US1484514A - Floor or paving for tennis courts and other purposes - Google Patents

Description

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H. G. LLOYD FLOOR OR PAVING FOR TENNIS COURTS AND OTHER PURPOSES Filed OC'. 2l 1921 iwi,

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NETE@ .nanny eanninnn LLofrn, or sunmfron, ENGLAND.

,FLOOR OR lAVINGr FOR TENNS COURTS .Ai/ND OTHER PURPOSES.

application med october 21, i921. semi No. 509,341.

T all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that l, HENRY Genomen LLOYD, a subject of the King of England, residing at Surbiton, Surrey, England, have invented certain new and useful Im'- provements'in Floorsor Paving for Tennis Courts and Other Purposes7 of which the following is a specification.

This invention is for improvements in or `10 relating to floors or paving for 'tennis courts or other purposes and has for one of its objects to facilitate the'drying of the surface. lt is vvery desirable that uncovered tennis courts should dry rapidly in order that play le may be recommenced quickly after a shower of rain, but to build the courts on'such a slope or with such a camber as will permit of this form of drainage is open to the objection that it interferes with accurate play upon the courts. A

According to the primary feature of the present invention there is provided a' floor or paving'for tennis courts and other purposes which comprises a mainv layer of material which is impervious, or substantially so, to water and which ischaracterized by the provision of a plurality of drainage. holes extending downwardly the'rethrough.-

rlhese holes are preferably lequally spaced and arranged in regular formation all over the surface of the court as closetogether as 'is desirable. lmpervious concrete may be employed for the main layer and there may be underneath it a well drained `foundation of rolled clinker or other suitable material. rlf'he main layer of concrete may be reinforced with diagonally or triangularly arranged wires lyingv horizontally between the holes, or with other suitable material.

The aforesaid main layer ofthe material may itself constitute the playing surface or it may be covered with a supplementary layer of porous material such as porous concrete. Thus water would pass through the pores of the covering layer` until it reached the perforationsl in the main layer, and to facilitate drainage through these perfora tions the upper surface of the main layer j may be provided with channels leading to the upper ends of the perforations and intended to collect water which has percolated through the-supplementary covering layer.

For a more complete understandin of the invention there will now be descri ed, by way of example only and with 'reference to the accompanying drawings', certain constructional forms of tennis courts according tothe invention. It is4 to be understood. however, that the invention is not limited to the precise-details illustrated.

In these drawings r- Figure lis a plan view of a portion of a tennis court embodying the present invention.

Figure 2 is a cross-section through a por-v tion thereof.

Figure 3 'is a similar'cross-section of a modified construction, and

Figure 4 another similar cross-section of a further modification.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

Referring first of all to Figures l and 2. in building upa tennis court, as illustrated herein, there is first of all laid down a foundation 10 of clinker or other suitable material.` -This foundation minst. be well drained and well rolled so as to beirm and level. -Upon this, foundation is arranged the main layer .1l of concrete. This layer may be built up in situ or may be manufactured in slabs elsewhere and laid in position upon the foundation. The ilayer 11 is preferably provided Vwith reinforcements such as the wires 12 and these may be arranged diagonally or in any other desired formation. The layer ll -is of .impervious concrete and should be made as strong as possible as it has to impart stability and permanence to the tennis court and 1nain tain the latter true. is 2 to 211; parts by weight of gravel containing sand to l part by weight of Portland cement. Such a 'mixture can be 'made into an impervious concrete. To permit of the passage of water through it perforations 13' are formed at intervals. lf the layer ll is to constitute the playing surface, a construction which is illustrated in Figure Ll, the perforations 13 should be only of small diameter, say for instance a quarter of an inch.l in order not to interfere with the rebound of a ball, but where,- as illustrated in yFigures l, 2 and 3, the layer l1 is cov- ;ered with a supplementary layer let, the

perforations 13 may be of larger size.

rEhe supplementary covering layer le, see

A convenient mixture l particularly'Figures 2 and 3, is intended' to be made of porous concrete in order that water may pass through it readily so as to drain away through 'the perforations 13. To facilitate drainage the upper surface of the layer 11 may be trough shaped, the

sloping parts 15 of the surface 'conducting to the perforations 13 any waterv which percolates through the layer 14.- The layer is 3 or 4 parts by weight ef'sand to 1 ofk If the grains ofsand are subcement. i stantially the same size and substantially spherical, and if furthermore, care is taken*l to use only a sluglicient quantity of water to lproduce a mixture of a dry consistency, it

1 lwill be foundV that avery porous layer ing lines 16 of the court.

can be made which will adhere to the' main layer 11 and which will-present a good plain playing surface. The playing `surface maybe coloured green or any other 'desired colour either duringy manufacture or 4after the court is laid.

The layer 14 may be laid after the layer 11 has been built into position or slabs may be made, as illustrated lin Figure 3, each of which comprises a main layer 11 and a covering layer 14, and "then these slabs mounted upon the foundation 10. It is a .feature of the present invention 'so to proportion and arrange the slabs in either or both of the layers 11 and 14 that in any one layer they abut only along the marks By tiis means cracks and joints on other parts of the courts will be largelyl avoided. The marking lines 16 may, as illustrated in Figure 2,

only

-be formedby a strip of the layer 14 which is ofadierent colour from the co-extensive parts of the said layer, or as illustratedv in Figure 8, narrow slabs each comprising a portion of both of the layers 11 and 14 may be used to constitute the markino' lines.

In some circumstances it may the found desirable to perfo'rate the supplementary covering layer 14, but this will probably not usually be necessary.

Itis to beundersttod that the invention is not limited to the precise details set forth.

For example, instead of-concrete, asphalty paving canbe employedvin so'me circumstances. 4

I claim i 1. A floor or paving for tennis-courts and the like comprising'a main layer 4of material which is impervious to water and which has a plu'rality'of drainage holes extending downwardly therethrough, said layer being formed'in slabs which are of such size and which are so placed as to abut on the marking lines of the court, for

the purpose specified.

2. 'A floor or paving for tennis colirts and the like comprising a mainlayer'of ma-` f terial which is impervious to Waterand which has a plurality of drainage holes extending downwardly therethrough, and a supplementary ycovering layer of porous on the marking vlines of the court, Vfor the purpose specified. Y

A floor or paving for tennis courts and the like .comprising a main layer of material which is impervious to water and Iwhich has a plurality of drainage holes extending downwardly therethrough and a supplementary covering layer of vporous material situated above said4 perforated layer, both of said layers being formed in slabs which are of such size and which are so placed as to abut only on the marking lines of thecourt, for the purpose specified.

4. A floor or paving for tennis courts and other purposes comprising an uppermost layer 'of porous concrete, said porous con-v crete being formed of sand grains substantiallyspherical and substantially the same size, and cement, these materials being presi ent in such proportions that there is insufficient cement to lill completelythe voids' between the grains'of sand, and only Sullicient Water being usedin the manufacture ofthe concrete as will produce amixtureof dry consistency.

`-5. A tennis court, comprising a main layer of materialwhich at least withinthe boundaries determined by cooperating markinglines thereon is of unbroken `construction said material bein'g impervious to Wa- -ter and having a pluralit of drainage holes extending downwardly t eret'hrough, anda supplementary covering layer of porous material situated above the main layer, the upper surface of'said main layer being shaped to provide channelsblead'ing to the upper ends of said drainage holes, for the purpose specified.

6. A floor or paving for tennis courts material situated above said perforated I and otherpurposes comprising an uppermost layer -of-porous concrete said porous concrete being formed of .sand grains subd stantially 'sphericall and substantially the sa-me size and cement, in the proportions of 'from 3 to 4 partsby weight of sand to 1 part by weight of cement,` only sufiicient water being used in the formation of the concrete to 'produce a mixture of dryv consistency.

ture. i HENRY GARDIN ER LLOYD.

In testimony whereof I aix my signa-

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