Education and demonstration – Visual art or craft – artistic adornment – or color training... – Color application
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-09
2001-04-17
Ackun, Jacob K. (Department: 3712)
Education and demonstration
Visual art or craft, artistic adornment, or color training...
Color application
Reexamination Certificate
active
06217336
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to the field of painting, and in particular to the use of patterns to guide a painter in the painting process.
When decorating a room, a variety of materials are available to assist the decorator. For example, one common way to decorate a room is with the use of wall paper. Although useful in many applications, some prefer not to use wall paper because of the difficulty in applying the wall paper, and more importantly, because of the difficulty in removing the wall paper when redecorating.
One alternative to wall paper is the use of paint, particularly because of the ease in redecorating by simply repainting. However, use of paint when decorating can be especially challenging if it is desired to paint a scene or a pattern. For example, one popular way to decorate a wall is to paint a colorful scene on the wall, such as a landscape scene. However, when attempting to paint such a scene on a wall, the decorator must first design the appropriate scene, and then paint the scene with appropriate sizes, proportions and colors.
To accomplish such a task, a professional artist may be commissioned for the project. However, this can be expensive and considerable time and effort may be expended in locating the appropriate artist. One alternative to this approach has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,400, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, and relies on the use of a pattern which is projected onto a wall using a projector. The decorator then paints the wall according to the projected pattern. Such a process is undesirable in that it requires the use of an expensive projector and can require the room to be darkened in order to see the pattern, thereby making it difficult to see when painting. Moreover, if the decorator steps in front of the projector, the image projected by the projector will be blocked. Further, if the projector is moved, the projected image will also move. Use of such a projector is also undersireable in that the size of the projected pattern is dependent on the distance of the projector from the wall. If the room is not large enough, the appropriately sized pattern cannot be produced. Also, the projector may tend to distort the pattern as it is projected onto the wall.
Hence, it would be desirable to provide a more convenient and effective way to allow a desired area to be decorated with the use of paint. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a way to paint various scenes or murals onto a surface with minimal or no painting experience and with minimal preparation time and tools. It would be further desirable if the invention provided a kit to assist in painting a wide variety of scenes or murals onto a painting surface.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides exemplary painting kits and methods for their use. In one exemplary embodiment, a painting kit is provided which comprises at least one sheet having a pattern which is adapted to be physically transferred to a painting surface, preferably by applying energy to the sheet. The pattern defines regions which are to be painted with different colors. The kit further includes a set of instructions indicating a preferred paint color for each region. In this way, a pattern for a mural or a scene may conveniently be physically transferred to a painting surface which is then painted with the colored paints.
Preferably, the sheet has a front side and a back side, and the pattern is included on the front side. Further, the pattern is transferable to the painting surface by application of heat to the back side. For example, the pattern may be transferred simply by placing the sheet against a wall and moving a heated iron across the pattern until the pattern is transferred to the wall. Alternatively, the pattern may be transferred to the painting surface by applying pressure to the back side or by simply placing the sheet against the painting surface. For instance, the sheet may be placed against the wall and the sheet rubbed to transfer the pattern.
Preferably, the pattern will be included on a plurality of sheets to make transfer of the pattern to the painting surface more manageable. A wide variety of patterns may be incorporated into the kit. For example, the patterns may define landscapes, characters, jungles, fantasy scenes, and the like. Optionally, one or more complimentary sheets may be included in the kit. The complimentary sheets include patterns which compliment the main mural or scene and which may also be physically transferred to a painting surface. For example, the complimentary pattern may comprise a border, a window treatment, and the like.
The set of instructions provided in the kit are preferably placed in booklet form and have a reduced size model of the pattern. Further, each region of the model is colored with the preferred color so that a user may visualize one preferred color arrangement. A color guide may further be provided so that the customer will be able to obtain paints which match the colors in the model. As one alternative, each of the regions may include a symbol, such as a number, which is representative of a preferred paint color, and the set of instructions may include a legend which correlates the symbols with the preferred paint colors. In this way, the user simply paints each region with the color paint that corresponds to the numbered region.
The invention further provides an exemplary method for painting a surface. According to the method, a pattern is physically transferred from a sheet to a surface to be painted, preferably by applying energy to the sheet. The pattern defines regions that are to be painted with paint. The surface is then painted with paint, with each region being painted with a pre-defined color of paint.
The pattern is preferably transferred to the surface by placing the sheet against the surface and applying heat to the sheet until the pattern is transferred. For instance, heat may be applied to the sheet by moving a heated iron over the sheet as the sheet is adjacent to the surface. For convenience, the pattern may be included on a plurality of sheets, with each sheet including a portion of the pattern. In this way, each sheet is individually placed against the surface so that the portion of the pattern on each sheet may be transferred onto the surface.
In one exemplary aspect, a set of instructions are provided indicating the arrangement of the sheets. For convenience, the pattern may be included on a plurality of sheets, with each sheet including a portion of the pattern. In this way, each sheet is individually placed against the surface so that the portion of the pattern may be transferred onto the surface.
In one exemplary aspect, a set of instructions are provided indicating the arrangement of the sheets to produce the mural or scene. In another aspect, instructions are provided giving one or more preferred colors of paint for each region. For example, the instructions may be provided in a booklet having a reduced size model of the pattern, with each region of the model being colored with a preferred color. Conveniently, a color guide may be provided having samples of each of the preferred colors. In this way, the user may take the color guide to a paint store to obtain the appropriate colors of paint. As one alternative, each region of the pattern may include a number that is transferred to the surface. With such a configuration, the instructions preferably include a legend which correlates the numbers with their associated colors.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2127047 (1938-08-01), Finney
patent: 2491597 (1949-12-01), Adams
patent: 3372493 (1968-03-01), Birch
patent: 3581882 (1971-06-01), Bish
patent: 3659353 (1972-05-01), D'Agrosa
patent: 3715267 (1973-02-01), Kubo et al.
patent: 3758695 (1973-09-01), Goodman et al.
patent: 3802904 (1974-04-01), Morrison
patent: 4017986 (1977-04-01), Miller
patent: 4311464 (1982-01-01), Messina
patent: 4328051 (1982-05-01), Robinette
patent: 4550683 (1985-11-01), Jones
patent: 4564406 (1986-01-01), Binks
patent: 4584042 (1
Ackun Jacob K.
Camp Kazoo, Ltd.
Fernstrom K.
Townsend and Townsend / and Crew LLP
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