A DOOR MAT AND A METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME

Abstract: The door mat consists of profiled mouldings (1) comprising an outwardly open channel, the side flanges (2) of which at wave crests (7) on a profiled band (4) are pinched around a rib (5) at said band. The rods combined by mouldings (1) and bands (4) are kept together by a wire (10), the ends of which are pinched between the side flanges (2) of a moulding placed along the outer edge of the mat. In the method of manufacturing the door mat a moulding (1) and a band (4) are carried together through a pinching device where the side flanges (2) are deformed so as to pinch around the ribs (5) of the band opposite the wave crests (7) facing the moulding.

Description: A Door Mat and a Method of Manufacturing the Same. The present invention relates to a door mat com¬ prising a plurality of mutually parallel mouldings between which wavy bands of a flexible material are mounted, each of said bands being secured at wave crests to a moulding, and connecting means arranged transversely to said mould¬ ing and said bands. Such door mats are known, e.g. from the Danish Patent Specification No. 72 674 and the British Patent Spe¬ cification No. 836,181. In the mats known from these publications, the wavy bands - usually rubber ban s - are secured to the mouldings by means of nails, screws or rivets which impedes the manufacture of the mat. Consequent- ly, it is the object of the invention to produce a door mat of the kind referred to, which is easier to manufacture than ' the prior art mats. According to the invention this is obtained by the mouldings being formed as a profile strip having a channel defined by upright side flanges and receiving a longitudin¬ al rib at the appurtenant band, and that the wave crests of the band are secured to the moulding by the rib of the band being pinched in the channel of the appurtenant flange by local " deformation of the side flanges. The profile strips forming mouldings, and the profiled flexible bands are easily manufactured continuous¬ ly and cut as required, and the bands are permitted to be connected, withou * :: the use of rivets, to the appurtenant mouldings in an as well continuous' process where each band is supplied to a pinching device at such a higher speed than the simultaneously supplied moulding, that it assumes the desired wavy shape, in which condition the rib of the band is pinched by deforming the side flanges of the channel of said moulding at the wave crests facing said moulding. If the bands are prefabricated with a wavy shape, a corresponding method may be used by introducing the band and the moulding at equal speed in the pinching device. According to the invention a particularly safe securing of the bands is obtained by giving the longitudin- al ribs of the bands a substantially dovetailed profile. According to the invention a door mat of the kind having a foremost and a rearmost edging between which the mould¬ ings and the bands are clamped by means of a transverse wire carried through holes in said mouldings and said bands, may be constructed in such a way that the edging comprises a strip formed to correspond to the mouldings, the longitudinal channel of said strip facing away from said mouldings, and that the wire is retained in pinching points where the side flanges of said channel are deformed. Such a door mat with edgings is much easier mounted and requires a smaller amount of material than corresponding prior art mats where the wires are clamped by means of * wooden wedges in holes in a wooden strip placed in the edging. In such a mat according to the invention, the strip of the edging resp- the mouldings may be provided along the side edges thereof with longitudinal grooves receiving inwardly directed, locking sections at the side walls of a channel-shaped covering. Since this covering must surround no wooden strip for clamping of the wire, it may be given any desired profile. The upwardly directed wall thereof, for instance, may form an inclined ramp or approach sur¬ face. The longitudinal grooves in the side edges of the edging resp. the mouldings are formed between ribs co- operating to increase the rigidity. The invention moreover concerns methods of manu¬ facturing the door mat, said methods being characteristic by the features stated in claims 6 and 7. The invention will be further described in the following with reference to the drawing, in which Figure 1 shows a moulding for the door mat accord¬ ing to the invention. Figure 2 a rubber band for the mat, Figure 3 a side view of a moulding with a band mounted thereon, Figure 4 a plane, sectional view of the moulding shown in Figure 3, with the band removed, Figure 5 a moulding constituting a strip in the edging of the mat, viewed towards the edge of the mat and shown without any covering. Figure 6 a corner of the complete mat ' , Figure 7 a covering for the edging of the mat, and Figure 8 a cross-section through an alternative embodiment of the covering. The moulding 1 shown in Figure 1 is so profiled that it comprises an upwardly open channel 3 defined by side flanges 2, said channel-being adapted to receive a project¬ ing rib.5 at the rubber band 4 shown in-Figure 2. The rubber strip 4 is pushed together in the longitudinal direction of the.moulding so that it assumes a wavy shape (Figure 3) with free wave crests 6 and 'intermediate wave crests 7 which are secured to the moulding by the side flanges 2 being deformed at pinching points 8 to provide a firm hold around the rib 5 of the rubber band. As shown, to ensure a firm hold, the rib 5 is preferably formed with a dovetailed cross-section. The mouldings 1 and the bands 4 which, of course, may as well be. made of another flexible material than rubber, are easily connected to each other in a continuous process in which they are pushed together into a pinching device wherein, as shown in Figure 4, the side flanges 2 are pressed inwardly at pinching points 8 simultaneously with the wave crests 7 being kept down towards the mould¬ ing by a suitable compression member. By inserting the band 4 in the device at a suitably higher speed than the moulding 1, it is possible to obtain the desired size of the waves. A fast and simple method of manufacturing a door mat as shown in Figure 6 is thereby provided, the mould¬ ings and bands being cut in any required length. The combined rods consisting of mouldings with appurtenant bands are kept together in the mat by means of a wire 10 extending in the transverse direction of the rods and carried through holes 12 therein, which are flush with each other and placed near the ends of the mat and possibly at suitable locations therebetween. Parallel to the moulding the mat is provided with a foremost and a rearmost edging, each of which comprises a moulding 1, and a channel-shaped covering 13, the side walls of which are provided with inwardly directed lock- ing ribs 14 inserted in longitudinal grooves 9 at the side edges of the moulding. The ends of the wire 10 keeping, the moulding to¬ gether, are secured to the moulding 1 in one of the edgings in the manner shown in Figure 5. As appears from this Figure, the wire 10 to be carried through the hole 12 is simply retained in pinching points 11 formed by deformation of the side flanges 2 of the moulding. A safe and easy securing of the wire is thereby obtained without using special retaining means, as for example wooden strips with holes wherein the wire is retained by means of wooden wedges, such as has been usual so far. It is therefore possible to form the covering with a smaller cross-section than shown in Figure 7, o.g. with a cross-section as shown in Figure 8 where the upper side of the covering 15 forms an inclined ramp or sloping approach which facilitates driving up of prams and wheel chairs and is less inconvenient to pedestrians. It will be understood that various modifications of the door mat according to the invention may be made within the scope of the invention. The bands, for instance, may be pre-moulded in a wavy shape even though they are connect¬ ed with the moulding in the way as described above. More¬ over, the rods consisting of bands and mouldings may also be connected to each other in another way than the one with the wire as shown, and the covering of the edging may be formed and secured otherwise than described above. Even though, with a view to the scraping effect, it is usually preferred that the bands 4 are retained only at the wave crests facing in one direction, the mouldings, however, may possibly also be formed with channels for securing bands at both sides, so that all wave crests are retained.

Claims: P A T E N T C L A I M S 1. A door mat comprising a plurality of mutually parallel mouldings (1) between which wavy bands (4) of a flexible material are mounted, each of said bands being secured at wave crests (7) to a moulding (1) , and connect¬ ing means (10) arranged transversely to said moulding and said bands, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that each mould¬ ing (1) is formed as a profile strip having a channel defined by upright side flanges (2) and adapted to receive a longitudinal rib (5) at the appurtenant band (4) , and that the wave crests (7) of the band are secured to the moulding (1) by the rib (5) of the band being pinched in the channel (3) of the appurtenant flange by local deform¬ ation of the side flanges (2) . 2. A door mat according to claim 1, c h a r ¬ a c t e r i z e d in that the longitudinal ribs (5) of the bands (4) have a substantially dovetailed profile. 3. A door mat according to claim 1 and comprising a foremost and a rearmost edging between which the mould- ings (1) and the bands (4) are clamped by means of a throughgoing wire (10) which is carried through holes (12) in the mouldings and bands, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the edging comprises a strip formed to correspond to the mouldings (1), the longitudinal channel (3) of said strip facing away from said mouldings, and that the wire (10) is retained in pinching points (11) where the side flanges (2) of said channel are deformed. 4. A door mat according to claim 3, c h a r ¬ a c t e r i z e d by the strip of the edging resp. the moulding (1) comprising along the side edges thereof longitudinal grooves (9) receiving inwardly directed lock¬ ing ribs (14) at the side walls of a channel-shaped cover¬ ing (13,15) . 5. A door mat according to one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by the moulding (1) comprising at both sides thereof channels (3) to retain bands (4). 6. A method of manufacturing a door mat according to one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the mouldings (1) and the bands (4) are manu¬ factured continuously as profile strips having a channel (3) defined by upright side flanges (2) resp. a rib (5) to be received in said channel, and that each band (4) is connected with the corresponding moulding (1) by insert- ing said moulding in a pinching device in which the band (4) is introduced at such a higher speed than the moulding (1) that it assumes the desired wavy shape, in which con¬ dition the rib (5) of the band is pinched by deforming the side flanges (2) in the channel (3) of said moulding at the wave crests '(7) facing said moulding. 7. A method of manufacturing a door mat according to one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a prefabricated wavy band (4) and an appurtenant moulding (1) are introduced at equal speed in a pinching device in which the. rib (5) of said band is pinched in the channel (3) of said moulding at the wave crests (7) facing said moulding.

Inventors: TOLBOELL HANS JOERGEN, TOLBOELL, HANS, JOERGEN
Applicants: TOLBOELL HANS JOERGEN, TOLBOELL, HANS, JOERGEN
Application year: 1985
Main classification: A47G27
IPC codes: A47G27, A47L23, B29D31