Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Sheet including cover or casing
Patent
1998-05-26
2000-09-05
Ahmad, Nasser
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Sheet including cover or casing
4581, 15215, 15216, 428 44, 428 45, 428 52, 428121, 428192, B32B 300
Patent
active
061140023
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
DESCRIPTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an article which can be used after having taken a shower or a bath and more precisely it relates to a portable hygienic mat.
2. Description of the Prior Art
After a shower or a bath normally people need to wipe their feet before dressing. This operation, which is not problematic at home or in a hotel where clean shower mats are available, is often not very comfortable in public places, such as gymnasiums, where people are forced to put their feet inside wet sandals or even on a dirty floor.
In fact, while taking a shower people normally stand up wearing sandals on their feet to prevent direct contact with a dirty wet floor where fungi or other diseases may be present. After the shower has been completed and after having reached the place where they wipe themselves and get dressed, people need a dry and hygienic place where to stand while wiping their feet.
Where available, such place could be a bench or a rug on which, nevertheless, fungi or other diseases can also be present. In addition, however, while getting dressed people cannot often avoid in some measure to put the feet on the dirty floor or inside the wet slippers again.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a hygienic mat which can be used standing steadily on it after having taken a shower or a bath to wipe the feet and which at the same time can be folded, as well as being light and portable.
This object is accomplished by the hygienic mat according to the present invention, whose characteristic is to comprise a first and a second pad hinged on adjacent borders in a folding relationship between an open flat position and a closed book-like position.
Each pad preferably engages with a flat stiff support so that the pads are hinged to each other via the supports, in said closed position said pads facing each other. The pads can be inserted in a separable way in recesses provided for in said supports and defined by a boundary rim raised from a stiff bottom. Alternatively, the pads are fixed to the supports through revertible fastening means.
The pads preferably have a permeable spongy towel-like absorbing cloth attached to a resilient base sheet.
The pads or the supports holding the pads are hinged by means of either a flexible strip or a plurality of joints having two halves fixed respectively to each pad or support on said adjacent borders. Gripping means fixed to the boundary of said pads or supports are advantageously provided for.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be illustrated with the following description of two of its possible embodiments, given as an example and not limitative, with reference to the attached drawings in which:
FIGS. 1 and 2 are respectively a perspective and a side sectional view of a hygienic mat according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 shows the hygienic mat of FIGS. 1 and 2 in a closed book-like position;
FIG. 4 and 5 are respectively a top plan view and a side sectional view of a different embodiment of the hygienic mat according to the present invention;
FIG. 6 shows the hygienic mat of FIGS. 4 and 5 in a closed book-like position.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a hygienic mat 1 according to the present invention comprises a first and a second pad 2a and 2b hinged on adjacent borders 3 in a folding relationship between an open flat position (FIGS. 1 and 2) and a closed book-like position (FIG. 3).
Pads 2a and 2b engage with flat stiff supports 4a and 4b for example half-moon shaped sheets made of moulded plastic. More precisely supports 4a and 4b have recesses 5a and 5b defined by boundary rims 6 raised from a stiff bottom 4 and in which pads 2a and 2b are inserted. Pads 2a and 2b are hinged to each other via the supports 4a and 4b by way of a flexible strip 7, which can be made of leather or plastics.
Alternatively, according to a different embodiment of the invention (see FIG. 4), supports 4a and 4b are hinged on each other by means
REFERENCES:
patent: 4940620 (1990-07-01), Silk
patent: 5173346 (1992-12-01), Middleton
Ahmad Nasser
Innocenti Patrizio
Risaliti Roberto
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