This invention relates to structures for filling with water for damming water courses, controlling and directing water flow, for damming between walls and support structures, and providing for end to end connection of structures to extend across an area to be dammed, and the like, and includes sleeves for containing water containing bladders, where the damming structure is inexpensive to construct, erect, and dismantle.
A need for easily installable and versatile damming structures, and the like, particularly structures that are filled with water, that are relatively inexpensive, non-permanent, reusable and are durable have been recognized by the inventor who has been awarded a number of U.S. Patents for forming and joining water structures together, forming hydraulic damming structures Such water structures have been found to be very useful for safely and reliably containing water, for directing water, are also useful for controlling hazardous waste, oil or chemical spills, for flood control, and the like. Further, such water structures are also useful, for example, for temporary damming operations such as may be involved in agricultural water storage, construction, for de-watering work sites and fields, to protect buildings against flooding, and the like, and are even appropriate for use as permanent or long term structures.
Heretofore it has been recognized that fluid filled flexible water control structures and barriers can, if formed to resist movement, be used for retention and storage of water, control of water flow and wave action, and a number of configurations of dams and barriers have been arranged as both semi-permanent and temporary structures. Such earlier patents, however, do not show a combination of a flexible sleeve that is configured with finger ends, where the sleeves can be fitted and maintained together to form a continuous damming structure, or where the finger ends can be fitted into a door way or against a wall end to span that door way or wall. In practice, with the filling of a bladder or bladders within the sleeve or sleeves, a secure dam is formed across an area to be de-watered, across a door way, or to extend outwardly from a wall end.
Where earlier continuous damming sleeve and bladder structures have been arranged across an area to be dammed or de-watered, such have generally included pairs of sleeve with bladders that are braced against a pier structure, or have employed an outer sleeve to discourage the individual sleeves and filled bladders from rolling apart responsive to the weight of water or wave action directed against the damming structure, or have utilized other arrangements for keeping the sleeves with water filled bladders from moving. Unique to the invention, the sleeve fingers can be joined together, as by lacing them together along common edges, to discourage sleeve movement, can be joined around a fixed pole, or the like.
Summarizing, before the invention, no prior art structure has provided a barrier arrangement or arrangements of barriers were the sleeve ends have fingers can function, as set out above, to provide a versatile damming structure to meet a variety of needs as the invention can be used for.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a damming structure that includes at least one flexible sleeve for containing a bladder or bladders for filling with water, where each bladder includes a filling arrangement and an air drain, where the sleeve ends are notched, forming a U shape that the bladder or bladder ends fit into, with the sleeve notches to fit along opposite sides of the edge of a doorway or wall, providing, with the bladder or bladders filled with water, a barrier across a doorway or extending outwardly from a wall, and which sleeve notched ends can be fitted and maintained together, in end to end relationship, forming a barrier across an area to be de-watered or protected from flood waters.
Another object of the present invention is to provide the sleeve ends from the notches with flat parallel top and bottom surfaces or can have a taper in the top from adjacent to, or forward from, the notch, to the finger end to facilitate positioning of the sleeve finger ends containing the bladder ends across a door way or wall, and for, with blunt sleeve finger ends fitted together, will provide approximately a uniform height or the dam across the notches junction.
Another object of the present invention is to provide sleeves having ends that, from the notch, can be fitted around or across a fixed structure such as a door way, wall, post, or the like, where the sleeve notch fingers can be joined, as by lacing through spaced holes formed along the fingers edges to fix the sleeve ends in place, whereafter the bladders in the sleeve are filled with water to provide a barrier to water.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide for; conveniently filling each bladder with water to erect the structure as a water barrier; venting air from between the bladder and sleeve during filling; and for conveniently draining which bladder to deflate the barrier when it is no longer needed.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a portable damming structure that is easily transported and erected to protect a building against flooding; to prohibit flooding of an area or for de-watering a flooded area, that is easily deflated and removed after the flood danger has subsided.
Principal features of the invention include at least one sleeve that is formed from a strong, woven polypropylene material, such as GeoTex®, or like material, to provide that is puncture resistant and has a tear strength that is sufficient to maintaining the forces exerted thereon when functioning as a damming structure, and the sleeve is to receive at least one bladder preferably formed from a lightweight polyethylene material that is capable of be filled with water to its capacity without rupturing, that includes a filing tube and air drain, and which sleeve includes a notched section in each end, between fingers, forming a U shape. Where the fingers extend parallel and each receives a bladder end fitted therein to receive water, forming a damming structure, and provides for venting air from the finger ends during bladder filling. In practice the sleeve notched ends can each be fitted across opposite sides of a pair of wall ends or sides of a door opening, straddling that wall end or door way. So arranged, the sleeve bladder or bladders, when filled with water, provide a damming structure between the wall ends or across the doorway that prohibits flood waters from passing thereacross.
The fingers top surface may be sloped relative to the finger bottom surface from the notch to the finger ends for fitting the finger along opposite sides of a doorway or wall sides, or may not be sloped, having blunt ends where the ends are essentially at right angles to the finger top and bottom surfaces, allowing the sleeve to be positioned together at their notches, with the fingers positioned alongside one another and can be joined together, as by lacing through holes, that are preferably reinforced, forming grommets, where the holes are formed at spaced interval along the fingers edges, whereby the height of the joined sleeves at the junction will be essentially the same height as that of the filled sleeves. Additionally, the fingers ends can be joined around a pier or post and secured together, as by lacing, with the pier or post therebetween, providing an anchor for holding the sleeves in place.
In practice a strong flexible sleeve formed from GeoTex®, a material manufactured by Propex Operating Company, LLC, and bladder formed from a lightweight polyethylene plastic, or the like, is selected to provide a bladder that, when filled with water, is strong enough to resist punctures and the bladder ends that fit into the sleeve finger ends preferably has a wall thickness of from (5) to (12) millimeters has been used successfully for installation in the fabric sleeve of the invention. Though, it should be understood, the invention is not limited to any particular sleeve or bladder manufacture or thickness; can utilize sleeves and/or bladders of greater or lesser wall thickness; and the sleeve notch ends can be connected by lacing a cable through grommets, or by other connection arrangement, for maintaining the sleeves fingers together, within the scope of this disclosure.
In the drawings which illustrate that which is presently regarded as the best mode for carrying out the invention:
Temporary water structures that are erected at a location to be de-watered, to protect an area or structure from anticipated flooding, and are in common use. Such temporary structures have included flexible sleeves containing bladders or closed end tubes for positioning at a site to be dammed, with the bladders then filled with water to erect the damming structure. Such water structures have, however, lacked versatility in that none have provided convenient arrangements for joining sleeves together in an end to end relationship. Further, earlier temporary water structures have needed to included at least an arrangement of two bladders in a single sleeve along with an anchoring structure to provide a dam that would resist side ways movement or rolling from water forces exerted onto one side of the sleeve, or have required that a pair of sleeves with tubes or bladders in each that have then been contained in an outer sleeve to resist rolling movement where lateral forces were exerted against the dam. Whereas, the invention provides a sleeve with U shaped notch ends, forming parallel fingers, where the fingers can be sloped to fit and be conveniently maintained across a door way or wall end, where the fingers can be joined together around a post, or the like, for holding the sleeve, or a plurality of sleeve having blunt ends that are approximately the height of the sleeve body can be joined end to end by fitting sleeve fingers together to their notched ends to form a damming structure that will resist movement.
Also shown in
During the forming of the sleeve 11 of the damming structure 10, as shown in
While not shown, it should be understood that the sections of material forming sleeve 11 could be secured together along their junctions as with a zipper, or the like, to allow access to the bladders 14a and 14a, and that, within the scope of this disclosure, a single bladder or closed tube can be formed to have ends arranged to fit into the sleeve fingers 12, to the ends thereof.
The water structures 10, as illustrated in
The invention is a use of a sleeve or sleeves formed of a strong, puncture resistive and durable material such as GeoTex® manufactures by Propex Operating Company, LLC, has been used in practice, through, it should be understood another like material could be so used within the scope of this disclosure. The sleeve or sleeves are to receive one or more bladders or tube or tubes whose ends have been closed to receive water filling the bladder or closed tube are preferably formed from a material, such as a flexible polyethylene plastic, that is strong enough to resist punctures and has a range of wall thicknesses of five (5) to twelve (12) millimeters, through, it should be understood bladders or tubes having greater or less thickness could be used within the scope of this invention depending upon the sleeve size, and it should, therefore, be understood, the invention is not limited to any particular sleeve material or bladder of close tube material or to a particular wall thickness of sleeve material or bladder or closed tube and that other appropriate sleeve materials or bladder or close tubes can be used within the scope of this disclosure.
Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described herein, it should be understood that the present disclosure is made by way of example only and that variations are possible, within the scope of this disclosure, without departing from the subject matter coming within the scope of the following claims and reasonable equivalency thereof, which claims I regard as my invention.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20170241092 A1 | Aug 2017 | US |