WO2002035975A1

WO2002035975A1 - Non-slip pad, mat, bag or other article

Info

Publication number: WO2002035975A1
Application number: PCT/AU2000/001326
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jennifer Louise Lindsay; Aaron O'connor
Original assignee: Jennifer Louise Lindsay; Connor Aaron O
Priority date: 2000-10-31
Filing date: 2000-10-31
Publication date: 2002-05-10
Also published as: AU2001211180A1

Abstract

A non-slip article (10) having upper and lower faces, a design layer (11) having first and second surfaces, each surface being printable, a cover layer (12) of which one side forms the upper face, the cover layer and any intervening layers being at least partially transparent such that a design printed on the first surface of the design layer can show through the upper face of the article, and the article further includes a coating of a substantially transparent or translucent non-slip material (13b) on the lower face, such that any design printed on the second surface of the design layer (11) can show through the lower face of the article.

Description

Non-slip pad , mat , bag or other article.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

THE PRESENT INVENTION relates to a non-slip article and in particular, relates to a non-slip pad or mat. The invention also relates to an adhesive film or tape having a non-slip surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Non-slip articles such as pads or mats are widely used as computer mouse pads, counter mats, drink coasters, place mats and the like.

Typically, such articles have a lower layer of a soft foam material which can frictionally engage the surface upon which it is placed when pressure is applied thereto.

Non-slip pads are used to facilitate operation of hand operated controls devices such as the computer mouse and are generally know as computer mouse pads. A computer mouse generally has a housing and a roller on its lower surface. Movement of the roller ball electronically controls the position of a cursor on a computer screen. Precise cursor location is often required. The work surface upon which the mouse is moved across can influence mouse operation and precision of cursor movement. It has been discovered that movement of the mouse across a textured or embossed surface can improve cursor control. Most work surfaces such as wooden or laminate desks are very smooth and do not allow for accurate or precise mouse control. Accordingly, mouse pads having a textured upper surface have been developed.

It is also desirable that mouse pads have a lower non-slip surface. This prevents the mouse pad from slipping or sliding across the work surface when in use. Typical mouse pads are provided with a rubberised foam layer.

There are many disadvantages with a foam layer whether it be for counter mats or mouse mats. In the case of counter mats and the like, the foam can absorb liquids which are spilled on the counter. Such absorption leads to soiling or degradation of the foam material. Soiled or degraded mats must be discarded. In the case of mouse pads, typically the foam has a thickness of between 0.3 and 1.5 cm. Such a thickness is necessary to provide an acceptable non-slip surface, but does provide an uneven step up from the work surface. This uneven step up can place stress on a person's wrist and hand and in particular, after many hours of continuous mouse operation. Such stress and strain can lead to repetitive strain injury and carpal tunnel syndrome. A further difficulty with the relatively thick foam mats is that they are quiet bulky. This adds to transport and storage costs. For promotional purposes it is desirable to be able to include mouse mats with advertising material for mail outs. However, this is not economically viable with existing mats due to the postage costs incurred.

It is therefore desirable to be able to provide a thinner mouse mat and also counter mats which do not have a foam layer. In the case of mouse mats, there have been a number of proposals to replace the thick foam layer with an adhesive layer. The adhesive layer may permanently or temporarily adhere the mat to the work surface. One example is U.S. 5508084 which describes coating the lower surface of a mouse mat with a repositionable adhesive layer. A suitable adhesive is that manufactured by 3M and which is used on the well known "Post It" notes. However, there are a number disadvantages associated with the use of such adhesives. First, for permanent adhesives, it is not possible to move the location of the mouse pad across the work surface. Even where the adhesive allows for the mat to be repositioned, the mat must be completely lifted from the work surface and this requires lifting the mouse off the mat which is sometimes inconvenient. Still further, adhesives tend to collect dust and debris which can adversely affect their performance over time.

Also, having an adhesive surface creates difficulties with processing sorting, handling and transport. The adhesive surface needs to be covered with a release sheet until it is ready to be used. Providing a release sheet adds additional cost and an additional step in processing. Also, the use of an adhesive would be quite unsuitable for use as counter mats or coasters.

The liquids which are often spilt in the vicinity of such mats may dissolve or otherwise adversely affect the adhesive. It is also often desirable for articles such as non-slip mats and pads to have a printed image thereon. Generally, mats and pads are provided with corporate logos or other advertising and promotional material.

In the case of computer mats, designs can be printed directly onto the upper textured surface. However, this is not preferred for a number of reasons. First, it is not possible to achieve good resolution and fine lines can appear blurred or smudged. Still further, printing which is directly on the surface of a mat or pad is subject to damage such as scratching during the lifetime of the article. Inks can also wear off during use and ink particles can interfere with operation of the roller ball. In order to overcome this difficulty, there has been a proposal to provide a transparent upper layer to a mouse pad and printing the obverse side of the layer, such that the design shows through. This proposal however does not overcome the difficulties associated with printing on plastic sheets and also introduces a further requirement that the printing be reverse printing. This adds complications and cost to the manufacturing process. In US 5,508,084 it has been proposed to use a printed adhesive label as the design layer. An upper transparent layer is adhered to the upper surface of the label so that the design can show therethrough. The lower adhesive surface of the layer can be used to adhere to a work surface as previously described, or can be adhered to an existing computer mouse pad or foam pad.

As mentioned above, it would also be desirable for a mouse pad to be able to be included in advertising mail outs, but without adding to postage costs. OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is also desirable for articles other than pads or mats to have a non-slip surface. An example is packages such as courier bags, postage articles or the like. These articles are subject to slipping and falling during handling. A non-slip surface may be desirable to improve handling. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a non-slip article which may at least partially overcome the above disadvantages or may provide the public with a useful choice. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first broad form of the invention, there is provided a non-slip article having upper and lower faces, a design layer having first and second surfaces, each surface being printable, a cover layer of which one side forms the upper face, the cover layer and any intervening layers being at least partially transparent such that a design printed on the first surface of the design layer can show through the upper face of the article, and the article further includes a coating of a substantially transparent or translucent non-slip material on the lower face, such that any design printed on the second surface of the design layer can show through the lower face of the article.

The article of the present invention is typically in the form of a pad or mat and in particular, a computer mouse pad.

The article has a design layer which is printable on both surfaces. Typically, the design layer is a cellulosic material such as paper or thin cardboard. Alternatively, the design layer may be formed from a plastic which can be printed by paper printing techniques.

The article has a cover layer which is typically a substantially transparent layer of a plastics film. The film may be made from any suitable material and includes polymeric film selected from the group comprising polyvinyls, polyolefins such as polyethylene, polyacrylics, polycarbonates, polyacetates, polyethylene terephalate, polyurethanes, mixtures or blends thereof. The cover layer may also be partially translucent, coloured or have opaque regions so as to create a design effect.

The cover layer typically has a textured or microstructured surface, which in use forms the upper face of the article. A textured surface is desirable for mouse pads as it provides a frictional engagement with the smooth roller ball. This assist in accurate tracking of the mouse ball across the upper face of the pad. The other surface of the cover layer is generally adhered to the first surface of the design layer. Generally, the cover layer has a layer of a pressure sensitive adhesive on its obverse side to allow it to adhere to the design layer. Alternatively, an adhesive may be applied to the design layer. One or more intermediate layers may be placed between the design and cover layers. These layers should also be at least partially transparent. They may also be colored or died in any suitable manner so as to create an enhanced design effect.

The article is also coated on its lower face with a substantially transparent non-slip material. The non-slip material preferably has a substantially tack-free surface. In this case, tack-free means the surface is not sticky to the touch. This substantially transparent coating may also be partially translucent or have opaque regions which may contribute to a design effect. The non-slip coating is typically formed from a curable ink. Such inks typically include an acrylic polymer. The ink may be curable by UV radiation, drying or heating. The ink may be applied by known means including rolling, printing or spraying. An especially preferred ink is available from Gallopini Pty Ltd under the tradename GP1000. This material is activated by heating at about 110° to about 120°C. This coating has filler particles which encapsulate a material which expands upon heating. A typical material is a low boiling point solvent. Upon heating a gas is formed which expands the microparticles. The expanded microparticles provide a non-slip surface coating. Depending upon the thickness of the coating, the coating may also provide a degree of softness.

The coating layer may be applied directly to the second surface of the design layer. However, when the design layer is a paper material, it is preferred that the article has a further layer of a plastics film located between the coating and the paper. This extra layer can protect the paper layer when the article is in use. Also, where a heat curable coating is applied, it may be desirable to at least partially protect the paper and ink printed thereon during the heating step. In this case, the film itself should also be able to withstand temperature. Suitable film materials are polyethylene, nylon, polycarbonate, blends and mixtures thereof. The curable non-slip coating can be applied directly to the plastics film. Typically, the plastics film has a pressure sensitive adhesive on one side for application to the design layer. The non-slip coating may be applied to the film either before or after the film is adhered to the design layer. Curing may also occur either before or after adherence of the film to the non- slip-coating. Typically, the non-slip coating is applied to the film before the film is adhered to the design layer. According to a further broad form of the invention, there is provided a method of forming a non-slip article, the method including the steps of; printing a design on one or both sides of a design layer, adhering an at least partially translucent cover layer to a first surface of the design layer to form an upper surface of the article and placing a non-slip material on the second surface of the design layer.

According to a further broad form of the invention, there is provided a non-slip adhesive tape or film, the tape or film having upper and lower surfaces, the lower surface having an adhesive coated thereon and the lower surface having a non-slip material coated thereon.

Typically, the non-slip material is a curable ink as hereinbefore described.

Typically, the tape or film further includes a release layer which covers the adhesive layer. The adhesive is typically a pressure sensitive adhesive and suitable adhesives are known in the art. Water based pressure sensitive adhesives are preferred. Suitable tape or film materials include polyethylene, nylya polycarbonate and blends and mixtures thereof.

Typically, the tape or film is formed by printing the adhesive on the release liner, the tape or film is then laid on the liner followed by printing the curable ink on the tape or film. The ink is then cured.

Typically the tape or film is supplied in a continuous length which may be cut to size as desired.

The tape or film may be applied to any suitable article. The release layer is simply pushed away and the tape or film applied to the desired article. Examples of suitable articles include postage and courier bags and food containers, to minimize movement during transport. In the case of foods, this can minimize damage to soft fruits or vegetables for example. The tape or film may be applied to other surfaces to which a non- slip surface is desired such as car dashboards or the like.

The mats or pads of the invention are typically less than about 1 mm, typically less than 0.5mm thick. This allows them to be placed in an ordinary postage envelope without incurring a surcharge for bulk materials. However, mouse mats and the like are generally too large to place in a conventional size envelope of about 210 x 100 mm. The mats may of course be placed in larger envelopes, but this adds to postage charges.

According to a further form of the invention, there is provided a substantially flat article, having an upper layer of a flexible plastics material, and at least one lower layer wherein the article includes at least one cut line which has been cut through each of the at least one lower layer, whilst leaving the upper layer intact such that the article can be folded along the cut-line.

It can be seen that this allows the article to be folded in a substantially flat manner. Typically the article of this further broad form has a lower design and non-slip layers as described with reference to the first broad form. However, it will be appreciated that the folding mat of the further broad form need not be so limited. Other types of articles such as prior art mouse mats having tacky, adhesive lower surfaces may also be suitable. According to a further broad form of the invention, there is provided a method of forming a foldable substantially flat article, the method including providing an article having an upper layer of a flexible plastics material and at least one lower layer, cutting the article through the at least one layer but without cutting the upper layer and folding the article along the out line.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Figure 1 is a schematic view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention in the form of a mat or pad;

Figure 2 is a schematic view of the mat or pad of Figure 1 after being cut;

Figure 3 is a schematic view of the mat or pad of Figure 2 after folding; and, Figure 4 is a schematic view of a preferred adhesive tape or film of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Figure 1 shows a cross section of a mat 10 of the present invention. The mat 10 has an upper textured layer 12 and a lower non-slip layer 13. The lower layer 13 includes a plastics film 13a coated with a non- slip material 13b. The mat 10 has a design layer 11. The layers 12, 13 are adhered to the design layer by an adhesive 14. The design layer is printed on both surfaces with an ink 15. Both layers 12 and 13 are transparent, which means that the design images on both sides of the design layer can be seen.

The mat can be manufactured by first printing both sides of the design layer. The upper textured layer 12 can then be simply applied to the design layer by means of a pressure sensitive adhesive coated thereon. The lower layer 13 is similarly applied to the design layer by means of a pressure sensitive adhesive on the film. The assembled pad is then heated to a predetermined temperature for a period sufficient to cure the non-slip coating.

It will be appreciated that in the preferred form of the invention, a mat can be provided with printing on both sides. This has previously not been possible with the known foam mats. An advantage of having a design visible on both sides of a mat enables different designs to be printed on the upper and lower layers. In the case of a computer mouse pad, an attractive design may be printed such that it can be viewed from its upper surface. Informative subject matter, tables, calendars or other handy reference material may be provided for view from the lower side of the mat. It will also be appreciated that the mat can be made much thinner than conventional foam backed mats. It also does not have an adhesive surface which avoids the use of release sheets. The thin nature of the mat provides for increased comfort of use by a computer mouse user.

Figure 2 illustrates the mat 10 which has been cut by a sharp blade along cut line 20. The cut line extends through all layers, but leaving the upper layer 12 intact. The mat 10 can then be folded in the direction of arrow A to a folded position shown in Figure 3. It will be appreciated that the folded mat may have a thickness of less than 2mm. This allows the mat to be easily placed in a conventional envelope for mailing without incurring mailing surcharge due to oversize or overweight postage items. Figure 4 illustrates a non-slip adhesive tape 21. The tape 21 has a plastics layer, typically nylon or polycarbonate. Layer 22 has an upper layer 23 of a water based pressure sensitive adhesive and a lower non-slip layer 24. The non-slip layer is formed from a curable ink as described with reference to Figure 1. The tape 21 further includes a release layer 25. In order to apply the tape to a surface or article, the release layer

25 is removed and the tape is adhered to the surface or article so as to provide a non-slip surface.

A mat or pad of the present invention may of course be cut into any desirable shape. Accordingly, a mat can be cut to correspond to the size of a postage item such as a postcard or envelope. Alternatively, the mat can be folded according to a further embodiment of the invention. This allows the mats or articles of the invention to be posted and delivered through normal postage channels. Still further, with the preferred acrylic polymer, non-slip coating, it is possible to write on this coating with a conventional ballpoint or felt tipped pin. This allows for a delivery address or any other information to be written directly onto the article for postage.

Finally, the adhesive film or tape of the invention may be applied to any suitable article or surface so as to apply a non-slip coating.

It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A non-slip article having upper and lower faces, a design layer having first and second surfaces, each surface being printable, a cover layer of which one side forms the upper face, the cover layer and any intervening

5 layers being at least partially transparent such that a design printed on the first surface of the design layer can show through the upper face of the article, and the article further includes a coating of a substantially transparent or translucent non-slip material on the lower face, such that any design printed on the second surface of the design layer can show through the lower face of 0 the article.

2. The article of claim 1 , wherein the design layer is formed from a cellulosics material.

3. The article of claim 2, wherein the design layer is printed on both sides. 5

4. The article of claim 1 , wherein the cover layer is a polymeric film, the polymer selected from the group consisting of polyvinyls, polyolefins, polyacrylics, polycarbonates, polyacetates, polyethylene terephalate, polyurethanes, mixtures or blends thereof.

5. The article of claim 4 wherein the side of the cover layer which o forms the upper face is textured.

6. The article of claim 5, wherein the other side of the cover layer has a layer of a pressure sensitive adhesive.

7. The article of claim 1 , wherein the non-slip material is a cured ink. 5

8. The article of claim 7, wherein the ink is a heat curable acrylic polymer material.

9. The article of claim 1 , which is a pad for a computer mouse.

10. A method of forming a non-slip article, the method including the steps of; o printing a design or one or both sides of a design layer, adhering at least partially translucent cover layer to a first surface of the design layer to form an upper surface of the article and placing a non-slip material on the second surface of the design layer.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the ink is applied to the lower surface of the article and cured.

12. A non-slip adhesive tape or film, the tape or film having upper and lower surfaces, the lower surface having an adhesive coated thereon and the lower surface having a non-slip material coated thereon.

13. The tape or film of claim 12, wherein the non-slip material is a cured ink.

14. The tape or film of claim 13, which further includes a release liner adjacent the adhesive.

15. A substantially flat article, having an upper layer of a flexible plastics material, and at least one lower layer wherein the article includes at least one cut line which has been cut through each of the at least one lower layer, whilst leaving the upper layer intact such that the article can be folded along the cut-line.

16. The article of claim 15, which is the form of the pad of claim 10.

17. A method of forming a foldable substantially flat article, the method including providing an article having an upper layer of a flexible plastics material and at least one lower layer, cutting the article through the at least one layer but without cutting the upper layer and folding the article along the cut line.