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US 11,078,640 B2Granted
Oil spill spread prevention by immediate containment
AssigneeHARBO Technologies Ltd.
InventorsArnon Shany, Boaz Ur, Haim Greenberg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A boom for containing floating material spilled in water including an elongated sheet including units and spaces between the units, each one of the units including a plurality of plates attached to the sheet, designed to fold flat when packed, and to self-expand into a polygonal cross-sectional shape when unpacked. Related apparatus and methods are also described.
Claims20
A boom for containing floating material spilled in water comprising:
- an elongated sheet comprising units and spaces between the units,
- each one of the units comprising a pair of floatation plates and a pair of ballast plates attached to the sheet, designed to fold flat during storage, and to self-expand into a polygonal cross-sectional shape when deployed, wherein for each said unit a said floatation plate and a said ballast plate define an angle therebetween;
- wherein each said unit has a first and second side and wherein an expander is positioned between said first and second sides of said unit, said expander configured to apply an angle-increasing force to at least one of said floatation plates and said ballast plates of said unit, said angle-increasing force configured to increase the angle defined between a said floatation plate and a said ballast plate on each of said first and second sides of said unit to assist in setting a shape of the boom upon deployment.
A method for limiting spread of a spill of a floating substance spilled into water, comprising:
- a) providing a first boom section which includes at least one foldable elongated sheet which includes foldable units, packed in a cartridge and designed to self-expand to a hollow shape when unpacked, each one of the units comprising a plurality of pairs of floatation and ballast plates attached to the sheet, designed to fold flat during storage, and to self-expand into a polygonal cross-sectional shape when deployed;
- wherein an expander is positioned between each pair of floatation and ballast plates, said expander configured to apply an angle-increasing force to said floatation and ballast plates of each pair upon deployment to assist in setting a shape of the boom;
- b) using a deployment craft to navigate around the spill while unpacking and releasing the units of the first boom section;
- and
- c) during said deployment allowing said expander to apply said angle-increasing force to said floatation and ballast plates of each pair to assist in setting the shape of said boom,
- thereby deploying the first boom section around at least a portion of the spill, which limits spread of the spill.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.