EP2385173A1

EP2385173A1 - Pavement system

Info

Publication number: EP2385173A1
Application number: EP10162317A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Hans Reijersen van Buuren
Original assignee: RvB Products BV
Current assignee: RvB Products BV
Priority date: 2010-05-07
Filing date: 2010-05-07
Publication date: 2011-11-09

Abstract

The invention relates to a pavement system for forming a closed surface covering. The pavement system comprises plastic pavement tiles. A pavement tile comprises a substantially flat top cover layer with below said cover layer and a perimeter wall for providing support and for enclosing a perimeter boundary for the tile. A supporting wall structure between the perimeter wall comprises a multitude of ribs forming recurring units, the ribs having a height common with a height of the perimeter wall and provides support for a load imposed at the substantially flat top cover layer. A tile comprises at least one annular joint which forms a connection between ribs forming the boundary between at least two adjacent units.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a pavement system, more a particular to a pavement system for the production of floor coverings of high load-bearing capacity. The invention further relates to a method of covering a surface to provide of floor coverings of high load-bearing capacity.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A base plate made of plastic for the production of floor coverings of high load-bearing capacity is known from EP204947 . The base plate consists of a plate essentially flat on the top side. From the underside of the plate project two groups of intersecting rows of integrally formed-on parallel supporting and stiffening webs which are interrupted at regular or irregular intervals over their entire web height.
US2007/0261317A1 discloses floor tiles and modular floors. The floor tiles comprises first and second set of spaced ribs wherein the first and second set of spaced ribs are perpendicular to each other and form an open top surface.
Furthermore, US5787654 discloses a tile for a modular flooring assemblies comprises support ribs which are disposed to intersect and form an isogrid of equilateral support triangles within the tile. The equilateral support triangles provide more even dispersion of loads placed on the tile, and thereby reducing warping and other damage to the tile.
The use of modular flooring assemblies made of synthetic materials has grown in popularity. The synthetic modular floors are advantageous for several reasons. A first reason is that they are typically formed of materials which are generally inexpensive and lightweight. If a tile is damaged it may easily be replaced. The individual tiles making up the covering can easily be removed, relocated and then replaced to form a new covering in another location.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to provide a pavement system having load bearing characteristics comparable with slab and prefab concrete products which are used for industrial flooring, support bases in rail infra, as part of traffic systems and temporary roads across weak agricultural road, yard paving, farming and plot roads.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by a pavement system having the features of Claim 1. Advantageous embodiments and further ways of carrying out the invention may be attained by the measure mentioned in the dependent claims. According to the invention, a pavement system for forming a closed surface covering for a floor covering with high load-bearing capacity comprises plastic pavement tiles. Each tile comprises a substantially flat top cover layer;
a perimeter wall for providing support and for enclosing a perimeter boundary for the tile; supporting wall structure between the perimeter wall comprising a multitude of ribs forming recurring units, the ribs having a height common with a height of the perimeter wall for providing support for a load imposed at the substantially flat top cover layer; characterized in that, a pavement tile comprises at least one annular joint, wherein each annular joint forms a connection between ribs forming the boundary between at least two adjacent units.
The invention is based on the recognition that the structure below the flat top cover layer is strong enough to carry the load on the top layer surface and will keep the tiles in place when a load travels across the cover layer. Furthermore, the structure should not be damaged by stones in the soil covered by the pavement system. Any damage of the lower side of rib will weaken the strength of a tile Furthermore, the ribs should be as thin as possible to reduce weight of the tiles. As the pavement system could be used on a moistened and weak soil, the ribs will be forced into the soil. The supporting wall structure provides already a first source keep the tiles in place The ribs will be pushed in to the soil and the soil will prevent movement of the tiles in horizontal direction. It has further been found that a rib tapering outwardly from the bottom end toward the top end at an angle in the range of 0,2 - 2 degrees is sufficient to release easily the ribs from the soil. Another advantage of such small tapering angle with respect to wider tapering angles is that less material is needed for producing a tile, which as a consequence reduces the weight of a tile. Preferably, a rib is 6 mm thick and the walls taper outward with an angle of 0,5 degrees. A third advantage of the tapering ribs is that the stiffness of a rib decreases from the top to the bottom. In the event a to heavy load is travelling across the cover layer, the horizontal forces in the ribs in the longitudinal direction of the ribs due to bending of the tile will be more even distributed along the height of the ribs. Consequently, a rib will not start to be weakened at the bottom end of the rib but if along the entire height of a rib. The annular joints improves the bending characteristics of a tile and allows the tile to warp more without damaging the straight parallel ribs. The annular joints form the corners of stiff areas formed by the ribs which are not interrupted by annular joint. The recurring units could be essentially right-angled units, essentially hexagonal units, or a combination of triangle units, right angled units, hexagonal units or any other suitable shaped unit to form the support wall structure.
In an embodiment of the invention, the at least one joint is centrally located below the top cover layer. In this embodiment the joint divides the tile into four quarters, each forming a stiff area.
In an embodiment of the invention, the system further comprises coupling tiles, wherein each pavement tile comprises four corners, each corner having a coupling structure for cooperation with a corresponding coupling structure of a coupling tile, wherein the coupling tile is arranged to couple the corners of at least two adjacent pavement tiles. If the tiles are relatively small with respect to the load to carry, a tile may move horizontally with respect to an adjacent tile resulting in cracks between the tiles and making the pavement unstable. To overcome these movements the structure below the cover layer forms also a coupling system to keep adjacent tiles next to each.
In an embodiment, the coupling structure of the pavement tile is a through hole from the top to the bottom of the pavement tile and the coupling tile comprise a flat top layer wherein the coupling structure is provide below said flat top layer and wherein the coupling structure of the coupling tile is arranged to fit into a through hole of a pavement tile.
In an embodiment, the through hole of the pavement tile comprises walls wherein the walls being formed by two adjacent ribs of the first plurality of generally parallel ribs and two adjacent ribs of the second plurality of parallel ribs.
In an embodiment, at least a part of a rib forming the wall of the through hole and an edge of the pavement tile is set back with respect to the part of the corresponding rib part between two coupling structures at a side of the pavement tile. In an advantageous embodiment, the coupling structure of a pavement tile comprises an S shaped rib part between the part of a rib forming the wall of the through hole and the corresponding rib part between two corners. The inward placement of the part of the rib allows some deformation, i.e. sideward movement of the wall, when a coupling structure of a coupling tile is inserted into the through hole. The deformations further allows to have some small movements between adjacent pavement tiles when a high load is crossing the surface of the pavement system, without damaging the pavement system.
In an embodiment, the ribs of the coupling structure of a pavement tile forming the edge of the pavement tile have an upper side which is at a predefined distance below the bottom side of the top cover layer and wherein the coupling tile comprise between its coupling structures ribs having a height corresponding to said predefined distance. The ribs improves the strength of the coupling tiles.
In an embodiment, a coupling tile comprises two perpendicular ribs and an annular joint, wherein the annular joint interrupts the two perpendicular ribs and forms a connection between said perpendicular ribs. The annular joint allows the coupling tile to bend without damaging the ribs below its top layer.
In an embodiment, the coupling structure of a coupling tile comprises an annular rib having an exterior surface which is provided with at least one vertical raised edge for fastening the coupling structure of the coupling tile in a through hole of the pavement tile. The raised edge reduces the force needed to couple two or four pavement tiles by means of inserting the coupling tile into the corresponding parts of the pavement tiles.
In an embodiment, a coupling structure is provided by through holes in the perimeter wall for receiving a pin or bold and coupling two adjacent tiles by means of a pin connection of nut and bold connection.
In an embodiment, the substantially flat top cover layer comprises bevelled edges providing a grove between top cover layers of two adjacent tiles. In a further embodiment, the grove is filled with a sealing compound. These features enable one to provide a liquid and dust tight floor or soil covering.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method of covering a surface, in particularly a floor coverings of high load-bearing capacity. The method comprises:

providing the pavement system according to any one of embodiment given above;-covering the surface with tiles of said pavement system.

In a further embodiment the method comprises:

assembling remote from the surface a stack of composite tiles from tiles comprising through holes in the perimeter wall for receiving a pin construction and composing a composing a composite tile by coupling two adjacent tiles by means of a nut and bolt connection;
transporting the stack of composite tiles by means of transportation to the surface; and covering at least a part of the surface with said composite tiles. It is advantageous to have relative small tiles instead of tiles having the width of for example the width of a temporary road, as small tiles can be used more often than such large tiles. Furthermore, smaller tiles can be manufactured with lower cost per square meter than large tiles. Furthermore, due to the decreased weight of plastic pavement tiles per square meter compared to tiles of concrete, more tiles can be transported on a transporter and the tiles can be handled more easily. By preassembling composite tiles from smaller tiles, larger tiles can be supplied to the surface to be covered and the time to cover the surface can be reduced compared to using only smaller tiles. Furthermore, due to the larger size, the friction with the soil will increase, which prevents horizontal movement along the surface of a tile further.

It will be clear that the various aspects mentioned in this patent application may be combined and may each be considered separately for a divisional patent application. Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing which illustrate, by way of example, various features of preferred embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

These and other aspects, properties and advantages of the invention will be explained hereinafter based on the following description with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like or comparable parts, and in which:

Figure 1 shows a top view of an embodiment of a pavement tile according to the invention;
Figure 2 shows a side view of the pavement tile shown in figure 1;
Figure 3 shows a bottom view of the pavement tile shown in figure 1;
Figure 4 shows a bottom view of an embodiment of the coupling system according to the invention;
Figure 5 shows a cross section along B - B in figure 4;
Figure 6 shows a cross section along A - A in figure 4;
Figure 7 shows a top view of an embodiment of a coupling tile according to the invention;
Figure 8 shows a side view of the pavement tile shown in figure 7;,
Figure 9 shows a bottom view of the pavement tile shown in figure 7;
Figure 10 shows a bottom view of another embodiment of a pavement tile; and;
Figure 11 shows a bottom view of a pavement tile composed of smaller pavement tiles.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Figures 1 - 3 show an embodiment of a pavement tile according to the invention. A pavement tile is made from a plastic, more particularly a polyethylene thermoplastic such as high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polyethylene high-density (PEHD). HDPE is commonly recycled. The pavement tile 1 comprises a substantially flat cover layer 2. The upper side flat cover layer 2 could be smooth, rough, corrugated, or have any other suitable texture depending on the application of the pavement tiles. The texture could be applied on the flat cover layer during the moulding of the tile but could also be applied as an additional layer of a suitable material, for example an layer of antiskid material.
The pavement tile 1 could have any suitable size and form. In figure 1, the form is a square. The form could also be a rectangle, diamond, triangle or any other form to cover a surface with similar shaped tiles.
The size suitable for the production of floor coverings of high load-bearing capacity is in a range from about 50 cm x 50 cm to 250 cm x 250 cm. The embodiment shown in figure 1 comprises coupling structures 3 in the form of through holes at the corners of the pavement tile 1. The coupling structure allows us to couple by means of a coupling tile adjacent pavement tiles. It has been found that a pavement with large pavement tiles, i.e. larger then 150 cm x 150, no coupling is needed to keep the individual tiles in place with respect to each other. In that case, a tile does not have the through holes, but has a fully covered flat cover layer 2.
Figure 3 shows a first plurality of generally parallel ribs 4 disposed in a first orientation provided at a bottom side of the top cover layer; and a second plurality of generally parallel ribs 5 disposed in a second orientation provided at the bottom side of the top cover layer, wherein the second orientation is perpendicular to the first orientation. The parallel ribs 4,5 within a perimeter wall 23 enclosing a perimeter boundary for the tile form a supporting wall structure, wherein the ribs have a height that is common with the height of the perimeter wall. The supporting wall structure provide support for a load imposed at the essentially flat top cover layer. The ribs 4,5 form recurring units 24 having a right-angled form. The units 24 have the shape of a square but could also be a rectangle. In general, a unit 24 is a number of straight rib parts which form a cavity below the flat top cover layer. The rib parts forming the exterior of the cavity form a polygon. Depending on the application of the pavement tiles, the ribs at the bottom end have a thickness in the range of 3 - 10 mm. For some applications, the side walls of the ribs taper outwardly from the bottom end toward the top end at an angle in the range of 0,2 - 2 degrees. This means that the angle between the bottom side of the top surface layer and the wall is in the range of 90,2 - 92 degrees. The tapering is advantages when detaching a tile from moistened soil, or other weak soils.
Furthermore, Figure 3 shows that the supporting wall structure comprises an annular joint 6 in the from of a circular rib. The annular joint interrupts a rib 4' of the first plurality of generally parallel ribs and a rib 5' of the second plurality of generally parallel ribs. The annular joint 6 forms a connection between said two ribs and is a replacement of the crossings of the ribs at the bottom side of the pavement tile 1. In other words, the annular joint forms a connection between ribs forming the boundary between at least two adjacent units 24. In the present embodiment, the annular joint 6 is positioned at the position where the four corners of four adjacent units met each other. The annular shaped of joint could be deformed when a heavy load is on the top layer near the annular joint. The deformation allows the pavement tile to bend along the top layer resulting in less stress in the ribs. In case of large pavement tiles, more then one annular joint could be used to divide the top layer into relatively stiff areas which could bend slightly along the ribs between annular joints. Preferably, the annular joint are regularly distributed along the ribbed structure formed by the first and second plurality of parallel ribs.
In the embodiment shown in figs. 1 -3, the pavement tile 1 comprises at each corners of the tile a coupling structure 3. The coupling structure 3 consist of parts 3' of ribs forming the outside of the tile 1 and parts 3" of the generally parallel ribs 4,5 positioned between the ribs forming the outside of the tile. The upper side between the ribs of the coupling structure 3 is not covered with a top cover layer. In this way, the coupling structure is a through hole from the top to the bottom of the pavement tile. The coupling structure is arranged to cooperate with a corresponding coupling structure of a coupling tile. A coupling tile will be describe below in more detail. By means of a coupling tile, two or more coupling structures are the corners of adjacent pavement tiles could be coupled to prevent adjacent tiles to avoid horizontal movement of adjacent pavement tiles with respect to each other.
The coupling structure 3 at a corner of the pavement tile consists of walls being formed by two adjacent ribs of the first plurality of generally parallel ribs and two adjacent ribs of the second plurality of parallel ribs. From Figs 1 and 3 can be seen that at least a part of a rib 3' forming the outside of a tile is set back with respect to the part 7 of the corresponding rib forming the outside of the pavement tile between two opposite coupling structures corners. An S-shaped rib part 8 couples the part 3' of the rib that is set back with the part 8 of the rib forming the outside of a tile between two coupling structures.
From figs 1 and 2 can be seen that the upper side of the ribs 3" of the coupling structure 3 at the inner side of the tile is lower at the outer side 10 of the tile then at the inner part 9 of the coupling structure 3. This provides space to strengthen a coupling tile, which will be described hereafter.
Figure 4 shows a bottom view of an embodiment of the coupling system according to the invention. Shown are two pavement tiles which are coupled by means of a coupling tile 11. The coupling tile 11 comprises four coupling structures 13 for cooperation with a corresponding coupling structure 3 of a pavement tile 1. Figure 5 shows a cross section along B - B in figure 4 and Figure 6 shows a cross section along A - A in figure 4.
The structure of a coupling tile will be described in more detail by means of Figs 7, 8 and 9, wherein figure 7 shows a top view of an embodiment of a coupling tile according to the invention, figure 8 shows a side view of the pavement tile shown in figure 7; and, figure 9 shows a bottom view of the pavement tile shown in figure 7.
A coupling tile comprises a similarly to the pavement tile a substantially flat cover layer 19. The upper side 71 of the flat cover layer 2 could be smooth, rough, corrugated, or have any other suitable texture depending on the application of the pavement tiles. The texture could be applied on the flat cover layer during the moulding of the tile but could also be applied as an additional layer of a suitable material, for example an layer of antiskid material. The edges 72 of the top cover layer 19 are preferably bevelled to from together with the bevelled edge 73 of the cover layer 2 of the pavement tile a groove 74. This groove can be seen in figures 5 and 6. The groove 74 between the cover layer both adjacent pavement tiles 1, and adjacent pavement tile 1 and coupling tile 11 could be filed with a sealing material (not shown).
Below the flat cover layer 19 the coupling tile 11 comprises coupling structures 13. A coupling structure of a coupling tile comprises an annular rib 14 having an exterior surface which is provided with vertical raised edges 15. Advantageously, both the annular rib 14 and the raised edges taper outwardly from the bottom end toward the top end at an angle which is preferably in the range of 0,2 - 2 degrees. In other words, the angle between the lower side of the cover layer and the wall of the rib is in the range of 90,2 - 92 degrees. At the bottom end the raised edges are bevelled. The raised edges 15 reduces the contact area of the coupling structure of the coupling tile with the coupling structure of the pavement tile. This enables one to insert the coupling structure of the coupling tile into the through hole of the coupling structure of a pavement tile with a force which is in a predefined range.
Furthermore, the coupling tile 11 comprises below the cover layer 19 a structure of ribs 20, 21, 22 which strengthen the coupling tile 11 and prevents bending of the coupling tile. The structure of ribs comprises an annular joint 21 which interrupts two perpendicular or crossing ribs to form a connection between said perpendicular or crossing ribs. Furthermore, to strengthen the coupling tile, at each side of the coupling tile the structure of ribs comprise ribs 22 forming the outer side of the coupling tile. This part forms a connection between two adjacent pavement tiles. When the pavement system is heavily loaded, the surface formed by adjacent pavement tiles will tend to kink resulting in bending forces in the coupling tile.
To provide space for the strengthening ribs 20, 21, 22 below the cover layer of the coupling tile 3, the ribs 3'of the coupling structure of a pavement tile forming the edge of the pavement tile have an upper side which is at a predefined distance below the bottom side of the top cover layer. Consequently, the ribs 20, 21 and 22 could have a height corresponding to said predefined distance. In figure 8, the height 81 indicates the sum of the thickness of the cover layer 19 and the predefined distance.
The lower side 18 of a vertical raised edge 15 is bevelled. The bevelled edge is advantageous for positioning or to centre the coupling structure 13 of the coupling tile 11 with respect to the coupling structures 3 of adjacent pavement tiles. The bevelled edges direct the coupling structures in the right position to push the annular ribs 14of the coupling structure 13 of the coupling tile into the through hole formed by the coupling structure 3 of the pavement tile.
Figures 4 -6 elucidate the cooperation of the coupling structure 3 of the pavements tiles 1 and the coupling structure 13 of a coupling tile 11. The set back part of the rib 3' of the coupling structure 3 of a pavement tile 1 in combination with the S-shaped rib part 8 forms a structure to set off high coupling forces. First, the S-shaped rib part 8 allows the set back part 3' to move with respect to the opposite rib part 3" of the coupling structure to enlarge the through hole formed by the ribs 3'and ribs 3". Tolerance variations on both the dimensions of the coupling structures can be compensated. Furthermore, the stiffness of the S-shaped part will substantially determine to force that is needed to insert the coupling structure 13 of a coupling tile 11 in the through hole of the coupling structure of a pavement tile.
By having the raised edges 15, the contact surface between the coupling structure of the pavement tile and the coupling structure of the coupling tile is substantially limited to the dimensions of the raised edges 15. Therefore, the raised edges reduces the friction surface substantially resulting in a lower force needed to couple adjacent pavement tiles by means of a coupling tile. Figures 5 and 6 show that the coupling structures only have contact in the area of the raised edges 15. Furthermore, figures 5 and 6 show the groove 74 between two adjacent tile formed by the bevelled edges 72 and 73 of the coupling tile and pavement tile.
Another advantage of the S-shape rib part 8 and the set back rib part 3' is that this allows to have some space between two adjacent pavement tiles while it is still possible to couple said tiles by means of a coupling tile.
The coupling structure 3 at a corner of the pavement tile consists of walls being formed by two adjacent ribs of the first plurality of generally parallel ribs and two adjacent ribs of the second plurality of parallel ribs. From Figs 1 and 3 can be seen that at least a part of a rib 3' forming the outside of a tile is set back with respect to the part 7 of the corresponding rib forming the outside of the pavement tile between two opposite coupling structures corners. An S-shaped rib part 8 couples the part 3' of the rib that is set back with the part 8 of the rib forming the outside of a tile between two coupling structures.
Figure 10 shows a bottom view another embodiment of a pavement tile according to the invention. The pavement tile comprises a honeycomb configuration of a supporting wall structure forming recurring hexagon units 24'. The supporting wall structure 25 is positioned between perimeter wall 23. The embodiment shown in figure 10 shows 4 annular joints 6' . An annular joints 6' in this embodiment connects three ribs wherein the ribs form the corners of three adjacent hexagon units 24'. The pavement tile does not comprise a coupling structure as shown in figure 1 - 4. To obtain the desired strength and flexibility of a tile, the joint should be evenly distributed along the support structure. In the embodiments given only one corner of a unit comprises an annular joint. It might be clear that is could be possible that more than one corner of a unit could complies an annular joint to obtain the desired effect.
Figure 11 shows a bottom view of a composite pavement tile 27 composed of smaller pavement tiles. The composite pavement 27 is composed out of nine smaller pavement tiles 1' having a supporting wall structure 25 between the perimeter wall 23 which forms right-angled units 24. Furthermore, the supporting wall structure 25 of a tile comprises an annular joint 6 at the centre of a tile 1'. The perimeter wall 23 of a tile 1' comprises through holes for receiving a pin or nut and bold 26 for coupling adjacent tiles. However, any other suitable coupling structure could be used to couple the tiles. An advantage of a composite pavement tile over a pavement tile having the same size is that if one smaller tile is damaged that only the smaller tile has to be replaced. Furthermore, a composite pavement can be recycled by removing the connection by means of the bolt and nut and using the smaller tiles again in another project. A pin coupling is suitable to prevent only vertical movement of adjacent tiles with respect to each other. A bold and nut coupling should be used to affix the tiles and preventing movement of adjacent tiles in any direction. It should noted that the number of tiles to compose a composite tile depends on the application of the composite tile and the size of the smaller tile.
It should further be noticed that the figures shows sharp edges in the transition surface from for example lower side of the cover layer and ribs and crossing ribs. Stress at these sharp edges will weaken the tiles resulting in damages. To reduce the risk of damages at the transitions between surface areas, the transitions are preferably not sharp but curved with a radius in the range of 2 - 4 mm.
It might be clear that the tile dimensions and composition will depend upon the specific application to the pavement system will be applied. Composition of the tiles are usually of a plastic such as HDPE Thos skilled in the art will appreciate other variations in size and composition that may be implemented within the parameters of the present invention. The tiles are preferably made by means of an injection moulding process.
To cover a surface with a pavement system comprising both pavement tiles and coupling tiles the following method is performed which comprises the steps of: covering the surface with pavement tiles, wherein the coupling structures of adjacent pavement tiles are positioned next to each other and inserting the coupling structure of the coupling tiles in the through holes of the coupling structures of the pavement tiles.
An advantage of the pavement system according to the invention is that easily damaged pavement tiles can be replaced by new pavement tiles. By removing the coupling tiles which couple the damaged tile, the damaged tile can be pulled up vertically without moving the adjacent pavement tiles and a new pavement tile can be position back in the position of the damaged tile. By positioning the coupling tiles in the corresponding locations, the floor covering is repaired having it originally strength.
The measures described hereinbefore for embodying the invention can obviously be carried out separately or in parallel or in a different combination or if appropriate be supplemented with further measures; it will in this case be desirable for the implementation to depend on the field of application of the pavement system. The invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments. Changes can be made without departing from the idea of the invention. Other recurring units are possible wherein a joint is positioned at the corner of two adjacent right-angled units and interrupts the rib between two corners of a third adjacent unit.

Claims

Pavement system for forming a closed surface covering, the pavement system comprises plastic pavement tiles, each tile comprising:
a substantially flat top cover layer;

a perimeter wall for providing support and for enclosing a perimeter boundary for the tile;

a supporting wall structure between the perimeter wall comprising a multitude of ribs forming recurring units, the ribs having a height common with a height of the perimeter wall for providing support for a load imposed at the substantially flat top cover layer;

characterized in that, a pavement tile comprises at least one annular joint, wherein each annular joint forms a connection between ribs forming the boundary between at least two adjacent units.
Pavement system according to claim 1, wherein the recurring units are essentially right-angled units.
Pavement system according to claim 1, wherein the recurring units are essentially hexagonal units.
Pavement system according to claim 1, characterized in that, at least one joint is centrally located below the top cover layer.
Pavement system according any of the claims 1 - 4, characterized in that, the system further comprises coupling tiles, wherein each pavement tile comprises four corners, each corner having a coupling structure for cooperation with a corresponding coupling structure of a coupling tile, wherein the coupling tile is arranged to couple the corners of at least two adjacent pavement tiles.
Pavement system according to claim 5, characterized in that, the coupling structure of the pavement tile is a through hole from the top to the bottom of the pavement tile and the coupling tile comprise a flat top layer wherein the coupling structure is provide below top layer wherein a coupling structure of the coupling tile is arranged to fit into the through hole.
Pavement system according to claim 6, wherein the through hole comprises walls wherein the walls being formed by two adjacent ribs of the first plurality of generally parallel ribs and two adjacent ribs of the second plurality of parallel ribs.
Pavement system according to claim 7, wherein a least a part of a rib forming the wall of the through hole and an edge of the pavement tile is set back with respect to the part of the corresponding rib part between two corners.
Pavement system according to claim 8, wherein the coupling structure of a pavement tile comprises an S shaped rib part between the part of a rib forming the wall of the through hole and the corresponding rib part between two corners.
Pavement system according to any of the claims 1 - 9, wherein the perimeter wall comprises through holes for coupling two adjacent tiles by means of a pin or nut and bold connection.
Pavement system according to any of the claims 1 - 10, wherein the substantially flat top cover layer comprises bevelled edges providing a grove between top cover layers of two adjacent tiles.
Pavement system according to claim 11, wherein the grove is filled with a sealing compound.
Tile comprising the all technical pavement tile features as defined in the pavement system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.
Method of covering a surface comprising:
- providing the pavement system according to any one of the claims 1 - 12;

- covering the surface with tiles of said pavement system.
Method of covering a surface according to claim 14, further comprising:
assembling remote from the surface a stack of composite tiles from tiles according to claim 10;

transporting the stack of composite tiles by means of transportation to the surface; and

covering at least a part of the surface with said composite tiles.