HK1059952B - Artificial grass for landscaping - Google Patents

Description

Artificial grass for landscaping

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an environmentally beautified grass surface, and more particularly, to a system and method for providing artificial grass that is substantially free of organic matter.

Background

There are times when it is desirable to prevent animals from visiting landscaping areas, as these animals often present a nuisance in the scenic areas. For example, various methods have been employed to deter birds from nesting in airports. Airport runways are usually surrounded by natural grass surfaces which, in addition to requiring extensive maintenance, also brings with it earthworms and other food consumed by birds. As is well known, birds can cause significant damage to aircraft. Various methods are used for dispersing birds at airports, such as methods of detonating cannons. However, these methods have limited effectiveness.

Another problem with natural grass surfaces in airports is that they are inherently softer. In fact, the natural grass surface and the soil beneath it are often too soft to adequately support the aircraft as it leaves the runway. This can trap the aircraft in the soil surrounding the runway. The natural grass surface forms a poor emergency landing surface due to its inherent softness and irregularity.

Thus, there is a need for a new type of landscaping grass surface that helps reduce the accumulation of animals in a given location while maintaining desirable soil conditions.

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel runway surrounding surface to repel birds from an airport.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new synthetic environmental beautification turf that is very easy to maintain.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a runway surrounding surface that improves the support capacity for vehicles.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of deterring birds from visiting an airport because birds are a nuisance in airports.

There is thus provided in accordance with the present invention a surface arrangement for an airport runway perimeter, the perimeter surface arrangement comprising: a compacted soil surface substantially free of organic matter to confine the food of birds; a pile fabric disposed on said compacted soil surface, said pile fabric including a plurality of pile elements similar to grass and extending to a predetermined height from a support pad; a water permeable sand bag (ballast) material for stabilizing said pile fabric in place, said water permeable sand bag material being disposed on a support pad and having a thickness less than said predetermined height; a drainage system for directing water from the pile fabric to at least one drainage channel, thereby rendering the airport substantially free of organic nutrients.

According to another broad aspect of the invention, there is provided a runway bordering surface comprising: a pile fabric for disposition over a compacted soil surface, the pile fabric including a plurality of pile units similar to grass and extending to a predetermined height from a support mat; a water-permeable sand bag material for stabilizing said pile fabric in position, said water-permeable sand bag material being disposed on a support mat and having a thickness less than said predetermined height; a drainage system for directing surface water from the pile fabric to at least one drainage channel.

According to another broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for deterring birds from frequently arriving at an airport where they may present a nuisance, the method comprising the steps of: substantially removing organic matter which is easily eaten by birds in the airport area around the airstrip; leveling soil materials in the airport area; placing an artificial grass surface onto the soil material; a drain is arranged to drain water from the artificial grass surface.

According to another broad aspect of the invention, there is provided an airport runway surface comprising: a pile fabric for placement on a compacted soil surface, said pile fabric including a plurality of pile elements similar to grass and extending to a predetermined height from a support mat; a water-permeable sand bag material for stabilizing said pile fabric in position, said water-permeable sand bag material being disposed on a support mat and having a thickness less than said predetermined height; a drainage system for directing surface water from the pile fabric to at least one drain; runway markings are included in the pile fabric to guide aircraft pilots along airport runway surfaces during aircraft takeoff and landing operations.

Drawings

The nature of the invention will now be described in general terms with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an artificial grass surface adjacent an airport runway according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an artificial grass airport runway.

Detailed Description

The invention will be described from the airport point of view with reference to fig. 1. However, it should be recognized that: the present invention may be applied to other landscaping areas.

The artificial grass surface 10 shown in fig. 1 is suitable for replacing natural grass that normally surrounds airport runways 12 (only one shown). The term "runway" is used herein to encompass the term "taxiway".

More specifically, the artificial grass surface 10 includes a pile fabric 14 adapted to be placed on a compacted soil surface 16 exposed by excavation.

During excavation, organic matter contained in the uppermost layer of the ground around the runway 12 is removed. The subsurface must be dug to a dense soil surface. At this point, the soil is leveled and stones are removed as required. This creates a surface that can be compacted by rolling and shaping so that water on the surface will be controlled to flow to a specific location.

The pile fabric 14 has a relatively thin deformable support pad or layer 18, the support pad 18 having strips or pile units 20 arranged in parallel rows, the pile units 20 projecting upwardly from the support pad 18 and being grass-like. The arrayed pile elements 20 are similar to those described in co-pending canadian patent No.2,218,314, filed on 16/10 1997 and published on 10/9/1998, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. A relatively thick particulate material 22 forms a infill material to be interspersed between the pile elements 20 on the support mat 18. One of the functions of the infill is to act as a sand pocket for the fleece 14.

A thin water impermeable membrane 24 is disposed over compacted soil surface 16 to prevent moisture from passing down through the membrane. If a standard porous fleece is used without an underlying water barrier, the water will obviously pass through the fleece into the soil. Depending on the particular soil conditions, this will swell and soften the soil, and if the vehicle is driven over such soil, permanent tire impressions will form on the soil unless the surface is subsequently rolled while moisture is still present in the surface. Water flows from the support mat 18 onto the waterproofing membrane 24 and into the storm drains (not shown) at specific locations using a drainage layer 26 disposed on the waterproofing membrane 24 without draining surface water into the soil. The drainage layer 26 is formed of a relatively thick layer of aggregate such as rock particles. The compacted soil surface 16 is preferably slightly inclined to direct water toward the storm drain. Based on past experience, we have found that: if the artificial grass is arranged on natural soil from which organic matter has been removed and which is compacted, the inclined area should be denser than the flat area.

The particulate material 22 is preferably water permeable so as not to retain the water, but to allow the water to flow down the artificial grass surface 10 into the drainage layer 26. This arrangement is well suited, otherwise the infill material will retain a certain amount of moisture and will eventually encourage the growth of grass, weeds or local wild plants.

The particulate material 22 forming the infill material preferably comprises a mixture of sand and a binding polymer. The blocking polymer will act as a stabilizer to prevent the movement of sand, for example, under the air blast pressure of a jet engine. The other situation is as follows: the layer of particulate material at the edge of the runway or landscaping area may comprise a mixture of cement and sand. Stone chips, chippings and recycled plastics having a high weight ratio may also be utilized. The aircraft and maintenance vehicles are more likely to ride on the grass belts adjacent the runway, and therefore, the hardness of these surfaces should be greater than the standard remainder of the artificial grass surface 10 around the runway 12. In addition, a mixture of sand and cement is preferably packed into the swath adjacent to the runway 12 to ensure that the adjacent edges remain underneath and are easily vacuumed at the edges to prevent vegetation from growing at the junction of the runway 12 and artificial grass surface 10.

Mixtures of fibers (5.08cm to 15.24cm) (2 "to 6") and sand may also be utilized to form the infill layer or as a drainage foundation material. The infill layer may be formed from a known sand-based system involving the use of long fibres such as polypropylene or polyethylene fibres to maintain the stability of the infill layer. Such sand-based systems may also be used as a support surface to cover a water barrier in difficult-to-land areas of an aircraft. It should also be noted that: depending on the condition of the soil, the water barrier may comprise the compacted soil surface itself. A stronger infrastructure is needed to support the weight of larger aircraft. However, small aircraft may land directly on artificial grass as a surface material for a runway. This situation is most effective in arid regions.

When stone chips or other suitable aggregate materials are used as the particulate material, an acrylic liquid or a binder may be sprayed onto the particulate material to stabilize it, thus preventing displacement of the infill material.

The column-to-column spacing of the pile units 20 should be at least 2.50cm, preferably between 2.85cm and 3.85 cm. Wider column spacing may advantageously allow for the use of larger packed particles, which may inherently contribute to improved overall stability of the particulate material 22. In fact, the energy required to move larger particles is greater. In some cases, particularly when coarse sand particles are used as the primary component of the packing material, no additional stabilizing agent such as a binder or adhesive may be required. In other cases, it may be desirable to use an adhesive or bonding agent such as cement only at the edges of the artificial grass surface 10 adjacent the runway 12. If desired, the grass itself may have a higher density at regions near the jet zone, and the consistency of the grass may gradually decrease as the jet zone decreases. The initial portion of the artificial grass that is closest to the runway or taxiway may be denser and, regardless of its width, may have its consistency reduced even in the same section of the artificial grass (that is, the first portion of the grass has a high consistency of grass overall, i.e., the grass has a closer spacing such as 0.95cm (3/8 inches) or less, and then the spacing of the next portion of grass gradually widens as the influence of the jet stream on the displacement of the particulate material decreases). The consistency of the first portion of grass may also vary. The higher consistency of the grass may retain the particulate material therein and may eliminate the need for the use of stabilizers in the particulate material entirely or in portions of the particulate material.

The present invention also contemplates providing an anti-growth material into the artificial grass surface 10 to prevent or at least retard the growth of weeds and root type plants or natural grasses. For example, the support mat 18 may have slow release growth-retarding particles or similar treatments to the fabric to which it is adhered to again retard or retard the growth of such plants.

In some airport applications, additional lights may need to be placed alongside the runway 12 to improve visibility, such as during aircraft takeoff and landing. This may be achieved by incorporating a light source 28 into the fleece 14, as shown in fig. 2. The light source 28 may be provided by means of a light-reflecting particulate material, for example by filling glass beads 30 into the artificial grass surface 10 at a suitable location on the airport, and by providing the light source 28 by arranging a light-emitting cable 32 to emit light in the artificial grass surface 10 below the glass beads 30. This illuminates the artificial grass surface 10 to produce numbers, arrows, directions or any other type of indicia as required by the particular application. The light emitting cable may be arranged in the form of a laser beam or in the form of a crystal light source. Light emitting diodes may also be used as light sources. The fiber optic cable may be laminated to the support mat 18. Other methods for illuminating the area may utilize sealed compact lights connected by very low voltage current. The other situation is as follows: a strip of light or light reflective tape made of fabric material may be attached to the side edges of the fleece 14 adjacent the racetrack to illuminate the racetrack. The light comes from polypropylene fabric or other fabric with luminescent properties. The light emitting fabric should withstand prolonged wear. A fiber optic cable layer may also be pressed into the light-emitting fabric material to form a visible security feature.

As shown in fig. 2, two laterally spaced parallel light emitting cables 32, such as fiber optic cables, may be installed into the fleece 14 and covered with glass beads 30 to form a lane edge strip of an airport runway. This configuration is useful for defining an airport runway area when artificial grass is used as an aircraft landing surface. It should be appreciated that: the light sources described above may also be used to provide a landing zone indicator or runway centerline indicator on the runway.

By replacing the natural grass on the airport with the artificial grass surface 10, the presence of birds in the airport is significantly reduced because there is no nutrient on the airport that attracts the birds. In addition, the artificial grass surface 10 constitutes a safer emergency landing surface, since the artificial grass surface reduces the risk of explosion due to the ignition of fuel by the fire during landing in the abdomen. It should be appreciated that: the load bearing capacity of such landing strips should be designed to cope with such a catastrophic event.

The present invention also contemplates the installation of a drainage layer into the fill material on the support mat 18. In this particular case, a water-resistant coating may be applied to the support mat 18 to prevent water from seeping down to the underlying soil surface. The drainage layer or infill material layer is preferably made of crushed stone. The soil surface on which the support mat 18 is disposed should be sloped so that water on the surface flows over the support mat 18 in a desired direction to a drain disposed in the soil to receive a surface water flow from the support mat 18. This eliminates the need to dispose gravel under the support pad 18.

Claims (41)

1. An airport runway/taxiway perimeter surface arrangement comprising: a compacted soil surface; a pile fabric disposed on said compacted soil surface, said pile fabric including a plurality of man-made pile units extending from the support mat to a predetermined height thereon; a water permeable sand bag material for stabilizing said pile fabric in position, said water permeable sand bag material being disposed on said support pad and having a thickness less than said predetermined height; a drainage system for directing water from the pile fabric to at least one drainage channel, thereby creating an airport: wherein said drainage system comprises a drainage layer and a water-resistant layer beneath said drainage layer for inhibiting water from penetrating down into the soil surface beneath said pile fabric; the water blocking layer forms a portion of the support cushion, and the drainage layer is disposed within the fleece on the support cushion; the drainage layer includes fibers distributed between the artificial pile units on the supporting pad.

2. The airport runway/taxiway perimeter surface apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the water resistant layer defines an inclined surface to cause water to flow in a desired direction over the surface.

3. The airport runway/taxiway perimeter surface apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the drainage layer includes a particulate material interspersed between the synthetic pile cells.

4. The airport runway/taxiway perimeter surface apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the sandbag material includes particulate material interspersed between artificial pile elements, the particulate material being comprised of particles that cooperate to form flow paths between the particles for water to flow into the drainage layer.

5. The airport runway/taxiway perimeter surface arrangement of claim 4, wherein: the airport runway/taxiway perimeter surface apparatus further includes a binder mixed with the particulate material.

6. The airport runway/taxiway perimeter surface apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: the binder comprises a mixture of cement and sand.

7. The airport runway/taxiway perimeter surface apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the water-resistant layer includes a water-impermeable membrane disposed on a soil surface.

8. The airport runway/taxiway perimeter surface apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the drainage layer is composed of an aggregate layer.

9. The airport runway/taxiway perimeter surface apparatus according to claim 8, wherein: the aggregate layer includes stone particles.

10. The airport runway/taxiway perimeter surface apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a growth inhibiting material incorporated into the fleece for at least retarding plant growth.

11. A runway/taxiway abutment surface comprising: a pile fabric for disposition on a soil surface, the pile fabric including a plurality of artificial pile units extending from a support mat to a predetermined height thereon; a sandbag material for stabilizing said pile fabric in position, said sandbag material being disposed on said support mat and having a thickness less than said predetermined height; a drainage system for directing surface water from the pile fabric to at least one drain; a light source is incorporated into the pile fabric to provide racetrack side bar markings.

12. The runway/taxiway abutment surface according to claim 11, wherein: the drainage system includes a water barrier to prevent water from seeping down through the compacted soil surface beneath the pile fabric.

13. The runway/taxiway abutment surface according to claim 11, wherein: the sand bag material includes particulate material interspersed between the synthetic pile elements, the particulate material forming a water permeable layer.

14. The runway/taxiway abutment surface according to claim 13, wherein: the abutment surface further comprises a binder mixed with the particulate material at the edges of the racetrack, the binder serving to resist migration of the particulate material from the fleece.

15. The runway/taxiway abutment surface according to claim 14, wherein: the binder comprises a mixture of cement and sand.

16. The runway/taxiway abutment surface according to claim 12, wherein: the drainage system includes a drainage layer disposed on a water resistant layer.

17. The runway/taxiway abutment surface according to claim 16, wherein: the support pad is permeable, and a water-blocking layer is formed below the support pad and spaced from the support pad by the water-draining layer.

18. The runway/taxiway abutment surface according to claim 16, wherein: the water blocking layer is formed on the support pad.

19. The runway/taxiway abutment surface according to claim 11, wherein: the light source comprises a strip of light-emitting material arranged at the lateral edges of the pile fabric.

20. The runway/taxiway abutment surface according to claim 11, wherein: the light source includes at least one light emitting member passing through the fleece on the support pad.

21. The runway/taxiway abutment surface as claimed in claim 20, wherein: the fleece is filled with glass beads which are located on and around a light emitting member, and the light emitting member is selected from the group consisting of: laser beam, light emitting diode and crystal light source.

22. A method for deterring birds from frequently arriving at an airport runway/taxiway where they may be at risk, comprising the steps of: substantially removing organic matter susceptible to being consumed by birds in the area surrounding the airstrip/taxiway; leveling the soil material in the airport runway/taxiway area; placing an artificial grass surface onto the soil material; arranging a drain to drain water from the artificial grass surface; the method uses an airport runway/taxiway surrounding surface device comprising: a compacted soil surface; a pile fabric disposed on said compacted soil surface, said pile fabric including a plurality of man-made pile units extending from the support mat to a predetermined height thereon; a water permeable sand bag material for stabilizing said pile fabric in position, said water permeable sand bag material being disposed on said support pad and having a thickness less than said predetermined height; a drainage system for directing water from the pile fabric to at least one drainage channel, thereby creating an airport: wherein said drainage system comprises a drainage layer and a water-resistant layer beneath said drainage layer for inhibiting water from penetrating down into the soil surface beneath said pile fabric; the water blocking layer forms a portion of the support cushion, and the drainage layer is disposed within the fleece on the support cushion; the drainage layer includes fibers distributed between the artificial pile units on the supporting pad.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising the steps of: i.e. once the organic material has been removed from the soil material, the soil material is compacted.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising the steps of: the natural soil material is exposed by excavation.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising the steps of: a water resistant layer is arranged to prevent water from penetrating down into the soil material beneath the artificial grass surface.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising the steps of: the water-blocking layer is arranged below the artificial grass surface and a drainage layer is arranged between the water-blocking layer and the artificial grass surface.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein: the artificial grass surface comprises a supporting mat and the step of providing a water barrier is performed by making the supporting mat impermeable to water.

28. The method of claim 22, wherein: the step of leveling the compacted soil material is accomplished to provide a slope to cause surface water to flow in a desired direction toward a drain installed in the soil.

29. An airport runway surface, comprising: a pile fabric to be placed on a compacted soil surface, said pile fabric including a plurality of artificial pile units extending from a support mat to a predetermined height thereon; a permeable sandbag material for stabilizing said pile fabric in position, said permeable sandbag material being disposed on a support mat and having a thickness less than said predetermined height; a drainage system for directing surface water from the pile fabric to at least one drain; runway markings are included in the pile fabric to guide aircraft pilots along airport runway surfaces during aircraft takeoff and landing operations.

30. The airport runway surface of claim 29, wherein: the runway signage includes a light source.

31. The airport runway surface of claim 30, wherein: the light source is at least one light source component selected from the group consisting of: laser beam, light emitting diode and crystal light source.

32. The airport runway surface of claim 31, wherein: the light source further includes a plurality of reflective particles distributed in the pile fabric over and around the light source component.

33. The airport runway surface of claim 32, wherein: the light source comprises two laterally spaced light source cables over and around which a fleece is filled with the reflective particles to provide identification of the racetrack side strips.

34. The airport runway surface of claim 31, wherein: the light source components are laminated into the pile fabric.

35. The airport runway surface of claim 30, wherein: the light source comprises a strip of light-emitting fabric material mounted in the fleece.

36. An airport runway surrounding surface assembly comprising: a compacted soil surface; a pile fabric disposed on said compacted soil surface, said pile fabric including a plurality of man-made pile units extending from the support mat to a predetermined height thereon; a water permeable bladder material for stabilizing said pile fabric in position, said water permeable bladder material being disposed on said support pad and having a thickness less than said predetermined height; and a drainage system for directing water from the fleece to the at least one drain, thereby rendering the airport substantially free of organic nutrients, and further comprising growth-inhibiting material incorporated in the fleece for at least delaying plant growth.

37. An airport runway circumferential surface arrangement as defined in claim 36 wherein: the drainage system includes a drainage layer and a water resistant layer beneath the drainage layer to prevent water from penetrating down into the soil surface beneath the pile fabric.

38. An airport runway circumferential surface arrangement as defined in claim 37 wherein: the support pad is water permeable and disposed above the drainage layer.

39. An airport runway circumferential surface arrangement as defined in claim 37 wherein: the water blocking layer forms a portion of the support cushion and the drainage layer is disposed within the fleece on the support cushion.

40. An airport runway circumferential surface arrangement as defined in claim 38 wherein: the water barrier comprises a water impermeable membrane disposed on the soil surface.

41. An airport runway circumferential surface arrangement as defined in claim 39 wherein: the drainage layer includes fibers distributed between the artificial pile units on the supporting pad.