Material for Neutralizing the Slipperiness of Oily and/or Wet Surfaces and Method for Making the Material

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

[0001] The present invention relates to a material for neutralizing the slipperiness of wet/and or oily surfaces, and particularly wet frozen surfaces such as ice, snow and the like so as to render such surfaces less slippery when contacted by the material, and to methods for making the material. The material can also neutralize the slipperiness of oily surfaces.

2. Background Information

[0002] The problem of being able to increase traction on slippery substances and surfaces, such as wet ice or snow and the like has been addressed in a number of ways in the past. One solution to this problem has involved the use of metal devices such as cleats, studs, chains, or the like, which will dig into the slippery substance or surface when the latter is contacted by something employing the metal devices. Articles which have employed such devices include footwear, such as shoes and boots, vehicle tires, to mention a few. U.S. Patent No. 5,909,945 is illustrative of one of the many devices which have been proposed for use with footwear to render wet snow and/or ice less slippery to walk on.

[0003] These metal devices which have been proposed in the past are generally suitable for their intended purpose, however, they all suffer from certain drawbacks and short comings. Footwear which is equipped with these metal devices is unsafe for use on surfaces such as marble or granite floors, and can damage other surfaces such as tile or wood floors, or the like. Generally speaking, such footwear is unsuitable for wearing indoors or on hard or slippery surfaces which are not icy or snowy. This footwear is also unsuitable for wearing on some icy surfaces such as on skating rinks where the ice can be damaged by the metal devices on the footwear. Also, if one is engaged in certain winter activities such as skiing or snow shoeing, this type of footwear is not suitable since it cannot be worn on skis or on snowshoes for fear of damaging the skis and snowshoes.

[0004] Vehicle tires that have been fitted with metal anti-skid devices such as metal studs or metal chains are likewise not suited for use on pavement that has been cleared of ice and snow, or on indoor concrete surfaces such as parking lots of parking garages. In fact, the use of metal studded tires and metal tire chains has been outlawed in some states because of the damage they cause to bare pavement.

[0005] In order to deal with the above shortcomings that are found in connection with metal devices to ameliorate slipping and skidding problems stemming from poor traction on icy or snowy surfaces, the use of sand, salt, kitty litter and the like materials has been proposed for sprinkling on the icy or snowy slippery surfaces, but that solution is not practical in dealing with many such traction problems.

[0006] Related U.S. Patent Application No. 11/338,370, filed January 25, 2006 by

John Ferris Robben discloses the use of bamboo leaves for increasing traction on wet and/or oily slippery surfaces.

[0007] It would be desirable to have a solution to the traction problem for footwear, vehicle tires, and the like which solution would not present the problems that are noted above in connection with the use of metal friction-enhancing devices described above. It would likewise be desirable to produce a material which utilizes the ability of bamboo leaves to prevent slipping on wet and/or oily slippery surfaces and which can be connected to devices such as shoes, automobile tires, mats, and the like, which come into contact with wet and/or oily slippery surfaces, or which can be sprinkled on such wet and/or oily slippery surfaces.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] This invention relates to a solution to the problem of enhancing traction on wet and/or oily slippery surfaces, which solution does not rely on metal devices to sake the problem. This invention makes use of a slip-retarding and/or skid-retarding characteristic of bamboo leaves. When the undersides of bamboo leaves are brought into engagement with a wet and/or oily slippery icy or snowy surface, or another wet or oily slippery surface, that is difficult to walk or drive on, the bamboo leaves will counter the slipperiness of such surfaces so as render them less difficult to walk or drive on. The bamboo leaves resist skidding, slipping or sliding on slippery snowy or icy surfaces, and

on wet or oily slippery surfaces, and yet can easily be lifted away from the slippery surface with no problem,

[0009] I have discovered a way to produce a confetti-like material from bamboo leaves that will enhance traction on wet and/or oily slippery surfaces. The material is formed from bamboo leaves in such a manner that both surfaces of the material will possess the anti-skidding characteristics of the under surface of the bamboo leaves. [0010] The confetti-like material can be produced in the following manner.

Bamboo leaves are adhered to each other by cementing their top surfaces to each other, with the resulting composites having outer surfaces, both of which are the bottom surfaces of the leaves. Thus the outer surfaces of the bamboo leaf composites possess the slip-retarding characteristics of the bottom surfaces of the bamboo leaves. [0011] The composites are then cut so as to form a confetti-like material. The resultant particulate material will have all of its outer surfaces possessing the slip- retarding characteristic of the under surface of the bamboo leaves. The resultant material can be adhered to a product like a shoe sole, a mat, a vehicle tire, or any other product, which would benefit from being slip-retardant. The resultant material can also simply be scattered over a wet slippery surface so as to render that surface less slippery. Preferably, the adhesive used to bond the two leaves together will be biodegradable whereby the material will simply degrade over time. Examples of such adhesives include: the all purpose solvent free adhesives produced by Pritt Corporation; ECOSPHERE (TM) adhesive produced by Ecosynthetix Corporation; and ENVIRABOND (TM) adhesive produced by Caswell Adhesives, to name a few. The cut particles can take any number of different shapes. For example, the particles could be circular, square, elongated, triangular, etc..

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of two bamboo leaves which are bonded together to form a composite in accordance with this invention;

[0013] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one of the bamboo leaves showing how a bonding agent can be applied to the top surface thereof;

[0014] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the two bamboo leaves being pressed together to form a composite whose outer surfaces are formed for the lower surfaces of the two leaves used to form the composite;

[0015] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the composite after it has been cut to form confetti-like particles of the composite;

[0016] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one of the confetti-like particles cut from the composite of FIG. 4; and

[0017] FIG. 6 is a plan view of several different configurations of the particles that can be cut from the composite of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown an exploded perspective view of two bamboo leaves 2 and 4 which are to be bonded together so as to form a bamboo leaf composite which will be discussed in more detail herein below. It will be appreciated that when bamboo plants grow, the leaves have a surface that faces the sky and an opposite surface that faces the ground. For purposes of this invention, we will refer to the surface that faces the sky as the "top" or "upper" surface of the leaves, and we will refer to the surface that faces the ground as the "bottom" or "lower" surface of the leaves. In FIG. 1, the upper surfaces of the leaves 2 and 4 are identified by the numerals 6 and 8 respectively. The lower surfaces of the leaves 2 and 4 are identified by the numerals 10 and 12 respectively. The lower surfaces 10 and 12 of the leaves can be distinguished from the upper surfaces 6 and 8 by the prominent stem components 13 found on the lower surfaces.

[0019] Referring now to FIG. 2, it will be noted that a bonding agent 14 will be applied to the upper surface 8 of the leaf 4. After the bonding agent 14 is applied to the upper surface 8 of the leaf 4, the two leaves 2 and 4 are pressed together as shown in FIG. 3. This will cause the upper surfaces 6 and 8 of the two leaves 2 and 4 to bond together so as to form a bamboo leaf composite 16 as shown in FIG. 4. The lower surfaces 10 and 12 of the two leaves 2 and 4 will form the outer surfaces of the composite 16. Thus the outer surfaces of the composite leaf structure 16 will both exhibit the slip retardant characteristic of the bamboo leaves 2 and 4. The composite 16 is cut into confetti-like

particles, as noted by the cut outs 18 in FIG. 4. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the particles are circular. A circular cut out composite particle 20 is shown in FIG. 5. The particle 20 has two outer surfaces 22 and 24, both of which are resistant to sliding on wet slippery surfaces.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 6, the cut particles 20 can be essentially any shape, such as elongated, rectangular, triangular, etc.. The composite cutting can be accomplished by an conventional process, such as a mechanical cutter or a laser cutter. Use of a laser cutter is the preferred mode for cutting the composite into the confetti-like particles since it minimizes damage to the particulate material. Suitable laser cutters can be obtained from Beam Dynamics, Kern Electronics and Lasers, and Eurolaser Corp., to name a few. [0021 ] It will be appreciated that by providing a bamboo leaf composite comprising two bamboo leaves, one can produce small confetti-like particles of bamboo leaves which can be used in many different ways to reduce the slipperiness of wet slippery surfaces, such as ice or snow, or oily slippery surfaces. The particles can be adhered to products such as footwear, vehicle tires, mats, and the like so to render such products resistant to slipping on the slippery surfaces. The material can be sprinkled onto walkways, driveways, roadways, floors, pool areas and decks or any other wet and/or oily slippery surface.

[0022] Since many changes and variations of the disclosed embodiment of the invention may be made without departing from the inventive concept, it is not intended to limit the invention otherwise than as required by the appended claims. [0023] What is claimed is: