Mat ramp securement and method
A ramp member is provided for attachment with an edge of a floor mat to facilitate transportation of an object from a floor to an upper surface of the mat. A tab is provided which extends from the ramp member and defines a plane. Two projections extend from the plane of the tab out of alignment with the plane. Additionally, two cavities are formed in the ramp member adapted for receiving at least one of the two projections therein. A method of connecting ramp members is also included.
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This application is a continuation of prior application Ser. No. 10/238,495, filed Sep. 10, 2002.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to a ramp for abutment with an edge of a floor mat to facilitate transportation of an object from a floor to an upper surface of the mat.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring now to the drawings,
Referring to ramp member 22 of
As seen in
For simplicity, the features of ramp member 22 will be discussed in detail. It is understood that the features discussed in the following description may be common to either of ramp members 20 or 22, and that the main difference between ramp members 20 and 22 shown in
In one embodiment, ramp member 22 is longitudinal and has a first end 40, a second end 42 opposite first end 40 and a longitudinal axis A. First end 40 may include an edge 44 formed at an acute angle with respect to longitudinal axis A. Edge 44 is configured for positioning adjacent and/or in abutment with an edge of an end portion of another ramp member, in a manner to be described in detail later. One example is demonstrated in
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
As seen in
Referring to
As seen in
Methods of connecting multiple ramp members together to form a border extending around one or more outer edges of a mat will now be discussed.
A pair of ramp members 20, 22 as described above may be connected to form an extended straight section (
Generally, in order to ensure that ramp member edges positioned so as to abut each other have substantially the same length, ramp member edges which are to abut each other will be formed such that the angles that the abutting edges make with respective longitudinal axes of the ramp members are approximately the same. Alternatively, it may be desired, for purposes of forming an intersection defining a predetermined angle between two ramp members, to form adjacent ramp member abutting edges oriented at different angles with respect to their respective longitudinal axes.
Generally, for attachment to a first ramp member 20, a second ramp member 22 will be positioned such that a longitudinal axis A of second ramp member 22 forms a predetermined angle with a longitudinal axis C of first ramp member 20. One example is shown in
A method for attaching two ramp members 20, 22 together to form an extended straight section will now be discussed. In this embodiment, the predetermined angle between the longitudinal axes of ramp members 20 and 22 is approximately 180 degrees. It is contemplated that the following description of cuts of the ramp members and corresponding portions can be done in a number of ways and order of cuts to obtain the desired result. The following is merely one way of accomplishing the desired result. Referring to
A method for attaching two ramp members 20, 22 together to form an outside corner bordering the mat will now be discussed and shown in
A method for attaching two ramp members 20, 22 together to form an inside corner will now be discussed and shown in
Again it is contemplated that the following description of cuts of the ramp members and corresponding portions can be done in a number of ways and order of cuts to obtain the desired result. The following is merely one way of accomplishing the desired result. Referring to
Thus, it may be seen from the methods described above that by appropriate trimming of a single, standardized ramp member piece, a variety of ramp configurations may be achieved. If it is desired to position first member first end 66 adjacent, but separated from, second member second end 42 when forming any of the ramp member configurations described above, the predetermined distance separating projections 52a and 52b of first tab portion 50 may be adjusted prior to fabrication of the ramp member to increase the predetermined separation distance between projections 52a and 52b in correspondence with the desired separation distance of the ramp member ends. First tab portion 50 is then used to connect second member 22 with first member 20 as previously described.
It should be understood that the preceding is merely a detailed description of one embodiment of this invention and that numerous changes to the disclosed embodiment can be made in accordance with the disclosure herein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. The preceding description, therefore, is not meant to limit the scope of the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined only by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A ramp member comprising:
- an attachment to connect the ramp member to a floor mat;
- a tab extending from the ramp member and defining a plane;
- at least one projection extending from the plane of the tab out of alignment with the plane; and
- at least one cavity adapted for receiving therein a projection formed on a second ramp member for connecting the ramp member to the second ramp member.
2. The ramp member of claim 1 wherein the projection formed on the second ramp member is substantially similar to the projection extending from the plane of the tab.
3. The ramp member of claim 1 wherein the at least one projection and the tab are generally transverse to one another.
4. The ramp member of claim 1 wherein a first end of the ramp member has an edge formed at an acute angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the ramp member.
5. The ramp member of claim 4 wherein the first end angled edge extends at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to a longitudinal axis of the ramp member.
6. The ramp member of claim 4 wherein the tab extends from the edge.
7. The ramp member of claim 1 further comprising a groove formed in a surface of the ramp member proximate the at least one cavity.
8. The ramp member of claim 1 wherein the tab extends substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the ramp member.
9. A floor mat assembly comprising:
- a floor mat; and
- a ramp system including a plurality of ramp members; wherein
- each ramp member includes an attachment to connect the ramp member to a floor mat, a tab extending from the ramp member and defining a plane, at least one projection extending from the plane of the tab out of alignment with the plane, and at least one cavity positioned in the ramp member adapted for receiving therein at least one projection formed on the tab of a second ramp member within the plurality of ramp members for connecting the ramp member to the second ramp member.
10. The floor mat assembly of claim 9 wherein the projections and the tabs are generally transverse to one another.
11. The floor mat assembly of claim 9 wherein each ramp member further comprises a groove formed in a surface of the ramp member proximate the cavity.
12. The floor mat assembly of claim 9 wherein a first end of each ramp member has an edge formed at an acute angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the ramp member.
13. The floor mat assembly of claim 12 wherein the first end angled edge of each ramp member extends at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to a longitudinal axis of the ramp member.
14. The floor mat assembly of claim 12 wherein the tab of each ramp member extends from the edge of the ramp member.
15. The floor mat assembly of claim 9 wherein the tab of each ramp member extends from a first end of each ramp member.
16. The floor mat assembly of claim 9 wherein each ramp member further comprises a groove formed in a surface of the ramp member proximate the at least on cavity.
17. The floor mat assembly of claim 9 wherein the tab of each ramp member extends substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of each ramp member.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 22, 2004
Publication Date: Mar 31, 2005
Applicant:
Inventor: Michael Dolinski (LaGrange Park, IL)
Application Number: 10/994,941