US2669527A

US2669527A - Floor-covering cushion

Info

Publication number: US2669527A
Application number: US270234A
Authority: US
Inventors: Horwich Theodore
Original assignee: General Felt Products Co
Current assignee: General Felt Products Co
Priority date: 1952-02-06
Filing date: 1952-02-06
Publication date: 1954-02-16
Anticipated expiration: 1971-02-16

Description

Feb. 1954 HQRW|CH FLOOR-COVERING CUSHION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 6, 1952 0&2 %ENTOR.% 6 02M Z2 M Feb. 16, 1954 'r. HORWICH FLOOR-COVERING CUSHION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 6, 1952 w r e z 3 n 3 Q Q o o 3 W I ll ll, I, 6 Q o III/Ill!!! INVENTOR.

Patented F eb. 16, 1954 UNITED STATES 11 TENT OFFICE FLOOR-COVERING CUSHION Theodore Horwich, Chica eral Felt Products (30.,

tion of Illinois go, 111., assignor to Gen- Chicago, 11]., a corpora- 2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to floor-covering cushions and more particularly to embossed and nonstretchable carpet underlays having a resilient base, such as felt, and having one or both surfaces coated with a resilient sealing layer or compound and provided with an embossed pattern or surface configuration. This invention also relates to a method of making the foregoing cushion.

Heretofore the standard pattern or configuration applied to the resilient coating or layer of the rug underlay comprised a plurality of indentations and unindented portions wherein the indentations covered a substantially larger surface area of the pattern than the unindented portions. Thus the unindented portions or the raised areas of the pattern, which portions or areas were the only ones stepped on when walking over the surface of the underlay, were small in total area in comparison with the total area of the entire pattern. Since the indentations of the pattern became press-hardened, and therefore less resilient, in the process of manufacture, the portions of the pattern having the greater resiliency were necessarily confined to the unindented portions thereof whose surface area was small in comparison to the area of the entire pattern. This resulted in an underlay of lesser over-all resiliency than was usually desired.

It is an object of this invention therefore to provide a floor-covering cushion and method for making the same wherein the more resilient portions of the embossed pattern are substantially larger in area than the lesser resilient portions of the pattern.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a floor-covering cushion and method for making the same wherein the finished cushion will be relatively thick over a substantial portion thereof and wherein said thickness can be obtained from a relatively small quantity of material without sacrificing the desired resilient characteristics of the finished product.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a floor-covering cushion and method for making the same wherein it is unnecessary to materially harden the product in the process of embossing the surface pattern.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a floor-covering cushion which can be economically manufactured and which will eliminate to a great degree the problem of waste material or seconds.

Further objects and advantages of this inventil tion will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and appended claims.

In carrying out this invention in one form, there is provided a surface-covering cushion comprising a resilient base and a resilient layer adhesively secured to at least one surface of said base, said layer comprising portions of rela tively lesser and greater resiliency, the areas of said greater resilient portions being substantially larger than the areas of said lesser resilient portions.

In accordance with a further embodiment of this invention there is provided a surface-covering cushion wherein the resilient layer is adhesively secured to both surfaces of the resilient base.

According to a still further embodiment of this invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a surface-covering cushion which comprises adhesively securing a resilient layer to at least one surface of a resilient base and applying a pattern to said layer, said pattern defining portions of relatively lesser and greater resiliency, the areas of said greater resilient portions being substantially larger than the areas of said lesser resilient portions.

For a more complete understanding of this invention, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a surface-covering cushion formed in accordance with one embodiment of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a modified form of the invention showing the surface pattern on both surfaces of the cushion; and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of apparatus for forming the surface-covering cushion.

One embodiment of this invention is described in Figs. 1 -3. The cushion 30 consists of a base 32 formed of felt which may consist of jute or hair fibers garneted and needled to make a felt product of a desired density. As will be hereinafter described, one surface of the bass 32 or both surfaces, as seen in Fig. l, are coated with a cured sealing compound 33, so that only the fibers of the base adjacent the coated surface thereof are impregnated with the compound 33 and thus substantially retaining the resilience of the base 32. The compound 33 may be rubber latex, either natural or synthetic, or any rubbery dispersion. Neoprene, made by the Du Pont Company of Wilmington, Deleware, is one suitable compound.

In the manufacture of the cushion the felt base 32 is first passed through a die bath 34, Fig. 5, whence it passes to surplus squeezing rollers 36 and a drying oven 38 containing a plurality of drying rollers 40. There the felt base 32 is dried and moved on to a pair of rollers 42 where the sealing compound 33 is applied to both surfaces of the base.

Coating of the felt base 32 may be accomplished by any of various well-known methods such as spray coating or roll coating, the latter being shown in Fig. 5, or by a combination of the two methods.

After the compound 33 has been applied, the felt base 32 is passed between curing and embossing compression rollers 44 and 4B. As shown in Fig. 5, the embossing rollers are hollow in form and have their outer surfaces provided with a pair of cylindrical dies 48 whereby the surface pattern shown in Fig. 1 is embossed on both coated surfaces of the base 32. The rollers 44 and 46 are provided with internal heating means, not shown, for curing the compound 33 simultaneously with the embossing of the cushion. The heating requirement of the rollers 44 and 45 will depend upon the type of compound and felt base used. Air may be blown through the rollers to aid in drying and curing the compound. In any event, apparatus should be used to effect complete curing of the compound on the base.

It should be noted that the apparatus shown in Fig. may be modified, if it is desired, to apply the coating and embossment to only one surface of the felt base as shown in Figures 1-3. This may be accomplished, for example, by the elimination of one of the rollers 42 and by the elimination of one of the dies 48.

Referring to Figs. 1-4, it will be noted that the central portion of the base 32 of the cushion is not penetrated by the coatings 33 on the surface of the cushion. Nevertheless the coatings 33 have sufficient thickness to be self-identifiable as a coherent resilient layer having integrally included therein the fibers lying on the surfaces only of the fiber base. The projections of the die or dies 48 project from the periphery of each roller a distance such that only the coating compound 33 on the surface of the base 32 is densified and cured thereby stiffening said compound and at the same time leaving the felt base comparatively unchanged and therefore substantially as resilient as before the coating and embossing operation.

It will also be observed, referring to Fig. 1, that the depressed or indented portions 52 of the pattern embossed on the coating 33 are substantially smaller in over-all area than the unindented portions 54, and that the embossed pattern is applied to substantially the entire surface of the cushion. Thus the areas of the indented portions 52, which are necessarily hardened to a certain degree when formed, thereby reducing their resiliency, are substantially small in comparison with the unindented areas 54 which have a substantially greater degree of resiliency. As the unindented portions 54 are those which will normally be tread upon, the desired resilient qualities of the rug cushion are obtained.

While several embodiments are described above it will be understood, of course, that the invention is not to be limited thereto since many modifications may be made and it is contemplated, therefore, by the appended claims, to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

1 claim:

1. A floor-covering cushion comprising a loosely matted felted fiber resilient base having an outer surface thereof impregnated with a resilient material, said material comprising a configuration formed of a plurality of indented portions and a plurality of unindented portions, both said indented and unindented portions lying solely in a surface of said cushion, said indented portions being substantially narrow and said unindented portions being of substantially larger surface area than said indented portions, and said resilient material being cured as a continuous fihn of a resilient rubber composition having sufiicient thickness to be self-identifiable as a coherent rubbery layer having integrally included therein the fibers lying on the surface only of said fiber base whereby said surface will retain its configuration having enhanced cushioning effect.

2. A floor-covering cushion comprising a loosely matted felted fiber resilient base having an outer surface thereof impregnated with a resilient material, said material comprising a configuration formed of a plurality of indented portions and a plurality of unindented portions, both said indented and unindented portions lying solely in a surface-of said cushion, and said indented portions being interconnected and distributed over said surface and said unindented portions being of substantially larger surface area than said indented portions, said resilient material being cured as a continuous film of a resilient rubber composition having sufficient thickness to be self-identifiable as a coherent rubbery layer having integrally included therein the fibers lying on the surface only of said fiber base whereby said surface will retain its configuration having enhanced cushioning effect.

THEODORE HORWICH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

Claims

1. A FLOOR-COVERING CUSHION COMPRISING A LOOSELY MATTED FELTED FIBER RESILIENT BASE HAVING AN OUTER SURFACE THEREOF IMPREGNATED WITH A RESILLENT MATERIAL, SAID MATERIAL COMPRISING A CONFIGURATION FORMED OF A PLURALITY OF INDENTED PORTIONS AND A PLURALITY OF UNINDENTED PORTIONS, BOTH SAID INDENTED AND UNINDENTED PORTIONS LYING SOLELY IN A SURFACE OF SAID CUSHION, SAID INDENTED PORTIONS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY NARROW AND SAID UNINDENTED PORTIONS BEING OF SUBSTANTIALLY LARGER SURFACE AREA THAN SAID INDENTED PORTIONS, AND SAID RESILIENT MATERIAL BEING CURED AS A CONTINUOUS FILM OF A RESILIENT RUBBER COMPOSITION HAVING SUFFICIENT THICKNESS TO BE SELF-IDENTIFIABLE AS A COHERENT RUBBERY LAYER HAVING INTEGRALLY INCLUDED THEREIN THE FIBERS LYING ON THE SURFACE ONLY OF SAID FIBER BASE WHEREBY SAID SURFACE WILL RETAIN ITS CONFIGURATION HAVING ENHANCED CUSHIONING EFFECT.