Foot mat

Details Foot mat Foot mat

2000-07-05

2002-08-20

Till, Terrence R. (Department: 1744)

Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning

Implements

Fabric

C015S161000, C015S217000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06434779

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to foot mats of the type that are widely used in and near the entryways of commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings to clean the footwear of persons entering the building and minimize the tracking of dirt and moisture into the building and are often used in various work areas.
BACKGROUND ART
One type of foot mat used for building entryways and work areas is composed of elongated, rigid rail members connected in a manner that allows the rails to articulate so that the mat can be rolled up. Examples of such mats, which are similar in concept but have various forms of connections between the rail members, are described and shown in the following United States patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,834 (Bartlett, 1977)—The rail members include a socket on one side and a flange with an enlarged bead of round cross section on the other side. The socket on each rail receives the bead on an adjacent rail. The bead rotates in the socket to enable adjacent rails to articulate.
U.S. Pat. No. Re. 32,061 (Ellingson, Jr., 1986)—The rail members have sockets on both sides, each of which receives an enlarged bead on a rigid connector of “dogbone” shape in cross section. The concept is essentially the same as that of Bartlett '834, except that the rail members have sockets on both sides and the dogbone connector members are separate from the rail members.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,587 (Balzer, 1986)—Sockets in each side of the rail members receive enlarged heads on flexible “I”-shaped connectors, articulation being enabled by flexure of web portions of the connectors.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,245 (Balzer et al., 1987)—The design is essentially the same as Balzer '587, except for the addition to the connectors of L-shaped feet, which underlie portions of the rail members and provide non-slip cushions under the mat.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,804 (Williams, 1992)—The rail members have beads on each side and are joined by connectors that have sockets that receive the beads. The rails are coextrusions of plastic and have a body of a rigid plastic and layers of soft plastic on the bottoms of supporting feet on the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,392 (Green, 1996)—The rail members have sockets on each side that open toward the floor and are joined by flexible plastic U-shaped connectors, each of which has an enlarged bead at the upper end of each leg that is received in a socket on the rail member. The connectors rest on the floor and serve as cushions and flex to allow the mat to be rolled up.
An affiliate of the assignee of the present invention, Constructions Specialties (UK) Ltd., markets a foot mat under the trademark PEDILUXE that has rail members with sockets that open along each side and receive enlarged beads on connectors. The sockets of the rail members of the PEDILUXE mats are located below the sides of a web portion. A tread member, such as a carpet strip, extends widthwise almost completely across the top of each rail member, leaving only a narrow flange of the rail member visible on either side of the tread member.
All of the mats referred to above are assembled by sliding the connecting beads lengthwise into the sockets along the entire length of the rail member from one end. The assembly process is laborious and time-consuming and requires a large work area. It is not uncommon for rail members of four meters (12 feet) in length to be assembled using separate connector members, also four meters (12 feet) long. Assembly in that manner also requires a sliding fit between the socket and bead, thus leaving some degree of laxity in all connections. After a desired number of rail members are connected to form the mat, some form of fastener arrangement is required between each rail member and the connector for that rail member to the adjacent rail member, whether the connector be a portion of the adjacent rail member (see Bartlett '834) or a separate connector member (see, e.g., Ellingson, Jr.), to prevent the rail members from sliding longitudinally relative to each other.
Installation of the required fastener arrangement is yet another laborious, tedious and time-consuming operation. When both the socket and bead are of metal, there is a tendency for the mat to rattle due to the sliding fit and metal-to-metal contact. Except for the PEDILUXE mats, all of the mats referred to above have the coupling portions along the sides of the rail members, and the tread members, such as carpet strips, are set in from the side extremities. Thus, a significant portion of the total mat area is taken up by the side connector portions of the rail members. The exposed metal or plastic connector portions of the rail members or of connectors between the rail members are not universally pleasing in appearance to designers and architects.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One object of the present invention is to provide a foot mat of the type described above that is constructed in a manner that eliminates tedious and time-consuming assembly procedures. Another object is to provide a foot mat that can be readily varied in appearance and function without major modifications of the components or the fixtures and tools used for assembly. Still another object is to improve the appearance of foot mats that use rail members and connectors. It is also desired to retain many of the advantages of previously known designs, such as cushioning elements incorporated into connector members, the absence of metal-to-metal contact between relatively movable parts, the capability of being rolled up, and the capability of accepting different tread surfaces.
The foregoing objects are attained, in accordance with the present invention, by a foot mat that includes a plurality of substantially rigid elongated rail members arranged closely adjacent each other with a gap between each adjacent pair of rail members. Each rail member is of substantially uniform cross section along its length and includes a body portion having side edges, an upper surface and a lower surface and a pair of leg portions projecting generally downwardly from the lower surface of the web portion and spaced apart from each other and from the side edges of the web portion. An elongated tread member is received on the upper surface of the web portion of each rail member. A connector member joins each pair of adjacent rail members to each other, each connector member being an extrusion of at least one polymeric material and being of substantially uniform cross section along its length and including a connecting web portion extending across the gap between the adjacent rail members and a pair of generally U-shaped socket portions. Each socket portion defines a cavity that receives the leg portion of one of the adjacent rail members and is configured to be snap-fitted onto the rail members by pressing the socket portions onto the leg portions of the rail members. Each leg portion and each socket portion have interengaging shoulders configured to retain the leg portion in the socket portion.
The polymeric material of the socket portions should be sufficiently flexible to enable the socket portions to deform and accept the leg portions on the rail members by press-fitting but not so flexible as to permit the leg portions to be readily detached from the leg portions on the rail members. Snap-fitting the connector members onto the adjacent rails has the very important advantage of making assembly much easier to do and requiring significantly less time than sliding them on lengthwise. It is also possible for a complete mat to be partially assembled in sections at a factory and the sections shipped flat to the job site in stacks of a convenient size for handling. The sections can be joined at the job site by installing suitable connectors between the sections.
Providing the leg portions on the rail members and the socket portion on the connectors enhances the stiffness of each rail member and also provides supporting feet for each web portion, the bottom surfaces of the leg portions being located close to the floor on which the mat rests for s

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