Carpet tile with cutout section, method and apparatus for production and method of installation

Abstract

A carpet tile and tile cutting apparatus that produces a carpet tile with a removable cutout section defined by discontinuous slits and held in place by bridges. The apparatus includes a perimeter cutting assembly and retractable inner cutting assembly. The perimeter cutting assembly is used to cut the carpet tile and the inner cutting assembly simultaneously forms the discontinuous slits in the inner portion of the carpet tile. The inner cutting assembly can be engaged or disengaged during the carpet tile cutting process. The carpet tile is installed by severing the bridges and laying the border sections on the floor with dissimilar cutouts within the borders to create a visually interesting floor covering.

1 . A carpet cutting assembly, comprising: 
 a perimeter knife for cutting a carpet from a web of tile material lying in a plane; and    an inner knife for cutting a slit in the carpet tile,    wherein the perimeter knife and the inner knife are positioned over the web of tile material and movable in a direction substantially orthogonal to the plane to perform their respective cutting operations.    
   
   
       2 . The assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of inner knives.  
   
   
       3 . The assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of inner knives form a shape defined by a discontinuous slit.  
   
   
       4 . The assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the shape is a square.  
   
   
       5 . The assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the inner knife can be selectively engaged to cut the carpet tile material at the same time as the perimeter knife or disengaged not to cut the carpet tile material.  
   
   
       6 .- 14 . (canceled)