GB2232081A - Safety matting - Google Patents

Abstract

Safety matting for use around swings and in other locations where a fall onto a rigid surface might cause serious or even fatal injury comprises an upper resilient layer of shredded rubber and a plurality of underlying feet. Each foot is formed from S.B.R. rubber and comprises downwardly directed fastening means in the form of a hole 5 that opens onto the bottom 4 of said foot. An upper region of each hole 5 is connected by bleeder holes 10 to the outer surface of the foot concerned and the top of each foot carries an upwardly directed anchorage 8 whose top is provided with an oblong enlargement 9. Each anchorage 8 and enlargement 9 are embedded in the upper layer of the matting. <IMAGE>

Description

SAFETY MATTING This invention relates to safety matting which is suitable for many purposes but which has particular utility in regard to the ground surface surroundings of swings, slides, roundabouts and the like that are found in children's playgrounds throughout the country. Many serious and sometimes fatal accidents occur in such locations when the surrounds of playground equipment are hard and virtually completely lacking in resiliency, asphalt, concrete and even natural soil upon which there may be at least some grass being examples of surfaces of this general kind.The realisation that such hard surfaces allied to playground equipment from which children often fall, sometimes from a considerable height, are responsible for injuries of which many could be completely avoided whilst others could be significantly reduced in severity, has led in recent times to calls in newspapers and upon the radio and television for local authorities, in particular, to provide resilient surrounds for playground equipment, considerably to reduce the inevitable danger of the use of the latter. As a result, local authorities and others are now tending to adopt the use of resilient matting in locations which surround playground and other equipment from which a fall could cause a more or less severe injury.

The use of this resilient matting has undoubtedly reduced serious injuries as compared with the prior employment of substantially rigid surface materials and it is an object of the present invention to provide resilient matting which may be used under circumstances of the kind that have been discussed and that will provide a considerable improvement from the safety point of view, as compared with known matting, and without being unduly expensive.

According to the invention, there is provided safety matting comprising an upper layer of resilient material and e. lower layer formed from a plurality of at least partly separate resilient feet, said feet exhibiting downwardly directed fastening means and upwardly directed anchorage means secured in said upper layer of resilient material.

For a better understanding of the invention, and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a lower layer of a safety mat in accordance with the invention taken on the line I-I in Figure 2, Figure 2 is a plan view corresponding to Figures 1 and 3, and Figure 3 is a side elevation taken on the line III-II1 in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, it will be noted that the upper layer of resilient material is not illustrated since that upper layer is known per ie. It comprises shredded rubber , the shreds being firmly held together by a commercially available binding adhesive. Preferably, but not essentially, this upper layer of shredded rubber has a thickness of between substantially 25 and substantially 30 millimetres. The drawings show a single resilient rubber foot of a lower layer of the safety mat and it will be apparent that this foot is basically circular and that its lowermost surface is in the form of a substantially flat and circular horizontal bottom 4. The foot has a diameter of substantially 60 millimetres.

An upwardly directed hole 5 opens centrally of the bottom 4 which bottom 4 surrounds the mouth of the hole 5 to a minimum extent of 4 millimetres and initially has a diameter of 15 millimetres.

The hole 5 extends cylindrically upwards for a short distance and then progressively increases in diameter in a spherical manner to reach a maximum diameter of about 28 millimetres at a level a little more than 17 millimetres above that of the bottom 4. The inner portion of the hole 5 that is being described decreases in diameter in a spherical manner above the maximum diameter location until a substantially flat "blind" uppermost end thereof is reached, this end having a diameter of about 15 millimetres and being located about 37 millimetres above the relatively parallel bottom 4 of the foot concerned.

The upper "blind" end of the hole 5 in the foot is spaced vertically by about 3 millimetres from a flat circular surface 6 whose radially outermost edge is provided with four upwardly directed lips 7 each of which has a thickness of 2 millimetres and each of which is spaced from its two neighbours, at its opposite ends, by 5 millimetres for drainage purposes. Each lip 7 preferably has an upright extent of substantially 5 millimetres. The centre of the flat circular surface 6 is provided, opposite the blind" upper end of the hole 5, with an upwardly directed anchorage 8 whose uppermost end carries an oblong enlargement 9 measuring 20 millimetres by 8 millimetres with a thickness of 3 millimetres. The anchorage 8 itself is, as can be seen in the drawings, enlarged at its lowermost end.In fact, the extreme lowermost end of the anchorage 8 has a thickness of about 8 millimetres. This thickness progressively reduces to a minimum of about 5 millimetres and then progressively increases again until the anchorage 8 meets the lowermost surface of the oblong enlargement 9. The anchorage 8 has an upright length of approximately 27 millimetres. In fact, each of the four lips 7 is formed with at least two small holes (not shown) and the whole of the anchorage 8 and the whole of the enlargement 9, which are surrounded by the corresponding lips 7, are embedded in the resilient shredded rubber upper layer of the mat of which the foot under discussion forms a part. Thus, it is impossible to detach the lower layer which comprises a plurality of the feet that have been described from the upper layer without exerting sufficient force to destroy the mat.The uppermost surface of the enlargement 9 of the anchorage 8 is substantially flush with the uppermost free surface of the upper layer of resilient material of the mat.

If, in use, a child should fall off, for example, a swing surrounded by a surface formed by matting in accordance with the invention, the shredded rubber upper layer will be compressed and a mechanical shock will be suddenly exerted upon some of the underlying and supporting feet. The kinetic energy of this shock is at least partially absorbed by compressing the air that is trapped in the upper "blind" end regions of the corresponding holes 5 and forcing it through normally more or less closed bleeder holes 10 which extend downwardly at substantially 45 through the material of each foot from said upper end region thereof to the outer surface of the foot.Although not exceptionally critical, each bleeder hole may have a diameter of approximately 2.5 millimetres and each affected foot quite quickly regains its normal configuration after an occurrence of the kind just briefly mentioned.

A mat is formed by uniting a plurality of the described "feet" with a single upper layer.

Conveniently, but not essentially, such a mat may be square measuring substantially 750 millimetres x 750 millimetres and may be substantially 60 millimetres thick. It will exhibit sixty-four of the feet that have been described in an 8 x 8 configuration. A spacing of 22d millimetres is preferably provided between immediately neighbouring mats. The holes 5 afford downwardly directed fastening means and their mouths will, in practice, engage appropriate upwardly directed rigid projections formed in an underlying drained support structure, the resiliency of the material from which the feet are produced enabling such projections to be quite firmly grasped. The material from which the feet are preferably formed is that which is known commercially as S.B.R. rubber.

This material has the required resilience, is extremely durable and is fully resistant to rainwater and other common solvents by which it might possibly be contaminated in an everyday, outdoor, environment.

In order still further to strengthen the connection of the feet to the upper layer of shredded rubber, that layer preferably surrounds each foot by way of four ribs that are spaced apart from one another at 90 around the longitudinal axis of the foot concerned. Each rib preferably has an outer surface that is inclined to the longitudinal axis of the foot under consideration at an angle of substantially 45 . The arrangement at the edge of one of the mats is such that each neighbouring mat can co-operate effectively with the underlying upward projections whilst leaving the required drainage spacing of, preferably, 22d millimetres, between said mats This is achieved by locating the relevant feet at substantially 5 millimetres from the outer edge of the mat of which they form parts.

A surround for, again purely for example, a swing, formed from a plurality of the resilient mats that have been described prevents, except in the most adverse of circumstances, a child falling from the swing receiving anything worse than slight bruising and/or one or two very minor abrasions and this is due to the resiliency of the known upper layer combined with the considerably improved resiliency of the underlying and supporting feet that have been described above. In fact, test work that has been done shows that matting in accordance with the invention has a very significantly improved resiliency, and thus a proportionately increased safety factor, as compared with known matting intended for similar circumstances. The matting that has been described is particularly suitable for surrounding playground equipment but it will immediately be realised that it is by no means limited to this use and that it could equally well be employed in many other public and private locations where a fall by a child, an elderly person or an adult might cause serious injury, or even fatal injury, if that fall were onto a substantially rigid concrete, asphalt or other surface.

Claims (12)

1. l. Safety matting comprising an upper layer of resilient material and a lower layer formed from a plurality of at least partly separate resilient feet, said feet exhibiting downwardly directed fastening means and upwardly directed anchorage means secured in said upper layer of resilient material.
2. 2. Safety matting according to claim 1, wherein the fastening means of each foot comprises e. hole whose mouth opens into the bottom of the foot concerned.
3. 3. Safety matting according to claim 2, wherein each hole commences with a circular cylindrical portion above which said hole is progressively enlarged in a spherical manner to reach a maximum diameter location above which it is progressively reduced in diameter in a spherical manner to terminate in a "blind" flat uppermost end.
4. 4. Safety matting according to any preceding claim, wherein the top of each foot is formed with an upwardly directed anchorage carrying an enlargement at its upper end.
5. 5. Safety matting according to claim 4, wherein each enlargement is oblong in shape.
6. 6. Safety matting according to claim 4 or 5, wherein each anchorage progressively diminishes in thickness from the top of the corresponding foot to a minimum thickness location from which latter it progressively increases in thickness up fo the lower surface of the corresponding enlargement.
7. 7. Safety matting according to claim 2 or any one of claims 3 to 6 when read as appendant to claim 2, wherein a plurality of bleeder holes interconnect an upper region of each hole affording fast ening means and the outer surface of the corresponding foot.
8. 8. Safety matting according to claim 7, wherein each bleeder hole has a diameter of substantially 2.5 millimetres and is inclined at substantially 45 to the longitudinal axis of the corresponding foot.
9. 9. Safety matting according to any one of claims 4, 5 or 6, wherein each anchorage and each enlargement are embedded in the upper layer of the matting.
10. 10. Safety matting according to any preceding claim, wherein the feet are formed from the material known commercially as S*B.R. rubber.
11. 11. Safety matting according to any preceding claim, wherein said upper layer is formed principally from shredded rubber.
12. 12. Safety matting substantially as hereinbefore described with or without reference to the accompanying drawings.