Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47L23/00—Cleaning footwear
  • A47L23/22—Devices or implements resting on the floor for removing mud, dirt, or dust from footwear
  • A47L23/26—Mats or gratings combined with brushes ; Mats
  • A47L23/266—Mats
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47G—HOUSEHOLD OR TABLE EQUIPMENT
  • A47G27/00—Floor fabrics; Fastenings therefor
  • A47G27/04—Carpet fasteners; Carpet-expanding devices ; Laying carpeting; Tools therefor
  • A47G27/0406—Laying rugs or mats
  • A47G27/0418—Fasteners; Buttons; Anchoring devices

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a floor mat system.
• dust control floor mats at the entrance of, or within, buildings.
• These dust control mats conventionally comprise an upper fabric pile and a backing of rubber or plastics material.
• dirt etc. is removed from their shoes to control the bringing of dirt contamination into or the movement of dirt contamination within the building.
• Antistatic floor mats are mats which are able to dissipate the static charge generated by a person walking on them, as a result of being sufficiently conductive and properly earthed. They are particularly useful in computer rooms, microcircuit assembly areas and the like where static build-up can affect operations but they may also be used to prevent people receiving shocks when touching metal in furniture, door knobs and the like.
• a known antistatic floor mat has a sheetlike rubber or plastics backing optionally provided with a pile over at least part of its upper surface and has sufficient electrical conductivity to dissipate any static build-up on it if earthed.
• an antistatic floor mat comprising a rubber or plastics backing and optionally a pile thereover, and having an electrically conductive earthing member being receivable within a slot extending inwardly from a side face of the backing.
• Dust control and antistatic floor mats are generally provided as standard size. Where it is needed to have a floor mat coverage greater than that provided by a single mat naturally two or more mats are used.
• Preferably patterned mat designs are such that the pattern is substantially continuous when mats are laid side-by-side or end-to-end. However, as people walk across the mats, the mats tend to move apart and any continuous mat pattern is lost and parts of the floor lose dirt and dust control protection.
• a floor mat system comprising at least two floor mats, each having a rubber or plastics backing and optionally provided with a pile extending over at least part of its upper surface, and means for linking the mats together to prevent relative movement between them, wherein the linking means comprises a plate located in adjacent horizontally extending slots formed in the backing of contiguous mats.
• the linking means comprises a plate located in adjacent horizontally extending slots formed in the backing of contiguous mats.
• contiguous mats are linked by at least two plates, each plate being located in adjacent horizontally extending slots formed in the backing of the contiguous mats.
• Each floor mat used in the floor mat system of the present invention will have at least one slot in a side face of the mat, each such slot corresponding to a slot in the side face of the contiguous mat.
• the preferred floor mat for use in the floor mat system in the present invention comprises at least two slots in each of four sides of the mat so that each mat can be linked to more than one other mat and in order that the direction of linking of the mats can be varied according to particular requirements.
• the slots are preferably incorporated in the backing during its manufacture, for example by insertion of an appropriately shaped former which does not adhere to the backing material during curing and which can be removed after curing is complete, for example a polytetrafluoroethylene sheet former.
• the slots are preferably so sized and shaped that the linking plate forms a tight fit when inserted.
• the elongate slot may taper inwards of the mat and conveniently extends perpendicularly from the mat side face.
• the floor mats used according to the present invention can be of conventional construction and formulation, with or without a pile surface, and can be of conventional size and shape.
• the present invention is more suitably applied to patterned floor mats having designs such that the pattern is substantially continuous across adjacent mats laid side-by-side and/or end-to-end and the continuous pattern may be retained using the floor mat system according to the present invention since the tendency of the mats to move apart is reduced.
• the linking plates used to link contiguous mats can be of any suitable material having sufficient strength to withstand the conditions of use.
• the plates may be in the form of metal, suitably stainless steel, blades.
• the plates may be provided with a friction, e.g. rubber, coating to give a good hold within the slots formed in the mat backing. Solid rubber or plastics blades as well as non-ferrous blades may also be used.
• the floor mats to be linked are placed with the sides to be joined alongside one another and a linking plate is inserted into each adjacent set of horizontally extending slots in the backing of the contiguous mats.
• the floor mat system comprises two dust control floor mats, 1, 2, joined along a contiguous edge by means of a pair of metal plates 3, 4.
• Each of floor mats 1, 2 comprises a rectangular mat having a rubber or plastics backing 6, a fabric pile 7 on the top surface with the exception of a border area 8.
• each slot extends inwardly in a tapering fashion parallel to the top and bottom surfaces of its respective mat.
• the slots are so positioned that, when the floor mats 1, 2 are laid with the faces to be joined contiguous, slot 10 in floor mat 1 is adjacent slot 12 in floor mat 2 and slot 11 in floor mat 1 is adjacent slot 13 in floor mat 2.
• the floor mats 1 and 2 are joined by means of metal plates 3 and 4, metal plate 3 being located, in tightly-fitting fashion, within adjacent slots 10 and 12 and metal plate 4 (only part of which is shown in Figure 2) being, in tightly-fitting fashion, within slots 11 and 13.
• each of the floor mats 1, 2 will preferably also contain a pair of corresponding slots along each of the other three side faces to provide the floor mat with greater adaptability as regards the configuration of the floor mat system.

Landscapes

• Carpets (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=10690080

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Cited By (2)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 1991
  • 1991-02-15 GB GB919103232A patent/GB9103232D0/en active Pending
• 1992
  • 1992-02-13 EP EP19920301202 patent/EP0499474A3/en not_active Withdrawn

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