Olive pits infill systems and artificial turfs having the same

Abstract

The present invention relates to using olive pit particles as a portion of the infill for an artificial turf field. The olive pit particles are produced by crushing raw olive pits. The particles or pits are not treated with antimicrobial additives. Infills and artificial turf fields comprising such particles, or such particles in combination with the weight distributions and other materials disclosed in this application, exhibit superior properties compared to other infills and artificial turf fields comprising other organic materials and synthetic materials.

1 . An artificial turf system comprising:
 a turf backing,   a plurality of turf fibers attached to the backing, and   infill on the backing interspersed between the fibers supporting the fibers in an upright position and having a depth covering a portion of the fibers and exposing another portion of the fibers, wherein the infill is made entirely of olive pit particles;   wherein the system has a pile height between about 15 mm and about 70 mm.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the olive pit particles are raw crushed olive pits. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the infill is untreated with antimicrobial additives. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the infill has a height between about 2 mm and about 30 mm. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the infill has a weight between about 1 kg per square meter and about 15 kg per square meter of olive pit particles. 
     
     
         6 . An artificial turf system comprising:
 a turf backing,   a plurality of turf fibers attached to the backing, and   infill on the backing interspersed between the fibers supporting the fibers in an upright position and having a depth covering a portion of the fibers and exposing another portion of the fibers, wherein the infill comprises olive pit particles and another infill material;   wherein the system has a pile height between about 15 mm and about 70 mm.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the other infill material is sand. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the olive pit particles and the other infill material are formed as two separate layers in the infill. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the olive pit particle layer has a weight between about 1 kg per square meter and about 15 kg per square meter of olive pit particles. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the infill further comprises a third layer of infill material. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the third layer of infill material comprises olive pit particles, extruded composite, cork, SBR, EPDM rubber, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the third layer of infill material comprises sand and rubber particles. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the third layer is sandwiched between the olive pit particle layer and the other infill layer 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the rubber particles have a sieve size of between 14 and 30 (0.6 mm-1.4 mm). 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the olive pit particles and the other infill material are intermixed. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the olive pit particles are raw crushed olive pits. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the infill is untreated with antimicrobial additives. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the infill has a height between about 2 mm and about 30 mm. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the infill has a weight between about 1 kg per square meter and about 15 kg per square meter of olive pit particles. 
     
     
         20 . A method for preparing an artificial turf system comprising:
 providing a turf backing,   attaching a plurality of turf fibers to the backing, and   disposing infill on the backing that is interspersed between the fibers and supporting the fibers in an upright position and that has a depth covering a portion of the fibers and exposing another portion of the fibers, wherein the infill is made entirely of olive pit particles;   wherein the turf backing, fibers, and infill form a pile height between about 15 mm and about 70 mm.