AU726440B2

AU726440B2 - Anchoring for reservoirs

Info

Publication number: AU726440B2
Application number: AU64786/98A
Authority: AU
Inventors: John Brendan Berry
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-05-19
Filing date: 1998-05-07
Publication date: 2000-11-09
Anticipated expiration: 2018-05-07
Also published as: AU6478698A

Description

P/00/011 28/5/91 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE

SPECIFICATION

STANDARD

PATENT

Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor John Brendan Berry John Brendan Berry Address for service is: WRAY

ASSOCIATES

239 Adelaide Terrace Perth, WA 6000 Attorney code: WR Invention Title: "Anchoring for Reservoirs" Details of Associated Provisional Application No(s): P06879 filed 19 May 1997 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:- -2- Title: Anchoring For Reservoir This invention relates to reservoirs and in particular to reservoirs which are intended to be buried in the ground.

The difficulty with buried reservoirs which may be used in storing water or in sewage installations relates to a difficulty in ensuring that those reservoirs are not displaced in the event of the ground becoming waterlogged or flooded. In the past this difficulty has been overcome by forming the reservoirs of a very dense material such as concrete in order to resist any buoyant force which may be exerted on the reservoir in the event of the ground becoming flooded or waterlogged. There has in recent years however been an increasing tend to form such reservoirs of fibre reinforced or moulded plastics material due to the ease of forming such reservoirs from these materials and the light weight nature of such materials which reduces the difficulty in handling and installing the ~reservoirs and which also reduces the costs in freight. While such reservoirs are 15 convenient to manufacture and transport, they do present a significant problem 00I when they are used in ground which may be subjected to flooding or water 01 logging.

0 ~It is an object of this invention to provide means which can be used in o to O association with reservoirs to facilitate their retention in the event of ground 20 becoming water logged or flooded.

Accordingly the invention resides in a reservoir which is intended to be buried in the ground comprising a body which defines an enclosed space and which comprises a base, a side wall and an upper wall, an anchoring means fixed to the body of the reservoir said anchoring means comprising an annular member fixed to the side wall to extend radially therefrom into the soil surrounding the reservoir when the reservoir is in position.

ccording to a preferred feature of the invention, the anchoring means is formed egrally on the side wall of the reservoir.

-3- According to an alternative preferred feature of the invention, the anchoring means is formed separate from the reservoir and is receivable over the side wall of the reservoir. According to one embodiment the anchoring means is adapted to be bonded to the side wall of the reservoir. According to an alternative embodiment the anchoring means is adapted to be frictionally engaged with the side wall of the reservoir. According to another alternative embodiment the side wall of the reservoir is formed with a locking means in the form of a raised formation on the surface of the side wall with which the annular member is to be engaged to be at least partially retained in position on the side wall thereby when the anchoring means is received over the side wall of the reservoir.

According to a preferred feature of the invention the annular member comprises a plurality of radial members which are angularly spaced around the perimeter of 15 the annular member and extend radially therefrom.

According to an alternative preferred feature of the invention the outer perimeter of the annular member is formed with an undulating profile to provide a plurality of lobes which extend radially from the side wall of the reservoir.

Accordingly the invention also resides in an anchoring means which is adapted to be fixed to a reservoir which is intended to be buried in the ground, said reservoir comprising a body which defines an enclosed space and which comprises a base, a side wall and an upper wall, the anchoring means 25 comprising an annular member adapted to be fixed to the side wall of the reservoir to extend radially therefrom into the soil surrounding the reservoir when the reservoir is in position.

The invention will be more fully understood in the light of the following description of several specific embodiments. The description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings of which; -4- Figure 1 is a schematic sectional view of a sewerage reservoir according to the first embodiment; Figure 2 is an isometric view of a sewerage reservoir according to the first embodiment of the invention; Figure 3 is an isometric view of a sewerage reservoir according to the second embodiment of the invention; and Figure 4 is an isometric view of a sewerage reservoir according to the third embodiment of the invention.

Each of the embodiments are directed to a valve or access pit which is used in association with a sewerage delivery system.

The first embodiment as illustrated in Figure 1 comprises a the reservoir 11 which is intended for use in a sewage installation. The reservoir 11 is buried in the ground such that it's upper face 13 is below the level of the ground and is formed of a light weight material such as fibre reinforced plastics. In use the 20 upper face 13 is closed by a lid (not shown) which can be formed of concrete, metal, fibre reinforced plastic, or any other suitable material. The lid is provided with a central opening which accommodates a closure in order to control access to the interior of the reservoir.

25 The reservoir 11 has a generally cylindrical profile in that the side walls 14 are of a generally circular cross-section. However the base 15 of the pit has a area which is less than that of the upper face of the reservoir, is circular in plan and is offset laterally from the centre of the upper face whereby the side walls 14 of the pit have a generally convergent eccentric configuration with the side wall 14 at one side being substantially parallel to the central axis of the reservoir while the remainder of the side wall is inclined towards the base in order that the portions of the side wall at the one side and opposed side are convergent.

The reservoir 11 is intended to accommodate an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe (not shown) and the inner end of the outlet pipe is associated with a suitable valve and pump which are accommodated within the reservoir in order to effect delivery of the contents of the pit to the outlet. In addition breather pipes (not shown) are connected to the reservoir at its upper end.

In order to prevent the reservoir from "floating" out of the ground in the event of the ground surrounding the pit becoming waterlogged or flooded, an anchoring means is provided to retain the reservoir in position in the ground.

The anchoring means according to the first embodiment comprises an annular member 21 in the form of an annulus which is formed separately from the reservoir 11 and has an internal diameter greater than the diameter of the cross 15 section of the base of the reservoir 11 but less than the upper cross section at the upper face. The annular member 21 comprises an inner lip 27 and an outer lip 29 which extend from the same face of the annular member 21 in a divergent manner. The inner lip 27 has a greater width than the outer lip 29 and has an inner edge of a sharp or narrow profile.

2 0 ~To effect installation of the annular member 21 to the reservoir the base of the pit 23 is inserted through the annular member 21 with the divergent lips facing in the direction of the base of the reservoir 11 until the convergent side walls of the reservoir 11 frictionally engage the inner edge 31 of the annular member 21. At 25 this point, the outside diameter of the cross section of the reservoir 11 equals the inner diameter of the annular member 21. Upon contact with the side wall of the reservoir 11 the inner edge 31 of the inner lip 27 of the annular member 21 is resiliently deformed and frictionally engaged with the walls of to locate the annular member 21 in position. In addition the side wall of the reservoir 11 is be formed with a locking means in the form of a set of circumferential spaced lugs or protrusions or a circular rib (not shown). In installation of the annular member the lip 31 of the annular member 21 is caused to be resiliently deformed when -6moved past the locking means in order to lockingly engage the annular member 21 onto the wall of the reservoir.

The second embodiment as shown at Figure 3 relates to a reservoir 111 of the same form as that of the first embodiment where the reservoir would be used in the same manner as the first embodiment. The difference between the first and second embodiment relates to the nature of the anchoring means. In the case of the second embodiment, the annular member 121 is configured for increased surface area to provide additional resistance to the upward movement of the reservoir 111 when in the ground. In this embodiment the outer edge of the annular member 121 is provided with a set of circumferentially spaced radial arms 123 which extend radially from the perimeter of the annular member 121 The third embodiment shown at Figure 4 again relates to a reservoir of the same 15 form as that of the first embodiment and is intended for the same purposes. The anchoring means in the case of the third embodiment comprises an annulus Se.

:i which is configured to provide an increased surface area and is formed with an outer edge of undulating profile to provide a plurality of circumferentially spaced lobes 223 around the perimeter of annular member 221.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention the reservoir shells may have a polygonal cross-section.

According to a further embodiment of the invention the annular member, which 25 can have the configuration of any one of the previous embodiments, is formed to be integral with the wall of the reservoir.

According to a further embodiment of the invention the annular member, which can have the configuration of any one of the previous embodiments, is formed separately from the reservoir but is bonded to the wall of the reservoir by any suitable adhesive or the like composition prior to the installation of the reservoir in the ground.

-7- Throughout this specification unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

It should be appreciated that the scope of the present invention need not be limited to the particular scope of the embodiment described above.

C*

Claims

1. A reservoir which is intended to be buried in the ground comprising a body which defines an enclosed space and which comprises a base, a side wall and an upper wall, an anchoring means fixed to the body of the reservoir said anchoring means comprising an annular member fixed to the side wall to extend radially therefrom into the soil surrounding the reservoir when the reservoir is in position.

2. A reservoir as claimed at claim 1 wherein, the anchoring means is formed integrally on side wall of the reservoir.

3. A reservoir as claimed at claim 1 wherein, the anchoring means is formed separate from the reservoir and is receivable over the side wall of the reservoir.

4. A reservoir as claimed at claim 3 wherein the anchoring means is adapted to be bonded to the side wall of the reservoir. oo 20

5. A reservoir as claimed at claim 3 wherein the anchoring means is adapted to be frictionally engaged with the side wall of the reservoir.

A reservoir as claimed at any one of claims 3 to 5 wherein the side wall 6% ua of the reservoir is formed with a locking means in the form of a raised *000 S. 25 formation on the surface of the side wall with which the annular member °or is to be engaged to be at least partially retained in position on the side wall thereby when the anchoring means is received over the side wall of the reservoir.

7. A reservoir as claimed at any one of the preceding claims wherein the annular member comprised a plurality of radial members which are angularly spaced around the perimeter of the annular member and extend radially therefrom. -9-

8. A reservoir as claimed at any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the outer perimeter of the annular member is formed with an undulating profile to provide a plurality of lobes which extend radially from the side wall of the reservoir.

9. An anchoring means which is adapted to be fixed to a reservoir which is intended to be buried in the ground, said reservoir comprising a body which defines an enclosed space and which comprises a base, a side wall and an upper wall, the anchoring means comprising an annular member adapted to be fixed to the side wall of the reservoir to extend radially therefrom into the soil surrounding the reservoir when the reservoir is in position.

An anchoring means as claimed at claim 9 wherein, the anchoring means is 15 formed integrally on side wall of the reservoir.

11. An anchoring means as claimed at claim 9 wherein, the anchoring means is formed separate from the reservoir and is receivable over the side wall of the reservoir.

12. An anchoring means as claimed at claim 11 wherein, the anchoring means is adapted to be bonded to the side wall of the reservoir.

13. An anchoring means as claimed at claim 9 wherein, the anchoring means is 25 adapted to be frictionally engaged with the side wall of the reservoir.

14. An anchoring means as claimed at any one of claims 9 to 13 wherein, the annular member comprises a plurality of radial members which are angularly spaced around the perimeter of the annular member and extend radially therefrom.

An anchoring means as claimed at any one of claims 9 to 13 wherein the outer perimeter of the annular member is formed with an undulating profile to provide a plurality of lobes which extend radially from the side wall of the reservoir.

16. A reservoir substantially as herein described.

17. An anchoring means substantially as herein described. Dated this SEVENTH day of MAY 1998. JOHN BRENDAN BERRY Applicant Wray Associates Perth, Western Australia Patent Attorneys for the Applicant