Entrance Mat
Situation
A leading supplier of architectural products wanted to develop a new, non-metallic entrance mat that provided a modular solution to accommodate various material inserts. Ease of installation and frequent maintenance were concerns.
Challenge
The success of this new product was based on Formtech’s ability to solve several engineering challenges:
- Pedestrian safety was a major concern. The final design required a non-skid surface to prevent people from slipping when entering a building in wet weather conditions.
- The mat needed to be capable of securely holding typical carpet, vinyl and other material entrance inserts.
- To facilitate cleaning of the floor under the mat, the mat base had to be capable of being easily rolled-up into a manageable sized unit.
Solution
Formtech's engineers were able to resolve the design challenges by finding several engineered solutions:
- Formtech utilized a unique multiple material extrusion process that they pioneered. Manufacturing was able to use three separate extruders to tri-extrude three unique materials through one common die. This process formed the final product.
- A unique material was used to create a “living” hinge, which facilitated the requirement for rolling the mat into a small diameter. The hinge was bonded to the rigid section through the appropriate die construction, allowing the material to flex over thousands of cycles without breakage.
- In conjunction with the extruded rib design, a unique plastic embossing pattern was applied on-line to the upper rigid surfaces of the product, creating a non-skid surface resistant to slippage in wet and snowy conditions.
Results
Formtech’s innovative solution satisfied the customer’s needs:
- Formtech’s tri-extruded component solution provided an assembly base that could be easily rolled-up for maintenance, while meeting the concerns for a non-skid application.
- The new product provided the company’s customers with an extended product line offering.