US3390414A

US3390414A - Mat

Info

Publication number: US3390414A
Application number: US500611A
Authority: US
Inventors: Irwin H Kravitt
Original assignee: Irwin H. Kravitt
Current assignee: IRWIN H KRAVITT
Priority date: 1965-10-22
Filing date: 1965-10-22
Publication date: 1968-07-02
Anticipated expiration: 1985-07-02

Description

I. H. KRAVITT July 2, 1968 MAT Filed Oct. 22, 1965 INVENTOR IRWIN H. KRAV/TT United States Patent M T Irwin II. Kravitt, 8 S. 46th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19139 Filed Oct. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 500,611 Claims. (El. 15-217) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Description This invention relates generally to mats, and more specifically relates to mats for cleaning dust, dirt, mud and the like from the external surfaces of shoes, overshoes and similar articles.

In the past, door mats for wiping shoes to remove therefrom dirt of various types in order to prevent the tracking of such contaminants into a house or hospital have taken many different forms including the conventional cocoa mat, mats having rubber fingers or latticed openings, and brush type structures with upstanding bristles. While all of these devices are effective in varying measure for cleaning the bottom surface of the shoe sole, none of thesev structures provides the ability for cleaning the sides and upper surfaces of a shoe. The mat according to the instant invention is not so limited, and accordingly it is a primary object of this invention to provide a shoe wiping doormat of conventional appearance and usable in a conventional manner for wiping the soles of shoes to remove the dirt therefrom, but which additionally provides means for cleaning the sides and tops of shoes when so desired.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel shoe wiping doormat as aforesaid wherein a portion of the mat may be turned up out of the normal horizontal plane into side surface abutting or overlying position with respect to a shoe so that the sides and top of the shoe may be cleaned as well when desired.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel cleaning mat in which the portion thereof which is turnable upward out of the horizontal plane includes grasping or handle means for ease of mat manipulation.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter from a reading of the following specification in conjunction with an examination of the appended drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one form of the novel mat according to the invention showing the mat in solid line in a normally disposed horizontal position, and illustrating in dotted line position the movable part of the mat turned up into a vertical plane;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view as would be seen when taken along the line 2-2 of FIG- URE l, and also shows in phantom the outline of a shoe disposed upon the mat with the turnable mat portion shown in dotted outline overlying the side and upper surface of the shoe;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary enlarged horizontal section taken through a portion of the mat containing the movable .handle device as would be seen when viewed along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1; and

3.3%,414 Patented July 2, I968 FIGURE 4 is a modified form of the invention and illustrates one of many possible variations thereof.

In the several figures, like elements are denoted by like reference characters.

Considering first FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, there is seen a generally rectangular mat 10 having front and rear long edges if and 12 as well as

shorter side edges

13 and 14, the mat being formed of the commonly used cocoa fibre held together in the usual manner by appropriate stitching, some of which is illustrated at the outer periphery at 15. Extending rearward from the front edge 11 from a point closer to the side edge 13 and curving to the right toward the side edge 14 is a line of severance 16 extending completely through the mat from top to bottom. In the illustrated case the line of severance 16 includes a first straight portion 17 which extends in the direction from front edge toward rear edge, and an arched or curved portion 18 extending from the straight portion 17 and terminating at a point 19 further from the side edge 13 than is the straight portion 17 of the severance line. Extending rearward to the rear edge 12 from the point 19 in a straight line is a hinging line 20 which may be formed in any suitable fashion as for example by one or more rows of stitching.

In another form, the hinging line 29 could also be formed as a continuation of the line of severance 16 so as to sever the left end section from the rest of the mat, this section being then rejoined to the mat along the line 20 by means of heavy fabric tape stitched or otherwise secured to the sections to form a suitable hinge structure with sufiicient flexibility to permit the left end section of the mat designated as 10a to he turned about the hinging line 20 as shown in the dotted line portion of FIGURE 1. The cut edges of the mat along the line of severance 16 are suitably secured against ravelling as for example by stitching 21.

The mat is usable as a sole wiping device in the normal manner, and may be used to wipe the sides and portion of the tops of the shoes in the manner shown for example in FIGURE 2. As seen in FIGURE 2, the mat end section 16:: has been turned upward about the hinging line 20, with the mat separating along the line of severance 16. The end section Illa is thus so placed that the side and/or the portions of the upper part of the shoe may be rubbed thereagainst to wipe away dirt or mud. It will be observed that the side edges of the sole and the lower peripheral edge of the shoe upper is readily easily cleaned in this manner with no need for the wearer of the shoe to indulge .in contorted foot positions in an attempt to clean these portions of the shoe on a horizontal mat surface.

As observed in the showing of FIGURE 1, when the mat end portion lia is turned upward an arch is formed along that edge of mat portion the line of severance 16, the height of the arch being typically approximately three inches in height above the horizontal upper surface of the main portion of the mat 10 which underlies the arch. Thus, the toe and instep portions of a shoe may be placed upon the main portion of the mat It beneath the arch part of the turnable mat portion Ida so that the arch may be utilized as a scraper for the up er surfaces of the shoe. If the arch portion is too high above the shoe upper surface, the turnable part 10a of the mat 10 may be turned downward to lower the arch surface toward the horizontal mat surface until it engages the upper surface of the shoe, whereupon withdrawal of the shoe will effect a Wiping action.

As an aid in using the novel mat according to the invention, a handle may be incorporated so that the person using the mat need not remain in a deeply bent position, a novel handle structure being illustrated in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 for this purpose. As best seen from FIGURE 3, the mat is provided with an elongated pocket 22 extending 10a which is defined by inward from the side edge 13 longitudinally through the mat portion a and across the hinging line 29 to the main portion of the mat 10. Disposed within and extending the full length of the pocket 22 is a pull out handle 23 having an external end grip 24, an elongated main shaft or shank 25 and a retainer end 2.6 Wider than the shank or main shaft 25 and substantially the full width of the pocket 22.

As best seen from FIGURE 3, the peripheral stitching reduces the width of the pocket 22 at the mouth of the pocket so that the retainer end 26 cannot pass out of the pocket and is held within the mat when the handle 23 is fully extended. As also best seen in FIGURE 3, the hinging line is crossed by the pocket 22 so that the hinging securement is interrupted where the pocket passes therethrough to prevent interference with motion of the handle 23 into the pocket when it moves across the hinging line. By extending the pocket 22 across the hinging line 29, the handle 23 may be disposed within the pocket in the manner shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 to prevent any tendency of the mat portion 10a to be inadvertently turned over about the hinging line into an overlying position with respect to the main portion of the mat. The inserted or stowed away handle 23 thus mechanically stabilizes the sections of the mat with respect to one another.

FIGURE 4 illustrates a somewhat different embodiment of the invention, which, while employing the same concept of invention, is suitable for utilization in the commonly seen rubber cleaning mats employing finger like projections as dirt or mud detaching elements. The embodiment of FIGURE 4 is formed 'as .a two layer structure having a backing member 27 and an overlying rubber fingered portion including a generally rectangular area 28 firmly secured upon the backing 27 and joined along hinging lines 29 to another portion 30 which overlies but is not secured to the backing 27 so that it may be turned upward and over about the hinging lines 29 to provide the same types of Wiping positions and abilities as previously described for the mat portion 10a of the embodiment of FIGURE 1.

While the hinging line 29 can be made continuous, in the showing of FIGURE 4 the hinging line is interrupted 'by a tongue 31 which is part of the horizontally secured rectangular part 28 and which conforms in outline to the arch 32 formed in the movable section 30. The tongue 31 and arch 32 are usable in the same manner as previously described for the arched portion of the movable section 10a of the mat of FIGURE 1. In practice, the finger portions 28 and 39 together with the tongue 31 could be formed as one integral web which is subsequently die cut along the arch line 32, the section 28 and tongue 31 so formed being then fixedly secured down upon the backing 27 while the movable portion 36? remains free of such securement. Also molded with the movable section 30 is a tab grip 33 by means of which the fingered section 30 may be readily manipulated.

The embodiment of FIGURE 4 when made in a suitably heavy weight may not require the backing 2'7, and 'simiarly while the cocoa mat structure of FIGURE 1 is reversible top for bottom since it has no backing, it may in some cases be desirable to provide such a backmg.

Having now described by invention in connection with particularly illustrated embodiments thereof, variations and modifications of my invention may now occur from time to time to those persons normally skilled in the art without departing from the essential scope or spirit thereof, and accordingly, it is intended to claim the same broadly as well as specifically as indicated by the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

1. A mat having an upper surface suitable for cleaning dirt and the like from shoe surfaces, said mat being normally disposable for use in a horizontal plane and being divided into two adjacent portions connected together by flexible means so as to define a hinging line about which at least one of said mat portions may be turned upward out of plane and substantially vertically relative to the other, whereby, with a shoe to be cleaned disposed over one of said mat portions adjacent to said hinging line, the other mat portion may be turned upward about the hinging line to provide an upstanding cleaning surface against which the sides of the shoe may be moved to remove adhering dirt, and an elongated handle held captive to the upturnab-le mat portion and shiftable with respect to the latter to provide a hand grippa ble handle and more remote from the said hinging line than is the upper edge of the upturnable mat portion.

2. A mat having an upper surface suitable for cleaning dirt and the like from shoe surfaces, said mat being normally disposable for use in a horizontal plane and being divided into two adjacent portions connected together by flexible means so as to define a hinging line about which at least one of said mat portions may be turned upward out of plane and substantially vertically relative to the other, whereby, with a shoe to be cleaned disposed over one of said mat portions adjacent to said hinging line, the other mat portion may be turned upward about the hinging line to provide an upstanding cleaning surface against which the sides of the shoe may be moved to remove adhering dirt, and an elongated pocket opening through one edge of and extending through the upturnable mat portion transversely across the said mat hinging line and into the mat other portion, and a manipulating device having a handle end and an elongated shaft connected thereto with the latter slidably disposed within said elongated pocket so that it extends across said hinging line, whereby, said manipulating device shaft restricts movement of the upturnable mat portion when the shaft is slid fully into the said pocket and permits hinging movement when said shaft is slid outward through said pocket so that it does not traverse said hinging line, said handle end being disposed closely adjacent to the said one edge of the upturnable rnat portion and external thereto proximate to the said pocket open end when said shaft is fully within said pocket and being graspable to slide said shaft outward through said pocket as desired to provide an elongated manipulating device for the upturnable mat portion to effect shoe cleaning.

3. A mat having an upper surface suitable for cleaning dirt and the like from shoe surfaces, said mat being normally disposable for use in a horizontal plane and being divided into two adjacent portions connected together by flexible means so as to define a hinging line about which at least one of said mat portion-s may be turned upward out of plane and substantially vertically relative to the other, said flexible means connecting said two adjacent mat portions extending less than the full width of the mat and the adjacent mat portions being disconnected from one another for the remaining interval of the mat width, the free edge of the upturnable mat portion within at least a part of said interval being spaced laterally away from the said hinging line to thereby define an arch spaced above the plane of said other mat portion when the upturnable mat portion is so turned upward whereby, with a shoe to be cleaned disposed over One of said mat portions adjacent to said hinging line, the other mat portion may be turned upward about the hinging line to provide an upstanding cleaning surface against which the sides of the shoe may be moved to remove adhering dirt, and whereby, the upper surfaces of the toe and instep of a shoe may be projected under the arch of the mat and may be wiped thereagainst.

4. A mat having an upper surface suitable for cleaning dirt and the like from shoe surfaces, said mat being normally disposable for use in a horizontal plane and being divided into two adjacent portions connected together by flexible means so as to define a hinging line about which at least one of said mat portions may be turned upward out of plane and substantially vertically relative to the other, whereby, with a shoe to be cleaned disposed over one of said mat portions adjacent to said hinging line, the other mat portion may be turned upward about the hinging line to provide an upstanding cleaning surface against which the sides of the shoe may be moved to remove adhering dirt, and a mat backing which underlies both of said two adjacent rnat portions, the upturnable mat portion being free of fixed securement to said backing, and the other mat portion being secured to said backing.

5. The mat as set forth in claim 2 wherein said flexible means connecting said two adjacent mat portions extends less than the full width of the mat and the adjacent mat portions are disconnected from one another for the remaining interval of the mat width, the free edge of the upturnable mat portion within at least a part of said interval being spaced laterally away from the said hinging line to thereby define an arch spaced above the plane of said other mat portion when the upturnable mat portion is so turned upward, whereby the upper surfaces of the toe and instep of a shoe may be projected under the arch of the mat and may be wiped thereagainst, and wherein the upturnable mat portion is flexible so that it may be turned upward along the side edge of a shoe and inward down onto the upper surface of the toe and instep of the shoe.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,034,667 8/1912 Winter 15215 1,275,861 8/1918 Danielson 15161 3,253,293 5/1966 George et a1. 15-215 1,136,528 4/1915 Highley 15112 1,232,065 7/1917 Mausert 15-222 2,753,581 7/1956 Clark 15-209.5l

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

LEON G. MACHLIN, Examiner.