Multilayer Paving Article with Staggered Interlocks for Seepage Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multilayer paving articles allow liquid seepage through gaps at the intersections of adjacent articles, leading to potential damage to the screed and unhygienic conditions due to mold and odor proliferation.
Innovation Solution
A multilayer article design with staggered interlocking elements and a backing layer that compensates for expansion, featuring a continuous infilling surface to prevent liquid seepage, using materials like ceramic, wood, or plastic for the cladding and wood derivatives or polymers for the backing layer, with optional functional layers for sound absorption and insulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If gaps are left between backing layers to compensate for expansion, then expansion compensation is achieved, but liquid seepage to the screed occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a vertical barrier layer that extends downward from the backing layer into the gap region, creating a three-dimensional liquid barrier. This vertical dimension blocks liquid seepage while allowing the horizontal gaps to remain open for expansion compensation, thus resolving the contradiction between expansion accommodation and liquid prevention.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrier layer acts as an intermediary element between the backing layer and the screed. It selectively blocks liquid pathways while permitting vapor transmission and maintaining the expansion gap functionality, thus mediating between the conflicting requirements of liquid tightness and expansion freedom.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If backing layer extends to edges to prevent liquid seepage, then liquid infiltration is blocked, but expansion compensation capability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the liquid barrier function from the expansion gap function. The backing layer maintains its reduced extension to allow expansion, while the separate barrier layer provides liquid infiltration protection. This segmentation allows each function to be optimized independently without compromising the other.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of extending the backing layer horizontally to the edges, the patent uses a vertical barrier layer that extends downward into the gap space. This dimensional change provides liquid protection without sacrificing the horizontal expansion compensation capability of the backing layer.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If complex installation interventions are implemented to prevent seepage, then liquid barrier function is achieved, but ease of application is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the barrier layer with the interlocking elements of the backing layer, integrating the liquid protection function into the existing structural components. This combination eliminates the need for separate installation interventions while maintaining effective liquid barrier functionality, thus preserving ease of application.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrier layer is designed to be self-forming through the normal interlocking of adjacent articles. The staggered arrangement of interlocking elements automatically creates the barrier configuration during standard installation, eliminating the need for additional manual interventions or complex installation procedures.
Data Source
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AI summary
A multilayer article (1) for paving, comprising a cladding layer (2), which is substantially slab-like and polygonal in plan view and is provided with two mutually opposite main faces (2a, 2b), of which one is an exposed face (2a) designed to remain exposed in use and one is an adhesion face (2b), and a backing layer (3), which is substantially slab-like and polygonal in plan view and is provided with two mutually opposite main faces (3a, 3b), of which one is an adhesion face (3a) and one is a laying face (3b) designed to face, in use, a screed (M) to be covered, the adhesion faces (2b, 3a) of the cladding layer (2) and of the backing layer (3) being stably associated with each other and the plan perimetric of the backing layer (3) being contained within the plan perimetric of the cladding layer (2). The article (1) furthermore comprises first shape mating means (5) for coupling in use with one or more adjacent articles (1), which comprise at least one first male element (6) which is associated with the backing layer (3) along at least one first perimeter portion (7) and protrudes in plan view from the outline of the cladding layer (2), and at least one first female element (8) associated with the backing layer along at least one second perimeter portion (9), the first male element (6) of an article (1) being adapted, in use, to be arranged within a corresponding first female element (8) of an article (1) that is adjacent thereto. There are second shape mating means (11), which comprise at least one second male element (12), which is associated with the backing layer (3) at the at least one second perimeter portion (9) and protrudes in plan view from the outline of the cladding layer (2), and at least one second female element (13) associated with the backing layer (3) at the at least one first perimeter portion (7), the second male element (12) of an article (1) being adapted, in use, to be arranged within a corresponding second female element (13) of an article (1) that is adjacent thereto.