Abstract:
The invention is a one-piece, food-safe, dishwasher-washable, rubber, lipped project mat that can be rolled up for easy storage.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    None. 
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    None. 
         [0003]    The Names of the Parties To A Joint Research Agreement 
         [0004]    None. 
       INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC 
       [0005]    None. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0007]    The invention pertains to pads used by hobbyists to protect a work surface. 
         [0008]    2. Background Art 
         [0009]    School administrators and hobbyists often recognize that their activities and those of their students can damage the work surfaces used in crafting activities. Dining room tables are often the work area of choice while gluing, soldiering, painting, and many other potentially surface-damaging activities in which a wood table might be marred or discolored. 
         [0010]    Traditional methods use to protect surfaces are to simply use waste products such as newspapers and magazines on tables that might be harmed. However this approach depends on having waste paper or a disposable table cloth available. Since newspaper and magazine subscriptions have declined precipitously with the use of electronic media sources and the societal pressures to use less paper, families have lost the access to large papers that was so readily available a decade ago. 
         [0011]    Teachers who have large classes struggle with maintaining a paper stock suitable for use as surface protection, and then have to dispose of the paper once it is used. The use of disposable paper to protect work surfaces fails in other ways. For example, spilled fluids often overwhelm the absorbency limits of newspaper and magazines that tend to be even less absorbent. This is also a problem for those who use plastic table cloths to protect work surfaces during craft projects. Food trays typically used in cafeterias and along buffet lines are also used for project mats, but they are not compact enough for an elementary-age student to carry in his backpack. 
         [0012]    What the industry needs is a protection device for work surfaces that is lightweight, reusable, protects against fluid spills and is easily carried. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0013]    The invention is a one-piece, food-safe, dishwasher-washable, rubber, lipped place mat that can be rolled up for easy storage. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
         [0014]    FIG.  1 —A top plan view of an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0015]    FIG.  2 —A side view of an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0016]    FIG.  3 —A top three-quarters view one embodiment of the invention. 
           [0017]    FIG.  4 —An orthogonal view of the invention partially rolled up. 
           [0018]    FIG.  5 —An orthogonal view of the invention rolled up for storage. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    Hobbyists can protect the work surface on which they work by use of the present invention, a lipped rubber place mat  11  as shown in the figures. The mat  11  has a lipped border  13  around a mat floor  15 , which contains spilled liquids and protects the underlying surface area. 
         [0020]    While in use, the mat  11  sits flat on the work surface. Because it is rubber, it can bend to uneven surfaces. In the embodiment currently in construction, the mat can be rolled up for easy storage, as shown in  FIG. 3 . To change the mat from the flat operational configuration to the rolled storage position, the user merely picks one side of the tray and rolls it toward the other side until it a roughly cylindrical shape. A rubber band can hold it together. 
         [0021]    While in storage, the rubber lip  13  flattens along the sides being rolled. Students will carry the invention  11  in the rolled configuration in their backpacks or carry case, as it will be too large to be carried in the flat configuration. 
         [0022]    The mat&#39;s lip  13  is constructed so that the mats can be stacked one on top of the other, similar to standard cafeteria trays, or roll up so individually for individual backpack transportation. 
         [0023]    An optional logo impression  17  can be placed in the mat  11 . This could be a shallow hollow cavity in the mat floor in which inserts made of an elastomeric material similar to the rest of the mat  11 . Alternatively, the inserts could also be name plates that prohibit the invention from rolling up, or disposable name tags that might be used in classroom situations. 
         [0024]    The mat  11  is constructed to be dish-washer safe. 
         [0025]    While this invention has been described as it is currently built, the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but can be employed in various equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the claims.