Material supported cover and method for securing said cover to the ground

Claim 1

Apparatus for covering and securing a stack of materials to the ground, comprising: a. a flexible cover sheet for placement over the entire surface of a stack of material extending to the ground on which the stack rests, said cover sheet including a rim portion which can be extended over the ground adjacent the base of the stack over which said cover sheet is to be laid; b. particulate ballast material for overlaying the top surface of the rim portion of said cover sheet, the weight of said particulate ballast material forcing it to assume the contour of the ground surface over which said cover sheet is applied thereby forcing substantially all of the rim portion of said cover sheet into abutting engagement with the ground surface to prevent the influx of wind or moisture beneath said cover sheet; c. a plurality of securing cables for overlaying said cover sheet each of said securing cables having first and second ends to be positioned on opposite sides of a stack of material over which said cover sheet and said securing cables may be laid; d. a plurality of elongated members, each of said elongated members having a top end fixedly attachable to one end of one of said securing cables, and a bottom end, and each of said elongated members being definable in part by an elongated axis; e. anchor means attachable to said elongated members to hold said securing cables taught over said cover sheet, said anchor means including: i. a plurality of anchor plates, each of said anchor plates having a broad surface with a top portion and a bottom portion, said plate being driveable into a portion of ground material adjacent to that which may support a stack of material in a direction generally parallel to said plate board surface, with the top portion of said plate being positionable at one ground strata and the bottom portion being positionable at a second ground strata below the first strata; ii. said anchor plates each containing pivot connector means for pivotally connecting the bottom end of one of said elongated members to said anchor plate, said pivot connector means being located on said anchor plate such that when tension is exerted on said elongated member the bottom portion of said anchor plate is urged upwardly toward the first ground strata in which the anchor plate top portion is located thereby tending to reorient said anchor plate with its broad surface generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said elongated member; f. load distribution means including a plurality of load-distributing footings, each of said footings having a base area and being fixedly positionable on said securing cables with the base area abutting said cover sheet for distributing compressive forces which may be built up within said cables over the footing base area to prevent the securing cables from becoming embedded in the cover sheet; g. footing securing means for attaching and positioning said footings to said securing cables with the footing base area being generally positional beneath said securing cables and with the footings spaced generally along the length of the securing cables to distribute compressive loads which may be developed in the cables therealong; and h. a webbing of lines attached to at least two of said securing cables to overlay the portion of said cover sheet which may be positioned over the end of a stack of material, portions of said webbing of lines being selectively removable from said cover sheet to allow a portion of said cover sheet to be removed from therebeneath from one end of a material stack over which the webbing of lines lies while allowing the other portions of said flexible cover sheets to be held in place by the remaining cables.

Claim 7

A method of covering and securing a stack of material to the ground, comprising: a. covering the entire surface of the stack with a flexible cover sheet having a rim portion; b. extending the rim portion of the cover sheet along the ground surface surrounding the stack of material; c. laying particulate ballast material over substantially the entire length of the rim portion of the cover sheet to force the rim portion into generally abutting engagement with the ground to prevent the influx of wind and moisture; d. embedding a plurality of anchor plates, each having a broad surface, into the ground in opposed pairs on opposite sides of the stack of material with the top edge of the anchor plates positioned below the ground surface; e. laying a plurality of securing cables over the stack; f. positioning the securing cables on the stack with each end of each securing cable located generally adjacent an anchor plate location; g. placing a plurality of load-distributing devices along each of the securing cables with a base surface of each load-distributing device positioned beneath the securing cable to prevent the securing cable from embedding itself into the stack of material and to prevent cutting and puncturing of the flexible cover sheet; h. positioning the load-distributing devices in spaced apart relationship along the securing cable to generally evenly distribute any compressive loads which may be developed in the securing cables; i. securing the load-distributing devices in selected spaced-apart positions on the securing cables to prevent the load distributing devices from moving downwardly along the cables; j. connecting a first end of each of the securing cables to a point on the broad surface of an adjacent anchor plate such that when tension is applied to the securing cable, a bottom portion of the anchor plate is urged upwardly to tend to reorient the anchor plate; k. winching each securing cable to a tensil stress level in the range of 1,000-8,000 pounds to partially rotate the ground anchor plate toward a position wherein the broad anchor plate surface tends to assume a position perpendicular to the axis of the securing cable adjacent the anchor plate, and make the cable taught over the cover sheet; l. attaching a second end of each securing cable to an anchor plate adjacent the second end to secure the taught cable to the ground after the winching operation is completed, by connecting the second end of the securing cable to a point on the broad surface of the anchor plate such that when tension is applied to the securing cable, the bottom portion of the anchor plate is urged upwardly to tend to reorient the anchor plate with its broad surface urged to a position which would be perpendicular to the axis of the anchor cable at that location; m. laying a webbing of lines over a cover sheet on the ends of the stack of material to weight the cover sheet down; and n. attaching the webbing of lines to the plurality of securing cables to hold them in position relative to said securing cables.

Claim 8

A method of covering and securing a stack of material to the ground, comprising: a. covering the entire surface of the stack with a flexible cover sheet having a rim portion; b. extending the rim portion of the cover sheet along the ground surface surrounding the stack of material; c. laying particulate ballast material over substantially the entire length of the rim portion of the cover sheet to force the rim portion into generally abutting engagement with the ground to prevent the influx of wind and moisture; d. embedding a plurality of anchor plates, each having a broad surface, into the ground in opposed pairs on opposite sides of the stack of material with the top edge of the anchor plates positioned below the ground surface; e. laying a plurality of securing cables over the stack; f. positioning the securing cables on the stack with each end of each securing cable located generally adjacent an anchor plate location; g. placing a plurality of load-distributing devices along each of the securing cables with a base surface of each load-distributing device positioned beneath the securing cable to prevent the securing cable from embedding itself into the stack of material and to prevent cutting and puncturing of the flexible cover sheet; h. positioning the load-distributing devices in spaced apart relationship along the securing cable to generally evenly distribute any compressive loads which may be developed in the securing cables; i. securing the load-distributing devices in selected spaced-apart positions on the securing cables to prevent the load distributing devices from moving downwardly along the cables; j. connecting a first end of each of the securing cables to a point on the broad surface of an adjacent anchor plate such that when tension is applied to the securing cable, a bottom portion of the anchor plate is urged upwardly to tend to reorient the anchor plate; k. winching each securing cable to a tensil stress level in the range of 1,000-8,000 pounds to partially rotate the ground anchor plate toward a position wherein the broad anchor plate surface tends to assume a position perpendicular to the axis of the securing cable adjacent the anchor plate, and make the cable taught over the cover sheet; l. attaching a second end of each securing cable to an anchor plate adjacent the second end to secure the taught cable to the ground after the winching operation is completed, by connecting the second end of the securing cable to a point on the broad surface of the anchor plate such that when tension is applied to the securing cable, the bottom portion of the anchor plate is urged upwardly to tend to reorient the anchor plate with its broad surface urged to a position which would be perpendicular to the axis of the anchor cable at that location; m. laying a webbing of lines over a cover sheet on the ends of the stack of material to weight the cover sheet down; and n. attaching the webbing of lines to the plurality of securing cables to hold them in position relative to said securing cables.