GB2076871A - Wartime shelter - Google Patents

Abstract

A wartime shelter for giving protection against nuclear blast and radiation, comprising a main chamber (10) having a dog leg access passage (12) and preferably a decontamination chamber (14). The chamber (10) comprises a large diameter (say 21/2 metres) corrugated steel tube and the access passage (12) comprises a small diameter (say 11/4 metres) tube communicating with the main chamber through a shock proof hatch (40). The main chamber may have a hatch (42) leading to a dog leg escape passage (20). Connections between the tubes and other fixed structural parts of the shelter are by means of permanent banded and/or welded joints. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in wartime shelters This invention relates to a wartime shelter which will provide protection against explosion, blast and atmospheric pollution over a substantial period.

According to the invention, there is provided a wartime shelter having an accommodation chamber at least partly below ground level and an access passage leading to said chamber, wherein both said chamber and said passage have walls formed of prefabricated steel tube, the tubular wall defining the accommodation chamber being of larger crosssectional dimensions than the access passage, and all tube junctions being permanently joined.

In a typical case, the access passage, and likewise any emergency escape passage for use if the access passage should become blocked, may be of the order of 1 to 11/4 metres diameter, while the accom modation chamber may be approximately 21/2 metres in diameter. Alternatively, escape passages may have a reduced diameter of about 3/4 metre.

Assuming the accommodation chamber to be up to 6 or 7 metres underground, the tubular walls for both passages and chamber may be of galvanised corrugated steel of about 2.5 or 3mm thickness.

Steel of greaterthickness is employed if a greater underground depth is required.

Bunks for sleeping can be provided within the accommodation chamber, as well as toilet facilities either of the chemical type or a simple flush arrangement discharging into a sump which is prepared at the time when the shelter is excavated. A space will also be set aside for food storage and preparation.

The accommodation chamber will also have a filtered air inlet and an air exit remote from the inlet.

The air inlet will preferably be in the form of a pipe having a reinforced steel terminal at ground level.

Filtration and pumping equipment is preferably located in the shelter, this equipment including a storage purging filter which is capable of absorbing chemical and bacterial atmospheric pollution. In some circumstances it may be desirable to incorporate an additional filter in the inlet pipe. Fans will be incorporated at the air inlet and possibly also at the air exit. The latter possibility is particularly desirable where a series of shelters are grouped together in a complex. The fans may be capable of being driven mechanically from a manually driven machine with in the accommodation chamber which also serves to exercise the occupants of the shelter. The air supply system is preferably arranged to cause a positive pressure to build up within the accommodation chamber to prevent the ingress of ambient air.It is possible to employ a flap valve at the air exit through which spent air is discharged under a slight pressure due to a small overpressure maintained within the chamber. The flap valve may also be arranged to self close to prevent a shock wave entering the chamber due to the occurrence of a local explosion.

A decontamination chamber may be incorporated, either in the access passage or in the accommodation chamber. This will incorporate showering facilities or the like so that a person entering the main chamber can take a complete water bath, shower or other decontamination process, with the waste fluid exiting to a sump. If desired, the toilet facilities may be incorporated in the decontamination chamber.

The entrance to the accommodation chamber, preferably through the decontamination chamber, will incorporate steel shock-proof doors, closing against seals such as neoprene gasket seals to safeguard against ingress of bacteria, chemicals and other atmospheric pollution such as radioactive dust.

If required, the ends of all spaces within the shelter, especially the decontamination chamber and main chamber, may take the form of bulkheads, preferably steel bulkheads and possibly of conical form, with the doors incorporated therein where appropriate, so as to provide increased strength and resistance to collapse due to high external pressure.

Various arrangements af shelter are possible within the scope of the invention, depending on the number of occupants to be catered for, the length of occupancy envisaged and other relevant factors.

One possible arrangement has an access passage sloping gently downwardly some 6 to 7 metres to a decontamination chamber, from which a level access passage link continues to an accommodation chamber, which is 4 to 5 metres long, capable of sheltering six persons. An emergency escape passage is provided at the remote end of the accommodation chamber.

A preferred arrangement has a steeply sloping access passage enabling a decontamination chamber to be entered via an outside manhole and a ladder, the decontamination chamber exiting directly into the accommodation chamber. In a modified arrangement the decontamination chamber is omitted.

Other possible arrangements, generally capable of sheltering a larger number of persons and therefore being relatively less expensive, would have two or more accommodation chambers radiating from the bottom of a common access passage or common decontamination chamber at the bottom of said passage. Alternatively, a plurality of accommodation chambers may be arranged in parallel with linked access and emergency escape passages. Yet again, a more complex shelter may have accommodation chambers arranged in galleries one above the other in a single excavation, the successively deeper chambers being fabricated from increasingly stronger materials to withstand larger pressure at greater depth.

In all arrangements, it is possible to employ prefabricated tubes of slightly elliptical cross-section for the accommodation chamber and various passages, especially the latter, and references to diameter in the above description then apply to the mean cross-sectional dimension.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 shows a preferred arrangement of underground shelter in plan view; Figure 2 is a side elevation cross section on line 2-2 of Figure 1; Figure 3 is an access end elevational view; Figure 4 is an escape end elevational view; Figures 5to 9 are transverse cross sections respectively on lines 5-5 to 9-9 of Figure 1; Figure 10 shows a simplified shelter in plan view; Figure 11 shows the simplified shelter of Figure 10 in axonometric view; Figure 12 shows the overall layout of an alternative arrangement of nuclear shelter; and Figure 13 is an exploded view showing the basic elements of the nuclear shelter of the invention.

The drawings will, in general, be clear without detailed description, and for convenience reference will first be made to the simplified diagrammatic view of Figure 12.

In Figure 12, the illustrated underground nuclear shelter has an accommodation chamber 10to which entrance is gained through a sloping access passage 12 leading to a decontamination chamber 14 from which a connecting link 16 leads to the chamber 10.

A blast shielding wall 18 protects the entrance to the passage 12, which is closable by a steel door 19 seating against gas tight seals. The walls of the chamber 10 and passages 12 and 16 are formed by corrugated, galvanised steel tubes, the passages being of smaller diameter than the chamber. The passage 14 and connecting link 16 can be of elliptical section. An escape passage 20, defined by a prefabricated, corrugated, galvanised steel tube of smaller diameter, is provided at the end of the chamber 10 remote from its access end. The references 22 and 24 denote water supply tanks for the decontamination chamber 14 and for a drinking supply. All junctions between tubes and other fixed structural parts of the shelter are completed by permanent joints, i.e.

banded or welded joints.

In Figures 1 to 9, which show a preferred shelter, similar references are employed for similar parts to those used in Figure 12. In the preferred shelter, the decontamination chamber 14 directly adjoins the accommodation chamber 10, the connecting link being omitted. Thus, the decontamination chamber 14 directly adjoins the accommodation chamber 10.

The access passage 12 (and likewise the escape passage 20) is more steeply inclined than in the shelter of Figure 12, and incorporates a ladder 50 reached by lifting a manhole cover 52 (see Figure 3).

Figure 3a shows an alternative vertically hung hatch or manhole. 53 denotes an inwardly opening hatch near the top of the escape hatch 20, the space 55 above the hatch 53 being filled with sand. In the arrangement of Figures 2 to 9 the access passage has a circular section of 1.2 metres diameter, whilst the escape passage is of 1 metre diameter. The chamber 10 is of 2.6 metres diameter, and the chambers 10, 14 and passages 12,20 are defined by prefabricated tubes of corrugated galvanised steel, say 2.5 mm thick for a typical shelter having an accommodation chamber 10 some 6 to 7 metres underground. Conical bulkheads 46 indicated in the arrangement of Figure 1 are replaced by a welded steel bulkhead indicated at 54. However, a conical bulkhead or bulkheads may be substituted if desired.

Instead, a simple brick partition may separate the decontamination chamber from the chamber 10.

In the sectional views of Figures 2 to 9, there is shown an arrangement of bunks 28 in the chamber 10, one such bunk being located over a space 29 reserved as a good store and a food preparation area. In Figure 1, references 32 and 34 denote air inlets and air exits, whilst reference 36 in Figure 2 denotes a waste outlet to an external sump from the decontamination chamber 14 and the toilet 26 and basin 27. The outlet 36 also carries away waste water from a shower 38 in the decontamination chamber.

Steel doors 40, sealed when closed, are provided for the decontamination chamber 14 and a similar door 42 is provided at the exit end of the chamber 10, where said door or escape hatch 42 permits access to the escape passage 20 (see Figure 4).

Among other features which appearfrom Figures 1 to 9 may be mentioned the dog leg nature of the access passage 12 and the escape passage 20, thus shielding the hatches 40, 42 to the accommodation chamber 10 from direct blast.

Reference 60 denotes an air filtration plant connected to the air inlet 32; this filtration plant 60 is conveniently mounted to the escape hatch 42. The filtration plant, including a pump 59, may be adapted for manual operation, as indicated by handle 61. The air outlet 34 includes a flap valve or other pressure release valve 67 acting to maintain a slight overpressure in the chamber 10.

The form of construction of the shelter will be apparent from Figure 13, which shows the basic structural components of a shelter without decontamination chamber. The tubular, structural parts are permanently connected together by banded and/or welded joints, as indicated at 62 in Figures 1 and 2. The end faces of the main chamber around the access door and escape hatch are preferably braced by reinforcing ribs indicated at 63 in Figures 1 and 2. Reference 64 (Figure 7) denotes welded joints at the end walls of the main chamber.

Other points to which attention is drawn are the water storage facility 22, 24 (see Figure 8), the storage and battery unit68 (see Figure 5), the clothing space 70 separated from the shower facility 38 in the decontamination chamber 14 by a plastics curtain 72 (see Figure 6). Reference 74 denotes duckboarding adjacent a central corridor 75 through the main chamber.

The above-described shelter, under some 6 to 7 metres of earth cover, will withstand high shock stresses and afford a very high degree of protection against direct radiation, heat, blast and radioactive fall out in the event of a nuclear explosion, and substantial immunity from danger in the event of conventional warfare, except to a direct strike.

Figures 10 and 11 show the basic form of a simplified shelter (for sheltering a lesser number of people short term). It has a main chamber 10 of corrugated, galvanised steel tube and a double.dog leg access tube 12 of corrugated, galvanised steel, all joints being banded and/orwelded.

The chamber 10 is intended to be partly, preferably mainly, below ground level, with a thick cover or mound of earth over the top. Inlet and outlet ventilation pipes 32, 34 communicate the chamberto the atmosphere. These and other facilities of the shelter may be similar to those of the shelter of Figures 1 to 9, having regard to the less stringent specification necessary for the purpose for which this simplified shelter is intended.

Various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, including more complex arrangements, which are more economical for sheltering a large number of people, wherein two or more accommodation chambers radiate from the bottom of a single access passage, or a plurality of parallel accommodation chambers, possibly one more than one level, are linked to a lesser number of access and escape passages.

The shelter may conveniently be constructed of helically formed steel tube.

Claims (20)

1. A wartime shelter having an accommodation chamber at least partly below ground level and an access passage leading to said chamber, wherein both said chamber and said passage have walls formed of prefabricated steel tube, the tubular wall defining the accommodation chamber beingbf larger cross-sectional dimensions than the access passage, and all tube junctions being permanently joined.

2. A wartime shelter according to claim 1, wherein said tubes are corrugated galvanised steel tubes.

3. A wartime shelter according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said tubular access passage comprises a dog-leg tube.

4. Awartime shelter according to claim 3, wherein said access passage has at least one section the axis of which lies in a plane normal to the axis of an adjacent section.

5. A wartime shelter according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the entire accommodation chamber is covered by a thick layer of soil.

6. A wartime shelter according to claim 5, wherein the entire accommodation chamber is underground and the access passage leads downwardly from the ground surface.

7. A wartime shelter according to any of claims 1 to 6, having a steel shock proof door or hatch which can be sealingly closed at the exit from the access tube to the accommodation chamber.

8. A wartime shelter according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the access passage opens into one end of the larger tube defining the accommodation chamber.

9. Awartime shelter according to claim 8, having an emergency escape passage at the end of the chamber remote from the access passage.

10. A wartime shelter according to claim 9, having a steel shock proof door or hatch which can be sealingly closed at the entrance to the escape passage from the accommodation chamber.

11. A wartime shelter according to any of claims 1 to 10, having a decontamination chamber which must be traversed to enter the accommodation chamber from the access tube.

12. A wartime shelter according to claim 11, wherein the decontamination chamber has steel shock proof doors or hatches which can be sealingly closed both on the entrance side and on the exit side.

13. Awartime shelter according to claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the decontamination chamber has showering facilities and spent water is fed to an external waste water sump.

14. A wartime shelter according to any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the accommodation chamber has inlet and outlet ventilation tubes leading to the atmosphere.

15. A wartime shelter according to claim 14, wherein filtering and pumping equipment, incorporating air filtering means, is located in the shelter.

16. A wartime shelter according to claim 14 or claim 15, wherein at least the ventilation inlet incorporates a fan.

17. Awartime shelter according to claim 16, wherein the ventilation outlet includes a flap valve through which air is discharged under a small pressure due to a small overpressure maintained within the accommodation chamber.

18. Awartime shelter according to claim 16or claim 17, wherein the fan or fans are at least optionally adapted to be mechanically driven from an exercise machine within the accommodation chamber.

19. A wartime shelter comprising an underground accommodation chamber of larger diameter, corrugated steel tube, an access passage of smaller diameter, corrugated steel tube leading down from ground level to one end of the accommodation chamber and opening thereinto through a shock proof hatch, an escape passage of smaller diameter, corrugated steel tube leading up to ground level from the opposite end of the accommodation chamber and being accessible from said accommodation chamber through a shock proof hatch, and a decontamination chamber behind a steel bulkhead at the entrance end of the accommodation chamber, this having a door which can be sealingly closed to a main living area within the accommodation chamber, with welded or banded joints between the fixed, steel structural components of the shelter.

20. A wartime shelter substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.