Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a ground-engageable surface, and particularly, though not exclusively, to a temporary load bearing surface allowing, for example, people and/or vehicles and/or livestock to traverse difficult or substantially impassable ground.

Background to the Invention

It is known to place a temporary surface over terrain to enable it to be more easily traversed. For example, persistent precipitation may leave the ground surface so waterlogged that movement of people or vehicles thereon becomes difficult. For example, heavy plant vehicles may encounter difficulties in achieving sufficient traction when moving around soft ground in constructions sites. In other applications it may be beneficial to place a physical between vehicles, livestock or people and the ground to mitigate compaction damage or rutting and the like. For example, it may be prudent to install a temporary surface on fields during a festival, to both shield festival goers from mud, and to mitigate damage to the ground.

Prior art solutions are often cumbersome, expensive and/or not especially environmentally friendly. For example, it is known to employ simple wooden boards such as recycled pallets. However, these have a tendency to break and are not a viable long term solution. Other attempts at addressing this problem have been unsatisfactory due to difficulties encountered in the removal of the surface.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a ground- engageable surface comprising a plurality of structural elements the plurality of structural elements being arranged in two or more rows, wherein structural elements of a first row are connected to structural elements of a second row such that each row is pivotable about its connection with an adjacent row. It will be appreciated that by arranging adjacent rows so as to be pivotable with respect to one another, the ground-engageable surface can be stored in a rolled up configuration. Deployment of the ground-engageable surface is also made easier by allowing it to be progressively un-rolled into position over the ground. Optionally, further rows are connected to the first and/or second row.

Optionally, the structural elements are cuboidal-shaped.

Advantageously, by providing the structural elements in a cuboidal shape a flat upper surface is presented. However, it will be appreciated that other shapes can be adopted if required. Indeed, there may be circumstances in which it is desirable to have a non-flat upper surface, e.g. in order to increase traction for vehicles.

Alternatively, the structural elements are obround-shaped when viewed from above.

An obround shape consists of two semicircles connected by parallel lines extending tangentially from their end points. Advantageously, this shape provides the advantage that no sharp edges extend outwardly from the ground-engageable surface when it is in its rolled-up configuration.

Optionally, the structural elements are provided with one or more chamfered or rounded edges. Advantageously, the provision of chamfered or rounded edges facilitates the pivoting of adjacent rows of structural elements. It has been observed that structural elements having right-angled edges may have a tendency to jam and so if at least the mating edges of the structural elements are chamfered or rounded this can be avoided.

Optionally, the structural elements include a first connection bore extending therethrough proximate a first end thereof.

Optionally, the structural elements may include a second connection bore extending therethrough proximate a second end thereof. Optionally, structural elements of adjacent rows may be arranged such that the structural elements of a first row are each spaced apart and partially interposed between like spaced apart structural elements of a second row.

It will be appreciated that such a connection results in a staggered arrangement whereby adjacent rows are longitudinally offset relative to one another.

Optionally, the respective first connection bores of the structural elements of a given row are aligned with the respective second connection bores of the structural elements of the immediately preceding row.

Therefore, the degree to which the structural elements of a first row are each partially interposed with those of an adjacent row depends upon the spacing of the connection bores from the respective ends of the structural elements. Optionally, an elongate connection member extends through each set of aligned first and second connection bores to facilitate the pivotal connection between respective adjacent rows of structural elements.

Optionally, the elongate connection member is a cylindrical rod formed from a resilient material. It will be appreciated that the elongate connection member will be undersized relative to the diameter of the circular connection bored so as to facilitate relative rotational movement between the two. Optionally, the resilient material is nylon.

Optionally, the nylon is nylon 6 or nylon 6-6.

Optionally, each structural element is formed from a resilient material.

Optionally, the resilient material is a copolymer material.

Optionally, the copolymer is rubber. The individual structural elements may be formed from a contiguous rubber structure. For example, the structural elements may be formed from recycled rubber. The recycled rubber may comprise rubber pieces or granules which are compressed and adhesively re-moulded into the desired shape of the structural elements.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of traversing substantially impassable terrain by placing a ground-engageable surface according to the first aspect thereon to separate a person and/or animal and/or vehicle from the terrain.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a ground- engageable surface comprising two or more ground-engageable surfaces according to the first aspect connected together.

Brief Description of the Drawings Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a surface according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the surface of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of an individual structural element forming part of the surface of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the structural element of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the structural element of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a side elevation of an alternative structural element forming part of the surface of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the alternative structural element of Fig. 6; and Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the alternative structural element of Fig. 6.

A ground engageable surface 10 according to the present invention is depicted in Fig. 1. Surface 10 comprises a plurality of structural elements 12. Greater detail of the structural elements 12 may be seen in the embodiments of Figs 3 to 5, and Figs 6 to 8 respectively. In the embodiment of Figs 3 to 5, each structural element 12 is cuboidal in shape. In one non-limiting example, the length of the cuboidal structural element is 150 mm, its width is 60 mm, and its depth is 40 mm. However, it will be appreciated that other dimensions are possible. In particular, the structural elements can be scaled according to their intended use.

In the non-limiting example referred to above, a first bore 14 extends through the structural element 12 having a diameter of 12mm. The first bore 14 is formed through the width of the structural element 12 proximate a first end 16 thereof. A second bore 18 also having a diameter of 12mm is formed through the width of the structural element 12 proximate a second end 20 thereof. The first bore 14 and second bore 18 are formed such that their outer circumferences are spaced by approximately 12mm from the first 16 and second ends 20 respectively. Each bore is substantially centred between the substantially flat upper 22 and lower surfaces 24 of the structural element 12 and they extend parallel thereto. The structural elements 12 are formed from rubber.

A first row 26 of structural elements 12 is formed (as viewed at the left hand side of Figs. 1 and 2). Each adjacent structural element 12 within the first row 26 is spaced apart from its neighbouring structural elements by a width which is greater or equal to the width of the structural elements 12. A second row 28 of structural elements 12 is arranged alongside the first row 26 such that each structural element of the second row 28 is interposed between two spaced adjacent structural elements on the first row. The degree of overlap between neighbouring structural elements in adjacent rows - when measured in the length direction of each structural element - is such that the first bores 14 of the structural elements of the second row 28 are aligned with the second bores 18 of the structural elements of the first row 26. Thus, a continuous bore is formed from the plurality of aligned individual bores 14, 18.

An elongate resilient rod 29 is positioned within the individual bores 14, 18 of adjacent structural elements 12 thereby serving to connect the first row 26 and the second row 28. Consequently, the structural elements 12 of each row may pivot with respect to one another. The elongate resilient rod 29 is secured at either end with suitable fixings, e.g. a washer and push-nut arrangement 31. Further rows 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46 of structural elements 12 are attached similarly to that described above to create the surface 12 depicted in Figs 1 and 2. An elongate resilient rod 29 connects adjacent rows. Outer elongate rods 52, 54 are provided at the outer edges of the first 26 and eleventh rows 46 to connect, respectively, the first bores 14 of the first row 26 structural elements 12 and the second bores 18 of the eleventh row 46 of structural elements 12. A threaded end and nut 56 are attached to either end of the outer elongate rods 52, 54 to prevent them detaching from the first and eleventh rows 26, 46.

Thus a planar surface 10 is formed. The combination of: the pivotal nature of the adjacent rows 26-46; the resilience of the elongate rods 29, 52; and the resilience of the structural elements themselves, creates a flexible surface 10 which will tend to mould itself to uneven terrain upon which it may be placed.

In the embodiment of Figs. 6 to 8, the structural element 12 is shown as being obround in shape when viewed from above whereby the first and second ends 16', 20' thereof are substantially semi-circular. The elimination of square edges at the first and second ends 16', 20' improves the freedom of movement between adjacent structural elements, particularly if the empty spaces between adjacent structural elements become filled with, e.g. mud or grass and the like. Further improvement in terms of the freedom of movement between adjacent structural elements can be realised if all right-angled edges are replaced by chamfered, bevelled or curved edges. Otherwise, the structural elements of Figs. 6 to 8 are arranged into a surface 10 in the same manner as described above in relation to the embodiment of Figs 3 to 5.

In use, surface 10 is placed on terrain which may be, for example, too muddy or unstable for a person, animal or vehicle to traverse. The inherent flexibility of the surface 10 will tend to adopt the contours of the terrain. A person, animal or vehicle may therefore cross the surface 10, thereby traversing the terrain. Loads applied to the surface 10 will be spread over a greater surface area and transferred over a greater surface area of the terrain being covering. This spreading of loads will help to mitigate point-loading and prevent the surface 10 from sinking into softer terrain. Moreover, the flexible nature of the surface 10 means that loads will cause the surface 10 to further adapt to the terrain upon. By maintaining contact with the terrain over its entire surface an even load spreading is maintained.

The flexible hinged nature of surface 10 means it may easily be rolled up into a substantially cylindrical form for ease of transportation. A line or cord may be attached to one of outer elongate rods 52, 54 and pulling this cord or line in the direction of the opposing elongate rod initiates the rolled configuration.

Modifications and improvements may be made to the hereinbefore described embodiment without departing from its scope. For example, it will be appreciated by the skilled addressee that the invention may be formed with any number of rows of structural elements 10 with any number of structural elements 10 forming each row. The greater the number of rows, the longer the surface and the greater the number of structural elements 10 within each row, the wider the surface.

Multiple surfaces can be used to cover greater distances or areas of terrain. For example, surfaces may be supplied measuring 10m x 1.5m, and ten such surfaces laid end to end would allow a vehicle or person to traverse around 100m of otherwise impassable terrain or provide 150 square metres of surface.

Although described as being made of rubber, it will be appreciated that this may be substituted for any suitable material. Further, recycled rubber may be used wherein the rubber is provide in small chips or granules and is pressure and adhesively moulded into suitable structural elements.

The sizes and shape of the structural element may be varied and may be made larger, smaller, more elongate, more cube shaped, or non-rectilinear in shape.

The surface of each structural element may be provided with roughened or textured surface to aid traction and grip. Different materials may be used for the elongate rods than those described above. Moreover, the ends of the elongate rods may be secured to the structural elements by methods other than threading and nut/washer arrangements or washer and push-nut/washer arrangements, such as a transverse split pin passing through a bore in each end of the rod(s).