Patent Application
20150252549
The present disclosure relates generally to systems for covering utility access holes. In particular, systems for matching the grade of the surface surrounding the utility access hole to be covered are described.
Public and private utility systems, such as sewer, gas, water, phone, and electrical systems, are often disposed underground. Access to the utility systems is typically provided through manholes or other access openings formed in the surface above the utility systems. Manholes may be formed in paved roadway or parking lot surfaces or in unpaved surfaces. Manholes are typically covered by a manhole cover.
Known systems for covering manholes and other utility access openings are not entirely satisfactory for a number of reasons. For example, existing cover systems fail to adequately accommodate grades in the surface surrounding the manhole. As a result, existing cover systems often jut above the ground surface or are sunk beneath the ground surface when there is a grade in the ground surface. Cover systems jutting above or sunk below the surrounding ground surface create significant trip and impact hazards to pedestrians and cars.
There exists a pressing need for a cover system that better conforms to the grade of the ground surface surrounding the manhole to avoid trip and impact hazards caused by conventional manhole cover systems, which do not adequately conform to the surrounding grade.
Another limitation of conventional systems for covering manholes is that they do not facilitate labeling or otherwise marking the cover system with useful information about the manhole in which they are installed. Instead, conventional manhole covers often lack information specific to the particular manhole in which they are installed altogether or have limited information permanently stamped into the manhole cover. The information incorporated into conventional manhole covers must be known when the manhole cover is formed, and it may not be possible to incorporate different information on different manhole covers given cost or other manufacturing limitations. In any respect, close coordination between the party making the manhole covers and the party installing the manhole covers is required with conventional manhole covers.
Manhole cover systems would be greatly improved if they enabled information to be easily and inexpensively displayed on the cover system.
The information limitations of existing manhole cover systems further limit or prevent updating the information initially provided. When displaying additional or alternative information is desired, conventional manhole covers generally must either be refabricated or replaced with new covers incorporating new information.
It would be desirable to have a cover system that readily facilitated changing the information displayed by the cover system.
Thus, there exists a need for utility cover systems that improve upon and advance the design of known utility access hole cover systems. Examples of new and useful utility cover systems relevant to the needs existing in the field are discussed below.
The present disclosure is directed to grade-matching cover systems for use with a utility cover installed to cover a utility access hole formed in a ground surface having a ground surface grade proximate the utility access hole. The cover systems include a grade-matching member, a surface member, and, optionally, a base member. The grade-matching member defines a cover grade selected to substantially match the ground surface grade. The surface member adopts the cover grade defined by the grade-matching member and has a top surface opposite the grade-matching member that is substantially coplanar with the ground surface proximate the utility access hole.
The disclosed cover systems will become better understood through review of the following detailed description in conjunction with the figures. The detailed description and figures provide merely examples of the various inventions described herein. Those skilled in the art will understand that the disclosed examples may be varied, modified, and altered without departing from the scope of the inventions described herein. Many variations are contemplated for different applications and design considerations; however, for the sake of brevity, each and every contemplated variation is not individually described in the following detailed description.
Throughout the following detailed description, examples of various cover systems are provided. Related features in the examples may be identical, similar, or dissimilar in different examples. For the sake of brevity, related features will not be redundantly explained in each example. Instead, the use of related feature names will cue the reader that the feature with a related feature name may be similar to the related feature in an example explained previously. Features specific to a given example will be described in that particular example. The reader should understand that a given feature need not be the same or similar to the specific portrayal of a related feature in any given figure or example.
With reference to
As can be seen in
As shown in
In the present example shown in
Ground surface 106 has a sloped grade θ2. In other examples, the ground surface may be sloped to a different degree, irregularly sloped, or flat. The grade of the ground surface may change over time, and cover system 100 can be readily reconfigured to maintain a cover grade that substantially matches the grade of the surrounding ground surface.
The utility access hole may be any opening in the ground that is covered to limit access to the underlying utility system. Those skilled in the art will recognize that utility access holes may be referred to as manholes, utility holes, cable chambers, maintenance holes, inspection chambers, access chambers, sewer holes or confined spaces. The opening defined by utility access hole 104 is circular, but could be almost any other shape in other examples, including square, rectangular, triangular, oval, a regular polygon, or an irregular shape.
Grade-Matching Member.
Grade-matching member 110 in
As shown in
In the example shown in
Turning attention back to grade-matching member 110 and to
Cover grade θ1 of top surface 112 of grade-matching member 110 is defined by the height of grade-matching member 110. As can be seen in
As shown in
For example, as can be seen in
Base Member.
With reference to
In other cover system examples, the cover system includes a single base member or more than two base members. In some examples, the cover system does not include a base member, but instead the surface member is supported directly on the grade-matching member. Thus, the base member is an optional component of the cover systems described herein.
In the example shown in
With reference to
To facilitate stacking grade-matching member together with base member 140, grade-member recess 117 is complimentarily configured with a base projection 144 of base member 140 and grade-member projection 118 is complimentarily configured with a base recess 143 of base member 141). Being complimentarily configured, base member 140 and grade-matching member 110 may couple with one another through either base projection 144 matingly engaging with the grade-member recess 117 or grade-member projection 118 matingly engaging with base member recess 143.
Surface Member.
Surface member 120 serves as the topmost component of cover system 100 and provides a surface substantially at the level of ground surface 106 and substantially matching ground surface grade θ2 of ground surface 106. Surface member 120 has a top surface 122 extending in a plane following cover grade θ1 that is substantially coplanar with a plane defined by the surrounding ground surface 106.
As can be seen in
Display region 180 includes indicia 182 providing information relevant to utilities accessible through utility access hole 104. Indicia 182 communicates that the Seattle Power Dept. is associated with the underlying utilities whereas the indicia provided on second display region identifies the Seattle Sewer Dept. as the relevant party.
The indica may provide any information relevant to the user, such as the nature of the underlying utilities, the owner or party responsible for the underlying utilities, contact information, and the like. The information provided by the display region need not relate to the utility hole or the underlying utility; instead, the information could represent an advertisement, directions, artwork, humorous or inspirational message, or an icon or mascot for a city or local sports team. In some examples, the indica takes the form of a bar code or a QR code.
Display region 180 is configured to be marked with indicia by a user when surface member 120 is supported in utility access hole 104. For example, display region 180 can be marked with a pen or pencil to indicate when the utility access hole was last accessed or inspected. Additionally or alternatively, the display region can receive and support a faceplate with indicia provided thereon.
In the present example, surface member 120, base members 140 and 145, grade-matching member 110, and utility cover 102 have circular major faces with substantially the same dimensions. In other examples, the major faces of the components are not circular, but are other shapes, such as square, rectangular, triangular, a regular polygon, or irregular. In some examples, the dimensions of the major faces are not the same.
In the present example, surface member 120, base members 140 and 145, and grade-matching member 110 are each composed of a copolymer. However, in other examples, the different components of composed of materials not necessarily the same as the other components. Copolymers are not the only material suitable for the components of the cover systems described herein. Other suitable materials include metals, monopolymers, natural or synthetic rubber, wood, and earthen materials, such as bricks and tiles, and the like. The components of the cover systems described herein may be formed from any currently known or later developed materials suitable to cover utility access holes.
Fastener.
As shown in
A fastener is not required for the cover system to function properly and is omitted in some examples. In the present example, cover system 100 includes two identical fasteners 130. However, in some examples the cover system includes a single fastener, no fastener, two different fasteners, or more than two fasteners.
In the example shown in
Bolt 132 includes a head 138 that abuts top surface 122 of surface member 120 when bolt 132 extends through aligned bore 136. In the example shown in
Turning attention to
As can be seen in
Cover system 200 differs from cover system 100 in that it includes a single base member 240 as opposed to two base members. Another unique aspect of cover system 200 is that base member 240 is disposed between utility cover 202 and grade-matching member 210 as opposed to between surface member 220 and grade-matching member 210.
Turning attention now to
As can be seen in
Cover system 300 differs from the other cover system embodiments in that it includes two grade-matching members as opposed to a single grade matching member. First grade-matching member 310 and second grade-matching member 350 serve to define a compound or composite cover grade formed by the sum of their respective cover grades θ1 and θ2, The compound grade formed by the grade-matching members corresponds to ground surface grade θ3.
In the example shown in
The disclosure above encompasses multiple distinct inventions with independent utility. While each of these inventions has been disclosed in a particular form, the specific embodiments disclosed and illustrated above are not to be considered in a limiting sense as numerous variations are possible. The subject matter of the inventions includes all novel and non-obvious combinations and subcombinations of the various elements, features, functions and/or properties disclosed above and inherent to those skilled in the art pertaining to such inventions. Where the disclosure or subsequently filed claims recite “a” element, “a first” element, or any such equivalent term, the disclosure or claims should be understood to incorporate one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.
Applicant(s) reserves the right to submit claims directed to combinations and subcombinations of the disclosed inventions that are believed to be novel and non-obvious. Inventions embodied in other combinations and subcombinations of features, functions, elements and/or properties may be claimed through amendment of those claims or presentation of new claims in the present application or in a related application. Such amended or new claims, whether they are directed to the same invention or a different invention and whether they are different, broader, narrower or equal in scope to the original claims, are to be considered within the subject matter of the inventions described herein.
This application claims priority to copending U.S. Application Ser. No. 62/004,336, filed on May 29, 2014, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62004336 | May 2014 | US |
