Patent Application
20060245827
The present invention relates generally to pedestrian walkways, platforms, and the like and, more particularly, to tactile warning mats which assist pedestrians, particularly those who are blind or visually impaired, in following a walkway or in detecting the location of a walkway edge, platform edge or other hazard.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities (the ADA guidelines) established recommendations for detectable, tactile warning surfaces for use on curb ramps, walking surfaces, transit platforms and other locations where visually handicapped persons would benefit from a warning of potential hazards. The ADA guidelines require warning surfaces to include raised domes or bumps having a nominal diameter, height and separation distance, and require warning surfaces to contrast visually with adjoining surfaces. The ADA guidelines further require warning surfaces to differ from adjoining surfaces in resiliency or sound, for example when contacted by a visually impaired person's cane.
Examples of warning surfaces include warning mats used on walkways and other areas of pedestrian traffic to provide warning and direction for visually handicapped persons. Warning mats are traditionally bonded directly to a walking surface or cast in place during construction of a walking surface. In either case, it can be difficult to remove and replace installed warning mats (e.g., damaged warning mats) without extensive rework of the surrounding walkway surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,743 to Schmanski describes a polymeric plate with surface texture that is adhesively bonded directly to an underlying surface. U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,669 to Szekely describes a textured tile having tapered edges and an integral underlayment grid that permits embedment directly in wet concrete. U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,835 to Szekely describes adding truncated conical projections on the bottom surface of a textured tile to bridge gaps created by trapped air when setting a textured tile directly into wet concrete. Unfortunately, these conventional warning mats that are permanently attached to an underlying surface (e.g., a concrete surface) have a significant drawback. In the event a portion of a warning mat becomes damaged or worn out, the effort required to remove and replace the warning mat can be costly and time consuming.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,718,714 to Montgomery describes a removable safety flooring and anchor box assembly wherein the anchor box has a top surface that supports one or more tiles and one or more sidewalls for projecting into a cement ground substrate. Unfortunately, the proposed anchor box integral top produces an inherently stiff structure that is difficult to conform to curved substrates, which represent a majority of current walkway curb profiles.
In view of the above discussion, tactile warning mat systems for walkways, curbs, and other areas of pedestrian traffic are provided. According to some embodiments of the present invention, a tactile warning mat system, includes a tactile warning mat and a plurality of elongated underlayment laths removably secured to the tactile warning mat in spaced-apart relationship via fasteners. The warning mat includes opposite upper and lower surfaces. The upper surface of the warning mat includes a plurality of raised projections (e.g., bumps, etc.) that extend outwardly therefrom in a tactile pattern, The warning mat also includes a plurality of apertures formed therethrough. The elongated underlayment laths are removably secured to the tactile warning mat lower surface in spaced-apart relationship and are adapted to be embedded within an uncured walkway surface material (e.g., concrete, asphalt, etc.). Each underlayment lath has a cross-sectional configuration that locks the underlayment lath within the walkway surface material when cured. Each underlayment lath includes at least one fastener receiving passageway that terminates at an upper surface thereof and that is configured to removably receive a respective fastener (e.g., bolt, screw, anchor, toggle bolt, clip, pin, retaining ring, etc.) therein. A plurality of fasteners extend through the tactile warning mat apertures and removably secure the tactile warning mat to the underlayment laths via the respective fastener receiving passageways.
According to some embodiments of the present invention, the underlayment laths have a lower surface with a contoured configuration that facilitates the removal of air trapped therebeneath when embedded within uncured walkway surface material.
According to some embodiments of the present invention, the warning mat includes a lip that extends outwardly from the warning mat lower surface adjacent a periphery thereof. The lip is configured to prevent the ingress of water beneath the tactile warning mat when the tactile warning mat system is installed in a walkway.
According to some embodiments of the present invention, a sealant material is disposed between and/or adjacent to the tactile warning mat lower surface and each underlayment lath to prevent the ingress of water therebetween.
According to some embodiments of the present invention, the warning mat may have a non-planar, contoured configuration that conforms to the curvature of a walkway surface.
According to some embodiments of the present invention, the underlayment laths may be interconnected to form a unitary structure. The unitary structure is removably secured to the tactile warning mat lower surface. The underlayment laths in the unitary structure are adapted to be embedded within an uncured walkway surface material, and each underlayment lath has a cross-sectional configuration that locks the underlayment lath within the walkway surface material when cured.
According to some embodiments of the present invention, a tactile warning mat system may include a plurality of warning mats and respective underlayment laths removably secured thereto as required by the surface area of a walkway to be covered.
Tactile warning mat systems according to embodiments of the present invention are advantageous over conventional warning mats because damaged and worn out warning mats can be replaced easily and inexpensively, and without causing damage to adjacent walkway surfaces. Moreover, warning mats according to embodiments of the present invention can be made to conform to the curved configuration of a walkway surface.
The accompanying drawings, which form a part of the specification, illustrate key embodiments of the present invention. The drawings and description together serve to fully explain the invention.
The present invention now is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. In the figures, the thickness of certain lines, layers, components, elements or features may be exaggerated for clarity. Broken lines illustrate optional features or operations unless specified otherwise.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the specification and relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on”, “attached” to, “connected” to, “coupled” with, “contacting”, etc., another element, it can be directly on, attached to, connected to, coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being, for example, “directly on”, “directly attached” to, “directly connected” to, “directly coupled” with or “directly contacting” another element, there are no intervening elements present. It will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that references to a structure or feature that is disposed “adjacent” another feature may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature.
Spatially relative terms, such as “under”, “below”, “lower”, “over”, “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of a warning mat system in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the warning mat system in the figures is inverted, elements described as “under” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “over” the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term “under” can encompass both an orientation of “over” and “under”. The warning mat system may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly. Similarly, the terms “upwardly”, “downwardly”, “vertical”, “horizontal” and the like are used herein for the purpose of explanation only unless specifically indicated otherwise.
It will be understood that, although the terms “first”, “second”, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another element, component, region, layer or section. Thus, a “first” element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could also be termed a “second” element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the present invention.
Referring now to
Tactile warning mats typically range in size from 2 feet by 4 feet up to 3 feet by 5 feet and can be up to an half inch thick. However, tactile warning mats of various sizes and configurations may be utilized in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.
The illustrated tactile warning mat 1 includes a beveled peripheral edge portion 3 that provides a smooth transition between the mat 1 and a surrounding walking surface. The illustrated tactile warning mat 1 also includes a plurality of substantially parallel, spaced-apart ridges 5 extending outwardly from the mat upper surface 1a, as illustrated. The illustrated ridges 5 extend along the length of the tactile warning mat 1 and are intended to provide additional traction in inclement weather. Moreover, the ridges 5 are spaced-apart from the bumps 2 so as to define a path for water to flow around the bumps 2, as illustrated. Select bumps 2′ (or bump locations) contain respective apertures 9 therethrough in order to permit the use of a fastener I1 (e.g., bolt, screw, anchor, toggle bolt, clip, pin, retaining ring, etc.) to attach the tactile warning mat 1 to an underlayment structure. Various types of fasteners may be utilized without limitation. The apertures 9 are preferably formed in locations of the warning mat 1 having an enhanced thickness and/or strength.
According to some embodiments of the present invention, tactile warning mats, such as illustrated in
Referring to
Each illustrated underlayment lath 12 includes an upper and lower surface 17, 19 and one or more spaced-apart passageways 15 configured to receive a bolt or other type of fastener for securing a tactile warning mat 1 thereto. Each fastener receiving passageway 15 of an underlayment lath 12 may contain threads or may otherwise be configured to receive and retain a bolt or fastener, as would be understood by those skilled in the art. Embodiments of the present invention are not limited to a particular type or configuration of the fastener receiving passageways 15.
The four illustrated cross-sectional configurations of the underlayment laths 12 in
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
According to some embodiments of the present invention, a plurality of underlayment laths may be connected in various patterns to form a unitary structure, as illustrated in
Referring to
According to some embodiments of the present invention, a sealant material 110 is disposed between the tactile warning mat lower surface 102b and each underlayment lath upper surface. Alternatively, a sealant material 110 may be disposed in contacting, adjacent relationship with each underlayment lath 112 and the warning mat lower surface 102b, as illustrated in
The foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although a few exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the claims. The invention is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.
This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/668,498, filed Apr. 6, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60668498 | Apr 2005 | US |
