Patent Publication Number: US-2007122612-A1

Title: Paint swatch

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/741,134, filed Nov. 30, 2005, entitled “Paint Swatch,” the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD  
      Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of paint and related products, and in particular to methods and apparatuses for facilitating a user in choosing paint or similar products.  
     BACKGROUND  
      Current techniques for sampling paint and paint colors generally involve using colored chips or cards. Such colored chips are generally small and do not comprise the actual paint being considered. Thus, it is difficult for a user to evaluate characteristics of a prospective paint, such as color, texture and sheen, using such colored chips or cards. Other current techniques for sampling paint include brushing a small sample of paint on the target location. Such techniques, however, are generally inconvenient and often wasteful. Accordingly, a need exists for an improved way of facilitating a user in choosing paint and paint colors. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      Embodiments of the present invention will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitate this description, like reference numerals designate like structural elements. Embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.  
       FIG. 1  is a simplified diagram illustrating a swatch in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION  
      In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and in which is shown by way of illustration embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of embodiments in accordance with the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.  
      The description may use perspective-based descriptions such as up/down, back/front, and top/bottom Such descriptions are merely used to facilitate the discussion and are not intended to restrict the application of embodiments of the present invention.  
      For the purposes of the description, a phrase in the form “A/B” means A or B. For the purposes of the description, a phrase in the form “A and/or B” means “(A), (B), or (A and B)”. For the purposes of the description, a phrase in the form “at least one of A, B, and C” means “(A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B and C)”. For the purposes of the description, a phrase in the form “(A)B” means “(B) or (AB)” that is, A is an optional element.  
      The description may use the phrases “in an embodiment,” or “in embodiments,” which may each refer to one or more of the same or different embodiments. Furthermore, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like, as used with respect to embodiments of the present invention, are synonymous.  
      In various embodiments of the invention, a method and apparatus for sampling paint is provided. More specifically, in an embodiment of the present invention, a method and apparatus for sampling house paint is provided. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a repositionable swatch may be employed to facilitate a user in evaluating a paint sample on one or more target locations. In such an embodiment, the one or more target locations may, for example, be on walls, cabinets, floors, or pieces of furniture. In an embodiment of the present invention, the repositionable swatch may, for example, be coated with real paint, as opposed to being prints of color. In the following description, unless further particularized or otherwise noted, the term “swatch” is intended to refer broadly to any material used to represent or sample paint. In other embodiments, samples other than paint may be utilized, such as wallpaper.  
      In embodiments, the material used for a swatch substrate may be specifically selected to have or to mimic the characteristics of the surface on which the swatch is intended to be applied. For example, a swatch may be intended to be applied on a wall constructed of plaster or drywall, or a wooden surface such as a deck or porch. In such situations, a substrate may be selected to have the characteristics of the intended surface, for example, integrating an element of the wood grain if intended to be used on a wooden surface or the absorptive texture/surface of drywall if that is the intended surface. In an embodiment, a substrate material may be used having a texture substantially similar to stucco, concrete, wood, drywall, plaster, paper, glass, metal, or fabric.  
      In an embodiment of the present invention, a device for sampling paint may comprise a substrate (such as constructed from paper, canvas, plastic, cardboard, or poster board) having a first surface and a second surface, and an adhesive or other repositionable mounting means coupled to the second surface, wherein the first surface may be coated with a sample material. In an embodiment, a repositionable mounting means may be constructed from velcro or a fabric, which provides a mechanism for attachment to the fabric portions of furniture without damaging the upholstered fabric.  
      In an embodiment, a paper substrate may be utilized that resists buckling of the paper after the sample paint has been applied. Such paper may be specifically selected for such characteristics, in particular for having a particular internal strength and resistance to excessive absorption of solutions in the paint or sample.  
      Referring now to  FIG. 1 , wherein a simplified diagram illustrating various embodiments of the present invention is shown. As illustrated, substrate (or sheet)  102  may be provided. In various embodiments of the present invention, substrate  102  may have a first surface  104  and a second surface  106 . In an embodiment of the present invention, substrate  102  may comprise a flexible material, such that substrate  102  may be flexed or rolled without damaging the applied sample or the underlying substrate. In an embodiment, substrate  102  may comprise paper or canvas. In another embodiment of the present invention substrate  102  may comprise plastic. In an embodiment of the present invention, substrate  102  may comprise a rigid material. In such an embodiment, for example, substrate  102  may comprise cardboard or poster board.  
      In an exemplary embodiment of the preset invention, the length of substrate  102  may be about 6 or more inches. More specifically, in an embodiment of the present invention, the length of substrate  102  may be in a range of about 6 to 60 inches. In another embodiment, the width of substrate  102  may be about 6 or more inches. More specifically, in an embodiment of the present invention, the width of substrate  102  may be in a range of about 6 to 60 inches.  
      In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an oversized substrate may be provided that is sufficiently large to eliminate or reduce the negative optical effect of the surrounding surface on which the swatch is applied or against which the swatch is compared. Such an embodiment addresses the phenomenon that the size of the area that any color occupies determines the color effect and thus the color perception by an individual. Conventional swatches are small in size and encounter a dramatic color shift due to ambient light effects and color pollution (i.e., color bleeding) from the reflectivity of surrounding surfaces. Thus, an embodiment of the present invention provides a substrate having a surface area sufficient to achieve a true color characteristic of the substrate when a sample material is applied to the substrate and the substrate is coupled to a mounting surface. The term “mounting surface” refers to the surface on which the sample is being tested, for example a wall for which a paint color is being considered. The term “true color characteristic” refers to the perceived color of the sample material by an individual in various lighting conditions on a variety of surfaces, the perceived color being the intended color absent any or at least substantially reduced color pollution effect.  
      In such an embodiment, an oversized substrate may be approximately 22 inches wide by 27 inches long. In another embodiment, an oversized substrate may be approximately 60 inches wide by 60 inches long. In embodiments, an oversized substrate may have a surface area on one surface of greater than 600 square inches, for example approximately 600-700 square inches. Using an oversized substrate eliminates or reduces the color pollution effect as discussed above because the light (color) perceived by an individual is substantially a product of the light reflected from the sample on the substrate as opposed to substantially impacted by the color of the surrounding surface(s).  
      Thus, in an embodiment there is provided an oversized, repositionable paint swatch comprising a substrate having a first surface and a second surface, the first surface having a surface area sufficient to achieve a true color characteristic of a sample material when the sample material is applied to the first surface and the substrate is coupled to a mounting surface, a sample material applied to the first surface, and a repositionable mounting means disposed on the second surface and adapted to repositionably couple the substrate to the mounting surface.  
      In various embodiments of the present invention, a sample material  108  may be applied to first surface  104 . In an embodiment of the present invention, sample material  108  may comprise paint. In such an embodiment, sample material  108  may comprise latex paint or water-based lacquer paint. For example, sample material  108  may comprise a sample of the actual paint that a user may be considering applying to a target surface. In an embodiment of the present invention, sample material  108  may comprise a paint having a color that a user may be considering for a target surface. In embodiments, a target surface may be a wall, a piece of furniture, a cabinet, a floor, etc.  
      In an embodiment of the present invention, an adhesive  110  may be attached to second surface  106 . In various embodiments of the present invention, adhesive  110  may comprise adhesive tape. In another embodiment, adhesive  110  may comprise glue. In an embodiment of the present invention, adhesive  110  may cover substantially all of second surface  106 . In another embodiment, adhesive  110  may comprise one or more strips of adhesive material. In another embodiment, adhesive  110  may comprise one or more spots of adhesive material. In another embodiment of the present invention, adhesive  110  may be sprayed on to second surface  106 . In an embodiment, the entire surface on which an adhesive is applied may be coated with an adhesive to provide a substrate that may be pressed flat against a desired mounting surface. In various embodiments, a release paper or release liner may be present on the adhesive, which may then be removed prior to use and replaced on the adhesive portion after use, if desired.  
      In an embodiment of the present invention, adhesive  110  may be adapted to allow a user to affix substrate  102  to one or more sample locations. In various embodiments of the present invention, the one or more sample locations may be located on one or more walls, pieces of furniture, or cabinets. In various embodiments of the present invention, the one or more sample locations may be located on one or more surfaces that the user may be considering painting.  
      In various embodiments of the present invention, adhesive  110  may be reusable. In an embodiment of the present invention, adhesive  110  may be adapted to allow a user to affix sheet  102  to a first sample location and then detach sheet  102  from the first sample location and affix sheet  102  to one or more additional sample locations. Thus, in an embodiment of the present invention, adhesive  110  may assist a user in evaluating the desirability of certain paints at one or more locations by allowing the user to reposition sheet  102  one or more times without damaging the underlying target surface.  
      Although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for purposes of description of the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention. Those with skill in the art will readily appreciate that embodiments in accordance with the present invention may be implemented in a very wide variety of ways. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein.