ARTIFICIAL TURF COVER

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to, in combination, a protective cover in juxtaposition with artificial turf, the protective cover permitting air and water to pass through the protective cover and reduce bacteria growth and viruses in artificial turf while permitting dissipation of heat from artificial turf and to protect artificial turf and markings or indicia thereon from sunlight, frost, snow and ice. The protective cover includes a structure of at least one layer of an open mesh weave of thermoplastic material in which the weave has warp and weft strips forming a thin substantially uniform layer having opposed major surfaces and openings therein to permit moisture and air to pass therethrough, and a layer of lace coating on at least one of the major surfaces, the layer of lace coating only partially covering a portion of at least one major surface.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to a protective cover for artificial turf.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Artificial turf is used for various types of playing fields, such as for football, soccer or the like. It also finds use in other applications such as parks or the like.

Artificial turf is generally made from synthetic materials and structurally it is normally comprised of a base material with filaments or strands of material (normally polymeric) standing upwardly from the base. There are several different types of known structures of artificial turf; today such artificial turf in later generations of the same have a somewhat compressive base material with the strands or filaments projecting from the base. One particular type of artificial turf utilizes a substrate composed of e.g. sand with the turf itself including a sand and rubber polymeric mixture. The typical life expectancy of artificial turf used in playing fields and parks is about eight to ten years.

One of the problems with known synthetic artificial turf materials, when formed into a layer applied to a substrate, for use in playing fields or parks, is the fact that the artificial turf normally carries indicia or markings particularly when used as a playing field for e.g. football or soccer. Such indicia or markings in the case of e.g. a football field include stripes of painted or applied material providing markings for yardage measurements; as well, designs marking the center of the field on the artificial turf are employed to provide visual identification of different indicia.

Issues have arisen with the use of artificial turf relating to the dissipation of heat from the artificial turf structure which involves the fact that sunlight will tend to fade or reduce the visibility of the markings or indicia from the surface of the artificial turf. In addition, sunlight will fade and weaken the filaments or strands of the artificial turf, thus reducing the life expectancy of the artificial turf. Further, high surface temperatures can be reached on artificial turf playing fields and parks, much higher than natural grass playing fields and parks under the same conditions. These high surface temperatures reduce the time to cause injury to skin, thus putting at risk the safety of persons using the artificial turf playing fields and parks. Moreover, during the course of rain falling on the artificial turf, and with drainage occurring and passing through the layer of artificial turf, this will permit the rain to remove contaminants to be dissipated into the substrate. Notwithstanding that, problems can still arise with the artificial turf structure including bacteria growth and viruses in the artificial turf. In addition, contamination by e.g. animals, bird droppings, etc. can occur and as well, bacteria and viruses can arise from the fact that the artificial turf is contacted by humans—and the turf may develop bacteria or viruses from blood, perspiration or for other general environmental reasons. Abrasive surfaces on artificial turf playing fields and parks can result in difficult to heal injuries, particularly in the presence of bacterial or viral pathogens. There have been cases of near-fatal bacterial infections from injuries that have occurred on artificial turf playing fields. Abrasive artificial turf has been found to be the cause of several cases of near-fatal methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in athletes. MRSA is a type of drug-resistant bacteria that has become increasingly common among healthy athletes because of frequent person-to-person contact. It has been found that athletes who have sustained turf burns on highly abrasive artificial turf playing fields are more likely to contract an MRSA infection because, when left uncovered, the wounds caused by the artificial turf abrasions allow the MRSA pathogen to be passed from one athlete to another in close contact, as well as in other ways such as sharing towels or in a locker room or shower. This is highly undesirable from a sanitation point of view and it would be desirable to provide some means to reduce contamination and bacterial growth and viruses in the artificial turf. Further, frost, snow and ice can be a problem with artificial turf since in some geographical locations frost, snow and ice can cause damage to the filaments or strands of the turf. Such damage can include the tips of the filaments or strands becoming brittle and breaking off.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

With the present invention, applicant has developed a protective cover for use with artificial turf; more particularly, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided in combination, a protective cover in juxtaposition with artificial turf, the protective cover permitting air and water to pass through the protective cover and reduce bacteria growth and viruses in the artificial turf while permitting dissipation of heat from the artificial turf and to protect the artificial turf and markings or indicia on the artificial turf from sunlight, frost, snow and ice. The protective cover comprises a structure of at least one layer of an open mesh weave of thermoplastic material in which the weave has warp and weft strips forming a thin substantially uniform layer having opposed major surfaces and openings therein to permit moisture and air to pass therethrough, and a layer of lace coating on at least one of the major surfaces, the layer of lace coating only partially covering a portion of the at least one major surface. By permitting moisture such as rain to pass through the protective cover, a reduction in contamination and bacterial growth and viruses in the artificial turf is achieved. Thus, the protective cover of the present invention will not add to any contamination or bacterial or viral issues since passage of the rain through the protective cover will tend to “wash” the artificial turf and remove any contaminants or bacterial or viral issues through to the substrate. The open mesh weave also permits heat on the surface of the playing field or park and the artificial turf to dissipate through the fabric. The colour of the warp and weft strips may be selected to help burn off frost, snow and ice from the artificial turf and prevent or reduce frost, snow and ice buildup thereon.

The warp and weft strips of the protective cover can include a colouring agent to render the protective cover to have different properties. For example, if the warp and weft strips are made from a synthetic material which is black, the protective cover will block out the sun and thus prevent fading or deterioration of the markings or indicia on the artificial turf. In this case, in geographical areas where seasonal frost, snow and ice are present, the protective cover will also help to burn off frost, snow and ice from the artificial turf as well as prevent or reduce frost, snow and ice buildup thereon. Likewise, the layer of lace coating on at least one of the major surfaces of the protective cover may be coloured for different purposes—again, the lace coating colouring can enhance the reduction of light transmission through to the artificial turf. The choice of colour for the warp and weft strips as well as the lace coating can vary depending on the properties that one would impart to the protective cover.

In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the protective cover has a thickness of between 1 to 20 mils.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lace coating covers between 5% to 60% of one of the major surfaces.

In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the warp and weft strips are formed of a polyolefin. In another preferred embodiment, the polyolefin is polyethylene and the lace coating is a polyethylene compatible with the polyolefin.

In another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a novel use of a protective cover structure in which the use involves utilizing the protective cover for protecting artificial turf, comprising placing the protective cover over artificial turf, wherein the protective cover structure comprises at least one layer of an open mesh weave of thermoplastic material in which the weave has warp and weft strips forming a thin substantially uniform layer having opposed major surfaces and openings therein to permit moisture and air to pass therethrough, and a layer of lace coating on at least one of the major surfaces, the layer of lace coating only partially covering a portion of at least one major surface.

In a preferred embodiment of the above use, the protective cover for protecting artificial turf has a thickness of between 1 to 20 mils.

In a still further preferred embodiment of the above use, the protective cover includes a lace coating covering between 5% to 60% of one of the major surfaces.

In another preferred embodiment of the above use, the protective cover includes warp and weft strips formed of a polyolefin.

In yet another preferred embodiment of the above use, the protective cover includes a cover wherein the polyolefin is polyethylene and the lace coating is a polyethylene compatible with the polyolefin.

In yet another preferred embodiment of the above use, the protective cover includes a protective cover in juxtaposition with the artificial turf.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus generally described the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment and in which

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a protective cover used in the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the structure of the protective cover showing the scrim comprised of warp and weft strips without the lace coating; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-section of the protective cover placed in juxtaposition with an artificial turf substrate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is illustrated a protective cover used in the present invention for protecting artificial turf (illustrated in FIG. 3 and described hereinafter). As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the protective cover consists structurally of a scrim layer indicated generally by reference numeral (16) with opposed major surfaces (22) and (26), and a discontinuous plastic polymer lace coating (14). Lace coating (14) is provided, in one embodiment, only on one surface (22) and comprises a calendared polymeric material in the form of connected elongated “islands” (14a) of coating material as seen in FIG. 1. Adjacent islands (14a) are interconnected by strands or small lengths of coating material (14b) in a random fashion. These islands (14a) will have varying widths and lengths but in general the total surface area coverage of the lace coating in the embodiment illustrated is in the range of 5 to 60% of the surface on which it is located. Desirably, the overall protective cover is lightweight and flexible to allow for easy manipulation of the protective cover (10) over an artificial turf substrate such as would be found in a playing field.

In a preferred embodiment, the protective cover material (including the lace coating layer (14)) is a polyolefin polymer provided with a suitable colouring agent for reducing the transparency of the cover material.

Referring now to FIG. 3 showing the present invention, there is illustrated a synthetic layer of artificial turf indicated by reference numeral (30) and comprised of conventional material (actually the artificial turf as illustrated includes an upper layer (32) of grass-like structure with two underlying layers fixed thereto indicated by reference numerals (34) and (36)). The artificial turf (30) is in juxtaposition with a substrate layer (38) according to conventional standards. On top of the artificial turf the protective cover of the present invention indicated generally by reference numeral (40) and as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is located; FIG. 3 illustrates the protective cover spaced from the artificial turf for the purposes of illustration only since the cover (40) would lie normally in juxtaposition with the upper layer (32) of the artificial turf.

An associated advantage of the use of the protective cover for artificial turf is the fact that the protective cover may be cut or trimmed for specific application to an artificial turf field or park—for example, a typical football or soccer field would include structural elements (e.g. goal posts) and the protective cover may be provided with holes for mounting the protective cover around goal posts. With the structure of the protective cover, apertures or openings can be made in the protective cover material and the protective cover material will not fray due to the structure of the lace coating over the scrim layer. Furthermore, artificial turf fields and parks typically cover large areas and vary in size, making it difficult to cover such fields and parks with a single protective cover. An advantage of the protective cover of the present invention is that it may comprise several smaller sections joined together, for example, with Velcro™, a fastening peg system or other fastening systems. An artificial turf field or park can therefore be covered in sections, thus eliminating the need for large protective covers made specifically for each field or park and making it easier to transport, handle, install, remove and store the protective cover.

Having described preferred embodiments it will be understood that various modifications can be made to the invention as illustrated without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

Claims

1. A protective cover in juxtaposition with an artificial turf, comprising:

a structure of at least one layer of an open mesh weave of thermoplastic material in which the open mesh weave has warp and weft strips forming a thin substantially uniform layer having opposed major surfaces and openings therein to permit moisture and air to pass therethrough; and

a layer of lace coating on at least one of the major surfaces, the layer of lace coating only partially covering a portion of the at least one major surface, wherein air and water passes through the protective cover and reduces bacteria growth and viruses in the artificial turf while permitting dissipation of heat from the artificial turf and protects the artificial turf and markings or indicia on the artificial turf from sunlight, frost, snow and ice.

2. The protective cover according to claim 1, wherein the protective cover has a thickness of between 1 to 20 mils.

3. The protective cover according to claim 1, wherein the lace coating covers between 5% to 60% of one of the major surfaces.

4. The protective cover according to claim 1, wherein the warp and weft strips are formed of a polyolefin.

5. The protective cover according to claim 4, wherein the polyolefin is polyethylene and the lace coating is a polyethylene compatible with the polyolefin.

6. A method for protecting artificial turf, comprising:

placing a protective cover over the artificial turf, wherein the protective cover comprises at least one layer of an open mesh weave of thermoplastic material in which the open mesh weave has warp and weft strips forming a thin substantially uniform layer having opposed major surfaces and openings therein to permit moisture and air to pass therethrough, and

placing a layer of lace coating on at least one of the major surfaces, the layer of lace coating only partially covering a portion of the at least one major surface.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the protective cover has a thickness of between 1 to 20 mils.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the lace coating covers between 5% to 60% of one of the major surfaces.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the warp and weft strips are formed of a polyolefin.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the polyolefin is polyethylene and the lace coating is a polyethylene compatible with the polyolefin.

11. The method according to claim 6, wherein the protective cover is in juxtaposition with the artificial turf.