plaster or of plastics material 3 A decorative coving according to Claim 1 or 2, in which the length of narrower member (17) is a moulding 4 A decorative coving according to Claim 3, in which the surface decoration (18) is integrally-formed as a relief pattern during the moulding of the length of narrower member (17) 5 A decorative coving according to Claim 1 , 2 or 3, in which the surface decoration (18) of the length of narrower member (17) has been applied by carving, routing or pressing 6 A decorative coving according to Claim 2, in which the length of a narrower member (17) is a strip of wood and the surface decoration (18) is the wood grain appearance of the surface of the strip of wood 7 A decorative coving according to any preceding claim, in which the plain coving member (10) is plaster-based and is faced with card or paper 8 A decorative coving according to any preceding claim, in which the member (17) carrying decoration (18) on its surface represents 20% or less of the visible surface of the decorative coving 9 A decorative coving according to any preceding claim, in which the means (15) to receive the length of a narrower member is a longitudinally-extending slot or channel (15) in the plain coving member (10) 10 A decorative coving according to any one of Claims 1 to 8, in which the means (15) to receive the length of a narrower member (17) is a series of intermittent slots and tongues 11 A set of covings comprising lengths of plain coving member (10) of at least two different widths, each plain coving member (10) being formed of plaster or other mineral based material or expanded plastics material and having means (15) to receive a length of a narrower member (17) carrying decoration (18) on its surface, and lengths of said narrower member (17) 12 A set of covings comprising lengths of plain coving member (10) of the same width, each plain coving member (10) being formed of plaster or other mineral based material or expanded plastics material and having means (15) to receive a length of a narrower member (17) carrying decoration (18) on its surface, and lengths (17) of said narrower member of different surface decoration (18) 13 A set of covings according to Claim 11 , in which there are lengths of narrower member (17) of different surface decoration (18) 14 A set of covings according to Claim 12 or 13, in which the lengths of narrower member are (17) mouldings 15 A set of covings according to any one of Claims 11 to 14, in which the plain coving member (10) is plaster-based and is faced with card or paper 16 A set of covings according to any one of Claims 11 to 15, in which the means (15) to receive the length of narrower member (17) is a longitudinally- extending slot or channel (15) in the plain coving member (10)

Inventors: AIKEN STUART CHARLES, AIKEN, STUART, CHARLES
Applicants: AIKEN STUART CHARLES, AIKEN, STUART, CHARLES
Application year: 1996
Main classification: E04F19
IPC codes: E04F19