Interlocking Floor Mat Layers With Undulating Delamination-Resistant Bond
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing resilient floor matting faces issues with delamination due to temperature changes and physical forces, limited design options, and inefficiencies in storage and display due to uniform surface textures and colors, leading to unsatisfactory performance and increased retail space requirements.
Innovation Solution
The development of floor matting with an undulating non-planar boundary between layers, allowing for interlocking and maintaining a constant thickness, which resists delamination and allows for different textures and colors on each surface, enabling robustness and versatile design patterns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If floor matting is made with multiple layers of different colors and textures, then design versatility is improved, but delamination occurs due to temperature changes and physical forces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies an undulating non-planar boundary between layers instead of a flat interface. This curvature distributes stress more evenly across the layer junction, preventing delamination while allowing different colors and textures on each surface. The undulating pattern creates mechanical interlocking that maintains layer bonding under temperature changes and physical forces.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses multiple layers of polymeric foam material with different colors and textures bonded together. Each layer can be made from different foam compositions or treatments, creating a composite structure that achieves design versatility while maintaining structural integrity through the undulating boundary design.
2Stability of the object's composition
If floor matting tiles are made with interlocking arrangements, then stability is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the floor covering into individual modular tiles that can be assembled in interlocking arrangements. Each tile is a separate unit with standardized dimensions and interlocking features, allowing stable floor assembly while keeping individual tile manufacturing relatively simple and modular.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs universal interlocking features that work across all tile varieties. The same interlocking mechanism is used regardless of color, texture, or layer composition, simplifying manufacturing by using standardized connection methods for all tile types in the product line.
3Weight of moving object
If polymeric foam elastomeric matting is used, then weight is reduced, but volume increases leading to excessive retail space requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses compressed packaging for the polymeric foam tiles. The foam material is compressed to a fraction of its expanded volume for storage and transportation, then expands to full size when installed. This dynamic compression/expansion property reduces retail space requirements while maintaining the lightweight advantage of foam material.
Data Source
Figure 1~6
AI summary
A floor mat (10) comprising two layers bonded together, preferably with an undulating boundary between them. The surface color and/or surface texture of the first layer being preferably different from the surface color and/or surface texture of the second layer. The mat having an interlocking periphery boundary adapted so the mat can be interlocked with adjoining mats to form a continuous planar mat flooring.