GRASS PAVER

Abstract

The invention relates to a grass paver with a rectangular lattice-like body which is formed by intersecting transverse struts and longitudinal struts which form at least one grid opening, wherein the transverse struts project beyond the longitudinal struts and the longitudinal struts project beyond the transverse struts, wherein corners of the grass paver are each formed by a leg of one of the transverse struts and a leg of one of the longitudinal struts. Here, at least one transverse strut and/or at least one longitudinal strut has a zigzag-shaped and/or wavy profile when seen in plan view.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/EP2007/010010 filed Nov. 20, 2007, and claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)-(d) of German Application No. 10 2006 054 852.3 filed Nov. 20, 2006, the entireties of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a grass paver.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

DE 20 2004 009 898 U1 discloses a grass paver which has a lattice-like body which is formed by intersecting transverse struts and longitudinal struts which form at least one lattice opening, wherein the transverse struts project beyond the longitudinal struts and the longitudinal struts project beyond the transverse struts, wherein corners of the lattice paver are each formed by a leg of one of the transverse struts and a leg of one of the longitudinal struts. The disadvantage of such grass pavers is that, regardless of whether there is any variation in the laying technique between, for example, a running bond and cross-joint bond and/or a change in the orientation, they give a virtually unchanged appearance to a paver arrangement composed of a plurality of identical grass pavers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object on which the invention is based is to develop a grass paver by means of which paver arrangements having different structures can be produced, with the result that identical grass pavers can be used, for example, to construct driving areas, parking areas or walking areas having a different appearance.

The grass paver according to the invention comprises at least one transverse strut and/or at least one longitudinal strut which have a zigzag-shaped and/or wavy profile when seen in plan view. It is possible by selecting different laying techniques and/or different orientations of the grass pavers for paver arrangements having different geometries to be produced with such grass pavers. Therefore, the essence of the invention is a grass paver which can be used for paver arrangements having different intended uses. Such a grass paver allows optimum cohesion between the grass pavers of the paver arrangements having different intended uses, since identical grass pavers optimally tailored to one another are used. Furthermore, such a grass paver makes the planning of building projects considerably easier, since only the requirement for a certain area has to be calculated first of all and the intended use or the appearance of an area can be determined at a later time.

Furthermore, the invention provides for at least one of the corners of the grass paver to be formed by legs of different length. This makes it possible to further vary the appearance of paver arrangements in which the grass pavers are laid with different laying techniques and/or orientations.

Provision is made according to the invention for at least one of the transverse struts and/or longitudinal struts to be provided, at an underside, with a tunnel-like recess which extends in the direction of the transverse strut or the longitudinal strut and which opens at the lateral ends of the transverse strut or longitudinal strut. This makes it possible, for example, to lay electrical lines and/or irrigation lines continuously over the paver arrangement.

Furthermore, the invention provides for at least one strut, and in particular the longitudinal struts and/or the transverse struts, to be formed with a trapezoidal cross section. A tunnel-like recess can be easily integrated in such struts without substantially weakening the strut. Furthermore, compressive loads and tilting moments can be readily transmitted or absorbed by a downwardly widening strut.

The invention also provides for the longitudinal struts to be designed with a greater height than the transverse struts and to be allowed to project beyond the transverse struts at an underside of the grass paver. As a result, higher vehicular traffic loads can be achieved for the individual grass pavers, since the grass paver also interacts positively with the ground and therefore can better take up shear loads in particular.

Provision is made according to the invention to design the grass paver with a square grid when seen in plan view. As a result, a change in orientation of the grass paver in 90° steps is possible even within a paver arrangement. Such a change in orientation of the grass paver increases the number of laying variants.

According to the invention, provision is made to arrange undersides of the transverse struts and longitudinal struts of the grass paver in an upper bearing plane and a lower bearing plane. As a result, any floating of the grass paver on the ground is better prevented, because the grass paver penetrates the ground by way of individual struts.

The invention provides a paver arrangement having grass pavers, in which arrangement a grass paver, which is surrounded by six or eight grass pavers, forms together with these adjacent grass pavers at least two lattice openings which differ from one another in their shape and/or area, wherein at least one of these lattice openings differs from a rectangle. A completely different visual impression can be achieved with such paver arrangements when changing the laying technique and/or the alignment of the grass pavers with identical grass pavers.

Finally, the invention provides a further paver arrangement composed of grass pavers, in which arrangement a grass paver, which is surrounded by six or eight grass pavers, forms together with these adjacent grass pavers at least three lattice openings which differ from one another in their shape and/or area, wherein at least two of these lattice openings differ from a rectangle. A completely different visual impression can also be achieved with such a paver arrangement when changing the laying technique and/or the alignment of the grass pavers with identical grass pavers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further details of the invention are described in the drawing by way of schematically illustrated exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 1a shows a plan view of a grass paver according to the invention;

FIG. 1b shows a section through the grass paver shown in FIG. 1a along a section line Ia-Ia;

FIG. 2 shows a paver arrangement in which the grass paver shown in FIG. 1a is laid in a cross-joint bond;

FIG. 3 shows a paver arrangement corresponding to FIG. 2 in which the grass pavers do not have any notches on their upper sides;

FIG. 4 shows a paver arrangement in which the grass paver shown in FIG. 1a is laid in a running bond;

FIG. 5 shows a paver arrangement corresponding to FIG. 4 in which the grass pavers do not have any notches on their upper sides;

FIG. 6a shows a second variant of a grass paver according to the invention, in plan view;

FIG. 6b shows a section through the grass paver shown in FIG. 6a along a section line VIa-VIa;

FIGS. 7a, 7b show a third variant of a grass paver according to the invention, in side view and plan view;

FIG. 7c shows a paver arrangement composed of grass pavers corresponding to FIG. 7b;

FIG. 8a shows a fourth variant of a grass paver according to the invention, in plan view;

FIG. 8b shows a paver arrangement composed of grass pavers corresponding to FIG. 8a;

FIGS. 9a, 9b show a fifth variant of a grass paver according to the invention, in plan view, and a paver arrangement composed of corresponding grass pavers, and

FIGS. 10a-10c show a sixth variant of a grass paver according to the invention, in plan view, and two paver arrangements composed of corresponding grass pavers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1a depicts a plan view of a first grass paver 1 according to the invention. The grass paver 1 has a body 2 which comprises two transverse struts 3, 4 and two longitudinal struts 5, 6. These together form a lattice 7 which has a laterally closed lattice opening 8. The struts 3 to 6 resemble a double cross or a so-called hash sign. The intersecting transverse struts 3, 4 and longitudinal struts 5, 6 each project laterally beyond one another by way of legs 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b. Between these legs 3a to 6b are situated further lattice openings 9a to 9h. Four corners 10a to 10d of the grass paver 1, which has a square grid RQ when seen in plan view, are respectively formed by two legs 4a, 5a and 6a, 4b and 3b, 6b and 5b, 3a. The transverse struts 3, 4 and the longitudinal struts 5, 6 each have a zigzag-shaped profile corresponding to the zigzag lines Z3 to Z6 when the upper side 14 of the grass paver 1 is seen in plan view. The zigzag lines each have two inflection points K1, K2. Two spacers 12, 13 are arranged on each of the lateral ends 11 of the transverse struts 3, 4 and longitudinal struts 5, 6 for interlocking with an adjacent grass paver (not shown here). The grass paver 1 has a grid width RB and grid length RL, where RB=RL in the case of the grass paver 1 depicted in FIG. 1a. With regard to the lateral ends 11 of the transverse struts 3, 4 or longitudinal struts 5, 6 and the spacers 12, 13 arranged thereon, they are arranged point-symmetrically with respect to a center point M of the grass paver 1. The grass paver 1 is provided on its upper side 14 with four notches 15 which give the grass paver 1 the appearance of four individual pavers.

FIG. 1b illustrates a section through the grass paver 1 depicted in FIG. 1a along the section line Ia-Ia shown in FIG. 1a. The transverse strut 3 which can be seen in the sectional view and the longitudinal strut 5 which can be seen in the sectional view each have identical heights H3 and H5, respectively.

FIG. 2 depicts a paver arrangement 16 in plan view in which the grass paver 1 shown in FIG. 1a is laid in a cross-joint bond KFV. To aid better understanding, one of the grass pavers 1 depicted is distinguished by means of a hatching. Together with adjacent grass pavers 101 to 108, the grass paver 1 forms around its laterally closed lattice opening 8 a further eight laterally closed lattice openings 9a to 9h. Of these, the lattice openings 9a, 9c, 9e and 9g take the form of squares when seen in plan view. The lattice openings 9b, 9d, 9f and 9h each form a lozenge when seen in plan view.

In FIG. 3, the paver arrangement 16 known from FIG. 2 is additionally depicted without notches (see FIG. 1a) in order to simplify the overview. The cross-joint bond KFV depicted exclusively comprises cross joints KF between the grass pavers 1.

FIG. 4 depicts a further paver arrangement 16 which is made up of grass pavers 1 corresponding to FIG. 1a. By contrast with FIG. 2, the grass pavers 1 in this paver arrangement 16 are laid in a so-called running bond LVB. This means that adjacent paver rows R1 to R3 are each staggered relative to one another by half a grid width RB. The grass paver 1, which is emphasized by means of a hatching, forms around its laterally closed lattice opening 8, together with six adjacent grass pavers 101 to 106, a further eight laterally closed lattice openings 9a to 9h. Here, the lattice opening 9e is configured as a square when seen in plan view. The lattice openings 9c, 9d, 9f and 9g are configured as congruent quadrilaterals. The lattice openings 9a, 9b and 9h are formed by further polygons which are not congruent to one another.

In FIG. 5, the running bond LVB shown in FIG. 4 is depicted, analogously to FIG. 3, again without notches (see FIG. 1a). In the paver arrangement 16 illustrated in FIG. 5, the T-joints TF which occur between the individual grass pavers 1 as a result of the laying with a running bond LVB can be seen clearly.

FIG. 6a depicts a second variant embodiment of a grass paver 1 in plan view. Reference is made in principle here to the description relating to FIG. 1a. By contrast with the grass paver shown in FIG. 1a, the transverse struts 3, 4 and longitudinal struts 5, 6 of the grass paver 1 shown in FIG. 6a extend along zigzag lines Z3 to Z6 which each have three inflection points K1 to K3. The grass paver has four short legs KS, namely legs 4b, 3b, 6b and 5b, and four long legs LS, namely legs 3a, 4a, 5a and 6a. A first corner 10a of the grass paver 1 is formed by two long legs LS, that is to say 4a, 5a. A diagonally opposite corner 10c is formed by two short legs KS, that is to say 3b, 6b. Two further diagonally opposite corners 10b, 10d are formed by one respective short leg KS, that is to say 4b and 5b, and one respective long leg LS, that is to say 6a and 3a. With regard to the lengths of its legs, the grass paver 1 is not point-symmetrical with respect to a center point M. By virtue of notches 15, the grass paver 1 is divided into four congruent cruciform sub-bodies TK1 to TK4 having the same orientation.

FIG. 6b depicts a section through the grass paver 1 illustrated in FIG. 6a along a section line VIa-VIa. In the sectional view can be seen the transverse strut 3 and the longitudinal strut 5 which have uniform heights H3 and H5, respectively.

FIGS. 7a and 7b show a third variant of a grass paver 1 according to the invention, in side view and plan view. The grass paver 1 has two transverse struts 3, 4 and two longitudinal struts 5, 6. The transverse struts 3, 4 run along wavy lines or meandering lines S3, S4. The longitudinal struts 5, 6 extend rectilinearly and are designed to resemble a trapezoid when seen in section or in side view. Furthermore, the transverse struts 5, 6 are each provided at undersides U5, U6 with a tunnel-like recess T5, T6 which is intended for laying electrical lines or irrigation lines. By contrast with the grass pavers shown in FIGS. 1a and 6a, the grass paver 1 shown in FIGS. 7a and 7b has different heights H4 and H5, H6 for its transverse struts 3, 4 and longitudinal struts 5, 6. The transverse struts 3, 4 and longitudinal struts 5, 6 form a planar upper side 14 of the grass paver 1. At an underside 17 of the grass paver 1, the longitudinal struts 5, 6 protrude beyond the transverse struts 3, 4. As a result, undersides 18 and 19 of the transverse struts 3, 4 and the longitudinal struts 5, 6 of the grass paver 1 lie in two different bearing planes AE1 and AE2 (see FIG. 7a). This shear protection in the gravel bed and/or sand bed and/or soil bed is particularly effective since the grass paver 1 is supported on soil layers situated at different levels, and consequently a gradual smoothing of the subsurface by the grass paver is made more difficult. According to a variant embodiment (not shown) of the invention, at least the underside 18 of the transverse struts 3, 4 or the underside 19 of the longitudinal struts 5, 6 is provided with additional ribs. As a result, the respective bearing plane becomes a shear protection plane which increases further still the supporting of the grass paver on or in the subsurface against shear forces.

FIG. 7c depicts a paver arrangement 16 which is formed from grass pavers 1 which each correspond to the grass paver shown in FIGS. 7a and 7b. Within the paver arrangement 16, the grass pavers 1 are laid in different orientations. A grass paver 1, which is marked by means of a hatching, is surrounded by eight grass pavers 101 to 108. Around the laterally closed lattice opening 8 of the grass paver 1, the lattice openings 9a to 9h are closed by the adjacent grass pavers 101 to 108. Here, the lattice openings 9a, 9b, 9d, 9e, 9f and 9h are congruent to one another when seen in plan view. Furthermore, the lattice openings 9c and 9g are congruent to one another.

FIG. 8a depicts a plan view of a fourth grass paver 1.

FIG. 8b shows a further paver arrangement 16 which is built up from grass pavers 1 which correspond to the grass paver shown in FIG. 8a. In a left subarea I of the paver arrangement 16, the grass pavers 1 are arranged in a cross-joint bond KFV. In a central subarea II of the paver arrangement 16, the grass pavers 1 are arranged in a running bond LVB. Dependent on the laying technique—cross-joint bond or running bond—there result, as seen in plan view, different geometric shapes of the lattice openings 9a to 9h which are formed by interacting grass pavers 1. This also produces a different overall impression which does not result from the joint pattern as in the case of conventional paving stones but from the geometries of the lattice openings 9a to 9h. In the left subarea I, the grass paver 1 marked by a thick contour line is surrounded by eight grass pavers 101 to 108. Around the laterally closed lattice opening 8 of the grass paver 1, lattice openings 9a to 9h are closed by the adjacent grass pavers 101 to 108. Here, the lattice openings 9b, 9d, 9f and 9h are congruent to one another when seen in plan view. Furthermore, the lattice openings 9c and 9g are congruent to one another and, finally, the lattice openings 9a and 9e are also congruent.

In the central subarea II, the grass paver 1 marked by a thick contour line is surrounded by six grass pavers 101 to 106. Around the laterally closed lattice opening 8 of the grass paver 1, lattice openings 9a to 9h are closed by the adjacent grass pavers 101 to 106. These lattice openings are partially congruent to one another. In a right subarea III, the grass paving stones 1 are each rotated by 90° with respect to the grass paving stones 1 of the left and central subareas I, II. Overall, the different laying techniques or different orientations shown in FIG. 8b result in areas having different actions. Thus, it is possible to use a single type of a grass paver to produce paver arrangements of different appearance. This allows the formation of traffic areas having different purposes, such as roadways, pathways, cycleways or parking places, from identical grass pavers. Here, the different appearances are determined by the openings which result between adjacent grass pavers in the paver arrangement.

FIG. 9a depicts a plan view of a fifth grass paver 1. It has two transverse struts 3, 4 which are bent in an S shape and extend parallel to one another and two rectilinear longitudinal struts 5, 6 which extend parallel to one another. The lateral ends 11 of the transverse struts 3, 4 and the longitudinal struts 5, 6 are arranged point-symmetrically with respect to a center point M of the grass paver 1.

FIG. 9b shows a further paver arrangement 16 which is built up from grass pavers 1 which correspond to the grass paver shown in FIG. 9a. These pavers are laid in different orientations and with different laying techniques.

FIG. 10a depicts a plan view of a sixth grass paver 1. It has two transverse struts 3, 4 bent in an S shape and two rectilinear longitudinal struts 5, 6 extending parallel to one another. The lateral ends 11 of the transverse struts 3, 4 and the longitudinal struts 5, 6 are arranged point-symmetrically with respect to a center point M of the grass paver 1. By contrast with the grass paver shown in FIG. 9a, the S-shaped transverse struts 3, 4 are arranged mirror-symmetrically with respect to a mirror plane SE.

FIG. 10b shows a further paver arrangement 16 which is built up from grass pavers 1 which correspond to the grass paver shown in FIG. 10a. The paver arrangement 16 is laid as a so-called cross-joint bond KFV.

FIG. 10c shows a further paver arrangement 16 which is built up from grass pavers 1 which correspond to the grass paver shown in FIG. 10a. The paver arrangement 16 is laid as a so-called running bond LVB.

The grass pavers described are preferably embodied as paving stones and produced from concrete. However, according to a variant embodiment, provision is also made to configure the grass pavers from plastic or other suitable materials or combinations of materials.

The invention is not limited to exemplary embodiments which have been depicted or described. Rather, it encompasses developments of the invention within the scope of the claims. According to a variant embodiment which has not been depicted, provision is also made for paving stones embodied as grass pavers which have a rectangular grid when seen in plan view and in which the grid length and the grid width are dimensioned differently.

List of reference signs:
1              Grass paver
2              Body
3, 4           First, second transverse strut
3a, 3b, 4a, 4b Leg of 3 and 4, respectively
5, 6           First, second longitudinal strut
5a, 5b         Leg of 5
6a, 6b         Leg of 6
7              Lattice
8, 9a-9h       Lattice opening
10a-10d        Corner of 1
11             Lateral ends of 3, 4, 5 and 6
12, 13         Spacer on 11
14             Upper side of 1
15             Notch on 14
16             Paver arrangement
17             Underside of 1
18, 19         Underside of 3, 4 and 5, 6, respectively
101-108        Adjacent grass paver to 1
H3-H6          Height of 3, 4, 5 and 6, respectively
K1-K3          Inflection point of Z3 to Z6 or S3, S4
KF, KFV        Cross-joint, cross-joint bond
KS, LS         Short leg, long leg
LVB            Running bond
M              Center point of 1
R1-R3          Paver row
RB, RL, RQ     Grid width of 1, grid length of 1, grid
S3, S4         Meandering line
AE1, AE2       Bearing plane
T5, T6         Recess
TF             T-joint
TK1-TK4        Sub-body of 1
U5, U6         Underside of 5 and 6, respectively
Z3-Z6          Zigzag line
I-III          Left, central, right subarea of 16

Claims

1. A grass paver with a lattice-like body which is formed by intersecting transverse struts and longitudinal struts which form at least one lattice opening, wherein the transverse struts project beyond the longitudinal struts and the longitudinal struts project beyond the transverse struts, wherein corners of the grass paver are each formed by a leg of one of the transverse struts and a leg of one of the longitudinal struts, wherein at least one transverse strut and/or at least one longitudinal strut has a zigzag-shaped and/or wavy profile when seen in plan view.

2. The grass paver as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the corners is formed by legs of different length.

3. The grass paver as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the transverse struts and/or the longitudinal struts has, at an underside, a tunnel-like recess which extends in the direction of the transverse strut or the longitudinal strut and which opens at lateral ends of the transverse strut or longitudinal strut.

4. The grass paver as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the transverse struts and/or longitudinal struts, and in particular the transverse struts and/or longitudinal struts, have a cross section which resembles a trapezoid.

5. The grass paver as claimed in claim 1, wherein the longitudinal struts have a greater height than the transverse struts and project beyond the transverse struts at an underside of the grass paver.

6. The grass paver as claimed in claim 1, wherein the grass paver has a rectangular grid when seen in plan view.

7. The grass paver as claimed in claim 1, wherein the grass paver has a square grid when seen in plan view.

8. The grass paver as claimed in claim 1, wherein undersides of the transverse struts and longitudinal struts of the grass paver lie in an upper bearing plane and a lower bearing plane.

9. A paver arrangement comprising grass pavers as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of the grass pavers, which is surrounded by six or eight grass pavers, forms together with these adjacent grass pavers at least two lattice openings which differ from one another in their shape and/or area, wherein at least one of these lattice openings differs from a rectangle when the paver arrangement is seen in plan view.

10. A paver arrangement comprising grass pavers as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of the grass pavers, which is surrounded by six or eight grass pavers, forms together with these adjacent grass pavers at least three lattice openings which differ from one another in their shape and/or area, wherein at least two of these lattice openings differ from a rectangle when the paver arrangement is seen in plan view.