DECORATIVE PANELING SYSTEM FOR WALL

Abstract

A kit of decorative paneling for walls and method for installation therefor, comprises a lower crosspiece, and main panels connected to the lower crosspiece. Adjustable main panels are connected to the lower crosspiece, and have a connector configuration such that a first and a second lateral vertical segment of the adjustable main panel are interconnectable after a central vertical segment is removed from the adjustable main panel to select a length of the adjustable main panel. Posts are connected to the lower crosspiece, with lateral edge portions connectable to lateral edges portions of the main panels/adjustable main panel in a decorative configuration of the decorative paneling system, whereby a sequence of main panels/adjustable main panel and posts is received in the longitudinal channel of the lower crosspiece, so as to form decorative paneling of adjustable length for the wall.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This patent application claims priority on U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/771,953, filed on Feb. 10, 2006.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to paneling for walls and, more particularly, to a wainscot paneling system and a method of installation.

2. Background Art

Wainscot is a popular decorative paneling system, by which wood planks of various sizes and shapes are installed on a wall from the floor upwardly, to bring wooden ornamentation to the wall of a room. Wainscot brings the rich look of wood to a wall.

The installation of wainscot to a wall involves a substantial amount of craftsmanship. More specifically, wainscot is an expensive decorative solution, as it is typically customized to a consumer's taste by a craftsman. Various pieces and manpower are required in order to install wainscot on a wall. Permanent fasteners are also used in wainscoting, whereby the wainscot becomes a permanent decorative item.

Wall paneling systems are typically available as individual parts. It may, therefore, be complicated for consumers to purchase the right amount of parts of wall paneling systems as a function of the length of wall to be covered.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

It is an aim of the present invention to provide a novel decorative wall paneling system.

It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a decorative paneling system that addresses issues of the prior art.

It is a still further aim of the present invention to provide a method for installing a decorative paneling system on a wall.

Therefore, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a kit of decorative paneling for walls, comprising: a lower crosspiece adapted to be positioned at a bottom of a wall; main panels each having a bottom portion shaped so as to be connected to the lower crosspiece; at least one adjustable main panel having a bottom portion shaped so as to be connected to the lower crosspiece, the adjustable main panel having a connector configuration such that a first and a second lateral vertical segment of the adjustable main panel are interconnectable after a central vertical segment is removed from the adjustable main panel to select a length of the adjustable main panel; and posts each having a bottom portion shaped so as to be connected to the lower crosspiece, and lateral edge portions connectable to lateral edges portions of the main panels/adjustable main panel in a decorative configuration of the decorative paneling system; whereby a sequence of main panels/adjustable main panel and posts is received in the longitudinal channel of the lower crosspiece, so as to form decorative paneling of adjustable length for the wall.

Further in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for installing decorative paneling on a wall, comprising the steps of: providing a decorative paneling system having at least one adjustable panel; determining a desired length of the at least one adjustable panel as a function of a length of a wall to cover; removing a central vertical segment from the adjustable panel such that two remaining lateral vertical segments have said desired length when assembled; assembling the two lateral vertical segments to form an adjusted panel with said desired length; and installing the decorative paneling system to the wall using said adjusted panel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of walls having a decorative paneling system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of a kit of decorative paneling system of FIG. 1, as assembled;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view, enlarged, of a female connector edge of a lower crosspiece of the decorative paneling system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a central post of the decorative paneling system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view, enlarged, of an edge of a main panel of the decorative paneling system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a front elevation view of the kit of decorative paneling system of FIG. 2, with an adjustable main panel fitted at the end of a wall;

FIG. 7 is a front elevation view of the kit of decorative paneling system of FIG. 2, with a central post fitted at the end of a wall;

FIG. 8 is a rear exploded view of an adjustable main panel reduced in width; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of an assembly groove of the adjustable main panel.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, a decorative paneling system in accordance with the present invention is generally shown at 10. The decorative paneling system 10 is also referred to as “wainscot.” The decorative paneling system 10 has lower crosspieces 13, central posts 14, main panels 15, adjustable main panels 15A, and upper crosspieces 17. The decorative paneling system 10 may be provided with various sizes of main panel 15 (e.g., height, width).

In FIG. 2, a kit of the decorative paneling system 10 is illustrated at 20. The kit 20 has one lower crosspiece 13, one upper crosspiece 17, and an equal number of central posts 14 and main panels 15/15A. In the kit 20 of FIG. 2, there is provided two main panels 15 and one adjustable main panel 15A (i.e., a total of three main panels 15/15A), therefore three central posts 14 are provided. Kits with different amounts of panels are also considered.

When assembled, the parts of the kit 20 form a segment of decorative paneling. The crosspieces 13 and 17 are generally equal in length to the series of central posts 14 and main panels 15/15A assembled in side-by-side relation, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The kit 20 may also include, although not shown, moldings and the like.

The parts of the kit 20 are preferably provided with a connector configuration allowing easy assembly of the decorative paneling. One contemplated connector configuration is now described.

Referring to FIG. 3, the lower crosspiece 13 has an elongated vertically positioned rectangularly shaped body 30. The body 30 has an exposed surface 31 and a hidden surface 32. The exposed surface 31 and the hidden surface 32 are separated by vertical edge surfaces 33 (only one of which is shown in FIG. 3), and by a bottom edge surface (not visible) and a female connector edge 35 facing upwardly. The illustrated vertical edge surface 33 and the bottom edge surface are generally flat. The female connector edge 35 defines a longitudinal channel 36, of rectangular cross-section.

Holes 37 are provided in the illustrated vertical edge surface 33, so as to receive connectors (e.g., connector pegs) for interconnecting lower crosspieces 13 end to end. An opposed vertical edge surface (not visible) is provided with a complementary connector configuration, such as a channel or corresponding peg holes. The upper crosspiece 17 is essentially an upside-down version of the lower crosspiece 13, in that it has a downwardly facing female connector edge, as well as a connector configuration at the vertical edge surfaces for end-to-end connection of the upper crosspieces 17.

Referring to FIG. 4, the central post 14 is shown having an upstanding elongated rectangularly shaped body 40. The body 40 has an exposed surface 41 and a hidden surface 42. The exposed surface 41 and the hidden surface 42 are separated from one another by edge surfaces 43 at top and bottom ends of the body 40, and female connector edges 44 at the sides of the body 40. As best seen in FIG. 4, the edge surfaces 43 define a generally flat surface having holes provided to receive connector pegs 45. The female connector edges 44 each have a longitudinal channel 46. It is pointed out that the connector pegs 45 of the central post 14 have a shape complementary to the longitudinal channel 36 of the lower crosspiece 13 so as to be received therein. Moreover, the longitudinal channel 46 of the central post 14 generally has the same cross-sectional shape as the longitudinal channel 36 of the lower crosspiece 13.

Referring to FIG. 5, the main panel 15/15A is shown having a rectangularly shaped body 50. The body 50 has an exposed surface 51 and a hidden surface 52. The exposed surface 51 typically has some ornamentation, molding and/or shaping. For instance, in FIG. 5, the exposed surface 51 has a protruding surface portion 53 with sloping periphery 54. The exposed surface 51 is separated from the hidden surface 52 by flat edge surfaces 55 of the body 50. The flat edge surfaces 55 form a square edge portion to be received in the longitudinal channel 36 of the lower crosspiece 13 and similarly in the upper crosspiece 17 (FIG. 3), and in the longitudinal channels 46 of the central post 14 (FIG. 4). Therefore, the parts of the kit 20 can be assembled to form the segment of decorative paneling of FIG. 2 with the connector configuration described previously.

The lip/channel configuration is preferably used to interconnect the main panels 15/15A of the decorative paneling system 10 to posts 14 and crosspieces 13 and 17. The central posts 14 and/or the adjustable posts 16 are provided with pegs or dowel pins. As described previously, the pegs or dowel pins are then received in the channels of the adjacent panels. This represents a cost-effective solution.

In order to adjust the decorative paneling system 10 to a length of wall to be covered, the adjustable main panel 15A is configured to be reduced in size. More specifically, referring concurrently to FIGS. 5, 6 and 8, it is seen that the adjustable main panel 15A is the same in shape and dimensions as the main panel 15 (whereby like reference numerals are used to represent like elements). However, a pair of parallel horizontal grooves 60 are provided in the hidden surface 52 of the adjustable main panel 15A.

Referring to FIG. 9, a cross-section of one of the grooves 60 is illustrated. The cross-sections have a dovetail shape in the illustrated embodiment. The adjustable main panel 15A is cut vertically to remove a central vertical segment, in order to be shortened in length. As shown in FIG. 8, once the two remaining lateral vertical segments of the adjustable main panel 15A are sized to form a panel of desired length when positioned side by side, splines 61 (which are part of the kit 20) are used to interconnect the main panel segments, to form an adjusted main panel 15A′ of reduced dimensions (FIGS. 1 and 6), having a full sloping periphery 54 (FIG. 6). The splines 61 are inserted into the grooves 60 and the lateral vertical segments are brought together in side-by-side contact. As an example, the central vertical segment is sawn off (e.g., at the installation site) so as to create the two lateral vertical segments.

The grooves 60/spline 61 configuration is advantageous in that it ensures the planar interconnection of main panel segments. It is in fact desired that the resulting exposed surface 51 be flat when the panel segments are interconnected to form the main panel 15A′ of reduced length, so as to reduce the visibility of the seam between the two lateral vertical segments. It is pointed out that more or fewer grooves 60 may be provided in an adjustable main panel 15A. Alternative connector configurations are considered (e.g., use of glue, dowel pins in combination with drilled holes) between lateral vertical segments.

The grain in the adjustable main panels 15A is preferably vertical in instances where the main panels 15/15A show wood grain, so as to reduce the visibility of the vertical interconnection line between interconnected panel segments.

The central posts 14 may also be reduced in length by being cut vertically, to fit between an adjacent main panel 15/15A and a wall intersection. However, considering that no molding pattern (e.g., sloping periphery 54 of the panel 15A′ in FIG. 6) must be preserved, the central posts 14 are simply cut vertically to remove an unwanted segment. One such central post of reduced length is illustrated at 14A in FIG. 7.

In order to install the decorative paneling system to a wall, an adhesive, such as silicone, a glue or the like, is deposited on the hidden surface 32 of the lower crosspiece 13 (FIG. 3), which is then pressed against the wall so as to remain in position thereagainst. It may be required that lower crosspieces 13 be put end to end in the event that the wall is too long for a single lower crosspiece 13. In such a case, connector pegs in the holes 37 (FIG. 3) are used to connect crosspieces end to end. Alternatively, other fasteners such as nails or other suitable mechanical fasteners may be used. In the event that mechanical fasteners are used, it is suggested to position these fasteners where they will be hidden, for instance, by moldings (e.g., reversed ogee, plinth).

Thereafter, a sequence of central post 14 (with suitable connector pegs 45 of FIG. 4) and main panel 15/15A are positioned side by side with respective exposed surfaces 41 and 51 facing away from the wall. It is suggested to start from a central portion of the wall, with a main panel 15 if an odd number of panels 15 fit on the wall (with respect to the sequence of central posts 14 and main panels 15), or with a central post 14 if an even number of panels fit on the wall (again with respect to the sequence). More specifically, it is the connector pegs 45 of the central post 14, and one of the edges 55 of the main panel 15, that are received in the longitudinal channel 36 of the lower crosspiece 13.

Referring to FIG. 1, the central posts 14 and the main panels 15 are in a side-by-side relationship, with one of the edges 55 of the main panel 15 being received in one of the longitudinal channels 46 of the central post 14. In the event that the sequence of central post 14 and main panel 15/15A stops at the central post 14 adjacent to an end of the wall, with a gap between the central post 14 and the adjacent intersection of walls being too small to be breached by a full main panel 15/15A, the adjustable main panel 15A is reduced in length into panel 15A′, in the manner illustrated in FIG. 8, to fit between the central post 14 and the intersection of walls. This results in the paneling as illustrated in FIG. 6.

Alternatively, if the sequence of central post 14 and main panel 15 stops at the main panel 15 with a gap smaller than the length of the central post 14, the central post 14 has a vertical segment removed therefrom to form central post 14A in the manner illustrated in FIG. 7.

Other sequences are possible, such as an adjusted main panel 15A′ centrally positioned on a wall with full main panels 15 on opposed sides of the adjusted main panel 15A′.

Nails and other suitable fasteners may be used, for instance, in portions of the panels 15/15A and posts 14 that will not be visible, e.g., hidden by moldings, once the complete decorative paneling system 10 is installed.

Once the sequence of central posts 14 and main panels 15/15A has been installed, the upper crosspiece 17 is installed. More specifically, the longitudinal channel of the upper crosspiece 17 will host the exposed edges 55 (FIG. 5) of the main panels 15/15A, as well as the connector pegs 45 (FIG. 4) of the central posts 14, which are jointly paneling the wall.

If desired, nails (or other suitable fasteners) may be used to secure the upper crosspiece 17 to the panels 15/15A and posts 14, and to the wall. As various moldings will be positioned on the upper crosspiece 17, it is contemplated to use mechanical fasteners in locations that will be hidden by the moldings.

Referring to FIG. 1, various decorative pieces may be used to cover the lower crosspiece 13 (plinths), the upper crosspiece 17 (upper crosspiece cover) and corners (e.g., corner covers), as well as top molding. Such decorative pieces are secured to a remainder of the paneling system 10 by way of an adhesive or mechanical fasteners. Alternatively, the panels 13, 14, 15/15A and 17 may each be preshaped to incorporate moldings. The panels of the kit 20, and additional decorative pieces, are preferably veneer panels, of different varieties of wood and of various wood grain. The panels of the kit 20 may be painted or varnished to provide a customized appearance to the decorative paneling system 10.

By selling the panels of the above-mentioned decorative paneling system 10 in kits 20, it is only required to know the length of wall to be covered. The kit 20 typically indicates the maximum length of wall covered by the assembled kit 20.

Claims

1. A kit of decorative paneling for walls, comprising:

a lower crosspiece adapted to be positioned at a bottom of a wall;

main panels each having a bottom portion shaped so as to be connected to the lower crosspiece;

at least one adjustable main panel having a bottom portion shaped so as to be connected to the lower crosspiece, the adjustable main panel having a connector configuration such that a first and a second lateral vertical segment of the adjustable main panel are interconnectable after a central vertical segment is removed from the adjustable main panel to select a length of the adjustable main panel; and

posts each having a bottom portion shaped so as to be connected to the lower crosspiece, and lateral edge portions connectable to lateral edges portions of the main panels/adjustable main panel in a decorative configuration of the decorative paneling system;

whereby a sequence of main panels/adjustable main panel and posts is received in the longitudinal channel of the lower crosspiece, so as to form decorative paneling of adjustable length for the wall.

2. The kit of decorative paneling according to claim 1, wherein the connector configuration of the adjustable main panel has at least one horizontal groove in a hidden surface of the adjustable main panel and a spline for each of the horizontal groove, the spline being shaped to be received in the horizontal groove.

3. The kit of decorative paneling according to claim 2, wherein the adjustable main panel has a pair of the horizontal groove and a pair of the spline.

4. The kit of decorative paneling according to claim 2, wherein the horizontal groove and spline have a dovetail-shape cross-section.

5. The kit of decorative paneling according to claim 1, comprising one of the lower crosspiece, two of the main panels, one of the adjustable main panel, three of the posts, and splines.

6. The kit of decorative paneling according to claim 1, wherein the main panels have the connector configuration such that the main panels are adjustable in length similarly to the adjustable main panel.

7. The kit of decorative paneling according to claim 1, further comprising an upper crosspiece being shaped so as to be connected to an upper portion of the main panels, adjustable main panel and posts.

8. The kit of decorative paneling according to claim 1, wherein the lower crosspiece has an upwardly oriented longitudinal channel to accommodate the bottom portions of the main panels, adjustable main panel and posts.

9. The kit of decorative paneling according to claim 8, wherein the bottom portion of the posts is defined by removable dowel pins received in the longitudinal channel of the lower crosspiece.

10. The kit of decorative paneling according to claim 8, wherein an outer periphery of the main panels and of the adjustable panel is received in the longitudinal channel of the lower crosspiece, and in vertical channels of the posts.

11. The kit of decorative paneling according to claim 1, wherein the adjustable main panel has a wood grain pattern oriented vertically.

12. A method for installing decorative paneling on a wall, comprising the steps of:

providing a decorative paneling system having at least one adjustable panel;

determining a desired length of the at least one adjustable panel as a function of a length of a wall to cover;

removing a central vertical segment from the adjustable panel such that two remaining lateral vertical segments have said desired length when assembled;

assembling the two lateral vertical segments to form an adjusted panel with said desired length; and

installing the decorative paneling system to the wall using said adjusted panel.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the step of removing the central vertical segment is performed by sawing off the central vertical segment.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the step of providing a decorative paneling system involves providing a horizontal channel in a rear end of the adjustable panel, and wherein the step of assembling the two lateral vertical segments is performed by inserting opposed ends of a spline in respective channel portions in the two lateral vertical segments, and placing the two lateral vertical segments side by side.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein the step of providing a decorative paneling system involves providing at least one lower crosspiece, at least one main panel, said at least one adjustable panel and posts, such that the step of installing involves producing a sequence of post and main panel/adjusted panel on the lower crosspiece.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the step of providing a decorative paneling system further involves providing at least one upper crosspiece, such that the step of installing further involves mounting the upper crosspiece on said sequence.

17. The method according to claim 12, wherein the steps of determining, removing and assembling are performed to produce two of the adjusted panel for a single wall, such that adjusted panels are positioned at opposed ends of the single wall when the decorative paneling system is installed on the single wall.