ELASTOMERIC MAT WITH CARPET INSERT

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention relates to floor mats, and more particularly to elastomeric floor mats having a carpet insert.

Floor mats are often placed on the floor before or after an entry door of a house or building, so that people entering from the outside may wipe the soles of their shoes. This promotes cleanliness in the interior of the house, business or other building. In some cases a mat is provided that is made out of carpet or other fibrous material. In other cases, the mat may be made of rubber or similar elastomer. Attempts have been made to combine these two materials. A problem with such composite mats is the tendency of any carpet layer to delaminate from the elastomeric layer. A user's shoe may hit the edge of the carpet layer, causing the carpet layer to begin to peel back from any base layer supporting it. This makes the composite mat unsightly and reduces its functionality. A need continues to exist to provide such composite mats that will stay together and maintain good aesthetics.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention, a floor mat is provided that has a base molded of an elastomer. The base has a horizontal layer with an upper surface. A peripheral wall of the base upwardly extends from the horizontal layer. An overhang of the base horizontally inwardly extends from the peripheral wall, such that a lower surface of the overhang is upwardly spaced from the upper surface of the horizontal layer. The overhang terminates in a free end. The floor mat further includes a fibrous layer with a lower surface that is attached to the upper surface of the horizontal layer. The fibrous layer can be woven and more particularly a carpet. The upper surface of the fibrous layer is disposed below the lower surface of the overhang. A peripheral margin of the fibrous layer is disposed horizontally outwardly from the free end of the overhang.

In this manner, the peripheral margin of the fibrous layer is protected against horizontal forces that might have a tendency to delaminate the fibrous layer from the horizontal layer of the base. Such horizontal force might result from an impact of a user's shoe or the like.

In one embodiment, the base of the floor mat further includes an outer flange that surrounds the peripheral wall. A first end of the outer flange may be joined to an upper end of the peripheral wall, while a second end is disposed horizontally outwardly and downwardly from the first end, to reside in a floor plane in which a lower surface of the horizontal layer also substantially resides. In one embodiment, a plurality of spaced-apart flange support ribs each extend from the lower surface of the flange to the floor plane. The outer flange provides a camming or transition surface between the floor and the carpet, so that there is much less tendency of a user's feet to kick up or laterally displace the floor mat. The outer flange also reduces the possibility that the user will trip on the floor mat.

According to another aspect of the invention, a floor mat comprises a base that is integrally molded of an elastomer. The base has a horizontal layer with a lower surface substantially disposed in a floor plane. An upper surface of the horizontal layer is opposed to the lower surface. A peripheral wall of the base is joined to horizontal layer at a periphery thereof and upwardly extends from the horizontal layer to a top surface thereof. An overhang of the base is joined to, and extends horizontally inwardly from, an inner surface of the peripheral wall. A lower surface of the overhang is upwardly spaced from the upper surface of the horizontal layer. An outer flange of the base is joined to, and extends horizontally outwardly and downwardly from, an outer surface of the peripheral wall to an outer end. The outer end of the outer flange is substantially disposed in the floor plane. An upper surface of the outer flange is continuous with the top surface of the peripheral wall. A carpet layer has a lower surface that is attached to the upper surface of the base horizontal layer. An opposed upper surface of the carpet layer is disposed below the lower surface of the overhang. A peripheral margin of the carpet layer is disposed horizontally outwardly from the free end of the overhang. In this way, the overhang protects the peripheral margin of the carpet layer from being kicked up and delaminated by a user's shoe, and, because of the smooth transitions of the upper surfaces of the outer flange and the overhang to the top surface of the peripheral wall, a shoe or foot of a user will cam against these surfaces rather than be caught on them. The present invention thus provides the advantages of a composite mat having both elastomeric and fibrous layers, without the conventional drawbacks thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further aspects of the invention and their advantages can be discerned in the following detailed description as read in conjunction with the drawings of an exemplary embodiment, in which like characters denote like parts and in which:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a floor mat according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the floor mat shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged bottom perspective detail of a corner of the floor mat base;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along Line 4-4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along Line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A floor mat indicated generally at 100 in FIG. 1 is substantially rectangular in shape and may be about three feet long and two feet wide. A mat of such a size and shape is useful for placement immediately before or after a doorway, and provides a station where an entrant may wipe his or her feet, shoes or other footwear. The floor mat 100 may take other sizes and shapes, such as a circle, an oval, a square, an “L” shape, a “T” shape or a long runner. As shown, the mat 100 may have rounded corners 102 which transition between straight sides 104.

The mat 100 has two principal components: an elastomeric base 106 and a fibrous layer or insert 108. The base 106 may be integrally injection-molded of a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) compound and may contain antimicrobial silver particles. The fibrous insert 108 may be composed of artificial fibers such as ones made of polypropylene, and further may have antimicrobial silver ion particles embedded therein. One such silver ion-containing antimicrobial additive which can be used both in base 106 and fibrous layer 108 is SILVERDUR™ 900 from Dow Chemical Co. The fibrous insert 108 may be woven, and more particularly may be a plush woven carpet with parallel rows of upstanding ribs 110, arranged to be parallel to mat 100's longest sides 104. The ribs 110 aid in removing debris from soiled footwear.

FIG. 2 shows the lower surface 200 of a horizontal layer 202 of the base 106. FIG. 3 is a detail of FIG. 2, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views of structure shown in FIG. 3. Referring to FIG. 4, the lower surface 200 of the horizontal layer 202 substantially resides in a floor plane P. Horizontal layer 202 has an opposed upper surface 400, to which a lower surface 402 of fibrous layer 108 may be attached as by an adhesive. A cyanoacrylate adhesive may be used. All components of the base 106 may be specified to be around a nominal thickness, which may be chosen as 0.1305 in. This approximate uniformity in thickness aids in creating the base 106 by injection molding, a preferred molding process.

As used herein, “horizontally” means in a direction or vector in parallel to floor plane P. “Horizontally inwardly” means towards the center of mat 100, while “horizontally outwardly” means away from such center. “Vertically”, “upwardly” and “downwardly” means in a direction or vector 90 degrees from floor plane P.

At its periphery 403, the horizontal layer 202 transitions by a curve into an upstanding peripheral wall 404 having an inward facing surface 406 and an opposed, horizontally outward facing surface 408. Wall 404 upwardly terminates at a top surface 410. An overhang 412 horizontally inwardly extends from an upper end 414 of wall 404 to a free end 415. In the illustrated embodiment, an upper surface 416 of the overhang 412 is substantially continuous with and smoothly transitions into top surface 410 of wall 404. A lower surface 418 of the overhang 412 is upwardly spaced from the upper surface 400 of horizontal layer 402.

An upper surface 420 of the fibrous layer 108 is disposed below lower surface 418 of the overhang 412. A peripheral margin 422 of the fibrous layer 108 is spaced horizontally outwardly from the horizontal position of the overhang free end 415. Because the overhang 412 cantilevers over peripheral margin 422, the fibrous layer margin or edge 422 is protected from contact by a user's foot or shoe, which otherwise might have the tendency to impact edge 422, delaminating the fibrous layer 108 from the horizontal layer 202. Overhang 412 thus preserves the integrity and appearance of composite mat 100.

An outer flange 424 of the base 106 has an inner end 425 that is joined to the upper end 414 of wall 404. Flange 424 horizontally outwardly, and downwardly, extends from the outer surface 408 of wall 404. An upper surface 426 of the flange 424 may be substantially linear in section, as shown, and most of surface 426 will conform to a downwardly and outwardly sloping plane except at the corners 102 of mat 100 and except at the transition of upper flange surface 426 to top wall surface 410. In the illustrated embodiment, the heights of the overhang 412 and of the inner end 425 of the flange 424 are substantially the same. The transition between upper surface 426 and top surface 410 is smooth and continuous, so that a shoe or foot of a user will not catch on it but instead will cam or slide over surfaces 426 and 410. Similarly, the shoe or foot of a user will not catch on any discontinuity between top wall surface 410 and upper overhang surface 416. Flange 424 horizontally surrounds wall 404 and the fibrous insert 108.

As seen in FIG. 4, flange 424 extends outwardly and downwardly to an outer end 428, which should be substantially disposed in floor plane P. In the illustrated embodiment, the outer end 428 is finished as a planar facet 430 that horizontally inwardly extends from sloping surface 426. Facet 428 is coplanar with floor plane P. Thus, any strike by a shoe or foot on flange 424 will be on sloping surface 426, making the inadvertent displacement of mat 100 by a shoe or foot more difficult, and also reducing any tendency of a user to trip on mat 100.

The outer flange 424 has a lower surface 432 that is spaced from plane P. But as seen in FIGS. 3 and 5, a plurality of flange support ribs 500 downwardly extend from lower flange surface 432 to floor plane P. The flange support ribs 500 are spaced apart from each other and in general are perpendicular to wall 404 and parallel to each other except at corners 102. The use of support ribs 500 instead of just thickening the outer flange 424 improves the moldability of base 106.

In summary, a floor mat has been illustrated and described that advantageously combines the characteristics of carpet and elastomer mats, while mitigating the tendency of a carpet layer to delaminate from an underlying base. The smooth profile of the outer flange, top surface of the peripheral wall and the top surface of an inwardly extending overhang reduces the risk that a user will trip over the mat.

While illustrated embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated in the appended drawings, the present invention is not limited thereto but only by the scope and spirit of the appended claims.