Floor Mat Having Reduced Tuft Profile
AssigneeMilliken & Company
InventorsFranklin S. Love, Padmakumar Puthillath, Dale S. Kitchen, Michael D. Bishop
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
This invention relates to a floor mat having reduced tuft profile on the backside of the textile component of the floor mat. The floor mat is comprised of a textile component and a base component. The textile component includes face yarn tufted through a primary backing layer. The reduced tuft profile is present on the backside of the textile component. Advantages of a floor mat with reduced tuft profile include improved uniformity of the secondary backing layer applied to the textile component and improved durability of the textile component.
Claims33
A multi-component floor mat comprising:
- (a) A textile component comprising:
- (i) a first layer of tufted pile carpet having a wear surface and a floor-facing surface, said tufted pile carpet comprised of:
- a. face yarns tufted through a primary backing layer, and
- b. looped tufts, wherein the looped tufts are present on the floor-facing surface of the tufted pile carpet, and wherein the looped tufts have been flattened, reduced in height profile, or partially melted via application of heat and pressure;
- and
- (ii) a second layer of vulcanized rubber material that contains magnetic particles or a second layer of magnetic coating;
- and
- (b) A base component comprised of (i) vulcanized rubber that contains magnetic particles or (ii) vulcanized rubber having a magnetic coating applied thereto;
- and
- wherein the textile component and the base component are releasably attachable to one another via magnetic attraction.
A process for making a multi-component floor mat, said process comprising the steps of:
- (a) Tufting face yarns into a primary backing material to form a tufted pile carpet having a wear surface and an opposite floor-facing surface, said tufting step creating looped tufts on the floor-facing surface of the tufted pile carpet, said looped tufts having a first height profile;
- (b) Optionally, printing the wear surface of the tufted pile carpet;
- (c) Exposing the floor-facing surface of the tufted pile carpet to sufficient heat and pressure to create looped tufts having a second height profile, said second height profile being less than the first height profile of the looped tufts;
- (d) Providing a layer of unvulcanized rubber that contains magnetic particles or providing a layer of magnetic coating;
- (e) Adhering the tufted pile carpet to the layer of step “d” to form a washable textile component;
- (f) Cutting the textile component into a desired shape and size;
- (g) Providing a base component comprised of (i) vulcanized rubber and magnetic particles or (ii) vulcanized rubber and a magnetic coating;
- and
- (h) Releasably attaching the textile component to the base component via magnetic attraction.
A method for installation of a floor mat comprising the following steps:
- (a) Providing a base component, wherein the base component contains at least one attachment means;
- (b) Providing a textile component, wherein the textile component is comprised of:
- (i) a first layer of tufted pile carpet having a wear surface and an opposite floor-facing surface, said tufted pile carpet comprised of:
- i. face yarns tufted through a primary backing layer, and
- ii. looped tufts having a reduced tuft profile on the floor-facing surface;
- (ii) a second layer of vulcanized rubber material that contains magnetic particles or a second layer of magnetic coating;
- and
- (iii) at least one attachment means that works in corresponding relationship with the at least one attachment means of step “a,” and wherein the base component and the textile component are releasably attachable to one another via the at least one attachment means;
- (c) Aligning the textile component with the base component, wherein the step of aligning is accomplished via the use of at least one alignment or deployment mechanism;
- and
- (d) Deploying the textile component onto the base component.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.