Drips-catching mats for garage floors and the like

Claim 1

In combination with a motor vehicle garage having a substantially horizontal floor of a finite floor-area defined by a floor-perimeter, the improvement of a drips-catching mat for capturing oleaginous material dripping from a motor vehicle parked upon said garage floor in overlying relationship to said mat, said mat having a finite overall-area defined by a mat-perimeter remotely surrounded by the floor-perimeter, said drips-catching mat comprising the following generally horizontally extending laminar elements: A. an oleo-resistant and generally non-perforated base member layer having a finite base-area not exceeding said overall-area and defined by a base perimeter, said base member having a pair of opposed broad horizontal surfaces including an upper-surface and a lower-surface, said base member being semi-permanently bonded to the garage floor with high-tenacity means located below said lower-surface; B. a blotter member layer having a finite blotter-area not exceeding said overall-area and defined by a blotter-perimeter, said blotter member layer comprising two coextensive solid horizontal strata including a thicker lower-stratum comprising porous cellulosic structural material and a thinner oleaginous upper-stratum adhered to the lower-stratum whereby said upper-stratum causes horizontal spreading of oleaginous liquid drippings and thereby decreases the time for such drippings to become fully absorbed by the porous cellulosic lower-stratum, said blotter member lower-stratum being above the base member upper-surface and a finite-elevation above the garage floor and being removably attached to the base member with a lower-tenacity means, said lower-tenacity means being markedly lower in physical strength than the high-tenacity means whereby an upward manual force applied to the blotter-periphery will delaminate the blotter member from the base member without accompanying delamination of the base member from the garage floor; and C. visual indicator means attached to the blotter member upper-stratum to indicate whenever the blotter member has become substantially fully laden with oleaginous drippings and needs replacement with a substitute blotter member.