This invention relates to a portable vehicle and/or equipment storm shield and more particularly to a portable vehicle and/or equipment storm shield that permits users to substantially enclose the vehicle and/or equipment for minimizing any damage thereto from flying sand or debris associated with storming conditions.
As is known, there is an increasing trend to deploy military planes, helicopters, trucks and/or equipment (collectively referred to as “equipment”) to desert terrain areas of the world. These desert terrain areas commonly have relatively violent wind and sand storms, which typically occur with little or no warning. These wind and sand storms typically produce flying sand swirls and/or other flying debris, which can damage equipment. In particular, the flying sand and/or other debris has a tendency to stick to various machinery and other moving parts of the equipment causing equipment failure or severely reducing the life expectancy of the equipment.
One solution for protecting equipment from storming conditions is to park or otherwise store the equipment in storage hangers, bunkers or warehouses prior to the occurrence of storms. However, as described above, these storms typically occur with little or no warning and due to the relative geographic location of the equipment with respect to the hangers, bunkers or warehouses, it may not be possible to store the equipment in the hangers, bunkers or warehouses before any storm strikes
It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a storm protective device that overcomes the aforesaid and other disadvantages.
The present invention provides a vehicle and/or equipment incorporating the storm shield with a highly portable and efficient structure which may be relatively quickly deployed to substantially enclose the vehicle and/or equipment for protecting the vehicle and/or equipment from wind, rain and/or flying debris associated with storming conditions. While the vehicle and/or equipment storm shield is primarily shown and described in conjunction with a vehicle and a helicopter, it should be understood that the vehicle and/or equipment storm shield may be incorporated into a number of other vehicles or equipment, including but not limited to generators, HVAC units, computers, satellites, radar systems, maintenance equipment, and the like, as will become apparent below
In an aspect of the present invention, the equipment storm shield includes an elongated base having a top surface and a bottom surface adapted for coupling to the equipment. An elongated spool support member is mounted on the top surface of the base and includes a top surface having an elongated concave surface. An elongated spool housing is mounted on the concave surface of the spool support member and includes an elongated hollow interior portion accessible via an elongated opening. The elongated opening extends along a longitudinal edge region of the spool housing. A first spool of flexible membrane material is rotatably mounted in the hollow interior portion of the spool housing and includes a first longitudinal edge (e.g., leading edge) substantially aligned with the opening located on the spool housing. The first longitudinal edge of the first spool of flexible membrane material may be pulled through the opening to remove a first predetermined sheet portion of membrane material from the first spool of flexible membrane material. This first predetermined sheet portion of material is constructed and arranged as a barrier for protecting the equipment against predetermined storm conditions.
In another aspect of the present invention, set forth is an equipment storm shield system. The equipment storm shield system includes an equipment pad area adapted to provide a parking area for the equipment (e.g., helicopter). The equipment storm shield system further includes a plurality of anchor devices, which are located along a first portion of a perimeter of the pad area. An elongated spoor of flexible membrane material rotatably mounted in a spool housing is mounted on a second portion of the perimeter of the pad area. An elongated opening located on the spool housing is adapted to permit a first longitudinal edge (i.e., leading edge) of the spool of flexible membrane material to be pulled through the opening to remove a first predetermined sheet portion of membrane material from the spool of flexible membrane material. In operation, the first predetermined sheet portion of membrane material is pulled over the equipment parked on the pad area and is retained in position using one or more of the plurality of anchoring devices for permitting the first predetermined sheet portion of membrane material to serve as a barrier from storming conditions and for protecting the equipment against damage.
The foregoing features of this invention, as well as the invention itself, may be more fully understood from the following description of the drawings in which:
Referring to
Referring to
The equipment storm shield 12 further includes an elongated spool support member 18 having a top surface 18a and a bottom surface 18b. The bottom surface 18b of spool support member 18 is substantially aligned and mounted on the top surface 14a of the base 14. The top surface 18a of the spool support member 18 includes an elongated concave surface, which is shaped to accept and securely support an elongated spool housing 20. The spool housing 20 includes a hollow interior portion 22, which is accessible via an elongated opening 24 that extends along a longitudinal edge region of the spool housing 20.
A spool of flexible membrane material 26 is rotatably mounted in the hollow interior portion 22 of the spool housing 20. The spool of flexible membrane material 26 includes a first longitudinal edge 28, which is substantially aligned with the opening 24 located on the spool housing 20. In this arrangement, an operator may pull the first longitudinal edge of the spool of flexible membrane material 26 through the opening 24 for removing a first predetermined sheet portion of material 26a from the spool of flexible membrane material 26, which includes a length and width respectively represented in
In an exemplary embodiment, the spool housing 20 includes a spring loaded tension mechanism 30 adapted to provide a predetermined spring force to the spool of flexible membrane material 26, which is rotatably mounted in the spool housing 20, to permit the spool of flexible membrane material 26 to retract the first predetermined sheet portion of material 26a after use. In the event that the spring loaded tension mechanism 30 fails or in lieu of the spring loaded tension mechanism, the spool housing may be provided with a manual hand cranking mechanism 25. The manual hand cranking mechanism 25 may be coupled to the spool of flexible membrane material 26 so that manual rotation of the hand cranking mechanism 25 is transposed to the spool of flexible membrane material 26, which may also permit the spool of flexible membrane material 26 to retract the first predetermined sheet portion 26a of material after use.
In addition, the spool housing 20 may include a pivotably mounted access door 32 that operates to seal the opening 24 located on the spool housing 20 when the equipment storm shield 12 is not in use. The access door 32 may be retained in a closed position using a retaining mechanism (not shown), such as a spring or a latch.
The spool of flexible membrane material 26, which is mounted in the spool housing 20, may include a plurality of natural and/or synthetic fabrics, cloths and materials that are constructed to be breathable, or not, depending on the intended application of the equipment storm shield 12. For example, although not specifically shown, if the equipment storm shield 12 is intended to be mounted on equipment, such as a generator, uninterruptible power supply desktop computer systems or other equipment that may require the expulsion of heat and or other vapors from time to time, the spool of flexible membrane material may be constructed of a breathable material. Similarly, if the equipment storm shield 12 is intended to be mounted on equipment that may house people, which require oxygen to breathe, the spool of flexible membrane material 26 may also be constructed of a breathable material. In an exemplary embodiment, the spool of flexible membrane material may include a plurality of breathable materials including, but limited to: cloth, canvas, and/or other air-permeable but water-impermeable materials such as that sold by W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. under the trademark GORE-TEX. In addition, the spool of flexible membrane material may include natural or synthetic materials, knitted or woven materials, which can be coated, chemically treated or laminated with predetermined materials to control air permeability and/or water repellency.
On the other hand, if the equipment storm shield 12 is intended to be mounted on equipment that does not require ventilation, such as a helicopter or other aircraft, as will be described in further detail below in connection with other embodiments of the present invention, the flexible membrane material 26 may be constructed of a non-breathable material. In an exemplary embodiment, the spool of flexible membrane material 26 may include a plurality of non-breathable materials including, but limited to: nylon, plastics and polymers. In addition, the spool of flexible membrane material may include natural or synthetic materials, knitted or woven materials, which can be coated, chemically treated or laminated with predetermined materials to control air permeability and/or water repellency.
Referring to
The base portion 44a of the angle bracket 44 may further include a releasable attachment mechanism 50 adapted to engage and securely retain the first longitudinal edge 28 of the spool of flexible membrane material 26 In an embodiment, the releasable attachment mechanism 50 may include at least one of, but not limited to: hook and loop fasteners such as that sold under the trademark Velcro, and snaps. It should be understood that the releasable attachment mechanism 50, as provided above, is provided for exemplary purposes and that there is a plurality of other releasable attachment mechanisms not specifically described herein that may be used in conjunction with the base portion 44a of the angle bracket 44 for retaining the first longitudinal edge 28 of the spool of flexible membrane material 26 in the predetermined position on the ground surface 42.
The support portion 44b of the angle bracket 44 is adapted to support a segment of the first predetermined portion 26a of the flexible membrane material 26 at a predetermined angle from the base portion 44a of the angle bracket 40. The predetermined angle for which the support portion 44b of the angle bracket 44 supports the first predetermined portion 26a of the flexible membrane material 26 is represented by the angle ø in
In another examples during relatively light winds associated with storming conditions, it may be desirable to increase the ø formed between the base portion 44a and support portion 44b of the angle bracket 44 and to relatively decrease the longitudinal horizontal distance defined between the angle bracket 44 and the vehicle 10 and/or equipment which carries the equipment storm shield 12. In this arrangement, the relatively light winds associated with the storming conditions may be more quickly deflected from the vehicle 10 and/or equipment which carries the storm shield 12, while at the same time minimizing the overall foot-print or space occupied by the first predetermined portion 26a of the flexible membrane material 26. In an embodiment, the angle ø formed between the base and support portions 44a, 44b of the angle bracket 40 range from approximately 15-degrees to approximately 75-degrees.
Although the anchoring mechanism 40 has been shown and described hereinabove with reference to an angle bracket 44, it should be understood that a number of other anchoring mechanisms not specifically shown herein may also be employed to retain the first predetermined sheet portion 26a of the flexible membrane 26 on the ground surface 42 at a predetermined horizontal distance from the equipment which carries the vehicle and/or equipment storm shield 12 of the present invention. For example, the anchoring mechanism 40 may include an anchoring system that is permanently mounted in a trench, as disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,975, entitled, Hurricane Protection for Mobile Homes and Small Buildings, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Referring now to
In the exemplary embodiment, the first adjacent edge 26b of the first predetermined sheet portion of material 26a, which is associated with the first spool of membrane material 26, includes a first zipper portion 26d, an upper flap 26e and a lower flap 26f The first zipper portion 26d is adapted to engage a second zipper portion 27c located on the second adjacent edge 27b of the second predetermined sheet portion of material 27a, which is associated with the second spool of membrane material. The upper flap 26e and the lower flap 26f each include hook and loop fastener portions 26g, 26h that are constructed and arranged to engage hook and loop fastener portions 27d, 27e located on the second adjacent edge 27b of the second predetermined sheet portion of material 27a. In this arrangement, the first and second predetermined sheet portions of material 26a, 27a, respectively associated with the first 26 and second (not shown) spools of membrane material may be coupled together.
Referring to
Referring now to
The equipment storm shield system 100 further includes a plurality of anchoring devices 114, which are located along a first portion of a perimeter of the pad area 110. In an embodiment, each of the anchoring devices 114 includes a metal frame member 114a that is permanently mounted in a trench 114b. The metal frame member 114a is constructed and arranged to form an opening 114c, which is adapted to accept a corresponding engagement member 114d (
As shown in
Referring further to
In addition, the first predetermined sheet portion of membrane material 118a includes a first adjacent edge 118a′ (e.g. front edge) that is adapted for coupling to a top edge region 118b′ of the second portion of flexible membrane material 118b in a similar manner as shown and described above in detail with respect to
Although not specifically shown, it should be understood that the first predetermined sheet portion of membrane material 118a similarly includes a second adjacent edge (e.g. rear edge) that is adapted for coupling to a top edge region of a third portion of flexible membrane material in a similar manner as shown and described above in detail with respect to
Although the exemplary embodiments of the vehicle and/or equipment storm shield 12 and/or system 100 have been shown and described hereinabove in connection with a vehicle 10 (e.g., a Humm-Vee) and equipment (e.g. a helicopter), it should be understood that the storm and/or equipment shield 12 and/or system 100 can also be similarly employed to protect a plurality of other vehicles, equipment and structures from damage due to storming conditions. For example, the storm and/or equipment shield 12 and/or system 100 can be employed, as described above, to protect a plurality of other vehicles, equipment and structures from damage due to storming conditions, such as, but not limited to, trucks, trains, jets, generators, uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs), computers, electronic equipment, radar systems and the like, while at the same time being highly portable.
Having described the preferred embodiments of the invention, it will now become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments incorporating their concepts may be used. It is felt therefore that these embodiments should not be limited to disclosed embodiments but rather should be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims. All publications and references cited herein are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
This application is a continuation of prior application Ser. No. 10/803,376, filed Mar. 18, 2004.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10803376 | Mar 2004 | US |
Child | 11870954 | US |