Bath mats with split hanging grommet rings

Abstract

Bath mats with a split hanging openings are disclosed that allow the bath mats to be hung when not in use, such as for drying purposes. A split hanging grommet ring located adjacent to an end of the bath mat may be used to hang the bath mat on a shower head arm or other types of support members. The split hanging grommet ring may be made of a flexible material and includes a split portion that allows the ring to be easily hung on the support member.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 805,005 filed May 13, 2025, which is incorporated herein by reference. This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Design Application No. 30 / 027,442 filed Oct. 10, 2025, now U.S. Design Pat. No. D1,122,734 issued Apr. 21, 2026, which claims priority from U.S. Design Application Ser. No. 29 / 883,953 filed Feb. 6, 2023, now U.S. Design Pat. No. D1,097,792 issued Oct. 14, 2025, both of which are incorporated herein by referenceFIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to bath mats with split hanging openings that may be provided in the form of split hanging grommet rings.BACKGROUND INFORMATION

[0003] Bath mats are often used in bath tubs, shower stalls and the like. Such bath mats are typically placed on the floor of a bath tub or shower stall when being used, and may be removed after use to facilitate drying of the mats.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] Bath mats with a split hanging openings are provided that allow the bath mats to be hung when not in use, such as for drying purposes. A split hanging grommet ring located adjacent to an end of the bath mat may be used to hang the bath mat on a shower head arm or other types of support members. The split hanging grommet ring may be made of a flexible material and includes a split portion that allows the ring to be easily hung on the support member.

[0005] An aspect of the present invention is to provide a hangable bath mat comprising a mat portion having a peripheral edge and a first end, an opening extending through the mat portion from a front surface to a rear surface of the mat portion, and a split portion extending through the peripheral edge and communicating with the opening of the mat portion. The opening and split portion are structured and arranged to receive a support member upon which the bath mat can be hung.

[0006] This and other aspects of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] FIGS. 1 and 2 are front views of a bath mat with a split hanging grommet ring supported on a shower head arm.

[0008] FIG. 3 is a front view, FIG. 4 is a side view, FIG. 5 is a top view, and FIG. 6 is an isometric exploded view of a bath mat with a split hanging grommet ring.

[0009] FIG. 7 is a front view of a bath mat with an opening for receiving a split hanging grommet ring.

[0010] FIG. 8 is a magnified portion of FIG. 7 showing details of the opening of the bath mat.

[0011] FIG. 9 is an isometric view of a split hanging grommet ring with a front portion and a rear portion aligned for attachment to each other when installed in a bath mat.

[0012] FIG. 10 is an isometric view of the split hanging grommet ring of FIG. 9 with the front portion and rear portion attached to each other.

[0013] FIG. 11 is an isometric view of the front portion of the split hanging grommet ring of FIGS. 9 and 10.

[0014] FIG. 12 is an isometric view of the rear portion of the split hanging grommet ring of FIGS. 9 and 10.

[0015] FIGS. 13-20 are top front isometric, top rear isometric, front, rear, right side, left side, top, and bottom views, respectively, of a split hanging grommet ring.

[0016] FIGS. 21 and 22 are front and rear views of a bath mat with a split hanging grommet ring with a front ring portion on the front surface of the bath mat and no rear ring portion on the rear surface of the bath mat.

[0017] FIG. 23 is an isometric view of a bath mat with a first split hanging opening at one end and a second split hanging opening at an opposite end.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] A bath mat 10 with a split hanging grommet ring 20 is shown in FIGS. 1-6. The bath mat 10 may be hung on a shower head5 by the split hanging grommet ring 20, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The bath mat 10 includes a mat portion 11 with a peripheral edge 12 including a first end 13, an opposite second end 14, and opposing side edges extending therebetween. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mat portion 11 may include surface texture features 15 on its front surface, and drain holes 16 extending through the thickness of the mat portion 11. In the embodiment shown, the first end 13, which is located at the top of the mat portion 11 when the bath mat 10 is in a hanging position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, may comprise shoulder portions that extend laterally or horizontally outward from the split hanging grommet ring 20, and extend vertically downward from the first end 13 of the mat portion 13 to the opposing side edges. The shoulders transition into the vertical straight edges of the peripheral edge of the mat portion 11 in the embodiment shown. As more fully described below, the shoulder arrangement may facilitate hanging of the bath mat 10 in a flat or planar position that avoids unwanted curling or folding of upper corners of the mat portion 11.

[0019] The split hanging grommet ring 20 may include a front portion 21, and a rear portion 31. As shown in FIGS. 6, 9, 10 and 11, the front portion 21 of the split hanging grommet ring 20 includes an exterior face 22, interior face 23, outer diameter 24, inner diameter 25, and rearwardly projecting studs 26. As further shown in FIGS. 6, 9, 10 and 12, the rear portion 31 of the split hanging grommet ring 20 includes an exterior face 32, interior face 33, outer diameter 34, inner diameter 35, and stud-receiving holes 36. In the embodiment shown, each stud-receiving hole 36 has a portion having a diameter similar to that of the stud 26, and a countersunk portion having a larger diameter. However, each stud-receiving hole 36 may alternatively have a constant diameter along its entire length. As most clearly illustrated in FIGS. 6, 9 and 10, the rearwardly projecting studs 26 of the front portion 21 are inserted into the stud-receiving holes 36 of the rear portion 31 during attachment of the split hanging grommet ring 20 to the mat portion 11.

[0020] As shown in FIGS. 6-8, the mat portion 11 includes a circular opening 17 adjacent to the first end 13 surrounded by stud-receiving through-holes 18. The peripheral edge of the mat 12 is interrupted at the first end 13 by a split portion 19. The split portion 19 may be made by cutting with knives, scissors, laser cutting or the like. During manufacture of the bath mat 10, the front and rear portions 21 and 31 of the split hanging grommet ring 20 are positioned on opposite sides of the mat portion 11, with their inner diameters 25 and 35 aligned with the circular opening 17 of the mat portion 11. The circular opening 17 may have a diameter that is larger than the inner diameters 25 and 35 but smaller than the outer diameters 24 and 34 of the front and rear portions 21 and 32. The bath mat material thus may not extend beyond the inner diameter 25, but may be clamped or otherwise secured between the front and rear portions 21 and 31. The rearwardly projecting studs 26 of the front portion 21 may be inserted through the through-holes 18 of the mat portion 11, and inserted into the stud-receiving holes 36 of the rear portion 31. After the rearwardly projecting studs 26 have been fully inserted in the stud-receiving holes 36, the end portions of the rearwardly projecting studs 26 may be heated by any suitable means such as ultrasonic welding to thereby partially melt and allow the material of the rearwardly projecting studs 26 to flow into countersunk recesses of the stud-receiving holes 36. Alternatively, a snap-fit may be provided in which the front and rear portions 21 and 31 are secured together through contact between the studs 26 and corresponding holes 36. Although cylindrical studs 26 and holes 36 are shown in the figures, any other suitable shapes and configurations may be used. For example, the studs and holes may be square, slots, arched sections or the like.

[0021] As shown in FIGS. 9-12, the split portion 40 of the split hanging grommet ring 20 may be formed by a front split portion 40A in the front portion 21, and a rear split portion 40B in the rear portion 31. When the front and rear portions 21 and 31 are aligned together as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the front split portion 40A and rear split portion 40B are aligned with each other to form the split portion 40. As shown in FIG. 11, the front split portion 40A terminates at the outer diameter 24 at an outer split opening 41A, and terminates at the inner diameter 25 at an inner split opening 42A. As shown in FIG. 12, the rear split portion 40B terminates at the outer diameter 34 at an outer split opening 41B, and terminates at the inner diameter 35 at an inner split opening 42B. In the embodiment shown, the split portion 40 has a slight gap, e.g., from 0.1 to 2 or 3 mm, or from 0.5 to 1 or 1.5 mm. However, any other suitable size gap may be used, or a slit may be provided in which the opposing slit faces contact each other.

[0022] In the embodiment shown, the split portion 40 of the split hanging grommet ring 20 is curved in a generally S-shaped configuration. However, other shapes of the split portion 40 may be used, such as other curved shapes, straight shapes, angled shapes, and combinations thereof. The split hanging grommet ring 20 is sufficiently flexible to allow the ring to be installed on a shower head arm 5 or the like without the necessity of stringing the ring from the end of a shower head arm or other similar fixture. The inner diameters 25 and 35 may be sized to fit around a shower head arm or other bath fixtures, towel bars, and the like.

[0023] The outer and inner split openings 41A and 42A of the front split portion 40A, as labeled in FIG. 11, may be circumferentially offset with respect to each other around the circumference of the front portion 21. Similarly, the outer and inner split openings 41B and 42B of the rear split portion 40B, as labeled in FIG. 12, may be circumferentially offset with respect to each other around the circumference of the rear portion. In this manner, the split portion 40 has outer and inner openings that are not radially aligned, i.e., they are not aligned, with respect to each other along a radius defined by centers of the circular opening 17 of the mat portion 11, and the circular openings of the front portion 21 and rear portion 31. In the embodiment shown, the outer split openings 41A and 41B are vertically aligned with respect to the first end 13 of the mat portion 11, e.g., at a twelve o'clock position. In contrast, the inner split openings 42A and 42B are circumferentially offset from the vertical or twelve o'clock position. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, such a circumferential offset moves the inner split openings 42A and 42B away from the region where the split hanging grommet ring 20 contacts the shower head 5. The circumferential offset may be at least 1°, or at least 5°, for example, from 5° to 60°, or from 10° to 50°, or from 15° to 40°. Such an arrangement may avoid or eliminate the possibility that the weight of the bath mat 10, when hanging as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, could cause the split portion 40 to open and allow the bath mat 10 to fall from the shower head 5 or other support structure.

[0024] As described above and shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 6 and 7, in order to avoid unwanted curling or folding of upper corners of the mat portion 11, shoulders are provided between the upper first end 13 and the opposing side edges of the peripheral edge 12. The shoulders extend downward from the first end 13 of the mat portion 11 a distance greater than a distance from the first end 13 to a lowermost position of the central opening of the grommet ring 20. The shoulders may terminate at the opposing side edges at vertical extension distances greater than 5 or 10 percent of a length of the mat portion 11 measured from the first end 13 to the opposite second end 14, for example, from 10 to 50 percent, or from 15 to 30 percent. The vertical extension distances of the shoulders may be at least 10 percent of a horizontal distance measured between the opposing side edges of the peripheral edge 12 of the mat portion, for example, the vertical extension distances of the shoulders may be from 30 to 70 percent of the horizontal distance, or about 50 percent of the horizontal distance. In the embodiment shown, the shoulders are curved with a constant radius of curvature that is equal to 50 percent of a horizontal distance measured between the opposing side edges of the peripheral edge of the mat portion 11, e.g., the shoulders form a semi-circular shape having a diameter equal to the distance between the opposing side edges of the peripheral edge 12.

[0025] FIGS. 13-20 further illustrate the split hanging grommet ring 20, with the mat portion 11 of the bath mat 10 not being shown. As described above, the mat portion 11 would be sandwiched between the front portion 21 and rear portion 31 of the split hanging grommet ring 20 when the split hanging grommet ring 20 is installed in the mat portion 11, and the split portion 40 has offset outer and inner openings.

[0026] FIGS. 21 and 22 illustrate another bath mat 110 with a split hanging grommet ring 120. The mat portion 111 includes front surface texture features 115, drain through-holes 116, and rear suction cups 117 located on a rear surface of the mat portion 111. In this embodiment, the split hanging grommet ring 120 includes a front portion 121, which may be similar to the front portion 21 described above. However, instead of a separate rear portion of the split hanging grommet ring as provided in the split hanging grommet ring described above, the split hanging grommet ring 120 does not have a rear portion but rather the front portion 121 of the split hanging grommet ring 120 is attached to or embedded in a front surface of the mat portion 111, for example, with an adhesive, by allowing material of the mat portion 111 to flow into through-holes or recesses in the front portion, or any other suitable method. In the embodiment shown, the front portion 121 may be provided with through-holes, indents or recesses in its rear face, or other features around its circumference to help secure the rear face of the front portion to the mat portion 111.

[0027] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 23, a bath mat 210 includes a mat portion 211 with a split hanging portion 220. The split hanging portion 220 includes a split portion 240. Thus, instead of a separate split hanging grommet ring, the bath mat 210 utilizes the split hanging portion 220 with its split portion 240 to hang the bath mat 210 from a support structure such as a shower head 5, or the like. In this embodiment, the split hanging openings are provided as part of the sheet material of the bath mat.

[0028] FIG. 23 further illustrates that the bath mat 210 may include two split hanging openings on opposite ends of the mat portion 211. The use of a split hanging opening at each end of the bath mat 210 allows the mat to be hung by either split opening, or to be hung in a folded position by both split openings, as shown in FIG. 23.

[0029] The bath portions may be made of any suitable materials such as flexible sheets of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), thermoplastic rubber (TPR), rubber, or the like. The split hanging grommet rings may be made of any suitable materials that are sufficiently flexible to allow the split grommet to flex in order to be installed on a pipe, rod, bar or other type of support fixture, but which have sufficient structural integrity to retain the split grommets on the support fixture under the weight of a bath mat. For example, the split hanging grommet rings may be made of plastic such as polypropylene (PP), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polystyrene (PS), metalized plastic, or the like. Alternatively, the split grommets or hanging portions may be formed from the same or similar material as the bath mat, in which case the sheet material may be thicker and / or reinforced in the region of the split grommet.

[0030] As used herein, “including,”“containing” and like terms are understood in the context of this application to be synonymous with “comprising” and are therefore open-ended and do not exclude the presence of additional undescribed or unrecited elements, materials, phases or method steps. As used herein, “consisting essentially of” is understood in the context of this application to include the specified elements, materials, or method steps, where applicable, and to also include any unspecified elements, materials, or method steps that do not materially affect the basic or novel characteristics of the invention. As used herein, “consisting of” is understood in the context of this application to exclude the presence of any unspecified element, material, phase or method step.

[0031] Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical value, however, inherently contains certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard variation found in their respective testing measurements.

[0032] Also, it should be understood that any numerical range recited herein is intended to include all sub-ranges subsumed therein. For example, a range of “1 to 10” is intended to include all sub-ranges between (and including) the recited minimum value of 1 and the recited maximum value of 10, that is, having a minimum value equal to or greater than 1 and a maximum value of equal to or less than 10.

[0033] In this application, the use of the singular includes the plural and plural encompasses singular, unless specifically stated otherwise. In addition, in this application, the use of “or” means “and / or” unless specifically stated otherwise, even though “and / or” may be explicitly used in certain instances. In this application and the appended claims, the articles “a,”“an,” and “the” include plural referents unless expressly and unequivocally limited to one referent.

[0034] Whereas particular embodiments of this invention have been described above for purposes of illustration, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that numerous variations of the details of the present invention may be made without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A hangable bath mat comprising:a mat portion having a peripheral edge and a first end;an opening extending through the mat portion adjacent the first end from a front surface to a rear surface of the mat portion, anda split portion extending through the peripheral edge and communicating with the opening of the mat portion, wherein the opening and split portion are structured and arranged to receive a support member for hanging the bath mat therefrom.

2. The hangable bath mat of claim 1, comprising a split hanging grommet ring forming at least a portion of the opening and at least a portion of the split portion.

3. The hangable bath mat of claim 2, wherein the split hanging grommet ring comprises a front portion adjacent a front surface of the mat portion.

4. The hangable bath mat of claim 3, wherein the split hanging grommet ring further comprises a rear portion adjacent a rear surface of the mat portion.

5. The hangable bath mat of claim 4, wherein the front portion of the split hanging grommet ring comprises rearwardly extending studs, and the rear portion of the split hanging ring comprises through-holes receiving the rearwardly extending studs.

6. The hangable bath mat of claim 2, wherein the split hanging grommet ring is located midway between opposing side edges of the peripheral edge of the mat portion.

7. The hangable bath mat of claim 2, wherein the split portion is generally S-shaped.

8. The hangable bath mat of claim 7, wherein the generally S-shaped split comprises an outer split opening adjacent an outer diameter of the grommet ring, and an inner split opening adjacent an inner diameter of the grommet ring circumferentially offset from the outer split opening around a circumference of the grommet ring.

9. The hangable bath mat of claim 2, wherein the grommet ring comprises an outer split opening adjacent an outer diameter of the grommet ring, and an inner split opening adjacent an inner diameter of the grommet ring.

10. The hangable bath mat of claim 9, wherein the outer split opening and the inner split opening are circumferentially spaced from each other around a circumference of the grommet ring.

11. The hangable bath mat of claim 2, wherein the mat portion comprises shoulders extending along the peripheral edge from the first end of the mat portion to opposing side edges of the peripheral edge.

12. The hangable bath mat of claim 11, wherein, when the hangable bath mat is hung on the support member, the shoulders extend downward from the first end a distance greater than a distance from the first end to a lowermost position of a central opening through the split hanging grommet ring.

13. The hangable bath mat of claim 12, wherein the shoulders terminate at the opposing side edges at vertical extension distances greater than 10 percent of a length of the mat portion measured from the first end to a second end opposite the first end of the mat portion.

14. The hangable bath mat of claim 13, wherein the vertical extension distances of the shoulders are at least 10 percent of a horizontal distance measured between the opposing side edges of the peripheral edge of the mat portion.

15. The hangable bath mat of claim 14, wherein the vertical extension distances of the shoulders are from 30 to 70 percent of the horizontal distance measured between the opposing side edges of the peripheral edge of the mat portion.

16. The hangable bath mat of claim 14, wherein the vertical extension distances of the shoulders are about 50 percent of the horizontal distance measured between the opposing side edges of the peripheral edge of the mat portion.

17. The hangable bath mat of claim 12, wherein the shoulders are curved.

18. The hangable bath mat of claim 17, wherein each shoulder has a constant radius of curvature.

19. The hangable bath mat of claim 18, wherein the constant radius of curvature is equal to 50 percent of a horizontal distance measured between the opposing side edges of the peripheral edge of the mat portion.

20. The hangable bath mat of claim 19, wherein the opposing side edges of the peripheral edge of the mat portion are straight.

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