Reconfigurable Permeable Paver with Marker Insert
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for a one-piece water-permeable paver that allows traffic and parking surfaces to be formed with grass growth or aggregate, enabling water permeation, and is made from recycled plastics, while addressing issues like flash flooding, pollutant removal, and environmental impact.
Innovation Solution
A reconfigurable one-piece water-permeable paver system made from recycled plastics, featuring interlocking cells that allow water permeation and can be used to create traffic surfaces, including roadways and parking lots, with integrated marker inserts for directional guidance, utilizing recycled materials to reduce environmental damage and improve drainage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If traditional impermeable paving materials are used, then traffic surfaces can be formed with high strength and durability, but water cannot permeate through the surface causing flash flooding and pollutant accumulation
Solution Approach 1:
The paver is divided into multiple hollow cells or chambers that are interconnected, creating a segmented structure that allows water to flow through while maintaining structural integrity. This segmentation enables the paver to be both permeable and manufacturable using standard injection molding processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The paver incorporates porous or permeable materials in its construction, including the use of hollow cells and interconnected voids that allow water passage. The material selection and structural design create controlled porosity that facilitates water permeation while supporting traffic loads.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If grass or aggregate is incorporated into the paver for permeability, then water can flow through the surface, but the structural strength and load-bearing capacity may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The paver uses composite construction combining rigid plastic materials for the structural framework with permeable infill materials such as grass, gravel, or aggregate. This composite approach allows the strong plastic components to bear loads while the permeable infill materials facilitate water drainage through the structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The hollow cell structure is segmented into multiple compartments that can be independently filled with different materials. This segmentation allows optimization of each zone - structural areas use stronger materials while drainage areas use permeable infill, achieving both strength and permeability requirements.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If recycled plastics are used to manufacture the paver, then environmental impact is reduced and landfill waste is minimized, but the material properties and manufacturing process complexity may be affected
Solution Approach 1:
The manufacturing process parameters are adjusted to accommodate recycled plastic materials, including modified injection temperatures, pressures, and cycle times. These parameter changes enable the use of variable-quality recycled materials while maintaining consistent product quality and structural performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The paver design uses universal molding techniques and standard manufacturing processes that can handle various types of recycled plastic materials. This universality allows different sources and types of recycled plastics to be used without requiring completely different manufacturing equipment or processes.
4Ease of operation
If the paver is designed as a one-piece molded unit, then installation time is reduced and structural integrity is improved, but manufacturing precision and mold complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
While the paver is manufactured as a one-piece unit, the internal structure is segmented into multiple hollow cells and compartments. This internal segmentation is achieved through modular mold designs that create complex internal geometries in a single molding process, reducing the need for post-manufacturing assembly while maintaining manufacturing feasibility.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively manages water flow, reduces environmental impact, prevents flooding, and promotes pollutant removal, creating safe and sustainable traffic surfaces that can be easily installed and reused, while utilizing recycled materials to minimize landfill waste.
Implementation Method 1
a permeable bottom portion formed integral to a bottom region of the inner wall around the entire inner wall diameter
Data Source
AI summary
A reflective and directional water permeable paver system, which has a plurality of connection cells and is configured to support traffic, includes a marker insert. The marker insert has a continuous body wall with at least one tensioning marker rib extending from the continuous body wall. The marker insert has an insert head. The insert head diameter extending beyond the continuous body wall of the marker insert. The marker insert body diameter is substantially equal to the inner wall diameter of at least one of the connection cells.