DESC:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[001] The present invention relates to the field of an integrated precast footpath system for a regular footpath. The invention, particularly relates to an integrated precast footpath system having various sections such as, the drainage, ducts, paver tiles, inspection chambers and space for plantation and the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] The existing footpath system shall not be unduly compromised by new development, but rather new development and construction should seek to compliment or improve the network by developing efficient walking pavements, particularly to adjacent key destinations such as schools, shops and bus stops and the like. The good footpath is important significance for walking safe and being attractive roadside pavement. They are of an optimal height and have adequate width; are continuous, obstacle-free, and shaded; and include dedicated spaces that cater to the needs of different users of the street. All the pavement structure shall be finished in conformity with the lines, grades, thicknesses and cross sections according to the specified limits and construction standards. Paving should be shaped to match within the predetermined level of existing fixtures, (e.g. pit covers, edgings and driveways). The rate of change of deviation from line or level shall not exceed to pre-determined values between the adjacent blocks. Conventional in-situ construction methods are time consuming, expensive, requires regular maintenance and a huge number of manpower.
[003] In recent years, a number of field trials and research studies have been undertaken by various institutes and organization for developing a new kind of footpath system having various characteristics and one of them have been discussed below:
[004] KR100782068 (B1) [Applicant: Hanmac Engineering & Consultan [KR]; et al.] relates to a footpath section composed of precast concrete panels is provided to prevent an increase in dead weight, to reduce the burden of a bridge structure, and to promote the drainage of a bridge by forming a space for flowing out rainwater under a footpath section. A drainage structure of a bridge using a footpath section includes a boundary curb bordering on a roadway section and an outer curb formed in parallel to the boundary curb, leaving a space as much as the width of a pedestrian passage. A precast concrete panel is placed across the boundary curb and the outer curb at the appointed height from a bridge deck to form a walking level for pedestrians, wherein at least one water distribution outlet is formed on the boundary curb to let rainwater flowing from the footpath section to the roadway. section flow inward between the boundary curb and the outer curb, and a drain outlet is formed on the bridge deck between the boundary curb and the outer curb and connected with a drain pipe extended to the lower part of the bridge to drain off rainwater flowing inward along the space among the curbs of the footpath section, the precast concrete panel and the bridge deck and collected to the lower part of the bridge through the drain pipe.
[005] However, they still have a number of limitations and shortcomings such as, but not limited to, precast concrete panel used only for walk paths as a cover to the drain. All components like drain, footpath cover slab and paver tiles are manufactured separately and assembled on site with cast in-situ work, whereas the present invention is a single unit comprising of different components in it. The above mentioned prior art can only perform certain aspects say for example provides a drain structure for bridge with sidewalk using Precast Concrete Panel and Constructing Method thereof and further, it is exhibited an effect that improves the aesthetics of the bridge, does not install the longitudinal pipe. Some Non-Patent literature describes about footpath like some firms are already manufacturing box girders which can be installed as precast drains and some of them manufacture U-shaped or open Trapezoidal shaped precast drains which are directly installed on site. After installation, the remaining work like covering the open drain box from top and later on laying pavers are done on-site with the help of laborers. This again fetch a lot of time. Some players are manufacturing Precast boxes that acts as ducts for laying electricity cables and other transmission cables but these boxes are all together a separate part from drain and pavers and are not efficient.
[006] Accordingly, there remains a need in the prior art to have a various modular ducting section adapted for laying end-to-end and a ducting system comprising two or more modular ducting sections lying end-to-end into a single unit, which also eliminates the need of doing multiple works such as casting a covered drain on-site, laying paver blocks on the top and mounting poles for all types of cables and wires going through them and hence, overcome or substantially ameliorate the deficiencies of the prior art, or to provide an alternative.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[007] Some of the objects of the present invention satisfied by at least one embodiment of the present invention are as follows:
[008] An object of the present invention is to provide a one precast member that includes a drain, ducts for all types of wires and cables with a walk-path on the top.
[009] Yet another object of the present invention is to reduce the time of footpath construction using precast technology with various modular ducting system.
[010] Another object of the present invention is to provide a single precast unit consisting of drainage, ducts, paver tiles, inspection chambers and space for plantation and it can be integrated with any component as required in future.
[011] Still another object of the present invention is to provide with integrated paver tiles on top of it with space for plantation afterwards and the like.
[012] Another object of the present invention is to provide the integrated precast footpath system with at least one inspection chamber, which is used to access the drainage condition with the help of integrated sensing unit.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description, when read with the accompanying figures of drawing, which are however not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way and later incorporated in complete specification.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[013] In the view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of system, wherein the construction of Footpath Pavements with the use of concrete (cast in situ), irrelevant when maintenance or repair of the underground utility lines is required to be performed, now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an Integrated Precast Footpath System having high precision during manufacturing and use of alternative reinforcement in the form of glass fiber reinforced polymer rebars in the various sections of concrete panels helps achieve high flexure strength without increasing but rather decreasing the quantity of material used and hence resulting in better pre-fabricated footpath pavement system as compared to the conventional counterpart and saving on material as well. Glass fibre strands are also added in required proportion for further providing additional tensile strength to the concrete as required in the panel. As such, the general purpose of the present invention to provide the longevity of the footpath and reduces the need of maintenance and repair by providing various ducting modules, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved, which has all the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
[014] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, an integrated precast footpath system is a single precast unit, which includes drainage, ducts, paver tiles, inspection chambers and space for plantation and it can be integrated with any component as required in future. The product has drainage facility containing wastewater from streets, it has ducts for electricity cables, water distribution pipes and other transmission cables spanning along the roads that otherwise hangs over the footpath.
[015] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a single prefabricated unit comprising of all the utilities by providing one or more open sided external ducting modules, located beneath the topped pavement of the precast footpath system or alongside the one or more open topped utility modules with at least one side wall separating each of the utility modules. The product eliminates the need of doing multiple works such as casting a covered drain on-site, laying paver blocks on the top and mounting poles for all types of cables and wires going through them.
[016] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the modular ducting sections are designed to be inbuilt with the footpath and it is beneficial as utility lines carrying utility services such as, but not limited to, electricity or data/telecommunications, fibre optics cable and the like, which can be located below pavement level thereby removing the need to install, for example, telecommunication poles or electricity pylons at street or roadside level to carry such utility lines. Further, removing telecommunication poles or electricity pylons from urban street or roadsides increase the aesthetics of the amenity and maintains the property value of surrounding residential or commercial properties.
[017] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an integrated precast footpath system is laid on site and then installed one after another, which eliminates the need of doing multiple works such as casting a covered drain on-site, laying paver blocks on the top and mounting poles for all types of cables and wires going through them.
[018] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the inspection chambers are facilitated for cleaning and maintenance of the drainage inside the precast panel. It eliminates the use of heavy manpower resulting in low cost and also it does not cause any traffic jams as in the case of regular footpath where big vehicles has to stand on the road and carry out the cleaning process.
[019] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the drainage facility is comprised with integrated sensors and system inside the drainage panel for accessing the sewage condition and its maintenance, enabling the sewage water is not overflowed.
[020] In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
[021] These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-section view of an integrated precast footpath system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-section view of integrated precast footpath system showing longitudinal and transverse reinforcement in top slab, bottom slab and walls, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 depicts a cross-section view of integrated precast footpath system showing dowels in both the walls & side-view of integrated precast footpath system showing slots for dowels on one side and extruded dowels on other side, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 depicts a cross-section view of special precast cable-maintenance panel, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 represents a top-view of special precast drainage-maintenance panel, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 6 represents the layout of integrated precast footpath system along the pavement, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[022] In the following detailed description, reference various embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that the embodiments may be combined, or that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural and logical changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
[023] The present invention relates to a precast footpath pavement system constructed from a plurality of pre-fabricated units. The system is comprised of drainage unit, a plurality of ducting modules, plurality of paver tiles, a plurality of inspection chambers and a plantation unit. The plantation unit is not limited to plantation only, although it can be integrated with vertical gardens. Also, the precast panel may be integrated with any component as required in future.
[024] Referring to FIG. 1 & FIG. 2, which show the transverse cross-section view of integrated precast footpath system 100 having walls 220 with chamfers 120, top slab 110 with ducting modules 105 for cables, wires, etc. and bottom slab 115 that rests on soil. Further, the transverse cross-section view of integrated precast footpath system 100 having minimum longitudinal and transverse reinforcement as per the design. The walls have a single layer of u-shaped reinforcement with focus on longitudinal reinforcement to bear axial and shear stresses. The bottom slab has single layer of reinforcement 215 with focus on both longitudinal and transverse reinforcement to contour the loads from base reaction of soil. The top slab with ducts has two layer of reinforcement (205 and 210), bottom layer for bending stresses from top loads and top layer for lifting strength required when lifting. An extra reinforcement is configured to provide as L-bars at all four corners near the chamfers 120 for extra support and strength to the panel. Further, the extra bars are provided in between the ducts as per the design requirements. Covers on all sides should be well taken care of. Top cover has to be double than the other covers as it will have groves for the embedded paver tiles on top surface.
[025] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, as it is shown in FIG. 3, the cross-section side view 320 of integrated precast footpath system 100 is showing slots 305 and 310 for dowel bars 315 to act as a joint between the two panels. On one panel extruded dowel bars 315 are left in both the walls that get inserted into the same diameter slots left in the other panel. It is then grouted and sealed with appropriate material to make the joint water seal.
[026] Now comes to FIG. 4, which shows the transverse cross-section view of special precast cable-maintenance panel 420 showing u-shape drain 415, half duct slab 410 for cables installation and inverted half duct covers 405 on top to cover them. The u-shaped drain 415 will be of the same side but it will be casted with no upper slab unlike integrated precast footpath system 100. Half duct slab 410 will be casted in same alignment as top slab of integrated precast footpath system 100 but with half semi-circle ducts instead of full circle ducts. This slab is fixed to bottom u-shaped drain 415 with appropriate materials as per the design. Further, on top there must be four inverted half duct covers 405 to seal the maintenance area from environment.
[027] In the top view 505 of special drainage-maintenance panel 520 as shown in FIG. 5, which is used for the purpose of cleaning, maintenance and repair works of drainage inside the integrated precast footpath system 100. An inspection chamber 510 is being attached sideways to the panel for the access to the drainage manually or robotically. It can be placed on any side of the panel depending on the area and as per the design. The bottom 515 of the inspection chamber 510 is deeper than the bottom slab of the integrated precast footpath system 100 to take the debris and silt from the guided path automatically inside it. This makes it a self-cleansing drainage inspection chamber 510 that stores all debris and silt at one place that just needs to be lifted off from this inspection chamber 510 without any manpower requirement for this purpose unlike the current scenario where labours are used for cleaning debris purpose. Further the cover will be placed on top of it with access to air flow and water inlet holes. Further to the FIG. 6, which shows the complete cross-section view of the pavement including roads and its subsequent layers, kerbs 615, drainage pipes 620 and the integrated precast footpath system 100 along with soil around it. The extra precast slab 605 is adjusted between the kerb 615 and integrated precast footpath system 100 to adjust the width of the walk path 610 as per the design requirements. The special precast cable-maintenance panel 420 and special precast drainage-maintenance panel 520 also gets enough space for cleaning, maintenance and repair works due to adjustment of the upper said extra precast slab 605. The drainage pipe 620 connecting to integrated precast footpath system 100 from road has sufficient slope to drain water. This will prevent water logging onto the roads and distress among them. Also, there will be no water seepage into the soil from the road sides that can cause settlement failure of roads, extra precast slab 605 and integrated precast footpath system 100.
[028] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the system is integrated with paver tiles on top of it with space for plantation afterwards. Any components, but not limited to, signage, hoardings, Electric Vehicle charging pods, traffic lights and the like can be easily integrated into the integrated precast footpath system as there are different units that are pre-fabricated in the factory according to the needs. The paver tiles are already integrated in the unit which saves time of laying pavers at site along with labour and eventually cost.
[029] There is a one precast member that includes a drain, slots for all types of wires and cables, such as, but not limited to, electricity wires, optical fibers with a walk-path on the top. Repair and inspection work for cables and wires will get easier through chambers provided on the walk-path and they will also stay safe from rainfall and heavy storms. It substantially reduces the hazardousness of wires on poles which are difficult to manage and repair. Wires under an integrated precast footpath system can be easily managed through openings provided after certain intervals along the stretch and the effect of rain and storms on the wires is nullified. This adds to the life of wires and cables and unobstructed supply of electricity as well as management as well as repair of the cables when required.
[030] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the inspection chambers are configured to facilitate the cleaning and maintenance of the drainage inside the precast panel. It eliminates the use of heavy manpower resulting in low cost and also it does not cause any traffic jams as in the case of regular footpath where big vehicles has to stand on the road and carry out the cleaning process.
[031] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the drainage facility of the integrated precast footpath system is further comprised with integrated sensors and system inside the drainage panel, which helps the system to access the sewage condition and its regular maintenance. Furthermore, the plurality of predetermined sensors can also be placed for providing a pre-determined function to the drainage unit, the plurality of ducting modules, the plurality of paver tiles, the plurality of inspection chambers and the plantation unit. The plurality of predetermined sensors can be selected from pressure sensors, piezoelectric sensors, IR sensors, position sensors and a combination thereof.
[032] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, various works are eliminated and similar units of precast panel are installed one after another after excavation and preparation of the soil (subgrade). Vertical gardens can also be incorporated into the system in place of plantation. This will result in a walk-path that serves multiple functions and is also aesthetically pleasing. It is also environment friendly and compatible with future.
[033] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the system is a prefabricated concrete unit, which is manufactured in controlled environment in factory. They can be manufactured accordingly depending on slope of the area they need to be installed, load capacity they will carry according to the pedestrians, size and weight of water distribution pipes and cables that will pass through the duct, aesthetics as required by different agencies according to the area and definitely length, width and depth of the unit can be adjusted according to the needs. It uses steel as well as alternative Glass fibre reinforced polymer rebars for reinforcement as required in the design. Recycled aggregates and sand can also be used easily for its concreting to provide a light weight structure. Also, their placement on site is easy and they are jointed accordingly.
[034] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the whole system is incorporated into one unit integrated with all feature and reduces a lot of time, effort and capital as the units are manufactured in controlled facilities in good numbers. The present invention makes the whole process very simple and easy to manage as well be it construction or management during operation.
[035] The above-mentioned integrated precast footpath system can be opened to the public use in a very less time, unlike the conventional system and methods thereof. Conventionally only the subgrade is prepared and paver tiles are laid over it to serve as a footpath. In very few cases ducting and drainage are provided under the walk path but separate work has to be done for each feature unlike the present invention. The present invention contains all the features in a single unit which is simply laid along the desired length, according to the road or street slope and length. The present invention provides multiple functions and aids drainage to help with the problem of water logging. Increased water logging deteriorates then condition of roads and eventually in reduced life of pavements. To dilute the effects of water logging the product is very much required in the urban and rural environment.
[036] It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, the above-discussed embodiments may be used in combination with each other. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.
[037] The benefits and advantages which may be provided by the present invention have been described above with regard to specific embodiments. These benefits and advantages, and any elements or limitations that may cause them to occur or to become more pronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential features of any or all of the embodiments.
[038] While the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it should be understood that the embodiments are illustrative and that the scope of the invention is not limited to these embodiments. Many variations, modifications, additions and improvements to the embodiments described above are possible. It is contemplated that these variations, modifications, additions and improvements fall within the scope of the invention.
,CLAIMS:We Claim:
1. An integrated precast footpath system 100, comprising:
a plurality of pre-fabricated units having walls 220, which is further divided into a top slab 110 and a bottom slab 115;
a cable-maintenance panel 420;
a drainage-maintenance panel 520;
a plurality of ducting modules 105;
wherein the ducting modules 105 are configured to act as ducts for laying electricity cables, water distribution pipes and other transmission cables;
wherein the cable-maintenance panel 420 is configured to provide with removable inverted half duct covers 405, enabling a maintenance person to provide easy access to cables; and
wherein the plurality of ducting modules 105 is placed in the top slab and further divided into a half duct slab 410 for cables installation and a remaining inverted half duct covers 405 on top to cover them.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the half duct slab 410 is provided as the top slab of the system and with a half semi-circle ducts instead of full circle ducts.
3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the drainage-maintenance panel 520 having inspection chamber 510 is configured to attach sideways to the pre-fabricated unit for the access to the drainage.
4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the extra precast slab 605 is provided for extra width for walk-path 610 along an integrated precast footpath system 100.
5. The system as claimed in claim 1 and 3, wherein the bottom 515 of the inspection chamber 510 in the drainage-maintenance panel 520 is provided with a self-cleansing mechanism.
6. The system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the self-cleansing mechanism is constructed by providing the bottom 515 of the inspection chamber 510 in the drainage-maintenance panel 520 deeper than the bottom slab of an integrated precast footpath system 100 to take the debris and silt from the guided path.
7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of pre-fabricated units is provided with an integrated arrangement of a plurality of ducting modules 105.
8. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the pre-fabricated units is connected through a plurality of slots (305 and 310) for dowel bars 315 to act as a joint between the two pre-fabricated units.