Patent Application
20140261109
The disclosure is directed to a blast protection system, and more particularly, to an architectural mesh blast screen system configured to protect personnel and property from debris resulting from an explosion while still allowing for ventilation and light and providing a pleasing aesthetic appearance.
Government buildings, embassies, and other public areas are often times the subject of tenor threats and terrorist attacks. Many of these attacks involve the use of explosives that produce both large amounts of debris and a pressure wave. Debris from the explosion can be created from the surroundings of the explosion. Debris may also be augmented by the bomb maker by including ball bearings, nails, and other objects with the explosive. The debris is driven at high speed by the pressure wave from the explosion and may cause physical injury to property and people.
In a common security scenario, an explosive detonates outside of a building. The explosion generates both a pressure shock wave and a blast wind. The shock wave carries debris outwardly, damaging property and people. When the shock wave from the explosion encounters a window or other opening, broken glass shards of the window or other material covering the opening may also be carried by the shock wave.
In order to provide protection from such explosions, barriers of various types have been deployed in order to reduce the damage and injury resulting from these attacks. Typically, these barriers include solid structures that block the damaging debris resulting from the explosion, but they also reduce the ventilation and the light that reaches the protected area. These types of barrier are particularly unsuited for use with windows or other openings, and are not amenable to easy cleaning and maintenance. These barriers also often times do not have a pleasing aesthetic appearance and are typically large and unwieldy. It is also possible for a solid barrier to cause additional damage if the shock wave overwhelms the barrier and damages the barrier.
It would be desirable to have a blast protection system which provides protection from the debris resulting from an explosion while also addressing the drawbacks discussed above.
A blast screen system for a framed opening including a mounting mechanism secured to the framed opening; and a flexible mesh panel secured by the mounting mechanism to cover the framed opening. The mounting mechanism includes a plurality of spring biased brackets, each having a first portion and a second portion, the first and second portions being joined by a pivot pin.
These and other objects, features, and advantages will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description, in conjunction with the appended drawings in which:
The blast screen system 100, shown by exemplary embodiment in
One preferred embodiment of the mesh screen 10 is shown in detail in
The blast screen 10 is supported at the top and bottom by support tubes 22, 24, as shown in greater detail in
Referring also to
In a preferred embodiment, the mesh screen 10 is formed from 18 gage (0.047) stainless steel wire of either T316 or T304 grades, however, the mesh screen 10 can be made of any material and/or weave desired to match the particular safety requirements. More particularly, the mesh screen 10 may be configured for a specific application by varying the open area per square foot of mesh as desired. This is done by adjusting the spread, or loops per foot in the horizontal direction, the pitch, or spirals per foot, the gauge of the wire of the crimp rods 14, or the gauge of the wire used to form the helically-wound spirals 12. The mesh screen 10 may be woven from a combination of spiral wires made of the same material or of two or more different materials. The spiral wires of the mesh screen may be of the same shape or size, or they may have different characteristics. Factors that may determine the composition and construction of the mesh screen 10 include the safety requirements of the building, the window glass type, the use of safety laminations, the expected threat level, and other factors.
Alternative embodiments of the screen system 100 may use other materials that also allow light and ventilation to enter but provides protection to property and people.
The operation of the screen system 100 depicted in
The above-described architectural mesh blast screen system 100 is designed to meet the standard established by the Department of State as outlined in performance condition 3A described in the specification GSA TS-01, level C, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. This performance condition allows for glazing cracks and fragments to enter the occupied area of a building. The window debris and glass shards, however, are to land no further than 3.3 feet from the window. The described combination of features is specifically designed to offer protection for large windows and open areas such as building entrances, vestibules, and security screening checkpoints. Other applications are of course possible and within the scope of this disclosure.
While the disclosure set forth herein has been described with respect to a particular embodiment, this is by way of illustration for purposes of disclosure rather than to confine the invention to any specific arrangement as there are various alterations, changes, deviations, eliminations, substitutions, omissions and departures which may be made in the particular embodiment shown and described without departing from the scope of the claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61799999 | Mar 2013 | US |
