Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6263633
-
Patent Number
6,263,633
-
Date Filed
Wednesday, April 26, 200025 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, July 24, 200123 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Friedman; Carl D.
- Nguyen; Chi
Agents
- Sughrue, Mion, Zinn, Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 052 596
- 052 392
- 052 607
- 404 34
- 404 37
- 404 38
- 404 39
- 404 41
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
The invention relates to horizontally and vertically linked paving stones (10). According to the invention, projections (18) and recesses (19) are provided in the area of the bottom part (16) of the paving stones (10) used for a paved surface in order to link said paving stones horizontally and vertically. These projections and recesses engage with each other with a positive fit so as to interlock adjacent stones in a horizontal and vertical direction. The paving stones (10) are characterised in that the width of the joints (32) formed between adjacent paving stones (10) increases in a downward direction so as to form a gap which diverges downwards. This means that the material used for filling the joints can be introduced efficiently and reliably as far as the underside.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a (concrete) paving stone for producing surfacings over the ground, in particular paved surfaces, the paving stones being laid with (longitudinal and transverse) joints being formed between adjacent paving stones and the joints being filled with joint filling material. The invention also relates to a set of paving stones and a device for producing paving stones for curved sets.
The forming of paving stones from concrete has to meet increasingly high requirements. The outer appearance is to be attractive. Nevertheless, the paving stones are to form a surfacing over the ground that is resistant to rolling traffic loads by vertically and horizontally interlocking with adjacent paving stones—horizontal and vertical linkage. The invention is concerned with paving stones which ensure by the way in which they are formed a horizontal linkage and a vertical linkage within the paved surface. It deals with the special forming of such paving stones and the production of paving stones for curved sets.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is based on the object of designing paving stones with horizontal linkage and vertical linkage in such a way that a supporting, load-bearing surfacing over the ground can be produced and special configurations of paved surfaces are possible.
To achieve this object, the paving stone according to the invention is characterized in that the joints formed between the adjacent paving stones have on account of appropriate shaping of side surfaces of the paving stones a cross section diverging downwards from an upper side of the stone to an underside of the stone.
The way in which the paving stone is formed according to the invention ensures that the longitudinal joints and/or transverse joints between the adjacent paving stones permit reliable filling with joint filling material, in particular sand and/or gravel. According to the invention, the gap width of the joints increases downwards, so that wedging of particles of the joint filling material is avoided. Wherever the joints are bounded by corresponding sloping surfaces of the paving stones, they have an angle which is less than the angle of repose of the joint filling material, in other words in particular less than 30°.
Furthermore, it is envisaged that the paving stones are provided with spacers at certain, selected regions of the side surfaces, to be specific exclusively in the region of a lower part of the stone.
For forming a paved surface with obliquely directed rows of paving stones, a set of edge stones according to the invention is proposed.
Finally, the invention comprises the special shaping of a concrete stone mould for the production of wedge-shaped paving stones. For this purpose, according to the invention moulding ridges are arranged on a pulling plate, converging in the pulling direction of the said plate. In a corresponding way, the (wedge-shaped) paving stones of different sizes are arranged in rows in such a way that the (transverse) dimensions decrease in the pulling direction of the pulling plate.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Further details of the invention relate to the shaping of the paving stones or sets and to the device for producing the same. Exemplary embodiments of the paving stones, the sets and the device are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings, in which:
FIG. 1
shows a paving stone with horizontal and vertical linkage in plan view,
FIG. 2
shows the paving stone according to
FIG. 1
in a view from an underside,
FIG. 3
shows a cross section through the paving stone according to FIG.
1
and
FIG. 2
in a central transverse plane,
FIG. 4
shows a cross section through the paving stone according to FIG.
1
and
FIG. 2
in a lateral transverse plane,
FIG. 5
shows a detail of a paved surface, to be specific two adjacent paving stones, in vertical section,
FIG. 6
shows a portion of a paved surface in plan view,
FIG. 7
shows the paved surface according to
FIG. 6
in a view from below,
FIG. 8
shows a paving stone, to be specific an edge stone, for a paved surface according to
FIG. 7
in a view from below,
FIG. 9
shows a further edge stone for the paved surface according to
FIG. 7
in a view from below,
FIG. 10
shows a set of paving stones, to be specific a curved set, in a view from below,
FIG. 11
shows a device, to be specific a stone mould, for producing paving stones in plan view,
FIG. 12
shows a detail of the device according to
FIG. 11
, to be specific a pulling plate, likewise in plan view,
FIG. 13
shows the pulling plate according to
FIG. 12
in cross section,
FIG. 14
shows paving stones resting on a pulling plate in cross section.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1
to
FIG. 5
show details of a concrete paving stone
10
designed in a special way. It is of a rectangular design in horizontal projection, with longitudinal sides
11
and
12
and transverse sides
13
and
14
. In the region of the longitudinal sides
11
,
12
, the paving stone
10
is “interlocked” by projections and depressions in such a way that adjacent paving stones
10
within a paved surface are laid such that they are linked in the horizontal and vertical directions (horizontal and vertical linkage). The upright transverse sides
13
and
14
on these paving stones
10
are formed with a smooth surface, in other words without a linking effect.
The paving stone
10
comprises an upper part
15
of the stone and a lower part
16
of the stone. The upper part
15
of the stone is of a rectangular design in plan view, or is provided with a rectangular upper side
17
of the stone.
The underside
16
of the stone has projections and depressions, which permit the mutual interlocking of adjacent paving stones
10
and consequently the horizontal and vertical linkage. This linkage is not evident from outside or above when laying of the paved surface has been completed (for example FIG.
7
), because the upper sides
17
of the stones are exclusively of a rectangular design, for example.
In the case of the present exemplary embodiment, the lower part
16
of the stone is provided in the region of one longitudinal side
11
with a central protection
18
. Formed opposite this is a correspondingly designed depression
19
. Projection
18
and corresponding depression
19
are trapezoidally formed, in other words with an outer surface
20
running parallel to the longitudinal side
11
and a corresponding inner surface
21
as well as with likewise corresponding obliquely running flanks
22
,
23
. The projection
18
includes lateral corner depressions
24
and respectively corresponding corner projections
25
as a (part) limitation of the depression
19
.
The transition from the (rectangular) upper part
15
of the stone to the complexly formed lower part
16
of the stone takes place over obliquely running intermediate surfaces, to be specific sloping surfaces
26
in the region of the corner depressions
24
on the one hand and a sloping surface
27
in the region of the depression
19
on the other hand. Sloping surfaces
28
,
29
are also respectively formed between the projection
18
on the one hand and the upper part
15
of the stone on the other hand and between the corner projections
25
on the one hand and the upper part
15
of the stone on the other hand. The latter can be seen in a plan view of the paving stone
10
(FIG.
1
), whereas the sloping surfaces
26
,
27
appear as visible surfaces in a view of the paving stone
10
from below (FIG.
2
).
The paving stones
10
laid to form a paved surface (
FIG. 5
,
FIG. 6
,
FIG. 7
) are mutually interlocked with one another. The projection
18
of one paving stone
10
enters the depression
19
of an adjacent paving stone with a positive fit. In the same way, the corner projections
25
protrude into corner projections
24
of an adjacent paving stone
10
. The vertical offset between the upper part
15
of the stone and regions of the lower part
16
of the stone additionally produces vertical linkage because the sloping surfaces
26
bear against the sloping surfaces
29
and the sloping surface
27
bears against the sloping surface
28
.
Upright stone surfaces
30
of the upper part
15
of the stone and stone surfaces
31
of the lower part
16
of the stone are designed—in a way similar to sloping surfaces
26
. . .
29
—in such a way that the laid paving stones
10
form joints diverging downwards, in other words widening downwards from the upper side
17
of the stone. This applies in particular to longitudinal joints
32
in the region of the interlocking and expediently also in an analogous way to transverse joints
33
in the region of smooth-surfaced, approximately vertical transverse sides
13
,
14
. For this purpose, the relevant stone surfaces of the paving stones
10
lying opposite one another for forming a longitudinal joint
32
or a transverse joint
33
are made to be slightly oblique with respect to an (imaginary) vertical plane, for example by an angle of 1° to 2°. The region of the sloping surfaces
26
. . .
29
is designed in an analogous way, in other words likewise with a gap widening gradually downwards. Furthermore, the inclination of the sloping surfaces
26
. . .
29
is chosen such that the angle of inclination with respect to an (imaginary) vertical plane is not greater than the angle of repose of joint filling material, in other words for example sand or gravel. This means that in practice the angle of the sloping surfaces
26
. . .
29
is not greater than 30°. This downwardly opening cross-sectional form of the joints ensures trouble-free introduction of the joint filling material over the complete height of the joints.
To ensure an exact relative position of the paving stones
10
within a paved surface, spacers are moulded on at selected positions. These are located exclusively in the region of the lower part
16
of the stone, and are accordingly not visible from the upper side of a paved surface.
In the case of the present exemplary embodiment, two spacers
36
are arranged at a distance from one another on the outer surface
20
of the projection
18
. These bear against an adjacent paving stone in the region of the depression
19
. Furthermore, the two corner projections
25
are respectively provided with a spacer
37
. Smaller spacers
38
and
39
are provided on the flanks
22
and
23
of the projection
18
on the one hand and the depression
19
on the other hand. The spacers
38
on the one hand and
39
on the other hand are positioned in such a way that they lie at a distance from one another when the paving stones have been laid. Finally, a spacer
40
is provided on each transverse side
13
,
14
. These spacers
40
are also positioned in an offset manner, so that they respectively bear against adjacent paving stones
10
at a distance from one another.
A further special feature is revealed by
FIG. 6
to FIG.
9
. Here, paving stones
10
are laid in obliquely directed rows
41
of stones.
FIG. 6
shows a view from the upper side
17
of the stones,
FIG. 7
shows a view from below with the horizontal and vertical interlocking.
Edge stones
42
,
43
are designed in a special way. To ensure interlocking or linking up to straight, parallel edges of the paved surface, the edge stones
42
,
43
are designed in the region of the lower part
16
of the stone in such a way that they in each case adjoin with a positive fit to obliquely directed rows
41
of stones and form a straight termination on the outer side. In the region of the upper part
15
of the stone, the edge stones
42
,
43
are of a coinciding design, to be specific with a rectangular subregion and a triangular subregion (FIG.
6
). The triangular region in this case adjoins two adjacent rows
41
of stones.
The lower part
16
of the stones are of a differing design. In the case of the edge stone
42
(FIG.
8
), there is formed a part-projection
44
, which enters with a fit into the region of a corner depression
24
of an adjacent paving stone
10
. The other edge stone
43
is instead provided with a corner projection
45
—analogous to the corner projection
25
of a paving stone. The corner projection
45
enters—with a corner projection
25
of an adjacent paving stone
10
—into a depression
19
of a paving stone
10
of the adjacent row
41
of stones.
This shaping of the edge stones
42
,
43
applies to laying of the paving stones
10
with the rows of stones
41
offset in relation to one another. The paving stones
10
are laid with a half-bond, two corner projections
25
of adjacent paving stones
10
respectively entering into a depression
19
of a paving stone
10
of the adjacent row
41
of stones.
A further special feature concerns the shaping and production of paving stones with converging longitudinal sides
11
,
12
, to be specific curved stones. A set of geometrically matching curved stones
46
, to be specific increasing in the transverse dimension in a wedge-shaped manner, produces a curved set
47
according to FIG.
11
. By laying a number of curved sets
47
next to one another, a paved surface can be produced along an arcuate route.
In the present case, both longitudinal sides
11
,
12
of the curved stones
46
are obliquely arranged, in other words running in a wedge-shaped manner. This applies both to the upper part
15
of the stone and to the lower part
16
of the stone. As a result, a full linking effect, that is with horizontal and vertical linkage, is obtained in the region of the curved sets
47
as well.
One special feature is the production of such curved stones
46
. Concrete stones are usually produced in concrete moulds which have a number of mould cavities that are open at the top and bottom. These are filled with the fresh concrete. On the underside, the mould cavities are closed by an underlay board. Mould dies enter the individual mould cavities from above, to ensure an upper limitation for the concrete stones.
FIG. 11
shows such a concrete mould in plan view. The mould cavities
48
are designed in such a way that the upper part
15
of the stone, in other words the upper side
17
of the stone, is facing downwards and the lower part
16
of the stone with the interlockings is facing upwards. Mould dies which have the contour of the lower part
16
of the stone in horizontal projection enter the mould cavities from above. The lower part
16
of the stone rests on a special pulling plate
49
, a plate-shaped, thin-walled element which is pulled out to the side after moulding of the paving stones
10
or the curved stones
46
within the mould cavities
48
, so that after that the (fresh) stones rest on the underlay (underlay board) lying underneath. The pulling plate
49
has the task of moulding the regions of the upper part
15
of the stone on the longitudinal sides
11
,
12
and also the undercuts, that is the sloping surfaces
28
and
29
.
For this purpose, moulding ridges
51
, running in the direction of the pulling movement according to arrow
50
, are arranged on the upper side of the pulling plate
49
. These are upright ribs which run transversely with respect to the pulling plate
49
and, with side surfaces, mould the form of a lower subregion of the paving stones
10
or curved stones
46
, to be specific the upper part
15
of the stone. For this purpose, the moulding ridges
51
are of a roof-shaped design in the upper cross-sectional region. The sloping moulding surfaces
52
thus formed bear against undercut or downwardly directed sloping surfaces
28
,
29
(FIG.
14
). The upwardly directed sloping surfaces
26
,
27
, on the other hand, are moulded by the individual moulding dies (not shown) assigned to each mould cavity
48
.
The pulling plate
49
is in the present case set up for the forming of curved stones
46
. For this purpose, the moulding ridges
51
have a cross-sectional form diverging in the pulling direction (FIG.
14
). The width of the moulding ridges
51
increases in the pulling direction. Corresponding to this forming of the moulding ridges is the positioning of the mould cavities
48
within the concrete mould (FIG.
11
). The mould cavities, arranged in longitudinal and transverse rows, are distributed with regard to size in such a way that the transverse dimension of the wedge-shaped curved stones
46
decreases in the pulling direction according to arrow
50
. Accordingly, in each transverse row
53
of the mould cavities
48
the width decreases in the pulling direction according to arrow
50
, to be precise in a wedge-shaped manner, so that moulding ridges
51
of a correspondingly wedge-shaped design respectively bear with a width increasing in the pulling direction against the mutually facing longitudinal sides
11
,
12
of the curved stones
46
of adjacent transverse rows
53
. This relative position also makes trouble-free demoulding possible, to be specific pulling out of the pulling plate
49
in the direction of the arrow
50
. The width of the moulding ridges
51
decreasing counter to the pulling direction allows the said moulding ridges to be pulled out between the transverse rows
53
. When this happens, the form of the longitudinal sides
11
,
12
in the region of the lower part
16
of the stone and the undercut sloping surfaces
28
,
29
is preserved. After pulling away the pulling plate
49
, the mould frame is raised, then the mould dies. The underlay board (not shown) can then be conveyed away with the wedge-shaped concrete stones in the usual way.
The design principle of the concrete mould and the pulling plate
49
can also be used in the case of differently formed wedge-shaped concrete stones with undercuts.
List of Reference Numerals
10
paving stone
11
longitudinal side
12
longitudinal side
13
transverse side
14
transverse side
15
upper part of stone
16
lower part of stone
17
upper side of stone
18
projection
19
depression
20
outer surface
21
inner surface
22
flank
23
flank
24
corner depression
25
corner projection
26
sloping surface
27
sloping surface
28
sloping surface
29
sloping surface
30
surface of stone
31
surface of stone
32
longitudinal joint
33
transverse joint
36
spacer
37
spacer
38
spacer
39
spacer
40
spacer
41
row of stones
42
edge stone
43
edge stone
44
part-projection
45
corner projection
46
curved stone
47
curved set
48
mould cavity
49
pulling plate
50
arrow
51
moulding ridge
52
moulding surface
53
transverse row.
Claims
- 1. A paving stone (10), made of concrete, for producing a paved surface formed by a plurality of paving stones (10) which are laid next to one another to form, between adjacent paving stones (10), longitudinal and transverse joints (32, 33) which are filled with joint filling material, wherein:the paving stone (10) comprises an upper stone part (15), which is rectangular or square in a horizontal projection thereof, and a lower stone part (16) having a central projection (18), a depression (19) and two corner projections (25); the lower stone part (16) projects at a first longitudinal side (11) of the paving stone to from the central projection (18) having a horizontal projection which extends partially beyond an outer contour of the upper stone part (15); between the corner projections (25), the lower stone part (16) is partially recessed to form the depression (19) in a horizontal projection with respect to the outer contour of the upper stone part (15); the central projection (18) and the depression (19) have a trapezoid-shaped horizontal projection and have corresponding dimensions; the two corner projections (25) are formed in their common horizontal projection to correspond in shape and dimension to the depression (19); and the paving stone has two transverse sides (13, 14) each of which extends essentially as a smooth, vertical and continuous plane over said lower stone part (15) and said upper stone part (16).
- 2. The paving stone (10) according to claim 1, wherein the central projection (18) and the depression (19) are each centered on the first and second longitudinal sides (11, 12), respectively.
- 3. The paving stone (10) according to claim 2, wherein at least one upright side surface of the central projection (18) and the depression (19) extends parallel to at least one of the first and second longitudinal sides (11, 12) of the paving stone (10).
- 4. The paving stone (10) according to claim 3, wherein: two spacers (36), lying at a distance from one another, are located in a region of the central projection (18); a single spacer (37) is located in a region of each of the corner projections (25); a single off-center spacer (40) is arranged in a region of each of two upright end surfaces (34, 35); and spacers (38, 39) are located in regions of obliquely-directed flanks (22, 23) of the paving stone.
- 5. The paving stone according to claim 1, wherein a transition from upright side surfaces of the upper stone part (15) to the central projection (18) and the depression (19) of the lower stone part (16) occurs over obliquely running intermediate sloping surfaces (26, 29) which are inclined, with respect to a vertical plane, at an angle of inclination of up to 30° but not greater than an angle of repose of the joint filing material.
- 6. The paving stone (10) according to claim 1, wherein said joints (32, 33) between adjacent paving stones (10) have a cross section diverging downwards.
- 7. A set of paving stones (10), each of which is defined in claim 1, for the production of a paved surface, wherein said paving stones (10) are located adjacent to one another in continuous rows (41) of stones, and wherein within a paved surface, the central projection (18) and the depression (19) of one paving stone (10) correspond in each case with depressions or projections, respectively, of two paving stones (10) in respective ones of said rows (41) of stones.
- 8. The set of paving stones (10) according to claim 1, wherein, within the paved surface, the central projection (18) of each paving stone (10) is inserted between the central projections (18) of two adjacent paving stones (10) of one of said adjacent rows (41) of stones, and wherein the corner projections (25) of each paving stone (10) are inserted in the depressions (19) of two adjacent paving stones (10) of said one adjacent row (41) of stones.
- 9. A set of paving stones (10) made of concrete for producing paved surfaces, comprising a plurality of paving stones (10), each according to claim 1, and edge stones (42, 43), wherein:the paving stones (10) run in continuous rows (41) of stones which are directed obliquely with respect to an imaginary longitudinal direction of the paved surface; the edge stones (42, 43) form a continuous, straight delimitation of a ground covering; the edge stones (42, 43) comprise an upper stone part (15) and a lower stone part (16) having a projection and a depression; and the edge stones (42, 43) correspond in a region of the lower stone part (16) with a positive fit to central projections (18) and depressions (19) of adjacent paving stones (10) of two rows (41) of stones lying next to each other.
- 10. The set according to claim 9, wherein two different configurations of edge stones (42, 43) are arranged in alternation along the limitation of the ground covering, with a first edge stone (42) having, in a region of the lower stone part (16), a part-projection (44) which corresponds to the central projection (18) of an adjacent paving stone (10), and with a second edge stone (43) having, in a region of the lower stone part (16), a corner projection (45) which corresponds to the depression (19) of an adjacent paving stone (10).
- 11. A set of paving stones made of concrete for producing paved surfaces, with a curved set (47) of curved stones (46) of a wedge-shaped form, wherein:the curved stones (46) comprise an upper stone part (15) and a lower stone part (16) having a first projection (18), a depression (19) and two comer projections (25); the lower stone part (16) projects at a longitudinal side (11) to form the first projection (18) whose horizontal projection extends partially beyond an outer contour of the upper stone part (15); at a longitudinal side (12) opposite the first projection (18), the lower stone part (16) partially projects to form two comer projections (25) in its horizontal projection with respect to the outer contour of the upper stone part (15); between the comer projections (25), the lower stone part (16) is partially recessed to form a depression (19) in its horizontal projection with respect to the outer contour of the upper stone part (15); the first projection (18) and the depression (19) have a trapezoid-shaped horizontal projection and are formed with corresponding dimensions; the two corner projections (25) are formed in their common horizontal projection to correspond to the depression (19); two upright transverse sides (13, 14) of the curved stone (46) run essentially continuously over the lower stone part (15) and the upper stone part (16); opposite longitudinal sides (11, 12) of the curved stone (46) converge toward each other; and a plurality of curved sets (47), laid next to one another, form a paved surface with a curved layout, wherein the first projections (18) and the depressions (19) of adjacent curved stones (46) of the curved sets lying next to each other correspond to one another for being laid with a horizontal and vertical interlocking composition.
- 12. Device for producing paving stones from concrete, to be specific curved stones (46) with undercuts for vertically linking adjacent paving stones or curved stones (46), in a concrete mould which rests on an underlay which can be pulled away to the side in a horizontal plane, to be specific on a pulling plate (49), on the upper side of which ridges are arranged for limiting side surfaces of the paving stones, characterized in that the moulding ridges (51) are formed such that they diverge in the pulling direction of the pulling plate (49), with an increasing transverse dimension or width.
- 13. Device according to claim 12, characterized in that the paving stones or curved stones (46) are arranged within the concrete stone mould in rows in such a way that transverse rows (53) of the paving stones running in the pulling direction of the pulling plate (49) have a wedge-shaped cross section that decreases in the pulling direction.
Priority Claims (1)
| Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
| 197 47 421 |
Oct 1997 |
DE |
|
PCT Information
| Filing Document |
Filing Date |
Country |
Kind |
102e Date |
371c Date |
| PCT/EP98/06118 |
|
WO |
00 |
4/26/2000 |
4/26/2000 |
| Publishing Document |
Publishing Date |
Country |
Kind |
| WO99/22072 |
5/6/1999 |
WO |
A |
US Referenced Citations (4)
Foreign Referenced Citations (20)
| Number |
Date |
Country |
| 812 675 |
Sep 1951 |
DE |
| 1 895 645 |
Jul 1964 |
DE |
| 1 907 841 |
Jan 1965 |
DE |
| 1 917 843 |
Jun 1965 |
DE |
| 66 10 213 |
Jul 1968 |
DE |
| 72 38 737 |
Apr 1973 |
DE |
| 26 10 735 |
Sep 1977 |
DE |
| 37 22 683 |
Jan 1989 |
DE |
| 43 03 321 |
Aug 1994 |
DE |
| 94 11 147 |
Sep 1994 |
DE |
| 94 04 364 |
Oct 1994 |
DE |
| 94 18 766 |
Feb 1995 |
DE |
| 295 10 837 U |
Oct 1995 |
DE |
| 296 02 675 U |
May 1996 |
DE |
| 296 07 105 U |
Aug 1996 |
DE |
| 296 15 345 U |
Apr 1997 |
DE |
| 719 622 |
Jul 1996 |
EP |
| 752 500 |
Jan 1997 |
EP |
| 1402464 |
Jul 1964 |
FR |
| 94 554 |
Sep 1969 |
FR |
