Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Pile or nap type surface or component – Edge feature or configured or discontinuous surface
Patent
1994-04-24
1996-06-25
Loney, Donald J.
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Pile or nap type surface or component
Edge feature or configured or discontinuous surface
428 95, 428167, 428172, 15624411, 15624415, 2641771, 264257, 5417, B32B 302
Patent
active
055298257
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to improvements in matting, and in particular, but not exclusively, to entrance matting of the type commonly found at entrances of stores, offices and public buildings.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In order to minimise the amount of dirt and water carried into buildings on the feet of people entering the building, entrance mats are placed inside doorways. For domestic or other light use applications coir type or throw down matting is used, although this has only a limited life span. The majority of high traffic applications require the use of mats formed of metal or plastic extrusions, typically of aluminium or PVC, pieced together by wire or other forms of coupling. Such mats are hard wearing but tend to be expensive and, due to the nature of their construction, are commonly supplied in standard sizes or must be made to order. Also, the presence of metal in the mats may affect the operation of security devices which are used in stores to detect the unauthorised removal of goods from the store. Further, this form of mat will often move under the feet, which may be unsettling, and the gaps between the extrusions provide traps for heels and the points of walking sticks. In mats manufactured without the use of metal, solid, extruded PVC has been utilised although it has been found that the hard PVC used tends to break up after a relatively short period of use.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved entrance matting which obviates or mitigates these disadvantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided matting including: a flexible base layer; a flexible upper layer comprising spaced upstanding strips and defining slots therebetween; and strips of carpet and the like located in the slots to define a substantially planar upper surface.
As used herein, the term "carpet" is intended to encompass carpet, matting, coir and the like. The provision of a substantially planar upper surface avoids the possibility of heels, walking sticks and the like becoming trapped between the upstanding strips and the strips of carpet and minimises the possibility of persons tripping on the matting.
The base layer is preferably solid and is formed of a suitable flexible material such as rubber or soft PVC. The upper layer may be of similar material. The material selected should conform to appropriate standards relating to fire resistance and the like.
Preferably, the matting is provided in the form of a relatively large area continuous slab. This arrangement allows a single-piece of matting to be cut to size for most applications, avoiding the presence of joins between mat sections thus avoiding the formation of potential dirt traps and the occurrence of increased mat wear at the joins. Also, the larger area covered by a single slab is better adapted to cover an uneven area which might otherwise result in visible gaps at joins between multipiece matting. Further, fitting of a one-piece mat is easier than fitting a mat formed of a number of tiles or sections as all that is required is that the matting is cut to size.
The upper surface of the spaced strips is preferably ribbed to facilitate use of the strips as shoe scrapers. The carpet and the like located in the slots between the strips also serves a scraping function, particularly for smaller particles and dust, and will also retain water.
The arrangement of strips facilitates cleaning as dirt may be swept from the strips of carpet and the like and escape from the carpet at the boundary between the carpet and the adjacent raised strips.
The absence of metal clips, ties or scrapers in the matting facilitates manufacture and will not interfere with the operation of security systems at store entrances. Further, the matting may be cut on-site, without requiring the provision of specialised cutting tools.
The matting is flexible and thus will sit securely, without rocking, on uneven flooring as often occurs with conventional matting on screeded concrete floors
REFERENCES:
patent: 1384891 (1921-07-01), Gothberg
patent: 2436315 (1948-02-01), Liberatore
patent: 4408365 (1983-10-01), Palmer
patent: 4587148 (1986-05-01), Campbell et al.
Caledonia Matting Limited
Loney Donald J.
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