GB2258624A - Improvements in and relating to mats - Google Patents

Abstract

A mat of the kind comprising a support body of substantially resilient material is provided with a selectively textured and/or decorative wear surface by adhesively securing a wear surface of flock material to the support body. The support body may comprise a plurality of strips arranged to extend side-by-side, optionally spaced by rigid strips, and the flock may be pre-applied to a long length strip before cutting to lengths to form a mat structure.

Description

IMPROVES NTS IN AND RELATING TO MATS This invention relates to a mat and method of manufacture of a mat of a kind comprising a body of substantially resilient material which supports a tread surface of fibrous material.

The invention relates also but not exclusively to a mat and method of manufacture of a mat of the kind comprising a plurality of first strips of substantially rigid material, for example of aluminium or a plastics material such as polyvinyl chloride or polypropylene, and a plurality of second strips of substantially resilient and flexible material such as natural or synthetic rubber which support a fibrous tread surface, the second strips being interposed alternately between the first strips and the first and second strips being secured together in side-byside relationship by means of one or more connecting elements, such as wires, which pass through aligned apertures in the first and second strips.

In the aforedescribed construction the fibrous tread surfaces of the second strips serve primarily to support footwear passing thereover and perform a cleaning action whereas the recess regions provided by the first strips between respective neighbouring pairs of second strips serve as grooves in which dirt may gather for subsequent removal during a mat cleaning operation.

Commonly the first, substantially rigid, strips are of an H-shape in cross-section with the cross piece of the H, in use, lying vertically in the direction of the thickness of the matting. Said cross piece is provided with apertures through which the connecting elements pass, and the edges of the side pieces of the H formation abut adjacent flexible second strips.

Alternatively they are commonly of half an H shape, i e a C type shape.

Conventionally each said second strip has an embedded reinforcement of one or more layers of fabric arranged to lie substantially transverse to the plane of the mat and the surface of the rubber or like substantially resilient material is removed from a face of the strip which is to define the tread surface so as to expose the fibres and provide a fibrous tread surface.

The resulting mat with a fibrous tread surface as described in the preceding paragraph is found to exhibit excellent wear characteristics even in conditions of arduous use, and to remain effective in providing a cleaning action. However, the technique of forming the fibrous surface by removing a surface layer of the rubber or like substantially resilient material, typically by a buffing technique, in order to expose the fibres of an embedded reinforcement, is both time consuming and expensive.

The present invention seeks to provide a method of manufacture of a mat, and a mat manufactured by a method which avoids any requirement to remove a surface layer of rubber or like substantially resilient material to expose fibres of an embedded reinforcement fabric.

In accordance with one of its aspects the present invention provides a mat comprising a support body of substantially resilient material and which supports a tread surface comprised by a layer of flock adhesively secured to a surface of the support body.

The support body may incorporate an embedded reinforcement and that reinforcement may be in the form of layers of fabric arranged to lie transversely relative to the plane of the mat. Alternatively the support body may be reinforced by non-woven, e g randomly arranged fibres, the density of which may be selected to afford the desired level of stiffness to the resilient material, or the support body may be bereft of embedded reinforcement.

The mat may comprise a plurality of strips of said body material arranged to lie parallel with one another in a side-by-side relationship and with successive strips spaced by spacer means. The spacer means may be strips of substantially rigid material in a manner substantially as described in the specifications of GB 1055960 and GB 2090128, and in which the assembly of strips is held together by transversely extending wires.

The layer of flock may cover substantially all of the tread surface of a support body.

Alternatively it may be applied only to selected areas, for example to form the pattern of a logo or lettering, or other marking such as arrows for indicating emergency exit directions.

Whilst the provision of a tread surface avoids the need to buff support body material to expose an embedded reinforcement as in the prior art constructions, it is to be understood that the layer of flock may nevertheless be applied to a fibrous surface resulting from said buffing or other technique.

This may be appropriate where the layer of flock is to be used primarily to provide a surface marking instead of defining the whole of the tread surface.

The mat may comprise an assembly of strips in which one or more carries a flock layer of a first colour and one or more other strip carries flock layer of a second colour. Alternatively a strip of the mat may comprise a first tread surface region comprised by a flock layer of a first colour and a second tread surface region comprised by a flock layer of a second colour.

In accordance with another of its aspects the present invention provides a method of manufacture of a mat comprising providing a support body of substantially resilient material and applying to a support surface of said support body a layer of flock thereby to define a wear resistant tread surface.

Preferably the layer of flock is applied by an electrostatic technique to a surface of the support body which has been treated with adhesive. In consequence the short fibres constituting the flock material become preferentially aligned to lie substantially at right angles to the tread surface.

This alignment is believed to result in a tread surface that will exhibit good wear properties together with the potential for a good cleaning action.

In the case of a mat of a kind comprising a plurality of strips of said body material arranged to lie parallel with one another in a side-by-side relationship and spaced by interposed spacer means as described above, the application of flock may be performed on a sheet of said body material which is then cut into strips, or may be performed on strips of the body material prior to assembly with the spacer means. In a further alternative the strips of body material and spacer means may be assembled to form the basic structure of a mat and a surface of the mat which is to form a tread surface may then be treated with adhesive and subject to flocking, e g by an electrostatic technique.

The present invention further provides a mat manufactured by a method of the invention.

One embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of part of an entrance mat in accordance with the subject invention; Figure 2 shows in detail an enlarged end view of part of the mat of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is an exploded end view of a mat having alternative spacer strips.

A mat 10 as shown in Figure 1 comprises a plurality of substantially rigid extruded C-section polypropylene strips 11 and a plurality of flexible and substantially resilient second strip components 12 interposed alternately between the plastics strips 11. The strips 12 constitute a support body of the mat and are made of a natural or synthetic rubber which contains a reinforcement of randomly arranged fibres at a density selected to provide a desired level of resiliency.

As viewed in Figure 1, upper and lower surfaces 14 of each of the substantially resilient strips 12 are provided with a tread surface comprised by a layer 15 of nylon flock. In consequence the resulting mat has two wear surfaces, i e it is reversible.

The layer of flock constituting a tread surface at each of opposite faces of a support strip 12 is applied thereto by an electrostatic flocking technique in which prior to assembly of the strips 12 with the strips 11, said surfaces 14 of the strips 12 are coated with an acrylic water-based adhesive to which nylon flock is then applied electrostatically, resulting in the flock fibres lying substantially at right angles to a surface 14. Subsequent to drying the flock treated strips 12 are then assembled as aforedescribed with the plastics spacer strips 11 by means of wires 16 arranged to extend through the strips, in the plane of the mat, and to be bent at their ends in the recesses of plastics edge strips 17 to retain the assembled strips in an abutting relationship.

In Figure 3 there is shown an alternative type of spacer strip 18 which is of the so-called H-shape in cross-section.

Claims (14)

CLAIMS:

1. A mat comprising a support body of substantially resilient material wherein said support body supports a tread surface comprised by a layer of flock adhesively secured to a surface of the support body.

2. A mat according to claim 1 wherein the support body comprises an embedded reinforcement.

3. A mat according to claim 2 wherein said reinforcement comprises a layer of fabric arranged to lie in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the mat.

4. A mat according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the support body is reinforced by non-woven material.

5. A mat according to claim 1 wherein the support body is bereft of embedded reinforcement.

6. A mat according to any one of the preceding claims and comprising a plurality of strips of said body material arranged to lie parallel with one another in a side-by-side relationship with successive strips spaced apart by spacer means.

7. A mat according to claim 6 wherein said spacer means comprises strips of substantially rigid material, with the strips of body material and spacer strips being held together by wires which extend transversely through the strips, in a plane parallel with the plane of the mat

8. A mat according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the layer of flock covers substantially all of the tread surface of the support body.

9. A mat according to any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the flock is applied only to selected areas.

10. A mat according to claim 1 and constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described.

11. Method of manufacture of a mat comprising providing a support body of substantially resilient material and applying to a surface of said support body a layer of flock thereby to define a wear resistant tread surface.

12. A method according to claim 11 wherein the layer of flock is applied by an electrostatic technique to a surface of the support body which has been treated with adhesive.

13. A method according to claim 11 or claim 12 for the manufacture of a mat of a kind comprising a plurality of strips of said body material which are arranged to lie parallel with one another in a sideby-side relationship spaced apart by interposed spacer means wherein the application of flock is performed on a sheet of said body material prior to cutting that sheet into strips or is performed on strips of the body material prior to assembly with the spacer means.

14. Method of manufacture of a mat according to claim 11 and substantially as hereinbefore described.