Cutter mat and method of making same

Claim 1

A cutter mat for use as a support upon which sheet material such as a sheet of paper or plastic to be cut is placed on either side, comprising a base plate of synthetic resin, two intermediate layers of synthetic resin each laminated to one side of said base plate, and two surface layers of synthetic resin each laminated to one of said intermediate layers to thereby provide a five-ply laminated mat, each of said intermediate layers being of the same thickness and having the same coefficient of expansion and contraction, each of said surface layers being of the same thickness and having the same coefficient expansion and contraction, such that both sides of the mat on opposite sides of the base plate are symmetrical with respect to the base plate and have the same coefficients of expansion and contraction to thereby preclude warping of the mat due to temperature variations, said surface layers having a softness and restoring property such that a cutting knife will penetrate into said surface layer along a cut line which closes and restores itself upon withdrawal of the knife, said intermediate layers being harder than said surface layers to provide increased resistance to further penetration of the knife into the mat without impairing the cutting operation and at the same time protecting the base plate from penetration by said knife, said base plate being harder than said intermediate layers to thereby provide rigidity to the cutting mat while the softer surface and intermediate layers provide flexibility to the mat, said surface layers each having on their outer surface a woven patten of projections and indentations corresponding to that of a woven fabric and obtained by peeling a woven fabric from said outer surfaces subsequent to heating and pressing thereof, whereby the woven pattern of projections and indentations provides a fine roughened surface to prevent slipping of the mat and without impairing the functioning of the surface layers to stably support the sheet material during the cutting operation.