APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR FLAGGING

Abstract

A pre-formed grid or similar apparatus is disclosed for the arrangement and/or storage of flagstones, where the grid may also be used to facilitate installation of the flagstones.

Description

A pre-formed grid or similar apparatus is used to arrange and/or store flagstones and similar materials, where the grid has shoulders which assure the reliable placement and retention of flagstones so as to facilitate installation.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY

The use of various forms of flagstones and similar man-made, synthetic or composite materials is known for walkways, patios, driveways and similar applications. However, the time and experience required to install flagstone is a detriment to its use—largely because of the labor and expense. For example, in order to assure consistent and reliable placement of flagging, it is often the case that a skilled stone mason or similar tradesperson is hired for placement of the surface. Moreover, the number and sizes of the various flagstones needs to be determined in advance based upon both the pattern to be employed as well as the area to be covered, often resulting in having too few or too many of certain flagstones. The disclosed apparatus and method facilitate the rapid and reliable storage and installation of such materials and permit pre-assembly of grids of stones for easy storage, transportation and installation of the flagging materials, thereby making the installation something that can easily be done on a do-it-yourself basis.

Disclosed in embodiments herein is a flagstone placement apparatus, comprising: an outer border; a plurality of interior shoulders; a bottom surface having apertures therein; and a plurality of flagstones, wherein said outer border and interior shoulders, in combination with the bottom surface, provide nesting locations to each of said plurality of flagstones for storage and installation thereof.

Further disclosed in embodiments herein is a method for flagging, comprising: providing a flagstone containment grid, said grid including an outer border, a plurality of interior shoulders, and a bottom surface having apertures therein, wherein said outer border and interior shoulders, in combination with the bottom surface, provide a plurality of nesting locations for flagging materials; and placing flagstones in each of said nesting locations to complete a grid, wherein said completed grid is then used for at least one operation selected from the group consisting of: storage, shipment and installation.

Also disclosed herein is a flagstone placement apparatus, comprising: an outer border; a plurality of interior shoulders; and a bottom surface having apertures therein, wherein said outer border and interior shoulders, in combination with the bottom surface, create a plurality of nesting locations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 are views of an exemplary flagstone placement apparatus in accordance with one of the embodiments disclosed;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 with flagstones placed in several nesting locations of the flagstone placement apparatus;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are views of an alternative flagstone placement apparatus in accordance with one of the embodiments disclosed;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are partial views of an exemplary nesting location with an alternative shoulder and border configuration; and

FIG. 8 is an illustration of the installation of a plurality of FIGS. 1 and 2 are views of an exemplary flagstone placement apparatus to produce a surface in accordance with one of the embodiments disclosed.

The various embodiments described herein are not intended to limit the disclosure to those embodiments described. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the various embodiments and equivalents set forth. For a general understanding, reference is made to the drawings. In the drawings, like references have been used throughout to designate identical or similar elements. It is also noted that the drawings may not have been drawn to scale and that certain regions may have been purposely drawn disproportionately so that the features and aspects could be properly depicted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As used herein the term “flagstones” include naturally occurring rock and stone, as well as man-made, synthetic or composite materials such as cement or concrete-based materials, and combinations thereof. Similarly, the term “flagging” is intended to represent the preparation and placement of flagstones and similar materials, as defined above.

Referring to FIGS. 1-2, for example, depicted therein is an exemplary flagstone placement apparatus or grid 110. As will be appreciated, grid 110 may come in various shapes or forms, for example, a rectangle or the alternative multi-hex shape represented in FIGS. 4-5. Each grid 110 includes an outer border 120, and a plurality of interior shoulders 130. The grid also includes a bottom surface 140 having a plurality of apertures 144 therein. Also referring to FIG. 3, the grid 110 is designed to hold a plurality of flagstones 160 in a regular pattern and reliable manner.

The outer border 120 and interior shoulders 130, in combination with the bottom surface 140, provide nesting locations 180 to each of the plurality of flagstones 160, so that once installed on a generally flat surface, the flagstones continue to be retained by the grid and do not move, even when subjected to top-surface loading such as from walking, vehicle traffic and the like. Moreover, the grid 110 is also constructed to permit its use for storage of flagstones, so as to enable easier handling, transportation, delivery and flagging using smaller flagstone pieces that have regular shapes. Apertures 144, in the grid's bottom surface 140, not only serve to reduce the weight of the grid itself, but further provide for drainage of water and other liquids so that a surface (e.g., driveway, patio, etc.) created using grids populated with flagstones permits liquid to drain through the grid. In one embodiment, each of the nesting locations 180 has at least one of the apertures 140 to assure drainage of liquid through the grid.

The apparatus or grid 110 includes an outer border 120 in a regular, repeatable shape for ease of installation of a plurality of grids populated with flagstone, thereby enabling rapid construction of a flagstone surface. The height of the outer borders (H) may be determined based upon the size of the grid and the flagstones therein. In one embodiment the height of the outer borders and inner shoulders is approximately the thickness of the flagstone pieces, or on the order of about 0.75-1.5 inches. Also contemplated are borders and shoulders that have a height less than the flagstone thickness, in order to permit the space between the flagstones to be filled with a polymeric joint sand or similar fill material. The outer border 120 and shoulders 130 have a thickness (T) that is on the order of 0.07-0.3 inches, preferably about 0.1 inches, although the thickness may be a function of the size and carrying capacity of the grid as well as the aesthetic desire for the installed surface. It is also contemplated that the shoulders and outer border have different heights and/or thicknesses. In one embodiment, the grid 110 may be made of a plastic material using and injection mold. It is also possible that one or more features of the grid (e.g., shoulders 130, borders 120, etc.) have a slight draft or taper based upon the forming technique used to manufacture the grid.

Also, referring also to FIGS. 4 and 5, illustrated therein is an alternative shape for the grid 110, where the grid is designed for the placement of hexagonal flagstones. The multi-hex grid shape of FIGS. 4 and 5 also includes an outer border 120 as well as interior shoulders 130. Thus, the grid or flagstone placement apparatus 110 may have a rectangular shape as illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 or an alternative shape as depicted in FIGS. 4-5.

As illustrated in the partial view of a single nest and flagstone in FIG. 7, the flagstones 160 have a generally planar top 220 and bottom 224, which is parallel to the top, and a plurality of sides 228, perpendicular to the bottom. As is depicted by FIGS. 6 and 7, the flagstone 160 is placed within a nest 180, such that the bottom surface 140, outer border 120 and/or interior shoulders 130 provide a contact boundary with the sides of the flagstone 160 to retain each flagstone in its respective nest 180 in a position relative to said outer border and other flagstones, and to provide consistent spacing between adjacent flagstones. As will also be appreciated from FIGS. 6 and 7, the outer borders and interior shoulders may be in the form of tabs or partial wall segments, which are suitable for retaining the flagstones within a nest. For example, the grid 110 may include a continuous outer border 120, whereas the interior shoulders 130 may be formed using one or more tabs that extend upward from the bottom surface 140 of the grid, where the tab contacts only a portion of a side of the flagstone. The height, size and location of the tab-like shoulders and/or borders may be determined based upon the requirements of the grid from a structural (flexural) perspective, and may be designed in order to provide some rigidity to the grid when populated with flagstones.

As noted previously, the relative heights and thicknesses of the shoulders 130 and borders 120 may vary, although it is contemplated in the embodiments of FIGS. 1-5 that at least one interior shoulder is the same height as the outer border. Similarly, as to thickness of the interior shoulders and exterior borders, the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 5 illustrate that at least one interior shoulder is the same thickness as that of the outer border. Moreover, the thickness of a shoulder or border may vary over its height or length in order to accommodate for various forming techniques such as a draft for ease of separation from a mold.

Having described several embodiments and features of the flagstone placement apparatus, attention is now turned to FIG. 8 which illustrates the use of the disclosed rectangular-shaped grid 110 of FIGS. 1-3 in a large-area flagging installation. More specifically, the disclosed embodiments also include a method for flagging, including providing a flagstone containment grid 110, where the grid includes an outer border, a plurality of interior shoulders, and a bottom surface having apertures therein as described above. The method further includes placing flagstones 160 in each of said nesting locations within the grid to form a completed grid 310. Although depicted in the nature of a flagging installation in FIG. 8, it will be further appreciated that the completed grid may also be used for storage, shipment/transportation and installation of flagging.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, for example, a plurality of completed grids 310 may be laid or placed on a prepared surface 340 to prepare a walkway, driveway or similar decorative surface. It will be appreciated that the alternative grid shape depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5 may be similarly used due to the repeated and “interlocking” nature of the shape. Moreover, when a grid does not fit within an intended design or layout area, the grid and associated flagstones may be trimmed or cut, to the appropriate configuration. In such an embodiment, one or more nesting locations may be disrupted by the trimming so as to remove a shoulder or border. In such situations it is contemplated that the flagstone piece within such a nesting location may be adhered to the grid using an industrial or construction adhesive such as polyurethane adhesive.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure and without diminishing its intended advantages. It is therefore anticipated that all such changes and modifications be covered by the instant application.

Claims

1-9. (canceled)

10. A method for flagging, comprising:

providing a flagstone containment grid, said containment grid including a bottom surface having apertures therein, a continuous outer border adjacent all outer edges of the bottom surface, and a plurality of interior shoulders, wherein said outer border and interior shoulders, in combination with the bottom surface, create a plurality of nesting locations for flagstones;

preassembling a containment grid by placing flagstones in each of said nesting locations to produce a completed a grid; and then

installing the completed grid.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising installing a plurality of completed grids on a prepared surface, wherein at least a portion of a border of one competed grid abuts a portion of a border of another completed grid.

12-16. (canceled)

17. The method according to claim 10, further including adhering the flagstones to the grid upon placing the flagstones in each of said nesting locations.

18. The method according to claim 10, further including at least one operation selected from the group consisting of:

storage of a competed grid,

shipment of a completed grid,

transportation of a completed grid;

handling a completed grid, and

delivery of a completed grid.

19. The method according to claim 10, wherein said flagstones have a top, a generally planar bottom and a plurality of sides, perpendicular to said bottom, where said outer border and interior shoulders provide contact with at least a portion of said sides of each flagstone to retain each flagstone in position relative to said outer border and other flagstones, and to provide consistent spacing between adjacent flagstones.

20. The method according to claim 11, wherein the continuous outer border of each completed grid is a regular shape.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the regular shape is a rectangle.

22. The method according to claim 10, wherein wherein said flagstones have a top, a generally planar bottom and a plurality of sides, perpendicular to said bottom, where said continuous outer border and interior shoulders provide contact with said sides of each flagstone to retain each flagstone in position relative to said outer border and other flagstones, and to provide consistent spacing between adjacent flagstones.

23. The method according to claim 10, wherein at least one interior shoulder is the same height as the continuous outer border.

24. The method according to claim 10, wherein the thickness of an outer border varies over its height.

25. The method according to claim 20, wherein the regular shape is an interlocking shape such that at least two outer border surfaces of each completed grid are in contact with an adjacent completed grid upon installation.