Portable, foldable mat for construction sites for delivery of heavy materials

Abstract

Portable, foldable mats for construction sites, in particular for loaded drywall carts to roll thereover when unfolded, have an elongate body defining a plurality of panels foldable upon one another beginning from a first end toward a second end onto itself repeatedly until any tertiary panels are contained between an initial panel and an immediately neighboring second panel of the initial panel. Each panel has a sheet of material therein that has a load rating of at least 1000 pounds. The mats have a first handle extending from the initial panel and a second handle extending from the immediately neighboring second panel at a position to align with the first handle when the mat is in a fully folded state.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A portable, foldable mat for construction sites comprising:
 an elongate body defining a plurality of panels each foldably connected to immediately neighboring panels thereof, the plurality of panels comprising an initial panel as a first end, at least one tertiary panel defining a second end, and an immediately neighboring second panel of the initial panel between the initial panel and the at least one tertiary panel;   
       wherein the plurality of panels are foldable upon one another beginning from the second end toward the first end of the elongate body onto itself repeatedly until any tertiary panels are contained between the initial panel and the immediately neighboring second panel of the initial panel,
 wherein each of the plurality of panels comprises a sheet of material having a load rating of at least 500 pounds; and 
 a first handle extending from the initial panel and a second handle extending from the immediately neighboring second panel at a position to align with the first handle when the elongate body is in a fully folded state. 
 
     
     
         2 . The portable, foldable mat of  claim 1 , wherein the first handle and the second handle are fixedly attached to a bottom surface of the elongate body. 
     
     
         3 . The portable, foldable mat of  claim 2 , wherein the first and second handles are defined by an endless oval strap of material sewn to the initial panel and the immediately neighboring second panel. 
     
     
         4 . The portable, foldable mat of  claim 3 , wherein the endless oval strap has a central longitudinal axis aligned with a central longitudinal axis of the elongate body. 
     
     
         5 . The portable, foldable mat of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of panels comprises a covering encapsulating the sheet of material in a compartment. 
     
     
         6 . The portable, foldable mat of  claim 5 , wherein the covering comprises a continuous length of textile fabric or two elongate pieces of textile fabric sewn together to define each compartment. 
     
     
         7 . The portable, foldable mat of  claim 6 , wherein, the covering comprises two elongate pieces of textile fabric, a first textile fabric comprising ballistic nylon or polyethylene fabric defines a bottom surface of the covering and a second textile fabric comprising PVC fabric defines a top surface of the covering. 
     
     
         8 . The portable, foldable mat of  claim 6 , wherein each compartment is defined by sewn seams extending transverse to a central longitudinal axis of the elongate body between immediately neighboring panels. 
     
     
         9 . The portable, foldable mat of  claim 8 , wherein in between immediately neighboring panels there are at least two of the sewn seams spaced apart a pre-selected distance from one another to define a hinge region of the covering. 
     
     
         10 . The portable, foldable mat of  claim 6 , wherein a binding of textile material is sewn to the first textile fabric and the second text tile fabric to define a periphery of the elongate body. 
     
     
         11 . The portable, foldable mat of  claim 1 , wherein each sheet of material is high density polyethylene (HDPE). 
     
     
         12 . The portable, foldable mat of  claim 11 , wherein the HDPE has a thickness in a range of 0.0625 inches to 0.5 inches. 
     
     
         13 . The portable, foldable mat of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of panels is three or more panels. 
     
     
         14 . The portable, foldable mat of  claim 13 , wherein the elongate body is at least six feet long. 
     
     
         15 . The portable, foldable mat of  claim 13 , wherein the elongate body is at least 10 feet long. 
     
     
         16 . The portable, foldable mat of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of panels has a width oriented parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the elongate body, wherein the width of each sheet of material is in a range of 16 in to 48 in. 
     
     
         17 . The portable, foldable mat of  claim 16 , wherein the elongate body has a width in a range of 24 inches to 50 inches.