Method for manufacturing erosion control blankets
A reinforced or supported core for a roll of erosion control blanket and method of using the same. The core is supported at both lateral ends thereof when the erosion control blanket is attached and during initial stages of winding the erosion control blanket about the core.
During activities such as road construction and landscaping, portions of bare soil are frequently present. These portions of bare soil are subsequently seeded or sodded to reduce or eliminate soil erosion from precipitation and wind. If seeded, the bare soil portions are exposed to erosion until the seeded plants emerge sufficiently to prevent further erosion. If erosion is sufficiently severe, the bare soil portions must be replaned and reseeded, thereby incurring extra time, effort and expense. One solution to protecting otherwise bare portions of soil from erosion is using erosion control blankets. Typically, erosion control blankets have natural fibers such as straw sandwiched between two webs, which are stitched together. After being formed, the erosion control blanked is packaged into rolls for storage and transport. At the site, the erosion control blankets are unrolled over the bare soil either manually or by using implements such as tractors.
When being formed into larger rolls, lengths of erosion control blankets are wrapped around cores, which must withstand the pressures initially exerted when the leading edge of the erosion control blanket is adhered to the core and during initial stages of wrapping. Cores with sufficient strength to withstand these initial forces have been expensive and inconvenient to reuse.
The present invention provides a solution so that lower costing cores having considerably lesser strength can be used, thereby reducing the costs of forming rolls of erosion control blankets.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
It is understood that the above-described figures are only illustrative of the present invention and are not contemplated to limit the scope thereof.
DESCRIPTION A typical method for making erosion control blankets is illustrated in
Referring to
Suitable materials for the core 144 in
To prevent the lateral end portions 164 of the core 174 from being crushed during initial stages of forming the roll 142, a support 180 is utilized. In the embodiment depicted, the support 180 is an insert with an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the roll 142. The support 180 may be formed from metals, wood, synthetic resins, or any other material providing the requisite strength to prevent the core 144 from being crushed. Suitable metals include steel, cast-iron, aluminum, and the like. Suitable synthetic resins include schedule 40, or thicker, polyvinyl chloride. However, a person of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that other synthetic resins may be suitable for a given embodiment of this invention. Other suitable synthetic resins may be found in the Handbook of Plastics, Elastomers, and Composites, Charles A. Harper, Editor in Chief, Third Edition, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1996, hereby incorporated by reference.
As shown in
In use, the support of this invention protects the lateral portion 164 of the core 144 by insertion or exsertion and the core 144 is disposed between the upper roller 150 and the lower rollers 146 and 148, for example, as shown in
Because numerous modifications of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, the scope of the invention is not to be limited to the embodiments illustrated and described. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A process of manufacturing an erosion control blanket, comprising rolling a fiber attached to a web on a substantially hollow core, the core having a removable support at each end thereof.
2. The process of claim 1, in which the support is an insert.
3. The process of claim 1, in which the support is an exsert.
4. The process of claim 1, further comprising removing each said support.
5. The process of clam 1, in which each support is generally cylindrical.
6. The process of claim 1, in which each support comprises steel.
7. The process of claim 1, in which each support comprises a synthetic resin.
8. The process of claim 7, in which a filler is disposed inside each support.
9. The process of claim 7, in which the fiber rolled on the core is stitched to the web.
10. The process of claim 1, further comprising adhering a leading edge of the erosion control blanket to the core.
11. The process of claim 10, further comprising severing a desired length of erosion control blanket, thereby forming a roll of an erosion control blanket.
12. The process of claim 11, further comprising securing the roll of erosion control blanket by banding.
13. The core of claim 1 in combination with a pair of the supports of claim 1, the inserts supporting each end of the core.
14. A roll of erosion control blanket, comprising a core, a pair of supports supporting lateral ends of the core, and a length of erosion control blanket wrapped around the core.
15. The roll of claim 14, in which the supports are inserted into the core lateral ends.
16. The roll of claim 14, in which the supports are exserted about the core lateral ends.
17. The roll of claim 14, in which the supports comprise metal, wood, or a synthetic resin.
18. The roll of claim 14, in which the supports are generally cylindrical.
19. The roll of claim 18, in which each of the supports comprises an end wall bonded to a generally cylindrical body.
20. The roll of claim 19, in which the core has a resistance to an external force less that the resistance of schedule 40 polyvinyl chloride tubing.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 11, 2006
Publication Date: Dec 14, 2006
Inventor: Michael Marxen (Prior Lake, MN)
Application Number: 11/435,370
International Classification: E02D 17/20 (20060101);