Patent ID: 8039082
Filing Date: 2011-10-18
Classification: B32B,E01C,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A rubber access mat for forming a roadway or pathway for vehicles and people, comprising: a flexible rubber slab made from recycled vehicular tires, the slab having a top face and a bottom face defining a thickness of 3 inches, opposed side edges defining a width and opposed end edges defining a length; a first rigidifying grid of reinforcing steel wire embedded within the rubber slab spaced between the top face and the bottom face and consisting of a plurality of parallel spaced steel wires embedded within the rubber slab along a first plane and extending continuously between the opposed side edges for most of the width of the rubber slab and a plurality of parallel spaced steel wires embedded within the rubber slab and extending continuously between the opposed end edges for most of the length of the rubber slab; and a second rigidifying grid of reinforcing steel wire embedded within the rubber slab between the top face and the first rigidifying grid and consisting of a plurality of parallel spaced steel wires embedded within the rubber slab along a second plane that is different from the first plane and extending continuously between the opposed side edges for most of the width of the rubber slab and a plurality of parallel spaced steel wires embedded within the rubber slab and extending continuously between the opposed end edges for most of the length of the rubber slab; wherein the diameter of the reinforcing steel wire of the first and second rigidifying grid is not smaller than number ten gauge wire in order to provide sufficient rigidity while retaining sufficient flexibility to conform to uneven terrain, and wherein the wires of the first and second rigidifying grids have a relative spacing between approximately 2 to 4 inches.