US3570251A - Drainage tile - Google Patents

Abstract

THE DISCLOSURE OF THE PRESENT INVENTION INCLUDES A DESCRIPTION OF A TITLE WHICH IS SUITABLE FOR USE IN THE FORMATION OF GROUND WATER DRAINAGE CHANNELS AND THE LIKE AND A SHIPPER LOAD CONSISTING OF A PLURALITY OF TILES STACKED ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER TO FORM A STABLE SHIPPER LOAD. THE TILE IS GENERALLY ARCH-SHAPED AND IS FORMED WITH A PAIR OF SUPPORT SHOULDERS WHICH EXTEND HORIZONTALLY OUTWARDLY FROM THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE ARCH-SHAPED TILE TO SUPPORT A SIMILAR TILE STACKED ON TOP OF A FIRST SUCH TILE. THE DRAINAGE CHANNELS MAY BE MADE FROM A SINGLE LAYER OF TILES OR A PLURALITY OF LAYERS OF TILES ARRANGED ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER. THE SHIPPER PACKAGE IS FORMED BY ARRANGING THE TILES IN A PLURALITY OF LAYERS ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER.

Description

March 16, 1971 O RTS 3,570,251

DRAINAGE TILE Filed Jan. 8, 1969 FIG.3

FIGZ

INVENTOR. DENNIS GOUGH ROBERTS fmm &

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,570,251 DRAINAGE TILE Dennis G. Roberts, 701 th Ave. 5., Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada Filed Jan. 8, 1969, Ser. No. 789,827 Int. Cl. E02b 11/00 US. Cl. 61--10 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The disclosure of the present invention includes a description of a tile which is suitable for use in the formation of ground water drainage channels and the like and a shipper load consisting of a plurality of tiles stacked one on top of the other to form a stable shipper load. The tile is generally arch-shaped and is formed with a pair of support shoulders which extend horizontally outwardly from the outer surface of the arch-shaped tile to support a similar tile stacked on top of a first such tile. The drainage channels may be made from a single layer of tiles or a plurality of layers of tiles arranged one on top of the other. The shipper package is formed by arranging the tiles in a plurality of layers one on top of the other.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to ground tiles. In particular the invention relates to a drainage tile which is suitable for ground water drainage purposes and which can be arranged in a stable shipper load formation.

PRIOR ART The most common type of agricultural ground water drainage tile which is presently in use is a cylindrical tile made from concrete or burnt clay usually measuring 4 to 6 inches in diameter and 12 inches in length. This type of tile is laid end-to-end on a base of sand or gravel in the bottom of a drainage ditch and the individual units are spaced apart by a distance of about inch and the top half of the tile joint is covered with building paper or asphalt felt such that water will only enter the drainage channel by way of the open lower end of the joint. Care must be taken in the laying of tiles to ensure that the space between each tile is not too great or too small. Care must also be taken to ensure that the tiles are retained in axial alignment when the trench is being filled as the round tiles tend to roll out of axial alignment.

A further problem encountered in the use of the conventional cylindrical shaped tile is in the shipping and storing of the tiles in an orderly stack. When the conventional cylindrical tiles are stacked one on top of the other they form an unstable and very bulky shipper load. The lack of stability in a stack of tiles is a direct result of the cylindrical shape of the tile which permits it to roll freely. Similarly the bulk of the load is caused by the fact that the tile is cylindrical in shape and an area greater than twice the cross-sectional area bounded by the external diameter of a single tile is required to house two tiles.

The velocity of water passing through a ground water tile is generally quite low with the result that silt is deposited on the bottom of a conventional tile. The silt deposit builds up over a period of time to the point where the efiiciency of the drainage system is substantially re- 3,579,251 Patented Mar. 16, 1971 duced. Again the problem arises as a direct result of the fully enclosed structure of a conventional cylindrical tile which makes no provision for the escape of silt deposits.

SUMMARY The present invention overcomes the difficulties of the prior art by providing tiles which may be placed in end-to-end abutting relationship and stacked one on top of the other in order to be stored and transported in less space than cylindrical tiles and in a more stable configuration.

According to an embodiment of the present invention a tile comprises a substantially arch-shaped body having an inner surface and an outer surface and support means formed on the outer surface for supporting a similar tile in an orderly stable stacked relationship.

The present invention also provides a composite shipper load consisting of a plurality of tiles each comprising, a substantially arch-shaped body having an inner curved surface and an outer curved surface, a pair of longitudinally extending support surfaces, a pair of transversely extending end faces, shoulder suport means extending outwardly from said outer surface of said tile to form a pair of longitudinally extending support shoulders arranged in spaced parallel relationship to said support surfaces, wherein, a number of said tiles are arranged in an end-to-end abutting relationship in a first layer and at least one further layer of tiles disposed above and carried by said first layer of tiles and having their support surface carried by the support shoulders of said first layer to form a stable shipper load.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The invention will be more clearly understood after reference to the following detailed specification read in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a tile according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a pictorial view showing the manner in which the tiles are laid end-to-end and stacked one on top of the other to form a stable load for shipping and storing, and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a typical installation of a drainage tile according to the present invention.

With reference to FIG. 1 the reference numeral 10 refers generally to a tile according to an embodiment of the present invention. The tile 10 has a generally archshaped body 12 having an inner curved surface 14 and outer curved surface 16 both of which extend longitudinally of the tile. The inner curved surface 14 of the tile is substantially semicircular in shape and the outer curved surface 16 is generally parallel to the inner surface 14. The tile is formed with a pair of longitudinally extending support surfaces 18 'which support the tile in a position with the outer curved surface 16 disposed upwardly. The end faces 20 extend substantially transversely of the tile such that the end face of one tile may closely abut the end face of an adjacent tile when laid end-to-end. A chamfer 22 is formed at each intersection of the transverse end faces 20 and support surface 18 to provide a passage whereby the 'water may enter the drainage channel formed within the tile as will be described hereinafter. Support means in the form of support shoulders 24 extend outwardly from the outward curved surface 16 to provide a pair of support shoulders which extend substantially parallel to the support surfaces 18. The support shoulders 24 are spaced apart a sufiicient distance to provide a support for each of the support surfaces 18 of a second tile as shown in FIG. 2. The shoulders 24 maintain the inner curved surface of the second tile in a spaced relationship with respect to the outer curved surface of the first tile and co-operate with the support surface 18 to form a stable stack of tiles. The support shoulders 24 are preferably at a level below the level of the upper end of the curved surface 16 such that each shoulder has an inner edge 24a which forms a register which prevents lateral movement of one tile with respect to an adjacent overlying tile.

When a second layer of tiles is placed upon the first layer of tiles the tiles are preferably arranged in a longitudinally staggered relationship such that the abutting ends of the tiles in one layer meet substantially centrally of the length of aide in the adjacent layer. This structure has the advantage of the present invention and it ensures that each adjacent layer of tiles co-operates with one another to add to the lateral rigidity of the stack of tiles. As shown in 'FIG. 2 the support surfaces 18 of the second layer of tiles rest on the shoulders 24 of the present layer of tiles and the inner edge of the support surface 18 is restrained against lateral movement by the inner edge 24a of the shoulder 24. When a second layer of tiles is laid upon the first layer of tiles the support shoulders 24 and support surfaces 18 co-operate to provide a space 26a between the outer curved surface 16 and inner curved surface 14 of adjacent tiles thereby ensuring that the stacking load is applied substantially vertically to the underlying tiles. The vertical application of the stacking load helps to prevent breakage due to longitudinal splitting which would occur in a semi-circular tile structure which did not have the support shoulder of the present invention.

It will be apparent that when the tiles are in use to form a drainage passage a plurality of tiles may be laid in a close fitting end-to-end abutting relationship without the need to provide a space between each tile and a covering for each joint. Where the tiles are laid on a base such as clay, the provision of the chamfers 22 ensures that water may enter the channel 26. Where the tiles are laid in a carefully prepared trench such as that illustrated in FIG. '3, with gravel 30 underlying the open lower end of the tile, the chamfers 22 are not essential as water may enter the passage 26 through the porous gravel substrate. The fact that it is not necessary to carefully space each tile from its adjacent tile considerably reduces the care which must be taken when laying the tiles. 'In FIG. 3 of the drawings it will be seen that in a typical installation wherein the reference numeral 3-3 refers generally to a building foundation structure a gravel bed 32 is laid down as a support for a layer of tiles 10 in the bottom of the excavation. The tiles 10 are then placed on the gravel bed in an end-to-end abutting relationship such that a drainage channel 26 is formed. The gravel base permits water to enter the channel 26 and also prevents the collection of silt in the channel. The silt will tend to filter through the gravel to be deposited at a level which is lower than the bottom of the channel.

The tiles according to the present invention may be manufactured by any of the well known methods and may be made from clay, concrete or other suitable materials such as plastics. The concrete tiles may be made using existing rotary equipment from which clay or plastic tiles may be extruded. While the tile illustrated in the preferred embodiment is of a generally semicircular configuration, it will be apparent that this configuration is not essential to the present invention and the tile may be formed in any generally arch-shaped configuration as required.

A further advantage of the present invention is that it provides a tile which, in co-operation with a gravel Half height Material Compara- Interior interior cross-sective area, sq. area, sq. tion, sq. weight,

Type of unlt m. in. in. lbs.

4 inch diameter round unit 12. 55 6. 25 11. 2 11. 7 5.5 wide arch- 12. 55 7. 75 7. 6 7. 9

NOTE: Weight sav1ng=3.8 lbs.

From the above table, it will be seen that the 5.5 inch wide arch-shaped tile is capable of providing an equal cross-sectional area to that of the 4 inch diameter round unit while providing an approximate 33 percent saving in the weight and materials of the tile. This saving reduces the cost of the individual tile and further reduces the labour costs in the stacking, shipping and installation costs as a result of the ease of handling of the lighter units. The half height internal area listed in the table is also of considerable importance as a tile of this type is generally selected with a view to being no more than half full when in normal use to provide a low velocity drainage flow. It follows that the arch-shaped channel will provide a greater half full height than the corresponding round tile such that the volume of water discharged from a half full archshaped tile will be greater than that from a round tile.

The tiles of the present invention may also be used to form underground channels for underground utility services, such as, electrical, telephone, gas or water lines. The longitudinal opening of the tile of this invention permits the tiles to be placed over a utility line in a ground trench and serves to protect the line against damage from subsequent digging. The conventional circular tile is not suitable for this type of installation as the utility line would have to be threaded through the central passageway.

Although only one layer of tiles is shown in the trench forming a drainage channel it will be understood that several layers of tiles may be located in a trench in the formation illustrated in FIG. 2. With this arrangement a plurality of channels such as 26a may be formed one above the other. The shoulders 24 of each layer of tiles will co-operate with the support surfaces 18 to form a rigid stacked arrangement which may be used to house different utilities in each passageway or to provide an increased total drainage capacity without the need to increase the size of the drainage tile.

It will also be apparent that the stack of tiles shown in FIG. 2 may be located in a trench in an inverted position to provide a plurality of concave passageways if desired.

Various modifications of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention.

What I claim is:

1. A drainage tile for use in the formation of underground channels and the like comprising, a substantially semi-circular arch shaped body having an outer curved surface and an inner curved surface forming a tile passage a pair of oppositely disposed transversely extending end faces, a pair of longitudinally extending support surfaces extending transversely between said inner and outer surfaces, a pair of support shoulders disposed one on either side of said semi-circular outer surface and extending longitudinally thereof, said shoulders projecting laterally from said outer surface at a height above said support surface suflicient to ensure that the width between adjacent inner edges of said shoulders is at least equal to the width of said tile passage, said shoulders extending outwardly from said outer surface and having a width sufiicient to provide support for the support surfaces of a second tile mounted thereon to form a stable stack of tiles.

2. A composite shipper load comprising a plurality of drainage tiles as claimed in claim 1 wherein a number of said tiles are arranged in end to end relationship in a first layer and at least one further layer of tiles are disposed above said first layer of tiles and having their support surfaces carried by said support shoulders of said first layer to form a stable shipper load.

3. A tile as claimed in claim 1, wherein a chamfer is formed at the intersection of the plane of each support surface and each end face to provide a notch extending between the inner and outer surface of the body when a plurality of tiles are laid end-to-end to form a drainage channel.

4. A composite underground channel structure comprising a plurality of tiles each comprising: a substantially arch-shaped body having an inner curved surface and an outer curved surface, a pair of longitudinally extending support surfaces, a pair of transversely extending end faces, shoulder support means extending outwardly from said outer surface of said tile to form a pair of longitudinally extending support shoulders arranged in spaced parallel relationship to said support surfaces, a number of said tiles being arranged in an end-to-end abutting relationship in a first layer and at least one further layer of tiles disposed above and carried by said first layer of tiles with the support surfaces of one layer reacting against the shoulder support means of the adjacent layer to form a channel between each adjacent layer.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,440,823 4/1969 Olsen 61l1 FOREIGN PATENTS 167,414 5/ 1934 Switzerland 52323 JACOB SHAPIRO, Primary Examiner

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