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US 11,761,154 B2Granted
Underpayment panel having drainage channels
AssigneeBrock USA, LLC
InventorSteven Lee Sawyer
Life of this patent
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AssigneeBrock USA, LLC
InventorSteven Lee Sawyer
Estimating the term…
An impact-absorbing assembly includes a covering layer being one or more of artificial turf, rubber mats, polymer mats, short pile carpeting, particulate infill, wood chips, and ground rubber chips. Also included is a layer of underlayment panels positioned beneath the covering layer. The panels have a panel section with a plurality of drain holes formed therethrough. A top surface of the panels is configured to support the covering layer. A bottom surface of the panels has a plurality of bottom projections that cooperate to define bottom channels suitable to permit water flow across the bottom surface, the bottom channels being in fluid communication with the panel drain holes. The bottom projections define a first spring rate characteristic that is part of a first stage and a second spring rate characteristic is part of a second stage, the first stage having a smaller volume of material than the second stage.
An impact absorption panel having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a core, the panel having a plurality of projections disposed across the bottom surface, the bottom surface projections having a hexagonal shaped first stage that defines a first spring rate and a hexagonal shaped second stage that defines a second spring rate, the panel having edges defining flanges configured to overlap with edges of an adjacent panel when the panel abuts a similar panel, the flanges defining a first edge flange and a second edge flange that include an arrangement of bottom projections and are offset relative to the top surface, the flanges further defining a third edge and fourth edge that are offset relative to the bottom surface, the panels being made from a plurality of polyolefin beads, the plurality of polyolefin beads bonded together by at least one of pressure and heat to produce a substantially water-impervious surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.