BLOCK WITH ARTIFICIAL GRASS TO GRASS PAVEMENT STONES

Abstract

The present invention is an artificial grass block that can accommodate to the different sized cells of the similar grass pavement stones produced by different companies. The artificial grass block can bear an up to 10% size difference of the cells. The artificial grass block can carry out this function by its elastic, flexible positioning-fixing unit, which positions and fixes the artificial grass block inside the cell of a certain size range. The positioning-fixing unit is longer than the cell before insertion and deforms during insertion. This deformed positioning-fixing unit creates a tension that appropriately positions and firmly fixes the artificial grass block within the cell. EOIC 5/20 Pavings made of prefabricated single units; made of units of plastics; EOIC 9/225 Pavings specially adapted for allowing vegetation; EOIC 11/225 Paving specially adapted for through-the-surfacing drainage, e.g. perforated, porous; Preformed paving elements comprising, or adapted to form, passageways for carrying off drainage; E03F 11/00 Water supply; sewerage; Sewers; Cesspools; E04F 13/24 Finishing work on buildings; Coverings or linings, Hidden fastening means on the rear of the covering or lining elements; F16B 2/00 Friction-grip releasable fastenings; F16F 1/36 Springs, made of plastics.

Claims

1. A block with artificial grass (1) to be inserted into and used together with the grass pavement stones (9) comprising: that the artificial grass block (1) consists of an artificial grass (3) and a scaffold (2), wherein the artificial grass (3) is fixed onto the upper surface of the scaffold (2); and at least one positioning-fixing unit (6) placed on the scaffold (2), which is designed so that it can appropriately position and firmly fix the artificial grass block (1) inside the cells (10) of similar grass pavement stones (9) produced by different companies, by being able to adopt to the size differences of the cells (10) between a minimal and maximal value those horizontal cross-section are geometrically similar.

2. The artificial grass block (1) according to claim 1, further comprising that the scaffold (2) consists of a holding plate (4) and a support (5) other than the positioning-fixing unit (6), and that the artificial grass (3) is fixed on the top of the holding plate (4), the support (5) stands on the level of foundation (7) and supports the holding plate (4), and the positioning-fixing unit (6) is placed either on the support (5), on the holding plate (4) or on both.

3. The artificial grass block (1) according to claim 1, further comprising that the size of the holding plate (4) shall be defined by considering the smallest reasonable cell (10) size of the grass pavement stones (9) of the same kind, and if inserted into the largest of the cells (10) the resulting gap between the holding plate (4) and the wall of the cell (10) should be covered by the threads of the artificial grass (3) on the holding plate (4).

4. The artificial grass block (1) according to claim 1, further comprising that the height of the artificial grass block (1) standing on the level of foundation (7) in the bottom of the cell (10) should not exceed the maximum level difference resulting between the origin of threads of the artificial grass (3) and the upper surface of the grass pavement stone (9) that is considered to cause the danger of stumble according to safety protection regulations.

5. The artificial grass block (1) according to claim 1, further comprising that the positioning-fixing unit (6) is such a wedge-like, flexible structure, which fixes the artificial grass block (1) in a self-locking manner by a wing-like positioning-fixing unit that bends upwards as the artificial grass block (1) is being inserted into the cell (10) of the grass pavement stone (9), forming an acute angle with the wall of the cell (10), and that is blocked in the irregularities of the concrete surface (11) of the wall of the cell (10), when the artificial grass block (1) is attempted to be removed from the cell (10) locking the artificial grass block (1) inside the cell up to a reasonable amount of force applied.

6. The artificial block (1) according to claims 1 and 5, further comprising that the positioning-fixing unit (6) can have the forms of tubes, corrugated tubes, rods, wires, and other geometries to achieve the self-locking function.

7. The artificial grass block (1) according to claims 1, 5 and 6, further comprising that the positioning-fixing unit points to one of the diagonals of the parallelogram geometry of the horizontal cross-section of the cell (10) of the grass pavement stone (9) and that of the similar shaped holding plate (4) of the artificial grass block (1).

8. The artificial grass block (1) according to claims 1, 5 and 6, further comprising that the positioning-fixing unit points to the sides of the parallelogram geometry of the horizontal cross-section of the cell (10) of the grass pavement stone (9) and that of the similar shaped holding plate (4) of the artificial grass block (1) forming a predefined angle between 45° and 135°, for example 90° with the wall of the cell (10) and with the side of the holding plate (4).

9. The artificial grass block (1) according to claims 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8, further comprising that the positioning-fixing unit (6) can be placed on the scaffold (2) in more than one row and direction.

Description

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0042] FIG. 1: The built up of the artificial grass block

[0043] FIG. 2: The insertion of the artificial grass block

[0044] FIG. 3: The insertion of a shorter artificial grass block

[0045] FIG. 4: A circular shaped example for the positioning-fixing unit

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0046] FIG. 1 shows two expedient designs of the invention and its main parts. The artificial grass block 1 consists of a scaffold 2 and an artificial grass 3 fixed onto it with, for instance gluing. The scaffold 2 has two parts, the holding plate 4 and the support 5, and the positioning-fixing unit 6 can be fixed to either of them. The two expedient designs of FIG. 1 differ on the implementation of the support 5. On the upper part of the figure, a slender frame is depicted, whereas on the lower part of the figure a solid brick-like structure is shown. The support 5 can have other designs too, those are not presented here, although those designs shall fall under the scope of the present invention if a positioning-fixing unit can be attached to them. On FIG. 1 the scaffold 2 and the positioning-fixing unit 6 are made of a single piece that can be produced with molding, injection molding, 3D printing, chipping, or any other appropriate technique.

[0047] The size of the holding plate 4 of the example shall be defined by considering the reasonably smallest of the cells 10 of the conventional grass pavement stones 9 produced by the different companies, which size should be larger than the size of the holding plate 4. In case of the conventional grass pavement stones 9 this reasonable size is about 82×82 millimeters. The holding plate 4 should not be larger the 82×82 millimeters, so that it is expectable that about the 95% of the conventional grass pavement stones will be compatible with the artificial grass block 1.

[0048] The height of the artificial grass block 1 depends on the height of the designated grass pavement stone 9. The usual height of the grass pavement stone 9 is 80 or 100 millimeters, although grass pavement stones 9 with other heights are also common. The height of the scaffold 2 can determine the final height of the artificial grass block 1, so that its height shall be chosen accordingly. Safety regulations maximize the acceptable height difference between two levels in an about 20-25 millimeters before it would cause the risk of stumble. This applies to the level difference between the upper surface of the grass pavement stone 9 and the origin of the artificial grass 3 threads. These safety regulations are in use in the time of the application of the present innovation, which might change over time due to different reasons.

[0049] If the grass pavement stones 9 are laid on a prepared flat foundation and the artificial grass block 1 is placed on this foundation within the cell 10 of the grass pavement stone 9, the minimal height of the scaffold 2 shall be minimum 55 millimeters if the grass pavement stone 9 is 80 millimeters high, and minimum 75 millimeters if the grass pavement stone 9 is 100 millimeters high, based on the safety regulations described above.

[0050] FIG. 2 shows the insertion of artificial grass blocks 1 into the cells 10 of the grass pavement stone 9 in this case, into the conventional grass pavement stone 9. The upper part of FIG. 2 depicts an entire grass pavement stone 9, whereas the lower part of FIG. 2 shows an enlarged part of the upper part of the FIG. 2 with an artificial grass block 1 inside a cell 10. The grass pavement stone 9 of the upper part of FIG. 2 is presented partially transparent, for a better understanding. In this example, the artificial grass block 1 shall be inserted in the cell 10 of the grass pavement stone 9 in the direction 8 indicated by the arrow, rotated so that the positioning-fixing unit 6 is diagonal to the cell 10 of the grass pavement stone 9. The artificial grass block 1 shall be inserted into the cell 10 of the grass pavement stone 9 by pressing the artificial grass block 1 along the direction of insertion 8, indicated by the arrow, as long as the artificial grass block 1 reaches the level of foundation 7 that is in level with the lower face of the grass pavement stone 9 in the bottom of the cell 10 of the grass pavement stone 9.

[0051] The wing-like positioning-fixing unit 6 bends upwards as the artificial grass block 1 is being inserted into the cell 10 of the grass pavement stone 9, as it can be seen on FIG. 2. On the enlarged part of FIG. 2, the force that affects the artificial grass block 1 within the cell 10 is marked with F and is perpendicular to the wall of the cell 10. This F force positions the artificial grass block 1 inside the cell 10. The tips of the wing-like positioning-fixing unit 6 are not perpendicular to the wall of the cell 10 but form acute angles with it. The tips of the wing-like positioning-fixing unit 6 point upwards when bent inside the cell 10. In case a force opposite to the direction of insertion 8, indicated with an arrow, applied to the artificial grass block 1, the tips of the bent positioning-fixing unit 6 stuck in the irregularities of the concrete surface 11 of the wall of the cell 10, due to its high friction coefficient. Also, this force opposite to the direction of insertion 8 would want the positioning-fixing unit 6 to bend the opposite direction inside the cell 10 downwards. This force presses the positioning-fixing unit 6 against the wall of the cell 10 with a proportional volume to the force opposite to the direction of insertion 8. The wing-like positioning-fixing unit 6 forwards all these forces to the scaffold 2 of the artificial grass block 1 that results a highly stabile state of the artificial grass block 1 within the cell 10 of the grass pavement stone 9.

[0052] FIG. 3 shows another expedient design. When a grass pavement stone 9 shall be renewed, not all the filling material would be removed from the cells 10 but only a part, taking care that in the end all the cells 10 about the same amount of filling material should be left for aesthetic reasons. The level of foundation 7 inside the cell 10 is therefore higher than the lower face of the grass pavement stone 9. In such cases, the height of the scaffold 2 can even be shorter than the shortest sizes discussed earlier.

[0053] The bottom part of the support 5, which stands on the level of foundation 7 can have a smaller area of surface than that of the level of the foundation 7. The area of surface of the bottom part of the support 5 shall be defined taking into account that the artificial grass block 1 can be inserted into the cell 10 until the level of foundation 7 even if the walls of the cell 10 are tilted to some degree, and that the artificial grass block 1 should not sink inside the foundation if pressing force is applied onto the top of the artificial grass block 1.

[0054] The support 5 forwards the force between the holding plate 4 and the foundation at the bottom of the cell 10, applied to the artificial grass block 1. There are no limits to the design and to the materials used for the support 5. The support 5 might be an appropriate position where the positioning-fixing unit 6 is placed, although there are no constrains in placing the positioning-fixing unit 6 either. The positioning-fixing unit 6 can be placed on the holding plate 4, or other parts of the artificial grass block 1 too. The positioning-fixing unit 6 shall be flexible and strong enough to keep the artificial grass block 1 in its place.

[0055] On the upper image of FIG. 1 the positioning-fixing unit 6 is placed diagonally, whereas on the lower image, there are one positioning-fixing unit 6 for every vertical side of the scaffold 2. These positioning-fixing units 6 are depicted as wing-like structures here, although other forms may be used as well. The positioning-fixing units 6 can be placed in the diagonals, perpendicular to the sides, or other ways of the vertical cross-section geometry of the cells 10 of the conventional grass pavement stone 9 of the present example. For other types of grass pavement stones 9, other arrangements might be reasonable and necessary.

[0056] Placing more than one row of positioning-fixing unit 6 on the artificial grass block 1, or, more specifically, on the support 5 of the artificial grass block 1 can be reasonable too.

[0057] FIG. 4 shows another expedient design. The positioning-fixing unit 6 is circular in this example. The lower part of the circle is attached to the support 5, whereas the outer regions lean to the wall of the cell 10 when the artificial grass block 1 is being inserted into the cell 10 of the grass pavement stone 9. The elastic circular positioning-fixing unit 6 is originally wider than the cell 10 of the grass pavement stone 9, but then squeezed to the cell 10 walls during insertion.

[0058] Separating the positioning and fixing functions might be reasonable. In such cases, the positioning and the fixing functions would be carried out by separate parts of the artificial grass block 1.

[0059] Another expedient design would be where the positioning-fixing unit 6 could be separated from the rest of the artificial grass block 1 and could be reattached later. Such a positioning-fixing unit 6 would function as effectively as a positioning-fixing unit that cannot be separated from the rest of the artificial grass block 1.

[0060] All in all, there are plenty of the possible designs for the positioning-fixing unit 6 those keep its main feature, to accommodate to cells with different sizes, but listing them would take unreasonable efforts and would not ease the understanding of the invention. Therefore, all these possible designs of the positioning-fixing unit 6, which are attached to the scaffold 2 or the holding plate 4 or any other part of the artificial grass block 1 with a permanent or with a temporary bond, and can carry out the function of positioning and fixing the artificial grass block 1 within a minimal and maximal size range of cell 10 of the designated grass pavement stone 9 shall be considered to fall under the scope of the present invention. The fixing should be maintained within the cell 10 of the designated grass pavement stone 9 during reasonable, intended use of the artificial grass block 1 without experiencing any wobbling, moving, turning, or any other movement that would result in the loss of the original function of the artificial grass block 1 whilst being inside of the cell 10.

[0061] Inventions published earlier share a common feature, namely that they can only be used together with grass pavement stones of unique designs, or unique cell sizes, which means a constrain to their use and to their spread on the market. Products those are suitable only to highly limited numbers usually to 1 or 2 of grass pavement stones, produced by a specific company, limits the number of reachable costumers too. The market of the grass pavement stones is diverse and large, costumers would not risk buying a product that has a high probability not to be compatible with the pavement stone they own. The artificial grass block of the present invention overcomes this problem by the presence of the positioning-fixing unit that accommodates the artificial grass block to a large number of grass pavement stones.

[0062] The use of the grass pavement stones relates to its improved rainwater leaking/draining feature compared to concrete slabs or other paving materials. The artificial grass block when used together with the grass pavement stone can further improve the rainwater leaking/draining feature of the grass pavement stone, as each cell of the grass pavement stone can act as a pool under the holding plate of the artificial grass block.

[0063] Each and every part of the artificial grass block can be manufactured by known and used technologies or bought from vendors. The insertion of the artificial grass blocks into the cells of the grass pavement stones does not require extreme strength or qualification, it is a simple and fast work with no requirements for special tools either.