Patent ID: 8728581

Claim:
A method for producing a floor covering, comprising: providing a greige good having a face surface and a back surface; applying a foamable polyurethane composition to the back surface of the greige good; metering the applied polyurethane composition to form a substantially uniform layer of the foamable polyurethane composition having a predetermined thickness; partially curing the foamable polyurethane composition, wherein the step of partially curing the foamable polyurethane composition comprises substantially curing at least about 60% of the foamable polyurethane composition; embossing the partially cured polyurethane composition to define a predetermined pattern in the partially cured polyurethane composition, the predetermined pattern comprising a plurality of discrete spaced male projections extending away from a plane positioned within the partially cured polyurethane composition and oriented substantially parallel to the back surface of the greige good, wherein each male projection has a top surface, wherein adjacent male projections of the plurality of discrete spaced male projections cooperate to define a plurality of fluid pathways, and wherein each fluid pathway is in communication with at least one side edge of the floor covering and configured to disperse fluid to the at least one side edge of the floor covering; curing the embossed polyurethane composition; applying a layer of skid-resistant material to only the top surface of the plurality of discrete spaced male projections of the cured embossed polyurethane composition; and curing the layer of skid-resistant material, wherein the steps of partially curing the foamable polyurethane composition, curing the embossed polyurethane composition, and curing the layer of skid-resistant material are each separately performed in a belted oven.