DISPOSITIF A UTILISER CONJOINTEMENT AVEC UN CORPS FLOTTANT

DEVICE IN CONNECTION WITH A FLOATING BODY

Abrégé français

Structure (1) pour un corps flottant (2) composé de caissons (3-3E) constitués d'un matériau souple placés latéralement les uns par rapport aux autres et pouvant être remplis d'air (L) ou d'un autre gaz. Les caissons (3-3E) communiquent donc les uns avec les autres par l'intermédiaire d'un conduit (4) qui s'étend à l'extérieur desdits caissons et le long du corps flottant (2). Ledit conduit est situé à un niveau (5) inférieur à la surface (6) de l'eau (7) dans laquelle le corps flottant (2) est adapté pour flotter dans son état gonflé.

Abrégé anglais

The present invention relates to an arrangement (1) for a floating body (2)
consisting of containers (3-3E) made from a flexible
material positioned laterally in relation to one another and capable of being
filled with air (L) or other gas. Containers (3-3E) thereby
communicate with one another via a duct (4) extending outside the
aforementioned containers and along the floating body (2), which duct
is situated at a level (5) below the surface (6) of the water (7) in which the
floating body (2) is adapted to float in its inflated state.

Revendications

CLAIMS:
1. An arrangement for a floating body, the arrangement comprising:
a plurality of containers made from a flexible material, each positioned
laterally in
relation to one another and inflatable with air or other gas;
a duct communicating with the containers and extending outside the containers
and
along the floating body, said duct situated at a level below a surface of the
water in which
the floating body is adapted to float in an inflated state; and
a plurality of inlets, each formed by a tube of flexible material having an
internal
cavity, the tube adapted to be compressed to close the internal cavity,
wherein at least one
of said inlets is connected between at least one of said containers and said
duct.
2. The arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said inlets
discharges into
an extended part of the duct.
3. The arrangement as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the containers converge
towards an air supply direction.
4. The arrangement as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein a number of the
containers
extend along the floating body at different levels, and wherein the duct is
situated at a
level below the containers.
5. The arrangement as claimed in claim 4, wherein the containers are
vertically
distributed and in groups of tubes leading to the duct.
6. The arrangement as claimed in claim 3, wherein the containers have an
inclined
end closure inclined in a direction towards a bottom end and the duct, so as
to form a
folding notch which, at the same time, seals against an escape of air and an
ingress of
water, whereby the containers remain sealed for as long as folding continues
to take place.
6

7. The arrangement as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the
floating body
is formed from an upper part of a boom, and wherein a skirt attached beneath
it extends
downwards to a level to form a barrier for confining or collecting substances.
8. The arrangement as claimed in claim 7, wherein the skirt is made of
flexible cloth
material.
9. The arrangement as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the
containers
have a rear end, viewed along an air supply direction of the duct, in an area
where the
inlets are situated.
7

Description

CA 02200758 2005-07-28
Device in connection with a floating body
The present invention relates to an arrangement for a floating body
consisting of containers made from a flexible material positioned laterally in
relation to
one another and capable of being filled with air or other gas.
Previously disclosed floating bodies consist of a buoyant material which is
bulky during storage of the floating bodies in question, or are subject to the
risk of sinking
if one or more of the containers capable of being filled with air, etc., are
punctured. The
manufacture of such floating bodies has also been complicated by the number of
process
stages to be performed and by the large number of components of varying
complexity to
be joined together. Furthermore, the handling of such previously disclosed
floating bodies
has been difficult and heavy.
The principal object of the present invention is thus, in the first instance,
to
make available an arrangement of the kind indicated in accordance with the
present
invention.
The aforementioned object is achieved by means of an arrangement in
accordance with the present invention, which is characterized essentially in
that containers
communicate with one another via a duct extending outside the aforementioned
containers
and along the floating body, which duct is situated at a level below the
surface of the water
in which the floating body is adapted to float in its inflated state.
The present invention is described below as a number of preferred
illustrative embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, which
illustrate
the invention in the form of booms, where:
Fig. 1 shows a boom in its extended position viewed in the direction of one
long side of the boom;
Fig. 1A shows an example of the deployment of the boom;
Fig. 2 shows an end section of the boom;
Fig. 3 shows the central section of the boom, with its cross-section marked;
Fig. 4 shows a cross-section of a part of the boom which exhibits an air
valve;
Fig. 5 shows a further example of an air valve;
Fig. 6 shows an example of a boom illustrating its constituent component
parts;

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Fig. 7 shows a further example of a boom viewed from the side;
Fig. 7A shows an edge view of this boom in two different marked
positions;
Fig. 8 shows a further illustrative embodiment of a boom;
Fig. 9 shows a sectional view along the line IX-IX marked in Fig. 8;
Fig. 10 is a sectional view along the line X-X marked in Fig. 8;
Fig. 11 is a side view of a variant of a boom with a valve tube attached; and
Fig. 12 is an end view of the boom.
For the sake of simplicity, the invention is described and illustrated below
only in conjunction with a so-called boom, although the invention can
naturally also be
applied to other kinds of floating bodies which are subject to the risk of
puncturing of
containers intended to hold a gas, for example life-saving equipment and
boats, etc. The
invention can be applied, for example, in conjunction with ships as a buoyancy
aid for the
ship, for instance where there is a risk of the ship sinking.
Other areas of application are as a buoyancy jacket for people or as a means
of protecting boats against ice when the boats are laid up for the winter in
water enclosed
by the invention in the form of inflatable containers.
The present invention relates to an arrangement 1 for a floating body 2
comprising a desired number of containers 3, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E...3n made of a
flexible
material and capable of being filled with air L or other gas, which containers
are arranged
laterally offset in relation to one another and communicate with one another.
More
specifically, the aforementioned containers 3-3n communicate with one another
via a duct
4 which extends outside said containers 3-3n and along the aforementioned
floating body
2. The duct 4 is situated at a level 5 below the surface 6 of the water 7 in
which the
aforementioned floating body 2 is adapted to float in its inflated state U.
For example
when a floating body 2 (such as a boom) is laid in the water 7 around a vessel
F, which has
run aground and is leaking oil, in order to contain the oil and prevent it
from reaching and
contaminating beaches, etc., then the oil can be taken up with an oil
collector. It can also
be used in streams and rivers, etc., in order to form a barrier from shore to
shore across the
watercourse in question, or it can be towed behind a vessel.
The aforementioned containers 3-3n have inlets 8, 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D...8n,
which are connected to the aforementioned duct 4, in the form of flexible
material.
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The inlet 8-8n is formed preferably by a tube 9, a passage or some other
suitable device, which is capable of being compressed laterally in the
directions 10, 11
towards one another, across the extent of the floating body in the
longitudinal sense 12, in
order to close the internal cavities 13 of the containers and to prevent the
air L that is
already present in the other containers from escaping, and in order to prevent
water 7 from
entering the containers 3-3n of the floating body and into the air duct 4 from
the
surrounding water 7 in which the floating body 2 is floating at the time of
puncturing.
Illustrated in Figures 4 to 8 are embodiments in which the inlet 8-8n
discharges into an extended part 14 of the air duct 4 so as to permit the
inlet tube 9 to be
folded when the containers 3-3n are affected in such a way that they fold
along the area
4A of the air duct. The tube 9 is thus caused by waves to fold in front of the
closure.
A number of containers 3-3n, 3'-3n', 3"-3n" can be arranged so that they
extend along the floating body 2 at different levels I, II, III, and so that
the aforementioned
vertically distributed containers exhibit groups of tubes 9 leading to the
aforementioned
duct 4.
Figure 7 uses solid and dashed lines to illustrate two positions for a boom
affected laterally to the left and to the right, for example by waves, the
watercourse or
currents of water (ebb and flow), etc.
The containers preferably converge towards 15 the air supply direction 16,
and the containers exhibit an inclined end closure 17 inclined in a direction
18 towards the
bottom 19 of the containers so as to form a folding notch, at the same time as
the folding
closes the tubes 9 and causes the floating body 2 to float better over the
waves in the
water 7.
The fact that the inlet 8-8n, which thus also forms an outlet for the air L
when emptying the floating body 2, in the respective containers 3-3n is
situated in the area
of its rear end 20, viewed along the air supply direction 16 of the air duct,
enables the air L
to be emptied completely from the respective container 3-3n by folding it
together along
the rear end closure 17 of the respective container, which in this way forms a
folding notch
or is situated in close association with such a folding notch 21.
'The rear end 19A of the respective container bottom 19 is situated laterally
offset rearwards beyond the rear end SOA of the respective upper part 50 of
the container,
that is to say laterally displaced beyond a vertical line 51 which runs from
the rear end
SOA of the upper part of the container.
3

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The floating body 2 can thus be formed from the upper part of a boom. A
skirt 22 of preferably flexible cloth material suspended beneath this floating
body 2 can be
attached so as to extend downwards to the intended level to forth a barrier
for the purpose
of confining or collecting substances 23, such as oil, which find their way
unintentionally
into the water 7.
The boom can thus be produced using a common cloth material, in which
case the cloth material is double at least in the area of the container and
the air duct, and
the cloth materials are joined together, for example by welding or gluing,
etc., at joints 24
arranged for that purpose along the container, tube and ducts, etc., as shown
for example
in Fig. 4.
Filling of a floating body, etc., 2, fed out from a reel or a box takes place
by
feeding air L, etc., in a common direction 16 from, for example, a pump on
board a vessel
F, in conjuction with which the containers 3-3n in the floating body 2 are
filled
successively with air in a direction 16 from the rear 2B towards its front
part 2A, that is to
say when a container 3n situated at the rear is filled so that no more air can
be contained in
it, the air L flows onwards into the duct 4 and fills the next container in
line, and so on
until all the containers 3-3n, connected in a line one after the other in
series, in the chain
are full, and filling of the boom is complete.
In the event of a puncture occurring in one or more of the aforementioned
containers 3-3n, the surrounding water 7, in which the floating body 2 is
contained, will
force together the inlet 8-8n of the punctured container in question, thereby
preventing any
water which entered the internal cavity 13 of the punctured container at the
time of
puncturing from entering the rest of the air-filled system of duct 4 and
containers 3-3n
and/or the air leaking out from that point via the puncture hole and
destroying the ability
of the entire floating body to float. The floating body 2 is thus able to
float, even if it
exhibits puncturing of one or more of its constituent containers 3-3n, without
the use of
other buoyancy material.
Figs. 8 and 10 illustrate how welds 53 can extend along the container 3A,
3A' and connect the side walls 30, 31 of the container together so that the
containers have
a compact form.
Figs. 11 to 12 illustrate examples of inlets 108 in a floating body 102,
which can comprise an elongated tube 109 with weights 150 in its free end
109A, where
an opening 151 is located for the introduction of air into containers 103
situated for that
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purpose in the inside of the floating body. When it is proposed to introduce
air via the
duct 104 into the containers 103, the tube 109 can be raised via the float 153
of the hauling
line 152 floating on the surface 6 of the water. The opening 151 in the tube
thus need not
be closed by means of a special closure, but the tube is kept closed with the
help of the
surrounding pressure of the water against its sides, which are made of a
flexible and easily
compressible material, for example plastic or rubber, in order to make
handling of the
floating body 102 simple and reliable and rapid, without the need for
complicated closures
which are easily contaminated and rendered unusable.
The boom shown in the drawings can be arranged in other respects in a
previously disclosed fashion, that is to say provided with an upper hauling
line 29
enclosed inside a tunnel 25. At the bottom the boom exhibits a weight, for
example a
chain 26, which extends along the lower part of the boom in a channel 27.
Openings 28 in
the channel 27 permit access to the chain 26 for the purpose of attaching
anchor weights to
the chain 26.
The invention is not restricted to the illustrative examples described above
and illustrated in the drawings, but may be varied within the context of the
patent claims
without departing from the idea of invention. The principle of the invention
is thus, by
utilizing the pressure of the surrounding water and folds in the boom, etc.,
to close inlets
for the respective containers without the need for complex arrangements for
this purpose
to be present.

Dessin représentatif