DK173970B1 - coating elements with cast paving stones, and the form and method of making such an element - Google Patents

Description

χ DK 173970 B1

The invention relates, in part, to a coating comprising at least one element having a plurality of molded paving stones laid and vibrated with intermediate joints on a substrate of particulate material which also partially or completely fills the joints and at least one mesh which is embedded in the stones, and connecting the stones of the element, partly a form and method of making such an element.

Paving stones, for example. sidewalks, parking lots and park-10 facilities are usually laid on a support layer one by one at a joint distance from one another. The joints are subsequently filled with a mineral particulate joint material such as sand which is distributed and swept into the joints. Next, the coating is vibrated so that support layers are compressed to become firm and durable and sealant material is compressed into the joints.

However, a grout of this kind is vulnerable to softening and leaching of the grout material, e.g. heavy rainfall, where the rainwater can penetrate the grout material and further down into the 20 support layers, which are softened. When the softened coating is burdened by traffic from e.g. cars and trucks sink the coating together. The grout material is gradually softened to eventually be completely rinsed away, leaving the paving stones loose.

25

Similar problems arise when a stone pavement has to be cleaned using e.g. machines that often both flush, sweep and / or suck the joint completely or partially out of the joint material.

30

The coating thus loaded is extremely uneven and therefore difficult to move. To avoid accidents and injuries, for example. For vehicles it is therefore necessary to repair damaged and uneven coatings. The cost of maintaining 35 stone pavements of this type is therefore very high, and the conversion is hard and time-consuming, as the stones must be laid again stone by stone with uniform grouting distance over the entire damaged area.

From US 5,615,971, an element consisting of paving stones is known.

5 The stones in this element are held together by a single elastic joint or by an elastic meshe, which allows the distance between the individual stones during laying down to be varied as required and desired. By resiliently deforming the connector or mesh, the shape of the member 10 can be altered to follow curved edges. However, this elastic meshe has a varying mesh size, leaving large seam openings between the individual stones. A meshe or a single joint thus formed, after the laying of the stone element, cannot hold the joint material in the joint.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide a coating of the kind mentioned above, where the grout material is kept stable and firmly stored in the joint between the stones during even heavy rainfall and cleaning with sweeping and sucking machines.

A further object of the invention is to provide a coating of a predetermined joint spacing, which can be removed faster than previously known without the use of great labor, and which is quick, simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

A third object of the invention is to provide a mold for making an element for such coating.

A fourth object of the invention is to provide a process for preparing the coating.

The new and distinctive feature of the invention, by which this is achieved, consists in that at least the part of the net which is in the grout has a fine mesh structure and that the net is embedded in the upper part of the stones.

3 DK 173970 B1

The elements forming the paving can preferably be laid on top of a planed leveling layer of e.g. sand, gravel or Japanese bitleg sand known by Japanese Patent Application No. 9-316808 and German Auslegeschrift DE 1093396, by grasping the cornerstone of each element 5, tightening its mesh and placing it in place in the coating. In this way, the web spacing between the joints corresponds to the joint spacing, which will advantageously have a predetermined size over the entire coating.

Particulate joint material, e.g. As a result, sand, bitus sand, gravel, and the like, or comminuted slag material, which meets any legal requirements for landfill, will generally be referred to as grout sand and the individual particles as grain.

15 When the elements are laid down, grout sand having a grain size equal to or less than the size of a mesh of the mesh's fine-mesh structure is swept across the coating.

20 Because the meshes in the part of the grout that are in the grout have a size that allows loose grout sand to pass, sand grains can easily pass through the mesh openings, and the grout filling can therefore be done quickly and easily.

The masks of the fine-mesh structure of the mesh may in a preferred embodiment be rectangular and of a size which permits the largest grains of sand to pass.

With a vibrator, such as a plate vibrator, the pavement is vibrated against the alignment layer, whereby sand from this layer penetrates the joint, while particulate joint material, such as sand, vibrates into the joint until the entire joint is filled with sand.

The vibrated sand grains rotate and rotate during vibration to form a compact mass where the orientation of the sand grains is changed relative to the orientation at filling the joint. In this way, the individual grains of sand retain each other. DK 173970 B1 4 \ a larger compressed plate structure which is retained under the fine mesh of the mesh. This simply prevents the individual grains of sand from being able to leave the joint. The slab structure, also known from stable gravel, has a very small pore volume, 5 and therefore cannot absorb large amounts of rainwater.

During the casting of elements of the above-mentioned type, it is desirable that the meshes in the part of the net embedded in the stones be sufficiently large to allow the molding material to pass during the casting process. Namely, casting materials such as concrete often contain pebbles and slightly larger particles, which can easily pass through the large masks and disperse into a mold. The casting process thus takes place easily and quickly.

15

The embedded mesh advantageously serves to match a plurality of paving stones in the element so that multiple stones can be laid quickly and easily in one work operation.

In a preferred embodiment, the size of a mesh in the portion of the mesh embedded in the stones constitutes approx. 50%, preferably 75% and especially 95% of one stone's surface area.

When the mesh is made of a material that is either not at all or very slowly decomposed by the influence of the surrounding environment, the coating can easily be reshaped or repaired as desired and needed, moving a single element as one continuous unit.

As the mesh protrudes along the sides of the element, it is advantageously obtained that joints which arise when the elements are laid next to each other are also covered by fine mesh. Thus, since the compressed grout sand can also be retained in the joints between the elements, the finished coating has no weak or particularly vulnerable areas.

5 DK 173970 B1

Such an element having a plurality of molded paving stones with intermediate joints and molded mesh may be particularly conveniently molded in a mold comprising, in part, a sub mold having one casting chamber, each having a web corresponding to the height of the stones from the top of the stones, partly an over-mold with mold chambers that corresponds to the mold of the sub-mold.

The mold may be formed of any desired size with respect to e.g. thickness, extent, or shape of a rock, with each individual shape having one or more associated nets.

The element may be molded in such a mold by a method comprising an initial step wherein a sub-mold having one chamber of each stone having a web corresponding to the distance from the top of the stones is placed on a substrate, with a mold opening in the casting chambers facing upwards. In the further fabrication steps, the net is first placed on the upper side of the sub-mold 20 so that the molding openings are covered by the large meshes of the mesh and the fine mesh structure covers the area between the molding openings. On top of the sub-mold is then placed an over mold with mold chambers corresponding to the mold of the sub mold. The over-mold and sub-mold together form a mold 25 with mold chambers in which the molding material is cast into stones which are interconnected by means of the net. The molding material is allowed to harden before the mold is separated and the element is removed. The same shape can be used for repeated castings.

Alternatively, in the initial step, the sub-mold may be filled with one or more natural stones, colored stones, or embossings, so as to be able to easily produce coating elements with different patterns and appearance. By way of example, texts and references to parking spaces may advantageously already be present in the coating element before being placed in place.

6 DK 173970 B1 In the case of natural stones, the web can optionally adhere to said at least one natural stone. Alternatively, the casting material itself will adhere to both the web and the natural stone during the casting itself.

The invention is explained in more detail below, by describing only an exemplary embodiment with reference to the drawing, in which

FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of a coating according to the invention with six coating elements,

FIG. 2 is a top view of a mesh in a coating element according to the invention; FIG. 3 is a top view of a coating element according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a section through a molded paving mold; and 20

FIG. 5 is a sectional side view of a finished coating with filled joints.

In the following, it is assumed that the coating consists of cast concrete and that the particulate material used as a substrate and for filling the joints is true.

In FIG. 1, a finished coating 1 consisting of, in this case, six elements is seen. One of these elements is indicated 30 with the dashed line shown. Each element 2 consists of sixteen stones 4, separated by sand-filled joints 3.

FIG. 2 shows a net 5 embedded in the stones 4 at a distance from the top of the stones. In FIG. 1, the net is hidden by the sand in the 3 5 joints.

7 DK 173970 B1

The mesh 5 is formed by a large number of threads, which are preferably arranged perpendicular to each other, to form partly a finely masked structure 6, to cover the joints 3 between the cast stone 4 of the element and partly to a coarse-masked structure 7, to 5 each. falls partially to be cast into the stones 4. The mesh size is varied as needed and depending on the nature and nature of the concrete and grout sand. The masks in the finely masked structure 6 of FIG. 2 and 3 have both square and rectangular openings. However, the openings may also advantageously be either only square 10 or only rectangular, as different combinations of number of openings of different sizes and shapes may be convenient for different purposes. The openings in the coarse-masked structure 7 are selected so large that the concrete is allowed to pass unobstructed during the casting process.

15

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a pre-cast element 2 with embedded mesh 5 and sixteen stones 4. As can be seen, the fine-mesh structure 6 of the mesh 5 resides in the joints 3 between the stones 4, while the coarse-mesh structure 7 is cast into the stones 4 and 20, therefore. is not visible in the figure. The mesh 5 binds the stones 4 together into a manageable whole.

For example, the size of at least one mesh in the portion of the web located in the joints is less than 100 mm *, preferably less than 50 mm * and especially less than 35 mm *, to allow sand grains with typical diameters of between 0 and 6 mm to pass, and the size of a mesh in the portion of the mesh embedded in the stones is preferably about 50%, preferably 75% and especially 95% of one stone's surface area.

In a preferred embodiment, the size of at least one mask in the coarse-masked structure 7 embedded in the stones 4 is greater than ca. 1 cm * and less than one stone 4's surface area.

35 8 DK 173970 B1 1 fig. 4, a shape 8 is shown for making an element 2 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 with one grid 5 of the type shown in FIG.

2.

The mold 8 serves to mold an element 2 with a plurality of stones 4 with intermediate joints 3 and molded mesh 5 by means of a sub-mold 9 and a mold 10. The sub-mold 9 has mold chambers 11, each having a height a corresponding to to the distance of the web 5 from the top 12. of the stones 4. The mold 10 has 10 mold chambers 13 which correspond to the mold chamber 11 of the mold mold 9 and having a height b.

Each of the pair-corresponding mold chambers 11,13 together forms a mold chamber 11,13 having a height a + b.

When an element is to be cast, the sub-mold 9 is placed on a substrate with the mold opening of the casting chambers 11 facing up. The mesh 5 is placed on the upper surface of the sub-mold 9 so that its coarse-mesh structure 7 will cover the mold opening and the 20 fine-mesh structure 6 the partitions 16 between the mold chambers 11. Next, the super-mold 10 is placed on top of the sub-mold 9 so that each mold 10's mold chambers 13 correspond to a casting chamber 11 in the sub-mold 9. Finally, the mold is filled with concrete 14, which may have a content of larger particles 15, and when the concrete is cured, the mold is separated and the finished element removed. The mesh 5 now binds the stones 4 together into a coherent element 2 which, with fixed joints c, is ready to use for a concrete stone coating.

The molds may preferably be made of a synthetic polymer such as polypropylene or polyethylene which is partially elastic so that the stones can be easily removed from the molds.

FIG. 5. shows a fragmentary section of a pavement with four stones. 15 cm thickly roughened substrate 17 of, for example, stable gravel, a layer of sanded sand 18 9 DK 173970 B1 of, for example, 3 cm thickness is laid. On top of the sand layer 18, a number of elements 2 are formed in the grout spacing c which form the coating 1. The grout 3 is filled with grout sand 19 which has loosely passed the masks in the fine-mesh structure 6.

5

Preferably, the mesh 5 is embedded very close to the top side 12 of the stones 4, and as an example, the mesh is embedded between 5 and 15 mm from the top side of the stones, with particular preference being to cast the mesh approx. 15 mm from the top of the stones.

10

The invention is not limited to the above mentioned dimensions of joint spacing, stone thicknesses, stone sizes and mesh sizes, any advantageous combination of the size of e.g. particles in commercially available grout sand set the limit for e.g. the mesh size of the fine-mesh structure, and the content of the cast material of larger particles set the limit for the mesh size in the coarse-mesh structure.

Furthermore, within the invention, strips 20 of mesh with a fine mesh structure can be used! instead of a coherent network. These mesh strips are laid during the casting process on the partitions 9 of the sub-mold and project into the mold chambers with a portion sufficiently large for the stones to adhere securely to an entire element 2.

25

Areas to be paved but where an entire element is too large can be covered with a section of an element, the desired section being made by simply cutting the web between the stones.

30

As mentioned above, the fine mesh 6 of the mesh 5 allows the sand to pass through the masks in a loose state and fill the grout with grout sand. As the coating is vibrated, sand from the erected layer 18 rises into the joints 3, while the grout sand 19 35 vibrates down into the joints. Thereby the sand is compressed into the filled joint, and the sand is packed into a compressed mass which, due to the plate effect, can no longer pass through the net even if the joints are subjected to heavy rainfall or to sweeping / suction machines. Filling and vibration may be repeated in cases where joint replenishment is required.

The humidity of the layer 18 can be adjusted according to your wishes and circumstances. The degree of moisture can advantageously be utilized by filling from below, since it has been found that the higher the moisture content of the layer, the more sand penetrates into the joint from below.

Due to the above-mentioned significant advantages, the joints in the coating should not be replenished and maintained as often as previously known. Therefore, the cost of maintaining the coating becomes small.

As the fine-mesh mesh advantageously holds the grout sand back into the grout, elements with a hitherto new and unknown 20 grout spacing can be produced between the cast paving stones.

The elements are easy and quick to lay, and it is also easy to stack and transport a larger number of elements, as the embedded net eliminates the risk of the stones falling apart and stacks of stones falling over.

Claims (12)

A coating (1) comprising at least one element (2) having a plurality of molded coating stones 5 (4) laid and interspersed with intermediate joints (3) on a substrate of a particulate material (18) which is completely or partially also fills the joints (3), at least one mesh (5) embedded in the stones (4) and connecting the stone (4) of the element (2), characterized in that at least that part of the mesh (5), which is located in the joints (3), has a fine mesh structure (6) and that the mesh (5) is embedded in the upper part of the stones (4). Coating (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the masks in the part of the net (5) embedded in the stones (4) are larger than the masks in the part of the net (5) which are in the the joints (3). Coating (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the meshes in the part of the mesh (5) located in the joints (3) are of such size that loose particulate material (19) can pass, but not compressed particulate matter (19). 25 Coating (1) according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the size of the meshes in the part of the mesh (5) located in the joints (3) is preferably less than 100 mm *, preferably less than 50 mm * and especially less than 35 mm *. 30 Coating (1) according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that the meshes in the part of the net (5) embedded in the stones (4) are sufficiently large to allow the molding material (14) to pass underneath. casting process. 35 12 DK 173970 B1 Coating (1) according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that the size of a mesh in the part of the net (5) embedded in the stones (4) is preferably approx. 50%, preferably 75% and especially 95% of one stone (4) surface area. 5 Coating (1) according to any of claims 1-6, characterized in that the size of at least one mesh in the part of the net (5) which is embedded in the stones (4) is greater than approx. 1 cmJ and less than one stone (4) surface area. 10 Coating (1) according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that the net (5) is made of a material which is not or only very slowly degraded by influence from the surrounding environment. 15 Coating (1) according to any of claims 1-8, characterized in that the net (5) protrudes along the sides of the element (2) with a fine mesh structure (6). Mold (8) for molding a coating according to claim 1, characterized in that the mold (8) comprises a sub-mold (9) having one casting chamber (11) associated with each stone (4) having the distance of the web (5) from the height of the top of the stones (4), and 25 - a mold (10) with mold chambers (13) corresponding to the mold chambers (11) of the mold (9). Method for preparing a coating according to claim 1, characterized in that the method comprises an initial step, wherein - a sub-mold (9) having one casting chamber (11) associated with each stone (4) having one of the mesh (5) spacing from the top (12) of the stones (4) corresponding to height a, is placed on a substrate, with a molding opening in the casting chambers (11) facing upwards, and the further manufacturing steps comprise B1 that the mesh (5) is placed on the upper side of the sub-mold (9), that a mold (10) with casting chambers (13) corresponding to the casting chambers (11) of the sub-mold (9) / is placed on top of the sub-mold, that the molding material ( 14) is cast into the assembled mold (8), that the molding material (14) is cured, that the mold (8) is separated and that the element is taken out of the mold (8). Method according to claim 11, characterized in that the preliminary step further comprises at least one molding chamber (11) in the sub-mold (9) being filled with one or more natural stones and the mesh (5) optionally adhering to said at least one natural stone.