Yoga is among other sports very popular these days, practiced by about 10% of the Americans and about up to 5% of Europeans to support physical and mental health. Yoga is practiced on yoga mats, which are mostly 24 inch×72 inch and rolled in one big piece. Due to the relatively big size and weight (natural products of rubber are very heavy with up to 6 lbs), the mats are not suitable for travel or to take them for a workout outside home. The portable mats on the market are often made of a cheap material and are very thin, so that knees and back are hurt easily. To solve these problems a folding method and a material not used until now for this purpose were invented to allow a portable and high-quality mat.
In some embodiments the mat is made either of natural or artificial felt or other foldable and cushioning materials.
In some embodiments the mat is composed by two layers attached to each other. The folded the mat has a similar size like two yoga blocks. To avoid folding lines, a new cutting procedure is introduced, in which always one layer of the mat is cut and the other can stay complete.
The following descriptions depict only example embodiments and are not to be considered limiting in scope.
Any reference herein to “the invention” is not intended to restrict or limit the invention to exact features or steps of anyone or more of the exemplary embodiments disclosed in the present specification.
Accordingly, the particular arrangements disclosed are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the invention, which is to be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any and all equivalents thereof. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Unless otherwise expressly defined herein, such terms are intended to be given their broad, ordinary, and customary meaning not inconsistent with that applicable in the relevant industry and without restriction to any specific embodiment hereinafter described.
It should be understood that the steps of any such processes or methods are not limited to being carried out in any particular sequence, arrangement, or with any particular graphics or interface. Indeed, the steps of the disclosed processes or methods generally may be carried out in various sequences and arrangements while still falling within the scope of the present invention.
The terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like, as used with respect to embodiments, are synonymous, and are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including, but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes, but is not limited to”, etc).
The term “coupled” may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical contact. However, “coupled” may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, but yet still cooperate or interact with each other.
As discussed earlier, there is a need for a yoga mat that is foldable and compact, lightweight and which has high structural integrity in order to avoid deformation while yoga practice. The present disclosure seeks to solve these and other problems.
Some embodiments of the mat consist of two layers of felt or a material with similar properties. The approximate thickness of each layer may range up to 0.2 inch (0.5 cm).
An overview of an example embodiment of the cuts and folding lines execution is shown in
The cutting line 102 is performed by cutting through one layer of the mat. The cutting line 103 is performed by making a parallel double cut through one layer of the mat.
A representation of an example embodiment of a completely folded mat is shown in
The procedure to fold an example embodiment of the mat is described in