EP2045396B1

EP2045396B1 - Process for producing a traffic- and parking-preventing element made of rubber

Info

Publication number: EP2045396B1
Application number: EP07425611.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Marco Ferrarini
Original assignee: Casei Eco System Srl; Sada2 Srl
Current assignee: Casei Eco System Srl; Sada2 Srl
Priority date: 2007-10-02
Filing date: 2007-10-02
Publication date: 2016-03-09
Anticipated expiration: 2027-10-02
Also published as: EP2045396A1

Description

The present invention refers to a process for producing a traffic- and parking-preventing element made of rubber granules.
It is known in the art to use rubber, above all recycled rubber in the form of granules, for producing road kerbs, traffic- and parking-preventing elements and traffic deviating elements, slowing-down hump bridges and other permanent or temporary road devices for safety and/or for delimiting forbidden spaces for parking, for pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle traffic. The use of rubber, above all rubber deriving from run-down vehicle tires, in fact allows a more efficient production of the above devices, at the same time resulting in a valid support for recycling policies, that are more and more up-to-date in almost all Countries in the world. Moreover, such rubber devices have the advantages of not rusting, not discolouring, not chipping and not generating damages, at most very small damages, to vehicles in case of slight impacts. Rubber devices therefore are an efficient solution for parkings and all areas with intense vehicle traffic and where conventional devices get frequently damaged.
XP 002465845 discloses such a rubber device.
The inconvenience of such rubber manufactured products however is their lightness with respect to similar manufactured products made of concrete, reinforced concrete or metallic materials, making them easily displaceable or removable. As remedy for such problem, the art proposes a rubber traffic deviating device secured onto the road surface or underground that, if it receives an impact from a vehicle when manoeuvring, gets distorted, without being subjected to damages or without damaging the vehicles themselves.
KR-A-20020006404 instead discloses safety or traffic delimiting devices produced by moulding foamed polypropylene in granules and reinforced by a metallic or plastic structure or by en external layer made of rubber or polyethylene adapted to guarantee that the devices keep their initial shape.
Object of the present invention is solving the above prior art problems by providing a process for producing a traffic- and parking-preventing element made of rubber granules, in particular recycled rubber, whose weight is increased with an inert weight-increasing material, thereby not requiring the use of separate metallic or plastic structures, as instead provided by the known prior art.
Another object of the present invention is providing a process for producing a traffic- and parking-preventing element made of rubber granules that, being the weight-increasing material mixed in the rubber amalgam, can be produced in a single moulding operation without producing and afterwards integrating separate metallic or plastic structures.
Moreover, an object of the present invention is providing a process for producing a traffic- and parking-preventing element made of rubber granules in which the weight-increasing material is mixed in the amalgam.
The above and other objects and advantages of the invention, as will result from the following description, are obtained with a process for producing a traffic- and parking-preventing element made of rubber as described in claim 1.
Preferred embodiments and non-trivial variations of the present invention are the subject matter of the dependent claims.
It will be immediately obvious that numerous variations and modifications (for example related to shape, sizes and parts with equivalent functionality) could be made to what is described, without departing from the scope of the invention as appears from the enclosed claims.
The present invention will be better described by some preferred embodiments thereof, provided as a nonlimiting example, with reference to the single enclosed drawing, in which FIG. 1 shows a top perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the traffic- and parking-preventing element produced according to the process of the present invention.
With reference therefore to FIG. 1, the traffic- and parking-preventing element 1 is composed of a solid body equipped with at least one bearing base 2, such solid body being formed of at least one amalgam moulded in a solid shape composed of a mixture of rubber granules (the amounts of which will obviously depend on the sizes and/or the shape of the traffic- and parking-preventing element 1 that has to be obtained), of at least one polyurethane resin and of at least one weight-increasing inert material.
In addition, in case a coloured traffic- and parking-preventing element 1 has to be obtained, the above amalgam could also contain at least one colouring paste in the most suitable amounts.
Alternatively, in order to obtain a coloured traffic- and parking-preventing element 1, it is obviously possible to provide for colouring only its external surface with any type of paint.
In order to more strongly link the various components of the traffic- and parking-preventing element 1 one with the other, this element 1 further comprises at least one internal reinforcing structure, preferably of the cage or trellis type (not shown), still more preferably made of metallic material. According to the invention, the internal reinforcement is inserted inside the amalgam still in its pasty state before moulding.
Though it is clear that the granules composing the traffic- and parking-preventing element 1 produced according to the process of the present invention could be derived from any type of rubber suitable for such purpose, preferably they are deriving from recycled tires (SBR) that are cleaned from ply, iron and other residuals and triturated. Obviously, the size of the rubber granules can be the most various, resulting in different levels of porosity and/or surface roughness of the traffic- and parking-preventing element 1. In particular, the Applicants have found that the mean size of the rubber granule should be preferably included between 0.5 mm and 13 mm, still more preferably included between 0.8 mm and 10 mm.
Obviously, the weight-increasing inert material could be of any type and/or nature that allows its mixing, amalgam and moulding with the other components of the traffic- and parking-preventing element 1. In general, the weight-increasing inert material will have a specific weight greater than the weight of the rubber granules. In particular, the weight-increasing inert material could be of a granular shape, such as sand, of an heterogeneous form, such as for example metal filings. Anyway, preferably, the weight-increasing inert material is composed of cobblestones of various nature, that are one of the most inexpensive and efficient solutions for realising the traffic- and parking-preventing element 1 produced according to process of the present invention.
Obviously, the polyurethane resin can be of any type and/or nature suitable for the purpose of the present invention. In particular, anyway, the polyurethane resin is preferably an isocianate.
The traffic- and parking-preventing element 1 could furthermore be equipped, on an upper portion thereof, with a hole 3, possibly threaded inside, to allow gripping of at least one eyelet with a similarly threaded hook, adapted to allow lifting, handling and laying the traffic- and parking-preventing element 1. Preferably, the hole 3 has a diameter D_F included between 7 cm and 9 cm.
The final shape of the traffic- and parking-preventing element 1 can obviously be various. Merely as an example, FIG. 1 shows a traffic- and parking-preventing element 1 having standard shapes and sizes required by Italian Laws, and it appears as a cylindrical body tapered as a dome in its upper part, in the centre of which the hole 3 is obtained.
The realisation of a traffic-and parking-preventing element 1 according to the process of the present invention having an approximate weight included between 100 kg and 115 kg, a height H included between 46 cm and 48 cm, a diameter D_B of the base 2 included between 46 cm and 48 cm, requires the use of an amount Q₁ of rubber granules preferably included between 40 kg and 60 kg and an amount Q₂ of weight-increasing inert material preferably included between 50 Kg and 70 Kg.

Claims

Process for producing a traffic- and parking-preventing element (1) composed of a solid body equipped with at least one bearing base (2), said solid body being formed of at least one amalgam moulded in a solid form and composed of a mixture of rubber granules, of at least one polyurethane resin and of at least one weight-increasing inert material, said amalgam comprising at least one internal reinforcement structure, the mean size of said rubber granule being included between 0.5 mm and 13 mm, more preferably included between 0.8 mm and 10 mm, the process comprising the steps of:
a) providing an amount Q₁ of said rubber granules, said amount Q₁ being included between 40 kg and 60 kg;

b) providing an amount Q₂ of said weight-increasing inert material, said amount Q₂ being included between 50 kg and 70 kg, said weight-increasing inert material having a specific weight greater than the weight of said rubber granules;

c) forming an amalgam by mutually mixing said rubber granules and said weight-increasing inert material adding said at least one polyurethane resin;

d) filling at least one die with said amalgam, said step of filling comprising the substep of inserting said at least one internal reinforcement structure inside said amalgam;

e) moulding said amalgam to obtain said traffic- and parking-preventing element (1), said step of moulding comprising the substep of heating said die at a temperature included between 110°C and 170°C; and

f) extracting said traffic- and parking-preventing element (1) from said die.
Process according to claim 1, characterised in that step c) comprises the substep of adding at least one colouring paste inside said amalgam.
Process according to claim 1, characterised in that said polyurethane resin is an isocianate.
Process according to claim 1, characterised in that said internal reinforced structure is metallic.
Process according to claim 1, characterised in that said internal reinforcement structure is a cage.
Process according to claim 1, characterised in that said internal reinforcement structure is of a trellis type.
Process according to claim 1, characterised in that said weight-increasing inert material is sand.
Process according to claim 1, characterised in that said weight-increasing inert material are metal filings.
Process according to claim 1, characterised in that said weight-increasing inert material are cobblestones.
Process according to claim 1, characterised in that the traffic- and parking-preventing element is equipped with at least one hole (3) arranged on an upper portion of the element (1).
Process according to claim 10, characterised in that said hole (3) is internally threaded.