Arena floor and flooring element

Claim 1

A multipurpose sports arena floor installation, comprising: (a) a floor supporting bed (1) of heat insulating material, (b) a floor composed of a plurality of horizontally elongate, extruded floor elements (3) joined together in a parallel, side-by-side relationship on said supporting bed and each having an upper panel portion (15) defining a generally flat top surface (12) and, formed integrally therewith and on a lower side thereof, a plurality of longitudinally extending and laterally spaced fluid passages (11), each of said passages having side wall members (17) extending generally downwardly from said upper panel portion and a bottom wall member (18), (c) means (5,6,7) connecting said fluid passages of said floor elements in a manner to form a fluid circulation circuit, (d) means (8) for circulating a temperature controlling fluid through said circuit, and (e) means (9) for selectively lowering the temperature of said circulated fluid sufficiently to create an artificial ice rink on top of said floor by freezing water spread thereon, wherein: (1) said supporting bed has a generally flat upper surface, (2) said bottom wall members of said fluid passages rest on said generally flat upper bed surface in a manner leaving said upper panel portion of each floor element supported only by said side wall members of said fluid passages, (3) the lateral center to center spacing (S) of said fluid passages of each floor element is less than twice the height (H) of the element, (4) at least said side wall members of said fluid passages are formed of a thermoplastic material exhibiting a hardness of at least about 90 Shore A at a temperature below -5° C. sufficient to support an ice surface reconditioning machine, and a hardness of at most about 75 Shore A at a temperature above +10° C., and (5) means are provided for selectively increasing the temperature of said circulated fluid to at least +10° C. to render said floor suitable for activities to be practiced directly thereon without the presence of ice and requiring a comparatively soft floor surface.