IMPROVEMENTS IN DOOR AND OTHER MATS
Year: 1884

page_text: We, WILLIAM HENRY BATES and GEORGE BIDLAKE, India Rubber Manufacturers, -
and HUGH FAULKNER, Manager, all of St. Mary's Mills, Leicester in the County of
Leicester, do hereby declare the nature of our Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN
DOOR AND OTHER MATS to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to produce a simple and cheap india rubber mat
for general use, and the Invention consists in a combination of strips or bars of
wood, metal, or other suitable material with strips of rubber.
In carrying out our Invention, we take a number of strips or bars, say of wood.
of any convenient section and length, and we place between every two of such
strips or bars, strips of vulcanised india rubber. We then secure together a
sufficient number of these compound bars to form a mat, by means of bolts or
chains, so that the mats thus formed may be rigid or flexible as desired.
The strips or bars of wood may be placed centrally of the width of the india
rubber strips, so that the mats may be reversible, or the edge of the india rubber
may, on the under side, be flush with the edge of the wood.
The mats may be solid, or the compounds may be set at short distances apart,
the spaces being formed by the insertion of washers or blocks, through which the
bolts or chains will pass.
This form of mats is perhaps preferable, as the dirt will fall through and not
clog the mat.
By constructing mats as above described, they may be readily adapted to any
position, which cannot be done with any other construction of rubber mat without
much difficulty.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicants.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
We WILLIAM HENRY BATES and GEORGE BIDLAKE, India Rubber Manufacturers
and HUGH FAULKNER, Manager, all of St. Mary's Mills, Leicester in the County of
Leicester do hereby declare the nature of our Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
DOOR AND OTHER MATS and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
"
The object of this Invention is to produce a simple and cheap mat for general
use, and the Invention consists in a novel combination of strips or bars of wood,
metal or other suitable material, with strips of rubber or equivalent compound or
other suitable material to form the mat.
In carrying out our Invention we take a number of bars, strips, or slats say of
wood of any convenient section and length, and we place alternately, or between
every two of such bars strips or slats a strip of vulcanized india rubber or
equivalent compound or other suitable and convenient material. We then secure
together a sufficient number of these compound bars to form a mat, by means of
bolts chains or bands so that the mats thus formed may be rigid or flexible as
desired.
In the accompanying Drawing we have shown in plan view and cross section
several modes of carrying out our Invention the same letters of reference applying
to corresponding parts in all the Figures.
a, a, are bars or strips of wood metal or any other suitable material; bb are
strips say of vulcanized india rubber; and c c are screw bolts chains or bands
which are used to secure a number of bars and strips together to form a mat.
The
mats may be solid, as in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 or open as in Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8,
the spaces being formed_by_the_insertion-of-washers-or-blocks-d-d-through-which-
the bolts chains or bands c c are passed.
The open form of mat is preferable as the dirt will fall through and will not be
liable to clog the mat as in the solid form.
In
In Figs. 1 and 2 it will be seen the stripe b b are of greater width than the
bars a a and project on both sides thereof. The mat is thus reversible.
Figs. 3 and 4 the mat is non-reversible, the lower edge of the strips b being flush
with the lower edge of the bars a.
Figs. 5 and 6 show an example of a rigid open mat; and Figs. 7 and 8 a
flexible open mat. In the first case a screw bolt is used to secure the parts together
and in the latter case a chain which is secured in any convenient manner. The
distance at which the connecting bolts chains or bands are set apart may vary but
in general every 6 or 9 inches apart will be sufficient.
Mats constructed as above described may be made of any size and shape with
facility as the bars and strips of rubber can be cut to any length without waste.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is :-
Constructing door and other mats substantially as herein shown and described of
bars, strips, or slats of wood, metal, or other suitable material as a a and strips of
vulcanized india rubber or equivalent compounds or other suitable material as b b
secured together by screw bolts chains or bands as c c as set forth.
Dated thin 20th day of Tu... 1904.