Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Pile or nap type surface or component – Interlaminar
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-28
2002-10-29
Juska, Cheryl A. (Department: 1771)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Pile or nap type surface or component
Interlaminar
C428S087000, C428S017000, C472S092000, C472S094000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06472041
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to synthetic surfacing systems, including such systems that may be used for athletic playing surfaces.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Traditionally, a number of natural and artificial surfaces have been used to create athletic playing surfaces such as basketball and tennis courts, soccer and football fields, and track and field venues. Frequently, artificial surfaces, such as the Astroturf brand of synthetic turf systems, are used inside domed stadiums and arenas instead of natural playing surfaces. Artificial surfaces may also be constructed for outdoor tracks, basketball courts and tennis courts in order to obtain particular surface characteristics (such as those relating to bounce or rebound) or in an attempt to eliminate the cost of maintaining a natural surface. In all such circumstances, it is desirable to achieve particular surface characteristics, depending on the nature of the use intended, while minimizing the cost of construction and maintenance.
While there are many varieties of athletic playing surfaces, all can be generally categorized as one of two types: (1) those which are intended to provide a hard-surfaced playing area; and (2) those which are designed to simulate a natural grass playing area. All of these surfaces are generally comprised of multiple layers of materials which are laid upon one another in some fashion.
Regardless of the type of system, the life of an artificial surfacing system may be determined by a number of factors, including the integrity of the system construction, the durability of the components of the system, the condition of the base upon which the system is placed, climate and weather conditions encountered by the system, the amount and nature of play on the surface and the passage of time.
Those surfacing systems which are designed to provide a substantially hard playing surface, such as tracks, basketball courts and tennis courts, are generally comprised of crushed rock or other similar material, asphalt or concrete pavements, or a multi-layer system that is built on top of a crushed rock or pavement base. Such systems are subject to the development of cracks or other forms of degradation of the playing surface as a result of weather and climate effects, improper construction, improper maintenance, normal or excessive use or wear, or simply the passage of time. In most cases, the cracking or degradation results in diminished playing characteristics such as “dead spots” or areas of the playing surface which do not possess the same qualities or characteristics as the remainder of the surface. Frequently, the owner of a cracked or degraded surface will elect to patch the playing surface in an attempt to avoid the expense of a complete resurfacing. While a patch may provide a temporary reprieve from further cracking and degradation, in most cases the patch is more susceptible to an accelerated failure than the original surface. Furthermore, it is likely that the patch will have different qualities and characteristics from the remainder of the playing surface. In order to restore the original quality and surface characteristics of the original system, it may be necessary to overlay the degraded or cracked surface with a new layer of the surfacing material. However, if the source of the failure is the underlying pavement or base material, it may be necessary to completely remove and reconstruct the entire playing surface system.
Artificial systems that are designed to provide a hard-surfaced playing area are generally rigid and unyielding, and consequently, they tend to impose higher levels of stress and strain on the joints of the user, unless the systems include layers of flexible materials such as urethane or acrylic encapsulated rubber. However, a disadvantage of such systems with flexible layers is that these layers tend to bubble and delaminate over time as moisture penetrates between the layers of the system or is transmitted through the underlying base pavement by way of hydrostatic pressure.
Artificial surfacing systems which are designed to simulate a grass playing surface generally incorporate a number of different layers including an asphalt, crushed rock or concrete base and a surface layer of tufted or woven pile fabric. Sometimes such systems include one or more intermediate layers. One such system, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,801,421 of Allen et al., includes an asphalt substrate, an intermediate layer of particulate vulcanized rubber bonded with polyisocyanurate resin, and a top layer of pile fabric including tufts of nylon, polypropylene or polyester that are designed to simulate natural grass. Another system of this type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,303 of Alderson et al., which includes a mat having an upper pile layer of nylon fibers tufted through a backing material. The upper pile layer is uniformly adhered to the upper surface of a non-woven batt by an adhesive and the batt is adhered to an underlying asphalt layer by an adhesive or to an underlying sand layer by a soil stabilizer. The height of the pile may be varied to best accommodate the intended use of the surface.
Other artificial playing surfaces of this type have incorporated in-fill materials which are placed on and into the upstanding pile tufts in order to create a playing surface which provides cushioning, resiliency, and a more natural turf feeling. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,079 of Haas describes a synthetic turf-like product comprising a pile fabric which includes a flexible backing and a plurality of generally upstanding pile elements. The pile elements are generally woven or knitted into the backing and are configured to resemble grass. A quantity of non-compacting, irregular shaped granular material, such as granulated coal slag, crushed granite and/or flint, is interspersed among the pile elements and on the backing of the pile fabric to a depth sufficient to substantially absorb the shock of objects impacting thereon.
Although the surfacing systems which employ woven or tufted fabrics and an in-fill material may simulate the feel and other characteristics of natural turf, such systems frequently require maintenance to prevent the in-fill material from dispersing or concentrating in one or more areas, thereby leaving other areas of the playing surface with inadequate support or unacceptable playing characteristics. Consequently, some such systems also employ binders to bond a portion of the in-fill material to the tufts so that such portion remains in position relative to the tufts and so that no shallow or unprotected areas develop in the bound portion of the in-fill layer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,653 of Tomarin describes a playing field surface formed of a synthetic fiber carpet, having generally upright pile fibers, upon which one or more layers of particulate covering is applied. The carpet, which is laid upon a support base of gravel or sand, includes woven base sheet, the lower side of which is coated with a rubber-type coating. Tufted through the base sheet are a plurality of fiber tufts having a length of one-half to two and one-half inches. The fibers are densely tufted so as to form a tightly packed, intertwined network. A first layer of rubber-like particles is applied to a predetermined depth to form a lower layer. A binder, such as a rubber adhesive or cement, may be sprayed or spilled upon the lower layer so as to trickle down between and connect the rubber particles. An upper layer, formed of sand-like particles, is then placed atop the lower layer. In most instances, the upper layer of particulate will be applied so that at least the tips of the fibers remain exposed. The sand-like upper layer and the exposed fibers combine to simulate a natural grass field and tend to reduce compaction of the fiber tufts. Of course, this upper layer is still subject to shifting and dispersing, and consequently, would still require periodic maintenance to retain consistent performance characteristics.
Although known surfacing systems are suitable for use either as a simulated grass
Chambliss Bahner & Stophel P.C.
Juska Cheryl A.
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