Paving Stones, Method for Laying Pavement with Same and Method for Producing Same

Abstract

The invention relates to a set of paving stones having different thicknesses with respect to each other. At least one oblong recess is provided in the bottom side of each of the paving stones of the set, said oblong recess extending from one lateral side of the stone up to another lateral side, having a continuous cross-section and being provided for accommodating a complementary, regularly shaped carrier onto which the paving stones are to be laid. For each paving stone the/each recess extends into the bottom side of the paving stone up to a predetermined first distance (h) from a tangent plane to the top side, said predetermined first distance (h) being substantially the same for all paving stones of the set. The invention further relates to a method for laying a pavement with these paving stones and a method for producing these paving stones.

1 . A set of paving stones, each having a top side, a bottom side and a plurality of lateral sides extending from the top side to the bottom side, the paving stones having different thicknesses which vary to a large extent with respect to each other, the thickness of each stone being measured between parallel tangent planes to the top and bottom sides of the stone, wherein at least one oblong recess is provided in the bottom side of each of the paving stones of the set, said oblong recess extending from one lateral side of the stone up to another lateral side, having a continuous cross-section and being provided for accommodating a complementary, regularly shaped carrier onto which the paving stones are to be laid, and wherein for each paving stone the/each recess extends into the bottom side of the paving stone up to a predetermined first distance (h) from a tangent plane to the top side, said predetermined first distance (h) being substantially the same for all paving stones of the set and being provided for overcoming the differences in thickness. 
   
   
       2 . A set of paving stones according to  claim 1 , wherein each stone is generally parallelepiped-shaped with two pairs of substantially parallel lateral sides extending from the top side to the bottom side, two of said recesses being provided in the bottom side of each stone along one of said pairs of lateral sides of the stone, said two recesses being spaced a predetermined second distance (b) from each other, said predetermined second distance (b) being substantially the same for all paving stones of the set. 
   
   
       3 . A set of paving stones according to  claim 2 , wherein said two recesses are open towards the lateral sides and wherein a central portion of the bottom side of the stone delimited by the two recesses is on average about in the middle of the stone. 
   
   
       4 . A set of paving stones according to  claim 1 , wherein each of said recesses comprises a top side substantially parallel to said tangent plane to the top side of the stone and a lateral side substantially perpendicular to said top side. 
   
   
       5 . A set of paving stones according  claim 1 , wherein each of said recesses is adapted for accommodating a parallelepiped-shaped carrier. 
   
   
       6 . A set of paving stones according to any  claim 1 , wherein the stones are natural hewn stones of which at least one of the sides has an uneven surface. 
   
   
       7 . Method for laying a pavement by means of paving stones according to  claim 1 , the method comprising the step of:
 a) evening out a foundation bed,   wherein the method further comprises the steps of:   b) placing oblong carriers on the foundation bed, each of said oblong carriers being regularly shaped and being complementary to the recesses which are provided in the bottom sides of the paving stones,   c) placing the paving stones on the carriers, such that the carriers engage in the recesses and the tangent planes of the top sides of the paving stones are located substantially in the same plane.   
   
   
       8 . Method for laying a pavement according to  claim 7 , wherein in step b) the carriers are placed at about a predetermined third distance (b) from each other, said third distance (b) corresponding to the distance between two successive recesses in the bottom sides of the stones. 
   
   
       9 . Method for laying a pavement according to  claim 7 , wherein most of the carriers have lengths which span multiple paving stones. 
   
   
       10 . Method for laying a pavement according to  claim 7 , wherein the carriers are laid in rows, bows, circles or in a fan-shaped pattern. 
   
   
       11 . Method for laying a pavement according to  claim 7 , wherein the carriers are parallelepiped-shaped. 
   
   
       12 . Method for laying a pavement according to  claim 11 , wherein the carriers have wider sides and narrower sides, the carriers being placed on the foundation bed by means of one of the wider sides. 
   
   
       13 . Method for laying a pavement according to  claim 7 , wherein the carriers are placed in fixed relationship with each other by means of fixing means according to a predetermined pattern in which the paving stones are to be laid. 
   
   
       14 . Method for laying a pavement according to  claim 7 , wherein the method further comprises at least one of the following steps:
 d) compacting the pavement by means of a compacting device,   e) filling joints in between the paving stones of the pavement by means of a filling material.   
   
   
       15 . Method for producing paving stones according to  claim 1 , wherein the recesses are created by cutting or milling material from the bottom side of each stone. 
   
   
       16 . Method for producing irregularly shaped paving stones according to  claim 15 , wherein the paving stones are generally parallelepiped-shaped with two pairs of substantially parallel lateral sides extending from the top side to the bottom side, and two of said recesses are created in the bottom side of each stone along one of said pairs of lateral sides, and wherein the method further comprises the steps of creating two further recesses in the top surface of each stone along said one pair of lateral sides, and dividing the stone up into two parts substantially along a plane parallel or perpendicular to said tangent plane to the top side of the stone.