1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a loose material retainer and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a gravel retainer strip which is made up of elongated segments having C-shaped cross-sections and is flexible to conform to both vertical and horizontal contours and including various shaped splice joints for connecting the strips together.
2. History of the Prior Art
The use of gravel driveways is quite prevalent in both urban and rural dwellings when it is either too expensive or undesirable to lay concrete drives. However, inherent with the use of materials such as gravel, chat and the like, is the tendency of the material under use to spread onto the lawn or at least out of the driveway itself. This gravel, rock and the like, besides becoming unsightly, represents a hazard when mowing the lawn.
There have been many attempts at containing the gravel in the driveway area, such as by lining the driveway edges with railroad ties, decorative beams or the like, or even by lining with long steel strips the lower edge of which is embedded in the earth adjacent the driveway.
Unless the residence, or business for that matter, is constructed in a rustic motif, the use of railroad ties and beams often is unsightly and if struck by the wheel of the car can cause loss of control of the car or damage to the hubs.
On the other hand, the use of typical steel strips which are partially embedded in the ground presents a distinct safety hazard to children that might be playing in the area and can completely sever a vehicle tire if the person should accidently drive over the edge.
Further, neither of these devices keep the gravel from spilling over the top thereof when there are localized accumulations of gravel due to use of the roadway.
Another inherent problem in both business and residential construction is the ability to maintain the integrity of a flower bed or the like, to prevent gravel, mulch, bark and other flower bed type material from spilling over into the lawn. Most of the attempts at solving this problem, such as shown in the patent to Thodos, U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,022, issued Oct. 15, 1974 for a "Lawn Edging Device" requires that the lower portion thereof be buried in the earth in order to anchor the device. This greatly increases the difficulty in installing such a device and whenever there is an elongated vertical surface, it becomes difficult to follow contours that are in a vertical plane. This is also naturally a disadvantage of using the elongated metal strips which are partially buried in the earth in that, although the strips will bend to fit contours in a horizontal plane, they will not substantially bend in order to take care of vertical contours.