US3559231A

US3559231A - Vinyl floor runner

Info

Publication number: US3559231A
Application number: US770642A
Authority: US
Inventors: John P Hill
Original assignee: Armstrong Cork Co
Current assignee: Armstrong World Industries Inc
Priority date: 1968-10-25
Filing date: 1968-10-25
Publication date: 1971-02-02
Anticipated expiration: 1988-02-02

Abstract

A VINYL FLOOR RUNNER MADE FROM A TRANSPARENT SHEET WITH A DECORATIVE PATTERN ON ONE SIDE AND FLOOR GRIPPING PROJECTIONS ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE. THE PLACEMENT OF THE FLOOR GRIPPING PROJECTIONS IS COORDINATED WITH THE DESIGN ON THE OTHER SIDE TO MASK THE PROJECTIONS. MASKING OF THE PROJECTIONS TENDS TO PERMIT THE TRANSPARENT VINYL RUNNER TO BLEND IN WITH THE FLOOR THAT IT OVERLIES TO CREATE A MORE PLEASING OVERALL AESTHETIC EFFECT.

Description

Feb. 19 7 1 v v J I I 3,559,231

VINYL FLOOR RUNNER Filed Oct. 25, 1968 INVENTOR JOHN P- HILL BY W ATTORNEY United States Patent Office 3,559,231 VINYL FLOOR RUNNER John P. Hill, Lancaster, Pa., assignor to Armstrong Cork Company, Lancaster, Pa. Filed Oct. 25, 1968, Ser. No. 770,642 Int. Cl. A47g 27/04 US. Cl. 16-4 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A vinyl floor runner made from a transparent sheet with a decorative pattern on one side and floor gripping projections on the opposite side. The placement of the floor gripping projections is coordinated with the design on the other side to mask the projections. Masking of the projections tends to permit the transparent vinyl runner to blend in with the floor that it overlies to create a more pleasing overall aesthetic effect.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The invention is directed to a floor covering and more particularly to a transparent vinyl floor runner which is used to protect an underlying flooring.

Description of the prior art With the advent of wall-to-wall carpeting and the more extensive use of carpeting within a house, it has become necessary for the home owner to become concerned with wetting or soiling of a carpet. Certain areas of a house tend to receive greater wear than other areas, and carpeting in these areas tends to rapidly soil and in inclement weather to become wet due to people walking on the carpeting with wet shoes.

Initial efforts to correct this problem started out with the use of paper to protect carpeting during inclement weather and the use of throw rugs in areas of excessive use. The paper tended to be very unattractive, and it was often difficult to secure throw rugs which tended to blend in with the overall carpet usage. The next step was the utilization of clear vinyl sheets which would be laid over the carpeting. These tended to also aesthetically detract from the overall carpet usage. Also, the vinyl sheets would readily slide or slip on the carpet, and the carpet under the sheets would tend to readily mat.

An improvement over the above clear vinyl sheet is set forth in Pat. No. 3,158,893. Here the vinyl sheet is provided with projections on its underside which tend to grip or to a degree become entangled in the fibers of the carpet and thus prevent the vinyl runner from sliding across the carpet. Also these projections tended to space the' vinyl sheet a slight degree away from the carpet and prevent the unsightly matting of the carpet under the vinyl sheeting. In some cases it was found desirable to provide some type of design to the surface opposite from the projections to roughen that surface since a film of water on vinyl tends to make a very slippery surface.

While the aforementioned structures did limit wear and water damage, they still suffered from the deficiency of providing an unpleasing aesthetic appearance in that the vinyl sheetings did not tend to blend in with the underlying fiooring. This was particularly true with the use of projections because the projections tended to appear as Patented Feb. 2,, 1971 little glowing spots uniformly distributed across the plastic sheet. It is an object of this invention to permit the utilization of the projections, but to obscure them by blending them in with an overall carpet design so that the vinyl runner tends to blend with the underlying flooring.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is directed to the use of a vinyl runner composed of a transparent vinyl material. On one side of the sheet, which is placed adjacent the underlying flooring, there is provided projections. On the opposite side of the sheet, there is provided a decorative pattern, and the decorative pattern and projections are coordinated relative to each other so that the projections appear to blend in with or supplement the decorative pattern.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the vinyl runner; and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view along line 11 of the vinyl runner of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The vinyl runner 2 is formed from a vinyl sheet material 4. This material will be described as being transparent, but it could in a sense also be termed semitransparent or translucent. By transparent it is meant that some degree of the underlying surface is capable of being observed from the upper surface of the vinyl sheet material when it is in use. The upper surface of the vinyl sheet material is provided with some type of decorative design pattern 6 which provides the dual function of yielding a design effect and roughening the surface to prevent the formation of an extensive film of liquid which would make the upper surface very slippery.

The reverse surface of the vinyl sheeting is provided with projections 8-. These projections serve the dual purpose of preventing the vinyl sheeting from sliding across the underlying flooring because the projections tend to entangle themselves within the underlying material and result in the holding of the vinyl sheet material in position. The projections serve the second function of stationing the vinyl sheet material a distance from the underlying flooring to prevent the vinyl sheeting from crushing the underlying flooring. The projections are so positioned on the underlying surface of the vinyl sheet that they are coordinated with the design on the reverse side and tend to blend in with the overall configuration of the design. In the areas 10, not covered by the design, no projections are provided, and one may readily look through the vinyl sheeting to see the underlying flooring.

What is claimed is:

1. A protective runner for a flooring comprising a thin, single, nonlaminated, vinyl, transparent, flexible sheet adapted to overlie an area of a carpet or other flooring subject to wear and wetting so as to afford a protective surface over such area and thereby mitigate wear, said sheet having an upper surface having thereon an embossed design means providing a decorative effect and a roughness to the upper surface, said design means having an embossed decorative design pattern which is less transparent than other areas of the design, a plurality of projections on the opposite side of the sheeting, integral with and depending from said sheet and adjacent the underlying flooring and functioning as a means for engaging the underlying surface to prevent relative movement of the sheet and underlying surface and to space the sheet relative to the underlying surface, said projections being spaced on the lower surface in positions relative to the design pattern on the upper surface so that the projections on the lower surface, when viewed from the upper surface, all fall directly beneath the embossed design pattern on the upper surface whereby the sheet in use will have the projections as viewed from the upper surface blend in with the design pattern configuration and the overall sheet with its design and projections blend in with the underlying flooring to permit the underlying flooring to be seen through the sheet.

. References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,335,222 11/1943 Storch 161-116 5 2,541,868 2/1951 Gordon 16l-123 2,891,340 6/1959 Markus et al 161-1 16 3,158,893 12/1964 Smith 16-4 MORRIS SUSSMAN, Primary Examiner 10 US. Cl. X.R.