ES2296508A1 - Safety-paving for use in parks and recreational facilities for children, comprises base of thick tiles, which has multiple layers of various polymer materials, where tiles include suspension of gas microspheres - Google Patents

Abstract

The safety-paving comprises a base of thick tiles, which has multiple layers of various polymer materials. The tiles include a suspension of gas microspheres trapped in a solid matrix formed by a reticulated polymer (microfoam) distributed in two external layers i.e. upper layer and lower layer of less thickness and an intermediate layer of greater thickness. All the layers are linked together and are overlapped with different composition.

Description

Safety floor for protection against impacts, weatherproof.

Object of the invention

The present invention, as expressed in the set forth in this specification, refers to a pavement of Safety for impact protection, resistant to weathering that is formed from tiles of a certain thickness which comprises several layers to achieve the objectives of the invention, highlighting a wear-resistant top layer and a weathering, a lower layer to facilitate fixing to the soil and at least one intermediate layer to absorb and cushion the  impacts

It is essentially applicable to the pavement protector of parks and recreational facilities for children so which is about getting a floor based on tiles that they provide great security against children's falls when impact on the ground, thus avoiding accidents and injuries serious thanks to the damping provided by the pavement of the invention.

Background of the invention

Safety pavements are formed by materials that, due to their geometry or characteristics, show high energy absorption when subjected to deformations. As a rule generally they are soft and thick materials that deform with more or less effort in the face of impacts, absorbing the transmitted energy and avoiding injuries and deterioration of the parts that collide.

The hardness and thickness of the safety pavements is a function of the loads they will receive. For the equipment of outdoor playgrounds, which is the main application of the invention, crushed rubber coated and agglomerated with colored polyurethane resin is currently being installed; either in prefabricated tiles or by mixing in situ , applying it with a trowel and allowing it to set. In indoor installations you can put mattresses made of polyurethane foam blocks covered with PVC fabric.

The crushed rubber chipboard shows the inconveniences of liquid permeability, difficulty cleaning being the rough surface with cavities, limited to colors dark ones that soon get lost by jumping the paint layer through the use. As for child safety, they show the possibility of being shredded and the lack of homogeneity in the ability to cushioning when presenting ribs and gaps in the part back of the tiles, inconveniences that can cause the accidental fall of children by stumbling blocks.

Utility Model No. 220011 describes a pavement for sports and terraced use formed by crushing of  rubber bonded with polyurethane resin. It does not refer to No type of damping or use in facilities Children's

Invention Patent ES 2157814 refers to multilayer pavements especially suitable for sporting activities, also citing children's and cattle beds. The objective is to obtain a floor with very high resistance to abrasion and some comfort. According to this Patent, the manufacturer glued a compact plate with a density between 0.9 and 1.5 gr / cm3 on another previously manufactured foam. With which at least two stages are obtained, a high surface hardness pavement useful for sports activity but hardly usable as a child safety floor, since the surface layer, being compact, does not contain the gas microbubbles and the whole It does not show the precise damping for this purpose. In addition, due to the composition that claims to have the surface layer (up to 40% vinyl acetate) the weather resistance is limited and its use is restricted to installations of
inside.

Description of the invention

In order to achieve the objectives and avoid the drawbacks mentioned in the previous sections, the invention proposes a safety floor for protection against impacts, weather resistant that is characterized because it is formed from tiles comprising a first top layer wear and weather resistant, a lower one to be fixed to the floor using a suitable adhesive and at least one layer thicker intermediate that dampens possible impacts, constituting these three layers of tile a single body full

The main feature of the invention is that the pavement is formed by the three superimposed layers that they do that, at the same time that the set shows a great absorption of impact, the surface amply maintains the requirements for the use and shows great weather resistance. The pavements of safety are usually soft and thick to obtain high absorption of impact, making this difficult to walk on them to the Once they deteriorate easily when you step on footwear Street.

The pavement of the invention solves the problem of having high impact absorption while comfort when walking, resistance to abrasion, to the remaining footprint (thin heels) and outdoors in a single item manufactured in a stage

The pavement object of the invention consists of two hard layers superimposed parallel overlapping between them find another soft layer much thicker.

The characteristics of the top layer (use area) are as follows.

It has a thickness of 2 to 5 mm. It's formed by closed cell elastomeric foam whose solid phase constitutes between 20 and 30% in volume formed in turn by a reticulate polymer obtained from modified polyethylene mixed with Siliceous charges and brightly colored pigments. The gas phase, as in the other layers, is formed by nitrogen and traces of others gases

The density of this layer ranges between 100 and 400 kg / m 3 although preferably it will be between 200 and 300 kg / m3 and hardnesses between 30 and 80 ° Shore, although preferably will be between 60 and 75 ° Shore. The abrasion resistance is between 400 and 600 mm3 (UNE 53527, 10N standards). The Breaking load is 20 to 30 Kg / cm2 and the elongation of break between 120 and 200%.

The surface texture are inclined planes squares of 10 to 15 mm 2 of surface arranged next to each other of another with different orientations, forming a kind of scales This makes the surface especially resistant to glide; also uniform while suffering and easily cleanable with hose or broom. The colors are yellow (pantone 107), green (375), blue (266) and red (206).

It usually comes in bright colors, distinguishing this characteristic from the product of the invention of those existing in the market.

The characteristics of the intermediate layer (buffer) are as follows.

It has a thickness of 22 to 30 mm. It's formed by closed cell elastomeric foam, whose solid phase constitutes between 15 and 25% by volume formed in turn by a reticulate elastomeric manufactured from polyisoprene rubber modified with polyolefin, siliceous filler and plasticizers type hydrocarbon and esters, which gives it great power to damping

The density of this intermediate layer ranges preferably between 80 and 400 kg / m 3, although preferably will range between 150 and 250 kg / m 3 and hardnesses ranging between 5 and 30 ° Shore although preferably they will oscillate between 15 and 30 ° Shore.

The color is from light gray to black, without Color guarantee, as it may contain recycled materials up to 70% Its fundamental characteristic is a high absorption of energy due to its chemical composition and the gas contained in the microspheres that form the foam.

The characteristics of the lower layer (layer of  anchoring or ground fixing) are as follows.

It has a thickness of 1 to 5 mm. It's formed by closed cell foam, of composition very similar to the first top layer including an aliphatic oil resin for have good adhesion With density between 250 and 350 kg / m 3 and hardness between 65 and 80 ° Shore. Your mission is to ensure a good adhesion of the tiles to the substrate by adhesive Contact. This bottom layer is white, flat and dotted with cone logs 15 to 20 mm in diameter and between 1 and 5 mm in diameter height distributed to the tresbolillo and separated from 25 to 35 mm between centers on a regular basis. The surface of the cone trunks is  sanded to promote adhesion.

The set is manufactured by molding by single stage compression / expansion, introducing all three laminated mixtures in a mold at 160 ° and pressing at 200 kg / cm2 for 30 minutes for the crosslinks to form Polymers that are expanded by the action of the gas generated when the pressure ceases to its final density (200-300 kg / m 3).

The three layer component materials Due to the specific manufacturing process, they are firmly joined together and the whole satisfies the demands of a safety pavement

The advantages of component tiles of the floor or floor of the invention are the following:

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Impact absorption. In a table you you can see how with the floor of the invention a critical height of fall of up to 30% higher than the agglomerate of existing rubber with equal thickness (standard EN1177 / 1997).

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Comfort. You can walk comfortably with street shoes on it, unlike the mats of PVC coated PU.

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Impermeability. Does not absorb liquids (rainwater, urine, drinks, etc). Very important quality this being for essentially outdoor installations and many Fenceless times.

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Hygienic. Being formed by a continuous surface (no chunk-based formations chipboard), this one is much easier to clean.

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Colored. It is mass pigmented, no coated with paint, so the installation becomes more attractive to children and does not lose color a few months after use.

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Security. It is not possible to tear apart Small by hand.

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Homogeneity. This pavement shows the same critical fall height over its entire surface, since the Geometry is uniform. The existing agglomerated material, on your face posterior shows large cavities and ribs that make irregular impact absorption.

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Durability. The material does not deteriorate with water or ozone or direct solar radiation, to difference of the rubber agglomerate whose PU binder suffers hydrolysis with water and rubber becomes brittle with light and the ozone.

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Absence of harmful substances. Do not Contains PVC, for example, or chlorinated products. Nor do you amind and other substances that necessarily contain the gum of agglomerate.

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By on the other hand, the regulations applicable to the pavement tiles of the invention is the determination of the critical fall height of the laboratory coating of EN1177 / 1997 "surface coverings of play areas shock absorbers Security requirement and methods of test".

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In the standard defines a criterion of head damage (HIC), from decelerations and impact times at the time of the crash, and assumes that up to a value of (HIC) equal to 1000 there is no damage important. The purpose of the test is to determine the height of fall from which the damage is greater than that value of 1000

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He trial consists of dropping on the test pavement, from different heights, an aluminum sphere of weight and dimensions similar to a child's head and record the (HIC). TO The (HIC) is plotted as a function of the height and the height value for HIC = 1000 is interpolated called critical fall height.

Below is a table with the Critical fall heights for pavements of different thickness. Be compare the values obtained with the pavement of the invention with with respect to a standard agglomerate pavement existing in the market.

one

It is observed that the soil object of the invention has a critical height of fall approximately 30% higher than chipboard rubber tiles for the same thickness of pavement.

This is due to its greater ability to cushioning, based on what has already been said, in the composition matrix chemistry and the presence of microbubbles of gas.

Next to facilitate a better understanding of this descriptive report and being an integral part of the same accompany some figures in which with character illustrative and not limiting the object of the invention.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1.- Shows a plan view of the upper face of a part of a tile that is part of the safety floor for impact protection, resistant outdoors, object of the invention.

Figure 2.- Shows a plan view of the underside of the same part of the tile.

Figure 3.- Shows a front view of it part of the tile of the invention.

Figure 4.- Shows a view of a graph where critical fall heights are represented for different values.

Description of the preferred embodiment

Considering the numbering adopted in the figures, the floor of the invention is formed by tiles 1 that are coupled together by tongue and groove coupling 2, so that each tile 1 comprises two thin layers of greater hardness, upper 3 and lower 4, and a third intermediate layer 5 substantially thicker, so that these layers 3, 4 and 5, provide greater impact absorption while maintaining excessively the requirements for use, while having a Great weather resistance.

The tiles are formed by materials Polymers with a particular hardness and composition, tiles formed by a suspension of gas microspheres trapped in a  solid matrix (microcellular foam). This matrix is a crosslinked polymeric and is distributed in three superimposed layers, with different composition The two external ones have a hardness preferably between 60 and 80 ° Shore and are formed from modified polyethylene. The intermediate layer with a hardness preferably from 15 to 30 ° Shore is formed from rubber of modified polyisoprene.

The outer layers, upper 3 and lower 4, composed of polymeric crosslinks are made from other polyolefins

The intermediate layer 5 is composed of polymeric crosslinking made from other elastomers. The layer External is colored and formed by high polymers crystallinity that confer weather resistance, wear and remaining footprint. The inner layer is formed by crosslinked amorphous elastomers that confer high power of damping, bonded and glued with adhesive to the substrate.

Soil manufacturing is in a single stage of  compression-expansion

The bottom layer 4 includes on its free face Trunk-shaped studs of low height 6, essentially with a Tresbolillo distribution that provide better fixation to the floor where the floor of the invention is installed.

Claims (16)

1. Safety pavement for impact protection, weather resistant, which being formed from tiles and being essentially intended for use in playgrounds and recreation, is characterized in that the tiles comprise a suspension of gas microspheres trapped in a solid matrix determined by a polymeric lattice (microcellular foam) distributed in two outer layers of small thickness, upper (3) and lower (4), and at least one intermediate layer (5) of greater thickness, these layers being joined together and overlaid with different composition. 2. Safety floor for impact protection, weather resistant, according to claim 1, characterized in that the polymers of the two outer layers, upper (3) and lower (4), are formed from modified polyethylene. 3. Safety floor for impact protection, weather resistant, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the intermediate layer is formed by cross-linked amorphous elastomers, essentially composed of modified polyisoprene rubber. 4. Safety floor for impact protection, weather resistant, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the outer layers have a hardness ranging between 60 and 80 ° Shore. 5. Safety floor for protection against impacts, weatherproof, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the intermediate layer has a hardness ranging between values of 15 and 30 ° Shore. 6. Safety floor for impact protection, weatherproof, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the outer layers, upper (3) and lower (4), are composed of polymeric cross-links made from other polyolefins . 7. Safety floor for protection against impacts, weatherproof, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the intermediate layer (5) of the tiles (1) comprises a polymeric crosslink made from other elastomers. 8. Safety floor for impact protection, weather resistant, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the polymeric material of the upper layer (3) is mixed with siliceous fillers and brightly colored pigments with high crystallinity. 9. Safety floor for impact protection, weather resistant, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the polymeric material of the lower layer (4) is mixed with an aliphatic petroleum resin to have a good adhesion. 10. Safety floor for impact protection, weather resistant, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the polymeric material of the intermediate layer is mixed with polyolefin, siliceous filler and hydrocarbon plasticizers and esters. 11. Safety floor for impact protection, weather resistant, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the upper layer (3) has a density ranging from 200 to 300 kg / m 3. 12. Safety floor for impact protection, weather resistant, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lower layer (4) has a density ranging from 250 to 300 kg / m 3. 13. Safety floor for impact protection, weather resistant, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the intermediate layer has a density ranging between 150 and 250 kg / m 3. 14. Safety floor for impact protection, weatherproof, according to claim 1, characterized in that the tiles are manufactured by compression-expansion molding in a single stage, introducing the three corresponding laminated mixtures with the layers of the tiles in the mold at 160 ° C and pressing at 200 kg / cm2 for 30 minutes to form polymeric crosslinks that are expanded by the action of the gas generated when the pressure ceases to its final density of 200-300 kg / m 3. 15. Safety floor for impact protection, weather resistant, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the surface texture of the top layer (3) are square inclined planes of 10 to 15 mm 2 of surface arranged side by side with different orientations, forming a kind of scales. 16. Safety pavement for impact protection, weather resistant, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lower layer comprises truncated cone blocks (6), essentially with a three-ring distribution.