CA2495403A1

CA2495403A1 - Texture material for covering a repaired portion of a textured surface

Info

Publication number: CA2495403A1
Application number: CA002495403A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Lester R. Greer, Jr.; John Kordosh; Ross Clawson
Original assignee: Homax Products Inc
Current assignee: Homax Products Inc
Priority date: 2004-01-28
Filing date: 2005-01-28
Publication date: 2005-07-28
Also published as: US20120064249A1; US9187236B2; US20130122200A1; US7624932B1; US9248951B2; US8342421B2; US20090140012A1; US7337985B1; US8038077B1; US20050161531A1; US20120091217A1

Abstract

A texturing system for applying a desired texture pattern on a patched portion of a surface. The texturing system comprises texture material, a dispensing system for dispensing the texture material, and a selecting system. The texture material comprises a carrier, a binder, a filler, and a change material. The texture material changes from a wet form to a solidified form when exposed to air. The change material changes appearance when the texture material changes from the wet form to the solidified form. The selecting system is supported by the dispensing system such that texture material dispensed from the dispensing system is dispensed through an outlet opening in the desired texture pattern. The dispensing system is used to deposit the texture material onto the patched portion of the surface in the desired texture pattern.

Description

Attorneys' Ref. No. P214609 TEXTURE MATERIAL FOR COVERING A REPAIRED
PORTION OF A TEXTURED SURFACE
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/539,681 filed January 28, 2004.
io TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to systems and methods for forming a texture on a surface and, more specifically, to texturing systems and is methods adapted to apply texture material to cover a repaired portion of a surface having a pre-existing texture formed thereon.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
2o Wall and other surtaces are often textured. Textures can be an integral part of the surface, such as_wit~ a concrete or wood wall, or can be a separate layer or coating applied to an underlying structural member for aesthetic purposes. The texture can be patterned, as in the case of wood grain, or can be random or variegated, such as with a conventional Zs sprayed on texture coating.
A problem arises when the surface on which a texture pattern has been formed is damaged. The darnage~ may arise from any one of a number of causes such as a dent or hole from an impact, discoloration or the like from water damage, and seam: left after the removal and so replacement of a portion of structural wall member to allow access through the wall. After the damage has been rE~paired, the texture on the repaired .
portion of the wall often does not match the pre-existing texture pattern on the wall around the repaired portion.
One class of surface texture is formed by applying a coating

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material to the wall surface. Typically, this type of texture material is initially applied to a structural drywall member using a spray applicator that combines the texture material in wet fcrm with a stream of pressurized air.
This type of texture material will be refE~rred to herein as drywall texture s material. Drywall texture material is typically white and is not usually appropriate as a finish surface, so at IE~ast one coat of paint is typically applied over the texture material to form the finish surface.
Aerosol systems for dispensing drywall texture material typically include a system for varying the size of an outlet opening defined by the io system to allow the texture pattern formed thereby to be altered to match the pre-existing texture pattern. The p~esent invention is of particular importance when embodied as a system or method for applying drywall texture material during the process of repairing a structural drywall member, and that application of the prcaent invention will be described rs herein in detail. The present invention may, however, have application to other types of texture materials and application systems. The scope of the present invention should thus be determined by the claims appended hereto and not the present background discussion and following detailed description of the invention.
ao One problem with repair systems for dispensing drywall texture material is that the coating formed thereby does not set in the desired pattern until the texture material dries. If paint is brushed or rolled onto the texture material before it has dried, the mechanical action of applying the paint over the undried texture material can unacceptably alter the texture zs pattern. On the other hand, it is desirable to complete the repair job as soon as possible, which requires that ~~aint be applied to the texture material covering the patched region as soon as possible after the texture material has dried.
Additionally, most texture material is white, and white or off-white is 3o a common interior paint color. When ~~ number of small holes in a room are repaired, it can be difficult to determine where the repairs have been made when because the white texture material on the repaired area does not stand out against the background c~f white paint.
The need thus exists for systems and methods for applying drywall

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texture material to wall surtaces that: (a) allow paint to be applied over the texture material as soon as possible without altering the texture pattern;
and/or (b) help identify where repairs have been made in the wall.

-4-SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention may be embodied as a texturing system for applying a desired texture pattern on ~i patched portion of a surface. The s texturing system comprises texture material, a dispensing system for dispensing the texture material, and a selecting system. The texture material comprises a carrier, a binder, a filler, and a change material. The texture material changes from a wet fcrm to a solidified farm when exposed to air. The change material changes appearance when the ~o texture material changes from the wet form to the solidified form. The selecting system defines an outlet opening. The selecting system is supported by the dispensing system such that texture material dispensed from the dispensing system is dispensed through the outlet opening in any one of a plurality of spray patterns. Tive selecting system is configured is such the spray pattern corresponds to the desired texture pattern. The dispensing system is arranged such that operating the dispensing system to dispense the texture material causes the texture material to be deposited onto the patched portion of ':he surface in the desired texture pattern.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side elevation view depicting an aerosol system for dispensing texture material of the present invention;
zs FIG. 2 is a front elevation view depicting a patched portion of a textured wall onto which texture mater al is to be applied;
FIG. 3 is a front elevation view depicting the patched portion of the textured wall of FIG. 2 with texture ma:erial of the present invention applied thereto;
3o FIG. 4 is a front elevation view depicting the patched portion of the textured wall of FIG. 3 after a time interval after which the texture material of the present invention has dried; and FIG. 5 is a front elevation view depicting the patched portion of the textured wall of FIG. 4 after paint has keen applied over the dried texture _E _ DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring initially to FIGS. 1, 3, and 4 of the drawing, these figures s depict a texturing system 10 for dispensing a texture material 20 formulated in accordance with, and embodying, the principles of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows that the texturing system comprises a dispensing system 22 for applying the texture material 20 to a surface 24 of a structural member 26. FIGS. 1-5 show that a pre-existing surface io coating 28 has been applied to the surface 24.
The structural member 26 has been repaired to define a patched portion 30 that is surrounded by an un-patched portion 32. The patched portion 30 is textured with the texture °raterial 20 as shown in FIGS.
3 and 4 and coated with a paint layer 34 as ;>hown in FIG. 5.
Is The texture material 20 takes several forms in the process depicted in FIGS. 1-5. When stored in and dish>ensed from the dispensing system 22, the texture material 20 is in a liquid form 20a. When deposited onto the patched portion 30 of the surface :>_4, the texture material 20 is in a wet form 20b in which the texture material 20 has a physical structure but is Zo malleable. After the texture material c0 dries, the texture material 20 is in a solidified form 20c in which the textt,~re material is no longer malleable.
Importantly, the texture material 20 is formulated such that the appearance of the texture material 20 is different in the wet form 20b than when in the solidified form 20c. As wi I be described in further detail 2s below, the change in appearance betvveen the wet and solidified forms allows the user to know when the texture material 20 may be painted.
With foregoing general understanding of the present invention in mind, the details of construction and cperation of the use of the texture material 20 will now be described in further detail.
3o The dispensing system 22, structural member 26, pre-existing surface coating 28, and paint layer all are or may be conventional and will be described herein only to the extent necessary for a complete understanding of the present invention.
The exemplary dispensing system 22 is an aerosol dispensing system comprising a container assem:~ly 40, an actuator member 42, and an outlet tube 44 defining an outlet opening 46. The texture material 20 in the liquid form 20a is stored within the container assembly 40 under pressure and in a substantially air-tight manner. The outlet tube 44 is s supported by the actuator member 42. Depressing the actuator member 42 causes a valve assembly (not sho~nrn) within the container assembly 40 to open, thereby allowing the pressura:ed liquid texture material 20a to flow out of the container assembly 40 ~:hrough the outlet opening 46 defined by the outlet tube 44.
io Dispensing systems other than the aerosol dispensing system 22 may be used to dispense the texture material 20. As examples, the texture material 20 may be dispensed by using an aerosol system as described in U.S. Patent Nos. 5,845,1!x8 and 6,152,335, a hand pump dispenser as described in U.S. Patent No. 4,411,387, or a hopper gun as is described in U.S. Patent No. 5,727,736.
The outlet tube 44 forms a part of a selecting system 48 for selecting the texture pattern created when the liquid texture material 20a is deposited onto the surface 24 of the structural member 26. In particular, a plurality of outlet tubes 44 each defining an outlet opening 46 having a 2o different cross-sectional area may be f~rovided. Each cross-sectional area is associated with a different texture pattern, and the appropriate outlet tube 44 is selected to substantially match the texture pattern of the pre-existing surface coating 28. Selecting systems using straws like the selecting system 48 are described in U.S. Patent No. 6,116,473. The as selecting system may be formed by other selecting systems, such as those disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 6,416,842. The disclosures of the '473 and '842 patents are incorporated herein by reference.
The structural member 26 is typically a sheet of material referred to as drywall material. Drywall material i:~ relatively inexpensive and has 3o desirable structural and fire-resistant properties, but the surtace 24 thereof is not finished. At a minimum, the surface 24 is typically painted or covered with wallpaper. In FIGS. 1-5, this surface 24 was originally sprayed with texture material to form an irregular texture pattern and then painted to obtain the pre-existing surface coating 28.

_8_ More specifically, the exemplani pre-existing surface coating 28 comprises a texture layer 50 with a prE:-existing texture pattern and a paint layer 52 with a pre-existing color and finish. Accordingly, when the patched portion 30 of the structural member 26 is formed, the surface 24 s of the structural member 26 at the patched portion 30 looks and feels different than the pre-existing surface coating 28 on the surface 24 of the structural member 26 surrounding the patched portion 30.
The process of applying the texi;ure material 20 to the surface 24 of the structural member 26 using the exf:mplary dispensing system 22 will io now be described in detail. Initially, as generally described above and shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the surface 2~G of the structural member 26 is exposed within the patched portion 30 after the structural member 26 has been repaired.
The selecting system 48 is initially configured to cause the texture is material 20 to be dispensed from the dispensing system 22 in a spray pattern that will result in a desired texture pattern that substantially matches the texture pattern of the pre-existing surface coating 28. The dispensing system 22 is then arranged such that the outlet opening 46 is adjacent to, and the outlet tube 44 is aimed towards, the patched portion zo 30. The actuator member 42 is then dE:pressed to cause the liquid texture material 20a to be deposited onto the hatched portion 30 of the surface 24 of the structural member 26.
When initially deposited onto the surface 24, the texture material is in the form of the wet texture material 20b. The wet texture material 20b zs contains substantially the same moistur a content as the liquid texture material 20a, but the physical structure of the wet texture material 20b corresponds to the desired texture pattern. The wet texture material 20b is malleable, however, and the physical s~:ructure thereof can be altered by physical contact.
3o When deposited onto the surface: 24, the material 20 is exposed to ambient air and begins to dry. After a ~~eriod of time, the wet texture material 20b dries sufficiently to changE: into the solidified texture material 20c. The solidified texture material 20c is no longer malleable and may be coated with paint using conventional painting techniques without altering _Ci_ the physical structure thereof. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 5, the paint layer 34 may be applied to the solidified texture material 20c without changing the desired texture pattern associated with the texture material 20 in the wet and solidified forms 20b and 20c.
s As generally described above, i:he texture material 20 is formulated such that the visual appearance of the texture material 20 in the wet form 20b differs from that of the texture material 20 in the solidified form 20c.
The change in visual appearance betv~reen the wet and solidified forms 20b and 20c may take the form of any one or more of a number of io characteristics such as glossiness, color, or the like. The person making the repair is thus able to visually disce~n when the paint layer 34 may be applied over the patched portion 30.
In general, the liquid form of the texture material 20a comprises a base or carrier, a binder, a filler, and a change material or pigment. If the is dispensing system used is an aerosol ystem, the liquid texture material 20a will further comprise a propellant rnaterial. Optionally, the texture material 20 may comprise an aggregate material.
The primary difference between the liquid and wet forms 20a and 20b of the texture material 20 and the ,olidified form 20c thereof is the 2o moisture content. The moisture content of the texture material 20 is determined by the carrier and optional propellant. The carrier and propellant are liquids that allow the texture material 20 to flow when in the liquid form 20a. The carrier (or base) i ~ typically water which will evaporate over a time period determined by conditions such as heat, 2s humidity, and the like. If used, the propellant typically immediately gasifies as the liquid form 20a of the material 2~J is sprayed from the dispensing system 22. Once the liquid ingredients have dissipated, the binder adheres to the surface being coated and holds the filler, pigment, and any other ingredients in the physical structure corresponding to the desired so texture pattern.
One characteristic of the texture material 20 is thus that the appearance thereof changes with changing moisture content. The change material or pigment can be any one of ,a number of materials the appearance of which changes with moisture content. The characteristics of the change material or pigment that change may include sheen and color. As examples, the sheen of the ~~hange material or pigment can change from flat to glossy, or vice ver:;a, or the color of the change pigment can change from dark blue to light blue, or vice versa. In any s case, this change should be noticeablE: with the unaided eye.
Desirably, the characteristic of the change material pigment that changes when the texture material 20 is in the solidified form is noticeably distinguishable from the similar characteristic of the pre-existing surface coating 28. For example, if the sheen of the pre-existing surface coating ro 28 is flat, the texture material 20 could dry to a high gloss finish when in the solidified form. If the color of the p~-e-existing surface coating 28 is white or off-white, the texture material :20 could dry to a color such as blue or red that can easily be distinguished from that of the surtace coating 28.
Suitable change materials or piciments include bromothymol blue as (which changes from blue to grey or white), phenolphthalein (which changes from pink to colorless), and thymolphthaiein (which changes from blue to colorless or white).
Set forth below is a table containing several examples of formulations of the texture material 20 ~~f the present invention. While the 2o examples of formulations described below are preferred, the present invention may be embodied using other formulations and other change materials or pigments.
EXAMhLE
FIRST SECOND
COMPONENT PREFERREC~ PREFERRED PREFERRED
RANGE RANGE

water (carrier) 30% 25-35% 20-40%

binder 5.3% 4.5-5.5% 3-7%

filler 53.2% 40-60% 20-70%

propellant 12.6% 10-15% 10-30%

bromothymol blue 0.005% 0.003- 0.001-(color change pigment) 0.007% 0.010%

In this example, the texture ma~;erial 20 is adapted to be dispensed from an aerosol dispensing system such as the exemplary dispensing system 22 described above. The texture material 20 of this example when s in the liquid and wet forms 20a and 20b is a fight blue and fades to a grey or dark green as the moisture content drops sufficiently such that the material 20 is in the solidified.form 20c:. The user thus knows when the texture material 20 is sufficiently dry to apply a paint coat on top of the solidified texture material 20c. In addil:ion, the user can easily recognize io the area (or areas) that needs to be panted because the grey or dark green of the solidified texture material 20c contrasts with typical colors of the pre-existing surtace coating 28.
One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the present invention may be embodied in forms o~:her than those specifically is described above. The scope of the present invention should thus be determined by the following claims and not the foregoing detailed description of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. ~A texturing system for applying a desired texture pattern on a patched portion of a surface having a surface coating portion with a pre-existing texture pattern, where the patched portion of the surface does not have the pre-existing texture pattern:
texture material comprising a carrier, a binder, a filler, and a change material, where the texture material changes from a wet form to a solidified form when exposed to air, and the change material changes appearance when the texture material changes from the wet form to the solidified form;
a dispensing system for dispensing the texture material;
a selecting system defining an outlet opening, where the selecting system is supported by the dispensing system such that texture material dispensed from the dispensing system is dispensed through the outlet opening in any one of a plurality of spray patterns; whereby the selecting system is configured such the spray pattern corresponds to the desired texture pattern; and the dispensing system is arranged such that operating the dispensing system to dispense the texture material causes the texture material to be deposited onto the patched portion of the surface in the desired texture pattern.

2. ~A texturing system as recited in claim 1, in which the dispensing system comprises an aerosol system for containing and dispensing the texture material.

3. ~A texturing system as recited in claim 2, in which the aerosol system comprises an actuator member, in which the selecting system comprises a plurality of tubes, where each tube defines an outlet opening -13-~

having a different cross-sectional area and one of the tubes is attached to the actuator member to obtain the desired spray pattern.

4. A texturing system as recited in claim 1, in which the selecting system comprises a rigid outlet member defining a plurality of outlet openings each having a different cross-sectional area, where the rigid member is rotated relative to the dispensing system to obtain the desired spray pattern.

5. A texturing system as recited in claim 1, the selecting system comprises a deformable outlet member that defines the outlet opening, where deforming the deformable outlet member alters a cross-sectional area of the outlet opening to obtain the desired spray pattern.

6. A texturing system as recited in claim 1, in which the dispensing system comprises a spray gun that mixes the texture material with a stream of pressurized air.

7. A texturing system as recited in claim 1, in which the dispensing system is a hopper gun that stores the texture material and mixes the texture material with a stream of pressurized air.

8. A texturing system as recited in claim 7, in which the stream of pressurized air is formed by a hand pump.

9. A texturing system as recited in claim 2, in which:
the aerosol system comprises an aerosol container; and the texture material further comprises a propellant that pressurizes the texture material within the aerosol container.

10. A texturing system as recited in claim 2, in which:
the dispensing system comprises an aerosol container; and the texturing system further comprises a compressed gas that pressurizes the texture material within the aerosol container.

11. A method of applying a desired texture pattern on a patched portion of a surface having a surface coating portion with a pre-existing texture pattern, where the patched portion of the surtace does not have the pre-existing texture pattern, the method comprising the steps of:
providing texture material comprising a carrier, a binder, a filler, and a change material, where the texture material changes from a wet form to a solidified form when exposed to air, and the change material changes appearance when the texture material changes from the wet form to the solidified form;
providing a dispensing system for dispensing the texture material;
providing a selecting system defining an outlet opening;
supporting the selecting system on the dispensing system such that texture material dispensed from the dispensing system is dispensed through the outlet opening in any one of a plurality of spray patterns;
configuring the selecting system such that the spray pattern corresponds to the desired texture pattern; and arranging the dispensing system such that the outlet opening is adjacent to the patched portion of the surface;
operating the dispensing system to deposit the texture material onto the patched portion of the surface in the desired texture pattern; and allowing the texture material to dry such that the texture material changes from the wet form to the solidified form and the change material changes appearance.

12, A method as recited in claim 11, further comprising the step of applying a coating of paint onto the texture material in the solidified form.

13. A texturing system for applying a desired texture pattern on a patched portion of a surface having a surface coating portion with a pre-existing texture pattern, where the patched portion of the surface does not have the pre-existing texture pattern:
texture material comprising substantially between 20 and 40 percent by weight, inclusive, of a carrier, substantially between 3 and 7 percent by weight, inclusive, of a binder, substantially between 20 and 70 percent by weight, inclusive, of a filler, and substantially between 0.001 and 0.010 percent by weight, inclusive, of a change material, where the texture material changes from a wet form to a solidified form when exposed to air, and the change material changes appearance when the texture material changes from the wet form to the solidified form;
a dispensing system for dispensing the texture material;
a selecting system defining an outlet opening, where the selecting system is supported by the dispensing system such that texture material dispensed from the dispensing system is dispensed through the outlet opening in any one of a plurality of spray patterns; whereby the selecting system is configured such the spray pattern corresponds to the desired texture pattern; and the dispensing system is arranged such that operating the dispensing system to dispense the texture material causes the texture material to be deposited onto the patched portion of the surface in the desired texture pattern.

14. A texturing system as recited in claim 13, in which the dispensing system comprises an aerosol system for containing and dispensing the texture material.

15. A texturing system as recited in claim 14, in which the aerosol system comprises an actuator member, in which the selecting system comprises a plurality of tubes, where each tube defines an outlet opening having a different cross-sectional area and one of the tubes is attached to the actuator member to obtain the desired spray pattern.

16. A texturing system as recited in claim 13, in which the selecting system comprises a rigid outlet member defining a plurality of outlet openings each having a different cross-sectional area, where the rigid member is rotated relative to the dispensing system to obtain the desired spray pattern.

17. A texturing system as recited in claim 13, the selecting system comprises a deformable outlet member that defines the outlet opening, where deforming the deformable outlet member alters a cross-sectional area of the outlet opening to obtain the desired spray pattern.

18. A texturing system as recited in claim 13, in which the dispensing system comprises a spray chin that mixes the texture material with a stream of pressurized air.

19. A texturing system as recited in claim 13, in which the dispensing system is a hopper gun that stores the texture material and mixes the texture material with a stream of pressurized air.

20. A texturing system as recited in claim 19, in which the stream of pressurized air is formed by a hand pump.

21. A texturing system as recited in claim 13, in which the change material is selected from a group of texture materials consisting of bromothymol blue, phenolphthalein, and thymolphthalein.