Road structure – process – or apparatus – Pavement
Patent
1995-09-18
1997-10-21
Suchfield, George A.
Road structure, process, or apparatus
Pavement
404 82, 428 17, E21C 1300, E21C 1306, E21C 1308
Patent
active
056789513
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
SUBJECT OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an element making it possible to produce a synthetic tennis ground similar to clay-surface (crushed brick) grounds, more particularly allowing the playing of tennis outdoors.
The invention also extends to a method for producing such a ground.
The invention relates, in practice, to a construction of permanent clay-surface tennis courts and to the reconditioning of old tennis courts, in particular tennis courts made of porous concrete or any other hard surface.
TECHNOLOGICAL BACKGROUND
Currently, the construction of a so-called "clay-surface" tennis surface involves the laying of at least three successive layers of constituent elements.
First of all, it is necessary to arrange a foundation layer which will constitute the solid base of the system, capable of supporting the loads and having the requisite flatness properties. This is more generally compacted gravel.
The second layer consists of a chalk layer or a layer of an equivalent material, which is provided particularly to ensure good drainage, as well as for flexibility in playing.
Finally, a red cover layer is produced, which is generally obtained from finely powdered crushed brick.
Finally, the playing lines are drawn generally by painting or by laying prefabricated plastic lines.
This type of surface, called "clay-surface", has become traditional for the playing of tennis outdoors.
The major advantage of a surface of this type is the playing comfort which protects the muscles and the joints of the player. This comfort results, on the one hand, from the flexibility in depth which allows damping of the vertical impact of the foot during running and, on the other hand, from the controlled sliding of the tennis shoe over the surface, which avoids jarring of the foot in its horizontal movements.
However, this conventional construction of clay-surface playing surfaces has two fundamental drawbacks:
First of all, in the event of freezing, the water suspended in the intermediate layer (generally a chalk layer) freezes and causes the chalk/clay-surface complex to expand. During unfreezing, the whole subsides, losing any cohesion, and the playing lines are destroyed. Because of this, the surface is unusable and requires reconditioning, which can be undertaken only when the risk of freezing has ended. This results in several months of unavailability of the ground.
Another drawback is observed in the event of heavy rain, when the chalk/clay-surface complex no longer provides sufficiently fast drainage. In fact, this surface is greatly weakened when it is too wet and this necessarily results in a waiting time before it can be used after heavy rain.
SUMMARY OF THE STATE OF THE ART
It is known to produce "artificial turf" intended for football, hockey or tennis grounds, which consists in particular of tufted or needled products.
Several documents, and in particular documents EP-A-263,566, U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,179, U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,653 and DE-A-3,703,866, describe embodiments of such artificial turf. In all these documents, it is proposed to add one or more layers of sand in order to improve the properties, in particular of bounce, of this artificial turf. In most of the documents, it is proposed to arrange two layers of sand with different particle sizes successively in the tufted product.
In document WO-A-8,909,306 it is proposed to add granules of elastomer materials in products of this type, in order both to improve the drainage properties and to avoid the formation of ice.
In general, all these coverings leave part of the elements constituting the tufted or needled product (bristles, thin strips, etc.) open to the air.
OBJECTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The present invention aims to provide, in particular, an element suitable both for the construction of permanent clay-surface tennis courts and for reconditioning such tennis courts, even on a concrete support or on any hard surface, which avoids the drawbacks in particular mentioned above due to ice and to heavy rain.
A complementary object of t
REFERENCES:
patent: 4044179 (1977-08-01), Haas, Jr.
patent: 4336286 (1982-06-01), Tomarin
patent: 4337283 (1982-06-01), Haas, Jr.
patent: 4396653 (1983-08-01), Tomarin
patent: 4444815 (1984-04-01), Friedrich
patent: 4705706 (1987-11-01), Avery
patent: 4735825 (1988-04-01), Friedrich
patent: 5320447 (1994-06-01), Ubero
Sommer Levasseur
Suchfield George A.
LandOfFree
Element for synthetic tennis ground and method for its productio does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Element for synthetic tennis ground and method for its productio, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Element for synthetic tennis ground and method for its productio will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1001754