AU2012202707B2

AU2012202707B2 - Cornice Cover

Info

Publication number: AU2012202707B2
Application number: AU2012202707A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Gavin Duffie; Mark Stapleton
Original assignee: CORNICE SOLUTIONS AUST Pty Ltd
Current assignee: CORNICE SOLUTIONS (AUST) Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2005-01-06
Filing date: 2012-05-09
Publication date: 2012-11-08
Anticipated expiration: 2025-01-06
Also published as: AU2012202707A1; AU2005200030A1; NZ544370A

Abstract

Abstract A cover (10) for mounting over a join where a first cornice section meets a second cornice section. The cover is dimensioned to overlay a part of the first cornice section 5 and overlay a part of the second cornice section to thereby cover the join between the cornice sections. The cover is fabricated from a flexible material such that when the cover is mounted to the cornice sections, the cover remains attached to the cornice sections and continues to cover the join in the event that settling of the building occurs.

Description

1 CORNICE COVER Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cover used in conjunction with a 5 cornice. More specifically, the cover is intended for use in regions where two cornice sections on adjoining walls come together at a corner or where two cornice sections on a single wall come together at a join. Background to the Invention The interior rooms of buildings are frequently fitted out by lining the 10 ceiling frame and wall frame with plasterboard. In order to obtain an aesthetically pleasing appearance at the junction of the walls and ceiling, cornices are often used. Cornices typically comprise a curved, elongate member that has one side in abutment with the side wall and another side in abutment with the ceiling. The cornice is typically fitted by a plasterer or other skilled tradesman. The cornices are normally is glued to the side wall and ceiling to retain the cornices in place. Where adjoining walls meet in a corner, it is necessary to accurately cut the corner of the cornice to obtain a neat and tidy finish at the corner. Skilled tradesmen generally are capable of achieving such a neat and tidy finish. However, if the building settles with age or if there is movement in the building, there is a risk that 20 the corner join of the cornice may become separated, leading to unsightly gaps in the cornice. These gaps can be difficult and time consuming to fill. Moreover, the gaps can frequently open up again, even after filling, if settling of the building continues. Joins between cornice pieces can also occur at straight sections of the wall. In these cases, the join between the adjacent cornices is typically formed as a 25 butt join, with the join being filled with plaster in order to smooth out the join. Again, if settling occurs, the join between the straight sections of cornice could open to form an unsightly gap. Gaps may also occur if the joint between adjacent cornice pieces is not perfectly formed. These joints may appear if a corner is not perfectly formed or if the 30 join between adjacent straight cornice pieces on a wall is not perfectly formed.

2 Brief Description of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that will overcome or at least ameliorate one or more of the above disadvantages. In a first aspect, the present invention provides a method for covering a join of a cornice, where a first cornice section meets a second cornice section, the method comprising: providing a cover fabricated from an elastomeric material, the cover being dimensioned to overlay a part of the first cornice section and overlay a part of the second cornice section; and adhesively attaching the cover to the cornice sections, thereby covering the join between the corner sections such that the cover remains attached to the cornice sections and continues to cover the join in the event that settling of the building occurs. In a second aspect, the present invention provides a cover for use in a method as as described with reference to the first aspect of the present invention wherein the cover is for mounting at a corner to cover a cornice extending along adjoining side walls that meet at the corner, the cover having a first section and a second section, in use the first section adapted to overlay part of a cornice on one wall and the second section adapted to overlay part of the cornice on the adjoining wall such that the cover extends over the join between the cornices that is formed at the corner when the cover is mounted, the cover being fabricated from an elastomeric material. Preferably, the cover is fabricated from a an elastomeric material that is flexible and resilient. Suitably, the cover is for mounting at a corner to cover a cornice extending along adjoining side walls that meet at the corner, with the cover having a first section and a second section, in use the first section adapted to overlay part of a cornice on one wall and the second section adapted to overlay part of the cornice on the adjoining wall. In this embodiment, the cover will extend over the join between the cornices that is formed at the corner. The corner may be an internal corner or the corner may be an external corner. The corner may be of any angle, although it will be appreciated that the majority of building corners are at 900. Suitably, the cover is made as a single piece unit. Preferably, the cover is fabricated by a moulding process. Most suitably, the cover is fabricated by injection 3 moulding. The cover is preferably made from a shape stable material in that once the cover has been fabricated the material retains its fabricated shape but has sufficient flexibility to move with the underlying wall or cornice section to which it is attached. Preferably, the cover has an outer surface that has a generally similar appearance to the underlying cornice. However, it will be appreciated that the cover may have an outer surface that has a different appearance to the underlying cornice. Indeed, the cover may have an external surface that presents a decorative affect. Alternatively, the cover may have a plain external surface. It will be understood that the cover may be provided with any particular external appearance and still fall within the scope of the present invention. In embodiments where the cover is adapted to cover a join at a corner, the cover preferably has a first section and a second section extending at essentially 900 to the first section, the cover defining a corner along a line where the first and second sections of the cover meet. It will also be appreciated that the first and second sections may also extend at an angle other than 90* to each other. The cover preferably has a rear surface that follows the surface profile of the underlying cornice. This facilitates mounting of the cover to the cornice. The cover is preferably mounted to the cornice by use of a suitable adhesiv. The skilled person will readily know of a number of suitable adhesives that will be suitable for this purpose. The adhesive is suitably positioned between the rear surface of the cover and the underlying cornice sections. It would be appreciated that other methods of mounting the cover to the cornice may be used. For example, the cover may be affixed to the underlying corner sections by nails, screws or other fasteners, by use of plasterer's tape, by use of cement, and the like. Preferably, at least the external surface of the cover is compatible with paint so that the cover may be painted. Alternatively, the cover may be the same colour or a similar colour to the cornice and/or the ceiling. The cover preferably has a thickness of from 3mm to 20mm, more preferably 5mm to 15mm, even more preferably 5mm to 10mm. Preferably, the cover is mounted by use of a suitable adhesive. Suitably, the adhesive is placed between a rear surface of the cover and the underlying cornice sections. In a most preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cornice cover includes a further section that covers the join between a cornice section and the wall to which 4 it is attached, or the join between the cornice section and the ceiling to which it is attached. In this way, if there is any settling of the building that leads to a gap being formed between the cornice and wall or between the cornice and the ceiling, the cornice cover can cover that gap. The cover in accordance with the present invention is made from an elastomeric material. This is particularly advantageous because the cover can flex and remain affixed to the underlying cornice in the event that the building settles and the underlying cornice section moves relative to the adjacent cornice section or relative to the adjacent wall or ceiling. It will be appreciated that using a cornice cover made from a rigid material will simply result in the cornice cover also becoming separated from the underlying cornice, adjacent wall or adjacent ceiling in the event that settling of the building occurs after the cover has been mounted. Furthermore, in the experience of the present inventors, each corner in a building that has been provided with a cornice usually differs slightly in dimension from other corners made using the same cornice. Making the cover of the present invention from a flexible material or an elastomeric material allows the cover to be easily fitted to the corner joins, even if all of the corner joins are not perfect. Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 shows a front perspective view of a cover in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. The cover shown in Figure 1 is for use with external corners; Figure 2 shows a side view of the cover shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a rear elevation of the cover shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a front perspective view of a cover in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. The cover of Figure 4 is designed for use with internal corners; 5 Figure 5 shows a side view of a cover being applied to an external corner of a cornice; Figure 6 is a plan view showing covers in accordance with the present invention applied to an external corner and an internal corner; 5 Figure 7 is a side elevation showing a cover applied to a butt join between two cornices; and Figure 8 is a side view, in cross section, showing a cover applied to an internal corner. Detailed Description of the Drawings 10 It will be appreciated that the accompanying drawings have been provided for the purpose of illustrating preferred embodiments of the present invention. Thus, it will be understood that the present invention should not be considered to be limited to the features as shown in the drawings. Turning initially to Figures 1 to 3, the cover 10 includes a first section 15 12 and a second section 14. First section 12 and second section 14 adjoin along line 16. As best seen in Figure 2, the sections 12 and 14 have a profile that generally follows the profile of the underlying cornice to which the cover 10 is mounted. The cover 10 also includes an upper ledge 18. Upper ledge 18 has a top face 20 and a lower face 22. 20 The cover 10 further includes a lower lip 24 extending downwardly from the sections 12, 14. Lower lip 24 has a bottom surface 26. The cover 10 shown in Figures 1 to 3 is intended for use with external corners. The cover 30 shown in Figure 4 is intended for use with internal corners. The cover 30 includes a first section 32 and a second section 34 that meet at line 36. First 25 section 32 and second section 34 are generally perpendicular to each other. As with cover 10 shown in Figures 1 to 3, the first section 32 and second section 34 have a profile that generally follows the profile of the underlying cornice to which the cover 30 is mounted. The cover 30 also includes lip 37 that extends beyond the rear face of 30 first and second sections 32, 34 and rearwardly extending lip 38. The covers 10, 30 shown in Figures 1 to 4 are made from a material that has properties that allow the cover to hold its own shape and to have sufficiently 6 flexibility to enable the cover to flex if there is any movement in the underlying surfaces to which the cover is attached. In this manner, the cover will not become separated from the underlying surfaces if there is any movement in the underlying surfaces. Rather, the flexibility of the material from which the cover is made will 5 allow the cover to slightly deform whilst still remaining attached to the underlying surfaces. The cover is most preferably made from an elastomeric material. Such elastomeric material may include natural rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, thermoplastic rubber, silicone rubber, isoprene rubber, neoprene, nitrile rubber 10 methacrylate acrylic styrene, and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. Other elastomers may also be used. Other polymeric materials may also be used, Some examples include polyester block amides, polyethylene propylene polymers, flexible polyurethanes, and ethylene ethylacrylate polymers. The cover may also be made from other flexible materials. For 15 example, flexible plastic foams may be used, especially flexible closed cell plastic foams. Examples include ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) plastic foams, polyethylene plastic foams and polypropylene plastic foams. It will be appreciated that such foams should be fabricated such that they have sufficient flexibility to move with any movement in the underlying surface to which the cover is attached. 20 Figures 5 to 8 show covers in accordance with the present invention as attached to cornice structures. In Figure 5, a cover 10 as shown in Figures 1 to 3 is attached to a cornice. In Figure 5, a layer of plasterboard 40 is attached to ceiling support beams 42 in a conventional manner. The layer of plasterboard 40 forms the visible ceiling of the 25 room 44. A wall 46 has an upper edge positioned close to or abutting with the layer of plasterboard 40 at the ceiling. A cornice 48 is affixed to the ceiling 40 and wall 46 by use of a suitable adhesive in order to cover the join between the wall and ceiling. As shown in Figure 5, the cornice 48 has a downwardly extending face 50. Similarly, although not clearly shown in Figure 5, the cornice has an inwardly extending, 30 generally horizontal face 52 that spaces the outer surface of cornice 48 from the wall 46. Wall 46 meets an adjoining, perpendicularly oriented wall (not shown) at corner line 54. Similarly, cornice 48 meets an adjoining, perpendicularly oriented cornice at 7 join line 56. It will be appreciated that the cornice 48 is made from a first section of cornice and the adjoining cornice that meets cornice 48 at join line 56 is made from a second cornice section. Cornice 48 is attached to one wall and the associated ceiling. 5 The other cornice section is attached to another wall and its associated ceiling. If there is any differential movement between the two walls or between the walls and the ceiling, there is a risk that the cornices will separate along join line 56, with the result that an unsightly gap will be formed between the ends of the cornice sections. To hide the formation of any such unsightly gap, a cover 10, which is identical to the cover 10 10 shown in Figures 1 to 3, is fitted over the cornice sections and attached to the underlying cornice sections, ceiling walls by use of a suitable adhesive. As can be seen from Figure 5, the upper ledge 18 and the lower lip 24 of cover 10 act to cover face 50 and inwardly extending face 52 of the cornice. Similarly, the first section 12 (and second section 14) of the cornice cover 10 act to cover the underlying cornice 48. 15 As the cover 10 is made from a flexible or elastomeric material, if there is any differential movement between the cornice and walls or ceiling, the cover 10 can deform slightly to accommodate the movement in the underlying surfaces whilst still remaining attached to the underlying surfaces. In this fashion, even if gaps open up between the adjoining corner sections or between the corner sections and the wall 20 or the corner sections and the ceiling, the cover 10 will still remain attached to thereby hide those gaps. Figure 6 shows a plan view, partly in cross section and with the ceiling removed, of a wall 60 that divides one room 62 from another room 64. Wall 62 includes a corner 66, which is an internal corner. Room 64 includes an external corner 25 68. Room 62 has cornice sections 70, 72 that meet in corner 66. An internal cover 30, similar to that shown in Figure 4, is fitted over the corner sections and mounted to the underlying corner sections, underlying wall and underlying ceiling by use of suitable adhesive. Similarly, cornice sections 74, 76 meet at corner 68. A cover 10, which 30 is essentially identical to the cover 10 shown in Figures 1 to 3, is positioned over and mounted to the underlying corner sections 74, 76, the underlying wall and the underlying ceiling.

8 Figure 7 shows a ceiling 80, typically formed from a layer of plasterboard, mounted to ceiling support beams 82. A cornice 84 is joined by use of a suitable adhesive to the ceiling 80 and the adjacent wall 86. Cornice 84 comprises a first cornice section 88 that is butt joined to a second cornice section 89. A cover 90, 5 which is generally similar to the cover 10 shown in Figure 1 except that it does not include the perpendicular second section 14, is positioned over the region of the butt join between first cornice section 88 and second cornice section 89. The cover 90 is connected to the underlying corner sections, the underlying ceiling and the underlying wall by virtue of a suitable adhesive. 10 If there is any relative movement between the first cornice section 88 and second cornice section 89 such that a gap is produced in the butt join, the cover 90 will hide that gap. Due the flexibility of the cover 90, any movement in the underlying structure can be accommodated by the cover and still allow the cover to remain attached to the underlying surfaces. 15 Figure 8 shows a side view in cross section of a cornice cover 30 attached to an internal corner of a room. In particular, a ceiling 92 adjoins a wall 94 and a cornice 96 is affixed between the ceiling 92 and the wall 94. The cover 30 is shown in with lip 36 and lip 38, as well section 32 covering the cornice 96. The present invention provides a cover that can hide any gaps that may 20 form whilst remaining attached to the underlying surfaces. Where the cover is intended to be used for mounting to corners, the cover can accommodate imperfections in corners while still enabling the cover to be fitted to the corners. In this way, a cover designed for covering the corners in a house that all utilise a similar cornice can be fitted to all corners in the house. The cover may be provided with a 25 rear surface that closely conforms to the profile of the underlying cornice. The cover suitably has an outer surface that is able to be painted. The outer surface of the cover may conform to the general profile of the cornice or it may be provided with a decorative appearance. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may 30 be subject to variations and modifications other than those fully described. It is to be understood that the present invention encompasses all such variations and modifications that fall within its spirit and scope.

Claims

1. A method for covering a join of a cornice, where a first cornice section meets a second cornice section, the method comprising: providing a cover fabricated from an elastomeric material, the cover being dimensioned to overlay a part of the first cornice section and overlay a part of the second cornice section; and adhesively attaching the cover to the cornice sections, thereby covering the join between the corner sections such that the cover remains attached to the cornice sections and continues to cover the join in the event that settling of the building occurs.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cover that is provided is fabricated from an elastomeric material that is flexible and resilient.

3. A cover for use in a method as claimed in claim I or claim 2 wherein the cover is for mounting at a corner to cover a cornice extending along adjoining side walls that meet at the corner, the cover having a first section and a second section, in use the first section adapted to overlay part of a cornice on one wall and the second section adapted to overlay part of the cornice on the adjoining wall such that the cover extends over the join between the cornices that is formed at the corner when the cover is mounted, the cover being fabricated from an elastomeric material.

4. A cover as claimed in claim 3 wherein the corner is an internal corner or an external corner.

5. A cover as claimed in claims 3 or 4 wherein the cover is made as a single piece unit.

6. A cover as claimed in claim 5 wherein the cover is fabricated by a moulding process.

7. A cover as claimed in claim 6 wherein the cover is fabricated by injection moulding. 10

8. A cover as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 7 wherein the cover has an outer surface that has a generally similar appearance to the underlying cornice.

9. A cover as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 7 wherein the cover has an external surface that presents a decorative affect.

10. A cover as claimed in claim 3 wherein the cover has a first section and a second section extending at essentially 900 to the first section, the cover defining a corner along a line where the first and second sections of the cover meet.

11. A cover as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 10 wherein the cover has a rear surface that follows the surface profile of the underlying cornice

12. A cover as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 11 wherein at least the external surface of the cover is compatible with paint so that the cover may be painted.

13. A cover as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 12 wherein the cover has a thickness of from 3mm to 20mm.

14. A cover as claimed in claim 13 wherein the cover has a thickness of from 5mm to 15mm.

15. A cover as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 14 wherein the cover is made from an elastomeric material selected from natural rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, thermoplastic rubber, silicone rubber, isoprene rubber, neoprene, nitrile rubber, methacrylate acrylic styrene, and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene or an elastomeric polyurethane.

16. A cover as claimed in claim 15 wherein the cover is made from a polyuretahne.

17. A cover as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 16, wherein the cover includes a further section that covers the join between a cornice section and the wall to which it is attached, or the join between the cornice section and the ceiling to which it is attached.