US20240117571A1

US20240117571A1 - Mat for synthetic grass playing fields

Info

Publication number: US20240117571A1
Application number: US18/264,710
Authority: US
Inventors: Massimo De Maria
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2021-02-11
Filing date: 2022-01-18
Publication date: 2024-04-11
Also published as: WO2022171389A1; EP4291718A1

Abstract

A mat for synthetic grass playing fields, includes a central membrane adapted to support in an upper region a number of substantially bell-shaped protrusions. The central membrane is provided in a lower region with a cellular structure formed by mutually adjacent polygonal cells. A high-performance high-drain mat for synthetic grass playing fields is provided to support synthetic grass.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a 35 U.S.C. § 371 National Stage patent application of PCT/EP2022/050948, filed on 18 Jan. 2022, which claims the benefit of Italian patent application 102021000003008, filed on 11 Feb. 2021, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a mat for synthetic grass playing fields.
More particularly, the disclosure relates to a high-performance high-drain mat for synthetic grass playing fields, provided to support synthetic grass.

BACKGROUND

As is known, the use of synthetic grass in playing fields, for example soccer fields, has constituted a significant advantage over natural grass, since synthetic grass does not require water and requires little maintenance, allowing a higher number of hours of use than natural grass.
One of the problems with the use of synthetic grass is that of being able to couple to the underlying mat a synthetic grass of any thickness, and the possibility of reducing the quantities of rubber granules, sand and synthetic grass, while maintaining the required performance.

SUMMARY

The aim of the present disclosure is to provide a mat for synthetic grass playing fields that allows coupling a system composed of synthetic grass of reduced length, a smaller amount of sand and a smaller amount of rubber granules, while maintaining the required performance.
Within this aim, the present disclosure provides a mat for synthetic grass playing fields that can be used in contexts of dry climate and/or high rainfall, ensuring the draining of rainwater in order to avoid the creation of puddles.
The present disclosure provides a mat for synthetic grass playing fields that ensures an excellent absorption and consequent release of energy, in compliance with international regulations.
The present disclosure also provides a mat for synthetic grass playing fields that makes it possible to absorb uniformly the impacts transmitted by a player, originating from any direction.
The present disclosure further provides a mat for synthetic grass playing fields that has optimum dimensional stability both during installation and during use.
The present disclosure further provide a mat for synthetic grass playing fields that is highly reliable, relatively easy to provide and at competitive costs.
This aim and these and other advantages which will become more apparent hereinafter are achieved by providing a mat for synthetic grass playing fields, characterized in that it comprises a central membrane adapted to support in an upper region a plurality of substantially bell-shaped protrusions, said central membrane being provided in a lower region with a cellular structure formed by mutually adjacent polygonal cells.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further characteristics and advantages of the disclosure will become more apparent from the description of preferred but not exclusive embodiments of the mat according to the disclosure, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the upper surface of a first embodiment of the mat according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the lower surface of the mat of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the mat of FIGS. 1 and 2 ;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the forces acting on a portion of the mat of FIGS. 1-3 ;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the deformation undergone by the portion of mat shown in FIG. 4 ;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the upper surface of the mat according to a second embodiment according to the present disclosure; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the upper surface of the mat according to a third embodiment according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

With reference to the figures, the mat for synthetic grass playing fields, generally designated by the reference numeral 1, comprises a membrane 2 provided in an upper region with a plurality of bell-shaped protrusions 3, on top of which there is an additional protrusion 4, which is for example circular.
The membrane 2 is provided in a lower region with a cellular structure constituted by a plurality of hollow polygonal cells 5, arranged preferably mutually adjacent, without discontinuities and preferably shaped like a hexagon.
The hexagonal polygonal cells 5 have, at the vertices of the hexagon, protruding pins 6 adapted to constitute a sort of feet for the cellular structure 5.
The pins protruding in a lower region from the polygonal cells are arranged at right angles to the central membrane 2.
The bell-shaped protrusions 3 have a substantially trapezoidal shape in cross-section.
The structure thus defined makes it possible to:

- absorb and return energy at the upper protrusion 4 of the bell 3;
- absorb and release energy at the lateral wall 3 a of the bell 3;
- absorb and release energy at the central membrane 2 that supports the bell 3;
- absorb and release energy at the hexagonal cellular structure 5 at the pins 6.

Essentially, the described structure allows the discharge of any impact caused by an athlete. First of all, the bell 3 acts by undergoing a deformation and in turn discharges energy on the membrane 2, which discharges it in the lower part via the cellular structure 5, distributing it evenly on each side of each hexagon that forms the cellular structure 5.
The bells 3 and the hexagons of the polygonal cellular structure 5 are placed in a perfectly symmetrical pattern that allows absorbing uniformly the impact transmitted by the player and originating from any direction.
The polygonal cells are mutually adjacent and arranged along offset rows, so as to form a symmetrical structure with vertices of each polygonal cell which are common with vertices of six adjacent polygonal cells, in the case of a cellular structure 6 with hexagonal cells.
The polygonal cells have a diameter that is larger than the diameter of the bell-shaped protrusions 3.
Each polygonal cell has, in an upper region, thereat, a respective bell-shaped protrusion 3.
The mat 1 according to the disclosure is conveniently made of a rubber compound derived from recycled tires amounting to 70-80% and polyolefin resins amounting to 30-20%.
The mat according to the disclosure is produced by extrusion and wound into a roll for example 1200 mm wide and 60-70 m long, covering the full width for example of a soccer field, without seams, and is assembled with similar mats arranged laterally adjacent and coupled with coupling inserts, so as to obtain a monolithic complex, while still allowing the possibility to absorb expansions caused by exposure to different temperatures.
Conveniently, the protrusions 4 may be provided, in alternative embodiments of the disclosure, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 , by an annular protrusion 16 (see FIG. 6 ) or by a plurality of protruding disks 26 (see FIG. 7 ).
In practice it has been found that the mat according to the disclosure fully achieves the intended aim and objects, since it makes it possible to absorb and release energy derived from the impacts of an athlete in an optimum manner, at all the various portions of the mat, in a symmetrical manner, so as to absorb impacts deriving from every possible direction.
The mat thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the accompanying claims.
All the details may furthermore be any according to the requirements and the state of the art.
In practice, the materials used, as well as the contingent shapes and dimensions, may be any according to the requirements and the state of the art.

Claims

1-12. (canceled)

13. A mat for synthetic grass playing fields, comprising a central membrane configured to support in an upper region a plurality of substantially bell-shaped protrusions, said central membrane being provided in a lower region with a cellular structure formed by mutually adjacent polygonal cells.

14. The mat according to claim 13, wherein said polygonal cells are hexagonal.

15. The mat according to claim 13, wherein said polygonal cells have, at each one of vertices of the polygonal cells, protruding pins configured to form resting feet.

16. The mat according to claim 13, wherein said bell-shaped protrusions have a trapezoidal transverse cross-section.

17. The mat according to claim 13, wherein said polygonal cells are mutually adjacent and are arranged along offset rows, configured to form a symmetrical structure with vertices of each polygonal cell which are common with vertices of six adjacent polygonal cells.

18. The mat according to claim 13, wherein said bell-shaped protrusions have, at tops thereof, at least one additional protrusion.

19. The mat according to claim 18, wherein said at least one additional protrusion is a circular protrusion.

20. The mat according to claim 18, wherein said at least one additional protrusion is an annular protrusion.

21. The mat according to claim 18, wherein said at least one additional protrusion comprises a plurality of disk-shaped protrusions.

22. The mat according to claim 15, wherein said pins that protrude in a lower region from said polygonal cells are arranged at right angles with respect to said central membrane.

23. The mat according to claim 13, wherein said polygonal cells have a diameter that is larger than a diameter of said bell-shaped protrusions.

24. The mat according to claim 13, wherein each polygonal cell has, in an upper region, thereat, a respective bell-shaped protrusion.