High friction modular floor covering

Abstract

A sports court can include a set of modular floor panels or tiles that are interconnected with each other and that have material compositions configured to provide increased friction when a ball or other game piece comes into contact with the top surface of the panels or tiles. The sports court can be used to decrease the speed or otherwise affect bounce behavior of a game ball as compared to a concrete slab or similar underlying surface on which the floor panels are positioned, thereby giving the court performance characteristics more similar to a conventional court used for ball sports such as tennis and pickleball and that are improved as compared to conventional rigid floor tiles. The material compositions can include rubberized or elastomeric materials with coefficients of friction measured using standardized testing procedures.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A sports system, comprising:
 a rigid support surface;   a rigid floor tile positioned on the rigid support surface; and   a game piece configured to come into contact with the rigid floor tile while playing a game with the sports system;   wherein the game piece or the rigid floor tile comprises a material composition causing a first coefficient of friction between the game piece and the rigid floor tile to be greater than or equal to a second coefficient of friction between the game piece and the rigid support surface.   
     
     
         2 . The sports system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a plurality of additional rigid floor tiles having the material composition and arranged in a shape of a pickleball court; and   a set of visual indicators defining boundaries of the pickleball court on the plurality of additional rigid floor tiles;   wherein the game piece comprises a pickleball;   wherein the first coefficient of friction is at least 0.47 under European Standard EN 13865;   wherein the rigid floor tile is attached to the plurality of additional rigid floor tiles; and   wherein the rigid floor tile comprises a plurality of support legs in contact with the rigid support surface.   
     
     
         3 . The sports system of  claim 1 , wherein the floor tile and the game piece both comprise the material composition. 
     
     
         4 . The sports system of  claim 1 , wherein the material composition comprises copolymer propylene, a silica material, and a grip-increasing material. 
     
     
         5 . The sports system of  claim 1 , wherein the game piece is substantially rigid and substantially spherical. 
     
     
         6 . The sports system of  claim 1 , wherein the first coefficient of friction is at least 0.47 under European Standard EN 13865. 
     
     
         7 . A modular floor tile, comprising:
 a tile body including:
 a plurality of openings extending through the tile body; 
 an outer perimeter; 
 a plurality of interlockable edge features positioned around the outer perimeter; 
 a substantially planar upward-facing surface; 
 a plurality of support legs extending downward relative to the upward-facing surface to contact a planar support surface beneath the tile body; and 
 a partially rubberized material composition at the upward-facing surface. 
   
     
     
         8 . The modular floor tile of  claim 7 , wherein the material composition comprises copolymer propylene, a silica material, and a grip-increasing material. 
     
     
         9 . The modular floor tile of  claim 8 , wherein the material composition includes about 50 to about 60 percent copolymer polypropylene, about 20 to about 30 percent glass-oxide, and about 10 to about 20 percent grip-increasing material. 
     
     
         10 . The modular floor tile of  claim 7 , wherein a coefficient of friction of the material composition is at least 0.42 under European Standard EN 13865. 
     
     
         11 . The modular floor tile of  claim 10 , wherein a coefficient of restitution at the upward-facing surface is about 0.80 under European Standard EN 13865. 
     
     
         12 . The modular floor tile of  claim 10 , wherein an angle out measurement at the upward-facing surface is about 15.9 under European Standard EN 13865. 
     
     
         13 . The modular floor tile of  claim 7 , wherein a court pace rating of the tile body is less than about 62. 
     
     
         14 . The modular floor tile of  claim 7 , wherein the material composition reduces bounce force by at least 5 percent. 
     
     
         15 . A sports floor, comprising:
 a plurality of interlocking tiles, wherein each interlocking tile includes an upward-facing surface comprising a plurality of through-hole openings, the upward-facing surface having a coefficient of friction of at least about 0.42 under European Standard EN 13865;   wherein a system of marked regions extends across the upward-facing surface to indicate game boundaries for at least one sports game.   
     
     
         16 . The sports floor of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of interlocking tiles comprises outer dimensions defining a paddle sports court, and wherein the system of marked regions defines boundaries for a paddle sport. 
     
     
         17 . The sports floor of  claim 15 , further comprising a second plurality of tiles connected to the plurality of interlocking tiles external to game boundaries for the at least one sports game, the second plurality of tiles having a lesser coefficient of friction under European Standard EN 13865 as compared to the plurality of interlocking tiles. 
     
     
         18 . The sports floor of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of interlocking tiles comprises a set of male portions configured to be received by a set of female portions to attach the plurality of interlocking tiles to each other. 
     
     
         19 . The sports floor of  claim 18 , wherein the male portions are vertically elongated and received vertically by respective female portions of the set of female portions. 
     
     
         20 . The sports floor of  claim 15 , wherein a court pace rating of the plurality of interlocking tiles is less than about 62 under European Standard EN 13865.