DE20012477U1 - Elastic plastic mat and connecting elements for connecting individual plastic mats - Google Patents

Description

Gteiss'&öröße

Patent Attorneys Lawyers Munich Stuttgart

Dr. jur. Alf-Olav Gleiss, Dipl.-Ing. PA Rainer Große, Dipl.-Ing. PA
Dr. Andreas Schrell, Dipl.-Biol. PA
Torsten Armin Krüger, Attorney
Nils Heide, Attorney

PA: Patent Attorney

European Patent Attorney
European Trademark Attorney

RA: Attorney-at-law D-70469 STUTTGART MAYBACHSTRASSE 6A Telephone: +49(0)7118145 55 Fax: +49(0)711 81 30 32 Telex: 72 27 72 jura d e-mail: jurapat@aol.com

D-80469 MUNICH MORASSISTRASSE 20 Telephone: +49(0)89 21578080 Fax: +49(0)89 21578090 e-mail: GGpat@aol.com

In cooperation with

Shanghai Hua Dong Patent Agency Shanghai, China Utility model application

Elastic plastic mat and connecting element for connecting individual plastic mats

Wolfgang Lachermund-Schneider Schwabhäuser Strasse 3

97944 BOXBERG-SCHWABHAUSEN

16381t GR-mh-lu July 13, 2000

Track & Large

Patent Attorneys Lawyers
Munich Stuttgart

Description

The invention relates to an elastic plastic mat, in particular a floor mat, the user side of which is surface-structured, according to the preamble of claim 1.

Furthermore, the invention relates to a connecting element for connecting at least two plastic mats arranged next to one another, according to the preamble of claim 12.

Elastic plastic mats of the type mentioned here are known. Such plastic mats have a flat support surface to ensure that the respective plastic mat rests continuously and securely on the floor, for example. These plastic mats are made of a material whose elastic deformation properties do not provide satisfactory flexibility, especially for people walking or standing on the plastic mats.

It is the object of the invention to provide an elastic plastic mat of the type mentioned at the beginning, a connecting element for connecting two plastic mats, in which it can be ensured that the plastic mat has a satisfactory

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exhibits a certain elasticity or flexibility when in use.

To solve the problem, an elastic plastic mat with the features of claim 1 is proposed, which is characterized in that the support side is also surface-structured. A plastic mat with surface-structured both on the user side and on the support side can be made from a relatively resistant, in particular wear-resistant material and at the same time, due to the additional surface structuring on the support side, provides satisfactory elastic flexibility for people who use the plastic mat as a floor mat, for example. The degree of flexibility of the plastic mat therefore does not depend solely on the plastic material used, but can also be influenced in a relatively simple manner by the surface structuring on the support side. The elastic deformation behavior of the plastic mat is thus determined both by the material-specific properties and by the geometric design of the surface structuring on the user side and on the support side. This ensures flexible adjustment of the flexibility of the elastic, deformable plastic mat.

The surface structure of the user side and the support side is advantageously designed as a plurality of outwardly curved knobs. A surface structure of the user side and the support side of the plastic mat by means of outwardly curved knobs

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The curved knobs are relatively easy to manufacture and ensure increased walking or standing comfort for a person using the plastic mat as a floor mat, especially for longer periods of time.

Preferably, the studs are arranged at a distance from one another. By arranging the studs at a distance on the user side and on the support side of the plastic mat, a particularly non-slip profile is obtained on the corresponding sides. The flexibility of the plastic mat can also be influenced by choosing the respective stud size and the distance between two studs.

According to a preferred embodiment, the knobs are uniformly formed and regularly arranged. This ensures that the elastic plastic mat is uniformly flexible over the entire structured surface of the user side and the support side.

The support side preferably has a flat, outer support edge. A flat, outer support edge of the support side ensures a secure, in particular non-slip support of the elastic plastic mat on a preferably also flat surface (floor). Furthermore, when the plastic mat is in place, an air cushion forms on its support side in the area of the surface structure between the surface (floor) and the support side of the plastic mat, whereby a non-slip

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The desired, rapid escape of air from the air cushion when the plastic mat is in use, for example by a person walking over it, is reliably prevented by the flat, outer and circumferential support edge. The air cushion formed between the subsurface (floor) and the plastic mat acts advantageously as an air spring when the plastic mat is in use and the resulting elastic deformation of the same and thus influences the flexibility of the elastic plastic mat when it is in use.

The studs on the support side advantageously extend to a plane containing the flat support edge. This ensures that the elastic plastic mat rests securely, in particular non-slip, on a preferably flat surface (floor) over the entire support side. The desired support security and elastic deformability of the plastic mat can be predetermined in a relatively simple manner by selecting the appropriate design and size of the contact surfaces of the studs with the surface (floor) and by means of the resulting size of the contact surface between the support side of the plastic mat and the surface.

Preferably, the studs on the support side are arranged coaxially to the corresponding studs on the user side. This ensures that the pressure or deformation force introduced into the studs on the user side when using the

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Plastic mat is transferred directly into the corresponding knobs arranged coaxially on the support side, which in turn rest on the subsurface (floor). This prevents undesirable flexing of the plastic material, particularly on the support side, in a gap-shaped connecting area between two adjacent knobs. Such flexing would result from an unacceptably strong, elastic bending of the connecting area between two knobs. Due to a coaxial arrangement of the knobs on the support side in relation to corresponding knobs on the user side, such disadvantageous flexing of the plastic material is prevented in a simple and reliable manner.

The plastic is preferably polyurethane and is enriched with air to form air pockets. Air-enriched polyurethane is particularly suitable for producing a plastic mat that is characterized by a sufficiently high level of wear resistance and at the same time by a satisfactorily high level of elastic deformability or flexibility, particularly when used as a floor mat. The degree of air enrichment in the polyurethane can be used as an additional parameter to determine the desired elastic flexibility of the plastic mat.

The user side preferably has an inclined transition surface or is limited by a boundary surface that is perpendicular to the support edge. The inclined transition surface serves as a tripping protection

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and is formed on the free, outer edges of the user side. If several plastic mats are lined up next to one another, for example to form a carpet, the interfaces of the corresponding plastic mats that come into contact with one another are vertical and flat in relation to the support edge. The plastic mats arranged on the outside have an inclined transition surface on their corresponding free, outer edges. In this application, a distinction can therefore be made between plastic mats that have one or two edges with an inclined transition surface (edge mats), with the remaining edges being characterized by vertical interfaces, and also between plastic mats whose edges are all designed as vertical interfaces (central mats).

The support edge advantageously has receiving seats accessible from the support side for receiving connecting elements. This makes it possible to firmly connect a plurality of plastic mats next to one another in a flexible manner using connecting elements, forming a continuous carpet that is stable with respect to an undesirable displacement of individual plastic mats. The receiving seats are preferably accessible from the support side and do not extend continuously to the user side, so that the surface structuring on the user side is continuous or regular without recesses (receiving seat) to the inclined transition surface or to the vertical

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Furthermore, due to the accessibility of the receiving seats or the connecting elements received in them from the support side, a safeguard is created against unwanted protrusion of the connecting elements from the corresponding receiving seats during use and elastic deformation of plastic mats resting on a substrate (floor).

Advantageously, the receiving seats are each designed as an annular groove with at least one connecting groove extending from the annular groove to the outer edge of the support edge. Receiving seats designed in this way ensure reliable reception of correspondingly designed connecting elements, whereby the connecting elements can be manually pressed into such receiving seats in a quick and user-friendly manner. This enables a reliable connection between two plastic mats arranged next to one another by means of correspondingly designed connecting elements.

To solve the problem, a connecting element is also proposed which has the features of claim 12. The connecting element according to the invention is characterized in that it is made of a material which is stiff in relation to the plastic mats. Due to the stiffer design of the connecting element in relation to the plastic mats, a stable and reliable connection of two plastic mats arranged next to one another is made possible.

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The connecting element advantageously has two or four ring units that are connected to one another by means of at least one connecting strut. A connecting element designed in this way is relatively easy to manufacture and is particularly suitable for producing a reliable edge connection between (each) two plastic mats arranged next to one another.

The connecting strut advantageously has a self-springing action that occurs when the connecting element is installed and attracts two plastic mats arranged next to one another. Such self-springing of the connecting struts can be achieved, for example, by curving them. The curved connecting struts are manually straightened so that the two opposing ring units move away from one another. In this assembly position, the connecting element is, for example, manually inserted into the correspondingly designed receiving seats of two plastic mats arranged next to one another so that the previously elastically deformed connecting struts of the connecting element tend to return to their rest position (curved connecting struts) when installed. Due to this elastic return-to-deformation tendency of the connecting element, the two plastic mats arranged next to one another are pulled together at the edges. Using such connecting elements, a reliable and operationally safe connection between two plastic mats arranged next to one another is thus made possible.

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According to a preferred embodiment, the connecting element is provided with a plurality of barbs that prevent it from coming loose from a receiving seat. The barbs ensure that the connecting elements can be easily inserted into correspondingly designed receiving seats and at the same time prevent them from coming loose unintentionally in a simple and reliable manner.

Further advantageous embodiments of the invention emerge from the description.

The invention is explained in more detail below in several embodiments with reference to an associated drawing. They show:

Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of a user side of a plastic mat according to the invention;

Figure 2 shows a schematic longitudinal section through the plastic mat according to Figure 1 on an enlarged scale;

Figure 3 shows a schematic longitudinal section through a plastic mat according to the invention according to an alternative embodiment;

Figure 4 is a schematic bottom view of a support side of a plastic mat according to the invention according to a further, alternative embodiment;

Figure 5 is a schematic plan view of a connecting element according to the invention;

Figure 6 is a schematic side view of a connecting element according to the invention according to a further embodiment and

Figure 7 is a schematic plan view of a connecting element according to the invention according to an alternative embodiment.

Figures 1 and 2 show a schematic representation of an elastic, rectangular plastic mat 10, in particular a floor mat, with a surface-structured user side 11 and a surface-structured support side 12. The surface-structured user side 11 and the surface-structured support side 12 have a plurality of outwardly curved and spaced-apart knobs 13. The knobs 13 are uniformly designed and regularly arranged on the user side 11 and the support side 12. The knobs 13 of the support side 12 lie coaxially to corresponding knobs 13 of the user side 11. The support side 12 has a flat, outer and circumferential support edge 14. The knobs 13 of the support side 12 extend to a theoretical plane containing the flat support edge 14. The user side 11 has an inclined, edge-encircling transition surface 15, which serves as a trip protection. The respective transition surface 15 thus extends from the surface-structured user side 11 to an outer edge 20, which simultaneously forms the

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Support edge 14 on the support side 12 is limited at the edge. The plastic mat 10 is preferably made of air-enriched polyurethane, which is made from polyol as the first material component and from isocyanate as the second material component. The air enrichment of polyol serves to form air inclusions (not shown) in the material of the plastic mat 10.

Figure 3 shows a schematic representation of a longitudinally cut plastic mat 10 according to an alternative embodiment. This plastic mat 10 corresponds essentially to that according to Figures 1 and 2, with the difference that the plastic mat 10 in Figure 3 has at least one boundary surface 16 which is perpendicular to the support edge 14 and which borders the user side 11 and the support side 12. The plastic mat 10 according to Figure 3 is thus suitable for flush adjoining a preferably correspondingly designed plastic mat 10 provided with a vertical boundary surface 16 and thus forming a continuous carpet consisting of several plastic mats 10 (not shown).

Figure 4 shows a schematic view of the support surface 12 of a plastic mat 10 according to a further alternative embodiment. The support side 12 has a plurality of receiving seats 17 for establishing a connection by means of a correspondingly designed connecting element 18 (see also Figures 5 and 7) between two adjacent and mutually adjacent boundary surfaces 16.

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the abutting plastic mats 10. The receiving seats 17 are formed in the support edge 14 and are only accessible from the support side 12. The receiving seats 17 are therefore not formed as through openings. Preferably, the receiving seats 17 each have an annular groove 19, from which two straight, parallel connecting grooves 21 run to the outer edge 20 of the support edge 14. In the corner area of the plastic mat 10, the receiving seat 17 has four connecting grooves 21, two of which run from the annular groove 19 to a corresponding outer edge 20. The plastic mat 10 according to Figure 4 thus corresponds to the plastic mat 10 of Figure 3, with a plurality of receiving seats 17 additionally being provided in the support edge 14.

Figure 5 shows a schematic top view of the connecting element 18, which is suitable for being inserted into a receiving seat 17 of the plastic mat 10 according to Figure 4, preferably manually, to produce a connection between two plastic mats 10 (not shown) arranged next to one another and flush with their vertical boundary surfaces 16. As shown in Figure 6, the connecting element 18 can be provided with barbs 24 on its outer and, if necessary, also inner contact surface of the ring units 22. The barbs 24 serve to prevent the connecting element 18 from being undesirably detached from the corresponding receiving seat 17 of the plastic mat 10. The connecting element 18 according to Figure 5 serves to connect two plastic mats arranged next to one another.

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10, while Figure 7 shows a connecting element 18 which is suitable for connecting four plastic mats 10, all of which are adjacent to one another with one of their corners at a common point and arranged next to one another. The connecting element 18 according to Figure 7 is thus inserted into a corner area of a plastic mat 10 (see also Figure 4) in a correspondingly designed receiving seat 17 on the support side, preferably manually, in the plastic mat 10. The connecting elements 18 according to Figures 5 to 7 are preferably made of a material which is stiffer than the plastic mat 10.

According to an embodiment not shown, the connecting struts 23 have an inherent springiness that occurs when the connecting element 18 is mounted and attracts two plastic mats 10 arranged next to one another. Such an inherent springiness of the connecting element 18 can be achieved, for example, by means of a curvature of the connecting struts 23.

The plastic mat 10 according to Figure 1 is designed as a single mat with a peripheral transition surface 15, while a plastic mat 10 according to Figures 3 and 4 with a peripheral vertical boundary surface 16 is designed as a central modular mat that can be connected to other plastic mats. A modular mat according to Figure 4 can also be connected to an edge mat (not shown) that has at least one transition surface 15 by using a connecting element according to Figure 5 or 7.

A plastic mat 10 designed in this way can be used as a flexible floor mat by taking advantage of its advantageous elastic flexibility. The desired elastic flexibility of the plastic mat 10 is based on the material-specific deformation properties, the air inclusions in the material and the air cushion that forms between the support side 12 of the plastic mat 10 and the subsurface (floor). Since the air trapped between the support side 12 and the subsurface (floor) is held back by the surrounding support edge 14 even when the plastic mat 10 is subjected to elastic deformation stress, for example by a pedestrian, and thus prevents air from escaping quickly from this air cushion, the air trapped due to the surface structure of the support side acts as an air spring. The plastic mat 10 is thus characterized by increased wear resistance and elastic deformability that has a shock-absorbing and therefore pleasant effect on the user (for example pedestrian). This desired elastic deformability has a particularly pleasant effect on a person standing or walking on the plastic mat 10 because it causes an alternation between tension and relaxation of the person's muscles, which counteracts, among other things, fatigue and possibly muscle distortion, since the blood circulation of the person in question is significantly improved due to the adjusted flexibility of the plastic mat 10. The use of a plastic mat 10 according to the invention is therefore suitable for various types of standing and/or

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The surface profiling of the user side 11 and/or the support side 12 can be designed in different ways, depending on the external operating influences (swimming pool floor, production or assembly hall floor and the like).

Claims (15)

1. Elastic plastic mat, in particular floor mat, the user side of which is surface-structured, characterized in that the support side ( 12 ) is also surface-structured. 2. Plastic mat according to claim 1, characterized in that the surface structuring of the user side ( 11 ) and the support side ( 12 ) is designed as a plurality of outwardly curved knobs ( 13 ). 3. Plastic mat according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the knobs ( 13 ) are arranged at a distance from one another. 4. Plastic mat according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the knobs ( 13 ) are uniformly formed and regularly arranged. 5. Plastic mat according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the support side ( 12 ) has a flat, outer support edge ( 14 ). 6. Plastic mat according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the knobs ( 13 ) of the support side ( 12 ) extend to a plane containing the flat support edge ( 14 ). 7. Plastic mat according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the knobs ( 13 ) of the support side ( 12 ) are arranged coaxially to corresponding knobs ( 13 ) of the user side ( 11 ). 8. Plastic mat according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plastic is polyurethane and is air-enriched to form air inclusions. 9. Plastic mat according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the user side ( 11 ) has an inclined transition surface ( 15 ) or is limited by a boundary surface ( 16 ) perpendicular to the support edge ( 14 ). 10. Plastic mat according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the support edge ( 14 ) has receiving seats ( 17 ) accessible from the support side ( 12 ) for receiving connecting elements ( 18 ). 11. Plastic mat according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the receiving seats ( 17 ) are each designed as an annular groove ( 19 ) with at least one connecting groove ( 21 ) extending from the annular groove ( 19 ) to the outer edge ( 20 ) of the support edge ( 14 ). 12. Connecting element for connecting at least two plastic mats arranged next to one another, in particular according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the connecting element ( 18 ) is made of a material which is stiffer than the plastic mats ( 10 ). 13. Connecting element according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it has two or four ring units ( 22 ) which are connected to one another by means of at least one connecting strut ( 23 ). 14. Connecting element according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the connecting strut ( 23 ) has a self-springing which occurs when the connecting element ( 18 ) is mounted and attracts two plastic mats ( 10 ) arranged next to one another. 15. Connecting element according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is provided with a plurality of barbs ( 24 ) preventing independent detachment from a receiving seat ( 17 ).