Building material for forming an architectural surface covering and method for producing the same

Abstract

A building material for use in forming exterior surface coverings. According to a preferred embodiment, the building material consists of the combination of a paper material, bonding agent, and water. The building material can either be formed directly upon a substrate, such as a wall or ceiling, or otherwise formed as a sheet of material or molding that can thereafter be affixed to a given surface or substrate. The building materials can be customized to have a specific type of color, shape and texture, and can further be utilized in a wide variety of building applications.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application is a continuation of Utility patent application Ser. No. 10 / 855,846 entitled BUILDING MATERIAL FOR FORMING AN ARCHITECTURAL SURFACE COVERING AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE SAME filed on May 27, 2004.STATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH / DEVELOPMENT[0002]Not ApplicableBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]A wide variety of materials and techniques are known in the art for forming architectural structures to have a desired appearance, color and configuration. In this regard, materials such as stone, laminates, synthetic materials such as Corian, a registered trademark of DuPont, Inc., and a wide variety of hard woods can be deployed in countless configurations, styles and colors to impart a desired appearance. Moreover, with respect to drywall, the same can be modified to have a texturized appearance, as well as painted and / or covered in wall paper to achieve a desired appearance. Moreover, moldings, which are typicall...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015]It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a building material that is operative to provide an architectural surface covering that is of simple formulation, durable, and capable of being utilized in a wide variety of applications.

[0016]It is another object of the present invention to provide a building material that can be customized to have a specific type of appearance, and in particular a specific type of color, shape and texture.

[0017]It is a further object of the present invention to provide a building material that can be readily made using known materials, is not labor intensive to fabricate, and can be easily repaired as compared to other types of building materials such as stone or wood.

Problems solved by technology

Notwithstanding the virtually countless options available with the aforementioned materials, several drawbacks are associated with virtually all types of such building materials that make the use thereof either impractical, cost prohibitive, difficult to construct or fabricate and / or maintain.

For example, the use of stone, such as granite or marble, requires precise fabrication and further, due to weight constraints, can only be utilized in certain applications.

Moreover, once in place, such stone fixtures are essentially permanent and thus can pose a substantial impediment when it becomes necessary to access certain structures, such as plumbing and the like.

It is likewise difficult to utilize stone to cover large surface areas insofar as stone is typically provided in slabs of limited surface area.

The use of such stone materials are further problematic insofar as the same are prone to become irreparably damaged to the extent the stone material ever becomes cracked or chipped.

These same drawbacks further apply to the use of wood.

Wood can also become irreparably damaged, as can occur upon impact or when too much structural stress is applied thereto.

Wood is often times limited, too, in its application due to a limited variety of wood types that are available to architects, designers, contractors and the like.

While dyes and lacquers can be utilized to impart a desired color to wood, wood often times is ill suited for use to impart a desired texture to a large surface area, such as a wall, as opposed to limited accents such as moldings.

The other aforementioned materials and techniques, such as paint, the application of texturizing agents, such as orange peel for use on drywall, or the application of wall paper, are often times considered ill suited for use in certain applications.

In this regard, texturizing agents are often times difficult to deploy and only impart a limited degree of texture to a given drywall surface.

The use of paint, too, is limited in certain application insofar as the same can only impart a relative degree of sheen or gloss to the painted surface and not any type of texture.

Moreover, to the extent multiple colors are utilized to paint a particular surface requires meticulous painting techniques that are time consuming and labor intensive.

The use of wall paper also, has similar drawbacks insofar as the same is labor intensive to deploy, can be exceedingly difficult to repair if damaged, and is virtually impossible to customize insofar as virtually all types of wall paper are prefabricated and selections must be made amongst stock inventory.

In addition to the foregoing drawbacks, most building materials and building techniques are incapable or otherwise ill-suited for use in multiple architectural applications.

In this regard, materials that are well suited for use in constructing and decorating walls and ceilings are ill-suited for use in forming counter tops and flooring.

Additional problems occur to the extent building materials are sought to be utilized in both plumbing and non-plumbing applications.

Specifically, materials that are well-suited for use in sinks, bathtubs and showers, such as stone or tile, are impractically suited for other applications, such as cabinetry.

While certain synthetic materials, such as laminates and polymer-based counter tops such as Corian, discussed above, can be utilized in multiple applications, the same typically cannot be fabricated to have a customized appearance and typically must be chosen amongst stock product lines.

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