This invention relates to outdoor comfort articles, more particularly to heat insulating foot pads for use by spectators of outdoor sporting events and the like.
Pieces of cardboard are frequently used as insulating material to keep the soles of feet warm at outdoor events, e.g., in the stadium at a ball game, by ice fishermen, by spectators at ski races, and others. After use, however, the cardboard pieces usually are left behind, resulting in massive clean-up requirements at the event venue. The present invention reduces substantially the clean-up efforts at event venues and provides a convenient, light weight reusable insulating foot pad that can be conveniently repackaged and stored after use.
An insulating flexible foot pad suitable for outdoor use at sporting events such as football games, ski races, bobsled races, and the like has a rectangular configuration and comprises a polyalkylene (e.g., polyethylene or polypropylene) bubble sheet sandwiched between reflective metallized films that are bonded to both sides of the bubble sheet. A non-slip surface is provided on the exposed faces of the metallized films. Preferably, the exposed faces have an undulating surface.
The size of the insulating foot pad can vary but usually is a rectangle of about 16 inches by 32 inches. The insulating foot pad preferably has a thickness of about ¼ inch to about ½ inch, more preferably 5/16 inch to ⅜ inch, and has an insulating R-value of at least about 10 per inch, preferably about 15 to about 20 per inch.
In the drawings,
Referring to the drawings,
Foot pad 12 includes a pair of opposed reflective faces with a non-slip surface, such as coating 16, or strips of anti-slip tape, on the surface of each face, as will be described in greater detail hereinbelow.
Carrier 14 comprises a pair of spaced wrapping retainers, such as band 18 and band 20, that surround rolled-up pad 12 and are joined to one another by handle 22. Bands 18 and 20 preferably are fabric strips provided with hook-and-loop (Velcro®) fasteners for each. Alternatively, bands 18 and 20 can be rubber bands joined by handle 22.
The structure of pad 12 is shown in
As best seen in
Bubble sheet 32 is made of polyalkylene polymeric material such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and the like. The thickness of the bubble sheet preferably is in the range of about ¼ to about ½ inch, more preferably about 5/16 to ⅜ inch.
The reflective metallized film can be a polyethylene film, a polypropylene film, a polyethylene terephthalate film, and the like having a layer of aluminum deposited thereon by vapor deposition. The thickness of the aluminum layer on the metallized film usually is about 0.5 micrometers.
The non-slip surface coating can be a resin composition containing abrasive particles or rubber particles, a varnish composition containing abrasive particles, a siloxane-based composition comprising finely divided sand pre-treated with a hydrolysable organosilicon compound suspended in a curable silanol-terminated diorganopolysiloxane, and the like.
A particularly preferred non-slip coating composition is a sprayable epoxy polymer coating such as Krylon®3400 non-skid coating, and the like.
The non-slip coating composition preferably is applied by spraying onto the metallized film.
Alternatively, the non-slip surface can be provided by strips of an anti-slip adhesive tape such as the oxide grit anti-slip tape, silicon carbide anti-slip tape, and the like commercially available from W. W. Grainger, Inc., Lake Forest, Ill.
Foot pad 10, when unrolled and ready for use is generally rectangular, about 16 inches wide, about 32 inches long, and about ¼ inch to about ½ inch thick, depending on the desired insulating R-value, i.e., the desired thermal resistance.
R-value is a measure of thermal resistance commonly used in the building and construction industry and is the ratio of the temperature difference across an insulator, such as the foot pad, and the heat flux (heat transfer per unit area per unit time) through it. R as used herein is expressed as ft2×° F.×hours/BTU×inches.
After use, foot pad 10 is rolled up and secured by carrier 14 with bands 18 and 20.
The foregoing specification and the drawings are illustrative, but are not to be taken as limiting. Alterations and variations within the spirit and scope of the invention are possible and will readily present themselves to those skilled in the art.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/983,181, filed on Apr. 23, 2014, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61983181 | Apr 2014 | US |