Ground cover mats with rectangular ends

Abstract

Reinforced ground cover mats are used to facilitate the passage of heavy equipment and vehicles on wet or disturbed ground. The ground cover mats are comprised of boards contained within a peripheral metal frame having two substantially parallel opposing end members that are I-beams, the upper and lower horizontal flanges and vertical webs of which define an outer slot into which a reinforcing member is inserted such that the reinforcing member contacts the vertical web and upper and lower horizontal flanges. Flanged caps may be attached to the ends of the reinforcing member to retain a sling looped around the reinforcing member for pulling the mat.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the priority benefit of Canadian Patent Application No. 2,800,524 filed on Jan. 4, 2013 entitled Ground Cover Mats With Rectangular Ends, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to improved ground cover mats.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]In the oil and gas industry, it is sometimes necessary to provide ground cover mats with sufficient strength to support heavy equipment and transport trucks over wet or disturbed ground.[0004]Several prior art ground cover mats exist; however, they sometimes lack sufficient reinforcement to withstand the pressure of heavy equipment and transport trucks, and are expensive to produce. What is needed is an improved ground cover mat which is simple and relatively inexpensive and has sufficient strength and durability to support heavy equipment.[0005]Further, ground cover mats tend to be extremely heavy and ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is about ground cover mats. The mat comprises a quadrilateral frame made up of I-beam end members and elongate boards. The frame is reinforced at each end with a reinforcing member that contacts the outer slots of the I-beams and the upper and lower horizontal flanges. The reinforcing member can be a hollow structural section made of steel. The mat provides a good foundation to support heavy loads. The technical effect of the invention is to provide a durable and stable ground cover that can withstand heavy loads.

Problems solved by technology

Several prior art ground cover mats exist; however, they sometimes lack sufficient reinforcement to withstand the pressure of heavy equipment and transport trucks, and are expensive to produce.

Further, ground cover mats tend to be extremely heavy and lengthy, making the mats difficult to store, lift, transport, assemble or disassemble.

However, this mat assembly is particularly labor intensive.

The road is constructed by interlocking series of sets in a superimposed assembly, necessitating significant redundancy of effort in assembly and disassembly.

However, Seaux et al. indicates that when a large number of the raised strips are not specifically positioned in such a manner, the relatively thin outer skin defining the roughly planar surfaces of the mats can become easily deformed by such direct loading.

These systems are disadvantageous in that the offset extensions are comprised of individual planks which may be subject to warping or splintering when exposed to heavy loads.

An extra plank is secured over the exposed nailed joints of adjacent mats to interlock the mat assemblies together as a roadway, which significantly increases material and labor requirements.

However, there is no provision in either patent of details regarding attachment of the retaining lips to the mat ends, or the use of any reinforcing structural support.

Images