Stone laminated structure and method for its construction

Abstract

The present invention relates to a laminated vertical structure. One embodiment includes a structure having a substantially vertical wall surface. A solid surface material sheet is provided that has a stone content of at least 90%, an area of at least four square feet, and an approximate thickness of between ¼ inch and ⅗ inch. In one embodiment, the thickness is approximately ⅜ inch. An adhesive material contacts the sheet and the wall surface to fix them together. In another embodiment, a method of constructing a laminated vertical structure includes providing a structure with a substantially vertical wall surface and a solid surface material sheet with a stone content of at least 90%, an area of at least four square feet, and an approximate thickness of between ¼ inch and ⅗ inch. An adhesive material is then applied onto the wall surface in a substantially uniform distribution. The sheet is then pressed onto the applied adhesive material for an amount of time sufficient to fix the sheet to the wall surface.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE [0001] The appearance of a solid stone vertical wall, such as one made of marble or granite, has long been a symbol of beauty, prestige and permanence. Constructing a stone wall, however, can be prohibitively expensive and time consuming, requiring transportation and handling of heavy and costly stones with complicated and error-prone installation procedures. [0002] Several prior art systems have attempted to lower the expense of a solid stone wall by cladding a layer of stone onto a vertical surface of a wall using mechanical anchors. Such systems are discussed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,765,122, 5,363,620, 5,634,305, and 6,289,647 B1. In these systems, various elaborate mechanical anchors are used to connect thick and heavy stone sheets to a wall. Because of the weight of the stone sheets and the intricacies of the various mechanical anchors, however, these systems are both expensive and complicated to construct. They may also damage materials b...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Constructing a stone wall, however, can be prohibitively expensive and time consuming, requiring transportation and handling of heavy and costly stones with complicated and error-prone installation procedures.

Because of the weight of the stone sheets and the intricacies of the various mechanical anchors, however, these systems are both expensive and complicated to construct.

They may also damage materials below them, due to their weight, rendering such stone cladding unfeasible above, for example, many bathtubs, shower pans and the like.

Although these systems can avoid the necessity of mechanical anchors because the sheets have a much lower weight, they can appear cheap and lack much of the aesthetic and symbolic appeal of real stone.

Because these systems require bonding the stone to or formulating the stone on a horizontal backing before transport or installation, they can also be costly, complicated and time consuming.

The small area of each tile, however, requires a time consuming process of applying many small tiles individually and does not have the aesthetic appeal of a solid stone wall.

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