GB2585290A

GB2585290A - Industrial mats having cost effective core structures

Info

Publication number: GB2585290A
Application number: GB2012949.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Penland Joe Jr
Original assignee: QUALITY MAT Co
Current assignee: QUALITY MAT Co
Priority date: 2018-07-09
Filing date: 2019-07-08
Publication date: 2021-01-06
Also published as: CA3090704A1; MX2020008696A; AU2019301562A1; GB202012949D0; WO2020014156A1

Abstract

An inventory of industrial mats (100) having different core or internal constructions (115) that are not visible because of the inclusion of side, end, upper and lower components (105, 110) which hide the core or internal construction from view, wherein each mat (100) has an electronic device that indicates what is present in the hidden core or internal construction of the mat, with the electronic device including a processor, storage, and wireless communications circuitry that is configured to transmit identification, location, usage or physical property information of the mats over a wireless telecommunications network. Also, a method for providing an identification of mat properties or usage for an inventory of mats by viewing the information stored on the electronic device or by retrieving over a wireless telecommunications network identification, location, usage or physical property information of the mats from the storage of the electronic device.

Claims

THE CLAIMS

1. An inventory of industrial mats having different core or internal constructions of wood, engineered wood, thermoplastics, elastomers, thermosetting plastics, metal, or of coated or encapsulated components, with each mat comprising side and end components protecting the sides and ends of the core or internal construction, and upper and lower components that provide upper and lower surfaces of the mats protecting upper and lower surfaces of the core or internal construction so that the core or internal construction of the mat is not visible because the side, end, upper and lower components hide the core or internal construction from view, wherein each mat includes identification means that indicates what is present in the hidden core or internal construction of the mat.

2. The inventory of industrial mats of claim 1, wherein the identification means comprises an external color code, a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag or other electronic device that includes a processor, storage, and wireless communications circuitry, or an alphanumeric indicator applied to an outer surface of the mat or that is provided upon a plate that is applied to an outer surface of the mat.

3. The inventory of industrial mats of claim 1, wherein the identification means comprises an external color code that is placed in the same position on each mat for easy identification of the core or internal construction of the mat which is not otherwise visible.

4. The inventory of industrial mats of claim 3, wherein the external color code is placed along a longitudinal side of each mat so that the color coding is visible when the mats are stacked upon each other.

5. The inventory of industrial mats of claim 1, wherein the identification means comprises a RFID tag that is attached to the mat and that can be scanned to identify the core or internal construction of the mat.

6. The inventory of industrial mats of claim 1, wherein the identification means comprises an external alphanumeric indicator that is applied to an outer surface of the mat or that is provided upon a plate that is applied to an outer surface of the mat.

7. The inventory of industrial mats of claim 1, wherein each mat has a color that indicates a potential use or non-use of the mat, wherein the color designating use or non-use of the mat includes red to indicate portions of the mat that need to be kept free of equipment, yellow for indicating portions of the mat where caution is needed, or green to indicate portions of the mat that are designed to accommodate travel or movement by trucks or heavy equipment over the mat.

8. The inventory of industrial mats of claim 1, wherein each mat also has a color code that identifies a particular customer of the mat.

9. The inventory of industrial mats of claim 1, wherein each mat has a width of about 4 feet to about 8 feet, a length of about 4 feet to about 40 feet, and a thickness of about 6 inches to about 24 inches and includes a core structure that is not visible when viewing the mat.

10. The inventory of industrial mats of claim 1 wherein each mat further comprises lighting elements provided thereon or therein to provide light to assist in the use of the mat during the night or on days that are dark due to poor weather conditions.

11. The inventory of industrial mats of claim 1, wherein the core or internal construction of the mat includes a plastic or metal frame with or without cross-members or additional internal components or material.

12. The inventory of industrial mats of claim 1, wherein the core or internal construction of the mat includes plastic, elastomeric or wood components, optionally provided as a frame or in a frame of plastic or metal members.

13. An inventory of industrial mats having different core or internal constructions of wood, engineered wood, thermoplastics, elastomers, thermosetting plastics, metal, or of coated or encapsulated components, with each mat comprising side and end components protecting the sides and ends of the core or internal construction, and upper and lower components that provide upper and lower surfaces of the mats protecting upper and lower surfaces of the core or internal construction so that the core or internal construction of the mat is not visible because the side, end, upper and lower components hide the core or internal construction from view, wherein each mat includes an electronic device that includes a processor, storage, and wireless communications circuitry that is configured to transmit identification, location, usage or physical property information of the mats over a wireless telecommunications network.

14. The inventory of industrial mats of claim 13, wherein the electronic device is configured to communicate with electronic devices in other mats using a local network.

15. The inventory of industrial mats of claim 13, wherein the electronic device is configured to communicate real time location information to a server.

16. The inventory of industrial mats of claim 13, wherein the electronic device is configured to send message to another devices through other electronic devices in other mats

17. The inventory of industrial mats of claim 13, wherein the electronic device includes one or more sensor including a vibration sensor that generate vibration data and the electronic device is configured to store the vibration data and transmit the vibration data to a server.

18. The inventory of industrial mats of claim 13, wherein the electronic device is configured when a mat housing the electronic device is manufacture and is configured to store an identification of the mat and manufacturing date of the mat and to transmit the identification and manufacturing date to a server.

19. A method for providing an identification of mat properties or usage for an inventory of mats, which comprises providing the inventory of mats according to claim 1 and viewing the identification means to determine the hidden core or internal construction of the mats so that the appropriate mats can be selected and provided to a customer or user.

20. A method for providing an identification of mat properties or usage for an inventory of mats, which comprises providing the inventory of mats according to claim 13, and retrieving over a wireless telecommunications network identification, location, usage or physical property information of the mats from the storage of the electronic device.