Abstract:
A woven exercise rug having contours on the exercise surface for the purpose of reducing the chance of a user slipping during exercise is disclosed. The woven characteristic of the exercise rug provides for some moisture absorption and the contours provide additional gripping for the user of the rug to help reduce the chance of slipping due to moisture accumulation on the rug, due, for example, to perspiration. The contours of the rug may be provided by supplementary wefts or warps in the weave of the rug which are not required for the structural stability of the rug.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisional application No. 60/482,542, filed on Jun. 25, 2003. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates to exercise rugs, and more particularly to exercise rugs used in the practice of hatha yoga, pilates, and other forms of exercise that traditionally take place on exercise mats. More particularly, the invention provides an exercise rug that will help prevent slipping once the user begins to perspire.  
           [0004]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0005]    The practice of mat-based exercise, such as hatha yoga and pilates, has become extremely popular in recent years. Types of hatha yoga mat-based exercise include, but are not limited to, bikram yoga, ashtanga yoga, power yoga, vinyasa flow yoga and hot yoga.  
           [0006]    Traditionally, such mat-based exercise takes place barefoot on a foam exercise mat. However, a common complaint is that when the user begins to sweat, the exercise mat becomes slippery.  
           [0007]    An existing solution to this problem is the use of an exercise rug, often called a mysore rug, yoga rug or an ashtanga rug, which is either placed on top of the exercise mat, or used in lieu of an exercise mat. The exercise rug absorbs sweat, therefore decreasing the slipperiness of the exercise surface. The most common exercise rug is usually woven in a loom using a balanced weave (i.e., when both the warp and weft threads are equal in number per centimeter). Although exercise rugs absorb some sweat and condensation, there still exists the problem of slippage on the wet surface, which slippage makes a workout less effective and increases the risk of injury.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    The present invention relates, in a first aspect, to a woven exercise rug including contours woven into the rug in order to reduce the likelihood of slipping while exercising on the exercise rug of the present invention. The contours reduce slippage by contacting various parts of the user&#39;s hands and feet and serving as a gripping surface to hold the user&#39;s hands and feet in place on the exercise rug even if the exercise rug has become wet, due, for example, to perspiration.  
           [0009]    Thus, it is an objective of certain embodiments of the invention to provide an improved exercise rug design which increases the stability and efficient movement of an user by reducing slipping due to moisture on the exercise rug.  
           [0010]    It is another objective of certain embodiments of the invention to provide a novel weave of an exercise rug in order to create a series of contours on the exercise rug, therefore reducing slipping when an user using the rug perspires, by providing grip and/or resistance against slipping.  
           [0011]    These and other objectives of the invention will become apparent from a detailed description of the invention, which follows taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a top view of a preferred embodiment of an exercise rug in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is a side view of the embodiment of the exercise rug shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a side view of an alternative embodiment of an exercise rug in accordance with the present invention which employs indentations in the surface of the rug to provide a traction surface.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 is a top view of another embodiment of the invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0016]    In one aspect, the present invention relates to an exercise rug  10 , which can be used by a user for various activities. Preferably, the user exercises on the exercise rug  10  of the invention. The practice of mat-based exercise, such as hatha yoga and pilates, has become extremely popular in recent years. Types of hatha yoga mat-based exercise include, but are not limited to, bikram yoga, ashtanga yoga, power yoga, vinyasa flow yoga and hot yoga. The exercise rug  10  of the present invention can be used in these types of mat-based exercise, as well as for other types of physical exercise such as aerobics, dancing, physical training, etc.  
         [0017]    The exercise rug  10  of the present invention is woven in order to provide some absorption of moisture into the exercise rug  10 . The exercise rug  10  can be made by any suitable, conventional weaving process known to persons skilled in the art.  
         [0018]    The exercise rug  10  of the present invention includes contours, such as the ridges  14  shown in FIG. 1, on the exercise surface  12  of the exercise rug  10 . The contours reduce slipping by touching various parts of the user&#39;s hands and feet and serving as a grip to hold the user&#39;s hands and/or feet in place on the exercise rug when the user has been perspiring. Various forms of contours can be employed for this purpose. For example, instead of the ridges  14 , other contours such as indentations in the exercise surface  12 , web or dot patterns of contours which protrude relative to a non-contoured portion of the exercise surface, and/or combinations of two or more of these different types of contours can be employed. The contours should be of sufficient size to provide a user of the exercise rug  10  with an improved grip on the contoured portion of the exercise surface  12 , as compared to the user&#39;s grip on a non-contoured exercise surface of a woven exercise rug.  
         [0019]    In the context of the present application, the term, “contour” requires the presence of a portion of the rug that protrudes relative to a non-contoured portion of the exercise surface of the rug, a portion of the rug that is indented relative to a non-contoured portion of the exercise surface of the rug, or a portion of the rug that either protrudes relative to a non-contoured portion of the exercise surface or is indented relative to a non-contoured portion of the exercise surface. Preferably, the contours do not form a structurally necessary portion of the rug.  
         [0020]    As an example, for a rug that is about {fraction (1/8)} inch thick, the contours may protrude approximately {fraction (1/8)} inch above the exercise surface of the rug or be indented up to about {fraction (1/16)} inch into the exercise surface of the rug. Neither the precise height nor the depth of the contours, nor the spacing of the contours are critical to the function of the rug. Rather, the height or depth of the contours must be sufficient to provide a traction surface and the spacing of the contours can be in any form, and the contours can even be formed to provide decoration to the exercise rug.  
         [0021]    The exercise rug  10  shown in FIG. 1, is generally rectangular in shape to provide the desired exercise surface  12  while helping to minimize the size of the exercise rug  10 . Thus, in use, the user will orient the exercise rug  10  with the longer dimension facing in the direction of the user so that the user can kneel and/or lay down with their whole body still on the exercise surface  12 . Other suitable shapes such as oval, elliptical, polygonal, round, etc. can also be employed, and the exercise rug  10  of the present invention is not limited to a particular shape.  
         [0022]    Advantageously, the contours of the rug  10  are oriented substantially perpendicular to the longer dimension of the rug  10  since generally the longer dimension of the rug  10  corresponds to the direction that the user will face when using the exercise rug  10 , as discussed above. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the ridges  14  are oriented substantially perpendicular to the direction that the user will face. The ridges  14  reduce slipping by contact various parts of the user&#39;s hands and feet and serving as a grip to hold the user&#39;s hands and/or feet in place on the exercise rug  10  when the user has been perspiring. Also, the user may position his-or her hands and feet so that fingers and/or toes are placed against the ridges  14  to provide further resistance against slipping or sliding on the exercise rug  10 .  
         [0023]    In a preferred form of the exercise rug  10  of the present invention, supplementary wefts (i.e. wefts that are not essential to the structural integrity of the rug, but are added to create a textured effect) are added to a rug to create a series of ridges  14  that run the width of the rug  10  as shown in FIG. 1. More preferably, such supplementary wefts are added to a conventional, balanced weave rug to provide contours on the exercise surface  12  of the rug  10 , thereby creating a textured effect as shown in FIG. 1. The contours may also be provided by supplementary warps or a combination of supplementary wefts and supplementary warps, depending primarily on the desired geometry of the contours.  
         [0024]    The exercise rug  10  of the present invention may be used in a variety of different ways. For example, the exercise rug  10  may be placed on top of a conventional exercise mat or may be used in place of a conventional exercise mat or yoga rug. The exercise rug of the present invention promotes physical stability during mat-based exercise. In an alternative embodiment, the exercise rug  10  includes additional structure on the surface opposite the exercise surface  12  for holding the exercise rug  10  in place on the ground, floor or on an exercise mat. Such additional structure may be any conventional means known for this purpose, such as a layer of rubber or other resilient material, suction cups, fasteners such as Velcro®, or other suitable means.  
         [0025]    In a more preferred embodiment, the present invention relates to an exercise rug  10  that has ridges  14  woven at specific intervals in the vicinity of the upper edge  18  and lower edge  20  of the exercise rug. Thus, in the example of FIG. 1, the exercise rug  10  is 200 cm. in length from the upper edge  18  to the lower edge  20 . A first set of ridges  14  are positioned about 9 cm from the upper edge  18  and lower edge  20  and a second set of ridges  14  are positioned about 9 cm from the first set of ridges  14 . A third set of ridges  14  are placed about 9 cm from the second set of ridges  14 . The remaining ridges  14  are spaced about 4.5 cm from the third set of ridges  14 , as shown. In this manner, the ridges  14  are placed on the exercise surface  12  at locations where the ridges  14  will provide the most beneficial effect, while at the same time, providing the least degree of hindrance to the user.  
         [0026]    In general, in the preferred embodiment, the exercise surface  12  is divided into a upper portion  19 , a lower portion  21  and a central portion  22 . Preferably, the contours of the invention are located only in one or both of the upper portion  19  and lower portion  21  and no contours are located in the central portion  22 , to thereby provide a more comfortable exercise surface in central portion  22 . Alternatively, in some embodiments it may also be desirable to locate contours in the central portion  22 . The relative sizes of the upper portion  19 , lower portion  21  and central portion  22  can be varied to accommodate different sized users, to fit with different shaped exercise rugs, or to accommodate different types of exercise on the rug  10 . The upper portion  19  may also be larger, smaller, or equivalent in size to the lower portion  21 .  
         [0027]    In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the area of the central portion  22  is larger than the area of each of the upper portion  19  and the lower portion  21 . More preferably, also as shown in FIG. 1, the area of the central portion  22  is larger than the combined area of the upper portion  19  and lower portion  21 .  
         [0028]    Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a side view of the rug  10  of FIG. 1 to show the contours formed by ridges  14  protruding relative to a non-contoured portion of the exercise surface  12 .  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 3 shows an alternative embodiment of an exercise rug  10  in accordance with the present invention wherein the contours are formed by indentations  30  in the exercise surface  12 . Indentations  30  may be of any suitable shape and are preferably concavely rounded, as shown in FIG. 3. The indentations  30  may form the same pattern in the exercise surface as the ridges  14  shown in FIG. 1, or other patterns may be employed, so long as a sufficient sized traction surface is provided by the indentations  30 .  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 4 shows yet another alternative embodiment of an exercise rug in accordance with the present invention. In this embodiment, the contours  42  are formed by the addition of a foam rubber portion  40  to the exercise surface  12 . Other, similar materials may be employed instead of foam rubber to provide the contours. Suitable materials should provide a traction surface, be firmly adhered to the rug and, preferably, absorb moisture.  
         [0031]    The present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof. Many modifications and variations within the scope of the invention will be apparent to a skilled person and thus the scope of the invention is to be determined by the claims appended hereto.