The present invention comprises a series of moulded plastic panels that can be laid over natural terrain, in order to provide a continuous and durable surface for the passage of people and vehicles. The panels are hollow moulded forms, typically made of polyethylene, making them inexpensive, light and durable. The tops of the panels are flat and the undersides of the said panels may be corrugated or studded.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field ofthe invention The invention relates to a ground cover mat that can be laid over natural terrain, in order to provide a continuous and durable surface for the passage of people and vehicles.

2. PriorArt Many materials may be used to form temporary road and walkways over natural terrain, common examples include timber planking, plywood panels, plastic or metal grating. Plastic panels moulded of materials such as polyethylene, offer the advantages of being inexpensive, being made of recyclable materials, being light, with a high strength to weight ratio, being more weather durable, being easier to handle and lay, with the potential to be rolled up and out. Prior patents for plastic ground cover matting describe a variety of geometric configurations designed to meet differing load requirements and to allow connection of one panel to another: US5807021, US563551 & US6089784. More generally, other patents describe methods of connecting matting and carpeting that is not specifically intended for ground cover: US4766020, US4029834 & US5178263. An object of the present patent is to provide a multipurpose panel that can place over natural terrain, both flooring for pedestrians and roadway for vehicles. A further object of the present invention is that where a number of panels are connected in a continuous strip, the said strip can be folded up in a concertina fashion, to provide the most compact form of storing connected panels.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises of matting that can be laid over natural terrain, in order to provide a continuous and durable surface for the passage of people and vehicles. The said matting comprises of hollow moulded plastic panels that may be connected one to the other with looped bindings made of either flexible or rigid strands. Each said panel has at least one load-bearing surface that is flat and unbroken, supported on its underside by a corrugated surface. Where the matting provides flooring for pedestrians, or a roadway for heavy vehicles it will be laid with the said flat surface uppermost. Where the matting provides a roadway for lighter vehicles moving over wet and muddy ground, it may be laid with the corrugated surface uppermost to give better traction for the wheels of the said lighter vehicles.

The relationship of the said load-bearing surfaces makes lengths of the matting sufficiently flexible to adjust to the contours of uneven terrain when placed under load. The connections at the end of each matting panel enable each said panel to be rotated 180° about the end of any abutting panel to which the first said panel is tied by the said loop bindings. This said rotation allows a continuous strip of connected said panels to be folded and unfolded in a concertina manner, where the load-bearing surfaces of the said panels face one another in an alternating sequence of top to top, bottom to bottom, top to top, and so forth.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective of a matting panel with a corrugated underside

Figure 2 is a detail showing the cross section through two connected matting panels Figure 3 is a cross section showing a group of connected panels folded in a concertina manner Figure 4 is a detail in cross section of a matting panel having a studded underside.

Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of the detail shown in Figure 5.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the matting may be laid either on its flat surface (1) or on its corrugated surface (2), to suit to the requirements desired in differing environments. The matting panels are rotation moulded in a conventional manner,-which process makes each panel an airtight hollow form with sealed walls. Figure 2 shows a section through the said hollow form, in which the corrugated surface (2) provides a load-bearing platform that is elevated above the terrain covered. In the moulding process, the inward ridges (3) of the corrugated surface (2) are joined at intervals (4) to the flat surface (1), so binding top and bottom surfaces (1) and (2) together, and forming a series of ribs (5).

The final ribs (6) at each end of a panel are % circular in section. Along the length of the said final ribs there are inset at regular intervals, circular tubes which provide tie bars (7) by which abutting panels can be connected one to the other, with loops of rope or strapping (8). Viewed in section, the tie bars (7) are located centrally in the final ribs (6). As shown in Figure 2, the central positioning of the tie bars (7) provides that when two panels are tied together tightly by the said strapping (8), the ends of each connecting panel are brought into contact. The said positioning of the tie bars (7) also provides that either said abutting panel can be pulled upwards, rotating the pulled panel through 180° until it lies on top of its abutting panel, or pulled downwards through 180°, until the said pulled panel comes to lie beneath its said abutting panel.

These said degrees of rotational freedom allow a series of connected said panels to be stored in the manner illustrated in Figure 3, where the bottom of a first panel is rotated to rest against the bottom of a second panel and the top of a third panel is rotated to rest against the top of the said second panel, and this said sequence of relative panel positions is repeated continuously. Matting panels folded in this said configuration then form a horizontal stack of panels, occupying the least possible space. A said horizontal stack of panels may then be stored in a vehicle. When the said stack needs to be re-laid on the ground as a strip of matting,<BR> continuous pulling on the first panel of the said stack will rotate the first and then successive panels through 90°, bringing the bottom surface (2) of each successive panel horizontal to the ground where the said matting will be laid. The space (9) between the tie bars (7) and the body of the matting panel also provides for pegs (10) to be driven through the space into the ground below to secure the said panel.

In a second embodiment of the invention, the panel (11) illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 is comprised of a flat surface (12) opposed by a studded surface (13). The studs (14) are regular tetrahedrons, arranged with their bases abutting each other to form a linear surface (13), perforated by a regular series of squares. The vertices of the said studs (15) attach to a continuous linear surface (12) that lies parallel to the perforated surface (13). This said pattern of studs meeting a said continuous linear surface (12) forms a hollow honeycomb structure in which the vertices (15) of the said tetrahedron studs attach a bottom linear surface (12) to a top perforated surface (13). The said attachment points (15) do not impede the flow of a moulding material under gravity through the honeycomb structure and the panel (11) may be formed by a conventional rotational moulding process.