Patent Application
20160093236
Not Applicable
The present invention is directed to hook material cut or formed into shapes, symbols, letters or words for imparting spatial and/or directional messages and information. As is well-known, children frequently have difficulties with spatial proximity while inside a structured setting, such as a classroom, and do not understand how close to sit or stand next to each other while in a line, seated on the floor, or making a circle, etc. Moreover, existing area rugs for the spatial organization of children are expensive and limited to a predetermined shape and size, for example a 9′×12′ rectangular shape. Such rugs do not allow the users to adjust the size or shape of the carpet area to fit their needs, and much less offer any systematic way of indicating specific positions thereon. As a consequence, considerable time is consumed by teachers and/or other supervising adults with having to explain and position children to sit or place themselves in a given position as is frequently employed to do group activities and the like. The inability to provide a very simple visual cue as to placement or position requires considerable time and effort to instruct or place children in the ideal positions.
Deficiencies in providing simple visual cues regarding spatial proximity are likewise prevalent in basic foot traffic routes in public places and private businesses where it is highly desired to move people along a desired pathway and in a specific direction. Along these lines, many adults and children miss important non-verbal directives that are usually displayed in places that go unnoticed, thus, impeding the flow and productivity of the business. While businesses use non-verbal directives to help with traffic flow of patrons that are usually displayed on walls or messages or symbols taped to the floor, such wall postings often go unnoticed by the patrons and the directives on the floors are often a trip hazard. The vast majority of time, individuals walking in a particular direction are by nature inclined to look down in the forward direction in which they are heading, which thus affords the greatest opportunity of providing the information necessary to convey to such individuals the appropriate information to reach their destination yet is seldom taken into consideration.
Unfortunately, there is lacking in the art any type of mechanism, and much less a very simplistic and easily deployed mechanism, through which spatial information and directional signs, symbols and the like can be readily and easily deployed as necessary. The present invention is specifically designed to overcome such deficiencies in the art and provide a solution for customizing spatial organization and directional flow for children and adults.
The present invention is directed to conventional hook-type material that is cut or formed into any of a variety of shapes, symbols, letters, words, numbers and the like that are operative to be attached to a loop pile-type material, and in particular rugs, carpeting or other type of fabric-based flooring to thus enable the hook material to remain securely in position and impart desired information, such as spatial and directional messages, to individuals walking thereacross. Such hook material may take any of a variety of conventional hook-type materials known in the art, the most well-known being the VELCRO® brand of such materials. The fabrication of such materials into various shapes, symbols, letters, words and the like may be performed by any of a variety of conventional manufacturing methods known in the art.
In use, the user need only attach the hook material upon the loop pile-type flooring material according to a desired orientation and direction whereby the hook material will remain firmly in position until such time as it is desired to remove the hook material, which is accomplished by simply pulling the hook material away from the loop pile-type flooring material. The hook material may thus be repeatedly used and repositioned as necessary or desired.
To enhance the visual attractiveness of the hook material, it is understood that the hook material may be made from a variety of colorful materials and may further be configured to have fanciful artwork, logos (such as sports teams and the like), educational information or other desirable signage properties well-understood to those skilled in the art to thus enhance the visual effectiveness of the hook material and further its purpose in particular applications, such as child education and the like.
To that end, it is contemplated that the pieces of hook-material may be packaged to include a multiplicity of matching or complementary pieces that may be desired for a particular educational application or the like. For example, it is contemplated that such pre-packaged kits may include a plurality of holiday-themed pieces, a variety of geometric shapes, a collection of directional pieces (e.g., arrows and pedestrian-oriented information), the letters of the alphabet or any of a variety of number sequences. In this regard, it is contemplated that the hook-type materials of the present invention can be readily commercialized in a variety of formats that will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.
These and other features and advantages of the various embodiments disclosed herein will be better understood with respect to the following description and drawings, in which like numbers refer to like parts throughout, and in which:
The above description is given by way of example, and not limitation. Given the above disclosure, one skilled in the art could devise variations that are within the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed herein, including various ways of fashioning or configuring a hook material into a desired shape, symbol and the like and attaching such hook material onto position upon a loop pile-material, and in particular a loop pile-type flooring such as commercial grade carpeting, for use in displaying spatial or directional information. Further, the various features of the embodiments disclosed herein can be used alone, or in varying combinations with each other and are not intended to be limited to the specific combination described herein. Thus, the scope of the claims is not to be limited by the illustrated embodiments.
In this regard, the present invention is directed to a hook material having a desired shape that attaches to a loop pile-type material, such as industrial/commercial grade carpeting, and conveys a directional message of where to sit, stand, or a path to follow. As stated above, children have difficulties with spatial proximity while inside a structured setting (such as a classroom), and often do not understand how close to sit or stand next to each other while in a line, seated on the floor, or making a circle, etc Likewise, many adults and children miss important non-verbal directives that are usually displayed in places that go unnoticed, thus, impeding the “traffic” flow and productivity of the business. The invention claimed here solves this problem, and will also assist the general public by providing non-verbal directions or pathways to follow that are placed on the loop pile-type carpeting where people have a tendency to look while they are walking and to convey a direction or a pathway to follow.
According to a preferred embodiment, the hook material may be any of a variety of conventional hook-type materials well-known and extensively utilized in the art. One such well-known brand is VELCRO® produced by Velcro Industries B.V. of the Netherlands. Such material is then formed, typically by cutting into the desired shape, symbol or the like, which may take any of the exemplary forms 60 set forth in
An exemplary piece of hook material as contemplated herein is depicted in
It is also expressly contemplated that the hook material may be specifically engineered to have a desired degree of fastening ability to the loop pile material to which the same is interconnected, such that the hook material binds more tightly to the loop pile material, as may be desired for heavy traffic-type applications, or may adhere to a lesser degree so as to facilitate easy removal and replacement of the hook material upon the loop pile flooring. As will further be appreciated, the sizing of the hook material may be variable and further, the color of the hook material may be changed as desired for the purpose of conveying various spatial and/or directional messages.
To use the invention, the hook material is placed hook side down, onto the loop pile industrial/commercial grade carpet in the desired location(s) and pressed down firmly on the loop pile carpet to adhere. Once placed on the loop pile carpet, the product will immediately convey non-verbal direction(s) as to where persons are to stand, sit or the pathway to be followed. To remove this product from the loop pile carpet, the user lifts a corner or edge of the product and pulls gently to disengage the entire product from the loop pile carpet, thus eliminating the non-verbal directional message or pathway to follow. Advantageously, the product uses the hook side 54 of the material to attach itself to loop pile industrial/commercial grade carpeting without using chemicals or adhesives. Its placement and shape allows spatial instruction and/or directional messages to be conveyed to the public by the user. Once placed on the loop pile carpet this product will not shift, lift, nor peel and is completely removable and reusable without the use of adhesives or chemicals.
To illustrate the utility of the present invention, and referring now to
Advantageously, such spatial relationship of the hook-members 18-28 will thus serve as a visual indicator to enable children, namely 32-36, depicted in
This invention is an improvement on what currently exists. Currently, the existing product for the management of spatial proximity for children is an area rug, which incorporates symbols, shapes or grids. The present invention provides the user with an inexpensive way to organize student spatial proximity while in a structured setting that can be configured in a customized shape and size to fit the needs of the user. Existing area rugs manufactured for this use do not provide the ability for changes and they do not help children with spatial proximity while standing in a line, making a circle, etc. Since these carpets are so expensive to purchase, they are also impractical for short term use. While businesses provide “traffic flow” directives that are often posted on the walls, the tendency of the public is to look down while they are walking and these wall directives often go unnoticed. The business directives that are placed on the carpeted flooring are often not securely adhered to the carpet and often create a trip hazard for patrons, or can ruin the carpeting leaving an adhesive residue when removed. The present invention thus provides a solution for customizing spatial organization, pathways, and directional messages for children and adults. This product adheres to loop pile-type commercial grade carpet and has the ability to be changed at any time without the use of adhesives or chemicals.
To enhance the use and commercialization of the hook-type pieces envisioned by the present invention, it is contemplated that multiple hook material pieces may be pre-packaged and sold as a kit, as may be desired for a particular application. For example, it is contemplated that such pre-packaged hook-type pieces may have a holiday or birthday-type theme whereby the various pieces of hook material are cut into fanciful configurations corresponding with the particular theme. It is likewise contemplated that such pre-packaged hook pieces may comprise a collection of directional or spatial-orientation pieces, such as arrows and pedestrian-type signals, may comprise alphabetical letters or number sequences, or may simply comprise a collection of geometric shapes or other types of fanciful type designs, such as those examples 60 shown in
Additional modifications and improvements of the present invention may also be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, the particular combination of parts and steps described and illustrated herein is intended to represent only certain embodiments of the present invention, and is not intended to serve as limitations of alternative devices and methods within the spirit and scope of the invention.
The present invention claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/838,616, filed Jun. 24, 2013, entitled HOOKED MATERIAL CUT INTO SHAPES, SYMBOLS, LETTERS OR WORDS THAT WILL BE USED FOR ATTACHMENT TO COMMERCIAL GRADE CARPETING FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONVEYING NON-VERBAL SPATIAL AND DIRECTIONAL MESSAGES, the teachings of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14293080 | Jun 2014 | US |
| Child | 14962318 | US |
