US3654051A - Carpet tile - Google Patents

Abstract

A pile carpet tile has a generally polygonal periphery with complementary irregularities along opposite edges to insure a homogeneous seamless appearance with concealed edges when tiles are installed to cover a large area.

Description

April 4, 1972 B E 3,654,051

CARPET TILE Filed July 16, 1969 14/1110 Ede/er "N V E N TO R United States Patent Office 3,654,051 Patented Apr. 4, 1972 US. Cl. 161-37 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pile carpet tile has a generally polygonal periphery with complementary irregularities along opposite edges to insure a homogeneous seamless appearance with concealed edges when tiles are installed to cover a large area.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the invention This application pertains to the field of floor covering and more particularly to a pile carpet fioor covering in the form of individual panels which can be installed as small units to cover a large area, giving a pleasing homogeneous appearance.

(2) Description of the prior art Generally, when large floor areas are to be covered with carpet, commercial installers who use special tools and equipment to install large strips of such carpet are employed. The labor cost for such installations are a burden on home owners and small retailer store owners who desire to have currently popular wall-to-wall carpeting. Some effort has been made to supply smaller carpet pieces in the form of tile which can be installed by the home owner himself, much in the same manner as asphalt or rubber tile. Some of these carpet tiles have an adhesive layer covered with a protective sheet which is removed prior to installation. Other types are applied by means of a mastic or adhesive which is applied on the floor prior to application of the tile.

The currently available carpet tiles are in the form of rectangles or squares having straight edges. When adjacent tiles are installed in abutting relationship the straight lines along the joints are visible, look unsightly, and destroy the desired appearance of a homogeneous uniform one-piece carpet. Straight pile carpets are more susceptible to scam exposure than looped pile carpets, but both present an unsightly appearance with straight edges.

Furthermore, pile carpeting, and particularly uncut looped pile, has a directional pattern which is caused by the manner of manufacture on a broadloom. When the large strips of broadloom pile carpet are cut into smaller uniform tiles, the directional pattern appears on the surface of each tile. It is necessary that each tile be placed so that the original directional pattern is maintained on the floor or an unsightly appearance will result. To prevent this unsightly appearance the smaller tile units must be made so that installation in an improper pattern is prevented.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention concerns a pile carpet tile which has a generally polygonal periphery with complementary irregularities along opposite edges to insure a homogeneous appearance with concealed edges when installed. The panel is preferably rectangular in shape, but need not necessarily be so.

It is an object of the invention to provide a novel carpet tile which can be easily secured in place to form a continuous seamless floor covering.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel carpet tile which has an irregular periphery so that adjacent tiles may be interlocked with one another.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a novel carpet tile which when installed with other tiles gives a homogeneous appearance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which like elements are represented by like numerals and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the novel carpet tile of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the tile of the invention taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a number of tiles of the invention, as installed in abutting relationship;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an alternative tile of the invention and,

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the tile of FIG. 4 taken along lines 4-4 thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawing a pile carpet 10 of generally rectangular configuration is shown with a pile surface 12 and a backing layer 13. The yarn 18 forming the pile 12 is interwoven with backing layer 13. A second backing layer 14 may be adhered to the under surface of layer 13. As shown, a pair of opposite edges 15 and 17 of carpet 10 have complementary exposed pro jections 19 and 20 and'exposed indentations 21 and 22 respectively. A projection 24 of side 17 has a complementary indentation 25 in side 15 of tile 10. The term complementary, as used herein, means each of the projections of one edge would fit into each of the indentations of an opposite edge if the tile were cut along a line parallel to the edges and the edges were interfitted. As will become apparent hereinafter, the projections and indentations are exposed; that is, they cause the carpet tile to have a border which is not uniform but irregular, as the tile is viewed in plan. It is evident that when considering a number of carpet tiles, each identical to one another, the projections of one will fit into corresponding indentations of the next tile.

The pile 12 may be made of any type of yarn, natural or man-made and includes without limitation, wool, polyester fibers, nylon or acrylic filaments. The backing layers 13 and 14 may be also natural or synthetic fibers, such as jute, nylon, paper, polymerized resin fibers, or combination of these. The backing layer 13 and 14 are generally a sheet of woven fibers. The pile 10 is formed of looped projections which may be a woven or a tufted construction. The loops are interwoven with the felted or woven backing layer 13 and usually further held in place with a set adhesive. The specific construction of the tile 10 of the preferred embodiment is shown in greater detail in FIG. 2 wherein the loops 18 of yarn 20 are illustrated more clearly. The cross filaments 26 and 27 of the backing layer 13 hold the loops 18 firmly in place. The carpet tile is manufactured on a broadloom in a conventional manner, and the specific machinery and techniques of manufacture do not form a part of the claimed invention. The tile pieces are cut from the broad panel made on the carpet machine.

FIG. 3 shows a number of tiles 10 as placed in position to cover a floor 29. The hidden border configuration of tiles 10 is shown in dotted lines since it is not apparent to the eye when the tiles are :interfitted and secured to the floor. The looped pile 12, being of non-uniformpattern will eifectively cover the seams between the tiles. In installation, the floor 29 is covered with a mastic or adhesive 30 which can be trowelled on with a serrated application tool in the manner now used for conventional asphalt tiles. The tiles 10 are then placed one at a time 'upon the adhesive coating and shifted slightly around so as to fit tightly together with the projections of one tile being received in the corresponding complementary indentations of an adjacent tile. Further tiles are put in place until the entire floor area is covered. Border tiles may be cut with a scissors or other cutting tool so as to provide a neat trimmed border around the peripheral edges 40 and 41 of the room.

FIG. 4 shows a carpet tile of the invention in which projections 50, 51 and 52 are received in indentations 54, 55 and 56 respectively. The configuration of the projections and indentations are such that there is a positive locking action and the tiles, once placed in interlocking fashion, cannot be unlocked without upward movement to disengage the projections and the identations.

To further illustrate this effect consider projection 50. The edge 60 of projection 50, remote from the major body portion of tile 12, is longer than its edge 61 along the body portion. The complementary indentation 54 has an opening 65 having the same length as the length of edge 61 of projection 50 and an edge 67, along the body portion which has a length equal to that of edge 60 of projection 50.

Assuming another tile (not shown) were interfitted with the tile shown in FIG. 4, it can be readily seen that the corresponding projections and indentations would perform an interlocking function. The edges of the tiles would be engaged in more or less permanent fashion and dislocation would be prevented.

FIG. shows the tile of FIG. 4 in cross-section which is similar to that of FIG. 2 with the addition of a second base layer of foam rubber 70 or the like which serves as a pad or cushion. Foam layer 70 is cut with the other layers 13 and 14 while the carpet is being manufactured.

In summary, the present invention concerns a carpet tile having irregular edges with complementary projections and indentations on opposite edges.

I claim:

1. A carpet tile adapted to fit together with abutting identically shaped carpet tiles to form a seamless pile carpeting having a directional pattern, said carpet tile having an exposed pile layer having an exposed directional pattern and a backing layer interwoven with said pile layer, said tile having at least two pairs of opposite edges, each of said edges having exposed indentations and exposed projections, the indentations and projections of one edge of each pair being complementary to the indentations and projections of the other edge of each pair, and the indentations and projections of either edge of one pair being non-complementary with the indentations and projections of either edge of the other pair, said projections of one tile being adapted to fit into the corresponding indentations of each abutting tile,

whereby because of the complementary and non-complementary configuration of adjacent edges, the directional pattern is maintained across the carpeting.

2. A carpet tile as set forth in claim 1 in which the outer peripheral configuration of said tile is generally rectangular.

3. A carpet tile as set forth in claim 1 in which a second resilient backing layer is adhered to said backing layer.

4. A carpet tile as recited in claim 1 in which at least one edge of said tile has at least two indentations and one intermediate projection and an opposite edge of said tile has at least one intermediate indentation and two projections alternating with said intermediate indentation.

5. A carpet tile as recited in claim 4 in which said one intermediate projection has a greater outer dimension than a base dimension and said indentations have a greater base dimension than outer opening dimension.

6. A simulated seamless carpet having a directional pattern for covering a large floor area comprising a plurality of carpet tiles fixed in contacting abutment with each other, each of said carpet tiles comprising an exposed pile layer having a directional pattern and a backing layer interwoven with said pile layer, said tile having at least two pairs of opposite edges, each of said edges having exposed indentations and exposed projections, the indentations and projections of one edge of each pair being complementary to the indentations and projections of the other edge of each pair, and the indentations and projections of either edge of one pair being non-complementary with the indentations and projections of either edge of the other pair, said projections of one tile fitting into the corresponding indentations of each abutting tile, whereby because of the complementary and non-complementary configuration of adjacent edges, the directional pattern is maintained across the carpeting.

7. A simulated seamless carpet as recited in claim 6 in which the peripheral configuration of each of said carpet tiles is generally rectangular.

8. A simulated seamless carpet as recited in claim 6 in which at least one of said projections has a greater outer dimension than a base dimension and at least one of said indentations has a greater base dimension than an outer dimension.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,012,929 8/1935 Knowland 161-67 2,114,474 4/1938 La'bra 16l-37 2,563,478 8/1951 Mason et a1. 161-67 3,174,893 3/1965 Church et al. 161-37 3,309,259 3/1967 Schwartz 16167 FOREIGN PATENTS 255,352 9/1962 Australia 161--62 MORRIS SUSSMAN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 161-63, 67

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