Patent Publication Number: US-9402529-B1

Title: Doormat for dispensing fluid stored within

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM 
     This patent application is a non-provisional patent application and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to: U.S. Design patent application Ser. No. 29/414,772 titled Doormat For Dispensing Fluid Stored Within, filed Mar. 2, 2012, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully stated herein. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a doormat comprising of a base including a mat element provided thereon and including a bottom portion for engaging with a supporting surface; pipes interconnected to each other in a formation, wherein disposed periodically along the pipes are at least one miniature can for receipt of fluid to be piped through the pipes and dispensed when pressure is exerted on an upper surface element of the doormat; and the upper surface element comprising of a brush member with at least one major aperture for providing access to the at least one miniature can disposed along the pipes as well as at least one or more minor apertures for allowing the dispensed fluid piped through the pipes to access the upper surface when the pressure of at least one bare foot or shoe engages an upper surface element of the doormat. The upper surface element comprises of a brush member with at least one main aperture for providing access to the at least one miniature can disposed along the pipes and one or a plurality of minor apertures for permitting the dispensed fluid to reach the upper surface thereby eliminating germs from being carried from one location to another. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Various kinds of doormats have been used over the years to reduce or eliminate dirt and debris from entering an inside location. Some examples of doormats include cloth, plastic materials, and metallic coil spring bonded in a state of sheet or pile, or synthetic resin with extruded fibers. However, the aforementioned doormats still fail to address the issue of reducing and/or eliminating in a significant manner, germs that are stuck on shoes or bare feet. Specifically, cloth doormats are very unpopular as they are not waterproof, wholly plastic doormats are similarly unsuitable as they can become slippery when wet and could become a health hazard for trips and falls. Metallic doormats are noted for having difficulty in extracting dirt and debris from shoes since it requires the crushing of metallic coil springs. As a result, there still exists a need to be able to effectively eliminate dirt, debris and germs using a doormat as a first line of defense in entering a location. 
     This invention satisfies these long felt needs in a new and novel manner and solves the foregoing problems that the prior art has been unable to resolve. 
     SUMMARY 
     The invention relates to a doormat comprising of a base including a mat element provided thereon and including a bottom portion for engaging with a supporting surface with pipes interconnected to each other in a formation, wherein disposed periodically along the pipes are at least one or more miniature cans for receipt of fluid to be piped through the pipes and dispensed when pressure is exerted on an upper surface element of the doormat. The upper surface element comprises of a brush member with at least one major aperture for providing access to the at least one or more miniature cans disposed along the pipes and at least one or a plurality of minor apertures for allowing the dispensed fluid piped through the pipes to access the upper surface element when pressure is exerted thereon. 
     It is understood that the doormat may be configured in any geometrical shape, i.e. oblong, rectangle, square, circle, and the like. In some embodiments, the shape of the doormat influences the placement of the at least one or more miniature cans. For instance, in a rectangular arrangement of the pipes, the at least one or more miniature cans may be disposed on the four corners of the doormat for even distribution of the dispensed fluid, i.e. disinfectant. However, it is understood that the miniature cans could easily have been disposed in any other location along the pipes. 
     The pipes may be disposed in a grid formation, e.g. running longitudinally and/or horizontally and/or in a crisscross pattern, and are further disposed in between the mat element and an upper surface element. The pipes include at least one or a plurality of holes disposed along the outer circumference of the pipes for the dispensing of fluid, such that once a barefoot or shoe is engaged with the upper surface element of the doormat, the weight of the individual as transposed through a bare foot or shoe exerts pressure on the doormat causing the pipes disposed within to dispense the disinfectant fluid contained therein. The pipes may be made of rubber or plastic which provides a cushion for pressure to be exerted without crushing the pipes. 
     In some embodiments, the doormat includes a pressure sensor to sense a minimum amount of pressure such that it does not inadvertently dispense fluid unnecessarily. For instance, the pressure sensor maybe calibrated to detect light weights, e.g. a dropped empty bottle but still is sensitive enough to detect a baby&#39;s feet which may need to be disinfected. 
     The mat element includes a plate with a recessed portion configured for receiving the pipes and the at least one or more miniature cans to be fitted therein. It is understood that the pipes&#39; configuration will determine the shape of the recessed portion as the pipes necessarily must fit securedly within the recessed portion for safety reasons. 
     The upper surface element of the doormat comprises of a brush member that is securedly affixed to the plate and includes a pad comprising of a plurality of miniature monofilament elements for engaging at a minimum the lower surface of a shoe or bare feet. The monofilament elements may be made of synthetic waterproof materials as were well known and used in the arts. 
     For a further and more fully detailed understanding of the present invention, various objects and advantages thereof, reference is made to the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. 
     Additional objectives of the present invention will appear as the description proceeds. 
     The foregoing and other objects and advantages will appear from the description to follow. In the description, references are made to the accompanying drawings, which forms a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In the accompanying drawings, like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is best defined by the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A Doormat for Dispensing Fluid Stored Within of which the following is the specification with reference being made to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a doormat for dispensing fluid stored within. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the doormat according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a top plan of a doormat for dispensing fluid stored within. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The following discussion describes in detail an embodiment of the doormat for dispensing fluid stored within as described below. However, this discussion should not be construed, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments, as practitioners skilled in the art will appreciate that the doormat may vary as to configuration and as to details of the parts, without departing from the basic concepts as disclosed herein. Similarly, the elements described herein may be implemented separately, or in various combinations without departing from the teachings of the present invention. For definition of the complete scope of the invention, the reader is directed to appended claims. Turning now descriptively to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a doormat  100  for dispensing fluid stored within. The invention comprises of a doormat  100  comprising of a base  102  including a mat element  104  provided thereon and including a bottom portion  106  for engaging with a supporting surface; with pipes  108 ,  108 ′ interconnected to each other in a formation, wherein disposed periodically along the outer circumference  110  of the pipes  108 ,  108 ′ are at least one or more miniature cans  112 ,  112 ′ with covers  114 ,  114 ′ for receipt of fluid to be piped through the pipes  108 ,  108 ′ and dispensed whenever the pressure of at least one bare foot or shoes engages an upper surface element  116  of the doormat  100 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 &amp; 2 , the upper surface element  116  comprises of a brush member  118  with at least one aperture  120  for providing access to the at least one miniature can  112  disposed along the pipes  108 ,  108 ′ and at least one or more minor apertures  120 ′,  120 ″ for allowing the dispensed fluid piped through the pipes  108 ,  108 ′ to access the upper surface element  116  when pressure is exerted thereon. It is understood that the doormat  100  may be configured in any geometrical shape, i.e. oblong, rectangle, square, circle, rhombus, triangle and the like. Accordingly, the piping  106 ,  106 ′ within may be configured in any geometrical shape to accommodate the shape of the doormat  100 . In one embodiment, the doormat  102  is configured in a rectangular shape and the miniature cans  112 ,  112 ′ are disposed on the outer perimeter  122  of the rectangle. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , the miniature cans  112 ,  112 ′ are disposed on the four corners  124 ,  124 ′,  124 ″,  124 ′″ of the pipes&#39; outer perimeter  122  but it is understood that the miniature cans  112 ,  112 ′ could easily have been disposed in any other location along the pipes  108 ,  108 ′ for replenishing the doormat with dispensing fluid and the dispensing thereof. 
     In an exemplary embodiment, the pipes  108 ,  108 ′ may be disposed in a grid formation, e.g. running longitudinally and/or horizontally and/or in a crisscross pattern interconnected to each other. The pipes  108 ,  108 ′ are further disposed in between the mat element  104  and an upper surface element  116  and include a plurality of holes  126 ,  126 ′ disposed along the outer circumferences  110 ,  110  of the pipes  108 ,  108 ′ for the dispensing of fluid, such that once a barefoot or shoe is engaged with the upper surface element  116  of the doormat  100 , the weight of the individual as experienced by a bare foot or shoe exerts pressure on the doormat  102  causing the pipes  108 ,  108 ′ to dispense the disinfectant fluid contained therein. The pipes  108 ,  108 ′ may be made of rubber or plastic, which provides a cushion for pressure to be exerted on the pipes disposed on the inner layer of the doormat  102  without crushing the pipes.  106 ,  106 ′. 
     In some embodiments, doormat  102  includes at least one or more pressure sensors  128 ,  128 ′ such that it will sense a certain amount of pressure and does not inadvertently dispense fluid unnecessarily. For instance, the at least one pressure sensor  128  may be calibrated to detect light objects, e.g. a dropped empty bottle but still be sensitive enough to detect a baby&#39;s feet which may need to be disinfected. 
     The mat element  104  includes a plate  130  with a recessed portion  132  configured for receiving the pipes  108 ,  108 ′ and the at least one or more miniature cans  112 ,  112 ′ to be fitted therein. It is understood that the pipes&#39;  106 ,  106 ′ configuration will determine the shape of the recessed portion  124  or vice versa as the pipes  108 ,  108 ′ necessarily must securedly fit within the recessed portion  124  for safety reasons. 
     The upper surface element  116  of the doormat  102  comprises of a brush member  118  that is securedly affixed to the plate  130  and said brush member  118  includes a pad  134  comprising of a plurality of miniature monofilament elements  136 ,  136 ′,  136 ″ for engaging the lower surface of a shoe or bare feet. The miniature monofilament elements  136 ,  136 ′,  136 ″ may be made of synthetic waterproof materials made of plastic or resin as were well known and used in the arts. 
     While the principles of the disclosure have been described herein, it is to be understood by those skilled in the art that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the present disclosure in addition to the exemplary embodiments shown and described herein. Modifications and substitutions by one of ordinary skill in the art are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.