NZ280520A - Self supporting bucket for aerial spraying or dumping of flowable material with gussets between side wall and base - Google Patents

Description

28 0 S 2 Patents Form No. 5 P21108/ES NP.W7RAT.ANn PATENTS ACT 1953 ; : COMPLETE SPECIFICATION 22 NOV 19SQ ABUCKET I, MARTIN McLASEN STRATFORD, a New Zealand citizen of 3 Penzance Street, Atawhai, Nelson, New Zealand, 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. 28 Oi ABUCKET TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to a bucket.

BACKGROUND ART Conventional buckets used for purposes such as fire fighting are generally of a rigid constructioa These buckets are not easily transported and therefore must be stored near a fire risk area When a fire occurs, a helicopter or vehicle must retrieve the bucket for use. If the fire is remote from the bucket storage site retrieval can be time consuming, and such delay may result in more extensive fire damage 15 than were a buckct available at a location closer to the fire zone. However, having numerous buckets stored at various locations is expensive.

A solution to this problem is to have a bucket which can be readily transported with a helicopter.

A known collapsible or portable type of bucket of flexible material is described in GB patent specification No. 2145624. A disadvantage with this type of bucket is that it is not self supporting when free standing and can only be water filled by scooping the bucket from an open body of water such as a lake whilst being suspended under a helicopter. In some circumstances the location of a fire may not be near an open body of water, and in these cases this bucket is not able to be used as it 25 cannot be pump filled unless remaining connected to the helicopter as it is not self supporting when free standing. This is a clear disadvantage as it results in considerable wastage of helicopter time.

The object of the invention is to provide a bucket which overcomes at least some of the abovementioned problems, or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to a broad aspect of the invention there is provided a bucket, for use in aerial spraying or 35 dumping of flowable material, having a flexible receptacle, a receptacle support means and a releasing means, the bucket being configured and arranged, in use, such that the flexible receptacle and the receptacle support means are engaged to render the bucket self supporting when at rest on a 2 28 05 20 substantially horizontal surface and to maintain the mouth of the receptacle open to receive the flowable material, the bucket being further configured and arranged, in use, such that the releasing means is operable to release any said flowable material retained in the flexible receptacle.

Preferably the flexible receptacle includes a mouth, a side wall and a base. Preferably the flexible receptacle further includes a plurality of spaced apart panels being radially aligned about the inside of the side wall, each extending between the side wall and the base. Preferably the receptacle support means includes a receptacle mouth opening means to retain the receptacle mouth in a substantially fully open presentation.

Preferably the receptacle support means includes a radial an~ support member located within the flexible receptacle, having a plurality of spaced apart radiating arms extending therefrom, one end of each said radiating arm berng retained to the radial arm support member and the other end of each said radiating arm being attachable to the mouth of the flexible receptacle. Desirably one said end of each 15 said radiating arm is pivotably attachable to a slide means, and the slide means is slidably retained about the radial arm support member.

Preferably a securing means secures the slide means in a releasably fixed position about the radial arm support member at a position where the radiating arms are fully extended, in use, to maintain the 20 mouth of the receptacle in an open position.

Preferably the releasing means is a valve. Desirably the valve is linearly activatable. Preferably the valve is activatable by an hydraulic or pneumatic ram. Preferably the ram is activatable by a ram control means located remote from the ram.

Preferably the bucket further includes a suspension means being attached to either the flexible receptacle or the receptacle support means. Preferably the suspension means includes a plurality of suspension wires being connected to a centrally disposed hang point adjacent the receptacle mouth. Desirably attachment loops are connected adjacent the outer end of each radiating arm to attachedly 30 receive one end of a corresponding said suspension wire.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing which shows a perspective sectional view of a bucket according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. 3 280520 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As seen in the figure, a bucket 1 for use in aerial spraying or dumping of water or other flowable material has a flexible receptacle, in the form of a bucket body 2. The bucket body 2 has a side wall 3 and a base 4. The bucket body 2 co-operates with a receptacle support means, in the form of a column 7 with radiating arms 8 extending therefrom, to render the bucket 1 self supporting when at rest on a horizontal surface, and to maintain the mouth 5 of the bucket body 2 in an open position. 10 The bucket 1 further includes releasing means in the form of a valve 11 which is operable to release any water or other flowable material from the bucket body 2.

The flowable material can include any liquid, powder, granules or the like which can flow out from the bucket body 2 through a valve 11 when the valve 11 is opened.

The bucket body 2 further includes a plurality of spaced apart panels or baffles 6 radially extending between the side wall 3 and the base 4 for reinforcing and stability purposes. More particularly, the baffles 6 stabilise the water retained in the bucket 1 while it is suspended from a helicopter. The baffles 6 are attached by being preferably sewn, welded or heat sealed to the side wall 3 and base 4.

The bucket body 2 can be made of a water impervious flexible material such as, for example, a polyester reinforced PVC (polyvinyl chloride) acrylic which is lacquer top-coated. This preferred flexible material offers the advantage of being UV (ultra violet sunlight) stabilised, flame retardant and mildew resistant.

The radiating arms 8 of the receptacle support means are preferably pivotably attached at one end to a radial arm support member in the form of brackets 9 connected to a circular plate 10 slideable on the column 7. The pivotable feature of the radiating arms 8 facilitates the easy rigging and derigging of the bucket 1. The plate 10 can slide up the column 7 past a spring loaded button (not shown) which 30 retracts to allow the plate 10 to slide over, the button is then released to protrude to retain the plate 10 and to prevent it from sliding past and back down the column 7.

It will be appreciated that the flexible material used with the bucket body 2, and the design of the receptacle support means for supporting the bucket body 2, whereby the plate 10 can collapse the 35 arms 8 as the plate 10 slides toward the centre of the column 7, allows a user to fold the bucket 1 into a bag or package secured for easy stowage in the cargo compartment of a helicopter or the like. 4 280520 The releasing means is preferably in the form of a valve, as generally indicated as 11. The valve 11 is linearly activatable to open to release the contents of the bucket body 2. It will be appreciated that the valve 11 may be opened downwardly or upwardly. Alternatively a rotatably opening valve may be used to release any flowable matter being retained in the bucket body 2 during use.

The valve 11 h activatable by a pneumatic ram 12 which, when powered up pushes out a ram rod 13 to open the valve disc 14. In this prefered embodiment the ram is pneumatically operated, however, an hydraulically operated ram is also contemplated. The ram 12 is arranged in axial alignment with the central column 7 and reinforced by a frame 15. The frame 15 secures the valve rim 16 about the valve 10 disc 14.

The ram 12 is activatable by an air valve (not shown) located remote from the ram 12 in the cockpit of the helicopter or the like. Air tubes 17 extend from the ram 12 to an air supply in the cockpit of the helicopter. The air can be supplied from a standard breathing bottle (not shown) or by any suitable 15 compressed air supply.

As a safety feature the air tubes 17 are fitted with quick release connectors 18 so that if for any reason the bucket 1 needs to be released from the helicopter, the air tubes 17 will disconnect when a force is applied.

A suspension means is provided in the form of a plurality of suspension wires attached at one end to attachment loops 20 attached to the radiating arms 8, and at the other end to a centrally disposed hang point means preferably in the form of a suspension ring 21. The helicopter can use a standard winch tow with a releasable hook (not shown) to connect to the ring 21.

The preferred embodiment described has primary application as a fire fighting bucket. The bucket 1 can be pump filled, as when rigged it is self supporting when free standing at rest on a substantially horizontal surface. Alternatively the bucket 1 can be scoop filled by a helicopter lowering the bucket 1 into an open body of water such as, for example, a lake, pond or pool.

Prior to use, the bucket 1 is desirably in a collapsed or derigged state and stored in a bag or the like and, as the components of the bucket 1 can be made of relatively lightweight materials, it is easily stowed or carried about.

Another advantage with the bucket of this invention is that because of its relatively small size, when collapsed several can be transported in one trip to a location and rigged in a small amount of time for use. *8 0 5 20 ;In operation, a bucket 1 is rigged by lifting the bucket body 2 to an upright position, and the plate 10 slid up the column 7 over the spring loaded button and retained in place. The bucket 1 is self supporting when either empty or fill of water. Once pump filled with water, a helicopter can hover above the bucket 1 and the suspension ring 21 be locked into the tow hook under the helicopter. The 5 air tubes 17 can then be connected to allow the valve 11 to be remote activated by the air valve in the helicopter cockpit. The helicopter then carries the bucket 1 to above the dumping site and the valve 11 opens to release the water retained in the bucket. ;After dumping has occurred, the helicopter can return the bucket 1 to the filling site for refilling, or can 10 have the empty bucket 1 replaced quickly by another bucket 1 which has already been filled with water. Alternatively, the bucket 1 already hooked under the lv*,? copter can be filled by scooping water from an open body of water.

It is an advantage of the present invention that it provides a fire fighting bucket which is relatively 15 lightweight and compact and therefore easily stowed and transported, and can be quickly rigged for use when required.

It will be appreciated the bucket of the invention can be used for crop-dusting purposes by being filled with a flowable material such as fertiliser or pesticide or the like in granulated, liquid or powder form.

It will be appreciated that the bucket need not necessarily be suspended under an aircraft but may be suspended under, for example, a crane.

It will also be appreciated the components of the support means and releasing means can be made of 25 any suitable material, particularly a corrosion resistant metal.

Wherein the foregoing description reference has been made to integers or components having known equivalents then such equivalents are herein incorporated as if individually set forth.

Although this invention has been described by a way of example of possible embodiments, it is to be appreciated that improvements and/or modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. 6

Claims (13)

28o5 20

1. A bucket for use in aerial spraying or dumping of flowable material including a flexible receptacle, a receptacle support means and a releasing means, the bucket being configured and 5 arranged, in use, such that the flexible receptacle and the receptacle support means are engaged to render the bucket self supporting when at rest on a substantially horizontal surface and to maintain the mouth of the receptacle open to receive the flowable material, the flexible receptacle having a mouth, a side wall, a base and a plurality of spaced apart panels aligned about the inside of the side wall, each said panel being adjoined to the side wall and the base, and wherein the releasing means is operable to 10 release any said flowable material being retained in the flexible receptacle. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

2. A bucket according to claim 1 wherein the receptacle support means includes a receptacle mouth opening means to retain the receptacle mouth in a substantially fully open presentation. 15

3. A bucket according to claim 1 wherein the receptacle support means includes a central support member located within the flexible receptacle and having a plurality of spaced apart radiating arms extending therefrom, one end of each said radiating arm being retained to the central support member and the other end of each said radiating arm being attachable to the mouth of the flexible receptacle. 20

4. A bucket according to claim 3 wherein said one end of each said radiating arm is pivotably attachable to a slide means, the slide means being slidably retained about the central support member, in use, such that the slide means is movable in one direction along the central support member to maintain the mouth in an open presentation, and movable in the other direction to allow the flexible receptacle to collapse. 25

5. A bucket according to claim 4 wherein a securing means secures the slide means in a releasably fixed position about the radial arm support member at a position where the radiating arms are fully extended, in use, to maintain the mouth of the receptacle in an open position. 30

6. A bucket according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the releasing means is a valve.

7. A bucket according to claim 6 wherein the valve is linearly activatable.

8. A bucket according to claim 7 wherein the valve is activatable by an hydraulic or pneumatic 35 ram. nTzT'",--- ■ " r o■- L L 28 0 52 0

9. A bucket according to claim 8 wherein the ram is activatable by a ram control means located remote from the ram. 5

10. A bucket according to any one of the preceding claims further including a suspension means being attached to either the flexible receptacle or the receptacle support means.

11. A bucket according to claim 10 wherein the suspension means includes a plurality of suspension wires being connected to a centrally disposed hang point and adjacent the receptacle 10 mouth.

12. A bucket according to claim 10 when dependent on any one of claims 3 to 9 wherein attachment loops are connected adjacent the outer end of each radiating arm to attachedly receive one end of the corresponding said suspension means, the suspension means being a plurality of wires IS coupled between a centrally disposed hang point and each said attachment loop respectively.

13. A bucket substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawing. f, AND COMPAHX END OF CLAIMS 8 *".• V'