Patent Application
20210059452
The present invention relates generally to floor mats. In particular, the present invention relates to anti-fatigue floor mats used in combination with standing desks.
Sitting for long periods of time may increase risks of health problems, obesity, etc. Standing for long periods of time, however, may be tiring and may also increase particular risks of health problems. Sit and stand desks have become a popular answer to these problems. Sit and stand desks allow a person to change positions throughout the day by raising or lowering to accommodate a person in a sitting or standing position. Anti-fatigue mats are commonly sold in conjunction with sit and stand desks to help make the standing experience more comfortable and healthier for users. Users are able to stand comfortably for longer periods with fewer negative effects when standing on anti-fatigue mats.
Conventional anti-fatigue mats have drawbacks, however. For example, conventional anti-fatigue mats are not amenable to use with a chair. Even mats with beveled edges to allow easy on and off access of a chair have issues such as difficulty moving the chair on and off of the mat and having the chair sink into the soft mats. Chairs are difficult to roll onto and off soft surfaces such as anti-fatigue mats and deformations to the mats may form due to the weight of the chair on such soft surfaces for extended periods of time.
As a result, some users purchase hard mats that provide little to no benefit when standing and do not address the health risks mentioned above. Others use soft mats but have to move the mat each time they wish to change positions from seating to standing and vice versa. Anti-fatigue mats, even soft ones, have bottoms that resist horizontal movement of the mat when in contact with the floor to reduce the risk of the user slipping, tripping or falling. Conventionally, to move the mat, a user had to physically bend over, pick up the mat with her hands, and move it to another position. This is uncomfortable and may itself represent a health risk of, for example, back injury or hitting ones' head on the desk while bending over to move the mat.
Thus, there is a need for an anti-fatigue mat that may be easily moved into and out of a proper standing position without the user having to bend over to pick up the mat.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, an easily movable anti-fatigue mat set is provided that may be used with sit and stand desks to allow users, without bending over, to easily move mats. The anti-fatigue mat set disclosed herein may have a relatively high friction bottom layer to prevent or hinder horizontal movement when a user is standing or walking over the mat and a soft top to aid in reducing fatigue.
Because there is individual left foot and right foot mats in a set and each of the mats includes a strap or loop for a user to insert her foot or shoe to lift each individual mat off the floor, a user may move the anti-fatigue mat in and out of an operative position using her feet. While standing on the mat, the user's foot or shoe does not touch the strap and, thus, is not constricted such as in a shoe or sandal. Rather, the user can move her foot or shoe freely on the mat, and when desiring to sit down, may use the strap to move the mat without bending over. Thus, the mat set disclosed herein provides a foot activated method of movement that obviates the necessity of bending over, which may be problematic for users with back problems and inefficient. This arrangement allows the mat set to remain in place during normal use and, further, allows the mat set to be easily moved horizontally when intended.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate various example systems, methods, and so on, that illustrate various example embodiments of aspects of the invention. It will be appreciated that the illustrated element boundaries (e.g., boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in the figures represent one example of the boundaries. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that one element may be designed as multiple elements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. An element shown as an internal component of another element may be implemented as an external component and vice versa. Furthermore, elements may not be drawn to scale.
The present invention includes an anti-fatigue mat that is capable of being easily moved into and out of a desired position in a horizontal direction on a floor surface, without requiring a user to bend over and pick up the mat and without sacrificing the desired frictional engagement between mat and floor when movement is not desired.
The exemplary standing desk mat 1 includes a base 5 that has a top 5b and a bottom 5c. The bottom 5c rests on the floor F while the top 5b supports the bottom of a foot or a shoe of a standing user off the floor F when the user is standing on the standing desk mat 1. The bottom 5c may have a high coefficient of friction to prevent the mat 1 from sliding when engaged with the floor F. The bottom 5c may be made of, for example, polyurethane or rubber. The top 5b may be made from a single, homogenous layer or comprise separate elements. A homogenous top 5b may be a woven fabric, foam, gel, or solid construction, or some combination thereof, such as a nitrile rubber with polypropylene fabric strands dispersed within it. A homogenous top 5b may be made of natural rubber, synthetic rubber, neoprene, nylon, a vinyl containing compound, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene, silicone, polyurethane, a nitrile containing compound, gel, polypropylene fabric, nitrile rubber, open cell foam, closed cell foam, some combination thereof, or like material. Alternatively, a top 5b may be made of a soft element covered with a more rigid shell element that is still flexible and resilient but is not as soft as the soft element. The soft element may be elastic in nature. The soft element may be a gel, foam, fabric, or solid material, or some combination thereof. For example, the top 5b may be made of a vinyl containing compound covering or partially covering a foam material. A soft element may be made of polyether foam, polyester foam, polyethylene foam, foam rubber, cellulose foam, polyurethane foam, polypropylene foam, nitrile blend foam, an open cell foam, closed cell foam, polypropylene fabric, a nitrile containing compound, fabric, gel, rubber, nitrile rubber, polyurethane rubber, some combination of these, or other suitable material. The shell element may be made of woven fabric, gel, foam, or a solid construction to encase the soft element. For example, the top 5b may consist of polypropylene fabric covering or partially covering a gel or solid soft element. The shell element may be made of or with a polymer compound. The shell element may be made with materials such as natural rubber, synthetic rubber, neoprene, nylon, a vinyl containing compound, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene, polypropylene fabrics, silicone, polyurethane, a nitrile containing compound, nitrile rubber, closed cell foam, open cell foam, some combination thereof, or any other suitable compound. For example, the shell material may be a nitrile rubber with polypropylene fabric strands dispersed within it.
The top 5b and the bottom 5c may be made of the same or different materials depending upon the desired use. For example, for a certain type of floor F, a bottom 5c that is made of a generally harder material might be preferable. However, that particular bottom 5c may not be cushioned enough to provide anti-fatigue characteristics to the mat 1 without the addition of a top 5b made from a softer material. Alternately, for a different type of floor F, the base 5 may be formed integrally from a single layer of material, the material providing sufficient friction with the floor F and sufficient anti-fatigue cushioning. Further, the materials to make the base 5 may be chosen so that the base 5 is within certain tolerances of thickness and rigidity, so that the base 5 may move without rolling or buckling of its edges. The integrally formed base 5 or just the bottom 5c may be made of or with one or more materials, including polymer compound materials such as natural rubber, synthetic rubber, neoprene, nylon, a vinyl containing compound, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene, silicone, polyurethane, nitrile rubber, a nitrile containing compound, or any other suitable compound. The integrally formed base 5 or just the bottom 5c may be a woven fabric, foam, gel, or solid construction, or some combination thereof, such as polypropylene fabric, nitrile rubber, nitrile rubber with polypropylene fabric strands dispersed within it, a closed cell foam, or an open cell foam.
In one embodiment, the base 5 is approximately 15.5 inches long (y direction), 7.25 inches wide (x direction), and 0.75 inches thick (z direction). In other embodiments, the base 5 is approximately 10-30 inches long (y direction), 5-15 inches wide (x direction), and 0.2-2.0 inches thick (z direction).
The exemplary standing desk mat 1 may also include the strap 3 that is operably connected to the base 5 to form a bridge spanning a portion of the base 5. In the deployed mode of
In the illustrated embodiment of
In the illustrated embodiment, the strap 3 includes the strap portions 3a and 3b which engage each other to form the strap 3. The strap portions 3a and 3b may, for example, each include one or more fasteners (e.g., hook-and-loop fasteners (Velcro®)), buttons, clasps, etc.) 7a, 7b that engage the strap portions 3a and 3b to each other. Having the strap portions 3a, 3b a) come together to form the strap 3 in the deployed mode of
The strap 3 or strap portions 3a, 3b may be made of similar materials as the base 5. The strap 3 or strap portions 3a, 3b may be made from a single, homogenous layer or comprise separate elements. A homogenous strap 3 or strap portions 3a, 3b may be a woven fabric, foam, gel, or solid construction, or some combination thereof, such as a nitrile rubber with polypropylene fabric strands dispersed within it. A homogenous strap 3 or strap portions 3a, 3b may be made of natural rubber, synthetic rubber, neoprene, nylon, a vinyl containing compound, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene, silicone, polyurethane, a nitrile containing compound, gel, polypropylene fabric, nitrile rubber, open cell foam, closed cell foam, some combination thereof, or like material. Alternatively, a strap 3 or strap portions 3a, 3b may be made of a soft element covered with a more rigid shell element that is still flexible and resilient but is not as soft as the soft element. The soft element may be elastic in nature. The soft element may be a gel, foam, fabric, or solid material, or some combination thereof. For example, the strap 3 or strap portions 3a, 3b may be made of a vinyl containing compound covering or partially covering a foam material. A soft element may be made of polyether foam, polyester foam, polyethylene foam, foam rubber, cellulose foam, polyurethane foam, polypropylene foam, nitrile blend foam, an open cell foam, closed cell foam, polypropylene fabric, a nitrile containing compound, fabric, gel, rubber, nitrile rubber, polyurethane rubber, some combination of these, or other suitable material. The shell element may be made of woven fabric, gel, foam, or a solid construction to encase the soft element. For example, the strap 3 or strap portions 3a, 3b may consist of polypropylene fabric covering or partially covering a gel or solid soft element. The shell element may be made of or with a polymer compound. The shell element may be made with materials such as natural rubber, synthetic rubber, neoprene, nylon, a vinyl containing compound, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene, polypropylene fabrics, silicone, polyurethane, a nitrile containing compound, nitrile rubber, closed cell foam, open cell foam, some combination thereof, or any other suitable compound. For example, the shell material may be a nitrile rubber with polypropylene fabric strands dispersed within it.
The strap 3 may be about 10 inches long so that, in the engaged mode of
In the deployed mode of
When the user wishes to move the mat 1, the user would raise her foot or shoe above the base 5 such that an upper portion of the foot or shoe engages a bottom portion of the strap 3. Upon engagement, the user may continue to raise her foot or shoe to raise the mat 1 off the floor F. Once the mat 1 is off the floor F, the user may move it horizontally, using only her foot or shoe, to a desired position. Once the mat 1 is above the desired position, the user may lower her foot or shoe to bring the base 5 back in engagement with the floor F. The user may then further lower her foot or shoe to disengage the bottom portion of the strap 3 and to, eventually, return to rest on the base 5. Thus, the mat 1 allows users to easily move the mat 1 without bending over.
Another aspect of the invention that allows it to work so well is that the mat 1 may be used in a set.
While example systems, methods, and so on, have been illustrated by describing examples, and while the examples have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the systems, methods, and so on, described herein. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention is not limited to the specific details, and illustrative examples shown or described. Thus, this application is intended to embrace alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, the preceding description is not meant to limit the scope of the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
To the extent that the terms “in” or “into” are used in the specification or the claims, it is intended to additionally mean “on” or “onto.” Furthermore, to the extent the term “connect” is used in the specification or claims, it is intended to mean not only “directly connected to,” but also “indirectly connected to” such as connected through another component or components. An “operable connection,” or a connection by which entities are “operably connected,” is one by which the operably connected entities or the operable connection perform its intended purpose. For example, two entities may be operably connected to each other directly or through one or more intermediate entities.
To the extent that the term “includes” or “including” is employed in the detailed description or the claims, it is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as that term is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “or” is employed in the detailed description or claims (e.g., A or B) it is intended to mean “A or B or both”. When the applicants intend to indicate “only A or B but not both” then the term “only A or B but not both” will be employed. Thus, use of the term “or” herein is the inclusive, and not the exclusive use. See, Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage 624 (3D. Ed. 1995).
