Patent Grant
10905271
The present invention relates generally to anti-fatigue mats, and, more particularly, relates to an anti-fatigue mat made using a simplified process for increased manufacturing output.
Anti-fatigue floor mats are used in places where it is necessary to stand for extended periods of time, such as in a kitchen, at a retail checkout counter, and other similar places. Anti-fatigue mats include compliant materials that provide some cushion relative to a hard floor, and are believed to relieve blood circulation pressure in the feet of the person standing on the floor mat, and also reduce the strain on the waist, legs, knees, etc. Conventional anti-fatigue mats have been made of high density foam material, such as polyurethane. However it has been found that foam does not wear well with age, and can deteriorate to the point of being ineffective over time.
To improve the long term efficacy of anti-fatigue mats, gel materials have been used in a layer within a mat. The gel material is a solid, non-flowing, homogenous compliant material that is more durable than compliant foam material. In manufacturing mats using gel materials, however, care must be taken in sealing the edges of the mat, otherwise the material layer can separate and pull apart from each other.
Therefore, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above.
In accordance with some embodiments of the inventive disclosure, there is provided a method of forming an anti-fatigue mat that includes providing a lower mold that includes a mold surface with a raised portion on the mold surface that is configured to define a perimeter of the anti-fatigue floor mat. The raised portion forms a cavity within an area surrounded by the raised portion. The mold further includes an outer frame member having an opening therethrough that is sized to fit around the raised portion of the mold surface. The method further includes providing an upper mold that includes a press head having a surface that is sized and shaped to cover the raised portion and the outer frame member. The method further includes placing a top surface layer member of the anti-fatigue mat over the raised portion, with an external side of the top surface layer member facing down, and pressing the top surface layer member into the cavity. The method further includes placing the outer frame member over the raised portion and the top surface layer member such that the top surface layer member is between the outer frame member and the mold surface. The method further includes dispensing a gel material on the top surface layer member in the cavity sufficient to cover a portion of the top surface layer member in the cavity completely to a thickness of two millimeters to two centimeters. The method further includes dispensing a substrate material onto the gel material, wherein an amount of the substrate material is sufficient to cover the gel material completely within the cavity. The method further includes closing the press head onto the lower mold, while the press head is heated, to cure the gel material and the substrate material and thereby create a cured mat assembly, and opening the press head and the outer frame member, and removing the cured mat assembly from the mold surface and trimming excess material of the cured mat assembly to produce the anti-fatigue mat.
In accordance with another feature, dispensing the gel material comprises dispensing the gel material having a viscosity of 7000 to 11000 centipoise when cured.
In accordance with another feature, dispensing the gel material comprises dispensing the gel material that is a mixture having 200-300 parts by weight of isocyanate, and 1000 parts by weight of polyurethane.
In accordance with another feature, dispensing the gel material comprises dispensing the gel material that is a mixture having 240 parts by weight of isocyanate, and 1000 parts by weight of polyurethane.
In accordance with another feature, dispensing the substrate material comprises dispensing the substrate material as a mixture of 32 to 60 parts by weight of isocyanate to 100 parts by weight of polyurethane.
In accordance with another feature, dispensing the substrate material comprises dispensing the substrate material as a mixture of 40 parts by weight of isocyanate to 100 parts by weight of polyurethane.
In accordance with another feature, closing the press head onto the lower mold comprises applying a pressure of about 0.7 mPa and a temperature of 45 degrees Celsius.
In accordance with another feature, closing the press head comprises closing the press head for a period of at least 5 minutes before opening the press head.
In accordance with some embodiments of the inventive disclosure, there is provided a method for producing a mat that includes preparing a top surface layer member having a top side and bottom side, the bottom side facing upward in a lower mold. The method further includes forming a gel layer on the bottom side of the top surface layer member, the gel layer having a viscosity of 1100-7000 cps, wherein the gel layer bonds to the bottom side of the top surface layer member. The method further includes forming a substrate layer on the gel layer, wherein the substrate layer bonds to the gel layer.
In accordance with another feature, the top surface layer member is a fabric.
In accordance with another feature, the fabric is one of leather, cotton, or polyester.
In accordance with another feature, the gel layer is a mixture of isocyanate and polyurethane.
In accordance with another feature, the isocyanate is 200 to 350 parts by weight relative to 1000 parts by weight of the polyurethane.
In accordance with another feature, the forming the gel layer comprises forming the gel layer to have a thickness of 2 mm to 2 cm.
In accordance with another feature, forming the substrate layer comprising forming the substrate layer as a mixture comprising 32 to 60 parts by weight of isocyanate with 100 parts by weight of polyurethane.
In accordance with another feature, the substrate layer is formed at a molding temperature of 40° C. to 50° C. and a molding pressure of 0.7 mPa.
In accordance with another feature, a pattern mold is laid prior to forming the gel layer to create an anti-slip surface texture on the top side of the top surface layer member.
In accordance with another feature, the gel layer is formed by dispensing a gel material onto the bottom side of the top surface layer member and waiting for a period of one minute before dispensing a substrate material to form the substrate layer.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a method for forming an anti-fatigue mat, it is, nevertheless, not intended to be limited to the details shown because various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims. Additionally, well-known elements of exemplary embodiments of the invention will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the invention.
Other features that are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims. As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one of ordinary skill in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting; but rather, to provide an understandable description of the invention. While the specification concludes with claims defining the features of the invention that are regarded as novel, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals are carried forward. The figures of the drawings are not drawn to scale.
Before the present invention is disclosed and described, it is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. The terms “a” or “an,” as used herein, are defined as one or more than one. The term “plurality,” as used herein, is defined as two or more than two. The term “another,” as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms “including” and/or “having,” as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly, and not necessarily mechanically. The term “providing” is defined herein in its broadest sense, e.g., bringing/coming into physical existence, making available, and/or supplying to someone or something, in whole or in multiple parts at once or over a period of time.
“In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, unless otherwise specified, azimuth or positional relationships indicated by terms such as “up”, “down”, “left”, “right”, “inside”, “outside”, “front”, “back”, “head”, “tail” and so on, are azimuth or positional relationships based on the drawings, which are only to facilitate description of the embodiments of the present invention and simplify the description, but not to indicate or imply that the devices or components must have a specific azimuth, or be constructed or operated in the specific azimuth, which thus cannot be understood as a limitation to the embodiments of the present invention. Furthermore, terms such as “first”, “second”, “third” and so on are only used for descriptive purposes, and cannot be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.
In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly defined and limited, terms such as “installed”, “coupled”, “connected” should be broadly interpreted, for example, it may be fixedly connected, or may be detachably connected, or integrally connected; it may be mechanically connected, or may be electrically connected; it may be directly connected, or may be indirectly connected via an intermediate medium. As used herein, the terms “about” or “approximately” apply to all numeric values, whether or not explicitly indicated. These terms generally refer to a range of numbers that one of skill in the art would consider equivalent to the recited values (i.e., having the same function or result). In many instances these terms may include numbers that are rounded to the nearest significant figure. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meanings of the above-mentioned terms in the embodiments of the present invention according to the specific circumstances.
The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views and which together with the detailed description below are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to further illustrate various embodiments and explain various principles and advantages all in accordance with the present invention. No particular scale is implied by the drawings, rather, certain dimensions may be exaggerated or minimized in the drawings so as to clearly illustrate the various elements and how they interrelate.
While the specification concludes with claims defining the features of the invention that are regarded as novel, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals are carried forward. It is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms.
The present invention provides a novel and efficient method for creating an anti-fatigue mat using minimal materials that have good bonding properties between the layers of material, as well as good anti-fatigue properties.
In step 102 the top surface layer member is placed over the lower mold. The lower mold includes a flat level mold surface with a contiguous raised portion that forms a closed structure (i.e. like a loop and does not have an end point) on the mold surface. The raised portion can be formed integrally on the surface of the lower mold, or it can be a separate article that is registered into position on the surface of the lower mold. The top surface layer member is a sheet-like article that is laid over the lower mold, and particularly over the raised portion. The top surface layer member is sized such that peripheral portions of the top surface layer member extend outside of the raised portion, creating a bounded area within the raised portion that is lower than a top of the raised portion. Accordingly, liquids introduced into the bounded area will be contained within the bounded area. The back side of the top surface layer member is facing upwards, and is prepared by cleaning and can also be roughened to increase adherence of the gel and substrate materials.
Once the top surface layer member is in place and prepared, an outer or outer frame member is lowered onto the top surface layer member. The outer frame member has an opening through it that is sized and shaped to correspond with the outside of the raised portion (e.g. the first frame member), thus the outer frame member presses against the top surface layer member outside of the raised portion, against the mold surface of the lower mold, to hold the top surface layer member in place during the rest of the method 100.
In step 104 a gel material is dispensed onto the top surface layer member in the portion within the cavity formed by raised portion, such that when the gel material is evenly distributed it has a desired thickness (height). However, the thickness of the resulting gel layer is such that it does not fill the volume or cavity resulting from the raised portion, allowing for substrate material to be added. In step 106 the gel material is allowed to “ripen” or reach a desired state to receive the substrate material. The gel material bonds with the top surface layer member. In step 108 the substrate material is dispensed onto the gel material, and is spread evenly. The amount of substrate material dispensed is enough to fill the volume surrounded by the raised portion of the mold with the top surface layer member in place. In step 110 a press head is placed over the laminate to heat and apply pressure to the laminate, curing the gel and substrate materials. As a result, the top surface layer member becomes bonded to the gel and substrate materials. The press head of the upper mold completely covers the region occupied by the laminate and can slightly protrude into the space, below the height of the raised portion with the top surface layer member, to ensure sufficient pressure is applied. Once the materials are cured, the press head can be lifted, and the laminate removed from the mold, and trimmed in step 112. When complete, the method 100 produces an anti-fatigue mat substantially as shown in
The molding process starts with the press assembly 300 shown as in
In the preceding discussion top surface layer can be a material such as leather, cotton, polyester, or similar materials, as well as combinations of such materials. The gel material 1006 can be a silica gel material having a viscosity of 1100-7000 cps (centipoise), and be composed of a mixture of an isocyanate and a polyurethane. The composition of the gel material can be 200 to 350 parts by weight of isocyanate to 1000 parts by weight of the polyurethane. The viscosity of the silica gel can be adjusted as desired by controlling the amount of the isocyanate. However, if the content of the isocyanate is less than 200 parts by weight, the viscosity of the silica gel is less than 1100 cps, which may result in failure to ensure sufficient bonding strength to the top surface layer member and the substrate material. On the other hand, if the content of the isocyanate is more than 350 parts by weight relative to the polyurethane, although the viscosity of the silica gel will be increased, the hardness of the silica gel after coagulation is also increased, thereby affecting the resilience performance of the mat, reducing the anti-fatigue characteristics.
The thickness of the gel material layer 1006 can be 2 mm to 2 cm and mainly functions as a bonding layer between the top surface layer member 202 and the substrate material 1306. The gel material 1006 will provide decompression and anti-fatigue functions, but for that function the substrate material 1306 is more important and provides most of the compression and anti-fatigue performance. Accordingly, the thickness of the gel material 1006 is preferred to not be greater than 2 cm, and preferably not less than 2 mm thick as this may cause uneven application gel material which can affect the bonding between the top surface layer member 202 and the substrate material 1306.
The substrate material 1306 layer can also be an isocyanate that is mixed with polyurethane, but in proportions in the range of 32 to 60 parts by weight of isocyanate to 100 parts by weight of polyurethane. If the content of the isocyanate is less than 32 parts by weight, the hardness of the polyurethane material will be such that the support offered by substrate material 1306 will be insufficient to provide the desired the anti-fatigue effect. If the content of the isocyanate in the substrate material is more than 60 parts by weight, the substrate material will be too hard and lack elastic property necessary to provide the anti-fatigue effect.
In addition to the steps outlined in regard to
In further refinement of the above general discussion of the method, the following are examples used to create anti-fatigue mats using the general method steps and apparatus described above. In the subsequent examples, the “lower mold” refers to the lower mold 302, and the “upper mold” refers to the press head 308. Together, these mold components mold the mat materials with pressure and heat.
The mold temperature was set at 45° C. and the gas pressure was 0.7 mPa. for the mold. A leather top surface layer member was placed on the lower mold of the mold. In this configuration the top side faces downward and the bottom side faces upward. When the leather is placed, the leather is positioned to ensure that the leather is not slanted. A silica gel material was then dispensed on the bottom side of the leather. The silica gel material in this example is a mixture of 200 parts by weight of isocyanate and 1000 parts by weight of polyurethane, and the silica gel material is uniformly distributed on the bottom side, and allowed to ripen for 1 minute to form a silica gel layer. The thickness of the silica gel layer is 1 cm. A release agent was sprayed on the surface of the upper mold (e.g. 310). A substrate material was then dispensed on top of the gel material layer that consisted of 40 parts by weight of isocyanate and 100 parts by weight of polyurethane. Then the mold was closed for 5 minutes. The produced floor mat is subjected to a trimming process.
The mold temperature was set at 45° C. and the gas pressure was 0.7 mPa. The leather is placed as a surface layer on the lower mold. A gel material is dispensed onto the back side of the leather that is a mixture of 220 parts by weight of isocyanate and 1000 parts by weight of polyurethane, and the gel material is uniformly distributed on the leather, and allowed to ripen for 1 minute to form a gel layer having a thickness of 1 cm. A release agent is spread on the upper mold. A substrate material of 40 parts by weight of isocyanate and 100 parts by weight of polyurethane is then dispensed on the gel layer in the middle of the mold. The mold is then closed for 5 minutes, whereupon the laminate is removed and trimming process.
The mold temperature was set at 45° C. and the gas pressure was 0.7 mPa. with a leather top surface layer member used as in the previous examples. In this example the gel material is a mixture of 240 parts by weight of isocyanate and 1000 parts by weight of polyurethane, and the gel material is uniformly distributed on the bottom side to a thickness of 1 cm and allowed to ripen for one minute. A substrate material mixture of 40 parts by weight of isocyanate and 100 parts by weight of polyurethane was dispensed onto the gel material layer. The mold was closed (after being sprayed with release agent) and closed for 5 minutes, and the resulting laminate was then trimmed.
The mold temperature and pressure, and use of a leather top surface layer member is as in prior examples. The gel material is a mixture of 260 parts by weight of isocyanate and 1000 parts by weight of polyurethane, dispensed to a thickness of 1 cm and allowed to ripen for 1 minute. The substrate material is 40 parts by weight of isocyanate and 100 parts by weight of polyurethane. All other operations and process were as in prior examples.
The mold temperature and pressure, and use of a leather top surface layer member is as in prior examples. The gel material is a mixture of 280 parts by weight of isocyanate and 1000 parts by weight of polyurethane, dispensed to a thickness of 1 cm and allowed to ripen for 1 minute. The substrate material is 40 parts by weight of isocyanate and 100 parts by weight of polyurethane. All other operations and process were as in prior examples.
The mold temperature and pressure, and use of a leather top surface layer member is as in prior examples. The gel material is a mixture of 300 parts by weight of isocyanate and 1000 parts by weight of polyurethane, dispensed to a thickness of 1 cm and allowed to ripen for 1 minute. The substrate material is 40 parts by weight of isocyanate and 100 parts by weight of polyurethane. All other operations and process were as in prior examples.
The mold temperature and pressure, and use of a leather top surface layer member is as in prior examples. The gel material is a mixture of 320 parts by weight of isocyanate and 1000 parts by weight of polyurethane, dispensed to a thickness of 1 cm and allowed to ripen for 1 minute. The substrate material is 40 parts by weight of isocyanate and 100 parts by weight of polyurethane. All other operations and process were as in prior examples.
The mold temperature and pressure, and use of a leather top surface layer member is as in prior examples. The gel material is a mixture of 350 parts by weight of isocyanate and 1000 parts by weight of polyurethane, dispensed to a thickness of 1 cm and allowed to ripen for 1 minute. The substrate material is 40 parts by weight of isocyanate and 100 parts by weight of polyurethane. All other operations and process were as in prior examples.
The mold temperature and pressure, and use of a leather top surface layer member is as in prior examples. The gel material is a mixture of 150 parts by weight of isocyanate and 1000 parts by weight of polyurethane, dispensed to a thickness of 1 cm and allowed to ripen for 1 minute. The substrate material is 40 parts by weight of isocyanate and 100 parts by weight of polyurethane. All other operations and process were as in prior examples.
The mold temperature and pressure, and use of a leather top surface layer member is as in prior examples. The gel material is a mixture of 280 parts by weight of isocyanate and 1000 parts by weight of polyurethane, dispensed to a thickness of 1 cm and allowed to ripen for 1 minute. The substrate material is 40 parts by weight of isocyanate and 100 parts by weight of polyurethane. All other operations and process were as in prior examples.
The comparison of the examples is summarized in Table 1 below, along with the resulting viscosity and hardness of the gel layer after the mold process.
As shown in Table 1, in the range of 200-350 parts by weight of the isocyanate, the viscosity and hardness of the gel layer increases as the content of the isocyanate increases. For some embodiments the gel mixture can be 240 parts by weight to 100 parts by weight polyurethane.
A method for forming an anti-fatigue mat has been disclosed that minimizes the and simplifies the steps used to create the mat, while ensuring bonding between the external, durable surface layer, and the compliant substrate layer that provides the anti-fatigue effect, and is also the floor-facing layer. A gel material is used to form a gel layer that bonds the top surface layer member to the substrate material layer. The gel layer constituent materials are controlled to achieve a desired viscosity, and the substrate layer constituent materials are controlled to achieve a desired hardness.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3308491 | Spence | Mar 1967 | A |
| 4913755 | Grim | Apr 1990 | A |
| 7682680 | McMahan | Mar 2010 | B2 |
| 7754127 | McMahan | Jul 2010 | B2 |
| 9962902 | Losio | May 2018 | B2 |
| 10582793 | McMahan | Mar 2020 | B1 |
| 20040209062 | Sebag | Oct 2004 | A1 |
| 20060031994 | Willat | Feb 2006 | A1 |
| 20080034614 | Fox | Feb 2008 | A1 |
| 20080078028 | McMahan | Apr 2008 | A1 |
| 20080113170 | McMahan | May 2008 | A1 |
| 20090255625 | Fox | Oct 2009 | A1 |
| 20140302271 | Losio | Oct 2014 | A1 |
