Road construction and panel for making same

Claim 2

A road construction comprising a plurality of substantially identical invertible interlocked panels, each of said panels comprising, a plurality of single-piece peripheral frame members fixed together to define a polygonal configuration, each of said members having a single roughly L-shaped projection extending therefrom which is adapted to be independently interlocked with an identical projection of an associated member free of additional locking means, each of said meMbers having a U-shaped portion comprised of a bight having a pair of parallel extensions extending from opposite ends of the bight, said U-shaped portion being adjoined by its associated L-shaped projection, said Lshaped projection having a pair of legs with one of said legs being arranged perpendicular to said bight and having an outside surface arranged coplanar with the outside surface of an associated extension and the other of each of said legs being arranged roughly parallel to said bight and having a height which is precisely controlled and extends over the major part of the height of said bight so that the terminal outer edge of said other leg engages the inside surface of an associated perpendicular leg of said associated member to assure that adjoining interlocked panels have their top and bottom surfaces arranged substantially coplanar, said other leg having a cutout therein in the central portion of its outside surface defining surface portions at opposite ends of the cutout which assure a comparatively tight interlocking fit and provide comparatively large bearing surfaces preventing horizontal movements, each of said legs of said L-shaped projection having a thickness which is roughly twice the thickness of siad bight, said U-shaped portion and L-shaped projection being made of a metallic material and having a solid cross section throughout, and a pair of sheets fixed on opposite sides of said frame members and defining bottom and top surfaces of said panel.

Claim 3

A road construction as set forth in claim 1 in which each L-shaped projection extends from the central portion of its member and along substantially its entire length.

Claim 4

A road construction as set forth in claim 2 and further comprising reinforcing means between said sheets and within said frame members.

Claim 5

A road construction as set forth in claim 3 in which said reinforcing means is a foamed elastomeric material.

Claim 6

A road construction as set forth in claim 3 in which said reinforcing means is a honeycomb structure.

Claim 7

A road construction as set forth in claim 3 in which said reinforcing means is a plurality of girder beams.

Claim 8

A road construction as set forth in claim 3 in which said polygonal configuration is a regular polygon and said members are extruded metal members.

Claim 9

A road construction as set forth in claim 3 in which said polygonal configuration is a hexagonal configuration and said members are extruded members which are welded together at their associated ends with the L-shaped projections of each pair of adjoining members facing in opposite directions.

Claim 10

A road construction as set forth in claim 8 wherein each extruded member is made of an aluminous material.

Claim 11

A road construction as set forth in claim 1 in which each of said members has a recess which is adapted to receive a terminal edge portion of an associated sheet therewithin so that the outside surface of each associated sheet is substantially coplanar with a plane adjoining a side of each of said members.

Claim 12

A road construction as set forth in claim 10 in which each of said sheets is made of an aluminous material and has a polygonal outer configuration corresponding and having a smaller area than the polygonal configuration defined by said members.

Claim 13

An invertible hexagonal panel for a road construction comprising, a plurality of single-piece peripheral frame members fixed together to define a hexagonal configuration, each of said members having a single roughly L-shaped projection extending therefrom which is adapted to be independently interlocked with an identical projection of an associated member free of additional locking means, each of said members having a U-shaped portion comprised of a bight having a pair of parallel extensions extending from opposite ends of the bight, said U-shaped portion being adjoined by its associated L-shaped projecition, said L-shaped projection having a pair of legs with one of said legs being arranged perpEndicular to said bight and having an outside surface arranged coplanar with the outside surface of an associated extension and the other of each of said legs being arranged roughly parallel to said bight and having a height which is precisely controlled and extends over the major part of the height of said bight so that the terminal outer edge of said other leg engages the inside surface of an associated perpendicular leg of said associated member to assure that adjoining panels interlocked with said panel have their top and bottom surfaces arranged substantially coplanar, said other leg having cutout therein in the central portion of its outside surface defining surface portions at opposite ends of the cutout which assure a comparatively tight interlocking fit and provide comparatively large bearing surfaces preventing horizontal movements each of said legs of said L-shaped projection having a thickness which is roughly twice the thickness of said bight, said U-shaped portion and L-shaped projection of each of said frame members being made of a metallic material and having a solid cross section throughout, and a pair of sheets having a hexagonal configuration and fixed on opposite sides of said frame members, said sheets defining bottom and top surfaces of said panel.

Claim 14

An invertible hexagonal panel for a road construction comprising, a plurality of single-piece peripheral frame members fixed together to define a hexagonal configuration, each of said members having a single roughly L-shaped projection extending therefrom which is adapted to be independently interlocked with an identical projection of an associated member free of additional locking means, each of said members having a U-shaped portion comprised of a bight having a pair of parallel extensions extending from opposite ends of the bight, said U-shaped portion being adjoined by its associated L-shaped projecition, said L-shaped projection having a pair of legs with one of said legs being arranged perpEndicular to said bight and having an outside surface arranged coplanar with the outside surface of an associated extension and the other of each of said legs being arranged roughly parallel to said bight and having a height which is precisely controlled and extends over the major part of the height of said bight so that the terminal outer edge of said other leg engages the inside surface of an associated perpendicular leg of said associated member to assure that adjoining panels interlocked with said panel have their top and bottom surfaces arranged substantially coplanar, said other leg having cutout therein in the central portion of its outside surface defining surface portions at opposite ends of the cutout which assure a comparatively tight interlocking fit and provide comparatively large bearing surfaces preventing horizontal movements each of said legs of said L-shaped projection having a thickness which is roughly twice the thickness of said bight, said U-shaped portion and L-shaped projection of each of said frame members being made of a metallic material and having a solid cross section throughout, and a pair of sheets having a hexagonal configuration and fixed on opposite sides of said frame members, said sheets defining bottom and top surfaces of said panel.

Claim 15

A panel as set forth in claim 12 in which each L-shaped projection extends from the central portion of its member and along substantially its entire length and further comprising reinforcing means between said sheets and within said frame members.

Claim 16

A panel as set forth in claim 13 in which said reinforcing means is a foamed elastomeric material.

Claim 17

A panel as set forth in claim 13 in which said reinforcing means is a honeycomb structure.

Claim 18

A panel as set forth in claim 13 in which said reinforcing means is a plurality of beams.

Claim 19

A panel as set forth in claim 13 in which said members are extruded metal members which are welded together at their associated ends with the L-shaped projections of each pair of adjoining members facing in opposite directions.

Claim 20

A panel as set forth in claim 12 in which said members and sheets are made of an aluminous material and each of said members has a recess which is adapted to receive a terminal edge portion of an associated sheet therewithin so that the outside surface of each associated sheet is substantially coplanar with a plane adjoining a side of each of said members.