The present disclosure relates generally to floating barriers, also known as floats. In particular, floats with leveling ballast matter chambers are described.
Known floats are not entirely satisfactory for the range of applications in which they are employed. For example, existing floats are prone to tilting and flipping over when subject to environmental factors like wind or waves. In addition, conventional floats can become stuck in a vertical orientation after being tilted by wind or waves. Floats designed to be horizontally oriented cover less area and are less effective as a barrier when they are stuck in a vertical orientation.
The limitations of conventional floats discussed above often result from ballast matter within the float being free to move within the floats and shifting the center of gravity to the periphery of the float. The unconstrained movement of ballast matter within the float often leads to the ballast matter collecting on one side of the float and shifting the center of gravity to one side of the float. The weight of matter collecting on one side of a float encourages the float to tilt downwards on the side where the matter has collected and to tilt upwards on the side the matter has vacated. The weight of the matter collected on one side of the float after it tilts can cause the float to become relatively stable in the tilted or vertical orientation.
Thus, there exists a need for floats that improve upon and advance the design of known floats. Examples of new and useful floats relevant to the needs existing in the field are discussed below.
Disclosure addressing one or more of the identified existing needs is provided in the detailed description below. Examples of references relevant to floats include U.S. Patent References: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,299,846, 4,155,323, 4,270,232, 6,571,789, 8,099,804, and 8,342,352; and patent application publications 20080000903, 20020086605, 20150059079. The complete disclosures of the above patents and patent applications are herein incorporated reference for all purposes.
The present disclosure is directed to floats including a central chamber, a peripheral chamber set, and a ballast matter. The peripheral chamber set is disposed around the central chamber in a substantially common plane with the central chamber. The peripheral chamber set defines circumferentially spaced sub-chambers. The ballast matter is disposed in either the central chamber or the sub-chambers of the peripheral chamber set. The float is buoyant and configured to float on an external liquid surface in a substantially horizontal plane. The ballast matter operates to maintain the center of gravity of the float proximate to the geometric center of the float when the float tilts relative to the horizontal plane.
The disclosed floats will become better understood through review of the following detailed description in conjunction with the figures. The detailed description and figures provide merely examples of the various inventions described herein. Those skilled in the art will understand that the disclosed examples may be varied, modified, and altered without departing from the scope of the inventions described herein. Many variations are contemplated for different applications and design considerations; however, for the sake of brevity, each and every contemplated variation is not individually described in the following detailed description.
Throughout the following detailed description, examples of various floats are provided. Related features in the examples may be identical, similar, or dissimilar in different examples. For the sake of brevity, related features will not be redundantly explained in each example. Instead, the use of related feature names will cue the reader that the feature with a related feature name may be similar to the related feature in an example explained previously. Features specific to a given example will be described in that particular example. The reader should understand that a given feature need not be the same or similar to the specific portrayal of a related feature in any given figure or example.
The following definitions apply herein, unless otherwise indicated.
“Substantially” means to be more-or-less conforming to the particular dimension, range, shape, concept, or other aspect modified by the term, such that a feature or component need not conform exactly. For example, a “substantially cylindrical” object means that the object resembles a cylinder, but may have one or more deviations from a true cylinder.
“Comprising,” “including,” and “having” (and conjugations thereof) are used interchangeably to mean including but not necessarily limited to, and are open-ended terms not intended to exclude additional elements or method steps not expressly recited.
Terms such as “first”, “second”, and “third” are used to distinguish or identify various members of a group, or the like, and are not intended to denote a serial, chronological, or numerical limitation.
“Coupled” means connected, either permanently or releasably, whether directly or indirectly through intervening components.
The expressions “proximate to” and “relatively close” with regard to center of gravity discussions means the center of gravity of the float is close enough to the geometric center of the float to cause the float to return to the float's original horizontal orientation after tipping forces are removed rather adopt a vertical orientation.
With reference to the figures, floats with leveling ballast matter chambers will now be described. The floats discussed herein function to create a barrier and/or insulation layer on a liquid surface. The floats are configured to cooperate with a plurality of floats to substantially cover the surface of a liquid collectively. The floats are configured to naturally abut surrounding floats in a relatively close arrangement to collectively form a substantially complete cover for the liquid surface.
The floats functioning as a barrier help to keep animals, pests, foliage, or other debris out of a liquid. For example, the float barrier may discourage or avoid animals harming themselves by accessing a toxic liquid. Additionally or alternatively, the float barrier may discourage or avoid animals or pests contaminating a liquid by accessing it and introducing waste into the liquid. The float barrier may also limit evaporation of a liquid or release of fumes from the liquid. The floats functioning as an insulating layer can help maintain a desired temperature of a liquid.
The reader will appreciate from the figures and description below that the presently disclosed floats address many of the shortcomings of conventional floats. For example, the floats discussed herein resist tilting and flipping over when subject to environmental factors like wind or waves. In addition, the floats discussed in this document avoid becoming stuck in a vertical orientation after being tilted by wind or waves, which helps keep them in a horizontal orientation to cover more area and to be more effective as a barrier.
The floats discussed herein constrain how ballast matter may move within them. Constraining movement of ballast matter within the float avoids ballast matter collecting on one side of the float and shifting the center of gravity to the periphery. By maintaining the center of gravity towards the center of the float, the floats discussed in this document avoid the weight of ballast matter collecting on one side of a float and encouraging the float to tilt downwards on the side where the matter has collected and to tilt upwards on the side the matter has vacated. Maintaining a geometrically central center of gravity also avoids the weight of the matter collected on one side of the float after it tilts causing the float to become relatively stable in the tilted or vertical orientation.
The features of items used in conjunction with the floats described herein will first be described to provide context and to aid the discussion of the floats.
The floats discussed herein are configured to float on a liquid. The liquid may be any currently known or later developed type of liquid, such as water, waste water reservoirs, industrial chemicals in liquid form, or other liquid compositions.
In the present document, an external liquid 111 having an external liquid surface 110 is described for discussing the orientation of the novel floats discussed herein. The reader will understand that external liquid surface 110 will often lie in a substantially horizontal plane, but is subject to local perturbations from waves, turbulence, and wind. Thus, the liquid surface extends in a substantially horizontal plane when the liquid surface is calm and deviates from the horizontal plane when subject to turbulent forces.
With reference to
Float 100 is buoyant and configured to float on an external liquid surface 110 in a substantially horizontal plane. The amount of buoyancy of the float may be selected based on the volume of gas or other material providing buoyancy that is contained within the float in conjunction with the weight of the float. Additionally or alternatively, the amount of buoyancy may be selected by how much ballast matter is contained within the float or contained within external channels defined on the float. The amount of buoyancy of the float may control its depth in external liquid 111. Selecting a buoyancy amount that partially submerges the float may increase the float's stability and resistance to tipping.
Central chamber 102 functions to contain either ballast matter 108, as depicted in
In the configuration shown in
In the configuration shown in
Ballast matter 108 contained within central chamber 102 keeps center of gravity 120 relatively close to geometric center 122. Keeping center of gravity 120 relatively close to geometric center 122 limits the tendency of float 100 to tilt relative to a horizontal plane corresponding to the generally horizontal plane of external liquid surface. Maintaining center of gravity 120 relatively close to geometric center 122 also functions to encourage float 100 to return to a horizontal orientation after temporarily deviating from the horizontal orientation. Expressed another way, keeping center of gravity 120 relatively close to geometric center 122 helps float 100 right itself back to a horizontal alignment after being tilted due to waves, wind, or other forces.
In the example shown in
As shown in
The central chamber will often be symmetrical about the horizontal plane for stability. In the example shown in
In some examples, the top or the bottom portion of the central chamber is intentionally selected to have a smaller volume to encourage the float to float on a particular side. For example, when the central chamber contains ballast matter and the bottom portion has a smaller volume, the float will tend to float with the bottom portion oriented above the liquid level and the top portion of the central chamber with a larger volume oriented below the liquid level. Conversely, when the central chamber contains a sealed gas or other material selected to provide buoyancy to the float, the float will tend to float with the portion having a larger volume oriented above the liquid level and the portion with the smaller volume oriented below the liquid level.
The central chamber, along with the other components of the float, may be formed from an injection molding process or a blow molding process. Any currently known or later developed process for forming the central chamber and other components of the float may be used.
In the examples shown in
Similar to central chamber 102, peripheral chamber set 104 functions to contain either ballast matter 108 or sealed volume of gas 112. In cooperation with central chamber 102, peripheral chamber set 104 functions to define an inner channel 114 between peripheral chamber set 104 and central chamber 102. Further, peripheral chamber set 104 functions to define inlet channels 116.
In the example depicted in
In the example depicted in
The self-leveling operating principal of ballast matter 108 in peripheral chamber set 104 is substantially similar to how ballast matter 108 functions in central chamber 102. In both instances, ballast matter 108 functions to maintain center of gravity 120 near geometric center 122.
As can be seen in
In the example shown in
In the example shown in
Sub-chambers 106 are discrete from each other and not in fluid communication with each other. Being discrete chambers avoids ballast matter 108 collecting on one side of float 100 and shifting center of gravity 120 towards that side a significant distance away from geometric center 122 when float 100 tips in response to waves, wind, or other external forces. Avoiding center of gravity 120 shifts a significant distance away from geometric center 122 encourages float 100 to maintain a generally horizontal orientation and to return to a generally horizontal orientation when tilted by external forces.
In the example shown in
As shown in
As shown in
In the examples shown in
Ballast matter 108 functions to counteract the buoyancy of float 100 by a desired degree. Counteracting the buoyancy of float 100 causes float 100 to sit lower in external liquid 111 for stability and resistance to tipping. As described above, ballast matter 108 also functions to keep center of gravity 120 relatively close to geometric center 122 when float 100 tilts due to external forces, such as waves or wind. Expressed another way, ballast matter 108 operates to maintain center of gravity 120 proximate to geometric center 122 when float 100 tilts relative to the horizontal plane
In the examples shown in
As shown in
The reader can see in
The linking recess is an optional feature not present in all examples of the float.
With reference to the figures not yet discussed, the discussion will now focus on additional float embodiments. The additional embodiments include many similar or identical features to float 100. Thus, for the sake of brevity, each feature of the additional embodiments below will not be redundantly explained. Rather, key distinctions between the additional embodiments and float 100 will be described in detail and the reader should reference the discussion above for features substantially similar between the different float examples.
Turning attention to
A distinction between float 200 and float 100 is that peripheral chamber 204 is a single chamber rather than including three sub-chambers 106 in peripheral chamber set 104. The reader can see in
The disclosure above encompasses multiple distinct inventions with independent utility. While each of these inventions has been disclosed in particular form, the specific embodiments disclosed and illustrated above are not to be considered in a limiting sense as numerous variations are possible. The subject matter of the inventions includes all novel and non-obvious combinations and subcombinations of the various elements, features, functions and/or properties disclosed above and inherent to those skilled in the art pertaining to such inventions. Where the disclosure or subsequently filed claims recite “a” element, “a first” element, or any such equivalent term, the disclosure or claims should be understood to incorporate one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.
Applicant(s) reserves the right to submit claims directed to combinations and subcombinations of the disclosed inventions that are believed to be novel and non-obvious. Inventions embodied in other combinations and subcombinations of features, functions, elements and/or properties may be claimed through amendment of those claims or presentation of new claims in the present application or in a related application. Such amended or new claims, whether they are directed to the same invention or a different invention and whether they are different, broader, narrower or equal in scope to the original claims, are to be considered within the subject matter of the inventions described herein.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3299846 | Jarlan | Jan 1967 | A |
4155323 | Finsterwalder | May 1979 | A |
4270232 | Ballew | Jun 1981 | A |
6571789 | Mora | Jan 2003 | B1 |
8099804 | Gregg | Jan 2012 | B2 |
8342352 | Alirol | Jan 2013 | B2 |
10029931 | King | Jul 2018 | B2 |
20020086605 | Cheung | Jul 2002 | A1 |
20080000903 | Cap et al. | Jan 2008 | A1 |
20130092635 | King | Apr 2013 | A1 |
20150059079 | Alirol | Mar 2015 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2005058730 | Jun 2005 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20210347445 A1 | Nov 2021 | US |