WO2009142492A1

WO2009142492A1 - Device and method for liquid -tight and/or gastight closure of an opening in a wall

Info

Publication number: WO2009142492A1
Application number: PCT/NL2009/050275
Authority: WO
Inventors: Eric Cornelis Paul Vos
Original assignee: Eric Cornelis Paul Vos
Priority date: 2008-05-23
Filing date: 2009-05-20
Publication date: 2009-11-26
Also published as: NL2003847C2; NL2003847A; NL1035466C2

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for at least partial liquid- tight and/or gas-tight closure of an opening in a wall, comprising: - a housing comprising a compressed filling medium; - a tubular lance member which can be coupled to an opening in the housing and which is adapted to guide the filling medium therethrough to a closing member; - wherein the closing member can be arranged on a side of the lance member remote from the housing, and can be positioned with the lance member in the opening to be at least partially closed in liquid- tight and/or gas-tight manner; and - wherein the closing member can be elastically deformed and inflated by being filled with filling medium for the purpose of liquid-tight and/or gas-tight closure of the opening. The invention also relates to a method for at least partial liquid-tight and/or gas-tight closure of an opening in a wall, wherein the above stated device is applied.

Description

DEVICE AND METHOD FOR LIQUID-TIGHT AND/OR GASTIGHT CLOSURE

OF AN OPENING IN A WALL

The present invention relates to a device and a method for at least partial liquid-tight and/or gas-tight closure of an opening in a wall. The invention relates more particularly to liquid-tight and/or gas-tight closing of an opening in a wall of a space, such as for instance a hole in a hull part of a vessel or a hole in a body part of a road tanker or container.

It is noted that the term liquid-tight should also be understood in the following to mean gas-tight. According to this patent application, an opening can be both a hole and a crack. When water enters the hull of a vessel such as a sailing boat via the propeller shaft or by taking on water, the drainage pump, more specifically the bilge pump, present in the boat can be employed to pump this water out of the hull part. Such a bilge pump can of course also be utilized when water enters through an opening present in an outer wall of the hull. Although the inflowing water can hereby be drained, and in many cases a nearby harbour can be reached in safe manner, it is preferable to already seal the leak while underway, at least for the greater part, in order to minimize the inflow of water.

An object of the present invention is to provide a device and a method for liquid-tight and/or gas-tight closure of an opening in a wall, wherein the prior art problems are avoided and which particularly enables a user to seal a hole within a foreseeable period of time.

This object is achieved with the device for at least partial liquid-tight and/or gas-tight closure of an opening in a wall, comprising: a housing comprising a compressed filling medium, a tubular lance member which can be coupled to an opening in the housing and which is adapted to guide the filling medium therethrough to a closing member, wherein the closing member can be arranged on a side of the lance member remote from the housing, and can be positioned with the lance member in the opening to be at least partially closed in liquid-tight and/or gas-tight manner, and wherein the closing member can be elastically deformed and inflated by being filled with filling medium for the purpose of liquid-tight and/or gas-tight closure of the opening.

Because the closing member deforms elastically and inflates during filling with the filling medium, the closing member will fit substantially closely round the contours of the opening to be closed in liquid-tight and gas-tight manner, thereby at least partially closing the passage of the opening. The use of the device is simple and possible from both sides of the wall. The device need not necessarily be applied per se from the side where an overpressure prevails, such as for instance from the outside of a ship, but can also be applied from the inside. The elastic deformability makes the device suitable for closing openings of an irregular shape and the inflatability of the closing member makes the closing member suitable for openings of different dimensions. The elastically deformable and inflatable closing member therefore provides a flexible system suitable for openings of different shapes and dimensions .

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the device is portable. That is, the device has dimensions and a mass such that it can easily be picked up by a user, carried and used elsewhere for the purpose of sealing an opening. The dimensions are preferably similar to those of a fire extinguisher, and more particularly with a height of about 40 cm. The mass of the device is preferably a maximum of 5 kg, so that handling is not a problem.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the filling medium is a foam-like substance which cures following a short expansion. As the substance briefly expands, the closing member will deform elastically and inflate, and thereby at least partly take on the contours of the opening. After this brief expansion a curing takes place which ensures that the closing member retains the contours of the opening and at least partially seals the opening until permanent repair operations can be carried out, such as for instance at a port, in the case an opening in a wall of a vessel is involved. According to a further preferred embodiment, the filling medium is a foam-like substance which is a composition of a resin, curing agent and possibly necessary additives for the purpose of obtaining the desired sealing effect. According to further preferred embodiment, the foam-like medium comprises polyurethane foam or pyranyl foam and/or a chemical derivative of these foam types . The advantage of pyranyl foam is that the period of time for which the pyranyl behaves as a cream- like, viscous substance, the cream time, is only about 18 seconds, while the period of time for which the pyranyl foam expands, or the rise time, is about 35 seconds. In addition, the period of time for which the foam is not tacky (tack-free time) is about 38 seconds. Particularly the cream time and the rise time are very important. These times can also be increased or decreased by changing the ratio of the components in the pyranyl foam. A further additional advantage of pyranyl foam is that it can also withstand acids, bases and oily substances, whereby holes in tankers (both on land and on water) can also be at least partially sealed.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the closing member is manufactured at least partially from a porous material for the purpose of discharging gases released during filling with filling medium. When a filling medium is used wherein propellants are required and are released during expansion of the medium, the closing member must provide the possibility of allowing these gases to escape. The closing member can be manufactured for this purpose from a porous material .

According to further preferred embodiment, the closing member comprises one or more openings for discharge therethrough of gases released during filling with the filling medium. Instead of applying a porous material, or in addition thereto, the closing member can also be provided with one or more openings .

According to a further preferred embodiment, the closing member can be uncoupled from the tubular lance member and/or from the housing after curing of the filling medium. A new closing member can be arranged on the device and again be filled with filling medium for the purpose of sealing a further opening. It is also possible to envisage an opening having dimensions such that it cannot be sealed with a single closing member. In that case the device can be used with a first closing member for at least partially sealing the opening, after which one or more further closing members are applied for the purpose of further filling the opening still remaining in the wall, in order to together close the opening in liquid-tight and/or gas-tight manner.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the tubular lance member is arranged pivotally on the housing, this providing the option of compact stowing of the device when the lance member is in a folded-down rest position.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the compressed filling medium is situated in an exchangeable container which can be arranged in the housing. After use the container can be replaced by a fully filled container, so that the device can be applied for the sealing of further openings .

The present invention also relates to a method for at least partial liquid-tight and/or gas-tight closure of an opening in a wall, comprising the following steps of: positioning a closing member in the opening to be closed using a tubular lance member, wherein the tubular lance member is coupled to a housing comprising a compressed filling medium, guiding the compressed filling medium from the housing through the tubular lance member to the closing member, filling the closing member with the filling medium, wherein the filling medium expands and the closing member is inflated and deforms elastically in order to fill the opening, and curing the expanded filling medium in the inflated closing member, whereby the opening is at least partially closed in liquid-tight and/or gas-tight manner.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the steps of the method are repeated when the opening for liquid-tight and/or gas-tight closure is not yet closed in sufficiently sealing manner. After expansion and curing of the filling medium a first closing member is uncoupled from the device and reduces the size of the opening to be closed. The remaining opening can be further filled with further closing members applied in similar manner.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the tubular lance member can be folded down, and the method is preceded by the step of pivoting the lance member from a folded-down rest position to a folded-out operative position. In the folded-down rest position the lance member is positioned substantially flat against the housing, whereby the stowage space of the device is compact. The lance member is locked in the folded-out position relative to the housing, after which it is suitable for guiding the filling medium therethrough to the closing member.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the method also comprises the step of uncoupling the closing member from the tubular lance member and/or from the housing following curing of the filling medium. In this way a new closing member can be arranged on the device, whereby the device is ready to use for further application.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the method, the compressed filling medium is situated in an exchangeable container which can be arranged in the housing, and the method further comprises the following steps of: - removing the used container from the housing after use; and - subsequently placing in the housing a new container filled with filling medium.

In the following description a preferred embodiment of the present invention is elucidated on the basis of the drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a boat with an opening in a wall of the hull;

Figure 2 is a perspective detail view of the opening in the wall of the hull of the boat shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the device for at least partial liquid-tight and/or gas-tight closure of an opening in a wall according to the present invention; Figure 4 is a side view of the device shown in Figure 3, wherein the lance member is being positioned;

Figure 5 is a side view in which the device shown in Figure 3 is placed in front of an opening for sealing; Figure 6 shows a further view in which the device is applied for the purpose of sealing the opening to be closed in liquid-tight and/or gas-tight manner,-

Figure 7 shows a view wherein the opening in the wall to be closed comprises a crack- like opening; and Figure 8 shows a detail view of the surface of the closing member already arranged in Figure 7 in the crack- like opening.

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a boat 10 in which an opening is located in a wall 4. Water 12 from outside 6 the boat enters the interior 8 of boat 10 through this wall 4 (Figure 2) .

Device 1 for at least partial liquid-tight and/or gas-tight closure of an opening 2 in a wall 4 comprises a housing 14 of hardened PVC or aluminium in which a compressed filling medium is situated. In a preferred embodiment this compressed filling medium is accommodated in an exchangeable container 42. Housing 14 has a cover 16 through which the exchangeable container 42 can be arranged in housing 14. In a preferred embodiment a lance member 20 with a tubular passage 22 is attached pivotally to housing 14 via a hinge connection 24. Tubular lance member 20 has on its outer end a coupling piece 28 which can be engaged with a coupling piece 30 of an elastically deformable and inflatable closing bag 32. This closing bag is manufactured from rubber/latex. Device 1 further comprises a grip 38, a lever 34 for pivoting lance member 20 and a handle 36 for activating the device. In order to prevent undesired activation of device 1 handle 36 is provided with a locking pin 40. As can be seen in Figure 3, housing 14 has a non- round form in order to prevent confusion with a fire extinguisher. Due to the form of housing 14 it is possible by feel, and so also in darkness, to recognize that this is device 1 according to the invention and not a fire extinguisher.

Once locking pin 40 has been removed, lever 34 is moved in the direction of arrow Ll, whereby locking 26 is temporarily released. In the released position of locking 26 the lance member 20 is pivoted manually as according to arrow L2 from a first folded-down rest position (shown in broken lines in Figure 4) to a second operative position {full lines in Figure 4) . In the folded-out operative position the tubular passage 22 in lance member 20 connects to opening 18 shown in Figure 3. In the folded-out operative position lance member 20 is locked relative to housing 14 by means of locking 26.

Once lance member 20 has been pivoted to its operative folded-out position and has been locked therein, device 1 is moved as according to arrow P in Figure 5 in the direction of the opening to be closed until closing bag 32 is located in opening 2.

Handle 36 is then moved in the direction of arrow A toward grip 38, whereby device 1 is activated. The compressed filling medium is then displaced from the exchangeable container 42 located in housing 14, via tubular lance member 20 to closing bag 32 which is positioned with tubular lance member 20 in opening 2 to be closed. Closing bag 32 is filled with the filling medium, wherein the filling medium expands and closing bag 32 is inflated and elastically deformed, thereby fitting closely round the edges of opening 2. The expanded filling medium in the inflated closing bag 32 then cures, whereby opening 2 is at least partially closed in liquid-tight and/or gas-tight manner (Figure 6) . Closing bag 32 is provided with openings 44 or manufactured from a porous material to allow escape from closing bag 32 of propellant 46 released during expansion of the filling medium. Instead of a filling medium comprising a propellant a separate gas container (not shown) with C02, N2 or other suitable gas can also be applied, if desired, for the purpose of displacing the filling medium from housing 14 to closing bag 32.

Once the expanded filling medium has cured in closing bag 32, coupling pieces 28, 30 are uncoupled from each other. In the shown embodiment this is a bayonet fitting. Device 1 is then removed as according to arrow V, after which a new closing bag 32 can be arranged on lance member 20 and, if the interchangeable container 42 already needs replacing, it can be replaced with a new container filled with filling medium.

It is possible using the device according to the present invention to fill in one operation openings with an area up to 0.2 m2 (this corresponding roughly to a round hole with a diameter of 50 cm) . The period of time for expanding and curing of the filling medium is about 30 seconds in the case pyranyl foam is applied. It is further noted that it is also possible to fill a crack-like opening with a larger area by successively placing a closing bag 32 a number of times in the opening and allowing it to expand and cure. The already cured closing bag 32 functions here as contact surface for the following closing bag 32 {Figure 7) and already reduces the size of the opening to a small extent. Cracks for instance with a width of about 20 cm and a length of 3 m, and cracks with a width of 50 cm and a length of about 1.5 m can in this way be sealed in effective manner.

As stated above, closing bag 32 is provided in a preferred embodiment with openings 44 to allow the escape from closing bag 32 of propellant 46 released during expansion of the filling medium. A small quantity of filling medium 48 will also flow out of closing bag 32 through these openings before the filling medium is fully cured (Figure 8) . This filling medium 48 which has flowed locally through closing bag 32 and cured provides a firm contact surface with a subsequent closing bag 32 to be arranged.

Although they show preferred embodiments of the invention, the above described embodiments are intended only to illustrate the present invention and not to limit the specification of the invention in any way. It is particularly noted that, although the invention is shown specifically with reference to the sealing of a leak in a boat, the invention can also be applied to seal a leakage in for instance a road tanker or a container. When applied for a road tanker, a foam and a material for the closing member are preferably used which does not enter into a chemical reaction with for instance petrol, diesel, kerosene and so on. The scope of the invention is therefore defined solely by the following claims.

Claims

1. Device for at least partial liquid-tight and/or gas-tight closure of an opening in a wall, comprising: - a housing comprising a compressed filling medium;

- a tubular lance member which can be coupled to an opening in the housing and which is adapted to guide the filling medium therethrough to a closing member; - wherein the closing member can be arranged on a side of the lance member remote from the housing, and can be positioned with the lance member in the opening to be at least partially closed in liquid-tight and/or gas-tight manner; and - wherein the closing member can be elastically deformed and inflated by being filled with filling medium for the purpose of liquid-tight and/or gas-tight closure of the opening.

2. Device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the device is portable.

3. Device as claimed in claim 1 or 2 , wherein the filling medium comprises a foam-like substance which cures following a brief expansion.

4. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the filling medium comprises a foam-like substance which is a composition of at least a resin, a curing agent and optional extra additives.

5. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the foam-like medium comprises polyurethane foam or pyranyl foam and/or a chemical derivative of these foam types.

6. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the closing member is manufactured at least partially from a porous material for the purpose of discharging gases released during filling with filling medium.

7. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the closing member comprises one or more openings for discharge therethrough of gases released during filling with the filling medium.

8. Device as claimed in any of the claims 2-7, wherein the closing member can be uncoupled from the tubular lance member and/or from the housing after curing of the filling medium.

9. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the tubular lance member is arranged pivotally on the housing.

10. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the compressed filling medium is situated in an exchangeable container which can be arranged in the housing.

11. Method for at least partial liquid-tight and/or gas-tight closure of an opening in a wall, comprising the following steps of :

- positioning a closing member in the opening to be closed using a tubular lance member, wherein the tubular lance member is coupled to a housing comprising a compressed filling medium;

- guiding the compressed filling medium from the housing through the tubular lance member to the closing member;

- filling the closing member with the filling medium, wherein the filling medium expands and the closing member is inflated and deforms elastically in order to fill the opening; and - curing the expanded filling medium in the inflated closing member, whereby the opening is at least partially closed in liquid-tight and/or gas-tight manner.

12. Method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the steps are repeated when the opening for liquid-tight and/or gas-tight closure is not yet closed in sufficiently sealing manner .

13. Method as claimed in claim 11 or 12, wherein the tubular lance member can be folded down, and the method is preceded by the step of pivoting the lance member from a folded-down rest position to a folded-out operative position.

14. Method as claimed in any of the claims 11-13, further comprising the step of uncoupling the closing member from the tubular lance member and/or from the housing following curing of the filling medium.

15. Method as claimed in any of the claims 11-14, wherein the compressed filling medium is situated in an exchangeable container which can be arranged in the housing, and the method further comprises the following steps of: - removing the used container from the housing after use; and

- subsequently placing in the housing a new container filled with filling medium.

16. Method as claimed in any of the claims 11-15, wherein a device according to any of the claims 1-10 is applied.