(19)
(11) EP 1 371 783 A2

(12) EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION

(43) Date of publication:
17.12.2003 Bulletin 2003/51

(21) Application number: 03380133.3

(22) Date of filing: 04.06.2003
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC)7E02D 17/20
(84) Designated Contracting States:
AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IT LI LU MC NL PT RO SE SI SK TR
Designated Extension States:
AL LT LV MK

(30) Priority: 11.06.2002 ES 200201489 U

(71) Applicant: Intermas Nets, S.A.
08450 Llinars del Vallès, (Barcelona) (ES)

(72) Inventor:
  • Besas Camps, Luis
    08440-Cardedeu (Barcelona) (ES)

(74) Representative: Curell Aguilà, Marcelino et al
Dr. Ing. M. Curell Sunol I.I. S.L. Agentes de la Propiedad Industrial Passeig de Gracia, 65 bis
E-08008 Barcelona
E-08008 Barcelona (ES)

   


(54) Land stabiliser structure


(57) The present invention relates to a land stabiliser structure, constituted by an original sheet (1) of mesh extruded in synthetic plastics material having rigid drawn forms (3A) with respect to one of its faces, surrounded by areas (4) of original sheet which have not been drawn and which define continuous strips running in the transverse direction of said original sheet (1). Areas having rigid drawn forms (3A) are indeformable by flexion and areas (4) of the original sheet which have not been drawn are deformable by flexion, allowing rolling-up of the structure. The rigid drawn forms may be elongated in the transverse direction of the original sheet (1), or may be non-continuous and distributed in lines and columns. Alternatively, the non-continuous rigid drawn forms may be staggered, and the sheet (1) of extruded mesh may be divided into panels, in which case the structure may not be rolled-up.




Description

Field of the invention



[0001] This invention relates to a land stabiliser structure, in particular one constituted basically by a mesh extruded in synthetic plastics material and of indefinite length, forming a surface which, when laid with respect to soft earth or a talus, allows stabilisation of such, preventing soil dispersion and facilitating drainage.

State of the art



[0002] Steel mesh or mesh units and perforated panels have up to now been used for the above objective and, more recently, even meshes of synthetic plastics material, which are secured to the ground by means of mechanical and/or vegetal anchorage devices.

[0003] The previous arrangements, should they consist of metallic members, suffer from drawbacks such as their cost and relatively short working life, whilst all previous arrangements suffer from the necessity of using non-integral means for their anchorage to the land and the impossibility of retaining the land's smaller soil particles.

[0004] Furthermore, said stabiliser arrangements of metallic type may only with difficulty be used, at one and the same time, for land drainage, as they are not compatible with porous materials.

[0005] In view of the above, one may understand the desire for means that allow land stabilisation, as far as possible avoiding both migration of the land's smaller particles and the need to use non-integral means of anchorage, whilst having, should it be necessary, the possibility of drainage characteristics.

Summary of the invention



[0006] In order to avoid the above mentioned drawbacks and to obtain the consequent advantages, the solution adopted is that of a stabilising structure of material resistant to oxidation, non-biodegradable, cheap and in particular self-anchoring with respect to the land, without excluding the possibility of a drainage function by means of compatibility thereof with porous materials.

[0007] In accordance with the solution adopted above, the land stabiliser structure which is the subject of this invention has been developed, consisting in a mesh sheet extruded in synthetic plastics material having rigid drawn forms that are in appreciable relief to only one of the faces of said mesh sheet and which are formed such that they are always surrounded by areas of the original sheet which have not been drawn, which areas define continuous strips running, at least, in the transverse direction of the sheet.

[0008] Preferably, the areas having rigid drawn forms are indeformable by flexion, whilst the areas of the original sheeting which have not been drawn which surround said rigid drawn forms are deformable by flexion in at least one direction.

[0009] Advantageously, the rigid drawn forms are elongated and their longest dimension is orientated in the transverse direction of the original sheet, such rigid drawn forms being thus formed in the manner of canals with closed ends, whose straight section is one of the group comprising polygonal, curvilinear and combined sections.

[0010] Optionally, advantageously, the rigid drawn forms are non-continuous, by which is meant that they may be inscribed in a circle, and are distributed in lines and columns, the non-continuous drawn forms are formed as surfaces of the group which comprises spherical zone, cone frustum, pyramid frustum, and ogive frustum surfaces, all of which may have, preferably, a drawn form in their smaller base surrounded by a perimetric wall which defines the lateral surface of said drawn form.

[0011] Optionally, the extruded mesh sheet of indefinite length is divided into panels having rigid drawn forms, in which case the extruded mesh panels may have, in their longitudinal and/or transverse direction, long rigid drawn forms or non-continuous rigid drawn forms, that preferably have a distribution under the group which comprises lines and columns and staggering, without however excluding other possibilities.

[0012] Finally, a feature of the invention consists in that the sheet of indefinite length and the panels of extruded mesh are covered, with respect to at least one of the faces thereof, by a sheet of non-woven fabric, it being envisaged that the sheet of non-woven fabric may be joined to the sheet of indefinite length and to the panels of extruded mesh.

Brief description of the drawings



[0013] To facilitate understanding of the above ideas, the following is a non-limitative description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which reference is made to the accompanying illustrative figures, in which:

Figure 1, represents, in perspective, a portion of a sheet of indefinite length, proceeding from a roll thereof, constituted by a mesh extruded in synthetic plastics material in which rigid drawn forms have been drawn extending in transverse direction, which are equidistantly parallel one to another and which are surrounded by areas of the sheet which have not been drawn and which allow the rolling-up thereof.

Figure 2, represents, in perspective, a portion of a sheet of indefinite length which, as in the previous Figure, proceeds from a roll thereof, which is constituted by a mesh extruded in synthetic plastics material in which non-continuous rigid drawn forms have been performed, such as cone frustums of slight conicity, which are distributed in lines and columns and surrounded by areas of the sheet which have not been drawn and which allow, at least, rolling-up thereof.

Figure 3, represents, in perspective, a stabiliser structure in panel form, which has interlinked rigid drawn forms.

Figure 4, represents, in diametrical section, a rigid drawn form of the non-continuous type represented in Figure 2, once installed in the land to be stabilised.

Figure 5, represents, in diametrical section, a rigid non-continuous drawn form such as represented in Figure 2, in which is shown the slight conicity and the possibility of having a drawn form centred in its free base, illustrated in the Figure by the broken line.

Figure 6, represents, in perspective, the detail of the possibility of stacking, with mutual dovetailing of the non-continuous rigid drawn forms of the mesh panels extruded and drawn according to the invention, such possibility being applicable to the rigid longitudinal drawn forms of the corresponding panels.

Figure 7, represents, diagrammatically and in section, a portion of the original sheet of mesh extruded in synthetic plastic and which has not been modified in any way.

Figure 8, represents, analogously to the previous Figure, the case in which said original sheet is covered with respect to one of its faces by a sheet of non-woven fabric.

Figure 9, represents, analogously to Figures 7 and 8, the case in which the said original sheet is covered with respect to both of its faces by sheets of non-woven fabric.


Detailed description of some embodiments of the invention



[0014] The original sheet 1 of mesh extruded in synthetic plastics material is of conventional type in which the thickness of the threads, the density of the mesh and the rigidity of the material are dependant upon the final application of the stabiliser structure 2, as well as the number, surface and depth, distribution and separation of the rigid drawn forms performed in such.

[0015] The original sheet 1 of mesh extruded in synthetic plastics material, such as polystyrene, is subjected to a forming operation by thermal drawing, with the objective of conferring on such permanent raised forms, which shall be referred to herein as rigid drawn forms, in relief with respect to at least one of the faces thereof.

[0016] Such rigid drawn forms may adopt two basic configurations, that which corresponds to elongated rigid drawn forms 3A, which have their longest dimension in the transverse direction of the original sheet 1, as may be observed in Figure 1, and that which corresponds to non-continuous rigid drawn forms 3B which do not have a specific orientation but which are distributed in lines and columns, as shown in Figure 2, and thus allow the stabiliser structure 2 to be rolled up, or said non-continuous rigid drawn forms 3B may be staggered, not illustrated, which does not permit said stabiliser structure 2 to be rolled up and which therefore may only be used when such structure adopts the form of panels, not illustrated, proceeding from cutting of the original sheet 1 prior to forming of the drawn forms 3A or 3B.

[0017] In those instances in which the stabiliser structure 2 needs to be handled in rolls, as for example in Figures 1 and 2, the drawn forms 3A and 3B must be surrounded by areas 4 in which the original sheet 1 has not been drawn, in order to create transverse paths that allow the flexion of the stabiliser structure 2, longitudinal flexion is for example not possible in Figure 1, given that the section of its rigid drawn forms 3A prevents such, but the same is not the case in Figure 2, in which paths are created between the rigid drawn forms 3B, both longitudinally and transversally, which allow rolling, which would not be possible if such rigid drawn forms 3B were staggered or if the rigid drawn forms 3A and 3B were interlinked, forming grids in both cases.

[0018] In those cases in which the stabiliser structure 2 should not be capable of being rolled up, the same is manufactured in the form of panels 2A in which are formed rigid drawn forms interlinked so as to prevent the rolling-up thereof, as has been seen in the previous paragraph and which is illustrated in Figure 3, in which the rigid drawn forms 3C are interlinked forming a rhomboid grid.

[0019] In the Figure 4 detail, one may observe a rigid drawn form 3B of the stabiliser structure 2 of Figure 2. Said rigid drawn form 3B is embedded in the land 5, whilst the mesh 6 thereof is interpenetrated by the soil of land 5, which determines the anchorage of the stabiliser structure 2 in the land 5.

[0020] The moderately cone frustum shape of the drawn forms 3B, as illustrated in Figure 5, allows the stacking of two or more stabiliser structures 2 or panels 2A, which means a reduction in volume beneficial during transport and storage.

[0021] In the above mentioned Figure 5 is shown the case in which the base 7 of the rigid drawn form 3B has a central drawn form 7a, represented by the broken line.

[0022] The original sheet 1, as represented diagrammatically in Figure 7 does not have accessories, whilst in Figures 8 and 9, said original sheet 1 is covered on a single face by a sheet 8 of non-woven fabric ("geotextil") in Figure 8, or with respect to both faces (sheets 8 and 9) in Figure 9, which allows performance of the drainage function.

[0023] This sheet 8 of non-woven fabric may be simply adjoined to the original sheet 1 or solidly joined to such before forming by drawing, or again adjoined to the stabiliser structure 2, after forming the rigid drawn forms 3A, 3B, and 3C.


Claims

1. Land stabiliser structure, basically constituted by an original sheet (1) of mesh extruded in synthetic plastics material of indefinite length, characterised in that said original sheet (1) has rigid drawn forms (3A, 3B, 3C) which are in appreciable relief only to one of the faces thereof and which are formed in such manner that they are always surrounded by areas (4) of the original sheet which have not been drawn, which areas (4) define continual strips which, at least, cross said original sheet (1) in transverse direction.
 
2. Land stabiliser structure, according to claim 1, characterised in that the areas having rigid drawn forms (3A, 3B) are indeformable by flexion, whilst the areas (4) of the original sheet which have not been drawn which surround said rigid drawn forms (3A, 3B) are deformable by flexion in at least one direction.
 
3. Land stabiliser structure, according to claims 1 or 2, characterised in that the rigid drawn forms (3A) are elongated and have their longer dimension orientated in the transverse direction of the original sheet (1).
 
4. Land stabiliser structure, according to claims 1 or 2, characterised in that the rigid drawn forms (3B) are non-continuous and are distributed in lines and columns.
 
5. Land stabiliser structure, according to claim 4, characterised in that the rigid non-continuous drawn forms (3B) have a drawn form (7a) in their smaller base surrounded by a perimetric wall which defines the lateral surface of said drawn form (7a).
 
6. Land stabiliser structure, according to claim 1, characterised in that the indefinite length sheet (1) of extruded mesh is divided into panels (2A) having said rigid drawn forms (3A, 3B, 3C).
 
7. Land stabiliser structure, according to claim 6, characterised in that the panels (2A) of extruded mesh sheet have, in the longitudinal and/or transverse direction, rigid longitudinal drawn forms.
 
8. Land stabiliser structure, according to claim 6, characterised in that the panels (2A) of extruded mesh sheet have non-continuous rigid drawn forms which adopt a distribution under the group comprising lines and columns and staggering.
 
9. Land stabiliser structure, according to any of the claims 1 to 8, characterised in that the sheet (1) of indefinite length and the panels (2A) of extruded mesh are covered, with respect to at least one of their faces, by a sheet of non-woven fabric (8, 9).
 
10. Land stabiliser structure, according to claim 9, characterised in that the sheet of non-woven fabric (8, 9) is joined to the indefinite length sheet (1) and the panels (2A) of extruded mesh.
 
11. Land stabiliser structure, according to claims 2 and 3, characterised in that the rigid drawn forms (3A) are formed in the manner of closed-ended canals, whose straight section is of the group which comprises polygonal, curvilinear and combined sections.
 
12. Land stabiliser structure, according to claim 4, characterised in that the rigid non-continuous drawn forms (3B) are formed as surfaces of the group which includes spherical zone, cone frustum, pyramid frustum and ogive frustum surfaces.
 




Drawing