Floating roof seal

Claim 1

A LIQUID STORAGE TANK INCLUDING A SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL SIDE WALL AND A BOTTOM AND HAVING A FLOATING ROOF MOVABLY DISPOSED THEREWITHIN AND ADAPTED TO RISE AND FALL WITHIN THE TANK IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LIQUID LEVEL IN THE TANK, SAID ROOF HAVING A SMALLER DIAMETER THAN THE INSIDE OF THE TANK TO PROVIDE AN ANNULAR SPACE BETWEEN THE ROOF AND THE TANK, SEALING MEANS FOR SEALING SAID ANNULAR SPACE, SAID SEALING MEANS INCLUDING A WEARING BAND MEANS COMPRISING A NUMBER OF SEPARATE OVERLAPPING SECTIONS WHICH COOPERATE TO DEFINE AN ANNULAR ENCLOSED AREA, SAID WEARING BAND MEANS BEING FORMED OF DEFORMABLE WEAR RESISTANT MATERIAL ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE INSIDE OF THE TANK, HOLDDOWN MEANS SUPPORTED BY SAID ROOF AND DISPOSED WITHIN SAID ANNULAR ENCLOSED AREA AND ENGAGING THE LOWER PORTION OF THE WEARING BAND MEANS FOR LIMITING UPWARD MOVEMENT THEREOF, SAID HOLD-DOWN MEANS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF SEGMENTS WHICH ARE SEPARATE AND INDIVIDUAL UNITS, SAID HOLD-DOWN MEANS BEING REMOVABLY SUPPORTED BY SAID ROOF, AN ANNULAR WEATHER SHIELD MEANS SUPPORTED AT THE UPPER PORTION OF SAID ROOF IN OVERLYING RELATIONSHIP TO SAID SEALING MEANS AND ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE INSIDE OF THE TANK TO PROTECT THE SEALING MEANS FROM THE WEATHER, A PLURALITY OF CLAMPING MEANS FOR RETAINING THE WEATHER SHIELD MEANS AND THE WEARING BAND MEANS IN OPERATIVE POSITION, MEANS FOR REMOVABLY RETAINING SAID CLAMPING MEANS IN OPERATIVE POSITION, A PLURALITY OF HERMETICALLY SEALED UNITS DISPOSED WITHIN SAID ANNULAR ENCLOSED AREA WITHIN THE WEARING BAND MEANS, EACH OF SAID HERMETICALLY SEALED UNIT BEING DEFORMABLE AND BEING SUBSTANTIALLY FILLED WITH A PLURALITY OF DISCRETE PORTIONS OF A SPONGE-LIKE MATERIAL CAPABLE OF RETAINING AIR THEREWITHIN AND RELEASING SUCH AIR WHEN COMPRESSED, EACH OF SAID HERMETICALLY SEALED UNITS BEING PROVIDED WITH VALVE MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY CONTROLLING THE AMOUNT OF GAS IN SAID UNITS.