GB2407765A

GB2407765A - Mat with separate tray for collecting dirt

Info

Publication number: GB2407765A
Application number: GB0325206A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alec Cuthbertson
Original assignee: RYEDALE INTERNAT MARKETING COM
Current assignee: RYEDALE INTERNAT MARKETING COM
Priority date: 2003-10-29
Filing date: 2003-10-29
Publication date: 2005-05-11
Also published as: GB0325206D0

Abstract

A mat comprises a tray 3 having a base 5. A panel 19 is located on the tray and provides a support surface upon which a person may stand. The panel 19 is provided with means such as bristles (41, figure 3) for removing dirt and the like from the footwear of the person. The panel 19 defines a passageway from the support surface to the base whereby removed dirt may be received. The base 5 may include ribs 9 on which, together with step platforms 11 adjacent the tray walls 13, the panel rests in use. The passageway may comprise a plurality of openings (29, figure 1) extending through the panel 19.

Description

- 2407765

MAT

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to mats, particularly, but not exclusively to those mats placed at the entrance or exit of buildings or other enclosures or areas which are to enable people to wipe their feet before entry or exit to or from the enclosure or area.

Background of the Invention

Entrance mats are known which are made of flexible materials, examples being rubber backed textile constructions and woven coconut fibre mats.

Such known mats are of limited use. In particular, they cannot cope with the removal of substantial amounts of dirty of other materials from footwear and themselves need to be shaken and/or cleaned regularly. There is a need for a mat which can cope with larger quantities of dirt etc. and can be easily restored to its original pre-use condition at any time.

Statements of the Invention

According to the present invention there is provided a mat comprising a tray having a base, a panel located on the tray and for providing a support surface upon which a person may stand, said panel being provided with means for removing dirt etc. from the footwear of the person, and said panel defining a passageway from said surface to said base whereby removed dirt may be received.

The mat may include a single panel or alternatively a plurality of panels arranged in a side-by-side relationship. The tray may be provided with an upstanding wall extending around substantially the entire periphery of the tray. The or each panel may then occupy substantially the whole of the area bounded by the wall.

The tray and the or each panel may be rigid structures made of, for instance, a synthetic plastics material, an example being polypropylene.

Preferably the or each panel is provided with a plurality of passageways each optionally being sub-divided, allowing material removed from footwear to pass from the surface of the or each panel to the base of the tray.

The or each panel may be loosely located on the tray or some form of locating or connecting arrangement may be provided to produce a more positive connection between the or each panel and the tray. Whether loosely or more positively connected, the or each panel can, however, be easily removed from the tray and the tray then emptied of the dirt etc. which is has collected on its base. The panel(s) may then be relocated on the tray and the mat then further used.

Preferably the or each panel is formed of a matrix of spaced apart, interconnecting webs which together define a plurality of passageways. At their upper edges, some at least of the webs are provided with integral, laterally extending support flanges.

Viewed from above, this arrangement provides rows of alternating holes (the openings to the passageways) and solid areas (the laterally extending flanged portions). Preferably the openings to the passageways are elongate and rectangular and more preferably have opposed straight and curved ends.

Preferably the means for removing dirt etc. from the footwear of the user comprises at least one relatively rigid bristle assembly. More preferably the or each bristle assembly comprises a plurality of upstanding, tightly packed bristles which may be made of a suitable synthetic or natural material, an en example being polypropylene.

Preferably the or each bristle assembly is located within a support elements which itself is firmly anchored within the panel. The support element may be in the form of an insert for location within the opening to one of the passageways. Preferably such an insert is made of a rigid plastics material such as polypropylene and is shaped and dimensioned so as to be capable of being force fitted into said opening so as to be tightly held within the opening to such a degree that the considerable forced applied to it during the footwear cleaning process will not dislodge the insert from the panel.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The accompanying drawings are as follows: Figure I is a top plan view of a mat of the present invention; Figure 2 is an exploded section through the mat of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side elevation of an insert for use with the mat of Figure 1; Figure 4 is an end elevation of the insert of Figure 3; and Figure 5 is a top plan view of the insert of Figure 3.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings, a mat 1 of the invention comprises a tray 3 formed from a single plastics moulding made of polypropylene. In plan view, tray 3 is rectangular, being nearly square, and has a base 5 and an outer integral peripheral wall 7 extending all the way round the base. Base 5 includes five parallel ribs 9, each extending from a position spaced from one edge of wall 7 to a corresponding position spaced from the opposite edge of wall 7. Spaced outwardly of the two outer ribs 9, base 5 steps upwardly to provide support shoulders 11 each of which has a depth equal to that of the ribs 9. Along the other two edges of tray 3 base 6 meets wall 7 in two steps providing two shoulders (not shown), the first of said shoulders being in effect a continuation of shoulder 11 and the second providing a further stepped up portion of the base.

Wall 7 has an inner vertical section 13, a short horizontal upper section 15 extending outwardly from vertical section 13 and a downwardly and outwardly sloping outer section 17 which terminates at the same lower level as base S. Tray l is provided with a single panel 19 which is loosely located on the tray 3. the overall dimensions and shape of panel 19 are such that the panel will fit snugly within the tray and will occupy substantially the whole of the space within wall 7 above the ribs 9 and the shoulders around the edge of the base upon which the panel is seated. Panel 19 is a single plastics moulding made from polypropylene. A first series of interconnecting, integral webs includes edge webs 21 extending the entire length of each of the side of the panel 19 and interior webs 23 connecting opposed edge webs 21 and intersecting each other. In addition, panel 19 is provided with two further edge webs (not shown) each extending along an edge of the panel and having a depth slightly less than edge webs 21. These further edge webs are for locations on the second shoulders of the tray mentioned above.

It would be appreciated that the above described major webs result in a division of the panel into twenty "cells", each one bounded by four webs 21, 23. Each cell is in turn sub-divided into five smaller units by minor webs (not shown) which extend from left to right, as seen in Figure 1 and which have a depth less than that of the major webs 21, 23. Also within each cell is a web 25 extending from top to bottom (as seen in Figure 1) of the cell and having an upper edge coplanar with the upper edges of the major webs.

Located at a level just below the upper edges of the major webs 21, 23 and webs 25, the minor webs (not shown) are provided with laterally extending flanged portions 27 with the result that, viewed in plan, the upper surface of panel 19 comprises a large number of openings 29 each surrounded by a combination of webs 21, 23 and the flanged portions 27 of the minor webs. Each opening 29 is of an elongate rectangular shape having one end curved and the opposite end straight.

Below the opening 29 the panel 21 provides an enlarged passageway extending from the opening 29 to the bottom edges of the webs. These passageways enable dirt or other material removed from the footwear of the user to drop from the upper surface of the panel 19 to the base of the tray 3.

In order to allow dirt and other material to be removed from the footwear of the person standing on the mat, dirt removing means are located in the panel 19. These devices are shown in Figures 3 to 5 and are in the form of inserts 31, each of which comprises a plurality of bristle assemblies 33 and a support element 35.

Support element 35 is a tablet which in plan (Figure 5) has a shape corresponding to that of opening 29 in panel l9. As shown in Figures 3 and 4 support element 31 is substantially rectangular in side elevation and is provided with an upper outwardly extending rim or flange 37 which extends around the two long edges and the curved end of the element 31.

The support element 31 is provided with four blind bores 39 which extend downwardly from the upper surface of the support element 31. Located in each of blind bores 31 is a bristle assembly 41 which comprises a large number of tightly packed bristles made of a synthetic plastics materials such as polypropylene. Each bristle assembly, comprising a bundle of bristles is located in its blind bore by a procedure involving the driving of a staple, located around the middle of the bundle, with the bundle laid horizontally across the opening of the blind bore, into the blind bore carrying the bundle with it so that the free ends of the bristles are all aligned above the bore in a tightly packed configuration as shown in Figures 3 and 4.

The support element 31 is located in one of the openings 29 in panel l9 by push fitting it into the opening until the rim 37 abuts the upper edge of the opening 29. A plurality of inserts are located in panel 29, for instance, about twenty inserts may be used, spaced apart by at least one unoccupied opening 29 and located in central regions of the tray 19.

The above described mat provides an effective means for people to clean the bottom of their footwear before entering or leaving a building or other area. The user simply scrapes the bottom of his footwear against the upstanding bristles of the inserts in the panel. Dirt removed from the footwear will tend to fall through the various unoccupied openings 29 and accumulate on the base of the tray 3. When desired the mat can be emptied of dirt simply by separating the panel and the tray and emptying the accumulated dirt from the tray.

A mat in accordance with the present invention may be used in any situation where the removal of dirt from footwear is desirable, examples being domestic use, at sports grounds and in the factory or other working environment. Furthermore the mat may be in plain colours or decorated to achieve a desired aesthetic or advertising effect.

By way of example, the inserts may be provided in various colours and may be arranged in openings in the panel so as to achieve a desired effect. This may be purely decorative or it may be such as to provide the colours and/or emblem of a particular organisation such as a football club. Furthermore the inserts may be arranged so as to spell out the name of the football club or some other message.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A mat comprising a tray having a base panel located on the tray

for providing a support surface upon which a person may stand, said panel being provided with means for removing dirt and the like from the footwear of the person, said panel defining a passageway from said surface to said base whereby removed dirt may be received.
2. A mat according to claim I in the form of a single panel.
3. A mat according to claim 1 and in the form of a plurality of panels arranged in a side by side relationship.
4. A mat according to any of the preceding claims wherein the tray is provided with an upstanding wall extending around substantially the entire periphery thereof.
5. A mat according to any of the preceding claims wherein the or each panel is provided with a plurality of passageways, each optionally being sub-divided, allowing material removed from footwear to pass from the surface of the or each panel to the base of the tray.
6. A mat according to any of the proceeding claims wherein the or each panel is formed of a matrix of spaced-apart, interconnecting webs which together define a plurality of passageways.
7. A mat according to claim 6 wherein, at their upper edges, some at least of the webs are provided with integral, laterally extending support flange.
8. A mat according to claim 7 wherein the arrangement provides rows of alternating holes (the openings to the passageways) and solid areas (the laterally extending flanged portions).
9. A mat according to claim 8 wherein the openings to the passageways are elongate and rectangular.
10. A mat according to claim 9 wherein the openings to the passageways have opposed straight and curved ends.
11. A mat according to any of the preceding claims wherein the means for removing dirt and the like from the footwear of the user comprises at least one relatively rigid bristle assembly.
12. A mat according to claim I I wherein the or each bristle assembly comprises a plurality of upstanding tightly packed bristles.
13. A mat according to claim 12 wherein the bristles are made of polypropylene.
14. A mat according to claim 11 wherein each bristle assembly is located within a support element which itself is firmly anchored within the panel.
15. A mat according to claim 14 wherein the support element is in the form of an insert for location within the opening to one of the passageways.
16. A mat according to claim 15 wherein the insert is made of polypropylene.
17. A mat according to claim 15 or 16 wherein the insert is shaped and dimensioned so as to be capable of being force fitted into said opening.
18. A mat according to claim I substantially as herein described.
19. A mat substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.