Background of the Invention At places of manipulation with fuels it always happens that head products, small amounts of fuels, like oil, fuel oil or gasoline, just drop on the ground, no matter how careful the workers are. Directly or by rains or during cleaning all the wastes are washed away and penetrate into soil thus causing its contamination. To eliminate this feature the stations are furnished with sewage channels opening into a central sump. The sump has to be regularly emptied and the wastes disposed off. The sump is checked in predetermined intervals by the station personnel, the checking being carried out mostly visually. Generally there exist no automatic control of the sumps. In a case the sump is filled before an end of the check interval the polluted water runs through a wasteway directly into a channel system, where such corrosive matters are undesirable, or even directly contaminate the soil in a close neighbourhood of the station. Nevertheless places of an occasional or temporary manipulation with fuels remain without any protection against head products, as it happens during motorcar or motorcycle competitions or in a case of station operating only for a time limited period.

It is an object of the invention to prevent contamination of the environment in the vicinity of present fuel filling stations as well as stations put into operation only temporary, especially stations without a regular staff.

Disclosure and Obiect of the Invention The foregoing problems are solved and the object of the invention is achieved by a travel ground for fuel pump stations designed in accordance with the present invention comprising an array of flat segments arranged side by side,

with at least each inside segment having its upper surface provided with outlet means connected with outlet means of adjacent segments, while at least one of the segments includes outlet means merging into the segment cavity, the cavity being furnished with filter means and opening into outlet chamber with a hydrocarbon sensor. The cavity with the filter means is preferably located at least in one of the outside segments, more preferably in both outside segments. Further in accordance with the present invention the outlet means comprise at least one groove extending transversally across the segment upper surface, the groove being at least at one end interconnected with a free-flow channel running along the segment outside edge and extending into a free-flow channel of the adjacent inside and/or outside segment. Still further in accordance with the invention the segment array upper surface may be inclined towards one of the outside segments or alternatively this surface may evenly or unevenly slope down towards both of the outside segments. In a preferred embodiment the inside segment is provided with steps extending along its longitudinal sides, alternately on upper and lower side, the step depth being at least half of the segment thickness. According to another preferred feature of the invention the hydrocarbon sensor is connected to the control unit of the respective fuel pump station and/or central unit of station management.

According to the first aspect of the invention there is significantly limited the leakage of crude-oil products and pollution of environment in the vicinity of a fuel pump station, irrespective if the station is a permanent or a temporary one, as purifying of waters leaving a station travel ground is carried out automatically, while the filter means condition is checked also automatically and signaling of any decrease of their ability to absorb contaminants is also an automatic procedure. No connection to any channel system is needed.

According to another particular aspect of the invention the segment steps facilitate assembly of the segments. It is a further aspect of the invention to provide permanent information about the ecology condition of a fuel pump station provided with the said travel ground.

Brief Description of the Drawings By way of an example the invention is further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 present an axonometric view upon a travel ground inside segment and Fig. 2 illustrates an outside segment as shown in axonometric view.

Description of Preferred Embodiments A travel ground designed for fuel pump station in embodiment according the present invention consists of an array of flat segments arranged side by side.

A preferred array comprise two or three inside segments 1 completed with an outside segment 2 at both the drive-on and drive-off sides, the inside segments 1 having width of three and a half metres and length varying from two to three metres.

Referring to Fig. 1, the inside segment 1 is at its upper surface provided with outlet means, which are provided for by multiple grooves 3 arranged in parallel and extending transversally across the inside segment upper surface, i. e. across the direction of vehicle travel upon the segments. The grooves 3 are at their one end interconnected with a free-flow channel 4 running along the segment longitudinal edge, i. e. in parallel with a direction of the vehicle travel on the said ground. The free-flow channel 4 of each segment is at its both ends interconnected with a free-flow channel 4 of the adjacent inside segment 1 and/or outside segment 2, as described further on. Similarly the inside segment 1 may be provided with a second free-flow channel 4 located along the opposite segment longitudinal edge. In general, the outside segment 2 may be of a shape similar to the embodiment of the inside segment 1, with only adapted edges 5 on drive-on and drive-off sides. For applications where the said travel ground is just laid down on already existing surface along a fuel pump station, there is preferred the embodiment as shown on Fig. 2, where the edge 5 on the drive-on or drive-off side, as the case may be is chamfered and continuously transfers into the upper surface which is without grooves 3 and the respective outside segment 2 has

substantially a wedge-like shape. On the upper transverse edge, joining an adjacent inside segment 1, there is carried out the free-flow channel 4, adapted to join the same item of the adjacent inside segment 1. The free-flow channel 4 of the outside segment 2 merges into a cavity 6 inside the outside segment 2. The cavity 6, which is furnished with an interchangeable filter, is interconnected with a following outlet chamber 7 equipped with a hydrocarbon sensor 8. The filter, comprising any suitable filtering means, known as such, provides for purification of water running out of the outlet chamber 7 in such a scale that there is no danger of pollution of the environment.

For applications where the said travel ground is embedded within the level of already existing surface along a fuel pump station the outside 2 of the above design may be omitted and the cavity 6 with the filter and the outlet chamber 7 are incorporated within a segment of the same construction as above described inside segment 1, such a segment being positioned with respect to inclination of the travel ground. The upper surface of the array of the inside segments 1 may be inclined towards one of the outside 2 or alternatively this surface may evenly or unevenly slope down towards both of the outside segments 2, thus having its highest point in the middle or shifted aside. It is also possible that the inside segment 1 array upper surface has its lowest point inside the travel ground, i. e. the surface slopes down from each of the outside segments 2 towards the opposite side, either evenly or unevenly.

To facilitate assembly of the segments 1,2 and improve the compactness of the travel ground upper surface by smooth transfers from one segment to the adjacent one the inside segments 1 are provided with steps extending along its longitudinal sides, alternately on upper and lower side, the step depth being at least half of the segment thickness. Thus the segment has at its one end an elongated projection 9, while there is a recess 10 at its other side. The projection 9 of one segment and the recess 10 of the adjoining segment provide for a rabbet joint of both adjoining segments. Similarly one of the outside segments 1 is equipped with the projection 9, as illustrated on Fig. 2 ;

while the opposite outside segment 2 is provided with the recess 10. As can be seen from both Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the projection 9 and the recess 10 need not to run across the whole width of respective segments.

The hydrocarbon sensor 8 is connected to the control unit of the respective fuel pump station and/or central unit of station management thus allowing for operation information for the staff of the station and the station management.

Industrial apPlications The present invention is designed for fuel pumping stations operating either permanently or temporarily, especially for stations without any permanent staff.