MAT

Technical Field

This invention relates to floor mats, and more particularly relates to floor mats for use in bathrooms, operating rooms, and the like, for absorbing spilled or dropped liquid such as water, urine, and blood, and other liquids.

Background of the Invention

As disclosed in U.S. Patent 4,328,275 to Lewis M. Vargo, water, urine, and other liquids splashed on the floor of a bathroom, particularly in the area of toilets or urinals, forms on the floor a film which is unsanitary and unattractive in appearance and odor. In addition, the spilled liquid can make the floor slippery and pose a safety hazard. Similarly, blood and other body fluids

falling on the floor of a hospital operating room present health and safety problems.

Various types of floor mats have been developed to absorb spilled or dropped liquid. For example, U.S. Patent 5,270,089 to Alston et al. discloses a mat comprising an absorbent matting disposed in a molded rubber receptacle and a molded rubber grid disposed in the receptacle on top of the absorbent matting. Such a mat is designed to have a relatively long life provided that the absorbent matting is replaced; however, these mats must be properly and regularly cleaned. Cleaning such a mat is unpleasant and is therefore often neglected. If such a mat is not cleaned, it becomes unattractive, unsanitary, and slippery. Another type of absorbent mat is an oil absorbent mat such as is disclosed in U.S. Patent 4,684,562 to Hartkemeyer, U. S. Patent 4,798,754 to Tomek, and U.S. Patent 4,497,147 to Clapper et al. These oil absorbent mats generally comprise an oil absorbent material disposed on an oil impervious layer, but do not prevent the user's shoes from contacting the liquid absorbed by the mat when the user stands or walks on the mat.

U.S. Patent 4,328,275 to Vargo discloses a mat that does protect the user's shoes from liquid absorbed by the mat. This mat comprises a liquid absorbent matting, having raised portions of matting for supporting a user's feet and a liquid repellent coating on those raised portions for maintaining the shoes of the user relatively dry as liquid falls onto the mat and is absorbed by the matting. Although the mat disclosed in U.S. Patent

4,328,275 to Vargo is an effective liquid absorbent mat, there is still a need for a floor mat that absorbs liquid, but protects the user's shoes, and can be easily and inexpensively mass-produced by machine in a continuous process.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention fulfills the above-described need by providing a disposable mat comprising a layer of liquid absorbent material for absorbing liquid falling onto the mat, a layer of liquid impermeable material adhered to the bottom surface of the liquid absorbent layer to prevent flow of liquid to an underlying floor or other surface from the layer of absorbent material, and a substantially rigid and incompressible support adhered to the top surface of the liquid absorbent layer for supporting a user standing on the mat. The support comprises a plurality of elongate first members juxtaposed to and spaced from one another and a plurality of second elongate members adhered to the first plurality of elongate members. The second elongate members are juxtaposed to and spaced from one another and cross the plurality of first members so as to form a plurality of interstitial spaces bordered by adjacent pairs of elongate first members and adjacent pairs of elongate second members. The support is liquid repellent so that liquid falling onto the mat falls past the first and second elongate members and through the interstitial spaces to the liquid absorbent layer. In addition, the support has a height such that, when the user stands or walks on the mat, the liquid absorbent layer and the liquid in the liquid absorbent layer do not contact the user.

The disposable mat of the present invention can be easily and economically made in a continuous machine process by depositing the components of the mat on top of one another from rolls in a continuous process line. Individual mats can then be cut from the continuous material.

Desirably, the first elongate members of the support are adhered to the top surface of the liquid

absorbent layer to form a bottom layer of elongate members and the second elongate members of the support are adhered to the first members and extend across the first members to form a top layer of elongate members. The top layer of elongate members are spaced from the liquid absorbent layer by the bottom layer of elongate members. With the first and second elongate members positioned in two layers, the support has a height sufficient to prevent the liquid absorbent layer and the liquid in the liquid absorbent layer from contacting the user, the support has sufficient strength to support the user standing or walking on the mat, and the area of the liquid absorbent layer to which the rigid support is adhered is minimized so that a maximum area of the liquid absorbent layer is available for absorbing falling liquid.

More particularly, the first and second elongate members are desirably extruded plastic, such as extruded polyethylene or polypropylene, the liquid impermeable layer is desirably a solid sheet of plastic material, such as polyethylene or polypropylene, and the liquid absorbent layer comprises a wettable fibrous web, such as a web of cellulosic fibers.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved disposable mat for protecting a floor or other surface from liquid falling onto the mat while allowing a user to stand or walk on the mat, and a relatively simple and inexpensive method of making such a mat. Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, drawings, and claims.

Brief Description of Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a liquid absorbent floor mat made in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a close-up perspective view of a section of the mat shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation view of the mat section shown in Fig. 2.

Detailed Description of Drawings

A liquid absorbent floor mat 10 made in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figs. 1-3 and comprises a layer of liquid absorbent material 12 disposed between a layer of liquid impermeable material 14 and a substantially rigid and incompressible support 16. The layer of liquid absorbent material 12 absorbs liquid that falls onto the mat. The layer of liquid impermeable material 14 prevents the flow of liquid from the absorbent material 12 to the underlying floor or other surface, and the support 16 supports the user of the mats 10 so that when the user stands or walks on the mat, the liquid absorbent layer and the liquid in the liquid absorbent layer do not contact the user.

The liquid absorbent layer 12 shown in Figs. 1-3 comprises a cellulosic fiber web. It should be understood, however, that the liquid absorbent layer 12 can comprise other types of absorbent materials including wettable non-woven synthetic fiber webs such as surfactant-treated polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyester non-woven fibrous webs. The liquid absorbent layer 12 should be effective in absorbing liquids, particularly aqueous liquids such as water, urine, blood, and the like. Furthermore, the layer of liquid absorbent material 12 desirably has a thickness from about 1 mm to about 2 mm, a basis weight from about 75 to about 150

g/m ² , and sufficient strength to be deposited from a roll during a continuous process for making the mat 10.

The layer of liquid impermeable material 14 as shown in Figs. 1-3 comprises a flat sheet of tacky bare foot film made from virgin resin such as polyethylene or polypropylene and is desirably about 2 mm thick. The liquid impermeable layer is adhered to the bottom surface 18 of the liquid absorbent layer 12 with a hot melt adhesive such as Oliver HL 1386 adhesive available from Oliver Products Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The liquid impermeable layer 14 can also comprise other liquid impermeable materials such as polyester or polypropylene films.

The support 16 is adhered to the top surface 20 of the liquid absorbent layer 12 and generally comprises a plurality of elongate first members 22 and a plurality of elongate second members 24. The elongate first members 22 are parallel to and spaced from one another and adhered to the top surface 20 of the liquid absorbent layer 12 with a hot melt adhesive such as 25 AN adhesive available from H.B. Fuller of St. Paul, Minnesota. The elongate second members 24 are also parallel to and spaced from one another and are adhered to the top of the elongate first members 22 and positioned crossing the elongate first members so as to form a plurality of interstitial spaces 26 bordered by adjacent pairs of elongate first members and adjacent pairs of elongate second members. The first and second members 22 and 24 are extruded strands of water repellent plastic such as polyethylene, polypropylene, or the like. The extruded plastic support 16 shown in Figs. 1-3 is of a type available from Conwed Plastics of Minneapolis, Minnesota under the designation R595.

The support 16 is desirably formed independently by extruding the elongate second members 24 on top of

the elongate first members 22 while the elongate members are still in a molten or semi-molten state so that the elongate second members 24 become hot melt bonded to one another at points where the second members cross over the first members. The support is then deposited on the top surface 20 of the liquid absorbent layer 12.

The elongate first members 22 are adhered to the top surface 20 of the liquid absorbent layer 12 to form a bottom layer 28 of elongate members and the second members 24 are adhered to the first members and extend across the first members to form a top layer 30 of elongate members. The top layer 30 of the elongate second members 24 is thus spaced from the liquid absorbent layer 12 by the bottom layer 28 of first elongate members 22. This configuration allows the support to be adhered directly to the liquid absorbent layer 12 along only the elongate first members 22 so that the elongate second members 24 do not occupy any area of the top surface 20 of the liquid absorbent layer 12. This maximizes the open area of the top surface 20 of the liquid absorbent layer 12 and the absorption capacity of the liquid absorbent layer. The thickness of the elongate members 22 and 24 ranges from about 2 mm to about 4 mm, but is preferably about 2.5 mm to further maximize the amount of open area on the top surface 20 of the liquid absorbent layer 12. As shown in Fig. 3, the support 16 has a height A-B that is greater than the uncompressed height B-C of the liquid absorbent layer 12 so that when a user steps or walks on the mat 10, the liquid absorbent layer and the liquid in the liquid absorbent layer do not contact the user. Desirably, the support 16 has a height of about 2.5 mm.

Although the mat 10 shown in Fig. 1 is square, a mat of the present invention may be of any shape and size depending on the particular application. The

rectangular mat shown in Fig. 1 is suitable for use beneath a wall mounted urinal or adjacent an operating table. The mat could have a notch cut in one side to receive the base of a floor mounted toilet. The mat 10 is desirably made by machine in a continuous process. Such continuous processes are known to those skilled in the art and generally comprise the steps of depositing the individual components of the mat on top of one another from rolls suspended above a moving forming surface. More particularly, the mat 10 is made by first depositing the polyethylene sheet which forms the liquid impermeable layer 14 from a roll of the polyethylene film on top of a moving forming surface, depositing a layer of hot melt adhesive on top of the polyethylene film, depositing a cellulosic fiber web which forms the liquid absorbent layer 12 from a roll of the cellulosic fiber material onto the adhesive coated polyethylene film, and depositing the support 16 from a roll onto the top surface 20 of the liquid absorbent layer 12 while applying a hot melt adhesive to the underside of the bottom layer 28 of elongate first members 22. Individual mats can then be cut from the continuous composite formed by the liquid impermeable layer 14, the liquid absorbent layer 12, and the support 16. The liquid absorbent layer 12 can be impregnated with a sanitizing agent, such as chlorophenol, for disinfecting, deodorizing, and generally sanitizing liquids absorbed by the matting. One such agent is that sold under the trade designation LYSOL by Sterling Drug, Inc. of Mount Vaille, New Jersey. Furthermore, the liquid absorbent layer 12 can be impregnated with super absorbent polymer powder to increase the absorbent capacity of the mat 10.

The disposable floor mat 10 may be positioned in any desirable location for absorbing falling liquid, such

as on the floor adjacent a urinal or toilet in a bathroom or adjacent an operating table. Any liquid falling on the mat 10 falls past the first and second members 22 and 24 of the water repellent support 16 through the interstitial spaces 26 in the support to the underlying liquid absorbent layer 12 where the liquid is absorbed. The liquid is maintained in the liquid absorbent layer 12 by the liquid impermeable layer 14 which is positioned against the floor so that the floor beneath the mat 10 remains dry. Because the support 16 is rigid and substantially incompressible and has a height greater than the noncompressed height of the liquid absorbent layer 12, when a user stands or walks on the mat 10, the liquid absorbent layer 12 and the liquid therein do not contact the user. Because of its relatively low cost, the mat 10 can be disposed of and replaced with another mat whenever necessary, thereby eliminating the inconvenience and cost of cleaning.

It should be understood that the foregoing relates to particular embodiments of the present invention, and that numerous changes may be made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.