AU7617498A

AU7617498A - A paver

Info

Publication number: AU7617498A
Application number: AU76174/98A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Glenn Scott Fuller; Marc Anthony Mearing; Glenn Whiteford
Original assignee: Rocla Pty Ltd
Current assignee: C&M Masonry Products Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1997-07-17
Filing date: 1998-07-15
Publication date: 1999-01-28
Anticipated expiration: 2018-07-15
Also published as: AU736655B2

Description

13I/(0101 R g i I O 1 3 .2 AUSTrRALIA Ptents Act 1990 ORIGINAL

CTO

COMPLETE

SPCIFICTO

STANDAD pATENT 0* Inventionl Title* A PAVER Applicant: ROCLA

LINUTED

a full description of this irivention, including The following statement is.

the best method of performing it known to me: -2- A PAVER The present invention relates to a paving unit, which is alternatively known as a paving block or tile, for paving outdoor areas. For simplicity. the paving unit. block or tile will hereinafter be referred to as a "paver".

Pavers for outdoor areas are well known and these can take various shapes and forms.

For example, pavers are often square or rectangular. o. alternative!y. they are oflen shaped so as to nest with one another. Such known pavers are normally laid on a bed of sand or an open coarse gravel bed and this material also fills the gap between adjacent pavers. This arrangement provides a stable supporting bed for the pavers and also allows a limited flexibility between pavers which is advantageous in supporting a load.

There is a substantial requirement given the nature of paved areas for them to have an overall aesthetically pleasing appearance. For that reason, pavers are often manulllctured in shapes which promote such appearance and often pavers of different colours, and sometimes different surface textures, are laid together to provide a paved area having a patterned appearance which adds to the aesthetic quality of the paved area.

One difficulty with known pavers is that surface water, such as rain waler or water from sprinkler systems, will collect on the upper surface of the paved area if facility is not provided for drainage of that water. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paver which includes such facility suitable for drainage ofsurface water.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a paver which includes a recess, which enables the formation of a paved surface having a pattern of drainage cavities in the surface of the paved area.

According to the present invention there is provided a paver including a top surface, a SAbottom surface and a peripheral side wall extending between said top and bottom surfaces, a recess interrupting said side wall and extending from said top surface to said bottom surface.

said recess being provided to cooperate with the peripheral side wall of a paver laid adjacent thereto, to define a liquid drainage cavity therebetween.

Preferably the top surface and the bottom surface of the paver are a pair of spaced apart, substantially parallel planar surfaces. In use it is intended that the bottom surface is laid upon a supporting surface, while the top surface forms the exposed surface of the paved area.

The peripheral side wall extends between the top surface and the bottom surface and preferably is disposed substantially perpendicular thereto. The side wall forms the peripheral SCClTWTODWARO'NGNREWNCQCELETVOlbDG edge of the paver. At least one portion of the side wall is interrupted by the recess which extends the full height of the side wall and which can combine with the side wall of a paver laid adjacent thereto, to create a drainage cavity: The drainage cavity formed between adjacent pavers preferably defines a geometrical shape which has aesthetic appeal, such as a parallelogram. This shape may extend the full depth of the cavity, or may exist only in the region of the exposed surface of the pavers.

Additionally, it is preferred that the recess be provided in a portion of the side wall that enables a regular pattern of drainage cavities to be formed in a paved surface, which pattern is also aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Such a pattern of drainage cavities may be formed in any suitable manner. For example, the drainage cavities may form a diagonal pattern, or a circular pattern formed by a series of rings or spirals.

Pavers according to the invention may have any suitable shape or form and may for example have the known form earlier described. Also, it is appropriate that the pavers be connected by known means, such as those previously described, as long as these means do not 15 interfere with the operation of the drainage cavity.

Preferably, the paver is of such shape that a number of similar such pavers may be laid so as to interlock. For example the paver may be in the shape of a star with three extending portions equally spaced between three inset portions. In such an embodiment the three extending portions can be shaped to interlock with correspondingly shaped inset portions of adjacent pavers of the same shape. Other alternative shapes capable of interlocking (such as shapes or others having re-entrant portions) will be known to those skilled in the art.

Most preferably, the recess includes two side walls which are disposed at a predetermined angle which is identical to the angle at which two parts of the peripheral side wall of the paver meet. In this way if the paver is laid adjacent to a similar such paver with the recess adjacent to the said two parts of the peripheral side wall of the adjacent paver the drainage cavity thereby formed will be of a regular geometrical shape. A star shaped paver can be formed of three hexagonal bodies which are integrally joined and in such a paver the recess is preferably provided in the peripheral side wall of an extending portion at the junction between two angled surfaces of the hexagonal form. A paver of this kind will interlock with a like-shaped paver and the recess will be located adjacent the peripheral side wall of an inset portion of the interlocking paver.

SC "cT;IOD IHRCMWOREW ELEEFAV .DOC::FI .C urirlcl~i~c-- As defined, each paver ;aay have one recess created in the side wall, although two or more recesses may equally be provided. Also, the position of the recess may be chosen to lie adjacent an uninterrupted side wall portion of an adjacent paver, or against the recess of an adjacent paver. Regardless, the shape of the recess and its location preferably provides a drainage cavity of a regular geometrical shape and a regular pattern when the pavers are laid to form a paved surface.

The present invention also provides a paved are including a plurality of pavers laid adjacent one another and defining a paved surface, each said paver having a top surface, a bottom surface and peripheral side wall extending between'said top and bottom surfaces, a recess interrupting said side wall and extending from said top surface to said bottom surface, said recess cooperating with the peripheral side wall of an adjacent paver in said paved area to :i define a liquid drainage cavity therebetween.

Preferably the pavers are of the type which will interlock and include at least one inset portion into which an extending portion of an adjacent tile may be positioned. When such 15 pavers are used it is preferred that the recess be formed in an extending portion and that the pavers be positioned so that the recess of one paver is adjacent the walls of the inset portion of an adjacent paver. The paved surface preferably includes a pattern of drainage cavities viewable from the exposed surface of the paved area which are formed as a regular pattern p, having an aesthetic appearance. This can be achieved using one or more paver shapes for the S 20 paved area provided that at least some of the pavers are of the type hereinbefore described' The problem of dispersing surface water on paved areas has been overcome in some Sinstances in the past, by constructing the paved area on an incline so that surface water flows towards a designated area. This area for example, may be a drainage outlet or gutter. The need for inclination however, complicates the construction of the paved area and is therefore undesirable. This need for inclination may be advantageously avoided with the use of pavers according to the present invention, because in a paved area formed of these pavers, the drainage facility can be provided throughout the paved area itself. In a particularly preferred .embodiment of the invention, the drainage cavities are uniformly provided throughout the paved area with adjacent drainage cavities being formed not more than 200 mm apart so as to facilitate good drainage across the entire paved area and to minimise puddling. Most preferably, adjacent drainage cavities are no more than 140 mm apart.

SC C:1WN/ORDSAROMIf DREYIODELETEFPAVERCOC In order to assist in arriving at an understanding of the present invention, a preferred embodiment is illustrated in the attached drawings. However. it should be understood that the following description is illustrative only and should not taken in any way as a restriction on the generality of the invention as described ,bove.

Referring to Figure I, a paver according to the invention is shown. The paver includes a top surface 11 which is the surface which will be exposed when the paver is laid.

The bottom surface 12 is the surface which is laid on the supporting surface which suports the paver. Both of these surfaces arc planar and are substantially parallel to one ;imother. A peripheral side wall 13 extends substantially perpendicular between the upper and lower surfaces 11 and 12 and defines the peripheral edge of the p:Jver The paver 10 is star-shaped. being formed of 3 hexagonal bodies A. 3 and C which arc integrally joined. The paver 10 could be made of any suithblec material, such as concrete or ceramic and may be manufactured by any suitable process such as nioulding.

The side wall of the paver 10 is interrupted in extending portion 2i by a reccss 14 which extends inwardly of the wall 13. "The rice;s has side faces 15 and 16 which converge to an apex 17 at an angle In the embodiment illustrated, the recess is provided in the Shexagonal body A. The recess 14 extends the full height of the side wall 13 and extends through the upper and lower surfaces 11 and 12. The paver has inset portions 22- 23 and 24.

Figure 2 illustrates a paved area 18 which includes a plurality of the pavers shown in Figure 1 and nested together. It can be seen from this figure that the recesses provided in 'ihe Spavers 10 cooperate with the two parts of the side wall of the inset portion 22 of an adjacent i paver to form a regular cavity 19 which extends from the upper or exposed surface c he *paved area 18 to the lower surface which rests against a supporting surface. This is typically a bed of sand or an open coarse gravel bed. The cavities 19 allow drainage of surface water from the upper surface of the paved area to the supporting surface, where it is likely to he absorbed or drained away. The recess 14 lies adjacent the side wall 13 of an adjoining paver and the position of the recess 14 relative to an adjacent paver is always the same. Thus, a regular pattern is formed by the recesses and in Figure 2, this is seen as a plurality of diagonally disposed recesses. In the embodiment shown adjacent cavities 19 are approximately 130 mm apart.

SC C V.MRU7HAROWDEV.ODELETE'AV"&DOG The drainage cavities 19 advantageously can be filled with gravel or an alternative suitable material, so that they do not become filled with refuse that renders them blocked and restricts or prevents drainage therethrough.

As is apparent from Figure 2, the cavities 19 are formed as parallelograms by virtue of the recess 14 being positioned to lie at the junction of adjacent hexagons that form the paver This configuration contributes to the aesthetic appeal of the pattern which is formed when the pavers are laid.

The paver 10 as illustrated, not only facilitates the provision of drainage cavities 19 in a paved area, but the cavities 19 are provided in a manner which is of high aesthetic quality, such that the provision of the cavities does not detract from the overall appearance of the paved area.

It is to be noted that the provision of the cavities 19 does not prevent the application of other pattern or ornamentation to the upper surface 11 of the paver] 0 and as shown in Figure 1, the paver 10 includes a simple bevelled edge 20 extending about the upper peripheral edge of the paver. The bevel could also be applied to the upper edges of the side faces 15 and 16 of the recess 14 if desired.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that there may be many variations and modifications of the configuration described herein which are within the scope of the present invention.

t* o cC 00CRD oVNCE1.E~PA DC

Claims

1. A paver including a top surface, a bottom surface and a peripheral side wall extending between said top and bottom surfaces, a recess interrupting said side wall and extending from said top surface to said bottom surface, said recess being provided to cooperate with the peripheral side wall of a paver laid adjacent thereto, to define a liquid drainage cavity therebetween.

2. A paver according to claim 1, said paver being formed to interlock with another paver.

3. A paver according to claim 2, said paver being of a generally star-shaped configuration, having three extending portions and three inset portions equally spaced between said extending portions, each of said inset portions and said extending portions being configured so that an extehding portion of said paver will nest within an inset portion of a 15 like-shaped paver laid adjacent thereto, said recess being provided in the side wall of said extending portion, so that a drainage cavity may be formed between said extending portion and the side wall of an inset portion of another paver which is laid adjacent said paver.

4. A paver according to any preceding claim, the shape of said recess being different at said top surface when compared to a position remote from said top surface.

5. A paver according to any preceding claim, said recess including a pair of planar i surfaces that converge from said side wall at an angle to each other for substantially the full extent of the recess into the paver.

6. A paver according to claim 5, said planar surfaces being angled at substantially the same angle as between adjacent extending portions.

7. A paver according to any preceding claim, said paver having a star-shaped configuration formed of three hexagonal bodies integrally joined. C.-'I I

8. A paver according to any preceding claim, said recess being positioned to lie adjacent an uninterrupted side wall portion of a paver laid adjacent thereto.

9. A paver according to any one of claims 1 to 7. said recess being positioned to lie adjacent the recess ofa paver laid adjacent to said paver. A paver according to any preceding claim, including a plurality of said recesses-

11. A paved area including a plurality of pavers laid adjacent one another and definung a paved surface, each said paver having a top surface, a bottom surface and peripheral sidewall extending between said top and bottom surfaces, a recess interrupting said side wall and extending from said top surface to said bottom surface, said recess cooperating with:- he peripheral side wall of an adjacent paver in said paved area to define a liquid drainage cavity otherebetween.

12. A paved area according to claim 11, each said paver being shaped to interlock with a paver laid adjacent thereto.

13. A paved are according to claim 12, each said paver being of a generally star-shaped configuration, having three extending portions and three inset portions equally spaced between said extending portions, said pavers interlocking by an extending portion of one paver nesting within an inset portion of an adjacent paver, said recess being provided in the side wall of said extending portion and forming a drainage cavity between said extending portion and the side wall of said inset portion.

14. A paved area according to any one of claims 11 to 13, said drainage cavity being formed as a regular geometric shape, at least at said top surface. A paved area according to claim 14, said drainage cavity being formed as a parallelogram. S16. A paved area according to claims 14 or 15, said drainage cavity having the same shape Sfor its full extent between said top and bottom surfaces. M t; ~Y~nc~F;~p~iH~a-~i~u~i~nu ir ~c

17. A paved area according to any one of claims 11 to 16, said area being formed to have a plurality of drainage cavities in a regular pattern across said area. i 18. A paved area according to claim 17, said regular pattern including a plurality of drainage cavities disposed in diagonal lines across said area.

19. A paved area according to claim 17, said regular pattern including a plurality of drainage cavities disposed in a series of rings or spirals across said area.

20. A paved area according to any one of claims 11 to 19, said pavers being connected together by connecting means. S

21. A paved area according to any one of claims 11 to 20, said drainage cavities being spaced not more than 200 mm apart.

22. A paved area according to claim 21, said drainage cavities being spaced not more than 140 mm apart.

23. A paved area according to any one of claims 11 to 22, each of said drainage cavities being filled with suitable drainage filler.

24. A paved area according to claim 23, said drainage filler being a gravel or sand- S 23 A pa'ver substantially as herein described With reference to Figures i or 2. 2

26. A paved area substantially as herein described with reference to Figure 2. DATED: 15 July 1998 PHILLIPS ORMONDE FITZPATRICK Attomrne fo .LIMITED scc Wss MCfxrmc ai =FKiIJV