GB2261242A

GB2261242A - Drainage channel and cover therefor

Info

Publication number: GB2261242A
Application number: GB9123759A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gordon Clive Stringer
Original assignee: Aco Polymer Products Ltd
Current assignee: Aco Polymer Products Ltd
Priority date: 1991-11-08
Filing date: 1991-11-08
Publication date: 1993-05-12
Anticipated expiration: 2011-11-08
Also published as: GB2261242B; FR2683557A1; GB9123759D0; DE4237237A1

Abstract

A drainage system is made up of interconnecting modules each of which consists of a U-shaped drainage channel (2) surmounted by a cover member (4). The cover member is formed from two back-to-back L-shaped members (18, 20) which define a slot which allows water to drain into the drainage channel. The L-shaped members provide support surfaces for paving bricks, blocks or slabs. A longitudinal bar may be fitted between the edges of the slot in a removable manner to prevent stiletto heels being trapped within the slot. <IMAGE>

Description

2. ') -i- - ' ' DRAINAGE SYSTEMS The present invention relates to drainage

systems and, in particular, systems for draining surface water from large areas, such as shopping precincts, car parks, courtyards, cycle ways, livestock areas and patios. Such areas may be surfaced with concrete or tarmacadam, but it is becoming increasingly popular for them to be paved with bricks, blocks or slabs.

There exist various drainage systems which may be used in these types of areas. A typical concealed system provides a channel let into the surface and covered by a cast iron or galvanised grating. Such systems have the disadvantage that although the grating may be flush with the paved area, it does not present an aesthetic appearance. The pattern of the paving blocks is disrupted by the line of grating and it is generally considered unattractive.

In an attempt to solve the technical problem of providing a concealed drainage system blending with the area to be drained, products such as the applicant's ACO SLIMLINE (registered trade mark) system and CHARCON CLEARWAY manufactured by ECC Building Products Limited offer drainage channel modules made of concrete or polymer concrete. Each module has an upper surface intended to be flush with the drained surface and which defines a slot through which surface water can enter the channel. Since the upper surface of such slotted drainage channels is exposed, it is necessary for the colour to match that of the surrounding surface if the line of the drain is not to stand out. This restricts the range of surfaces that may be employed or results in the appearance of the area being disrupted by the lines of the drainage system.

An unobtrusive slot drainage system is manufactured by Byard -2 Kenwest Engineering Limited and is sold as the BACUA (r-gistered trade mark) system. This system uses a galvanised metal pipe, slit longitudinally. Upstanding metal walls are welded along either side of the slot. The product is intended to be cast into a concrete surface. Although the surface appearance of the slot is unobtrusive, this system is subject to technical problems in that the metal pipe is liable to corrosion. It is also difficult to use such a system in an area paved with bricks, blocks or slabs rather than poured concrete. In practice, it would be necessary to pour concrete around the drainage channel to the level of the top of the metal walls in order to seat it correctly. The appearance of this supporting concrete detracts from the continuity of the paved area._ The technical problems of unobtrusive drainage in paved areas have been considered in the design of the AQUA-SLOT products offered by Frederick Jones & Son (Oswestry) Ltd. These products provide frames adapted to hold standard paving bricks leaving open slots between the bricks in order to allow access to drainage channels fitted below the frames. This system suffers from various technical problems including the difficulty of installing the frames during the paving of the area and the need to provide frames accurately matched to the particular size of paving bricks or blocks to be used.

In order to solve the technical problems of providing for unobtrusive slot drainage in areas paved by bricks, blocks or slabs as outlined above, the present invention --provides a cover member for a drainage channel, comprising two opposed, elongate, L-shaped members each having an upstanding arm and an arm adapted to partially cover the channel, a slot through which surface water can drain into the channel being defined between the adjacent upstanding arms.

The invention also provides a drainage channel module having such a cover in'-erconnecting constructed.

member. The modules are preferably so that a continuous channel can be This system has the advantage that it may be used with almost any size or colour of paving bricks, blocks or slabs and only the relatively thin edges of the upstanding arms of the L-shaped members are exposed in the paved surface. The drainage system is easy to install and modules of convenient length are relatively lightweight, for example a 1 metre module constructed of polyester concrete and galvanised steel weighs 28 kilograms as contrasted with weights for comparable concrete products of 100 kilograms.

The L-shaped members are preferably galvanised steel sections which can be bonded to polymer concrete channel sections by means of a finer grade of the same polymer resin as is used in the concrete. This forms an effective bond between the metal and the polymer concrete channel.

Preferably the horizontal arm of each L-shaped member is provided with a downwardly projecting locating member which seats in a recess at the top of the drainage channel or locates against the outer side walls of the channel.

A removable bar extending parallel to the length of the slot may be inserted between the L-shaped members in order prevent stiletto heel tips being caught in the slot.

Other advantageous features of the cover member and drainage system modules in accordance with the invention are set out in the claims.

Some embodiments of the cover member and modules of the drainage system in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a drainage channel module in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a end view of the cover member of the drainage channel module shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a drainage channel module in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention with a removable heel bar fitted; Figure 4 is an end view of the cover member of the drainage channel module shown in Figure 3; Figure 5 is a detail of the end of the removable heel bar as indicated by arrow A in Figure 3; Figure 6 is a perspective view of a drainage channel module in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention having a fixed heel bar within the slot; and Figure 7 is an end view of the cover member of the drainage channel module shown in Figure 6.

The drainage of a large surface area in accordance with the system described is achieved by means of a network of channels running below the surface. Surface water enters the channels by means of slots through the paving into the channels below. The drainage system described may be built out of interconnecting drainage channel modules each comprising a Ushaped polymer concrete drainage channel 2 to which a cover member 4 is bonded. The cover member 4 may also be fitted to drainage channels of other constructions but is particularly suited for use with the lightweight polymer concrete product described.

Th- channel sections 2 are provided in manageable lengths, typically 1 metre and 0.5 metre lengths. one end face 6 of each channel section has a rebated outer edge 8, whereas the other end face 10 has a projecting edge 12 of the same shape so that the adjacent channel sections can be interconnected together when constructing a drainage channel. In order to construct a channel with a predetermined fall, the channel within each section may be inclined from one end to the other and each section numbered so that when connected in sequence the desired fall is achieved to facilitate drainage.

The channel sections 2 are preferably moulded from a polymer concrete such as polyester concrete.

The cover member 4 for the channel section is constructed from two opposed L-shaped members 14, 16. Each L-shaped member has a substantially horizontal arm 18, 20 and an upstanding arm 22, 24. The two adjacent upstanding arms 22, 24 define between them the slot which allows surface water to enter the drainage channel below. The arms 22, 24 are kept at the required slot spacing by means of spacer members 26 positioned at intervals along the length of each module. Beneath each horizontal arm 18, 20 an elongate locating member 28 of hollow square section is fitted. The cover member 4 is made of galvanised steel and the L-shaped members, locating members and spacer members are connected together in the configuration described by means of welding. Where the cover member is to be used in a particularly corrosive environment some or all of the parts may be constructed of stainless steel.

The cover member 4 is connected to the channel section 2 by means of the locating members 28 which sit in correspondingly shaped recesses formed along the inner longitudinal edges of the channel. The cover member is bonded into position by means of a fine grade polymer of the same type as is used in the polymer concrete from which the channel section itself is mo-1ded. This polymer forms a good bond both to the polymer concrete and the galvanised steel locating members 28. The resulting module formed from a channel section and cover member can therefore be handled and installed as one piece making for rapid installation.

The drainage system will normally be installed before the final paving of the area is completed. The channels may be supported by seating in poured concrete but this supporting concrete finishes below or at the level of the horizontal arms of the cover member and is therefore not visible in the finished surface. The bricks, blocks or slabs used to pave the area may be laid right up to the upstanding arms 22, 24 that define the channel. The L-shaped members allow the bricks or blocks to seat neatly against the module and therefore act as support surfaces on the paving. The height of the upstanding arms is such that the upper surface of the paving will be substantially level with or slightly proud of the edge of the arms 22, 24. In this way the slot is as unobtrusive as possible and does not disrupt the pattern of the paving.

In paving for pedestrian areas, it is possible for stiletto heels to be caught in the slot and therefore provision is made for a longitudinal heel bar to be fitted along the slot to prevent such safety hazards. In the embodiment of Figures 3-5, the bar is removable. This embodiment is similar to that illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 except that the spacer members 26 stop short of the upper surface of the upstanding arms 22, 24 and are provided with threaded bores (not shown) to receive the ends of screws 30 used to secure a removable bar 32 to the spacer members. As illustrated in Figure 3, a rectangular section bar 32 is provided with laterally extending projections at both ends and at an intermediate position 34. A screw 30 is fitted at each side of the bar through the laterally extended projections into the spacer member below. It will be appreciated that other types of removable connector may be used to secure the bar to the cover member 4. Instead of connecting the bar to the spacer members 26, separate bar supports may be welded between the L- shaped members at appropriate positions along their length.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 6 and 7, the bar is not removable but is fitted through holes 36 in each of the spacer members 26. The bar in this embodiment is a simple rod 38 which fits through each of the holes 36 and may be welded to the spacer members to prevent it falling out before the module is installed.

It will be appreciated that it is not essential for the cover member to be bonded to the channel to form a monolithic unit. Alternatively the cover member 4 may be free seated over a standard U-shaped channel with the locating members fitting against the outer or inner surfaces of the channel. The locating members are preferably positioned against the outer walls of the channel so as to leave the channel unimpeded.

It will be appreciated that the described drainage channel modules are particularly advantageous in that they allow for unobtrusive slot type drainage of large paved areas.

Claims

1. A cover member for a drainage channel comprising two opposed, elongate, L-shaped members each having an upstanding arm and an arm adapted to partially cover the channel, a slot through which surface water can drain into the channel being defined between the adjacent upstanding arms.

2.

3.

A cover member according to claim 1, wherein the L-shaped members are interconnected at intervals by means of spacer members extending transversely across the slot.

A cover member as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein a bar is fitted adjacent to the upper edge of the slot.

A cover member removable.

A cover member as claims fabricated steel.

A cover member as claims, wherein a from each L-shaped drainage channel.

as claimed in 3, wherein the bar is claimed in any one of the preceding from galvanised steel or stainless claimed in any one of the preceding locating member projects downwardly member to seat against or onto the A drainage channel module comprising a substantially U-shaped drainage channel covered by means of a cover member as claimed in any one of preceding claims which may be bonded to the channel to form a monolithic unit or free-seated.

8. A drainage channel module as claimed in 7, wherein the drainage channel is polymer concrete.

9. A drainage channel module as claimed in 7 or 8, wherein recesses are provided at either side of the drainage channel into which locating members depending from the L-shaped cover member are seated.

10. A drainage channel module as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the channel has a built-in fall.

11. A drainage channel module comprising a U-shaped drainage channel covered by support surfaces for paving bricks, blocks or slab, which support surfaces define therebetween a slot which allows water to enter into the drainage channel below.

12. A cover member for a drainage channel substantially as herein described with reference to any of the accompanying drawings.

13. A drainage channel module substantially as herein described with reference to any of the accompanying drawings.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows A cover member for ' a drainage channel comprising two opposed, elongate, L-shaped members each having an upstanding arm and an arm adapted to partially cover the channel, a slot through which surface water can drain into the channel being defined between the adjacent upstanding arms.

2. A cover member according to claim 1, wherein the L-shaped members are interconnected at intervals by means of spacer-members extending transversely across the slot.

A cover member as claimed in 3, wherein the bar is removable.

A cover member as claimed in any one of the preceding claims fabricated from galvanised steel or stainless steel.

A cover member as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein a locating member projects downwardly from each L-shaped member to seat against or onto the drainage channel.

7. A drainage channel module comprising a substantially U-shaped drainage channel covered by means of a cover member as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.