US20100260545A1

US20100260545A1 - Paving system for mechanically paving with irregular paving stones

Info

Publication number: US20100260545A1
Application number: US12/733,589
Authority: US
Inventors: Guido L. P. Van Camp
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-09-10
Filing date: 2008-09-10
Publication date: 2010-10-14
Also published as: WO2009034107A1; EP2188453A1; JP2010539355A

Abstract

Paving system for mechanically paving with irregular paving stones, the paving system comprising a pre-ordering part (3; 10) for pre-ordering a set of irregular paving stones in an ordered configuration suitable for laying and a transferring part (5; 11) for transferring the set of irregular paving stones in the ordered configuration onto a foundation bed (7). The pre-ordering part and/or the transferring part is provided with a plurality of auxiliary guide rails (2; 18) provided for being accommodated in oblong recesses which are provided in the bottom sides of the stones from one lateral side up to another lateral side for overcoming differences in the thickness of the stones. The auxiliary guide rails extend at regular distances from each other, chosen to correspond with the spacing between the recesses, and have a predetermined shape, chosen to be complementary to that of the recesses.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a paving system for mechanically paving with irregular paving stones, according to the preamble of the first claim.

BACKGROUND ART

Nowadays there is a growing interest in and demand for mechanical paving of all kinds of paving materials, whether or not under the influence of national legislation (cf. ARBO-law in The Netherlands which obliges mechanical paving for all projects larger than 180 m²). The motivation for this is that mechanical paving substantially relieves the work, thus improves the working conditions and consequently reduces the absenteeism and its subsequent costs. Furthermore it allows pavements to be laid at considerably higher pace and it implies lower requirements qua craftsmanship (compared to the requirements qua craftsmanship for manual paving).
Stone-laying machines are known for laying different types of regular paving stones, such as for example brick stones, tiles and other paving stones with fixed and uniform dimensions. These known machines require substantially identical paving stones (qua dimensions), so that their applicability is restricted. Such stone-laying machines are for example known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,739 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,236.
Problems arise when mechanical paving is required for irregular paving stones, irregular meaning that the stones have significant tolerances on the dimensions and/or irregular surfaces. Examples of irregular paving stones are cobblestones, natural stone setts, regular tiles which have been produced with too much tolerance, etc. Due to the irregularities, upon laying a pavement with said irregular paving stones, each stone has to be considered individually and every single stone requires a different approach. Currently paving with irregular stones is still carried out by means of the well-known traditional method (>400 years), based on firstly deciding which side of the stone to use, secondly positioning the stone in relation to the other stones, then adapting the foundation bed to any individual stone and finally fixing each stone individually in the foundation bed by tapping with the mallet. Up to now, no mechanical paving methods with irregular paving stones are known, as this is considered as being fundamentally impossible. For the reason of a lack of a convenient solution for mechanical paving of irregular paving stones, the competitive situation of irregular paving stones (such as for example natural stone setts) with respect to regular, man-made stones (such as for example brick stones) is getting worse and worse.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

It is an aim of the present invention to provide a paving system which allows irregular paving stones to be laid mechanically.
This aim is achieved according to the invention with the paving-machine comprising the technical features of claim 1.
The paving system of the invention comprises a pre-ordering part for pre-ordering a set of irregular paving stones in an ordered configuration suitable for laying and a transferring part for transferring the set of irregular paving stones in the ordered configuration onto a foundation bed. The pre-ordering part and/or the transferring part is provided with a plurality of auxiliary guide rails which are provided for being accommodated in oblong recesses which are provided in the bottom sides of the stones from one lateral side up to another lateral side for overcoming differences in the thickness of the stones. The auxiliary guide rails extend at regular distances from each other, chosen to correspond with the spacing between the recesses in the bottom sides of the stones. The auxiliary guide rails further have a predetermined shape complementary to that of the recesses. In this way, the auxiliary guide rails define the ordered configuration of the irregular paving stones during the pre-ordering of the stones on the pre-ordering part and/or during the transferring of the stones on the transferring part.
By the addition of the auxiliary guide rails, complementary to the recesses in the bottom sides of the stones, the paving system of the invention becomes suitable for mechanically paving with irregular paving stones, provided that the irregularity of these irregular paving stones has been partly overcome by providing the recesses in their bottom sides to overcome the differences in their thickness, for example in the way described in WO-A-2006/136589, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In this way, the irregular paving stones are provided with certain regular features in order to create homogeneity and uniformity for the stones. These regular features enable the mechanical paving with the system of the invention.
In preferred embodiments of the paving system of the invention, the pre-ordering part comprises a flat support plane on which said auxiliary guide rails are placed for supporting the set of irregular paving stones. For ergonomic reasons, this flat support plane is preferably placed on working height (approx. 1.2 m).
In preferred embodiments of the paving system of the invention, the transferring part comprises a gripping device for picking up the set of irregular paving stones in ordered configuration from the flat support plane and placing them onto the foundation bed. This gripping device forms a simple solution for transferring the stones from the pre-ordering part to the foundation bed, which does not require highly skilled workers for operation.
In preferred embodiments, the gripping device comprises vacuum units for gripping the set of irregular paving stones. Alternatively, the gripping device may also comprise a clamp for mechanically picking up the set of stones.
In preferred embodiments of the paving system of the invention, the auxiliary guide rails are removably placed on the flat support plane of the pre-ordering part and the gripping device is provided for picking up the set of irregular paving stones along with the auxiliary guide rails. With this embodiment, the auxiliary guide rails are placed on the foundation bed together with the paving stones and function as permanent carriers for the paving stones in the pavement.
In preferred embodiments of the paving system of the invention, the transferring part comprises further auxiliary guide rails forming extensions of the auxiliary guide rails of the pre-ordering part, said further auxiliary guide rails extending in slanting direction (curved or sloped) from the level of the pre-ordering part to the level of the foundation bed and forming a sliding surface for transferring the set of irregular paving stones in the ordered configuration to the foundation bed.
In preferred embodiments of the paving system of the invention, the auxiliary guide rails are removably placed on the flat support plane of the pre-ordering part and the transferring part comprises a ferris wheel type construction driven by gravitation, said ferris wheel type construction comprising releasable gripping means for releasably gripping the auxiliary guide rails. In this embodiment, the paving stones are picked up along with the auxiliary guide rails by means of the releasable gripping means of the ferris wheel type construction and the whole is transferred in the ordered configuration from the support plane to the foundation bed by rotation of the ferris wheel type construction under the influence of gravity.
In preferred embodiments of the paving system of the invention, the pre-ordering part and the transferring part are combined into a single paving device comprising a conveyor belt onto which the irregular paving stones are pre-ordered upside down in said ordered configuration and a turning part at an end of said conveyor belt for turning around and placing said irregular paving stones in said ordered configuration on said foundation bed, said turning part being provided with said auxiliary guide rails for holding said irregular paving stones in said ordered configuration while being turned around. An advantage of such a paving device is that the paving device can be moved over the already laid pavement, avoiding disruption of the foundation bed ahead of the already laid pavement. A further advantage is that the already laid pavement can be immediately compacted by the weight of the moving paving device, so that the surface is immediately stable.
In preferred embodiments, said paving device comprises a feeding device for feeding said auxiliary guide rails to said turning part, said turning part being provided for placing said auxiliary guide rails on said foundation bed along with said irregular paving stones. With this embodiment, the auxiliary guide rails are placed on the foundation bed together with the paving stones and function as permanent carriers for the paving stones in the pavement.
In preferred embodiments, the paving system further comprises a positioning device for aiding in the positioning of the irregular paving stones upon being laid on the foundation bed with respect to previously laid paving stones. An example of such a positioning device is a slat with a predetermined thickness defining the width of a cross joint between the stones. Another example is formed by a plurality of thin plates which are provided for being moved through longitudinal joints between adjacent rows of already laid paving stones.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be further elucidated by means of the following description and the appended figures.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a paving system according to the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of a paving system according to the invention.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The present invention will be described with respect to particular embodiments and with reference to certain drawings but the invention is not limited thereto but only by the claims. The drawings described are only schematic and are non-limiting. In the drawings, the size of some of the elements may be exaggerated and not drawn on scale for illustrative purposes. The dimensions and the relative dimensions do not necessarily correspond to actual reductions to practice of the invention.
Furthermore, the terms first, second, third and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a sequential or chronological order. The terms are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and the embodiments of the invention can operate in other sequences than described or illustrated herein.
Moreover, the terms top, bottom, over, under and the like in the description and the claims are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing relative positions. The terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and the embodiments of the invention described herein can operate in other orientations than described or illustrated herein.
The term “comprising”, used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being restricted to the means listed thereafter; it does not exclude other elements or steps. It needs to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components as referred to, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps or components, or groups thereof. Thus, the scope of the expression “a device comprising means A and B” should not be limited to devices consisting only of components A and B. It means that with respect to the present invention, the only relevant components of the device are A and B.
In order to achieve mechanical paving with irregular paving stones, first of all, the irregular paving stones are provided with certain regular features in order to create homogeneity and uniformity for the stones. The homogeneity can for example be achieved by applying the principles described in WO-A-2006/136589. As disclosed therein, each irregular paving stone is provided with preferably (but not limited hereto) two recesses in the bottom-side of the stone, said recesses extending along one pair of lateral sides of the stone, having a continuous cross-section and being provided for accommodating a complementary, regularly shaped carrier onto which the paving stones are to be laid. For each paving stone the/each recess extends into the bottom-side of the paving stone up to a predetermined first distance h being substantially the same for all paving stones of the set. By applying the principles of WO-A-2006/136589, the possibility has been created for irregular paving stones to be tuned into stones which can remain fundamentally irregular (aesthetic value), but which are equipped with certain regular features, as stones α with large variations in thickness H and width B are adapted into stones β which have a constant reduced thickness h and a constant and centred reduced width b. In this way, differences in thickness of the stones can be overcome.
By achieving a level of uniformity and homogeneity for these irregular paving stones, a major obstacle for mechanical paving with irregular paving stones has been removed. Existing paving machines are however still not capable of handling the irregular paving stones, even though they have been adapted to achieve some level of uniformity.
The invention provides suitable paving systems which are capable of handling the “improved” irregular paving stones described in WO-A-2006/136589, or more in general any type of natural or man-made paving stones in which the tolerance on the thickness is initially too high and in which oblong recesses are provided in the bottom side to overcome the differences in thickness. In particular, the paving systems of the invention for the first time enable mechanical paving with natural hewn stones with large surface irregularities, although they are not limited to this type of stones.
Each stone of a set of paving stones which is mechanically paved according to the invention has a top side, a bottom side and a plurality of lateral sides which extend from the top side to the bottom side. The top, bottom and lateral sides may each have an even or an uneven surface. The thickness of the stones, measured between parallel tangent planes to the top side and the bottom side, differs to a given extent from one stone to the other, i.e. the stones do not have a uniform thickness. According to the invention, at least one oblong recess is provided in the bottom side of each of the paving stones. This recess extends from one lateral side of the stone to another and has a continuous cross-section, so that it is adapted for accommodating a complementary, regularly shaped carrier onto which the paving stones are to be laid on top of the foundation bed. For each paving stone, each oblong recess extends into the bottom side of the stone up to a first distance from the tangent plane to the top side. This first distance is a predetermined distance which is the same for all paving stones of the set.
In laying a pavement with these “improved” irregular paving stones, carriers, shaped complementary to the oblong recesses in the bottom side of the paving stones, are first placed on top of an evened-out foundation bed, after which the paving stones are placed on top of the carriers. As a result of the predetermined distance between the top of each recess and the tangent plane to the top side of the stone, which distance is uniform for all of the stones, the tangent planes to the top sides of all the stones end up in substantially the same plane. Usually, though not essentially, the pavement will be finished by compacting it by means of a compacting device and by filling the joints by means of a suitable filler material.
The fact that the recess in the bottom side of the stone is an oblong recess extending from one lateral side up to another lateral side has the advantage that oblong carriers can be used which support multiple stones and thus further stabilise the pavement, and that there is still a degree of freedom in the axial direction of the recess so that stones of different lengths (in axial direction of the recess) can be laid randomly and that the width of the joints on either end of the recess can be adapted at will, since the stones can be moved in axial direction of the recesses along the carriers until the optimal position is reached. So the use of the carriers does also not put a bar on the creativity.
The paving stones can for example be natural hewn stones, such as for example cobblestones, of which most or all sides have uneven surfaces, or any other natural or man-made paving stones known to the person skilled in the art. The invention can for example also be applied for mixing different types of stones with each other, i.e. for example for laying pavements which partly comprise natural stones and partly comprise man-made stones.
The various embodiments of paving systems according to the invention described below and shown in the drawings all comprise a pre-ordering part for pre-ordering a set of “improved” irregular paving stones in an ordered configuration in which they are suitable for being laid on the evened-out foundation bed, and a transferring part for transferring the set of irregular paving stones in the ordered configuration from the pre-ordering part onto the foundation bed. According to the invention the pre-ordering part and/or the transferring part is provided with a plurality of auxiliary guide rails. These are provided for being accommodated in the oblong recesses which are provided in the bottom sides of the stones from one lateral side up to another lateral side for overcoming differences in the thickness of the stones. The auxiliary guide rails extend at predetermined regular distances from each other, chosen to correspond with the spacing between the recesses in the bottom sides of the stones. The auxiliary guide rails further have a predetermined shape complementary to that of the recesses. In this way, the auxiliary guide rails define the ordered configuration of the irregular paving stones during the pre-ordering of the stones on the pre-ordering part and/or during the transferring of the stones on the transferring part.
In fact, the auxiliary guide rails are placed in such a way on the pre-ordering part, that they temporarily (or in some embodiments even permanently) take the place of the carriers which are placed on the foundation bed to support the paving stones in the pavement. The auxiliary guide rails function to first form a “template” from a pile of paving stones before placing this template as a whole onto the foundation bed.
A first preferred embodiment of the system of the invention is explained by reference to FIG. 1. In this embodiment, the system comprises as pre-ordering part a flat support plane, for example a table 3, with auxiliary guide rails 2 at predetermined distances from each other corresponding to the distance between two successive recesses in the bottom side of one stone or in the bottom sides of two successive rows of stones, depending on the paving stones 1 which are used. The spacing between adjacent guide rails is substantially equal to the distance between adjacent carriers 8 in the actual pavement. The transferring part of the system is formed by a gripping device 5 which transfers the pre-ordered stones 1 while maintaining a flat and even top-surface. This gripping device is an adapted form of gripping devices which are known in the art, for example comprising vacuum units 4 for holding the stones at their top-sides during the transport (in a similar way as said vacuum units are being used commonly as a part of a transfer-device in existing paving machines for paving with regular paving stones), or for example comprising a mechanical device such as a “clamp” for holding and/or sustaining the set of pre-ordered stones at their lateral sides and/or their top sides and/or their bottom-sides.
The auxiliary guide rails 2 can for example be laid on the table 3 in rows or columns, or in bows, circles or in a fan-shaped pattern, or according to any other pattern known to the person skilled in the art, depending on the desired pattern for the pavement or the general shape of the paving stones.
The auxiliary guide rails 2 are preferably parallelepiped-shaped with a rectangular cross-section, but any other geometrical shapes are also possible, such as for example triangular, trapezoidal, semi-circular, circular, stepped or other cross-sections. In general, their shape is predetermined in function of the shape of the recesses in the bottom sides of the stones 1.
With this first preferred embodiment, the improved paving stones 1 are paved semi-automatically: first the improved paving stones are placed manually on the auxiliary guiding rails 2, but then the transfer of the paving stones in ordered configuration from the auxiliary guiding rails and placement on the foundation bed performed by means of a gripping device 5, which can be a servo-assisted device or a device suspended from a pulley system to provide the required lifting force. The gripping device 5 can be steered mechanically or manually guided (the lifting of the stones still being servo-assisted) to position the paving stones 1 on appropriate carriers 8 on the foundation bed 7. Optionally, a mechanical or optical positioning device can be used for assisting in the final positioning. An example of such a positioning device is the thin slat 6 at the back of the gripping device 5 to provide a minimum cross joint between adjacent sets of ordered paving stones. This way a pavement can be laid with an even higher pace.
The advantage of this first preferred embodiment compared to a completely manual way of paving is that the actual work is being relieved considerably as paving stones do not have to be lifted manually over and over again and as more than one stone can be lifted and paved at the same time. Besides, in addition to the practical advantages, this first preferred embodiment has the important advantage that it provides a quite uncomplicated solution which means that the system itself is quite fail-safe and that the system is not too complex for unskilled and untrained workmen to work with. Furthermore, this first embodiment has the ergonomic advantage that the manual operation of ordering the stones on the auxiliary guide rails is raised to “working height”.
In an alternative embodiment (not shown) to the one shown in FIG. 1, the auxiliary guide rails 2 can be removably placed on the table 3 and a gripping device 5 can be used which is adapted for gripping and lifting the set of stones by means of the auxiliary guide rails 2. The mechanical means provided on the gripping device for gripping the auxiliary guide rails can for example be clamping units or any other mechanical means known to the person skilled in the art. In this embodiment, the auxiliary guide rails 2 are placed on the foundation bed 7 together with the stones—they actually become the permanent carriers 8 of the pavement. Especially for stones with large surface irregularities which may be hard to pick up by means of vacuum units, this alternative embodiment can form a simple solution to facilitate lifting the stones from the table 3 and transferring them onto the foundation bed while maintaining the ordered configuration of the stones.
In this alternative embodiment, the auxiliary guide rails 2 can advantageously be placed on the table 3 in fixed relationship with respect to each other by means of fixing means, according to a predetermined pattern in which the paving stones are to be laid. The fixing means can for example be formed by screws or nails which anchor the carriers to a foundation or to each other. This fixed relationship can further enhance the stability of the pavement.
The auxiliary guide rails 2 intended for use as permanent carriers 8 may be constructed in wood, stone, metal, a plastic material or any other material known to the person skilled in the art. Preferably, rails in recycled plastics are used for ecological reasons.
In a further alternative embodiment (not shown), the table 3 shown in FIG. 1 could be integrated into a mobile device in which the transferring part comprises further auxiliary guide rails forming extensions of the auxiliary guide rails of the pre-ordering part, said further auxiliary guide rails extending in slanting direction from the level of the pre-ordering part to the level of the foundation bed and forming a sliding surface for transferring the set of irregular paving stones in the ordered configuration to the foundation bed. This mobile device can then be simply moved along the foundation bed while the paving stones are transferred onto the carriers 8 by sliding along the further auxiliary guide rails.
In a further alternative embodiment (not shown), the auxiliary guide rails are removably placed on a flat support plane, e.g. the table 3, and the paving stones are transferred to the foundation bed along with the auxiliary guide rails by means of a ferris wheel type construction driven by gravitation. Thereto, this ferris wheel type construction comprises releasable gripping means for releasably gripping the auxiliary guide rails. In this embodiment, the paving stones are picked up along with the auxiliary guide rails by means of the releasable gripping means of the ferris wheel type construction and the whole is transferred in the ordered configuration from the support plane to the foundation bed by rotation of the ferris wheel type construction under the influence of gravity. The suspension of the releasable gripping means on the wheel is such, that during the rotation of the ferris wheel, the whole formed by the auxiliary guide rails and the paving stones is maintained substantially in horizontal position, so that disruption of the ordered configuration can be avoided. So with ferris wheel type construction is meant a small version of the large Ferris wheels known from the entertainment sector, which comprise a plurality of gondolas in which people are raised to great heights while the gondolas are kept in horizontal position.
A second preferred embodiment of the system of the invention is explained by reference to FIG. 2. In this embodiment, the pre-ordering part and the transferring part of the system of the invention are combined into a single machine. The machine comprises in a pre-ordering part a conveyor belt 10 on top of which the paving stones 1 are pre-ordered upside down, i.e. with their recesses facing upwards. In a turning part 11 at an end 14 of the conveyor belt 10 where it turns around, the paving stones are turned around along with the belt and placed on top of the foundation bed 7 along with flexible carriers 18 which are supplied to the turning part 11 from a feeding device 12. In the turning part 11, the flexible carriers 18 are bent and pressed towards the conveyor belt 10 to follow its shape, such that the stones are maintained in the ordered configuration while being turned around. The flexible carriers 18 form auxiliary guide rails in the sense of the invention. Optionally, fixed auxiliary guide rails may also be provided above the conveyor belt to ensure stable supply of the stones towards the turning part, but this is not essential.
In this second preferred embodiment, the paving stones can be fully mechanically paved. The improved paving stones can be supplied to the paving machine of FIG. 2 as an unordered mass of stones. In a first part (not shown) of the paving machine the paving stones can be oriented in the desired direction and placed upside down on the conveyer belt 10. This first part can for example comprise a plurality of robot arms with appropriate clamps for gripping and turning the stones, possibly assisted by for example optical means and processing means to determine which side of the stone is the top side and how the stone is to be placed on the conveyor belt. Alternatively, this pre-ordering step may also be effected manually. In the turning part 11 of the paving machine, the paving stones are transferred mechanically to the right place in the pavement under construction. Practically this transfer-phase comprises three movements: firstly, the global transfer of the paving stones taking place by moving the paving machine on the finished pavement towards the right place in the pavement; secondly, the paving stones being transported on the conveyor belt towards the turning part 11 and thirdly, the paving stones being guided from the inside of the paving-machine towards the actual pavement. Finally, the paving stones are placed and positioned mechanically on the carriers 18, possibly assisted by means of a mechanical or optical positioning device 13, 15 in order to determine the relative position with respect to the paving stones already placed. The main advantages of this second preferred embodiment of the paving machine are the fact that paving is being executed very fast and that a workman is only needed for checking once in a while whether everything is going well and whether a satisfying result is being achieved. This preferred embodiment of the paving machine is an ideal solution for the paving of large projects and for the parts of the pavement which are regular and homogeneous.
In alternative embodiments (not shown), the carriers onto which the stones are placed by the turning part could also be placed onto the foundation bed in a previous step, either manually or by means of a separate device for placing the carriers. In that case, the turning part 11 of the paving device comprises fixed auxiliary guide rails to hold the stones in the ordered configuration against the conveyor belt 10 upon being turned around. Alternatively, the turning part can also be formed by a fixed, semi-circular chute, through which the paving stones slide as a result of their own weight.
The positioning-device 13 is provided for assisting in the positioning of the carriers 18 and the paving stones 1. In particular, the positioning device 13 comprises a plurality of thin plates which partly extend into the joints of the already laid pavement to guide the machine and ensure a straight track. When paving with stones with large surface irregularities, the plates 13 have to be thin enough so that they can run through the middle of the joints.
In order to achieve that the regular-made irregular paving stones are correctly placed on the carriers 18, in particular to order the paving stones on the carriers so that the cross joints in between adjacent stones adopt the required width (and so that the pavement adopts the required lay-out), optionally a mechanical or optical device can be used for determining the relative position of the paving stones with respect to each other. The paving stones move through the turning part 11 along with the carriers 18 which in turn move at a lower pace through the turning part. In order to manipulate the cross joint between subsequent paving stones of the same row, a lid 15 can be provided which opens at certain time intervals (˜frequency). Alternatively, the inclination at the bottom of the turning part 11 can be manipulated. Both the frequency of the mechanical lid 15 and the inclination of the bottom of the turning part can be controlled in function of the width that is required for these joints. Moreover, the frequency of the mechanical lid and the inclination respectively depend on the speed of the paving machine and on the dimensions (height) of the stones.
In all above described embodiments, adjusting means can be integrated to adapt the system and its parts to different dimensions of the paving stones, for example adjusting means to adjust the spacing between the auxiliary guide rails or adjusting means to adjust the spacing between the auxiliary guide rails and the conveyor belt, or other.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a set of irregular paving stones, wherein oblong recesses are provided in bottom sides of the stones from one lateral side up to another lateral side for overcoming differences in the thickness of the stones; and

a paving system for mechanically paving with irregular paving stones, the paving system comprising a pre-ordering part (3; 10) for pre-ordering the set of irregular paving stones in an ordered configuration suitable for laying and a transferring part (5; 11) for transferring the set of irregular paving stones in the ordered configuration onto a foundation bed (7), wherein the pre-ordering part and/or the transferring part is provided with a plurality of auxiliary guide rails (2; 18) provided for being accommodated in the oblong recesses, the auxiliary guide rails extending at regular distances from each other, chosen to correspond with the spacing between the recesses, and having a predetermined shape, chosen to be complementary to that of the recesses.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the pre-ordering part (3) comprises a flat support plane on which said auxiliary guide rails (2) are placed for supporting the set of irregular paving stones.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the transferring part comprises a gripping device (5) for picking up the set of irregular paving stones in ordered configuration from the flat support plane and placing them onto the foundation bed.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the gripping device (5) comprises vacuum units (4) for gripping the set of irregular paving stones.

5. The system according to claim 3, wherein the gripping device comprises a clamp for mechanically picking up the set of irregular paving stones.

6. The system according to claim 3, wherein the auxiliary guide rails (2) are removably placed on the flat support plane of the pre-ordering part and that the gripping device is provided for picking up the set of irregular paving stones along with the auxiliary guide rails.

7. The system according to claim 2, wherein the transferring part comprises further auxiliary guide rails forming extensions of the auxiliary guide rails of the pre-ordering part, said further auxiliary guide rails extending in slanting direction from the level of the pre-ordering part to the level of the foundation bed and forming a sliding surface for transferring the set of irregular paving stones in the ordered configuration to the foundation bed.

8. The system according to claim 2, wherein the auxiliary guide rails are removably placed on the flat support plane of the pre-ordering part and that the transferring part comprises a ferris wheel type construction driven by gravitation, said ferris wheel type construction comprising releasable gripping means for releasably gripping the auxiliary guide rails.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the pre-ordering part (10) and the transferring part (11) are combined into a single paving device comprising a conveyor belt (10) onto which the irregular paving stones are pre-ordered upside down in said ordered configuration and a turning part (11) at an end (14) of said conveyor belt for turning around and placing said irregular paving stones in said ordered configuration on said foundation bed, said turning part (11) being provided with said auxiliary guide rails (18) for holding said irregular paving stones in said ordered configuration while being turned around.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein said paving device comprises a feeding device (12) for feeding said auxiliary guide rails (18) to said turning part (11), said turning part being provided for placing said auxiliary guide rails on said foundation bed along with said irregular paving stones (1).

11. The system according to claim 1, the paving system further comprising a positioning device (6; 13; 15) for aiding in the positioning of the irregular paving stones upon being laid on the foundation bed with respect to previously laid paving stones.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the positioning device is formed by a slat (6) with a predetermined thickness defining the width of a cross joint between the stones.

13. The system according to claim 11, wherein the positioning device is formed by a plurality of thin plates (13) which are provided for being moved through longitudinal joints between adjacent rows of already laid paving stones.

14. (canceled)