GB1576845A - Floatable anti-pollution barriers - Google Patents

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO FLOATABLE ANTI-POLLUTION BARRIERS (71) We, PNEUMATIQUES, CAOUTCHOUC MANUFACTURE ET PLASTIQUES KLEBER-CO LOMBES, a French Body Corporate, of Place de Valmy, 92 COLOMBES, France, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The invention relates to floatable antipollution barriers which are intended in use to arrest objects or material floating on the surface of water and is a Patent of Addition application to the invention claimed in claim 2 of our prior British Patent No.

1,336,830.

As described in the aforementioned Patent Spectification an anti-pollution barrier constitutes an upper screen, and which is formed by a succession of air-tight pockets or bells which are independent, linked to one another, and have wide openings at the bottom, and a ballasted skirt which constitutes a lower screen and which is generally formed by extensions of the side-walls of the pockets of the floatation member, which means that the skirt is thus formed by two walls, which are connected together at intervals along their lower edges by means of rings or other similar devices which support the ballasting chain.

Such barriers are well known and widely used because of the advantages they afford.

Among these advantages should be mentioned their longitudinal flexibility, which is remarkable, and the ease with which they can be placed in the water with no need for special accessories (in the course of being placed in the water the pockets fill with air, which is then trapped and compressed by the water).

The present invention relates more parti cfllarly to the means employed to set and maintain the pockets in shape. Hitherto, the means used for this purpose have been of two kinds: 1. Types of metal spring which are com pressed when the barrier is in store and which, by expanding when the barrier is placed in the water, spread the opposing walls of the pockets apart and hold them apart. Means of this kind which are liable to corrosion, suffer from various shortcomings however. When the barrier has to be stored after use they have to be compressed, which in certain cases is a lengthy, difficult and laborious operation particularly if, when the barrier is being placed in the water, it heels over and water penetrates the pockets and the anti-pollution barrier becomes at least partly submerged.

2. Bodies of a material lighter than water which, when inserted in the pockets, spread the opposing walls of the pockets apart and hold them apart. These bodies, of broadly cylindrical shape, also act as safety floats.

Barriers formed in this way do not suffer from the previous shortcomings but either the barriers axe stored with the bodies of lighter-than-water material still in place in the pockets, when the volume taken up in store is prohibitive and a great deal of trouble is involved in transporting the barriers to their place of use, or else the bodies of material lighter than water are inserted in the pockets at the time when the barrier is placed in the water, which thus becomes a long and awkward operation.

Claim 2 of the aforementioned Patent Specification states that the pockets are held in shape during use by mechanical means which separate the opposed walls of the pockets.

The present invention consists in a floatable anti-pollution barrier as claimed in claim 2 of Patent No. 1,336.830 wherein the mechanical means comprise slabs located perpendicularly to the plane of the skirt.

Anti-pollution barriers according to the invention avoid or minimise the shortcomings mentioned above.

The shape of the slabs is such that they have opposite edges which are parallel to the plane of the skirt; they are broadly parallelipipedic and are made of a material whose density is less than that of water so that they can act as safety floats, as will be seen below.

Other features and advantages of the bar -riers according to the invention will become apparent from the discription which is given below by way of non-limiting example, and which is illustrated schematically by the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is an elevational view of part óf a barrier according to the invention at the time when it is being placed in the water, Fig. 3 and 4 are sectional views from above, on the line aa of Figs. 1 and 2 respectively, Fig. 5 is an elevational view of part of a barrier according to the invention in the folded-up state, Fig. 6 is a sectional view from above, on the line aw, of Fig. 5, and Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a part of the same barrier folded up in a different way.

Referring now to the drawings, similar parts are referred to by the same reference numerals. The barrier shown in Figs. 1 to 7 has a floatation member and a skirt. It is of the known kind in which the floatation member is formed by a succession of pockets 10 which are open at the bottom and of which the side-walls extend at the bottom into parts 12a and 12b which together form the skirt 12. In this embodiment, a sheet of woven material coated with a heat-weldable plastics material has been folded along its central longitudinal axis and regularlv spaced welds 13 perpendicular to the fold have been made whose length is less than the width of the folded sheet of woven material. Each pocket is thus defined by the fold in the sheet of woven material and by two consecutive welds 13.The skirt 12 is formed by the two juxtaposed parts 12a and 12b of the sheet of woven material which are situated away from the welds 13. The parts 12a and 12b thus represent extensions of the side-walls of the pockets 10, which latter are defined by pairs of welds 13. The lower edges of parts 12a and 12b are connected together by rings which are fitted through regularly spaced eyelets 14 and which support a chain 15 which serves to ballast the barrier and if need be allows it to be towed.

To set and maintain the pockets in shape, it is necessary for the side-walls of the pockets 10 to be spread apart and held there. In accordance with the present in vention this is achieved by means of slabs 11 which are positioned in each pocket 10 substantially in the centre thereof perpendicular to the plane of the skirt.

The shape of the slabs 11 is such that their edges which touch the walls of the pockets are parallel to the plane of the skirt.

For this reason they are broadly parallel pipedic.

In order that the slabs 11 will not move and will hold the walls of the pockets 10 apart. thev mav be attached to these walls by any known means.

In the present embodiment, sleeves 16 of woven material, which are attached to opposing walls of the pockets io, contain openings through which the slabs 11 are inserted. A lace 17 holds each sleeve closed, and passes through each slab and the wall of the corresponding sleeve so as to form a sort of stitched fastening.

The slabs 11 are made of a material whose density is less than that of water.

In the present embodiment they are made of a rigid cellular material in which the majority of the cells are closed, such as polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyethylene or others or a similar nature. They need to be strong enough not to distort, or to distort to only a small extent, when acted on by lateral stresses.

The volume of each slab 11 is such that, given its density relative to that of water, its ouoyancy is adequate to hold the ballasted part of the barrier represented by the pocket in which it is situated out of the water even if the pocket should become filled with water for any reason.

The height of the slabs 11 is less than the height of the pockets 10 and their breadth is the breadth which the pockets are required to have. As an example, in a barrier having an overall height of one metre with the welds 13 spaced 665 mm apart, the pockets are 500 mm high and the slabs 11 are 350 mm high and 330 mm broad.

When the barrier is placed in the water, the slabs 11 hold the side-walls of the pockets 10 apart, the pockets thus being tensioned as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The air which makes its way between the walls i2a and 12b of the skirt (arrow fl, Fig. 1) fills the pockets 10. when the barrier is in the water, the water traps the air in the pockets and forces it (arrows f2, Fig. 2) into the pockets, the pressure in the pockets being thus slightly higher than atmopheric pressure, the effect of which is to inflate the pockets slightly as shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

Under normal conditions, the buoyancy of the barrier is provided in essence by the airfilled pockets 10 and the submerged volume of the slabs 11 is small. However, if a pocket becomes filled with water, because it is torn for example or because the barrier tilts over or overturns when being placed in the water, the slab 11 provides buoyancy.

The slabs 11 thus perform the dual function of setting and maintaining the pockets in shape by spreading the walls apart so that the pockets will provide buoyancy, and furthermore of providing buoyancy when the pockets themselves are no longer able to do so.

To store the barrier, the slabs 11 can be stacked on top of one another, when the sections situated between adjacent pairs of slabs fold up on either side of the slabs as is shown schematically in Figs. 5 and 6.

Since, with this configuration, the chain lies in substantially the same plane as the slabs, it is useful to make the thickness of the slabs close to the folded bulk of the chain. In this way space is used to best advantage. The thickness of the slabs may of course be greater however, particular when it is desired to increase their buoyancy.

When the slabs are stacked on top of one another, the volume occupied by the barrier is small. It can easily be accommodated in a container or may be left folded up in a storage area.

Fig. 7 shows another storage configuration.

The barrier is so arranged that the slabs 11 are turned to lie flat next to one another and are laid out rather like dominoes in a box.

To put the barrier into action, it is merely necessary to draw it out by one of its ends using for example a cable attached to a boat.

It then unfolds and the slabs spread the pockets into shape (Fig. 3). The pockets fill with air virtually instantaneously and then, when the barrier reaches the water, the water blocks off the pockets and compresses the air slightly (Fig. 4). This operation may take place very quickly. If part of the barrier accidentally heels over and the pockets involved become filled with water, the slabs give buoyancy to this part of the barrier, with the ballasting chain ensuring that it takes up a vertical position.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A floatable anti-pollution barrier as claimed in claim 2 of Patent No. 1,336,830 wherein the mechanical means which separate opposed walls of the pockets comprise slabs located perpendicularly to the plane of the skirt.

2. A barrier as claimed in claim 1, wherein the slabs are made of a material whose density is less than that of water.

3. A barrier as claimed in claim 2, wherein the slabs are made of a cellular material in which the majority of the cells are closed.

4. A barrier as claimed in claim 1, wherein the slabs are attached to the sidewalls of the pockets.

5. A barrier as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein each pocket contains, a slab situated substantially in the centre of the pocket.

6. A barrier as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the slabs are of broadly parallelipipedic shape.

7. A barrier as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the height of the slabs is less than the height of the pockets.

8. A floatable anti-pollution barrier substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Reference has been directed in pursuance of section 9, subsection (1) of the Patents Act 1949, to Patent No. 1,460,155.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (8)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. Since, with this configuration, the chain lies in substantially the same plane as the slabs, it is useful to make the thickness of the slabs close to the folded bulk of the chain. In this way space is used to best advantage. The thickness of the slabs may of course be greater however, particular when it is desired to increase their buoyancy. When the slabs are stacked on top of one another, the volume occupied by the barrier is small. It can easily be accommodated in a container or may be left folded up in a storage area. Fig. 7 shows another storage configuration. The barrier is so arranged that the slabs 11 are turned to lie flat next to one another and are laid out rather like dominoes in a box. To put the barrier into action, it is merely necessary to draw it out by one of its ends using for example a cable attached to a boat. It then unfolds and the slabs spread the pockets into shape (Fig. 3). The pockets fill with air virtually instantaneously and then, when the barrier reaches the water, the water blocks off the pockets and compresses the air slightly (Fig. 4). This operation may take place very quickly. If part of the barrier accidentally heels over and the pockets involved become filled with water, the slabs give buoyancy to this part of the barrier, with the ballasting chain ensuring that it takes up a vertical position. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A floatable anti-pollution barrier as claimed in claim 2 of Patent No. 1,336,830 wherein the mechanical means which separate opposed walls of the pockets comprise slabs located perpendicularly to the plane of the skirt.

2. A barrier as claimed in claim 1, wherein the slabs are made of a material whose density is less than that of water.

3. A barrier as claimed in claim 2, wherein the slabs are made of a cellular material in which the majority of the cells are closed.

4. A barrier as claimed in claim 1, wherein the slabs are attached to the sidewalls of the pockets.

5. A barrier as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein each pocket contains, a slab situated substantially in the centre of the pocket.

6. A barrier as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the slabs are of broadly parallelipipedic shape.

7. A barrier as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the height of the slabs is less than the height of the pockets.

8. A floatable anti-pollution barrier substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Reference has been directed in pursuance of section 9, subsection (1) of the Patents Act 1949, to Patent No. 1,460,155.