JPS59141609A - Sand leveling apparatus for athletic field made of sand filled artificial turf - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sand leveling device which is suitable for use in athletic fields such as tennis courts, and is made by scattering and filling dry sand into the turf of an artificial lawn.

Generally, artificial lawns are made of pile threads made from synthetic resins such as polyamide, vinylidene chloride, polypropylene, and polyurethane, which are flocked onto a backing fabric, but they have various characteristics such as cushioning capacity and prevention of spikes from getting caught. In order to approximate natural grass as closely as possible in terms of capacity, water absorption capacity, etc., dry sand is filled in the grass grains. However, the natural grass grains that make up the greens of golf courses are also filled with sand, but the natural grass on the greens is short and the grass grains are not very dense, so the scattered sand is almost natural. to enter the grass,
In addition, you can easily spread the sand by lightly rubbing the inside of the grass with a box-shaped brush. However, since the pile threads of artificial grass are considerably longer than those of natural grass and have a bulky structure, it is not easy to level the sand by simply rubbing it lightly with a brush. therefore,
In particular, it took a considerable amount of time and effort to pack down the sand evenly during the finishing stage of construction, and to evenly repair the sand in areas that had been roughened by the competition.

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a sand leveling device that can evenly spread the sand of a sand-containing artificial lawn without much effort.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, this sand leveling device is equipped with a casing 2 that runs on wheels 3 over an athletic competition scene consisting of an artificial lawn 1 filled with sand. . In addition, in this figure, the dry sand filled in the grass grains of the artificial lawn 1 is represented by a matte pattern. In this embodiment, the casing 2 includes a front axle 3a and a rear axle 3a.
It consists of a box-shaped body having a bottom opening 4 formed between the bottom opening 4 and the first rotating brush 5 for collecting sand. The first rotating brushes 5 are arranged perpendicularly to the direction of movement of the casing 2 and are preferably height-adjustable. It is designed to be rotationally driven in the rotational direction. In other words, if the direction of movement of the casing 2 is, for example, to the right in the diagram,
The first rotating brush 5 is rotated counterclockwise. Further, a hopper chamber 6 is formed in the casing 2 to store sand collected from the grass by the first rotating brush 5. This hopper chamber 6 is provided on the rear wheel 3b side, and a shutter 8 is slidably attached to its opening 7. In this case, the shutter 8 is operated by an opening adjustment lever 1 pivotally connected to a manual handle 9 of the casing 2.
0. Furthermore, in this device, the rear part of the casing 2 is provided with sand that is sprinkled onto the artificial lawn 1 from the opening 7 of the hopper chamber 6.
A second rotating brush II is provided for efficient filling. This second rotating brush 11 is oriented perpendicular to the direction of movement of the casing 2,
Further, it is configured to be rotationally driven by a drive source such as a motor (not shown). .

Note that the rotation direction of the second rotating brush 11 may be clockwise or counterclockwise in the figure. The casing 2 may be connected to a drive source (not shown) through the casing 2 to rotate both brushes simultaneously or only one of them as necessary.
For example, a lid may be provided on the top of the conch chamber 6, and an appropriate amount of sand may be placed in advance in the conch chamber 6.

Next, the operation of this sand leveling device will be explained.

First, the first rotating brush 5 and the second rotating brush 11 are adjusted to appropriate height positions. Then, the work is started by turning on the drive source (not shown), rotating both brushes 5° 11, and pushing the casing 2 through the handle 9. Excess sand is scraped off by the rotating first rotating brush 5 and collected into the casing 2, and stored in the hopper chamber 6. On the other hand, in areas where there is little sand in some areas, the lever 10 may be operated to open the shutter 8 and the sand stored in the hopper chamber 6 may be scattered to that area. The scattered sand is efficiently filled into the grass grains by vibrations applied to the leaf tips of the artificial lawn 1 by the second rotating brush 11. By repeating this operation as many times as necessary, the sand within the artificial lawn 1 can be made uniform very easily.

In the above embodiment, the rotary brush 11 is used as the sand filling brush, but this may be a brush brush that does not reciprocate in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the casing 2 moves. It goes without saying that it may be changed to a hand-operated type.

Furthermore, as in the modified embodiment shown in FIG. 2, an auxiliary rotating brush 12 may be provided which is rotated in the opposite direction to the first rotating brush 5, that is, clockwise in the figure. According to this, the sand scraped up by the first rotating brush 5 can be effectively blown toward the hopper chamber 6.

As is clear from the description of the embodiments described above, the present invention provides a casing 2 with an axle for walking on a lawn, and a first rotating brush 5 for collecting excess sand filled in the grass grains.
There is also a hopper chamber 6 which stores the sand collected by the first rotating brush 5 and which can selectively spread the sand onto the lawn, and a hopper chamber 6 which vibrates the tips of the leaves of the artificial lawn. The artificial lawn 1 is characterized by being provided with a sand-filling brush means 11 for filling the grass grains with sand sprinkled from a hopper chamber 6. You can spread the sand evenly across the eyes. Therefore, it is extremely convenient for final finishing and maintenance of sand-containing artificial lawns, and its small size makes it easy to handle, making it possible to even out the sand all the way around the tennis court. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of a modified embodiment. In the figure, 1 is an artificial lawn containing sand, 2 is a casing, 3 is an axle, 5 is a first rotating brush, 6 is a hopper chamber, 8 is a shutter, 9 is a handle, and 11 is a second rotating brush. Patent applicant Sumitomo Rubber Industries Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Takuya Ohara

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Person] A sand leveling device that finishes the dry sand filled in the grass grains to a uniform thickness while running on the lawn, and includes a casing with an axle that runs on the artificial lawn. , in the casing, a first rotating brush for collecting sand that collects surplus dry sand filled in the grass grain; and a hopper chamber for selectively scattering the dry sand onto the artificial lawn; and a sand filling device for vibrating the leaf tips of the artificial lawn and filling the grass grains with the dry sand sprinkled from the hopper chamber. A sand leveling device for an athletic field made of sand-containing artificial grass, characterized in that it is provided with a brush means for sand-filled artificial grass. (2) The sand filling brush means includes a second rotating brush oriented perpendicularly to the traveling direction of the casing, and the first rotating brush and the second rotating brush are connected to each other via a clutch means. 2. The sand leveling device according to claim 1, wherein the sand leveling device is selectively connected to a drive motor.