THIS INVENTION relates to a disposable mat, particularly for vessels containing liquids such as beverages.

It is an object of the invention to provide such a disposable mat which can be reliably retained on the vessel for which it is intended.

According to the invention, there is provided a disposable mat having a permanently tacky contact adhesive on an upper side thereof, whereby the mat can be adhered to the base of a vessel, such as a bottle, to retain attached to such base until deliberately removed.

Preferably the mat has a release coating on its underside whereby the mat can be supplied in a stack of identical such mats, each, (apart from the uppermost) , being lightly, and readily detachably, adhesively bonded to the mat directly above it by virtue of the engagement of its permanently tacky adhesive with the release coated underside of the mat above.

In order to allow the mat to absorb, to some measure, any liquid which may spill onto it from the vessel to which it is attached, it is preferred that the permanently tacky adhesive be applied only to some parts of the upper surface of the mat, leaving other parts exposed and free to absorb liquid reaching said other parts.

By way of example, where the mat is intended for use with wine bottles, for example, the contact adhesive

may be confined to an annular region concentric with the mat and of a diameter generally corresponding to that of the rim of the base of a typical wine bottle.

Alternatively, or additionally, the contact adhesive may be arranged in an array of spaced apart spots or lines on the mat surface so that relatively closely adjacent parts of the upper surface of the mat are respectively tacky and absorbent.

An embodiment of the invention is described below, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

FIGURE 1 is a schematic view in vertical section through a stack of mats in accordance with the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a plan view from above of one form of mat embodying the invention,

FIGURE 3 illustrates a mat in accordance with the invention in use, and

FIGURE 4 is a plan view from above of another form of mat embodying the invention.

Referring to Figure 2 , a mat embodying the invention comprises a disc 10 of moisture absorbent cardboard or the like material, bearing upon its upper surface an array of spots 12 of a permanently tacky contact adhesive of a kind known per se .

In use, as illustrated in Figure 3, a vessel, such as a wine bottle 14, is placed on the upper surface of the mat 10 so that its base is adhered to the mat via the

adhesive 12. The mat 10 then remains stuck to the base of the bottle 14, even whilst the bottle is lifted and tilted to pour wine from the bottle, and likewise remains stuck to the bottle base when the bottle is replaced on a supporting surface such as a table, with the bottle resting on the mat which in turn engages the table surface.

Thus there is no risk that the bottle will be placed on a table or other surface unprotected by a mat. The mat remains with the bottle, to absorb any drips which may run down the side of the bottle, thereby much reducing the risk that table surfaces and table-cloths, for example, will become stained with wine through carelessness.

It is preferred to arrange the adhesive in discrete spots, as shown, rather than as a continuous layer, because contact adhesive of the type preferred is generally impervious to water and water-based liquids such as beverages, so that a continuous layer of such adhesive would effectively waterproof the upper surface of the mat, whereby, whilst the mat would still catch droplets running down the side of the bottle, for example, such droplets would remain on the surface of the mat and might run off to drop onto the table surface, when the bottle was lifted and tilted to pour more wine. The adhesive may be applied in the desired array to the mats, or, more preferably, to the cardboard sheet material from which the mats are cut before the mats are so cut, by screen printing or by any other convenient printing or other technique. Whilst, as illustrated, the adhesive is applied as an array of separate spots of adhesive, it will be appreciated that it could be applied as a continuous layer interrupted by spaced apart spots free from such adhesive and disposed in an appropriate array.

Figure 1 illustrates a stack of identical mats of the kind described, each mat being stuck, by its adhesive 12, to the underside of the mat above it in the stack. It is contemplated that mats in accordance with the invention will be supplied in stacks of the kind illustrated in Figure 1, (but generally comprising more mats, for example 25 to 50) and that when the purchaser of such a stack is about to open a wine bottle, for example, he will simply engage the base of the bottle with the upper surface of the uppermost mat in the stack so that the uppermost mat sticks to the bottle, and will then simply pull the bottle away from the stack taking said uppermost mat with it. To facilitate separation of the mats in the stack from one another, each mat has a release coating 16, of a type known per se, on its underside, for example a coating of a silicone wax. Thus the adhesion of each mat 10 to the adjoining mats in the stack is substantially weaker than the adhesion of a mat to a bottle or the like, engaging said adhesive.

Other patterns or arrays of adhesive are, of course, possible, differing from that of Figure 2. For example, where the mats are primarily intended for use with wine bottles of substantially standard general size and shape, at least as regards the base thereof, the adhesive 12 may be confined to an annular region within a range of intermediate radial positions with respect to the centre of the mat, being the region likely to be engaged by the peripheral part of the base of a bottle (the central portion of such base generally being recessed somewhat as illustrated in Figure 3) . In this case, the adhesive may extend over the whole of this annular region or may be broken into a plurality of segments, as illustrated in Figure 4, leaving intervening radially extending uncoated regions which remain water-permeable.

The mats need not, of course, be circular in profile, but may be any other desired shape, e.g. square or triangular.

Whilst reference has been made, in the above description, to usefulness of the mat in receiving and absorbing droplets of the beverage poured from a bottle or other vessel, it is also, of course, equally effective in absorbing droplets of condensation which form upon the outer surface of a cooled wine bottle or glass of cool beer or the like, to run down such surface as the bottle or glass stands. Indeed, where cooled drinks are concerned such condensation may account for a large part of, or substantially all of, the liquid received by a mat embodying the invention in use. Thus, a mat in accordance with the invention may be applied to a chilled can or bottle of beer or a soft drink removed from a refrigerator with the intention that the beer or soft drink be drunk straight from the bottle or can. Likewise a mat embodying the invention may be applied to the base of a rectangular cardboard or plastics container, known per se , removed from a refrigerator for direct use. For this purpose, of course, the mat may be rectangular in shape.

A mat in accordance with the invention may, like conventional drinks mats or "beer mats" serve as a vehicle for advertising material, which may be printed thereon. In the same way such mats may be printed with "quiz" questions and answers (for example on opposite sides or on different cards) or may be printed or configured to form elements in a game or advertising promotion, for example, providing for a free lottery or the like with prizes for the bearer of a mat with a winning number. Such mats may also serve as tokens which can be collected to redeem at least part of the cost of a future purchase, for example of beer or wine.