Stencils

The present invention relates to stencils used to paint designs on surfaces such as walls, to apply inscriptions on signs or to form images on paper or other material.

Many types of stencils are known which are used for the abovementioned applications, but these stencils are usually made up of a relatively rigid sheet from which a design is cut and which must be held manually in place during the painting operation. view of applying the design to a surface. A main object of the present invention is to provide a stencil which should not be held manually in place during the painting operation, thus avoiding the risk of accidental displacement of the stencil during this operation with, as a consequence, alteration of the definition of the applied design.

According to the invention, a stencil comprises a sheet of a material practically impermeable to paint, a design applied to this sheet by cutouts made in the latter, as well as a coating of a water-soluble, pressure-sensitive adhesive. and applied to a surface of the sheet.

In a preferred embodiment, the aforementioned sheet is made up of layers of a laminated material, a preferred laminate consisting of a layer of polyethylene coated between two layers of kraft paper.

The invention will be described below by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of part of a stencil according to the invention; and Figure 2 is a "section (not to scale) taken along line II-II of Figure 1.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the stencil comprises a sheet 1 of a material substantially impermeable to paint and consisting of a number of layers of a material laminated one on top of the other. As the drawings show, the composite sheet 1 comprises a layer 2 of polyethylene laminated between two sheets 3 and 4 of kraft paper, the composite sheet 1 weighing 128 g / m2. On a surface (the lower surface in FIG. 2) of the sheet 1, a coating 5 of a water-soluble pressure-sensitive adhesive is applied. This coating of adhesive 5 is in turn covered with a sheet 6, a surface of which is coated with a separating material 7, this surface being glued to, but being able to easily detach from the water-soluble pressure-sensitive coating 5. In the preferred embodiment, the release material 7 is made of silicone.

The sheet 1 comprises parts 8 of a required design formed by cutouts 9 made in the layers 2, 3 and 4 constituting the sheet 1, as well as in the coating of adhesive 5. However, due to their adhesion to the cover sheet 6, these parts 0 remain in place in sheet 1.

The stencil described above can be used to apply the design of the parts 6 to a wall by peeling off the sheet 1, the covering sheet 6 and the parts 8 which adhere thereto, then by sticking the sheet 1 to the wall in the desired position by means of the adhesive coating 5. Then, the paint is applied to the wall through the holes left by the removal of the parts C, the structure of the sheet 1 making it practically impermeable to the paint, that is to say that it is practically not not affected by the paint applied. Since it is flexible and held in place by pressure-sensitive adhesive 5, the stencil can be easily detached from the operable wall. · 1 "dry" in applied paint, while the paint any adhesive coating 5 can be removed from the wall by washing with "au, the doarin defined by the hole made in the stencil denier painted on the wall"

Another way to use the stencil is to stick the complete stencil (it is in one place on a rural area, for example a wall, on which one can have previously applied a paint to the body the stencil then being detached from the wall on which the parts 8 remain bonded.

We can then^not apply a size to the surface, parts B also receiving the paint and, when the paint is dry,

Oïi can detach the parts O from the surface on which the drawing then remains.

It is understood that nude lo deenin can be cut from sheet 1 by completely removing the parts "6 of this dig during the making of the stencil} similarly, the cutting can be carried out so that, as is described ei-dessuo, the "parts 8 remain placed in the lore sheet of the fabricaêtre / tien of the stencil, however they can / easily detached from the sheet for the use of the stencil. When a covering sheet 6 of a material coated with a separating agent is used, this covering digging can be applied to the sheet 1 before making the cuts therein "so that after cutting from the denote in sheet 1, the parts 8 remain in place in this sheet which is glued to the sheet with a covering 6 ®n for removal with the latter when cola is necessary.

Different process and apparatuses necessary for the manufacture of stencils according to the invention and intended for cutting and sealing of sheets with an adhesive, as well as for the application, to adhesive coatings, of sheets coated with a separation, are well known and, therefore, will not be described in the present specification. In addition, various types of suitable hydrosoluble or pressure sensitive adhesives are not well known and will not be specifically mentioned here.