DESCRIPTION

The present invention refers, in general, to a supporting element for synthetic mantles.

More particularly, the present invention refers to a supporting element for synthetic mantles, which is particularly easy to use.

As is known, there exist various types of synthetic mantles which differ in the material used for their realization, the bottom on which the mantles are laid and the conformation of the supporting elements used for their laying.

In particular, the known supporting elements, used for the laying of synthetic mantles, take the form of perforated grids having standardized dimensions and are laid directly on the bottom of the synthetic mantle.

The drilling obtained on the grids of each element allows water drainage through the holes.

Once the grids have been laid on the bottom, the grids being kept side by side, the grids are connected through iron wires that pass through the holes of the grids. Then, the iron wires are twisted.

This assembly procedure is long and laborious because it is necessary to bind all the grids one by one after laying them on the ground.

An aim of the invention is to realize a supporting element overcoming the problems of the prior art.

Another aim of the invention is to offer a supporting element which is not expensive and is easy to use.

Another aim of the invention is to reduce the number of elements used to realize the support.

All the above-mentioned aims and other ones are achieved according to the invention with a supporting element for synthetic mantles comprising a main body shaped with a corrugated development and comprising crests and valleys. The supporting element is characterized by the fact of comprising one or more beaks disposed on a first side of the main body, and a bar disposed on a second side of the main body. The one or more beaks and the bar are adapted to be removably coupled with shape coupling. Besides, the one or more beaks may include, at least partially, the bar because an arc-of-circle opening is formed in the beak and the bar is shaped like an arc of circle so as to be homologous to the beak.

The so-described construction allows to removably connect the supporting elements realized according to the invention.

Furthermore, the one beak or more beaks may develop from a valley upward and the bar may develop from a valley upward, the sum of the height of the beak from the valley and the height of the bar from the valley being equal to the height from a valley to a crest, so that the connection of the one or more beaks of a supporting element with the bar of another supporting element allows to maintain the corrugated development of the main body.

Thus, it is possible to maintain the corrugated development of the main body regardless of the fact that there is a connection in that point or not. Besides, the meeting point between beak and bar may be at the wished distance from the valleys.

Advantageously, grooves may be obtained in the bar to enable the one or more beaks to rotate when the bar and the one or more beaks are connected to each other. Advantageously, one or more protrusions may be comprised and disposed on a third side of the main body and one or more recesses obtained on a fourth side of the main body. In this way, the one or more protrusions may be easily connected with the one or more recesses, for instance with a shape coupling with snap removal.

It is possible to form protrusions and recesses in both the third side and the fourth side and to allow a greater flexibility in mounting the supporting elements according to the invention.

Moreover, a plurality of slots may be formed in the main body to allow the fluid drainage through the supporting element itself so as to keep the synthetic mantle as dry as possible or to drain any fluids such as rainwater or more.

Advantageously, one or more inlets may be formed between a crest and a valley in the main body, the shape and/or dimensions of the inlets being preferably different from the shape and/or dimensions of the slots.

The presence of the one or more inlets makes it possible to provide the supporting element with another element of possible coupling with other supporting elements according to the invention.

All the above-mentioned aims are also achieved through a supporting element comprising a jointing element adapted to be coupled with a supporting element. The supporting element comprises one or more feet adapted to be inserted in the one or more inlets of the supporting element so that the jointing element together with the one or more inlets form a further connecting means.

The jointing element allows to couple more jointing elements more flexibly and with a further connection mode.

All the above-mentioned aims are also achieved through a system comprising two or more supporting elements. The supporting elements may be connected to each other by connecting a beak to a bar. In this way, when the two or more supporting elements are disposed according to a compact configuration, the volume occupied by the system can be reduced to a minimum but the connection between the at least two supporting elements is maintained. In other words, it is possible to obtain that the corrugated development of a supporting element follows the corrugated development of the next supporting element. Then, it is possible to join the supporting elements together with an easy connecting means.

Advantageously, the connecting means may comprise one or more feet of a jointing element, the one or more feet being received in one or more inlets of said supporting elements, wherein the jointing element comprises also a wing adapted to be disposed between the two supporting elements.

The presence of the wing allows to position more precisely the supporting elements and/or to maintain a useful distance between them.

Furthermore, the two or more supporting elements may be equal and may be connected so as each supporting element is upside-down in comparison with the preceding one. This feature makes possible to use supporting elements that are all equal to each other, without requiring the construction of two or more models of supporting elements that are different from each other, which allows to obtain significant savings in terms of production costs and installation costs.

If the operators are given the supporting elements in the compact configuration, it is also possible to save a considerable space and to provide the operators with a system of supporting elements which are already connected to each other. Then, it is sufficient to unwind and stretch the system of supporting elements.

Further features and details of the invention will be better understood from the following specification which is provided as a non-limiting example, as well as from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a supporting element, realized according to the invention;

Figures 2, 3, 4 show some details of the supporting element in Figure 1 ;

Figures 5 to 8 show three supporting elements according to the invention, coupled together through a first connecting means and disposed according to different configurations;

Figures 9 and 10 show the coupling of supporting elements according to the invention through a second connecting means;

Figure 11 shows an expanse of elements according to the invention, coupled together so as to be joined together and form a continuous support for a synthetic mantle which is laid on the support itself;

Figures 12 and 14 show a supporting element, realized according to a variant of the invention;

Figures 13 and 16 show a jointing element, realized according to a variant of the invention;

Figures 15 and 17 show a detail of the supporting element denoted by a in Figure 14 and a detail of the jointing element denoted by B in Figure 16, respectively;

Figures 18 to 23 are views of the jointing element in Figure 13, taken from different angles;

Figures 24 and 25 show the coupling of the supporting elements according to a variant of the invention through a first connecting means and through a third connecting means;

Figures 26 to 28 show views of a detail of the third connecting means in Figure 25, taken from different angles.

With reference to the accompanying figures, in particular Figure 1 , number 10 denotes a supporting element for synthetic mantles comprising a main body 1 which is substantially rectangular, with prevailing development on a plane and may be inscribed within a parallelepiped.

As visible in Figure 2, the main body 11 is shaped with a corrugated development forming crests 14 and valleys 16 defining the upper and lower limits, respectively, of the parallelepiped in which the main body 11 itself can be inscribed.

The portions of the supporting element 10 corresponding to the crests 14 and valleys 16 are continuous while leaks 18 are formed in the portions connecting such crests and valleys so as to allow the drainage of water and to act as elastic elements operating as a shock-absorber.

The main body 11 has a substantially rectangular shape and therefore, its sides correspond two by two so as to be removable connectable.

In particular, the opposite sides are connectable so that it is possible to join together two supporting elements by connecting a first side of a first supporting element to the respective opposite side of a second supporting element, as explained in detail below.

As visible in Figure 1 , along the first side 20, two grooved beaks 30 protrude from the valley 16 which is the valley closest to the side 20, as represented in detail in Figure 2. The two beaks are formed by following the corrugated development. An arc-of-circle groove is obtained in the two beaks.

An arc-of-circle bar 32 protrudes along a second side 22, opposite to the first side 20, so that the bar 32 can be grasped by the two beaks 30. The bar 32 is raised from the valley opposed to the valley 16.

In correspondence of the grasping sector of the two beaks 30 on the bar 32, two grooves 34 are formed which allow the passing of the elements of each beak 30 when the beak rotates about the bar 32.

A beak 30 and the bar 32 grasped by the beak 30 itself form a first connecting means between supporting elements according to the invention.

As visible in Figure 1 , on a third side 24 and on a fourth side 26, second connecting means are obtained between supporting elements according to the invention, described below.

Two protrusions 36 are provided on the third side, which protrude from the portions in the valleys in proximity to the first side 20 and second side 22.

As visible in the detail of Figure 3, each protrusion 36 comprises a tooth 38.

Besides, three recesses 40 are formed in some of the crests on the third side 24. In the described embodiment, the recesses 40 are formed on the fourth, seventh and tenth crest.

As from the detail in Figure 4, a seat 42 is formed in each recess 40 to receive a tooth 38 of a respective protrusion 36.

On the fourth side 26, recesses 40 are formed in correspondence of the protrusions 36 of the third side 24 and are arranged according to symmetry while three protrusions 36 protrude in correspondence of the three recesses 40 formed on the third side 24.

Each tooth 38 is shaped in such a way as to snap-fit in the respective seat 42 with which the tooth is coupled in order to oppose, owing to the coupling, a predetermined resistance to the release.

Below, with reference to Figures 5 to 8, there is a description of the passage from a compact configuration to an extended configuration of a first supporting element, a second supporting element and a third supporting element according to the invention, denoted by reference numbers 10, 110 and 210, respectively.

The compact configuration, visible in Figure 5, corresponds to the preferred configuration for the transport of a set of supporting elements according to the invention, which are connected to each other through connecting means, or through the respective beaks and bars, analogous to the beaks 30 and bar 32 described above.

As visible in Figure 8, the three supporting elements, which are disposed now according to a stretched configuration, are coupled according to an alternate orientation in which the first supporting element 10 is oriented in an analogous way as shown in Figure 1 , while the second supporting element 10 is oriented in an analogous way as the first supporting element 10.

This alternating orientation in their coupling allows to obtain a set of supporting elements which are connected to each other and, at the same time, are stackable. This result can not be achieved with the supporting elements of the prior art.

Obtaining such a result is made possible by the particular conformation of the beaks and bars: the beaks develop from the valley on following a corrugated development and arrive at the level of the crests while the bars are substantially at the level of the valleys. The connection of beaks and bars allows to continue the corrugated development of the main body without interruptions.

Thus, a synergistic effect is obtained by the combination of the characteristic of having the first and second connecting means integrated in a single body in the supporting element according to the invention and by the connection mode with alternate orientation or, in other words, the supporting elements are equal and are connected to each other, each of them being upside- down in comparison with the preceding one.

The operative advantage deriving from the possibility of having, at the same time, the supporting elements connected to each other and stacked so as to unwind and stretch them according to the extended configuration in Figure 8 is added to the constructive advantage of having an only supporting element that can be connected to other supporting elements, all of them being equal to each other, which involves a considerable saving as concerns molds and production equipment.

In fact, to obtain the same connection result and possibility of stacking the elements, two different elements would be to be realized: one element corresponding to the first element 10 and to the third element 210, and one different element that would be utilized in place of the second element 110.

As visible in Figure 9, three supporting elements realized according to the invention are placed at the side of other three supporting elements arranged according to the extended configuration so that it is possible to connect them to each other through the second connecting means.

In this case, the connection takes place between the protrusions and the respective recesses as visible in the detail of Figure 10, where the tooth 38 reaches the respective seat 42. As visible in Figure 11 , it is thus possible to obtain an extent of supporting elements according to the invention that can be laid down between the supporting layer and the synthetic mantle. For example, the extent of supporting elements can be laid down between a draining gravel support layer and a mantle made of synthetic grass to realize a synthetic football field or the like.

The extent of supporting elements according to the invention does not have any interruption in the development of the corrugated profile so as to maintain a uniform behavior for both the draining function and the shock-absorbing function. The shock-absorbing function allows to absorb the shocks as required, for example, by the National Amateur League and the F.I.F.A.

Moreover, the extent of supporting elements is entirely realized by coupling the single supporting elements which are equal, without utilizing further connecting means while the supporting elements of the prior art need further connecting means.

Another advantage of the supporting element according to the invention consists in that the supporting element can be supplied to the operator performing the laying, the supporting element being already connected to other supporting elements through the first connecting means according to the compact configuration in Figure 5.

Hence, the operator has just to unwind each element, as visible in the progression of Figures 5 to 8, and effect only the connections between the second connecting means. Thus, the operator saves a considerable amount of time for the laying of the supporting elements according to the invention in comparison with the laying made necessary by the known supporting elements which are all separated from each other and need to be connected with a great quantity of pieces of iron wire.

According to a variant of the invention, a supporting element may comprise additional recesses and/or protrusions in respect to what described above to obtain greater coupling possibilities between elements and have a greater flexibility for the realization of the support for the synthetic mantle. For example, in Figure 1 two recesses 90 are visible which are placed in correspondence of the two valley of the main body 1 1 .

Moreover, a utilization of such additional recesses may be to allow, in any case, a binding when it is not possible to couple the relative recesses with protrusions or when any protrusion should break.

According to another variant of the invention, a fourth supporting element 310, as visible in Figures 12 and 14, is shaped in an analogous way as the supporting element 10 as concerns all its components denoted in the figures by references increased by 300 in respect to analogous components of the supporting element 10.

Near the third side 324 and the fourth side 326, inlets 370 are formed which are obtained in the main body 31 1 of the fourth element 310 in a similar way to leaks 318 but with dimensions different from the leaks.

As visible in Figures 13 and 16, a jointing element 360 comprises a body 362 developing according to a first main axis.

Two wings 364 protrude from the body 362, only one of them being shown in Figures 3 and 7, and four feet 366, only one of them being shown in Figures 13 and 17.

The jointing element 360 is symmetric to its first main axis and to a second axis passing through the two wings 364 of the same jointing element 360. Below, with reference to Figures 24 to 26, an extended configuration of a fourth supporting element, a fifth supporting element, a sixth supporting element and a seventh supporting element is described according to said variant of the invention, said elements being denoted by the reference numbers 310, 410, 510 and 610, respectively.

Likewise, a compact configuration, not shown in the drawing, corresponds o the preferred configuration for the transport of a set of supporting elements according said variant of the invention, which are connected to each other through the first connecting means, or by means of the respective beaks and bars, analogous to the beaks 30 and bar 32 as described above.

The four supporting elements, which are disposed now according to an extended configuration, are coupled according to an alternate orientation in which the fourth supporting element 310 is oriented in an analogous way as visible in Figure 12 while the fifth supporting element 410 is upside-down in comparison with the fourth supporting element 310. Likewise, the sixth supporting element 510 and the seventh supporting element 610 are oriented so that the seventh supporting element 610 is upside-down in comparison with the same supporting element 510.

This alternation in the orientation in their coupling allows to obtain a set of supporting elements which are, at the same time, connected to each other and also stackable while this result could not be obtained by means of supporting elements realized according to the prior art.

According to this variant of the invention, the feet 366 and the inlets 370 are realized to be coupled as visible in the details of Figures 27 and 28.

In other words, in this variant of the invention, the function of the protrusions 36 and relative teeth 38 is performed by the feet 366 of the jointing element 360 while the function of the recesses 40 and seats 42 is performed by the inlets 370.

As visible in Figure 27, the feet 366 of the jointing element 360 protrude to be inserted in the inlets 370 so as to go beyond them and be inserted under the crests 314 so that the jointing element 360 can not be extracted with a simple vertical translation once it has been coupled with the respective inlets 370.

A rotation of the jointing element 360 itself relative to the fourth supporting element is required to extract the jointing element 360 so that the feet 366 are allowed to go out of the inlets 370.

As from Figure 28, the jointing element 360 is inserted between supporting elements placed side by side so that a separation of the respective supporting elements is possible through the wings 364 and a connection of the same supporting elements is obtained by inserting the feet 366 of the jointing element 360 in the inlets 370 of the respective supporting elements. In this way, it is possible to obtain a third connecting means according to the invention.

The simple construction of the jointing element 360 and the presence of inlets 370 formed along the whole third side 324 and along the whole fourth side 326 allows to obtain a connection between supporting elements which are disposed in various configurations. This only requires a verification of the combination of crests of a supporting element with the crests of the respective supporting element that has been placed at the side of said supporting element in order to effect the connection of the two supporting elements by inserting the jointing element 360.

Furthermore, other variants and implementation methods are possible which are to be considered as included in the scope of protection defined by the following claims.