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US 12,234,612 B2Granted
Underlayment 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 underlayment panel having a top surface, a bottom surface, and edges, a plurality of drain holes connecting the top surface in fluid communication with the bottom surface, at least one of the edges having edge projections extending therefrom, the edge projections forming a gap between the at least one edge and a mating edge of an abutting panel, the gap providing a second drainage path between the top surface and the bottom surface, wherein the panel is made of an expanded bead, polyolefin material, the expanded beads bonded together by at least one of heat or pressure, the polyolefin material providing a deflection under load, thereby imparting impact absorption to the panel.
An impact absorption underlayment panel having a first surface in contact with one of a covering layer or a substrate layer, a second surface opposite the first surface, and edges, a plurality of drain holes connecting the artificial turf layer in fluid communication with the substrate layer, at least one of the edges having edge projections extending therefrom, the edge projections forming a gap between the at least one edge and a mating edge of an abutting panel, the gap providing a second drainage path between the artificial turf layer and the substrate layer, wherein the panel is made of an expanded bead, polyolefin material, the expanded beads bonded together by at least one of heat or pressure, the underlayment panel providing a deflection under load that absorbs impact energy and provides a critical fall height in a range of about 2.5 meters to about 2.7 meters, thereby imparting impact absorption to the panel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.