Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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IN-GROUND BARRIER FOR BLOCKING INSECTS AND RODENTS FOD
ACCESS TO RUNWAYS
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a safety device for airports or airfields
runways, more
particularly to an in-ground barrier for blocking insects and rodents FOD
(foreign object
debris/damage) of having access to the runways and taxiways of airport or
airfield areas.
Background of the Invention
It is well-known that birds, insects and rodents are a serious hazard to
aviation. The
water and nesting materials lead to potentially dangerous safety problem, bird
and animal
strikes. Many birds including gulls, waterfowl, raptors such as hawks and
other species flock
to airfields to eat, drink and reproduce. Birds eat insects, earth worms and
grubs which live in
natural grass and which often migrate onto the runways at night, especially
after a rain. Birds
also eat rodents, which feed on the insects. Standing water, especially after
fresh rain, attracts
many species of birds, including waterfowl. Large birds such as ducks or geese
also create
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especially dangerous conditions for aircraft and are classified as FOD
(Foreign object 1
damage/debris). Natural grass further provides materials and cover for birds
to nest and breed.
Simply put, birds are found where their food source is found, which accounts
for their
presence on and around runways and taxiways. Accordingly, many airports and
airfields report
collisions between airplanes and birds and other animals.
Most airports support an abundance and variety of foods such as seeds,
berries, grass,
insects, grubs, earthworms, small birds, and small mammals. Seeds and berries
are sought by
several migratory and resident birds such as sparrows, finches, starlings,
blackbirds, mourning
doves, common pigeons, and waterfowl. Geese are attracted to open expanses of
grasses.
Gulls, starlings, robins, and crows often feed on earthworms on the surface of
the ground, or
on a runway, following a rain. Gulls are opportunistic feeders and frequently
feed on
grasshoppers and ground-nesting birds.
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Damage caused to aircraft usually results from collision of one or more birds
with the
engines and/or fuselage. Although most bird strikes do not result in crashes,
they do involve
expensive structural and mechanical damage to aircraft. The incidence of this
problem
worldwide makes bird strike a serious economic problem.
During the early days of aviation, when aircraft flew at slow speeds, birds
had little
difficulty in getting out of the way. Bird strikes were infrequent and damage
was mainly
confined to cracked windshields. The likelihood of the loss of aircraft and/or
human lives was
remote. With the development and introduction of jet aircraft, bird strikes
became a serious
hazard and costly problem. Faster speeds mean birds have less time to reac-t
to approaching
aircraft. The force generated by bird impact with a fast-moving aircraft can
be tremendous.
The newer turbine engines use light-weight, high-speed mechanical parts which
are vulnerable
to bird strike damage.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prescribes rules governing wildlife
hazard
management at certified airports in the Federal Aviation Regulations: Part
139. The USDA-
APHIS-Wildlife Services program recognizes the potential for aircraft
accidents and loss of
human life and considers bird hazards to aircraft a top priority. This program
provides
technical assistance to alleviate bird hazards to civilian airports and
military airbases.
Consequently, many wholly or partly attempts have been made to solve the bird-
strike
issues mentioned above unsuccessful. Barriers to rodent movement or burrowing,
so as block a
food supply for birds, were considered in the past. The ability of rodents to
construct and
maintain burrow systems were reduced by heavy compaction of the site's soil
where
vegetation occurs over it. Alternatively, a substrate (e.g., gravel, very fine
sand) less
supportive of intact burrows was also used. Another solution was to place a
layer of mesh or
woven material placed over the surface that would allow grass to grow through,
so this would
not allow rodents to move between the surface and the subsurface. Finally, a
barrier (e.g.,
cement or metal flashing) was established at the perimeter fence, extending at
least 25 cm (10
inches) above and below the soil surface to restrict rodent dispersal on to
the airport proper.
An alternative to this type of barrier would be a shallow, horizontal trench
extending out from
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the perimeter fence about 5 meters (16.4 feet) filled with gravel or other
material that would
make above and below ground movement difficult for rodents. Of course, these
barriers would
only be effective if the existing rodent population within the perimeter could
be successfully
eliminated, or greatly reduced, by the use of rodenticides within the
perimeter fence. Also, tall
vegetation or deep snow cover may allow rodents to gain access over vertical
barriers.
Applicant's initial focus when creating this invention was about solving the
wolins'
issue, as runways throughout the world are littered with worms after a rain.
Consequently,
gulls account for over half the bird strikes in North America and Europe, as
they flock to
airports for these worms. To this point the only available solutions are
costly, short term and
not environmentally friendly. One alternative involves sweeping, which costs
for equipment
and manpower. This option requires redoing almost every day in rain areas and
most airports
cannot afford to have them on the runways do to operations. In addition,
sweeping tends to
break up the worms and spread them out more, which also attracts the gulls.
Another
alternative requires the constant spraying of pesticides, which needs constant
reapplication and
is not environmental friendly.
Therefore, in order to overcome all the issues mentioned above, the applicant
has
created a safety device that can be used in airports, especially around
airfields runways and
taxiways. The device is an in-ground barrier for blocking insects and rodents
FOD from access
to the runways and taxiways of airports or airfield areas. The barrier
described below is
illustrative and does not limit the scope of the present invention.
Applicant is aware of the following publications:
United States Patent No 639,246 to Kagarier, entitled "Animal Trap" discloses
an
animal trap wherein the lid J is raised and the hook K baited and the lid
again closed, in which
position the trap is ready for operation. An animal passing over the metal
plate M upon the
trap-door M will cause the trap-door to fall into the position indicated by
dotted lines in Fig. 2,
which will drop the animal into the main body, from which it may be removed,
when desired,
by opening the slide-door P. Should the animal proceed far enough into the
trap to place his
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feet upon the incline I, it will be unable to secure a hold thereon when the
trap-door falls, and
the incline will prevent the animal from obtaining a foothold upon the top of
the trap beyond
the trap-opening. The open top and bottom box G will act as a fender to
prevent any 'attempt
of escape from the main trap.
United States Patent No. 2,054,730 to Pierpoint entitled "Roach Trap"
describes a trap
comprising a box-like body 5, preferably substantially of rectangular shape,
although it may be
of any other shape to present flat vertical side and end walls 6 and 1,
respectively. The
opposite side wall 6 of this body 5 at the top edge thereof have the
comparatively narrow
sloping or inwardly-inclined ledges 8, these being cut and bent from the blank
&liming the
body 5 and constitute guards. Within the body 5, a suitable bait for enticing
roaches or other
like pests within and the latter will crawl up the plates or run-ways for
entrance to the body or
they will crawl upon the wall of the enclosure and make entrance to the body 5
therefrom by
way of the ledge 8 next thereto. The roaches or the like on crawling upon the
ledges 8 and 10
will fall therefrom into the said body and thus become trapped therein. It is
impossible for the
roaches caught within the trap to make an exit therefrom as the ledges 8 and
10, respectively
function as a, barrier for so doing.
United States Patent No. 5,926,999 to Vernon et al. entitled "Portable Trench
Barrier
for Insects Pests in Agriculture" describes a portable trench barrier for
reducing the number of
beetles migrating into a cultivated area, such as a field of potato plants.
The device comprises a
series of linear barrier sections and connector pieces joined together to
enclose and protect a
cultivated area. Each linear barrier section comprises an extruded plastic
section having (a) an
elongated floor section, (b) a pair of continuous leg portions extending
downwardly from the
side edges of the floor portion. The leg portions are adapted to penetrate the
soil and form a
continuous sub-surface barrier. A pair of opposed upwardly inclined elongated
ramp portions
extending upwardly and inwardly from the side edges of the floor portion,
these ramp portions
tetininating in downwardly curved free edge portions having smooth outer
surfaces with the
curved free edge portions of the opposed ramp portions forming therebetween a
gap having a
width of up to about 20 mm. The opposed ramp portions and gap are arranged
such that
beetles are able to climb the ramp and continue along the ramp until they
reach a point on the
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curved free edge portion where they lose their footing and slide down into and
are trapped in a
chamber formed by the floor section and ramp portions.
United States Patent No. 5,097,641 entitled "Method and apparatus for
preventing
teunites, crawling insects or other crawling pests from entering residential
structures,
commercial structures and industrial structures" and United States Patent No.
5,303,523
entitled "Pest preventer for location on a structural foundation support or a
structure
supporting a food source" both disclose a barrier located on a structural
foundation support
which is disposed between ground and a structure to be protected, and which
prevents a
crawling pest of a predeteimined size from reaching the structure via the
foundation support.
United States Published Application No.2013140400, published June 6, 2013,
entitled
"Foreign object debris barrier for runways" discloses a side barrier to FOD
from entering a
runway and taxiway and endangering aircraft. The barrier attaches to the
ground and is
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constructed to collapse if the landing wheels of an aircraft impact the
barrier to thus allow the
aircraft to safely continue landing/take-off/taxiing.
In applicant's experience, one of the way of inhibiting the presence of
insects and
rodents, which consequently will also reduce the presence of birds in airports
and airfields, is
to use the present invention, which discloses an in-ground barrier for
blocking insects and
rodents FOD from having access to the runways and taxiways of airport or
airfield areas.
Summary of the Invention
The present invention relates to a safety device for airports or airfields
runways, more
particularly to an in-ground barrier for blocking insects and rodents FOD from
having access
to the runways and taxiways of airport or airfield areas.
The in-ground barrier for blocking insects and rodents FOD access to runways
comprises a trough having a bottom part and two parallel upright and opposing
walls,
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configured in a "U" shape when viewed in the lateral cross-section (i.e. at
right angles to the
longitudinal axis of the trough). An inclined ramp is mounted to an upper edge
of a first
upright wall, so as to form an included angle f3 with the first wall. A
frangible lid is mounted at
the upper edge of the opposite second upright wall having an angle a, relative
to the second
wall. The ramp extends down into the elongate trough defined by the bottom and
walls,
without its distal cantilevered edge 4a touching the bottom or second wall.
Rodents and insects
FOD enter in the opening between the lid and the ramp to slide or otherwise
move down the
downwardly inclined ramp and fall to the bottom part, being unable to crawl to
back up.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention
will be set
forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become
apparent to those skilled
in the art upon examination of the following specification or may be learned
by practice of the
invention. To the accomplishment of the above-related objects, this invention
may be
embodied in the forms illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention
being called to the
fact, however, that the drawings merely are illustrative, and that changes may
be made in the
specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of the
appended claims.
Definitions
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific teillls used herein
have the same
meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which
this invention
belongs.
As used herein, the terms:
=25
Bird Strike - means when birds or other animals collide with an airplane. It
happens when a
bird or a flock of birds suddenly rises from a runway or surrounding area and
they may collide
with an incoming or departing aircraft causing it the aircraft to crash and
possibly resulting in
the loss of human life.
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FOD (Foreign object damage/debris) - is an acronym often used in aviation to
describe both
the damage done to aircraft by foreign objects, and the foreign objects
themselves.
Insect - includes all types of insects, wallas, earthworms and pests, such as
termites,
arthropods, snails, slugs etc.
Rodents ¨ comprise rats, mice, etc.
Detailed Description
In order to solve the problems described above, the present invention provides
a safety
device for airports or airfields runways, more particularly an in-ground
barrier for blocking
insects and rodents FOD from having access to the runways and taxiways of
airport or airfield
areas.
Figure 1 is a representation of an in-ground barrier, showing in cross section
the trough
(10) which includes a bottom part (1), two parallel upright and opposing walls
(2 ¨ outer wall
and 2' ¨ inner wall), a frangible lid (3) and a downwardly inclined ramp (4).
Figure 2 is the cross-sectional view of Figure 1, showing the barrier mounted
in the
ground in a trench and surrounded by gravel (5). By way of example, and
without intending to
be limiting, measurements are shown, illustrating the height by which the
bottom (1) is
elevated above the floor of the trench (18 inches), the distance between the
floor of the trench
and ground level (24 inches), and the space between the trough (10) and the
walls of the trench
(9 inches).
Figure 3 represents a plan view of the barrier, in a birds-eye view looking
down on lid
3 covering trough 10 surrounding runway 8. In an alternative embodiment, not
shown, trough
10 may extend between runway lights 7. Lid (3), and partially ramp 4 depending
on the angle
of the viewing from above, block a view down into trough (10). FOD 6 is shown
approaching
the barrier in direction A.
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Thus, as summarized above, the in-ground barrier for blocking insects and
rodents
FOD access to runways comprises a trough (10) having a bottom (1) and two
parallel upright
and opposing walls ¨ outer wall 2 and inner wall 2', wherein wall 2' is
closest to the runway,
configured in a "U" shape cross-section. A ramp (4) is mounted to, and is
downwardly
inclined into, trough (10) from an upper edge 2a of outer wall 2. Ramp 4 forms
an angle f3 with
wall 2. A lid (3) is mounted to the top edge of 2a' of the opposite upright
wall, so as to from an
angle a. Rodents and insects FOD slide or move downwardly on the ramp (4) and
fall to the
bottom (1). They are unable to crawl back up out of the trough (10) formed by
the bottom (1)
and the side walls 2 and 2', as the upper edges 2a' and 2a are blocked by lid
(3) and ramp (4)
respectively.
Advantageously, according to a further aspect of the invention, the lid may be
frangible
in the sense that it is downwardly collapsible.
The width "r" of the ramp (4) is less than the width "1" of the lid (3), so
that the
terminating edge 4a of ramp (4) is not in contact with the bottom(1) or with
wall 2'. The width
"r" of the ramp (4) may be almost equal to the width "b" of the bottom (1) so
that there is a
small gap "g" between the ramp (4) and the opposing wall.
In another aspect of the invention, both the lid (3) and the ramp (4) are
respectively
configured in angles a and J3, wherein angle 13 may be in the range of 15 - 60
. Angle a may
be equal to or different from angle 13 plus 90 .
In another aspect of the invention the bottom, walls, lid and ramp may be
fabricated
from a low-friction material which provides little or otherwise insufficient
traction on the
surfaces thereof for the insects and rodents to crawl back up out of the
trough.
In another embodiment the trapped insects and rodents are exterminated with
insecticide, rodenticide or other means applied into the trough.
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The in-ground barrier for blocking insects and rodents FOD access to runways
may
further be provided with drainage channels (not shown), which are useful in
draining water
from trough (10), for example, as a result of run-off from standing water on
the runway
resulting from rain.
The in-ground barrier for blocking insects and rodents FOD access to runways
of the
present invention works as follows:
(a) Rodents and insects walk or otherwise move over the downwardly inclined
ramp (4) and
slide/ fall into the trough (10) main cavity, defined by the bottom and
sidewalls, where they
are trapped and not able crawl out.
(b) Insecticide, rodenticide or other means to kill FOD may be placed into
trough.
(c) To clean and empty trough (10), water ducts (not showed in the figures)
may be provided
to flush away the dead FOD, for example, to repositories, were they are
discharged and /or
otherwise disposed of.
(d) Lid (3) is frangible so that easily collapses and closes over through
(10), when compressed
by a landing wheel of an airplane or other vehicle running on its surface, so
as to allow an
aircraft departing the runway to do so unimpeded by the barrier.
(e) Lid (3) provides a cover that, in conjunction with ramp (4), completely
blocks or occludes
seeing into bottom (1) of the trough (10) from an aerial or birds-eye view.
Thus birds will not
be able to see insects trapped in the trough (10) and will not be able to get
at them, due to the
small size of the opening "o" and gap "g". Thus trough (10) does not become a
feeding trough
for the birds, which would only add to the bird problem, not reduce it.
The scope of the described invention is intended to include all embodiments
coming
within the meaning of the following claims. The foregoing examples illustrate
useful forms of
the invention, but are not to be considered as limiting its scope, as those
skilled in the art will
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be aware that additional variants and modifications of the invention can
readily be formulated
without departing from the meaning of the following claims.
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