METHOD FOR LAND STABILIZATION

Abstract

Land is stabilized by laying an elongate generally flat mat onto the ground where the mat is formed from strips of material arranged side by side and connected at spaced positions longitudinally to define a honeycomb structure with top and bottom surfaces of the mat defined by edges of the strips. The mat is unrolled from a supply and laid onto the ground so that open empty tubular cells stand upwardly from the surface to be partly filled with top soil. The mat is shaped into the required rectangular strips to lie side by side in butting arrangement by locating pins in the ground. Seed attached to the mat grow in the soil and ground to effect stabilization.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

All of the following patents show mats which are laid onto the ground to prevent soil erosion. This concept is well known for example from U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,621,942 (Hill) issued Nov. 11, 1986 —5,226,255 (Robertson) issued Jul. 13, 1993—5,467,554 (Prestele) issued Nov. 21, 1995 and 7,384,217 (Barrett) issued Jun. 10, 2008.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention there is provided a method of stabilizing land comprising:

providing a mat formed from strips of material arranged side by side and connected at spaced positions longitudinally of the strips so that each strip is connected to a next adjacent strip on one side at first spaced positions and to a next adjacent strip on an opposed side at second spaced positions which are arranged alternately to the first spaced positions so as to form a honeycomb structure with top and bottom surfaces of the mat defined by edges of the strips;

the mat therefore having tubular cells extending between the top and bottom surfaces of the mat defined between the strips;

placing the mat on ground to be stabilized with the bottom surface flat on the ground and the top surface exposed;

the mat having seeds attached thereto.

The mat can be attached to the ground by fastening pins or it can be held in place simply by filling the cells at least partly with top soil after placement on the ground.

Preferably strips of mat are laid side by side with side edges butting.

Preferably the seeds are bonded to the cell walls.

Preferably the seeds are impregnated into the cell walls.

Preferably the cells are substantially empty.

Preferably the mat is formed wholly by the strips.

Preferably the cells are open at the top and bottom.

Preferably the mat is elongate and unrolled from a supply roll.

Preferably the strips are formed of a non-woven fibrous material.

Preferably the strips are formed of a spun bond fibrous plastics material.

Preferably the strips are porous.

Preferably the strips are connected together by heat bonding.

The seeds can be many forms of grass such as Fescue, or other harvestable products such as Alfalfa or Clover. The system can be used for small areas which merely require later cutting of the crop when it grows or in large areas where it is intended to harvest the crop.

The mat can be formed from many fibers such as flax, hemp which are biodegradable or from plastic materials with the intention that the product remain in place for an extended period

While the term “honeycomb” is used generally and in this document it will be appreciated that the tubular cells formed are generally not accurately hexagonal in cross section, particularly where, as described herein, the cells are formed from a porous fibrous material without any reinforcing resin which would act to maintain a regular shape of the cells.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a mat for use in stabilizing land comprising:

a mat formed from strips of material arranged side by side and connected at spaced positions longitudinally of the strips so that each strip is connected to a next adjacent strip on one side at first spaced positions and to a next adjacent strip on an opposed side at second spaced positions which are arranged alternately to the first spaced positions so as to form a honeycomb structure with top and bottom surfaces of the mat defined by edges of the strips;

the mat therefore having tubular cells extending between the top and bottom surfaces of the mat defined between the strips;

the mat being arranged to be placed on ground to be stabilized with the bottom surface flat on the ground and the top surface exposed;

the mat having seeds attached thereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a mat to be used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the mat of FIG. 1 being unrolled from a supply and laid over ground to be covered.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view showing the mat laid over the ground.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The mat described in general above is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and is formed by a honeycomb core panel 10 having a first face 11 and a second opposite face 12 with an array of generally hexagonal tubular cells 18 defined by walls 10A of the core panel extending between the first and second faces. The cells are formed from a row of strips 15, 16 arranged side by side formed of a porous fibrous material which is heat sealed at a sealing line 14 to define the generally hexagonal cells.

More particularly the strips of material 15, 16 etc arranged side by side are connected at spaced positions 14, 14A longitudinally of the strips so that each strip 16 is connected to a next adjacent strip 15 on one side at first spaced positions 14A and to a next adjacent strip 17 on an opposed side at second spaced positions 14 which are arranged alternately to the first spaced positions 14A so as to form a honeycomb structure with top and bottom surfaces 11 and 12 of the mat defined by edges of the strips.

The cells are substantially empty and the mat is formed wholly by the strips, that is, there is no top or bottom sheet closing the cells so that they are open to allow entry of material from top and bottom.

The strips are formed of a non-woven fibrous material such as a spun bond fibrous plastics material so that the strips are porous.

The strips are connected together at connections 14 and 14A preferably by heat bonding since this does not affect the properties of the product at the connection line and particularly leaves the product flexible and compressible.

The mat so formed can be in the order of 4 feet to 8 feet wide with a length which can be 30 feet or longer. The cells typically can have a diameter (or transverse dimension of the order of 2/8 inch to 6 inches and a depth, that is, the width of the strips which is typically ½ inch to 6 inches.

In use, the mat so formed is rolled into a roll 20 by compressing the cells so that the strips 15, 16, 17 lie flat and compressed together. The mat is placed on ground 21 to be covered. Thus the mat is unrolled from the supply roll 20 as shown in FIG. 2 and laid around onto the ground. The mat is attached to the ground and laid out in the required rectangular shape by fastening pins 24 so that the rectangular strips of mat are laid side by side with side edges butting.

After laying, the cells are at least partly filled with top soil. The seeds 23 to generate growth over the covered ground are bonded to the cell walls or are impregnated into the cell walls.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without department from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

Claims

1. A method of stabilizing land comprising: providing a mat formed from strips of material arranged side by side and connected at spaced positions longitudinally of the strips so that each strip is connected to a next adjacent strip on one side at first spaced positions and to a next adjacent strip on an opposed side at second spaced positions which are arranged alternately to the first spaced positions so as to form a honeycomb structure with top and bottom surfaces of the mat defined by edges of the strips;the mat therefore having tubular cells extending between the top and bottom surfaces of the mat defined between the strips;placing the mat on ground to be stabilized with the bottom surface flat on the ground and the top surface exposed;the mat having seeds attached thereto.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the mat is attached to the ground by fastening pins.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein a plurality of mats are laid side by side with side edges butting to cover an area greater than the area of each mat.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the cells are at least partly filled with top soil after placement on the ground.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the seeds are bonded to the cell walls.

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein the seeds are impregnated into the cell walls.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the cells are substantially empty.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein the mat is formed wholly by the strips.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein the cells are open at the top and bottom.

10. The method according to claim 1 wherein the mat is elongate and is provided on a supply roll on which the strips are flattened on to one another and is unrolled from the roll by opening the strips apart to open the cells.

11. The method according to claim 1 wherein the strips are formed of a non-woven fibrous material.

12. The method according to claim 1 wherein the strips are formed of a spunbond fibrous plastics material.

13. The method according to claim 1 wherein the strips are porous.

14. The method according to claim 1 wherein the strips are connected together by heat bonding.

15. A mat for use in stabilizing land comprising: a mat formed from strips of material arranged side by side and connected at spaced positions longitudinally of the strips so that each strip is connected to a next adjacent strip on one side at first spaced positions and to a next adjacent strip on an opposed side at second spaced positions which are arranged alternately to the first spaced positions so as to form a honeycomb structure with top and bottom surfaces of the mat defined by edges of the strips;the mat therefore having tubular cells extending between the top and bottom surfaces of the mat defined between the strips;the mat being arranged to be placed on ground to be stabilized with the bottom surface flat on the ground and the top surface exposed;the mat having seeds attached thereto.

16. The method according to claim 15 wherein the seeds are attached to the cell walls.

17. The method according to claim 15 wherein the mat is formed wholly by the strips so that the cells are substantially empty and the cells are open at the top and bottom.

18. The method according to claim 15 wherein the strips are formed of a porous non-woven fibrous material and are connected together by heat bonding.