Method and apparatus for providing a sanitary elevated flooring system

Claim 2

AN ELEVATED FLOORING SYSTEM OPERABLE TO BE POSITIONED UPON A CONVENTIONAL FLORRING SURFACE TO PROVIDE AN ELEVATED TREAD COMPRISING: FRAME MEANS DIRECTLY ENGAGEABLE WITH AND SUPPORTED UPON AND ABOVE A CONVENTIONAL, PLANAR FLOORING SURFACE, AND A PLURALITY OF INDIVIDUAL FLOORING MODULES EACH COMPRISING, A FIRST PLURALITY OF SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL, SPACED APART, FLEXURALLY RESILIENT, WOODEN COPLANAR SLATS, A SECOND PLURALITY OF SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL, SPACED APART SLATS TRANSVERSELY EXTENDING ACROSS AND INTERCONNECTING SAID FIRST PLURALITY OF SLSTS INTO A UNIT; SAID UNIT AFFORDING A SUBSTANTIALLY PLANAR TREAD SURFACE ELEVATED ABOVE THE CONVENTIONAL FLOORING, SAID UNIT BEING DIMENSIONED TO BE SNUGLY RECEIVED WITHIN SAID FRAME MEANS TO PREVENT SKEWING AND SHIFTING THEREOF WHILE SUPPORTING A PERSON WALKING THEREON; AND SAID UNIT BEING FURTHER DIMENSIONED TO BE MANUALLY REMOVABLE FROM SAID FRAME SAID FRAME MEANS AND RECEIVABLE FOR CLEANING WITHIN A CONTINUOUS PASS THROUGH DISHWASHER; A WATER, GREASE, AND ALCOHOL RESISTANT COATING OF EPOXY COMPLETELY COVERING EACH OF SAID WOODEN FLOORING MODULES; AND A STRIP OF AGGREGATE EMBEDDED WITHIN SAID EPOXY COATING COVERING THE UPPERMOST SURFACE OF EACH OF SAID FIRST PLURALITY OF SLATS TO PROVIDE A SLIP RESISTANT TREAD FOR THE SUBSTANTIALLY PLANAR TREAD SURFACE OF SAID AT LEAST ONE FLOORING MODULE.

Claim 3

An elevated flooring system operable to be positioned upon a conventional, planar flooring surface to provide an elevated tread comprising: a frame comprising bracing strips connected into generally rectangular units, said units being connected to form a rigid framing grid, and means extending between said bracing strips and the underlying conventional, planar flooring suface to selectively support said framing grid at selected elevations relative to the flooring surface; and a plurality of vertically removable flooring modules, each module comprising a first plurality of wooden slats positioned in a mutually parallel, coplanar posture, a second plurality of wooden slats transversely extending across and interconnecting said first plurality of wooden slats into a generally rectangular flooring module having a substantially planar upper tread surface, each of said generally rectangular flooring modules being dimensioned to be snugly but removably received and rigidly constrained laterally within one of said generally rectangular frame units, each of said flooring modules being supported thereby in an elevated condition relative to the plane of said flooring surface and in a manner amenable to generally vertical manual removal of said flooring module from said framing grid; a water, grease, and alcohol resistant coating of epoxy completely covering each of said wooden flooring modules; and a strip of aggregate embedded within said epoxy coating along the to surface of each of said first plurality of wooden slats to provide a slip resistant tread for the substantially planar tread surface of said flooring modules,

Claim 4

An elevated flooring system operable to be positioned upon a conventional, planar flooring surface to provide an elevated tread comprising: a frame comprising bracing strips connected into generally rectangular units, said units being connected to form a rigid framing grid, and means extending between said bracing strips and the underlying conventional, planar flooring suface to selectively support said framing grid at selected elevations relative to the flooring surface; and a plurality of vertically removable flooring modules, each module comprising a first plurality of wooden slats positioned in a mutually parallel, coplanar posture, a second plurality of wooden slats transversely extending across and interconnecting said first plurality of wooden slats into a generally rectangular flooring module having a substantially planar upper tread surface, each of said generally rectangular flooring modules being dimensioned to be snugly but removably received and rigidly constrained laterally within one of said generally rectangular frame units, each of said flooring modules being supported thereby in an elevated condition relative to the plane of said flooring surface and in a manner amenable to generally vertical manual removal of said flooring module from said framing grid; a water, grease, and alcohol resistant coating of epoxy completely covering each of said wooden flooring modules; and a strip of aggregate embedded within said epoxy coating along the to surface of each of said first plurality of wooden slats to provide a slip resistant tread for the substantially planar tread surface of said flooring modules,

Claim 5

An elevated flooring system operable to be positioned upon a conventional flooring surface to provide an elevated tread as defined in claim 2 and further comprising: a layer of epoxy cement between adjacent surfaces of said slats at junction locations thereof; and metallic mechanical fasteners extending through each junction location of said slats of said first and second plurality thereof to bind together and compress said wooden slats and said epoxy cement into an integral unit, both ends of said mechanical fasteners being countersunk within the wooden slats beneath the surfaces thereof, said countersunk voids being filled to a planar condition with respect to the surface of said slats by a rigid wood filler which fully surrounds and encloses the ends of each of the mechanical fasteners to lock each fastener in said binding relation with said slats.