US2288559A - Method of molding ornamental panels - Google Patents

Description

June 3o, 1942. A* N, WARD 2,288,559

METHOD OF MOLDING ORNAMENTAL PANELS Filed May 21, 1940 fig! INVENTOR.

Patented June 30, 1942 METHOD F MOLDING OBNAMENTAL I PANELS Albert Neal Ward, Portland, Maine Application May 21, 1940, Serial No. 336,480

`2 Claims.

My invention relates broadly to ornamentation, and more particularly to the creation of decorative designs in plaster and similar plastic materials and the production of ornamental panels having surface designs of infinite variety.

Itis well known that plaster hasin late years replaced wood in building construction not only for wall surfaces but also in numerous fittings,

such as doors, baseboards, shelves,` brackets, re# place mantels, caps for pilasters, columns, draft rails for theaters and standing finish.l Being semi-fireproof and` resistant to the elements, plaster is favored as a finishing material, and it is desirable to further its use therefor to provide a simple, economical and rapid method for ornamenting the surface of the plaster. The use of molds to accomplish such ornamentation re- `quires care in the execution of the work which involves not only special skill on the part of the workman but also the expenditure of substantial ,time in the production of each unit.

Onevof the objects of my invention `is to pro- Figure 1 is a plan view of a plain box mold provided with a sheet of material of a character to be defined, ready to receive the semi-fluid plastic material in accordance with the practice vide a method of ornamentation, more particularly in plaster; which is simple and economical in its execution, requires no special skill, and results in the vproduction of aninnite variety of designs wholly without. special dies or molds.

'Another object of my invention is to provide "a" method of producing an ornamental placque,

the surface of whichv bears a variegated design especially` adaptable for use in standing finish, panels and doors,r as an improvement over the flat finish usually provided.

A 'further object of my invention is to provide a method for ornamentation in plaster and like materials which are initially in a semi-'fluid state, becoming hard and solid through the action of natural forces over a short period of time; the method of my invention utilizes an element i of a material that is acted upon by the plastic material while inr thesemi-iiuid state to `eiect a distortion or 'deformation' thereof, which distortionswortdeformations constitute the design the surface of the hardened, solid mass.

Still another object of my invention is to provide apparatus for practicing the method of my invention, which includes particularly an element of such composition as to be acted upon by a mass of semi-1iuid plastic material in order to provide a unique ornamentation of the material during the period of hardening.

Other and further objects of my invention reside in the methods and apparatus hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

of my invention in one embodiment; Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 2-2 in Figure l, and indicating the introduction of the plastic material into the box mold; Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, showing the plastic material after hardening; Figure 4 is a plan view of the hardened material removed from the box mold with the design-producing sheet thereon; Figure 5 is a, vertical sectional view taken on line 5-5 in Figure 4; Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4 with the sheet removed to reveal the ornamented surface; and Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view' taken onv line 'lhl in Figure 6. Figure 8 is a plan view of a mold showing the sheet 4 under tension prior to applying the plastic material. Figure 9 is a longitudinal cross section of Figure 8.

The drawing illustrates-my invention in reference to the production of a piacque or panel such as may be applied as a unit to a frame structure by any suitable means, as by nails or screws through holes which may be provided,

'by an adhesive binder such as shellac, varnish or glue, or by a fresh plaster or cement spread on the surface to be finished, as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

1 Referring to the drawing in more detail, reference character I, Figures 1-3, indicates a box `wa`y of example, the introduction of a semi- "fluid plastic material 5 into the mold I by pouring from a containerat 16. Figure 2`especially shows that as the plastic material is rst introduced into the mold, the sheet 4 is substantially smooth and without surface configurations such as would produce a design of predetermined character in the material. In Figure 3, the material 5 is shown after hardening in the mold I, with the sheet 4 crinkled, distorted and other-y wise deformed, such action having taken place during the hardening of the material 5.

The panel is then removed from the mold, with the sheet 4 adhering thereto, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, after which the sheet 4 is removed to reveal the ornamented surface of the panel. The finished unit is represented in Figures 6 and '1.

In the practice of my invention, I employ in the sheet 4 a composition which will be acted upon by the semi-fluid plastic material in such manner as to produce a crinkling, puckering or like change in the sheet which will result in a unique surface design in the panel. Using a standard commercial grade of molding plaster, mixed with water to about the consistency of a thick soup, I have obtained novel, unique and attractive designs through the medium of a commercial waxed paper found upon examination to be a bleached sulphite paper, coated or impregnated with amineral, animal or vegetable wax. It is not considered essential that the paper be bleached, or of a particularly high grade, nor of the composition described. Any sheet material which will react as described under the influence of the semi-fluid plastic material during the period of hardening may be employed in accordance with my invention to producenovel, unique' and decorative designs for panels in accordance with the embodiment of my invention disclosed.

Furthermore, I regard it as within the scope of my invention to employ any element of whatever form that will undergo variation in shape or contour under the iniluence of the semi-plastic being worked. Thus, I may employ strips of material, threads or cords, images of objects which upon distortion result in caricature effects, and similar different elements to produce ornamentation in accordance with my invention.

The method of my invention also may be modiiied to produce designs on opposite sides of a panel at the same time by providing a. sheet of the changeable material on the top as well as on the bottom of the semi-fluid plastic mass with a backing element or means corresponding to the base 2 over the sheet on the top, in order that the variations in form which the top sheet undergoes vmay be impressed in the top surface of the plastic material. Also, further novel'eects may be produced if the sheet of material is maintained under tension along one line so that the crinkling will take place in substantially parallel lines, in the direction of the tension applied.

The decorative results so far described have been considered as produced in what otherwise would be a plain surface, corresponding to the surface of the base 2 of the box mold I. As a further modification of the method of my invention, the base 2 may have a design of special larly striking advantages oi the method of ornamentation of my invention lies in the fact that the designs produced are different in each instance, the deformations which the design-producing element undergoes being unpredeterminable. In general, the design-producing element will be used but once; in the case of a paper or similar fragile material, the element will ordinarily be destroyed in its removal from the hardened plastic mass. In some circumstances the same element may be reused, but in no such case will an identical result be achieved as the element undergoes additional deformations both in its removal from the first unit and in the production of the second. Thus it is apparent that an in-y finite variety of designs are possible through the practice of the method of ornamentation and with the apparatus of my invention.

Panels or other surfaces ornamented in accordance with my invention may be used as produced, or the surface may be painted or colored as desired for further decorative effects, or for preservation, without destroying the ornamentation produced which will be evident through any such surface coating as may be employed.

Thus while I have disclosed my invention in a preferred embodiment and certain modifications thereof, I desire it understood that further modications may be made, both in the practice of my invention and in the apparatus employed, and that no limitations upon my invention are intended except as may be imposed by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is as follows:

1. The method of producing a unique and ornamental surface in cementitious material which comprises placing on a rigid surface a substantially smooth sheet of relatively thin dry material which will crinkle or otherwise deform under the influence of a layer of semi-fluid, hardenable cementitious plastic material, tensioning said sheet along one dimension only thereof, applying a layer of hardenable, cementitious plastic material in semi-duid condition to the sheet, allowing the plastic material to harden while maintaining said tension, and removing the hardened material from the sheet.

2. The method of producing a unique and ornamental surface in cementitious material which comprises disposing a thin sheet of relatively dry,

deformable material which will crinkle or otherwise deform under the influence of a layer of semi-fluid, hardenable cementitious plastic material between a rigid surface and a layer of hardenable, cementitious, plastic material in semifluid condition, tensioning said sheet along one dimension only thereof, allowing the plastic material to harden while maintaining said tension and removing the rigid surface and sheet.

ALBERT N. WARD.

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