US20240093457A1

US20240093457A1 - An improved containment gabion for containing and carrying inert material

Info

Publication number: US20240093457A1
Application number: US18/255,202
Authority: US
Inventors: Fabio TIBONI
Original assignee: Metallurgica Ledrense Cooperativa Soc
Current assignee: Metallurgica Ledrense Cooperativa Soc
Priority date: 2020-12-01
Filing date: 2021-11-29
Publication date: 2024-03-21
Also published as: IT202000029318A1; CA3200196A1; WO2022118173A1; EP4256137A1

Abstract

A containment gabion for containment and transport of inert material including a base plate and side walls, in the form of wire meshes composed of horizontal and vertical rods in crisscrossed arrangement. At least one vertical wall at its end is connected to the base plate of the containment gabion, by first hooks, which are designed to impart structural stability and resistance to vertical stresses caused by the weight of the material, during unloading, loading and transport of the gabion.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a containment gabion for containment and transport of inert material, in particular a containment gabion comprising metal mesh walls.

BACKGROUND OF THE INTENTION

In the field of building and civil works, particular baskets or gabions, mainly made of metal, and adapted to be filled with substantially inert materials, such as bricks, rocks, stones and/or pebbles, are known to be used to form retaining bases/walls, embankments or means for retaining unstable banks.
These gabions are installed after having been filled, on site, with inert materials, to create a permeable and monolithic structure.
Typically, these gabions are identified by flat perimeter walls, each consisting of a metal mesh, which are connected together to form a container that identifies therein an empty volume designed in use to be filled with the inert material. These gabions have an opening at their top for filling it with the inert material.
Generally, the structure of the aforementioned gabions has the shape of a parallelepiped with a quadrilateral support base and four vertical walls, such vertical walls being connected both laterally to each other and to the support base, to thereby define the aforementioned internal volume open at its top.
Various methods of connecting the aforementioned vertical walls to the support base are known in the art.
For example, welding methods are known for constraining the surfaces at their adjacent sides, or elements such as ropes/cables can be used to engage and constrain together peripheral portions of the walls and/or support bases to be constrained together.
Alternatively, jointing methods have been suggested in which one or more of the horizontal/vertical rods of each metal mesh wall are bent to various shapes, for the bends to be anchored to the closest rods of the adjacent wall.
This jointing method is quite simple and can ensure the holding ability of the structure of the containment gabion even without the addition of external elements.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that the above methods of connecting the vertical walls to the support base do not ensure adequate stability of the structure of the containment gabion as a whole, as the inert material is being unloaded, loaded and transported.
For example, EP 1505211 discloses a Z-shaped hook for connecting the vertical wall and the support base, such that the first two horizontal rods of the support base are both encircled.
EP 3073017 A1 discloses a containment gabion for containment and transport of inert material substantially as defined in the preamble of the independent claim(s) and provides J-shaped hooks which, nevertheless, do not ensure optimum structural strength of the gabion in certain conditions of use, during loading, transport and unloading operations.
Nevertheless, this arrangement does not achieve proper stability of the gabions during unloading or assembly, and makes it difficult to stack the gabions when forming retaining walls.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above considerations, the need is apparently felt by the manufacturers of inert material-containing gabions to be able to construct and provide gabions with a structure that can address the above discussed issues.
Furthermore, the need is strongly felt for a containment gabion that can ensure the stability of its structure during loading, unloading and transport, without causing deformation or warping of the structure due to unstable or not perfectly coplanar ground support.
Thus, the present invention is based on the technical problem of designing and providing gabions for containing inert materials that can meet the above mentioned needs, while obviating the above described prior art drawbacks.
According to the present invention, this object is fulfilled by a containment gabion for containing inert material as defined in the features of the independent claim(s).
A critical aspect in this object is the specific and peculiar shape of the hooks provided at the ends of the vertical rods of the vertical walls, i.e. the hooks designed to ensure fixation of the vertical walls of the containment gabion to the support base of the containment gabion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Further features and advantages of the improved containment gabion for containment and transport of inert material of the present invention will result from the following description of one preferred embodiment thereof, which is given by way of illustration and without limitation with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the containment gabion of the present invention, filled with inert material;

FIG. 2 shows in detail a hook used for connecting the vertical walls to the support base of the containment gabion as defined in the independent claim(s);

FIG. 3 shows a possible embodiment of a hook designed to allow transport of the containment gabion of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of the hook of FIG. 3 , and

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of a detail of a short vertical wall of the containing gabion of FIG. 1 only.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to the accompanying figures, numeral 1 generally designates a containment gabion of the invention, specifically a gabion for containment and transport of inert material.
The containment gabion 1 comprises a hollow body identified by a plurality of side walls having a metal mesh structure comprising a support base 2 from which vertical walls 3 project.
Preferably, the aforementioned metal mesh structure is formed with perpendicular metal rods in crisscrossed arrangement, joined together to form rectangular or square metal mesh.
As used herein, “rod” refers to a strong member, such as a reinforcing rod, bar or shaft or any rigid member mainly extending in an axial direction, having a substantially constant cross-section, e.g. a circular, elliptical or square cross section and a diameter ranging from 1 mm to 15 mm.
The rods used to form the aforementioned containment gabion 1 are preferably made of a metal zinc-aluminum alloy to ensure adequate galvanic corrosion resistance.
In the illustrated example, the containment gabion 1 is in the form of a parallelepiped comprising a substantially rectangular support base 2 and four vertical walls 3.
It shall be understood that the shape of the containment gabion may also differ from the above, namely in terms of the shape of the support base which can also have a different configuration, such as a square shape or a different shape, for the purpose of fulfilling particular requirements.
The vertical walls 3 comprise a mesh structure formed by vertical rods 4 and horizontal rods 6 joined together to form the aforementioned metal mesh structure.
The support base 2 identifies a ground support plane of the gabion 1 and comprises a mesh structure formed by a first order of first horizontal rods 2 o parallel to a first side 3 of the containment gabion 1 and by a second order of second horizontal rods 2 v orthogonal to said first horizontal rods 2 o.
Each vertical wall 3 is connected to the support base 2 at a lower end 3 a thereof and to the two adjacent vertical walls at respective lateral ends 3 b.
As mentioned above, in the illustrated embodiment, the support base 2 has a substantially rectangular shape, with two long sides and two short sides being thus identified therein. Accordingly the vertical walls 3 do not have equal extents, as long walls 3 c and short walls 3 d are provided, which are designed to be arranged and engaged with the aforementioned long and short sides of the rectangular support base 2, respectively,
According to the illustrated embodiment, the aforementioned first order of first horizontal rods 2 o extends parallel to the aforementioned long sides of the rectangular support base 2.
It should be noted that the aforementioned horizontal rods 2 v are welded to the first horizontal rods 2 o and are placed both above and below the first horizontal rods 2 o to impart strength to the support base 2. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2 , the first horizontal rods 2 o of the support base 2 are parallel to the long sides of the base and are sandwiched between two orders of second horizontal rods 2 v parallel to the short sides of the support base 2.
Due to the above described structure, the containment gabion 1 defines an internal volume that is or can be filled with inert material, such containment gabion having for this purpose a top opening through which the internal volume of the containment gabion can be filled with the internal material.
Referring to the illustrated embodiment, the connection between the lower end 3 a of the vertical walls 3 and the support base 2 is ensured by the provision of hooks 5, namely first hooks 5 b or second hooks 5 a, which are preferably provided at the lower ends of the vertical rods 4 of each vertical wall 3.
These hooks 5 may have different shapes depending on the relevant vertical wall.
In particular, for the above discussed short vertical walls 3 d, such connection is conveniently provided by means of a U-shaped second hook 5 a, provided at the lower ends of the vertical rods 4, such U-shaped second hook 5 a being able to fasten the vertical rods 4 of the vertical wall 3 to the rod of said second order of second horizontal rods 2 v of the support base 2 that is closest to the respective vertical rod 4 of the wall to be connected, as shown in FIG. 5 .
The aforementioned fastening system with the U-shaped second hook 5 a can be conveniently used also to constrain the vertical walls 3 to each other at the adjacent lateral ends.
That is, as shown in FIG. 1 , the U-shaped second hooks 5 a are provided at the ends of the horizontal rods of the long vertical walls 3 c, to fasten each horizontal rod 4 of a long vertical wall 3 c to the first vertical rod 6 of each adjacent short vertical wall 3 c.
On the other hand, in order to ensure connection of the vertical rods 4 of the long vertical walls 3 c to the structure of the support base 2, first hooks 5 b with a J-like shape are conveniently used.
More in detail, as shown in FIG. 2 , each J-shaped first hook 5 b comprises, at the lower end of its respective vertical rod 4 of the long vertical walls 3 c:

- a vertical portion 5 c substantially perpendicular to the ground support plane identified by the support base 2;
- a first bending point 5 d extending as a continuation of said vertical portion 5 c around a first horizontal rod 2 b of the support base 2, said first horizontal rod 2 b being the horizontal rod of said first order of first horizontal rods 2 o which is closest to said vertical portion 5 c, whereby the aforementioned first horizontal rod 2 b is the outermost horizontal rod 2 b and close to the relevant long vertical wall 3 c;
- a first portion 5 e extending as a continuation of said first bending point 5 d parallel to and below the ground support plane identified by the support base 2, until it surpasses a second horizontal rod 2 c of said first order of first horizontal rods 2 o of said support base 2, said second horizontal rod 2 c being more spaced from said vertical portion 5 c than said first horizontal rod 2 b;
- a second portion 5 f extending between opposite ends as a continuation of the first portion 5 e with a direction of development inclined with respect to the ground support plane identified by the support base 2, so as to extend towards the inside of the containment gabion 1 until it surpasses a third horizontal rod 2 d of the aforementioned first order of first horizontal rods 2 o of said support base 2, said third horizontal rod 2 d being more spaced from said vertical portion 5 c than said second horizontal rod 2 c;
- a second bending point 5 g extending as a continuation of the aforementioned second portion 5 f to hook the aforementioned third horizontal rod 2 d, and
- a third portion 5 h extending as a continuation of the second bending point 5 g and having a direction of development incident to the ground support plane identified by the support base 2.

At said first bending point 5 d, the first hook 5 b engages the aforementioned first horizontal rod 2 b by defining a substantially 90° curve around said first horizontal rod 2 b.
Preferably, the aforementioned first straight portion 5 e is a straight portion and is substantially parallel to the ground support plane identified by the support base 2.
This first straight portion 5 e is useful to impart proper stability to the containment gabion 1 during unloading and assembly, i.e. when no load of inert material is present. Also, the first straight portion 5 e facilitates stacking of a plurality of gabions for creating complex structures.
As mentioned above, the aforementioned second portion 5 f extends downstream of the first straight portion 5 e, to above the third horizontal rod 2 d.
The aforementioned second bending point 5 g can hook and anchor the structure of the first hook 5 b to hook said third horizontal rod 2 d, the subsequent third portion 5 h being also useful for this purpose.
That is, the second bending point 5 g encircles the aforementioned third horizontal rod 2 d through substantially 180°, whereas the subsequent third portion 5 h ensures that this bending point will not be released from the aforementioned third horizontal rod 2 d.
Advantageously, the aforementioned second portion 5 f of the first hook 5 b:

- extends between opposite ends from an end portion of the first portion 5 e to the aforementioned second bending point 5 g and
- comprises an intermediate portion which is more displaced towards the inside of said containment gabion (1), and hence is more distant from the lower support plane of the containment gabion 1, with respect to an ideal straight line I passing through said opposite ends of said second portion 5 f.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 2 , the aforementioned second portion 5 f of the first hook 5 b comprises two inclined portions f′, f″ converging in a vertex (50).
With respect to an ideal straight line I passing through the aforementioned opposite ends of the second portion 5 f (as shown in FIG. 2 by a broken line), the aforementioned vertex 50 is more displaced towards the inside of the containment gabion 1.
Preferably, the aforementioned ideal straight line I passing through the opposite ends of the second portion 5 f is inclined by an angle α of 12° to 70°, more preferably an angle of 18° to 40°, with respect to the aforementioned ground support plane identified by the support base 2.
Preferably, the aforementioned two portions f′ and f″ converging in the aforementioned vertex 50 are two straight portions.
Preferably the aforementioned vertex subtends an angle A of 110° to 170°, more preferably an angle A of 145° to 165°, for example of 160°.
According to one embodiment, not shown, the aforementioned second portion 5 f of the first hook 5 b comprises a curvilinear profile whose convexity faces the interior of the containment gabion.
Preferably, the aforementioned second portion 5 f of the first hook 5 b remains substantially contained in the thickness of the support base 2.
Preferably, the aforementioned third portion 5 h extends from said second bending point (5 g) for a section of 18 mm to 50 mm, more preferably for a section of 20 mm to 45 mm and even more preferably for a section of 25 mm to 30 mm.
Preferably, the aforementioned third portion 5 h is a straight portion, preferably a straight portion extending in a direction substantially parallel to the aforementioned ideal straight line I passing through the opposite ends of the second portion 5 f.
Preferably, the aforementioned third straight portion 5 h is inclined by an angle β with respect to the ground support plane identified by said support base 2 which is of 8° to 22°, more preferably by an angle β of 10° to 18°.
Preferably, at least most of the aforementioned third straight portion 5 h remains contained in the thickness of the support base 2.
It should be noted that the second bending point 5 g and the third straight portion 5 h are designed to increase the safety of the hook 5 b to ensure a firmer constraint and impart a higher structural stability to the containment gabion 1 during loading and transport.
Preferably, each of the opposite vertical walls 3 of said gabion extending along the two long sides of the support base 2 comprises a plurality of said first hooks 5 b whereby the vertical rods 4 of the long vertical walls 3 c are fastened to the base 2.
Concerning transport of the containment gabion 1, according to the embodiment as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 , which is also known, for example, from EP 3073017 A1, the containment gabion 1 comprises at least two comb-like hooks 7 comprising a substantially flat quadrangular body 7 a extending in a longitudinal direction, and having a top edge 7 b and a bottom edge 7 c.
At the bottom edge, the comb-like hook 7 comprises a plurality of comb teeth 7 d, substantially extending the body 7 a and bent at least partially into a U shape.
Each comb-like hook 7 also comprises a plurality of holes 7 e formed in the body 7 a and longitudinally arranged along such body 7 a.
Each of the two long vertical walls 3 c of the containment gabion 1 comprises, as described above, a plurality of horizontal rods 6, including a top horizontal rod 6 a differing from the others by being the farthest rod from the support base 2.
In light of the above, each comb-like hook 7 partially engages the top horizontal rod 6 a by the aforementioned U-shaped comb teeth 7 d, while the comb-like hook 7 is left free of rotating about the top horizontal bar 6 a.
During transport, the containment gabion 1 is lifted by hoist means, not shown, which hook the containment gabion 1 at the holes 7 e of the two comb-like hooks 7, the latter assuming thus a position transverse to the support plane.
Once the containment gabion 1 has been positioned, it is released from the hoist means and the comb-like hooks 7 are rotated to such a position that the body 7 a, substantially parallel to the support plane, will rest on the inert material itself or on a closing surface 8, if any.
Therefore, these comb-like hooks afford simple and practical transport, and can assume a position that ensures the lack of bulk transverse to the support surface once transport has been completed, thereby allowing a plurality of gabions to be stacked one above the other to form complex structures such as barriers and/or retaining walls.
Concerning stable positioning of the gabion 1 on the ground, it should be noted that parts of the hooks 5 projecting from the lower part of the support plane identified by the support base 2 may be of hindrance as they cause warping or other deformations of the structure of the containment gabion itself before it is filled, which warping and deformation will permanently remain once the structure has been filled with the inert material.
As explained in the introduction hereof, such deformation and warping are undesired as they prevent the upper opening from being properly closed by the upper cover.
The improved containment gabion obviates these problems in that the aforementioned second portion (5 f) of the first hooks (5 b) is not straight, but comprises two inclined portions (f′, f″) converging in a vertex (50) so as to be more displaced toward the inside of the containment gabion 1, that is, upwards, thereby increasing the space that can be occupied by the third portion 5 h which extends as a continuation of the second bending point 5 g.
Therefore, in the improved containment gabion of the present invention, the end portion of the first hooks 5 b, i.e. the aforementioned third portion 5 h, finds room to be advantageously accommodated in the thickness of the support base in its entirety or for a prevalent part thereof, thus not affecting the coplanarity of the support plane identified by the lower part of the support base 2.
Thus, the improved containment gabion of the present invention is able to ensure stability of the structure during loading, unloading and transport, and can also simplify assembly of the single containment gabion and stacking of a plurality of gabions to form complex monolithic structures.
Those skilled in the art will obviously appreciate that a number of changes and variants may be made to the confinement gabion as described hereinbefore to fulfill specific and contingent requirements, without departure from the scope of the invention, as defined in the following claims.

Claims

1. A containment gabion for the containment of inert material comprising a hollow body having an internal space suitable for containing the inert material, wherein:

said hollow body is identified by a plurality of side walls having a metal mesh structure comprising a support base from which vertical walls project;

said support base identifies a ground support plane of said gabion comprising a network structure formed by a first order of first horizontal rods parallel to a first side of said containment gabion and by a second order of second horizontal rods orthogonal to said first horizontal rods;

each vertical wall comprises a mesh structure formed by vertical rods and by horizontal rods joined together to form the above-mentioned metal mesh structure;

each vertical wall is constrained to said support base at one of its lower ends and adjacent vertical walls at respective lateral ends,

and wherein at least one vertical wall extending parallel to said first order of first horizontal rods comprises at least one vertical rod which, at the lower end of said vertical wall, comprises a first hook having:

a vertical portion substantially perpendicular to the ground support plane identified by said support base,

a first bending point extended, in continuation of said vertical portion, around a first horizontal rod of said support base, said first horizontal rod resulting to be the horizontal rod of said first order of first horizontal rods which is closest to said vertical portion;

a first portion extended in continuation of said first bending point parallel to and below said ground support plane identified by said support base until it surpasses a second horizontal rod of said first order of first horizontal rods of said support base, said second horizontal rod being more spaced from said vertical portion than said first horizontal rod;

a second portion extended between opposite end ends in continuation of said first portion with a direction of development inclined with respect to said ground support plane identified by said support base, so as to extend towards the inside of said containment gabion until a third horizontal rod of said first order of first horizontal rods of said support base, said third horizontal rod being more spaced from said vertical portion than said second horizontal rod;

a second bending point extended in continuation of said second portion to hook said third horizontal rod and

a third portion extended in continuation of said second bending point and having an incident direction of development with respect to said ground support plane identified by said support base,

wherein:

said second portion of said first hook comprises an intermediate portion more displaced towards the inside of said containment gabion with respect to an ideal straight line passing through said opposite ends of said second portion.

2. The containment gabion according to claim 1, wherein said second portion of said first hook comprises two inclined portions converging in a vertex, said vertex, being more displaced towards the inside of said containment gabion than said ideal straight line passing through said opposite ends of said second portion.

3. The containment gabion according to claim 2, wherein said second portion of said first hook is identified by two inclined portions converging in said vertex, preferably said two inclined sections are two straight sections.

4. The containment gabion according to claim 3, wherein said two inclined portions converging in a vertex are inclined by an angle λ comprised between 110° and 170°, preferably by an angle λ between 145° and 165°.

5. The containment gabion in accordance with claim 1, wherein said second portion of said first hook comprises a curvilinear profile section with convexity facing the interior of said containment gabion.

6. The containment gabion according to claim 1, wherein said second portion of said first hook remains substantially contained in the thickness of said support base.

7. The containment gabion according to claim 1, wherein said ideal straight line passing through said opposite ends of said second portion is inclined by an angle α between 12° and 70°, more preferably by an angle comprised between 18° and 40° with respect to said ground support plane identified by said support base.

8. The containment gabion according to claim 1, wherein said third portion is a straight portion, preferably it is a straight portion extending from said second bending point for a section comprised between 18 mm and 50 mm, more preferably for a section comprised between 20 mm and 45 mm.

9. The containment gabion according to claim 1, wherein said first portion of said hook is a straight portion.

10. The containment gabion according to claim 1, wherein:

said second horizontal rod is adjacent to said first horizontal rod and/or

said third horizontal rod is adjacent to said second horizontal rod.

11. The containment gabion according to claim 1, wherein:

said support base has a longer side than the other sides and

said first order of first horizontal rods parallel to a first side of said containment gabion is extended parallel to said longer side of the support base.

12. The containment gabion according to claim 11, wherein each of the opposite vertical walls of said containment gabion extending parallel to a longer side of the support base comprises a plurality of said first hooks.

13. The containment gabion according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of second hooks, preferably U-shaped, to connect the lower end of at least one vertical wall parallel to said second order of second horizontal rods with the horizontal rod of said second order of second horizontal rods which is closest to said wall.