Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Methods – Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-14
2001-05-08
Osele, Mark A. (Department: 1734)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Methods
Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
C156S071000, C156S249000, C156S345420
Reexamination Certificate
active
06228194
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a method for providing and altering three-dimensional decorations on a ceramic tile surface.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is common for a homeowner to redecorate walls made of drywall by painting, repainting, applying wall paper, and reapplying wall paper, but it is not common to decorate and redecorate ceramic tile surfaces such as are found in kitchens and bathrooms. Ceramic tiles provide a very hard and glossy surface, and such surfaces are not suitable, nor are they intended to receive paint or wall paper. Many ceramic tile surfaces are solid color, without decoration other than the grout lines between the individual tiles. Some decorated tile surfaces bear a design formed by assembling tiles of a plurality of colors into a pattern and other decorated tile surfaces include tiles bearing a design imprinted into their surface, or having raised portions. In all such cases, the tile surface is constructed by a tile installer or mason such that the design formed by the tiles constitutes a permanent design for the bathroom or kitchen of the house in which it is incorporated.
Prior hereto, the decoration of a tile surface has been permanent, that is, the decorative qualities of the surface could only be changed by removing the tiles themselves and substituting new tiles. There has been a need for a method of decorating a tile surface with three-dimensional objects, including tile objects, whereby the decorations can be removed and the surface redecorated without destroying the underlying tile surface.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, the present invention is embodied in a method for decorating and redecorating a planar ceramic tile surface with a plurality of three-dimensional members. In the preferred embodiment, the three-dimensional members include three-dimensional ceramic tile objects having a generally planar rearward surface such that the three-dimensional members can be cemented to the generally planar surface formed by a ceramic tile surface to be decorated.
In accordance with the invention, an adhesive is provided which is suitable for cementing decorative members to a ceramic tile surface where the adhesive has the property of yielding its capacity for maintaining two members in bonded relation to each other when heat is applied to the adhesive. The manufacturers of adhesives have developed products intended to permanently retain two adjacent objects in bonded relationship to one another and they have not intentionally developed products which have the qualities of becoming releasable under certain circumstances. The manufacturers of adhesives may be aware that under certain conditions the bonding capabilities of their adhesive will fail, but those manufacturers who are aware that their adhesive has such qualities do not promote the releasability of the product in their literature because it is preferred that an adhesive have permanent bonding capabilities. I have found, however, that the ceramic tile adhesive containing high percentage of calcium carbonate for floors and ceilings sold under the trademark CTA-111 by Chemrex, Inc., 7711 Computer Avenue, Minneapolis, Minn. 55435, is an adhesive which is suitable for retaining a decorative member to the glossy surface of a ceramic tile and yields its bonding capability when subjected to temperatures in excess of 200 degrees F.
In accordance with the invention, decorative three-dimensional members, which themselves may be ceramic pieces configured and painted to depict flowers, animals, or other scenes, can be used to decorate a glossy ceramic tile surface by bonding such decorative members to the ceramic surface using an adhesive with releasable qualities such as the Chemrex product sold under the trademark CTA-111. The three-dimensional members are decoratively configured on the glossy tile surface and retained thereon by the adhesive applied between the decorative members and the tile surface following the instructions of the manufacturer of the adhesive. Using this method, a plurality of three-dimensional members can be arranged to attractively decorate a ceramic tile surface. At some subsequent date, when it becomes desirable to redecorate the ceramic tile surface, the adhesive which retains the three-dimensional members to the surfaces of the tiles, can be released by the application of heat.
Once the decorative members have been released from the tile surface, heat can be applied to the rear surfaces of the decorative members and to the glossy tile surface to remove residue adhesive. After the residue adhesive has been removed, a new layer of adhesive can be applied to the rearward surface of the three-dimensional decorative members, or to new decorative members to be employed in substitution for those removed, to redecorate the ceramic tile surface with a new pattern of three-dimensional members. It should be appreciated that the redecorated tile surface can at some later date be redecorated by again applying heat to release the adhesive which retains those decorative members to the tile surface.
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Crystal Palace Pottery website pages; www.crystalpalacepottery.com, pp. 1-3, Jun. 2000.
Marsh Robert L.
Osele Mark A.
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