Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
38
FIELD OF THE INVENTI~N
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This invention is directed toward a tile for uae ln
constructing an entrance mat, and to an entrance mat made from
a number of the tiles.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Entrance mats in the entrances of busy places, such
as stores and hotels, are at present made in one piece. The mnts
are made in various ~sizes ln Qrder to fit different locations.
However, it is costly to provide a stock of different sized mat~.
The known mats are also usually made from thickly-woven or
knitted materiaI ~nd the snow and/or water tracked onto the
mat usually accumulates in the most heavily-used portion of the
mat until the water runs off that portion of the mat onto the
floor adjacent the mat. The water on the floor i8 then
tracked into the building from the entranceway, thus considerably
reducing if-notnegating the effectivenes~ of the mat.
DISCLOSURE 0F THE INVENTION
It is the purpose of the present invention to provide
a tile, a plurality of which can be connected together to form
; a mat of desired size. Thus, only one 8ize of tile need be
manufactured and maintained in stock~ Various sizes of entrn~ce m~ts
can be constructed from the tiles, using only that number of tiles
needed to make each desired size of mat. It is understood that
each mat size is a multiple,of the tile size. It is also understood
that the inventlon is not limited to quAdrangulAr shApes~ Tiles
having any shape which allow easy connection may be used. How-
ever, if non quadrangular shapes are used, it may be necess~ry
to provide additional tiles which occupy only a fraction of the
surface oi regular tiles in order to produce quadrangular mat~.
It iB another purpose of the present invention to
provide a tile which can retain a relatively large amount of
wate~, whereby providing a mat, made from the tlles, which can
alro retain a relatively large amount of water. More importantly,
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it i~ a purpose of the present invention to provide a ma~, made
from tiles, in which water can be distributed over the surface
of the mat. Thus, as wa~er accum~lates in the tiles of the
most-used portion of the mat, means ln the tiles allow the water
to be distributed to lesa-used portiona of the mat before lt is
allowed to spill off the mat. Thus, the mat can hold more
water before overflow occur~.
In accordance wich the present lnventlon, a tile
of quadrangular shape i~ provided, which has a bar~e and low
walls surrounding the base to hold water on the base. Scraplng
means, such as ribs, are provided on the base within the walls,
pro~ecting up from the base, 80 that snow and/or water and/or
slush can be scraped off the feet of people wal~lng on a mat
made up of the tiles. Connecting means are provided on the
walls of the tile for use in connecting the tile to adJacent tiles
in order to form a mat. The connecting means preferably cor~prise
female conneccing means on two ad~acent walls of the tile, and
male connectlng means on the other adjacenr walls of the tlle.
Also Ln accordance with the p}esent invention,
each tile 18 provided with water-directlng meAns for directlng
water between the tile and one or more ad~acent tiles, 80 as to
more uniformly distribute water over the surface of a mat made
up frorn che tiles. The water-directirlg rneans preferably comprises
one or more shallow channelr~ formed in che top of each wall of
a tile. When the water level in a tile reaches the height
oE the channels in its walls, the water flows out of the tile
through the charlnels into ad~acent tiles. In this manner, water
accumulatecl in che mat is generally evenly distributed over the
mat before overflow occurs.
Means may be provided about the periphery of the mat
3~ for providing a smooth edge about the mat and for retaining water
on the mat by blocking those channels in the walls of the tiles
forming the outer edge of the mat. These edging means comprise
4~
edging strips, each having a smooth outer side and connecting
means on its inner side cooperating with the connecting mean3
of the tiles on each edge of the mat. These edglng means preferably
straddle adjacent tile3, to reinforce the connecting means
between adjacent marginal tiles.
The tiles are molded in one piece from rubber-
like plastic material, such as P.V.C., 80 they are flexible
and watertight.
I The invention i~ particularly direeted toward
a tile for use in constructing a mat, which tile has a flat base.
The tile 18 of a shape that allows a plurality of same to be
connected together to form a mat. A low wall i~ provided along
the perimeter of the base to hold water on the base. Scraper
means are provided on the base within the walls. There are alflo
preferably provided channels in the scraper means to allow exce3s
water to flow off the scraper means. MPan~ are provided on the
outer surface of each wall for use in connecting the ~ile
adjacent tiles.
The tile of the present invention also includes
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means in each wall for use in directing water out of the tile when
it reaches a certain level on the base.
iThe inventlon is al~o particularly directed toward
a mat from a plurality of such tiles connected to each other
by appropriate connecting means.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWtNGS
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The invention wlll now be described in detail
having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. l i5 an exploded, detail view oi one corner
of an entrance mat incorporating the ti`les of the present
invention;
Fig. 2 is a detail view oE one corner of an entrance
mat;
Fig. 3 i8 a cross-section view taken along line 3 3
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in Fig~ l;
Fi~. 4 is a cross-section view taken along line
4-4 in Fig. ï; and
Fig. 5 is an end view of an edging strtp in Fig.' 2.
DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The entrance mat 1 oi the present invention,as
shown in Figs 1 and 2, comprises a plurality of interlocked tiles
3 surrouncled by edging strips 5, 7. The tilea 3 are arranged
in rows "R" and columns "C" with the same number of tlle0 ln ench
row, and the same number of tiles in each column. The number
of tiles in each row "R"`can differ from the number of tiles
in each column "C".
The tiles 3 are identical and each has a quadrangular,
preferably squ~re, shape~ Each tile 3 has a flat base 9 surrounded
on its four sides by short walls 11, 13, 15, 17. The walls 11,
13, 15, 17 are ~oined together and serve to hold water or other
liquid, on the base 9. Scraper means 19 are provided on the base
within the walls 11 to 17 for scraping snow, and/or water, and/or
slush, off shoes or boots. The scraper means 19 preferably comprise
a plurality of spaced-apart ribs 21, as shown in Fig. 3, integral
with the base 9 and pro3ecting up therefr~m. The ribs 21
preferably have the s~me height as the walls 11 to 17 and extend
diagonally across the base 9. The ribs 21 are spaced close enough
together 80 that spike heels cannot be caught between the ribs.
The ends 23 of each rib 21 terminate Just short of the walls
11, 13, 15, 17 providlng a continuous outer channel 25 between
the ribs 21 and the walls 11, 13, 15, 17. The channels 27 between
the ribs 21 communicate with the outer channel 25.
Means are provided in each wall 11, 13, 15, 17 oi
the tile 3 for directing water in or out ~ji; the tile. These
water-directin,, means, a8 shown in Fi8~ 4; preferably comprise
at least one slot or channel 31 in each wall e~tending down a
short distance from its upper surface 33. Preferably, at least
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two channels 31 are provided in each wall near each end of the
wall.
Means are provided on each tlle 3 Eor use in attaching
it to adjacent tiles or to edging strips 5, 7. Female connectinS
means 37 are provided on the outer surface 39 of two adjacent
walls 11, 13. Male connecting meana 41 are provided on the
outer surface 43 of the other two ad~acent walls 15, 17. The
female connecting means 37 preferably comprlse~ a pair of shallow
slots 45 in the outer surface 39 of each wall ll, 13, each slot
having a base wider than its mouth. The male connectlng meana
preferably comprise a pair of short pro~ections 47 on the outer
surface 43 of each wall 15, 17. Each projection 47 i8 located
and sized to fit snugly into a slot 45 on an ad~acent tlle when
two tiles are interlocked slde by side.
Each tile 3 19 flexible and is prefer2bly molded
in one piece from a rubber-like, plastic material, such a9 PVC
polyurethane, for example. The tile~ preferably have a hardness,
measured on the durometer ~cale, of seventy-five to eighty-flve.
Some abrasive ma~erial can be incorporated in the top surface
2Q of the tile when it is molded, ii desired, to make it less
slippery.
The tiles 3 are assembled into a mat 1 of desired
~ize by connecting the required number of tiles together in
rows and column~. The tiles in each row are connected together
in the same manner. For example, each tile ln a row can be
arranged with one wall ll, with the female connecting means 37
therein, on l'top" as when viewing Figs 1 and 2; and with the
other adjacent wall 13, with the other female-connecting means 37
therein, on the "right" when viewing Figs 1 and 2. Each tile
3Q will, as a resl~lt, have one wall 15, with the m~le-connecting
means 41 thereon, on the "botton~", as when viewing Figs 1 and
2, and the other adjacen~ wall 17, with the other male-connectlng
means 41 therein, on the "let" as when viewlng Flg 1 and 2.
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Thus, in each row "R", ~ith the rows running across when
viewing ~igs 1 and 2, each tile has Its male-connecting means 41
in wall 17, mating with the female-connecting means 37 in wall 13
on the adjacent tiLe to the left side.
In each column "C", with the columns running up down
when viewing Flgs 1 and 2, each tile has its ~ther male-connectlng
means 41 in wal] 15, mating with the other female-connecting means
37 in wall 11 on the adJacent bottom tile.
The assembled mat 1 has a row of female-connecting
means 37 on two sides, the top and right sides, when viewing Flgs
1 and 2; and a row of male-connecting means 410n ita other two
sides, the bottom and left sides, when viewing Fig~ 1 and 2. Edging
~trips 5,7 are provided for the mat 1 about its outer edge. E~ch
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edging strip S on the top and right sides of the mat has male-con-
necting means 51 on its ~nner side 53 cooperating with the female-
connecting means 37 on the top and right sides of the mat. Each
edging strip 7 on the bottom and left sides of the mat has female-
connecting mean355 on lts inner side 57 cooperating with the
male-connecting means 41 on the bottom and leit side of the mat.
The outer side 59,610f each edging strip 5,7 respectively,
is strai~ht and its upper surface 63,6S respectively, curves
down from its inner side S3, S7 to its outer side S9,61 respect-
ively. This is shown in Fig.5 for strip 7.
Edging strips S and 7 are of the same length as
the side of a tile 3 and equally overlap two adjacent tile~ to
further reinforce the connecting means 4l,55 of marglnal or border
tiles. Each strip 5 and 7 is further provided with a stud 67 ~t
one end and a mating cavity 69 at lts other end to interconnect
abutting strips 50r 7. Right angular cor~ner strips 71 are also
provided with each leg half the length of a tile side and provided
wi~h male- and female-connecting means 51,550f a ~tud 67 and a
cavity 69.
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The assembled ma-t is placed adjacent an entrance and
snow, water and/or slush is scraped off the feet of people
walking over the mat by the scraper means 19. Any snow, water
and/or slush scraped off falls between the scraper means 19 and
melts. The water accumulates in each tile 3 on i-ts base 9
within its wal1s lls 13, 15, 17. If the water level in one
tile becomes -too high, the water is directed out of the tile
into adjacen-t tiles by the aligned channels 31 at each corner.
0 In this way the accurnulated water spreads out over the mat
while retained within the ma-t by the edging st~ips 5, 7.
The tiles 3 are interlocked tightly together so tha-t
water, flowing ~hrough the channels between tilesl will not
readily flow down between the tiles. If any one tile is
darnaged it can be easily replaced.
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