US 7,297,720 B2 · Recyclable composite materials, articles of manufacture, and structures and methods of using composite materials

Abstract

Composite mixture materials made of recycled plastic, glass and rubber, and optionally, sand, gravel, coal combustion by-product and metal, and containing no petroleum distillates (unless a fire retardant or recycled asphalt pavement is used) are disclosed. Methods of using the composite mixture materials include making expansion joints in pavement, filling manhole cover recesses, filling potholes in pavement, making new pavements, and making panels, walls, blocks, impact protection walls, and other such structures. Methods of making the composite mixture materials include heating the components of the material in an inert gas environmentally friendly manner. Compressive pressure is applied to composite mixture materials used in making expansion joints, manhole cover recess fillers, and in filling potholes to build in an elastic strain to overcome both a composite material shrinkage on cooling solidification of the material and the thermal contraction of pavements, and in making the composite material for any other of the uses disclosed.

Claims35

Dependent claims

A method of repairing a void in pavement, comprising:

making a shaped hole in the pavement over the void area;
inserting a composite mixture of recycled polymer/plastic and aggregate materials comprising rubber, glass, sand, gravel, coal combustion by-product, roof and/or siding shingles and metal particles into the void;
applying heat to melt the recycled polymer/plastic component of the mixture to form an integral bound-up composite material to fill the void;
and
applying compressive stress to the composite mixture prior to and during its solidification to build into the mixture an elastic strain to provide the solidified composite mixture a property to compensate against material shrinkage and enlargement in the dimensional size of the void due to thermal contraction of the pavement in cold weather and provide a memory effect.

2 more elements

A method of forming an expansion joint in pavement, comprising:

cutting a plurality of grooves in the pavement to a depth (d);
routing out the pavement material between the grooves to form an expansion joint groove, and cleaning out all debris;
filling the expansion joint groove with meltedlhot composite mixture slightly above the pavement surface;
compressing the composite mix with a minimum compressive load to compensate for shrinkage of the composite mix upon cooling and solidification over the entire width of the expansion joint and to push the composite material sideways into any edge voids to substantially fill the entire groove and to make the composite material in the groove substantially level with the pavement surface;
and
applying a compressive stress load to the composite mixture prior to and during its solidification to build into the mixture an elastic strain which provides the solidified composite mixture a property to compensate against material shrinkage and enlargement in the expansion joint groove dimensional size due to thermal contractions of the pavement in cold weather and provide a memory effect to the solidified composite mix fill.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Recyclable composite materials, articles of manufacture, and structures and methods of using composite materials

Life of this patent

Recyclable composite materials, articles of manufacture, and structures and methods of using composite materials

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims35