GB2220839A - Table mats or coasters - Google Patents

Abstract

A table mat or coaster is formed from toughened glass. One or both faces of the mat or coaster may carry permanent decoration as by etching or screen printing. The mat or coaster may be of a circular disc shape. <IMAGE>

Description

TABLE MATS OR COASTERS This invention relates to table mats or coasters.

Intended as decorative protectors for heat sensitive or scratchable table tops, table (or place) mats or coasters are made in a variety of materials including most commonly "soft" materials such as hardboard (usually covered with a plastic finish on the upper face), cork, raffia and textile fabrics. These materials are chosen because they are usually not very expensive, because they have good thermal insulation, because they can be made decorative as by printing on the plastic finish or by using a printed textile or by a decorative raffia weave, and also because they are light in weight and soft enough not to scratch or mechanically damage wooden or glass table tops.

A disadvantage of all of these materials is that they are not long lasting, and they are not easy to clean without adding to the rate of deterioration through use. Some hardboard mats with a quality melamine finish can be quite easily wiped over after use, but that applies only to the top face - the back is not so easily dealt with and in time even careful treatment of the plastic finish permits water ingress at the edges and eventual delamination.

With the exception of textile mats which can be washed in the domestic washing machine, but then usually need ironing, these mats cannot be successfully machine washed.

The present invention provides a table mat or coaster which does not have the problems of the conventional mats referred to above.

The invention comprises a toughened glass table mat or coaster. The mat can have a permanent decoration.

The mat can have an etched decoration on one face, or a screen printed ceramic paste decoration bonded in the glass surface by heat toughening treatment of the mat.

Toughened safety glass would not normally be regarded as a material suitable for table mats or coasters, since it does not have the "soft" qualities of the materials spoken of above and it would not, at first sight, being dense, be imagined to have the sort of thermal insulating properties required to protect wooden, veneered, polished or lacquered table tops.

In a sense, of course, similar materials, e.g.

ceramics and even oven-to-table glassware, are already used as table top protectors, for example saucers under tea and coffee cups, and under soup plates. These, however, are not of the essence of table mats or coasters inasmuch as their primary function is to catch and retain slopped or dripped beverage or soup or whatever and they are dished for such purpose. The dishing requirement and the manner of manufacture mean that the underside has a narrow, shallow annular pedestal on which to rest, which is, particularly in ceramic products, usually left essentially unfinished and rough so that it is prone to cause mechanical damage exactly as other plates or as the tea cup or soup plate would. And so table mats are still required even beneath saucers under cups and soup plates.

The toughened glass mats or coasters of the present invention however have the conventional table mat or coaster configuration which is essentially a disc with plane top and bottom faces. Thus there is no narrow annular pedestal - the plane bottom face spreads the weight of the mat evenly and the mat or coaster can slide or coast exactly as with conventional mats without the risk of damage attendant upon sliding conventional saucers or plates.

Surprisingly, it is found that there is no problem at all with heat conduction from hot plates and dishes, the thermal properties of toughened glass turning out to be quite adequate for this use.

The permanently etched or screen printed, bonded-in decoration will permit the mats to be placed with the rest of the tableware in the dishwasher, or washed conventionally by hand along with the tableware, with no risk of deterioration or of wearing or washing off the decoration.

The mats or coasters can be decorated with any required pattern by either of the techniques mentioned, and may be patterned to match a set of tableware including oven-to-table ware, or, especially in the case of etching, may be customised.

The techniques for making toughened glass articles and for decorating such by etching or by screen printing are well known and applied to other articles such for example as shower doors, and need not be further described here.

One embodiment of a toughened glass table mat or coaster according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view, and Figure 2 is a side elevation.

The drawings illustrate a toughened glass table mat or coaster 11 having a disc shape - circular in this case, but oval, square, oblong or any other shape can be used as desired - and plane upper 12 and lower 13 faces.

The upper face 12 is decorated with a pattern by etching or screen printing a ceramic paste and then subjecting the plate 11 to heat toughening treatment.

The edge 14 of the plate 11 is smoothly rounded, leaving nothing sharp to risk damaging table tops.

If desired, both faces may be decorated with the same or different patterns, and the mat or coaster may comprise part of a set of matching mats or coasters and other tableware. By tableware is meant crockery or china, and also cutlery.

It will be appreciated that it is not intended to limit the invention to the above example only, many variations, such as might readily occur to one skilled in the art, being possible, without departing from the scope thereof as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (7)

1. A toughened glass table mat or coaster.

2. A mat or coaster according to claim 1, having a permanent decoration.

3. A mat or coaster according to claim 2, having an etched decoration on at least one face.

4. A mat or coaster according to claim 2 or claim 3, having a screen printed ceramic paste decoration on at least one face, bonded into the glass surface by heat toughening treatment thereof.

5. A mat or coaster according to any preceding claim having a rounded edge or edges.

6. A toughened glass table mat or coaster substantially as hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

7. A set of tableware comprising a set of mats or coasters according to any one of claims 1 to 6, all having a matching decoration.