GB2104777A - Floor mats - Google Patents

Abstract

Windable (rollable) floor coverings of plastics or rubber, with or without a textile covering, are reinforced at edge parts, such as longitudinal or lateral edges or at corner edge parts by reinforcing strips or sections which are sufficiently elastic to return the edge part in question to its plane condition after having been deflected. The reinforcement is preferably arranged at or near the lower surface of the covering, and may be more yieldable in one direction than the other to facilitate rolling-up of the covering.

Description

SPECIFICATION Rubber mat or similar floor coverings The present invention concerns windable floor coverings of rubber or plastic or floor coverings having rubber or plastic backings.

The purpose of the invention is to provide such floor coverings which when placed in position on a floor have less tendency to get corners or edges deflected and which when deflected by force, e.g.

by a foot of a passing person, will be able to revert to its correct condition by itself when the influence of the foot has ceased.

This purpose is obtained when one or several preferably opposite edge parts or the whole edge of a covering of the said art are reinforced in such a way that a deflection of an edge part from its plane condition will create an elastic force which is sufficiently powerful to return the deflected edge part into its plane condition. This reinforcement can be provided e.g. by fibres, threads, or strips of materials which are less yieldable to tension forces than the rubber or plastic of the main part of the floor covering.

The reinforcing material is preferably placed at or relatively close to the bottom face of the edges, The reinforcement can also be provided by means of elastic flexible strips or threads imbedded in or adhered to the edges of the floor covering, the elastic force of the strips or threads alone or in cooperation with the compressive and tensional forces of the remaining edge material being able to return the edges to their plane condition when the deflectional influence has ceased.

The reinforcing material may be vegetable, mineral or metallic, such as of cotton, hemp, glass, rock, steel, aluminium or similar relatively nonstretchable material, but also rubber or plastic compounds having relatively low tensile extension may be used.

When a strip of reinforcing material is used it may be weaved, knitted, cross point fused or adhered into a tissue, network or web, or it may be cut from a foil or extruded into a foil strip. The tissue, web or strip may be bedded into a support layer of elastic material, such as rubber or plastic.

In a preferred embodiment the reinforcing material is a tyrecord layer longitudinally imbedded between two layers of edge material, e.g. between a backing and a top covering. Also two or more layers of tyrecord, possible with intermediate layers of rubber, may be used.

The reinforcing material may extend only in the short edges of a rectangular floor mat, e.g. when the normal traffic is perpendicular to the short edges. The return action of the mat into its plane condition will be increased when at least adjoining parts of the longitudinal edges are also provided with reinforcing material abutting or secured to the reinforcing material of the short edges.

The invention will be explained in further details in connection with some embodiments shown in the drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows plane views of a rectangular and a rounded mat having reinforced edges, Fig. 2 shows a section along the line I-I and/or Il-Il in Fig. 1, Figs. 3-10 show the same as Fig. 2, but of alternative embodiments, Fig. 11 shows a crosswise downwardly bendable and upwardly elastic flexible reinforcing strip material, Fig. 12 shows the strip of Fig. 11 in its bended condition, Fig. 1 3 shows another embodiment of the strip shown in Fig. 11 and 12, Fig. 1 4 shows a longitudinal downwardly bendable and upwardly elastic flexible reinforcing strip material, Fig. 1 5 shows a crosswise downwardly and longitudinal upwardly bendable reinforcing strip, Fig. 1 6 shows cornerconnected reinforcing strips, Fig. 1 7 shows a cornerprovided short edge reinforcing strip, Fig. 1 8 shows a reinforcing strip in the form of a network, and Fig. 1 9 shows the network on a filler body to be inserted in the edge material of a floor covering.

In the drawing Fig. 1 shows a plane view of a rectangular mat 2 and a rounded mat 3 having two short edges 4 and two long edges 5. An area 6 may be equipped with a fabric or a tufting or another frictional dirt and water collecting surface.

At least the short edges 4 are provided with a reinforcement to establish a swish-back effect so that these edges 4 will swish back to their plane condition on the floor supporting the mat 2 or 3.

when a corner or a part of an edge unintentionally has been lifted.

As shown in Figs. 2-10 the mats 2 and 3 have a rubber or plastic backing 7, the edge of which carries a reinforcing strip 8. In Figs. 2-5 the strips are vulcanized or adhered to the top side of the backing 7 and the strip is covered by a broader protection strip 9 which protects the reinforcing strip 8, keeps possible liquid on the mat 2 or 3 from passing the edges 4, 5 and may give the edges a better appearance e.g. by means of a colour or special surface pattern.

In Fig. 3 a filler 12 is placed between the strips 8 and 9 in order to smoothen the top surface of the strip 9 and to increase the stiffness of the edge without using a protection strip 9 of increased thickness. In Fig. 4 two strips 8 in sandwich are used to further increase the stiffness and hence the swish-back effect. To smoothen the top surface of the strip 9 two filler bodies 14 are placed along the strips 8.

This sandwich effect may be further increased by having a filler body 1 6 between the two reinforcing strips 8 as shown in Fig. 5. A tufting 1 8 is shown vulcanized to the backing 7 and to the top of the strip 9.

In Figs. 6-10 the reinforcing strip 8 is adhered or vulcanized to the bottom of the backing 7 to obtain the swish-back effect for the edge of the backing alone, Fig. 6, of the backing 7 with tufting in the edge zone, too, Fig. 7, and of the backing 7 with tufting inside the edge zone and an edge protecting strip 9, Fig. 8. In the embodiments of Figs. 7 and 8 the tufting and the protecting strip 9, respectively, increases the swish-back effect. In Figs. 9 and 10 a strip 20 for protecting the reinforcing strip 8 is secured to the bottom of the strip 8 and the backing 7.

For handling and cleaning purposes the reinforcing strip 8 may have incisions 22 in its upper surface as shown in Fig. 11. Thereby the strip 8 may be bent downward more easily as shown in Fig. 12, so that a mat 2 provided with strips 8 of Figs. 11 and 12 easily may be rolled into a roll with its topside turned outward.

Fig. 13 shows a similar reinforcing strip 8 where the tyrecord material has been replaced by a metal strip 24, e.g. of stainless steel, provided with incompressible or elastic bricks 26 adhered or vulcanized to its upperface.

In Figs. 11-13 the incisions 22 or the bricks 26 extend crosswise of the strip 8, but in Fig. 1 3 the bricks 26 extend longitudinally of the strip 8.

The strips of Figs. 11 13 will be suitable as reinforcements of the long edges of a mat while the strips of Fig. 14 will be suitable for the short edges of the mat, when this is desired to be easily rolled around an axis parallel to the short edges.

The embodiment of Fig. 1 5 has bricks 28 adhered, vulcanized or welded to the metal strip 24, which in case of adhering or vulcanizing may be of other flexible, relative stiff material, such as tyrecord, glass fibre armed plastic or similar relatively stiff and elastic materials. The bricks 28 may be of elastic material with no mutual distances or of stiff incompressible material with mutual distances allowing an upward bending of limited radius of curvature which together with the elasticity of the superposed rubber layers will cause the mat edge to swish back to plane condition.

In several mat or carpet types having two short edges and two relatively long edges it is enough to reinforce the two short edges being the edges that are most liable to be lifted and bent over, but the swish-back effect can be further increased when the long edges or the parts of these abutting the short edges are reinforced by reinforcing strips 8, as shown schematically in Figs. 1 6 and 1 7.

In Fig. 1 6 the two short edge corners are reinforced by the short edge reinforcing strip 8 and the abutting strip pieces of the longitudinal edges.

The strips 8 are fused, welded or adhered together in the corner zones.

In Fig. 1 7 the short edge reinforcing strip 8 is integral of the longitudinal edge reinforcing strip parts.

Fig. 1 8 shows a network formed reinforcing strip 8 which may be used alone instead of the strips 8 in Figs. 2-10 or together with a filler body 30 as shown in Fig. 1 9 together with which it may replace the strips 8 of Figs. 2-10.

The network of Fig. 1 8 may be adhered or welded in all crosspoints or welded only along its margins. The material may be metal, such as stainless steel, or plastic.

The thickness of the backing 7 is 0.8-3 mm, preferably 1.3 mm, the thickness of each reinforcing strip 8 is 0.1-1.5 mm, depending of the chosen material, and preferably 0.75 mm when the material is tyrecord, the thickness of the filler body 1 6 is 0.5-1.5 mm, preferably 1.0 mm and the total thickness of the edge is 1.2 10 mm, preferably 4.8 mm.

The width of the reinforcing strip 8 is 10-40 mm, preferably 25 mm, and the total width of the edge 4 or 5 is 25-70 mm, preferably 50 mm.

Claims (4)

1. A windable floor covering of rubber or plastics, or having a rubber or plastics backing, such as a washable textile covered mat having a polymer backing of rubber or plastics, the covering having edge portions, such as corner edges and/or lateral or longitudinal edges, are reinforced in such a manner that deflection of an edge part from its plane condition will create an elastic force able to return the deflected part to its plane condition when the deflecting influence has been removed.

2. A floor covering according to claim 1 wherein the reinforcement is positioned at or close to the lower face of the covering.

3. A floor covering according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the reinforcement is elastically deformable in one direction to create a force able to return the deflected edge parts in to the plane condition, and is elastically deformable in the opposite direction to create a smaller elastic restoring force.

4. A windable floor covering substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.