Fiber for synthetic grass field

Abstract

A filament for use in an artificial grass field, wherein the filament has a front and a back surface and at least one of the front surface and back surface includes a plurality of adjacent concave indentations extending generally from a first end to a second end.

Claims

1. A filament for use in an artificial grass field comprising: a first end and a second end; two wing portions extending from the first end to the second end; a center portion between the two wing portions and extending from the first end to the second end; and a front surface, wherein the front surface includes a plurality of adjacent concave indentations, wherein the concave indentations extend only from the first end to a point between the first end and the second end, and wherein adjacent concave indentations share a peak.

2. The filament of claim 1, wherein the wing portions are curved.

3. The filament of claim 1, wherein each wing portion includes an end forming an edge of the filament spaced from the center portion and wherein the ends of the wing portions have a thickness less than a thickness of the center portion.

4. The filament of claim 1 wherein the concave indentations at the center portion are larger than the concave indentations on the wing portions.

5. A filament for use in an artificial grass field comprising: a first end and a second end; a center portion and two wing portions extending from the first end to the second end; a front surface, wherein the front surface includes a plurality of adjacent concave indentations, wherein adjacent concave indentations meet at a vertex, and wherein a plurality of concave indentations are on the first wing portion and a plurality of concave indentations are on the second wing portion, and the two wing portions are nonlinear.

6. A filament of claim 5, wherein the wing portions are curved.

7. A filament of claim 5, wherein each wing portion includes an end forming an edge of the filament spaced from the center portion and wherein the ends of the wing portions have a thickness less than a thickness of the center portion.

8. A filament of claim 5, further comprise a back surface including a plurality of adjacent concave indentations.

9. A filament of claim 8, wherein adjacent concave indentations on the back surface meet at a vertex, and wherein a plurality of concave indentations on the back surface are on the first wing portion and a plurality of concave indentations on the back surface are on the second wing portion.

10. The filament of claim 8, wherein the concave indentations on the back surface at the center portion are larger than the concave indentations on the back surface at the wing portions.

11. The filament of claim 5, wherein the concave indentations at the center portion are larger than the concave indentations on the wing portions.

12. The filament of claim 5, wherein the concave indentations extend from the first end to the second end.

13. The filament of claim 5, wherein the concave indentations extend from the first end to a point between the first end and the second end.

14. A filament for use in an artificial grass field comprising: a first end and a second end; a center portion and two wing portions extending from the first end to the second end; and a front surface, wherein the front surface includes a plurality of adjacent concave indentations and the adjacent concave indentations meet at a vertex; a back surface, wherein the back surface includes a plurality of adjacent concave indentations and the adjacent concave indentations meet at a vertex; and wherein the concave indentations on the front surface indent toward the back surface and the concave indentations on the back surface indent toward the front surface, the concave indentations on the front surface and the concave indentations on the back surface reduce a thickness of the center portion; wherein a plurality of concave indentations on the front surface are on the first wing portion and a plurality of concave indentations on the front surface are on the second wing portion; wherein a plurality of concave indentations on the back surface are on the first wing portion and a plurality of concave indentations on the back surface are on the second wing portion; and wherein the two wing portions are nonlinear.

15. The filament of claim 14, wherein the vertex on the front surface project in a direction away from the back surface and the vertex on the back surface project in a direction away from the front surface, the vertex on the front surface and the vertex on the back surface form a larger thickness of the filament.

16. The filament of claim 14, wherein the concave indentations on the front surface and the back surface extend from the first end to a point between the first end and the second end.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that the accompanying drawings depict only typical embodiments, and are, therefore, not to be considered to be limiting of the scope of the present disclosure, the embodiments will be described and explained with specificity and detail in reference to the accompanying drawings as provided below.

(2) FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of an infilled artificial turf system.

(3) FIG. 2 is a top cutaway view of a fiber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(4) FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of a fiber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(5) FIG. 4 is another front perspective view of a fiber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(6) FIG. 5 is another top cutaway view of a fiber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(7) FIG. 6 is a top cutaway view of a fiber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(8) FIG. 7 is a top cutaway view of a fiber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(9) FIG. 8 is a top cutaway view of a fiber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(10) FIG. 9 is a top cutaway view of a fiber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(11) While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail one or more embodiments with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments illustrated.

(12) Reference throughout this description to features, advantages, objects or similar language does not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present invention should be or are in any single embodiment of the invention. Rather, language referring to the features and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, discussion of the features and advantages, and similar language, throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, refer to the same embodiment.

(13) According to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is directed to a fiber 10 for use in an artificial grass field 12. More particularly, the artificial grass field 12 includes a backing member 14 upon a foundation 16.

(14) The fibers 10 are functionally connected to the backing member 14. Preferably, the fibers 10 are tufted through the backing member 14. In addition, an adhesive, heat sealing, epoxy, glue or other means of attaching the fibers 10 to the backing member 14 may be utilized.

(15) Disposed between the fibers 12 and on top of the backing member 14 is generally a particulate infill 18. The particulate infill 18 can be rubber, sand, a mixture thereof, or any number of known products used for the particulate infill 18.

(16) As can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the fiber 10 generally includes a first end 20 and a second end 22, a center portion 24 and two wing portions 26. The wing portions 26 extend from the first end 20 to the second end 22 and are generally parallel to the center portion 24. The fiber 10 also includes a front surface 28 and a back surface 30. In an embodiment of the invention, at least one of the front surface 28 and back surface 30 includes a plurality of adjacent concave indentations 32. The concave indentations 32 may extend from the second end 22 to the first end 20, or alternatively, may only extend over a portion of the front surface and/or back surface, i.e., from the first end 20 to a point between the first end 20 and the second end 22. See, FIG. 4.

(17) By the term adjacent it is meant that a peak 34 is shared between two concave indentions 32 disposed next to each other. For example, the two concave indentations 32a, 32b are disposed next to each other and both share peak 34a. Moreover, as used herein peak is meant to encompass or mean a connecting relationship between adjacent concave indentations wherein one concave indentation transitions into another concave indentation in a relatively short distance (for example, less than 10% of the width of the concave indentation).

(18) It is contemplated that the concave indentations 32 have different sizes, for example, those on the center portion 24 may be larger in size than those on the wing portions 26. One method of measuring the size of the various concave indentations 32 is to determine the radius R of a circle C on which the individual concave indentations 32 would be positioned. In this method, the concave indentions 32 on the wing portions 26 may have a radius of approximately 60 micrometers, while the concave indentations 32 on the center portion 24 may have a radius of approximately 110 micrometers. Of course other radii, as would be appreciated by those with ordinary skill in the art having the present disclosure before them, are also contemplated by the present invention.

(19) Alternatively, the concave indentations 32 may be the same size (i.e., have the same radius, preferably between approximately 60 micrometers to approximately 130 micrometers). By the same or same size it is recognized that due to the small size, minor deviations in the size of the concave indentations may occur (for example about 5% difference), and still fall within the meaning of same size.

(20) In the fiber 10 shown in FIG. 2, both the front and back include a plurality of adjacent concave indentations 32. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3, a fiber 10 is depicted wherein only the front surface 28 has a plurality of adjacent concave indentations 32. In other words, in one embodiment, the fiber 10 has a front surface 28 having a first texture and a back surface 30 having a second texture, and the first texture and second texture are different.

(21) As discussed above, the fiber 10 also includes wing portions 26, which may be curved. This is sometimes referred to as a bat wing configuration, wherein the wing portions 26 are not linear with respect to each other or the center portion 24.

(22) In a further embodiment of the invention, each wing portion 24 includes ends 36 each of which forms and edge 38 of the filament 10 opposite the center portion 24. The ends 36 may have a thickness less than a thickness of the center portion 24. Thus, if a fiber 10 has a center portion 24 with a thickness T of approximately 250 micrometers, the ends 36 may have a thickness of less than approximately 250 micrometers. In an embodiment, the distance D between the edges 38 is approximately 1320 micrometers.

(23) It is contemplated that the ends 36 and the edges 38 may be smooth and will not include any concave indentations. In a preferred embodiment the edges 38 are rounded.

(24) In FIGS. 6-9 various embodiments of the present invention are identified showing specific measurements. Although these drawings (FIGS. 6-9) are schematically shown, the following information represents actual measurements of physical samples of various embodiments of the present invention.

(25) In FIG. 6, the fiber 100 has a thickness T.sub.6 of 249.70 micrometers and a distance D.sub.6 between edges of 1326.88 micrometers. The size of the indentations was measured by calculating the radii of the circles associated with each individual indentation. The following measurements were obtained: R.sub.1 86.25 micrometers; R.sub.2 107.87 micrometers; R.sub.3 112.19 micrometers; R.sub.4 110.84 micrometers; R.sub.5 110.84 micrometers; and R.sub.6 115.81 micrometers.

(26) In FIG. 7, the fiber 200 had a thickness T.sub.7 of 245.39 micrometers and a distance D.sub.7 between edges of 1327.78 micrometers. Again, the size of the indentations was measured according to the radii of the circles, with the following results: R.sub.7 61.99 micrometers; R.sub.8 95.98 micrometers; R.sub.9 98.95 micrometers; R.sub.10 106.66 micrometers; R.sub.11 92.88 micrometers; R.sub.12 86.87 micrometers; R.sub.13 86.12 micrometers; R.sub.14 99.31 micrometers; R.sub.15 106.71 micrometers; R.sub.16 93.86 micrometers; R.sub.17 32.67 micrometers; R.sub.18 131.73 micrometers; R.sub.19 130.65 micrometers; R.sub.20 130.17 micrometers; R.sub.21 105.47 micrometers; and R.sub.22 59.880 micrometers.

(27) In FIG. 8, the thickness T.sub.8a, T.sub.8b was measured to be 193.69 micrometers and 195.09 micrometers, respectively. This distance was obtained by measuring the distance between the low points of indentations on the front side and the back side. Moreover, the sizes of the indentations in fiber 300 were measured by calculating the distance L from the bottom of the indentation to a line connecting the peaks bordering the indentation. The following measurements were obtained: L.sub.1 16.30 micrometers; L.sub.2 30.80 micrometers; L.sub.3 36.26 micrometers; L.sub.4 43.66 micrometers; L.sub.5 43.89 micrometers; L.sub.6 36.94 micrometers; and L.sub.7 31.66 micrometers.

(28) The same methods of calculating the distances and sizes used in FIG. 8 were used to measure fiber 400 in FIG. 9. This resulted in thickness T.sub.9a, T.sub.9b measures of 214.94 micrometers and 211.62 micrometers, respectively. The sizes of the indentations were as follows: L.sub.8 17.70 micrometers; L.sub.9 19.03 micrometers; L.sub.10 23.72 micrometers; L.sub.11 23.37 micrometers; L.sub.12 25.97 micrometers; L.sub.13 28.54 micrometers; L.sub.14 22.50 micrometers; L.sub.15 23.05 micrometers; and, L.sub.16 20.58 micrometers.

(29) It is to be understood that additional embodiments of the present invention described herein may be contemplated by one of ordinary skill in the art and that the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed. While specific embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, numerous modifications come to mind without significantly departing from the spirit of the invention, and the scope of protection is only limited by the scope of the accompanying claims.