Patent Application
20160115653
The present invention relates generally to rig mats, and more particularly, relating to rig mats with replaceable deck inserts.
Rig mats are commonly used in the oil and gas industry as ground cover to provide a platform or road surface to support heavy equipment on otherwise soft ground. There exist several different types of rig mats. One type is often referred to as steel frame mat. A steel frame mat conventionally includes a plurality of steel members that are welded together to form a rectangular frame having a central opening. The frame is configured and welded together in a manner to receive and retain a plurality deck inserts, which are often wooden members. The wooden members extend between sides of the frame and across the central opening, thereby forming the deck surfaces of the rig mat.
Conventional steel frame rig mat construction has many inherent disadvantages. For example, once the rig mat is constructed, the wooden members are essentially permanently held by the frame. This creates a problem because in use the wooden members can be significantly damaged rending the mat unusable. Currently, the only way to replace damaged wooden members is to torch cut the frame so that the damaged wooden members can be removed and replaced. Once the wooden members are replaced, the frame must be welded back together.
Repairing conventional steel frame rig mats is so undesirable that rather than going through the repair process of cutting and welding the frame back together, it is preferable to order a replacement mat, despite the often high costs of shipping the replacement mat to the site location. As such there exists and need for a rig mat construction, which substantially departs from the prior art, and in doing so provides a rig mat construction that allows replacing damaged deck inserts.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of rig mats including now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new rig mat construction that allows replacing damaged deck inserts.
In general, in one aspect a rig mat is provided. The rig mat includes a panel that has a frame. The frame has at least two longitudinal frame members and at least two lateral frame members defining a deck insert opening therebetween. Each longitudinal frame member has a C-shaped channel facing the deck insert opening and extending along the length of the longitudinal frame member. At least one C-shaped channel has a longitudinally extending flange with a channel opening providing access into the C-shaped channel. A flange panel is removably fastened to the frame and closes the channel opening when the flange panel is fastened to the frame. A plurality of deck inserts are disposed within the frame and extend across the deck insert opening with the ends of each deck insert disposed in the C-shaped channels. And each of the plurality of deck inserts is removable from the C-shaped channels when the deck insert is positioned in alignment with the channel opening and the flange panel is disconnected from the frame.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated embodiments of the invention.
The following drawings illustrate by way of example and are included to provide further understanding of the invention for the purpose of illustrative discussion of the embodiments of the invention. No attempt is made to show structural details of the embodiments in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice. Identical reference numerals do not necessarily indicate an identical structure. Rather, the same reference numeral may be used to indicate a similar feature of a feature with similar functionality. In the drawings:
With reference to
More particularly, in the representatively illustrated example, frame 12 includes a plurality of longitudinal frame members 16, 18, and 20 that intersect with a plurality of transverse frame members 22, 24, and 26 to form a rigid, open frame work structure including a plurality of deck insert openings 28, 30, 32, and 34. It is important to note, although frame 26 is shown with four deck insert openings, the frame is capable of having one or more deck insert openings and is not limited the particular illustrated arrangement. And preferably the frame is constructed of metal frame members that are connected together by welding, for example.
In the illustrated example, transverse frame members 22 and 26 form transverse ends 36 and 38 of the rig mat 10. Longitudinal frame members 16 and 20 form longitudinal sides 40 and 42 of the rig mat 10. The rig mat 10 further includes opposite planar surfaces 44 and 46 that are separated by a thickness of the rig mat.
For each deck insert opening, the frame includes two C-shaped channels that are located on opposite sides of the deck insert opening and face inwardly toward the deck insert opening. For example, with reference to
A plurality of deck inserts 14 are disposed side-by-side within each deck insert opening and extend across the deck insert opening with opposite ends of each deck insert located within the oppositely facing and corresponding C-shaped channels.
With reference to
With further reference to
The rig mat 10 further includes an interlock system for connecting multiple rig mats together. As best seen in
In the representatively illustrated example, the first interlock member 64 comprises a hook member 68 disposed within a recess 70 formed into transverse end 36 and the second interlock member 66 comprises a striker bolt 72 supported between spaced plates 74 that are mounted to transverse end 36. Further, in the representatively illustrated example, transverse ends 36 and 38 are oppositely angled such that the opposite ends of two rig mats overlap one another when placed together, which prevent undesirable gaps between the adjacent ends.
A number of embodiments of the present invention have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.
