Patent Publication Number: US-2012027991-A1

Title: Floor mat

Description:
1. FIELD 
     The field of the present invention relates generally to a comprehensive and new technology for floor coverings, such as area rugs or floor mats, or other items for containing dirt, water and spills, controlling the contaminants from spilling onto underlying flooring, and not only cleaning the soles of shoes, but also providing a floor mat that is easily cleaned—all to protect the underlying surface. The technology is currently noted as “C3” and also may be the subject of a trademark registration application. In its preferred application, the technology is applied to floor mats for automotive interior applications. 
     2. BACKGROUND 
     In floor covering applications, an important feature always is the protection of the underlying surface provided by the covering. For automotive floor mats, the carpeted flooring is constantly exposed to dirt, water and other contaminants in addition to every day wear and tear from shoes. Existing floor mats are designed with one or more of those considerations in mind. However, floor mats are continuously being improved with protection of the underlying flooring in mind. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,597,949 B2 issued to Wright, discloses a Surface Protection System Mat for use in protecting floor surfaces from accidental liquid spills. The mat includes a top layer comprising an array of hexagonal-shaped funnels that direct fluid from the top layer to a lower liquid absorbing layer. U.S. Pat. No. 7,211,314 B2, issued to Nevision also discloses a mat having drain holes. U.S. Pat. No. 6,921,502 B2 issued to Nord, et al. discloses a cushioned rubber floor mat with a raised edge or border and a textured surface. 
     Other existing designs also have attempted to provide protection of the underlying carpet. However, existing floor mats do not adequately control and contain the debris from the floor mat to protect the underlying surface. Many existing floor mats are a mat having a single raised border with a pattern between. See e.g., U.S. Pat. No. D586, 601, issued to Robbins, III, and U.S. Pat. No. 525,576, issued to Lu. In reality those mats have only a single containment area, or cell, that cell being defined by the border. Thus all the liquid runs to the lowest point in the cell and can spill over onto the underlying flooring. Some existing floor mats have multiple “cells” such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,605,333, issued to Ferreira, et al, in FIG. 3. However, there is no way to control the distribution of a liquid spill in such a mat. 
     3. SUMMARY 
     The present invention comprises an improved floor mat designed to improve on the existing limitations of floor mats. The present invention includes features that clean dirt from shoes, as well as contain and control water and debris from spilling onto the underlying flooring. The floor mat includes a substrate having a top portion and a bottom portion. The substrate can be made of any material that is suitable for use as a floor covering such as rubber, PVC, either alone or in combination with carpeting. Preferably, the floor mat of the present invention is made from rubber or other similar flexible, yet durable material that is easily cleaned and resists wear and tear. The top portion of the mat includes a cellular topography. There are at least two cells located on the top portion. However, substantially the entire surface of the mat may contain the cellular topography. Each cell has a containment portion which is essentially an open compartment to catch, control and contain debris and liquid. Each containment portion comprises a base and a wall extending upwardly from the base to create a reservoir to hold contaminants. Adjacent containment portions share a common portion of the wall that extends upwardly from the base. 
     Each common portion of the wall preferably defines an opening to allow fluid communication between the containment portions. For configurations where numerous containment portions are located on the top portion of the mat, there may be several containment portions adjacent to each other. Each containment portion may share its wall with several other adjacent containment portions. One or more of the common portions of the wall may have an opening to allow fluid communication. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the opening is a trough. The bottom of the trough is above the base. Because of this configuration, each containment portion can hold a certain amount of debris and liquid. However, if the volume of debris/liquid is too great, the liquid will spill over into the adjacent cells through the opening or trough. Once the liquid has been contained, it ceases to spill over into other containment cells. In addition to being an improvement over existing technology with respect to containment of liquid and debris, the configuration of the openings also allows the soles of the feet and clothing to be kept above the contaminants. 
     In a particularly preferred embodiment, there are at least two troughs located along the common portion of the wall between two adjacent containment cells. The two troughs define a cleaning rib between them. The cleaning rib contacts the soles of the shoes resting on the mat and provides a cleaning action to remove dirt and other debris. The debris falls into the containment portions and is trapped. Finally, the best mode of the present invention is a configuration of containment portions where at least three areas of the wall of a single containment portion are common walls with other adjacent containment portions. Each common wall includes multiple ribs and troughs to maximize the cleaning of debris and optimize the flow of liquid from one cell to another. In addition to common walls, the containment portions may include other means to distribute debris and liquid to other containment portions. For example, a hub portion between the containment cells, the hub portion also containing openings or troughs, allows fluid communication between six or more containment portions, thus further increasing the ability of the containment portions to distribute and contain liquid and debris. 
     Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the present invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds, taken in conjunction with accompanying drawings, in which like parts have similar reference numerals. 
    
    
     
       4. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top view of a floor mat incorporating features of the present invention; 
         FIG. 1   a  is a perspective view of the floor mat shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of adjacent cells of the present invention being presented in their most basic form for illustrative purposes; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of adjacent cells of the present invention being presenting in their most basic form for illustrative purposes showing additional features of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of adjacent cells of the present invention being presenting in their most basic form for illustrative purposes showing additional features of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of adjacent cells of the present invention being presenting in their most basic form for illustrative purposes showing additional features of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of adjacent cells of the present invention being presenting in their most basic form for illustrative purposes showing additional features of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a top view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  is a sectional view taken along Section “A-A” of  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 9  is a top perspective view of the preferred embodiment shown in  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a bottom view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 11  is a sectional view taken along Section “B-B” of  FIG. 10 ; and 
         FIG. 12  is a bottom perspective view of the preferred embodiment shown in  FIG. 10 . 
     
    
    
     5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 1   a , the present invention  1  comprises an improved floor mat  3  designed to improve on the existing limitations of floor mats. The floor mat  1  includes a substrate  4  having a top portion  5  and a bottom portion  7  (see  FIG. 8 ). The substrate  4  can be made of any material that is suitable for use as a floor covering such as rubber, PVC, either alone or in combination with carpeting. Preferably, the floor mat  3  of the present invention is made from rubber or other similar flexible, yet durable material that is easily cleaned and resists wear and tear. The top portion  5  of the mat includes a cellular topography  6 . The topography  6  can be molded onto the mat  1  as a separate step or can be formed as a single injection molded part. The preferred method is an injection molded part where the bottom portion  7  works in parallel with the configuration of the top portion  5  as further explained below. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the cellular topography  6  is shown in its most basic format for illustrative purposes. The cellular topography  6  comprises at least two cells  9 . However, and preferably, substantially the entire surface of the mat  1  contains numerous cells  9 . Each cell  9  has a containment portion  11  which is essentially an open compartment to catch, control and contain debris and liquid. Each containment portion  11  comprises a base  13  and a wall  15  extending upwardly from the base  13 . Adjacent containment portions  11  share a common portion  16  of the wall  15  that extends upwardly from the base  13 . 
     Each wall  15  preferably defines an opening  17  to allow fluid communication between the containment portions  11 . The opening may be circular or can be any shape that can accommodate liquid transfer between cells. For configurations where numerous containment portions  11  are located on the top portion  5  of the mat  3 , there may be several containment portions  11  adjacent to each other. Each containment portion  1  may share its wall  15  with several other adjacent containment portions  11 . One or more of the common portions  16  of the wall may have an opening  17  to allow fluid communication between the containment portions  11 . In this configuration the lowest portion of the opening  17  is located near the base  13 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the opening  17  may also be located at an intermediate point along the wall  15  between the base and the top of the wall  15 .  FIG. 3  also illustrates that the bases  13  may be at differing elevations relative to the opening  17 . The base  13  in cell  9 A is at a different elevation than the base  13  in the adjacent cell  9 B. In this configuration, the opening  17  is located near the base in cell  9 A but is at an intermediate position along the wall in cell  9 B. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , the bases  13  are shown at the same elevation relative to the opening  17 . As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , in a preferred embodiment, the opening  17  is a trough  19 . The bottom of the trough  19  is at an elevation that is higher than the elevation of the base  13 . Because of this configuration, each containment portion  11  can hold a certain amount of debris and liquid. However, if the volume of debris/liquid exceeds the capacity of the containment portion  11 , the liquid will spill over into the adjacent cells  9  through the opening  17  or trough  19 . Once the liquid is distributed to a sufficient number of containment portions  11 , it ceases to spill over into other cells  9 . In addition to being an improvement over existing technology with respect to containment of liquid and debris, the configuration of the openings  17  also allows the soles of the feet and clothing to be kept above the contaminants. 
     In a particularly preferred embodiment, as shown if  FIG. 6 , there are at least two troughs  19  located along the common portion  16  of the wall between two adjacent containment cells  9 . The two troughs  19  define a cleaning rib  21  between them. The cleaning rib  21  contacts the soles of the shoes resting on the mat and provides a cleaning action to remove dirt and other debris. The debris falls into the containment portions  11  and is trapped. The cleaning ribs  21  may be staggered in height for added cleaning proficiency. 
     As illustrated in  FIGS. 7-9 , the best mode of the present invention is a configuration where the containment portions  11  are generally triangular in shape. The common walls  16  are located along each leg of the triangle. Each common wall  16  includes multiple ribs  21  and troughs  19  to maximize the cleaning of debris and optimize the flow of liquid from one cell  9  to another. In addition to common walls  16 , the containment portions  11  may include other means to distribute debris and liquid to other containment portions  11 . For example, a hub portion  23  between the containment cells  9 , the hub portion  23  also containing openings  17  or troughs  19 , allows fluid communication between six or more containment portions  11 , thus further increasing the ability of the containment portions  11  to distribute and contain liquid and debris. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 10-12 , the bottom portion  7  includes cleats  25  formed into each cell  9  which provide superior slip control to prevent unwanted mat  3  movement. As discussed previously, the bottom portion  7  of the mat  3  is preferably formed in parallel with the top portion  5  of the mat  3  so that there is no impact on the aesthetic appearance of the mat  3  while still providing strength and support for the mat  3 . 
     The description of the present invention contained herein is intended to be illustrative of the various embodiments but not limiting. The present invention is defined by the scope of the following claims.