US3792589A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Floating barrier
Assignee: Chevron USA Inc
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Filing: 1972-01-17
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Granted: 1974-02-19
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Expires: 1992-01-17
Abstract
Abstract A boom for collecting material floating on the surface of a body of water which can be deployed and recovered expeditiously and without damage to the structure of the boom, and which is made to be stored in a compact condition either as flat layers of folded material or by rolling it on a roller. The boom is constructed to have a continuously smooth outer surface without projections or fixtures or metal parts appearing on its outer surface throughout substantially its entire length, both to eliminate the hazard of such parts being snagged or caught on sharp edges of wharfs or portions of a ship while the boom is being played out or retrieved thereby reducing the possibility of the fabric of the boom being torn and damaged, and also to prevent injury to the men handling the boom by suffering cuts, bruises and wounds from such projecting elements. Particular attention is given to means for distributing stresses imposed on the boom in use to prevent damaging concentration of stress on any part of the fabric from which it is in part made. The boom is made with inflatable flotation chambers from which the air is released when the boom is retrieved and stored and all of the elements of the combination that make up the boom such as the stress cables, stress plates and ballast weights are placed between and within the impervious sides of the boom so that when the air chambers are collapsed the boom has a thickness throughout its total area which is not substantially greater than the thickness of the folded impregnated fabric of which it is made.
Inventors
- 👤 J Sayles
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 19:12
CPC Classifications
E; E02; E02B; E02B15/00; E02B15/04; E02B15/08; E02B15/0814; E02B15/085; E02B15/0857; E02B15/0864
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
407 words
A boom for collecting material floating on the surface of a body of water comprising in coherent assembly an elongated sheet of fabric impregnated with a rubber-like material to be impervious to water and to air, said sheet being folded along a longitudinal median to form two overlapping sides of said boom with the fold forming the top edge of said sides and the adjoining longitudinal edges of said sheet forming the bottom edge of said sides, means adhering said sides together in airtight relationship throughout a longitudinal extent at a location spaced laterally apart from said top edge, means adhering said sides together in airtight relationship at spaced apart locations along said boom and extending laterally across said sides from said top edge to and including the said adhering of said sides at said longitudinal extent thereby forming separated air receiving chambers between said sides along said top edge thereof, respective valve means in a wall of each of said chambers to admit air into and exhaust air from said chambers, a stress cable positioned between and enclosed by said sides along substantially the entire length of said boom and spaced laterally apart from said chambers, means adhering said sides to the enclosed said cable in fixeD relationship continuously along substantially the entire length of said boom, a stress plate positioned between and enclosed by said sides with a portion of said plate in alignment with said cable, means adhering said sides to the enclosed said plate in stress transmitting fixed relationship, means securing the enclosed said cable to the enclosed said plate in stress transmitting fixed relationship, a respective opening in one of said sides of said boom adjacent each of the ends thereof, a respective end portion of said cable extended through a complementary said opening, a respective connector means on each said end portion of said cable for connecting second cables thereto in stress transmitting relationship, ballasting weights positioned between and enclosed by said sides and located adjacent to and distributed along said bottom edge of said boom, and means adhering said sides of said boom continuously to each other and to said weights adjacent to and along said bottom edge, said boom being constructed and arranged to contain the elements of said coherent assembly within and enclosed by the said sides of said folded sheet to provide a substantially flat, uninterrupted surface for said boom when air is exhuasted from said chambers.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
407 words
A boom for collecting material floating on the surface of a body of water comprising in coherent assembly an elongated sheet of fabric impregnated with a rubber-like material to be impervious to water and to air, said sheet being folded along a longitudinal median to form two overlapping sides of said boom with the fold forming the top edge of said sides and the adjoining longitudinal edges of said sheet forming the bottom edge of said sides, means adhering said sides together in airtight relationship throughout a longitudinal extent at a location spaced laterally apart from said top edge, means adhering said sides together in airtight relationship at spaced apart locations along said boom and extending laterally across said sides from said top edge to and including the said adhering of said sides at said longitudinal extent thereby forming separated air receiving chambers between said sides along said top edge thereof, respective valve means in a wall of each of said chambers to admit air into and exhaust air from said chambers, a stress cable positioned between and enclosed by said sides along substantially the entire length of said boom and spaced laterally apart from said chambers, means adhering said sides to the enclosed said cable in fixeD relationship continuously along substantially the entire length of said boom, a stress plate positioned between and enclosed by said sides with a portion of said plate in alignment with said cable, means adhering said sides to the enclosed said plate in stress transmitting fixed relationship, means securing the enclosed said cable to the enclosed said plate in stress transmitting fixed relationship, a respective opening in one of said sides of said boom adjacent each of the ends thereof, a respective end portion of said cable extended through a complementary said opening, a respective connector means on each said end portion of said cable for connecting second cables thereto in stress transmitting relationship, ballasting weights positioned between and enclosed by said sides and located adjacent to and distributed along said bottom edge of said boom, and means adhering said sides of said boom continuously to each other and to said weights adjacent to and along said bottom edge, said boom being constructed and arranged to contain the elements of said coherent assembly within and enclosed by the said sides of said folded sheet to provide a substantially flat, uninterrupted surface for said boom when air is exhuasted from said chambers.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
95 words
A boom in accordance with claim 1 wherein a respective said stress plate is positioned adjacent each end of said boom and located between and enclosed by said sides adjacent the said opening through which the said end portion of said cable is extended and wherein each said end portion of said cable is secured to a respective complementary said stress plate in stress transmitting relationship and with the said respective end portion of said cable extending from said stress plate and through a said adjacent said complementary opening in said side of said boom.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
44 words
A boom in accordance with claim 2 wherein the overlapping said sides of said boom are vulcanized together and to said cable and to said stress plates, and said air chambers are formed by portions of said overlapping sides which are not vulcanized together.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
131 words
A boom in accordance with claim 1 wherein said boom forms a section of an extended boom means and said section includes second connector means on each end thereof for securing additional sections of said extended boom means thereto, said second connector means comprising a rigid element secured to an end of said section and extending laterally thereof substantially from the said top edge to the said bottom edge, and fastening means on said rigid element for alignment with a complementary fastening means of an additional section of boom, said second connector means being constructed and arranged for securing sections of boom together sequentially in substantially water-tight relationship, and means separate from said second connector means for operatively connecting together in stress transmitting relationship said stress cable of sequential boom sections.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
33 words
A boom in accordance with claim 4 wherein said rigid element is a plate of rigid material positioned between and enclosed by said sides, and wherein said sides are vulcanized to said plate.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
58 words
A respective boom in accordance with claim 1 including a stiffening element located between at least some of adjacent one of said air receiving chambers and extending laterally of said boom from substantially the top edge to the bottom edge thereof, and means securing said respective stiffening element to a side of said boom in fixed relationship thereto.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
44 words
A boom in accordance with claim 6 wherein said stiffening element is in the form of a thin plate of material and wherein said stiffening element is positioned between and enclosed by said sides, and wherein said sides are vulcanized to said stiffening element.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
59 words
A boom in accordance with claim 1 wherein said ballasting weights are formed of segments of thin sheet lead and wherein said segments are spaced longitudinalLy and laterally apart from each other to permit the sides of said boom to be flexible in the region of said ballasting weights and wherein said sides are vulcanized to said lead segments.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
38 words
A boom in accordance with claim 7 wherein said stiffening elements are constructed and arranged to function as stress plates, and wherein said cable is secured to at least some of said stiffening elements in stress transmitting relationship.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
242 words
A boom for collecting material floating on the surface of a body of water comprising an elongated body of flexible material, flotation means positioned along a longitudinal first edge portion of said body, a skirt portion of said body extending along said body and attached to said flotation means with a free longitudinal edge of said skirt portion forming a longitudinal second edge portion of said body, ballast weight means embedded within and enclosed by said skirt portion and distributed adjacent to and along said longitudinal second edge portion of said body, a tensile cable embedded in said skirt portion at a location between said longitudinal edges of said body and extending longitudinally substantially coextensively with said skirt portion, means adhering said skirt portion to said cable in fixed stress transmitting relationship continuously along substantially the entire length of said boom, a respective stress plate embedded in said skirt portion adjacent each end thereof, means adhering said respective stress plate to said skirt portion in stress transmitting relationship, means affixing a respective end portion of said stress cable to a corresponding said stress plate in stress transmitting relationship, a respective connector means on each end of said stress cable and arranged to permit a stress transmitting means to be connected to said cable, thereby to cause stress imposed on said stress cable by said stress transmitting means to be transmitted from said stress cable to said flexible body through said stress plate.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
242 words
A boom for collecting material floating on the surface of a body of water comprising an elongated body of flexible material, flotation means positioned along a longitudinal first edge portion of said body, a skirt portion of said body extending along said body and attached to said flotation means with a free longitudinal edge of said skirt portion forming a longitudinal second edge portion of said body, ballast weight means embedded within and enclosed by said skirt portion and distributed adjacent to and along said longitudinal second edge portion of said body, a tensile cable embedded in said skirt portion at a location between said longitudinal edges of said body and extending longitudinally substantially coextensively with said skirt portion, means adhering said skirt portion to said cable in fixed stress transmitting relationship continuously along substantially the entire length of said boom, a respective stress plate embedded in said skirt portion adjacent each end thereof, means adhering said respective stress plate to said skirt portion in stress transmitting relationship, means affixing a respective end portion of said stress cable to a corresponding said stress plate in stress transmitting relationship, a respective connector means on each end of said stress cable and arranged to permit a stress transmitting means to be connected to said cable, thereby to cause stress imposed on said stress cable by said stress transmitting means to be transmitted from said stress cable to said flexible body through said stress plate.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1977-02-18 | 1977-08-20 | 1978-02-19 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1981-02-18 | 1981-08-20 | 1982-02-19 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1985-02-18 | 1985-08-20 | 1986-02-19 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |