US3897164A - System of self-tamping pavement formed by two reciprocally penetrated sets of blocks substantially of truncated pyramid shape - Google Patents

Abstract

A pavement block has an octagonal head merging into a square foot so that the foot of a head down-block sets into the space between four surrounding head-up blocks.

Description

United States Patent Dodino July 29, 1975 [5 SYSTEM OF SELF-TAMPING PAVEMENT 829,480 8/1906 Mills 404/41 FORMED B T RECIPROCALLY 1,417,010 5/1922 Wright 404/41 1,660,459 2/1928 Thomson 404/41 PENETRATED SETS OF BLOCKS 1,812,71 1 6/1931 Pessione 404/41 X SUBSTANTIALLY 0F TRUNCATED 2,771,164 11/l956 Scurlock 52/574 x PYRAMID 3,602,] 1 1 8/1971 Clemente 404/41 [76] Inventor: Carlo Dodino, Via G. B. Gaulli 21,

Genoa, Italy [22] Filed: Nov. 14, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 415,792

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 20, 1972 Italy 13022/72 [52] US. Cl 404/41; 52/574 [51] Int. Cl. E0lc 5/00 [58] Field of Search 404/41, 34; 52/574 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 474,339 5/1892 Graham 404/4l Primary ExaminerNi1e C. Byers, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-W. G. Fasse; W. W.

Roberts ABSTRACT blocks.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJULZQISYS FIG/I AGE SYSTEM OF SELF-TAMPING PAVEMENT FORMED BY Two RECIPROCALLY PENETRATED SETS F BLOCKS SUBSTANTIALLY 0F TRUNCATED PYRAMID SHAPE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The articulated industrial pavements at present in use and consisting of prefabricated blocks suffer some disadvantages due to the sagging of the resting plane and to horizontal thursts caused by brakings of heavy vehicles.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims at removing said disadvantages by distributing better the unitary loads, discharging on the ground said horizontal thrusts and keeping the blocks always tamped even when the ground settles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The objects and advantages of the invention will further appear in the following description concerning embodiments selected by way of example only with particular reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 shows the larger octagonal base of the single element the paving according to the invention is consisting of;

FIG. 2 shows the smaller square base of said element;

FIG. 3 shows an elevation of said element along line IIIIII of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is another elevation of said element along line IV--IV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a plan view from above of the pavement according to the invention formed by blocks, equal to one another, of the type shown in the preceding figures and arranged alternatively with the larger base upwards and downwards respectively;

FIG. 6 is a section along line VI-VI of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With particular reference to the drawings, the blocks constituting the pavement according to the invention and shown in details in FIGS. 1 to 4, have the general appearance of a truncated pyramid, though their geometric shape is more complex. In fact, said blocks are formed by a main body in form of a square base truncated pyramid, the inclinated faces of said truncated pyramid being denoted in the drawings by numeral 1. From the smaller base of the truncated pyramid projects a prism with a square base equal to said smaller base, whereby the faces 3 of the lateral surface of said square base prism have their lower base in common with the upper base of said inclined faces 1 of the truncated pyramid.

It is to be :noted that the; terms .upper" and lover above used ihave a conventional meaning and'refer to FIGS. 3"a ndi4 ;as aimatter of fact, as said above, the blocks concerned are to be arranged alternatively one standing and the other overturned, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

Said square basev prism ends at its top with a flat base 4 and the height of said prism' is defined by reference h and generally will be equal to a portion of the height of said truncated pyramid. 1 1

The inclined faces 1 of the portion of the block in form of a truncated pyramid do not reach to cross the larger base 5 of said truncated pyramid. In fact, said inclined faces near said larger base are bevelled from the intersection planes between said square base truncated pyramid and an octagonal base regular prism whose sides are equal to the side of the square constituting the smaller base of said truncated pyramid. Therefore, on the bottom the claimed block is defined by a side surface consisting of rectangular faces 6 and faces 7 in form of an irregular pentagon. According to the invention, said rectangular faces are to be equal to the rectangular faces 3 of the upper prism 2.

In order to build the pavement, are first arranged a layer of blocks with their octagonal larger base 5 in contact with the ground and with the pentagonal sides 6 in contact as shown in FIG. 6. Among the layer of blocks so arranged remain free on the ground many squares with a size corresponding to the square smaller base of said blocks, which allows to arrange a second layer of overturned blocks with respect to the position of the blocks of the first layer. In this way the pavement according to the invention is obtained as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

The two layers of blocks penetrate into each other and fill completely a layer whose height is equal to the total height of a single block.

It is to be appreciated that the system of blocks according to the invention is in position to stand the longitudinal stresses without the inclined faces 1 tending to lift said blocks; and that as the vertical surfaces 3, 6 and 7 avoid the relative vertical sliding between adjacent blocks.

The above characteristics of the invention offer the following advantages: blocks particularly strong and easy to be arranged; a higher stability and longer life of the pavement due to the possibility of discharging on the rest plane 11 the horizontal stresses 8, caused by brakings of vehicles, which are transferred onto the ground by the block adjacent to the one subject to the stresses; a very high reduction in the unitary loads, as when the load plane 10 consists of the square base of the block, the weight is distributed on the ground 1 l by the octagonal base of larger surface, while when the load weighs on the octagonal base it is transferred by the block on other four blocks surrounding it.

What above described and shown may in practice have different forms, as for instance bevelled edges, rounded or sinusoidal lateral faces, however still within the present invention.

What I claim is:

1. A system of articulated pavement comprised of a pair of sets of identical prefabricated blocks, eachblock being in the form of a regular octagonal base prism and a square base prism separated by a square base truncated prism having a larger base toward the octagonal base and a smaller base toward the square base prism, the sides of the larger base of said truncated pyramid being equal to twice the apothem of the base of the octagonal prism, the sides of the smaller base of the truncated pyramid being equal to the sides of the base of said octagonal prism, whereby four edges of the larger base of said truncated prism are parallel to and join four faces of said octagonal prism, the trihedrons of the larger base of said truncated prism being removed which extend beyond the vertical secant planes of the four faces of the octagonal prism which are not parallel to edges of the larger base of said truncated pyramid, said square base prism having sides equal to the sides of the smaller base of said truncated pyramid and heights equal to the height of said octagonal prism, one set of said blocks having its octagonal bases extending downwardly and the other set of blocks being arranged with its octagonal bases facing upwardly, the blocks of said sets being inserted one into the other, whereby the upper and lower surfaces of the blocks of one set are parallel with the lower and upper surfaces respectively of the blocks of the other set, the blocks of the two sets being vertically overlapped whereby each square surface of a block at the surface of the pavement is surrounded by four octagonal surfaces of the blocks of the other set and vice versa.

Claims (1)

1. A system of articulated pavement comprised of a pair of sets of identical prefabricated blocks, each block being in the form of a regular octagonal base prism and a square base prism separated by a square base truncated prism having a larger base toward the octagonal base and a smaller base toward the square base prism, the sides of the larger base of said truncated pyramid being equal to twice the apothem of the base of the octagonal prism, the sides of the smaller base of the truncated pyramid being equal to the sides of the base of said octagonal prism, whereby four edges of the larger base of said truncated prism are parallel to and join four faces of said octagonal prism, the trihedrons of the larger base of said truncated prism being removed which extend beyond the vertical secant planes of the four faces of the octangonal prism which are not parallel to edges of the larger base of said truncated pyramid, said square base prism having sides equal to the sides of the smaller base of said truncated pyramid and heights equal to the height of said octagonal prism, one set of said blocks having its octagonal bases extending downwardly and the other set of blocks being arranged with its octagonal bases facing upwardly, the blocks of said sets being inserted one into the other, whereby the upper and lower surfaces of the blocks of one set are parallel with the lower and upper surfaces respectively of the blocks of the other set, the blocks of the two sets being vertiCally overlapped whereby each square surface of a block at the surface of the pavement is surrounded by four octagonal surfaces of the blocks of the other set and vice versa.

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