GB2449690A

GB2449690A - Foldable floor covering

Info

Publication number: GB2449690A
Application number: GB0710440A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Keighley
Original assignee: PRIMEUR Ltd
Current assignee: PRIMEUR Ltd
Priority date: 2007-05-31
Filing date: 2007-05-31
Publication date: 2008-12-03
Also published as: GB0710440D0

Abstract

A foldable planar floor covering has formed integrally therewith at least one hinge 4, 8, 9, 1-4, 1-6, 1-7 extending across one dimension of the covering to enable at least a section 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 of the covering to be folded over to lie on top of and flush with the surface of an adjacent section of the covering. It is possible to have a further hinge 15 located at 90{ to the said at least one hinge. In particular the covering is a floor mat and the hinge is a thin film hinge formed in the backing layer of the covering. Hinges may be formed on opposing sides of the covering to enable sections to be folded into a z-shape.

Description

A FOLDABLE FLOOR COVERING

The present invention relates to a foldable, planar floor covenng, particularly but not exclusively, to floor coverings such as door mats and rugs.

The storage, transport and, in particular, the display of such items in retail outlets causes problems because of the bulk of the product and the fad that a typically sized doormat, for example, is far too large for standard size shelving, which creates problems in storage in warehouses and stores, and in retail outlets inevitably means that the mats have to be stacked on the floor and cannot be displayed adequately. It is known to roll up such mats but this is extremely inefficient and wasteful of shelf space particularly, since the product cannot be satisfactorily stacked on top of each other when they are rolled up, since inherently any such stable pile will be unstable. Again, the product cannot be not satisfactorily displayed to the potential purchaser when rolled up. These problems increase costs for storage and transportation and potentially reduce sales because of the difficulties in adequately displaying the product.

The present invention seeks to provide a solution to these problems.

According to the present invention there is provided a foldable planar floor covering having formed integrally therewith a hinge extending across one dimension of the covering to enable at least a section of the covering to be folded over to lie on top of and flush with the surface of an adjacent section of the covering.

Preferably, the covering it is a doormat. In a preferred embodiment, the hinge comprises a thin film hinge formed in a backing layer of the mat. In another preferred embodiment, a further hinge is provided extending across a dimension of the covering normal to said one dimension, to enable the covering to be folded into a quarter of its open size.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-.

Figure 1 shows a doormat having two sections with different surface finishes and joined by a film hinge.

Figure 2, shows a doormat having three sections joined by two hinges in spaced parallel relationship, Figure 3, shows a further embodiment of having two hinges, one normal to the other, Figure 4 shows and end view, schematically, of a doormat folded into a Z shape, Figure 5 shows an alternative embodiment having two adjacent parallel thin film hinges, and, Figure 6 shows a further embodiment of a door mat.

Referring now to Figure 1 of the drawings, there is shown a doormat having two rectangular sections, each having a different surface paftem and profile, section 2 having a relatively hard smooth rubber or plastics finish and the section 3 having a textile finish.

The two sections 2, 3 are mounted on a backing sheet (not shown) with two of the longer sides being essentially contiguous, and at this junction, the backing sheet forms or incorporates a thin film hinge 4 about which the two sections are relatively pivotable to enable the two sections to be folded about the hinge line. In this way, the undersides of the backing sheet on the two sections abut each other so that the two sections lie flush closely abutting each other and substantially parallel. In this position the mat can be more easily placed on a shelf and, for storage purposes, other mats may be placed on top of it to build up a pile of mats in a stable pile.

Referring now to Figure 2, there is shown a doormat which incorporates three contiguous rectangular sections 5, 6, 7, which are of substantially the same size, and joined by a thin backing sheet incorporating two spaced parallel film hinges 8 and 9.

Figure 4 shows an end view of this embodiment in a folded condition for storage, in which the sections are folded over in a fan- fold or a Z-shaped manner.

Figure 3 illustrates a further embodiment of a doormat in accordance with the present invention, which consists of four generally square sections 10, 11 12, 13 mounted on a backing sheet which incorporates two film hinges 14, 15 located normal to each other. In this way, the two sections 10 and 12, can be folded to lie under the sections 11 and 13 respectively by a pivotal moment about the hinge 14. Thereafter, the two sections can be folded about the hinge 15 so that the surface of the section lilies on top of the surface of the section 13. In this way, the carpet can be stacked on a shelf, covering only a quarter of the surface area of the opened mat.

Referring now to Figure 5, there is shown a development of the concept which would be useful in particular for very thick mats such as the coir matting used for door mats. In this development, instead of having just one film hinge in the backing strip, the backing strip has two film hinges 16, 17 in parallel relationship and sufficiently close to each other to enable the two sections of the mat to be folded over to lie essentially flush one on the other without causing excessive distortion or squashing of the surface pile or coir 18 of the mat which might otherwise occur in the region of the hinge is only a single hinge were used.

Figure 6 shows a further embodiment, of a doormat, which is formed of a substantially rigid plastic material having an open lattice type construction. The mat has two sections, 19 and 20, joined by two thin film hinges 21 and 22 located on one face of the mat. In a development of this form of mat, the mat may be formed of three contiguous sections hingedly joined together by parallel thin film hinges. To enable the mat to be folded up into a flat Z-shape, one of the thin-film hinges is located on the underside of the mat and the other thin-film hinge is located on the upper side of the mat It will be appreciated that many variations may be made to the basic layout For example, the three section doormat illustrated in Figure 2 could equally have a further hinge (not shown) located at 900 to the two hinges 8 and 9 to enable the mat to be folded in half in the plane at 900 to the hinges 8 and 9. Also, although a film hinge is described, it is possible for other forms of hinge to be formed, such as clipping together two inter-engaging plastics parts.

Claims

1. A foldable planar floor covering having formed integrally therewith a hinge extending across one dimension of the covering to enable at least a section of the covering to be folded over to lie on top of and flush with the surface of an adjacent section of the covering.

2. A floor covering, according to claim 1, wherein two hinges arranged in spaced parallel relationship are provided.

3. A floor covering according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a further hinge is provided arranged at 90 to the first mentioned hinge.

4. A floor covering according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the covering is a doormat.

5. A floor covering according to anyone of claims 1-4, wherein the hinge comprises a thin film hinge formed in a backing layer of the covering.

6. A floor covering according to claim 1 or 2, formed of three contiguous sections, adjacent sections being joined by a thin-film hinge, one of the hinges being formed on an underside of the covering arid the other of the hinges being formed on an upper side of the covering, to enable the three sections to be folded in a Z-shape.

7. A foldable planar floor covering, substantially as described herein with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.