A FLOOD BARRIER Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus adapted to prevent or reduce the amount of flood water entering a building via an aperture in the building such as a window or doorway The apparatus is particularly suitable for use with the existing windows or doorways of a building
Background to the Invention
Domestic and industrial buildings are increasingly falling victim to flooding due to flood water from, for example a nearby water course. The incidence of a swollen river or stream bursting its banks, or of a high tide breaching sea defence systems is becoming more frequent The costs associated with damage to buildings which results from said flooding is both high in monetary and in personal terms The monetary costs have, up until recently, been directly borne principally by the insurance companies, although indirectly by individuals through higher insurance premiums As floods have become more frequent however, many insurance companies are refusing to insure buildings against flood damage, with the result that a buildings'owners are then faced with a large and often regular flood damage repair costs
The personal costs associated with flood damage are also high as buildings must be either evacuated, and possessions moved to a higher storey or removed from the building all together.
One reason for the increased incidence of flooding is the construction of many new dwellings on areas, such as flood plains, formerly considered as unsuitable Due to changing social conditions there is an increased need for housing stock, which means that such unsuitable sites are now being considered Moreover, the construction of a large number of buildings on formerly"green-field sites" (to form for example a new housing estate) reduces the absorption capacity of the ground towards rain water The concrete and asphalt surface of the site cannot absorb rain water as well as the land on which it was built, and the rain water then runs off more rapidly into nearby water courses Therefore, the level of water in those water courses rises more quickly and to a higher level than was previously the case.
A further reason for the increased incidence of flooding is that due to financial restraints, flood defences such as sea walls, have been neglected and in many cases have fallen into disrepair The defences can therefore be relatively easily breached by flood water Moreover, in the countryside, changing agricultural practices have led to drainage ditches being either removed or allowed to become blocked.
A number of solutions to the problem of flooding are known in the prior art For example, pumps can be installed into buildings, in particular those having cellars
The capacities of pumps are often inadequate however, to deal with the amount of water present Furthermore, pumps only remove water from a building and do not prevent its entry. The water can already have done a large amount of damage before it reaches a level at which any pump can remove it
The further solution to the problem of flood water entering a building is by the deployment of sand bags around and in front of any aperture through which flood water can penetrate There are however a number of disadvantages associated with the use of sand bags Firstly, even when a barrier is correctly constructed using sand bags, water can still pass through the barrier either by seepage through the gaps between neighbouring sand bags or by passing through the sand itself between the individual particles of sand The latter route is possible for the water as the covering for a sand bag is typically made of a porous material such as sack cloth Secondly, and particularly when they are wet, sand bags are heavy and difficult to move from place to place They are thus unsuitable for use by, for example, the elderly or infirm Additionally, the sack cloth covering mentioned above is prone to perishing in storage, particularly when the sand bag is stored in a wet condition Finally, the sand bags are not required, they take up a large amount of storage space, which storage space needs to be kept accessible to enable the sand bags to be rapidly deployable in an emergency
It is an object of the present invention to seek to alleviate the above disadvantages and to provide an apparatus which comprises a removable barrier to prevent water from entering a building
In particular, it is an object of the invention to reduce the number of sand bags which need to be deployed to prevent or hinder water ingress into a building
Summary of the Invention
According to the invention there is provided an apparatus to reduce ingress of flood water into a building, such as a house, shop or office, through an aperture such as a door or window of the building, the apparatus comprising a retention member fixed to at least a part of the periphery of the aperture, a barrier means removably engageable with the retention member, and engagement means adapted to form an interface between the barrier means and the retention member, so as to attenuate the flow of flood water to or through the building aperture.
Once the flood water has subsided, the barrier means can be removed allowing access to the building
The engagement means includes at least one strip of resilient material to form said interface and abuts the retention means so as to form a seal The resilient material
is optionally fixed to the retention means to minimise any damage to the strip whilst the barrier means is removed from the retention means or being stored
In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the barrier means has a planar, square or rectangular shape, which shape facilitates, for example, storage of the barrier means
The barrier means comprises one or more resilient strips along its peripheral edges to provide a seal with the retention means
The retention means conveniently has an elongate channel, preferably having a "U"-shaped cross-section to receive the barrier means, and facilitate fitment of the barrier means to be slid into position.
The apparatus can additionally include securing means to secure the barrier means in position The securing means preferably urges the barrier means against the retention means to improve the seal formed between the barrier means and the retention means.
The locking means can be provided to prevent the barrier means from being removed. This arrangement prevents accidental removal or deliberate actions, for example, theft which may result in property destruction
The barrier means optionally has a number of sections, each section, in use is sealably engaging with a neighbouring section to form a barrier. The provision of sections firstly facilitates handling and storage of the barrier means and secondly enables the barrier means to be kept at an appropriate size to deal with the flood water problem
Brief Description of the Drawings
The invention will now be described more particularly with reference to the accompanying drawings which show, by way of example only, one embodiment of a flood barrier according to the invention In the drawings :
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a flood barrier, Figure 2 is a perspective view of a securing means incorporated into a retention means, and
Figure 3 is an end view of the securing means of Figure 2
Detailed Description of the Invention
Referring initially to Figure 1, a flood barrier generally reference 10, has two elongate supports 11,12 formed from stainless steel The edges of the supports 11,12 define a U-shaped channel 13 The supports 11,12 further have a number of counter-sunk screw holes 14 along their in use inner-facing edge 15 A further series of holes 16 are present on the in use outer-facing edge 17 The inner surface 18 of each support 11, 12 has a rubber strip along its length
The barrier sections 20 are generally rectangular in shape and have resilient strips 21 along each of their outer edges The sections 20 and strips 21 are so sized as to sealably fit within the channel 13
The securing means 30 of Figures 2 and 3 is mounted to the outside of a support 31 The securing means 30 has a handle 32 having a number of sections 33,34, 35. A metal bar 36 retains a handle 32 against the support 31, the metal bar 36 being fixed to the support 31 at about the height of the joint between the sections 33,34 of the handle 32 The end of the section 35 has a pressure member 37 which engages the barrier means in use
In use, the supports 11,12 are mounted to, for example, the wall or frame surrounding the aperture of the building to be protected The supports 11,12 are typically held in position by screws passing through the holes 14. A sealant material can be provided between the support 11,12 and the building to prevent water seeping there between. A barrier section 20, having a suitable sized span the distance between the supports 11,12 and having a width to enable the section 20 to form a seal with the channel 13 is passed down the channels 13 of the
supports 11, 12 Further barrier sections are subsequently passed down the channels 13 until the barrier formed thereby is of the appropriate height
Care should be taken during the initial fitting of the flood barrier to a door aperture, that room is left for the storm board of the door
Once the barrier sections have been correctly located within the supports, they can be secured in position by moving the handle section 33 of the handle 32 in the direction indicated by arrow A in Figure 2 The motion of the section 33 about the bar 36, causes the pressure member 37 to be pushed against the barrier section
The pressure thus applied by the pressure member 37, secures the barrier section in position and also urges the barrier section against the support 31 and provides a stronger seal
The flood barrier as described herein can incorporate a number of other features and modifications which do not depart from the scope of the invention The support can include a member which lies horizontally along, for example the step or window sill of a building and into which the lower edge of the barrier sits The lower edge of the or each barrier section can comprise either a projection or a recess to engage a corresponding recess or projection on the upper edge of the barrier section into which it is located
The materials from which the flood barrier is formed should have a suitable water resistance and strength and be able to stand up to the weight of flood water pushing against it when in use. Typical materials will be plastics, metal or wood
A typical height for the barrier is 30-120cm, with each barrier section having a height of around 30cm. As such, the above described barrier is suitable to protect doors, windows, air bricks, etc in a building
It will of course be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details described herein, which are given by way of example only, and that various modifications and alterations are possible within the scope of the invention.