A surface covering

Abstract: A surface covering is provided which enables a surface to be covered with polygonal shapes. The covering comprises corner pieces (2) and infill pieces (4). The dimensions are chosen so that only these two shapes are required to form a series of concentric polygons.

Description: This invention relates to a surface covering and in particular, to a surface covering which may be constructed from a plurality of covering components. For many centuries, surfaces have been covered using a plurality of covering components such as bricks, stone slabs and much more recently, precast concrete slabs. In order to arrange the components in varied and aesthetically pleasing patterns, it is frequently necessary to provide a large variety of different components, to cut the components on-site and/or to transport awkwardly-shaped components. International design bulletin, volume 10, no.9, 1988, pages 2681 to 2684, discloses a paving arrangement comprising 7 slab shapes. This enables repeating complex patterns to be formed. US 5137 392 discloses a paving system of five discrete shapes which enables approximately circular concentric rings to be formed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a surface covering which requires relatively few components and which components are easily transportable. According to the invention there is provided a surface covering for covering a surface with concentric polygonal rings or portions thereof where each ring has at least five sides, characterised by the surface covering comprising: a plurality of corner components (2), in which each corner component (2) has first to sixth sides (20-25) with a first side (20) parallel with and longer than the third side (22) and the sixth side (25) parallel with and longer than the fourth side (23), the second and fifth sides (21, 24) extending between the first and third, and fourth and sixth sides, respectively and being non-parallel, and the two pairs of parallel sides forming an angle which is substantially equal to the angle formed between two adjacent sides of a regular polygon; and a plurality of infill components (4) disposed between the corner components (2), wherein each ring includes corner components of the same size and adjacent rings vary by an integer number of infill components, which infill components have the same size. Preferably the corner components are planar. Preferably the polygon is a regular polygon, although opposing sides of the polygon may be adjusted to equal amounts to give an irregular shape. Preferably, the surface covering also comprises a planar infill component, having sides which correspond in length and angle to the non-parallel sides of the corner component. Further the object of the present invention can be also solved by the surface covering according to claim 11. Preferably the two pairs of sides of the corner component meet on a radius of the ring. Preferably, the corner component has six sides and the remaining two non-parallel sides of the corner component are preferably arranged to meet each respective pair of parallel sides at an angle of 90°. This construction permits an infill component having four sides each adjacent side forming an angle of 90°, to be used with the corner component. Having chosen the internal radius (A) to the mid point of the sides on an innermost regular polygonal ring composed solely of corner components and the thickness (B) of the ring i.e. the length of the two non-parallel sides of the corner component, the other dimensions of the corner and infill components may be calculated as follows:- Length of shorter side of each pair of parallel sides A.tan Length of longer side of each pair of parallel sides (A + B).tan  for innermost ring (i.e one only comprising corner components) whereas the dimensions of the infill component are: Thickness of the infill component B (chosen above) Length of other pair of sides of infill component 2B.tan Where  is 360°/2 n , where n is the number of sides of the regular polygon. Advantageously, the corner component may be sub-divided into two, three or more pieces. In a preferred embodiment, the two pairs of parallel sides of the corner component may meet on a line which bisects the corner component. Advantageously, only standard sizes of corner components and infill components are required to produce a covering having any desired number of concentric rings. In order to achieve this, the distance between the corner components of each successive ring should vary from the distance of the preceding ring by an integer number of infill elements. In order to achieve this, the dimensions of the corner components are chosen such that the length of the long side of the corner component is equal to the sum of the length of the short side of the corner component and half the length of the infill component. Thus in an embodiment for making hexagonal rings, the dimensions of the infill component having unit width is 1 by 1.155, whereas the short sides of the corner component have a length 0.289 units and the long sides are 0.866 units. These can, of course, be reduced to a purposely leave a gap between adjacent elements for decorative affect or for the inclusion of a fixing material such as cement. In a further preferred embodiment, the two corners formed between the two pairs of parallel sides of the corner component is radiussed and in this context, it will be understood that the angles formed between the two pairs of lines is the angle formed between an extension of each of the lines. The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawings Figures 1 to 6 in which:- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a surface covering in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged view of a corner component of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of a surface covering in accordance with the invention; Figure 4 is a plan view of a hexagonal embodiment in accordance with the invention; Figure 5 is a plan view of an octagonal embodiment in accordance with the invention; and Figure 6 is a plan view of a further octagonal embodiment of the invention. With reference to Figures 1 and 2, the surface covering comprises a plurality of corner components 2 and infill components (in this embodiment rectangles) 4. The components together form a series of concentric octagonal rings (generally indicated 6A, 6B etc.). As will be seen from Figure 1, the inner ring 6A is constructed entirely from corner components. As the rings increase in size, the gaps between each corner 2 component are filled with the infill components 4. For example, in ring 6B, one infill component is required between each corner component. In the next ring (6C as shown in Figure 3) two infill components are required between each corner piece and so on. The corner component is shown in greater detail in Figure 2. It is shaped so as to have six sides 20 to 25. A first side 20 is parallel with a third side 22. A second side 21 extends between the first and third sides and is perpendicular to both of them. The third side 22 is shorter than the first side 20. The first and third sides intersect with the fourth and sixth sides 23 and 25 (which are parallel to each other) at a plane of mirror symmetry denoted by the chain line 30. Thus the fourth, fifth and sixth sides effectively mirror the first, second and third sides. The angles between the first and sixth sides and between the third and fourth sides vary depending on the number of sides of the polygon. With reference to Figure 3, it will be seen that the rings 6, may in order to increase the variety of the pattern, be interspersed with components of different shapes which form rings in substitution for one or more rings 6. With reference to Figures 4 and 5, it will be seen that the invention is applicable not only to hexagonal but to other arrangements such as octagonal arrangements. With reference to Figure 6, it will be seen that a corner component 2 can be combined with an infill component to form a unitary corner/infill component 10, 11. Alternatively, the corner component can be reduced in size as shown for component 12 which can be regarded as the central section of a corner component provided as three individual pieces 12 and 12'. The thin end 13 of the component 12 may taper to a point or may be notched to accommodate an outer surface of a component in the next innermost ring. A further variation on the corner component is to provide a corner component in two halves e.g. component 14A,14B and 15A,15B respectively. Figure 4 shows a plan view of the hexagonal arrangement of Figure 1. Having chosen values for dimensions A and B marked on the drawings, the other dimensions may be calculated as follows:- Central Hexagon Length of one side of the centre hexagon 2A.tan30° Corner Component Dimension C A.tan30° Dimension D (A+B).tan30° Infill Component Dimension E 2B.tan30° Similarly, the dimensions of Figure 5 may be calculated (having chosen values for dimension A and B) with the substitution throughout of 22.5° for 30°. Generally, the angle may be substituted with  where  is 360°/2n where n is the number of sides of the shape of the rings or of the central clear area (pentagon, hexagon, octagon etc.). As shown in Figure 6, the dimensions of the surface coverings may be altered so as to allow for the inclusion of smaller decorative spacing element, 40. These also have the advantage that the dimensions of the elements 40 can be chosen such that the infill components 4 are square. It can be seen in Figure 3 that the innermost hexagon has one infill component between adjacent corner components, whereas the next row has two infill components between adjacent corner components. This increase could be carried on indefinitely. In general, the outermost edge of an Nth row must be substantially equal in length to the innermost edge of the (N+1)th row. If the short sides of the corner components have length C, the long sides have length D, and the length of the infill component is L, then 2D + NL = 2C + (N+1)L thus D = C + L / 2 . This can be satisfied if C = ½B tan and D = 3 / 2 B tan when L = 2B tan. It is also apparent from Figure 3 that any of the concentric rings can be replaced by a plurality of hexagonal and triangular elements. The covering shown in Figure 3 can therefore be regarded as four concentric rings surrounding a central hexagonal stone. The first and fourth rings (i.e innermost and outermost) are formed from combinations of hexagonal and triangular elements, whereas the second and third rings are formed on corner elements and infill pieces. In a first example of hexagonal paving, the dimensions are A = 150mm, B = 300mm, C = 87mm, D = 260mm and E = 346mm. In a first example of octagonal paving A = 367.5mm, B = 735mm, C = 152mm, D = 456mm and E = 609mm. In a second example of octagonal paving A = 181mm, B = 543mm, C = 75mm, D = 300mm and E = 450mm.

Claims: A surface covering for covering a surface with concentric polygonal rings or portions thereof where each ring has at least five sides, characterised by the surface covering comprising: a plurality of corner components (2), in which each corner component (2) has first to sixth sides (20-25) with a first side (20) parallel with and longer than the third side (22) and the sixth side (25) parallel with and longer than the fourth side (23), the second and fifth sides (21, 24) extending between the first and third, and fourth and sixth sides, respectively and being non-parallel, and the two pairs of parallel sides forming an angle which is substantially equal to the angle formed between two adjacent sides of a regular polygon; and a plurality of infill components (4) disposed between the corner components (2), wherein each ring includes corner components of the same size and adjacent rings vary by an integer number of infill components, which infill components have the same size. A surface covering as claimed in claim 1, in which the at least one corner component (2) is planar. A surface covering as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the infill component (4) has sides which correspond substantially to the length of the non-parallel sides. A surface covering as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the non-parallel sides are substantially perpendicular to each of the adjacent parallel sides. A surface covering as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the infill component (4) is rectangular. A surface covering as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which an innermost ring (6A) composed solely of corner components has an internal radius A and a thickness B and the dimensions of the corner components are calculated from: length of short side = A tan length of long side = (A+B) tan length of one side of infill component = B length of other side of infill component = 2B tan where  = 360°/2n and n is the number of sides of a regular polygon. A surface covering as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the two pairs of parallel sides intersect on a line which bisects the corner component. A surface covering as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the at least one corner component (2) is formed from two separate pieces (14A, 14B) which meet on a line bisecting the corner component. A surface component as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, in which the corner component (2) is formed from three pieces, the outer pieces being rectangles (12') and the inner piece (12) is an element having the shape of two right angled triangles joined along a common hypotenuse. A surface covering as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising spacing elements (40) between the concentric rings or ring portions. A surface covering for covering a surface with regular polygonal concentric rings having five or more sides in which an innermost ring is constructed solely of a plurality of corner components (2) or only of a plurality of corner components (2) and infill components (4), and in which each subsequent ring is constructed solely of a plurality of corner components (2) and infill components (4), and in which each of the corner components (2) has the same size, and the infill components have the same size. A surface covering as claimed in claim 11, in which the number of infill components (4) between neighbouring corner elements of adjacent rings differs by an integer number of complete infill components. A surface covering as claimed in claim 12, in which the number of infill components (4) between neighbouring corner elements differs by one infill component between neighbouring rings. A surface covering as claimed in any of the claims 11 to 13 in which at least one of the corner components (2) comprises an inner piece (12) having a shape equivalent to two right handed triangles joined along a common hypotenuse, and two rectangular pieces (12') disposed adjacent the two longest sides of the inner piece. A surface covering as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the polygon is a hexagon. A surface covering as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 14 in which the polygon is an octagon. A surface covering as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, in which the polygon is a regular polygon.

Inventors: DOUGLASS JAMES E, DOUGLASS, JAMES E.
Applicants: STONEMARKET CONCRETE LTD, STONEMARKET CONCRETE LIMITED
Application year: 1995
Main classification: E04F15
IPC codes: E01C9, E01C5, E04F15