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US 4,308,967 AGranted
Protection ring for limiting the width of cracks in a storage tank wall
AssigneePittsburgh-Des Moines Corporation
InventorsRichard A. Vater, John Terlesky
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Large openings in a storage tank wall caused by cracks appearing therein are prevented by surrounding such wall with a plurality of rings which are spaced apart from the wall to be structurally independent of that wall. Such structurally independent rings are not susceptible to stressing forces exerted on the wall.
Claims16
A means of limiting the width of a crack which may occur in a vertical wall of a storage tank comprising:
- a support means affixed to the wall;
- a protection ring which is horizontally disposed about the vertical wall which is supported by said support means in a manner which permits said support means and said protection ring to move independently of and relative to each other, said protection ring surrounding the vertical wall of a storage tank, said ring being spaced from such wall and defining an uninterrupted gap between said ring and any element of the wall so that said ring is structurally distinct from the wall, said ring unrestrainably surrounding the tank wall so that no force is applied to that wall by said ring until a crack in the wall causes that wall to expand a distance corresponding to the size of said gap, said ring abutting a cracked, expanded wall to prevent widening of that crack beyond a size determined by the size of said gap.
A means of limiting the width of a crack which may occur in a wall of a storage tank comprising:
- a support means, said support means including an outwardly extending plate on the top of the storage tank and a plurality of bars each pendantly suspended from said plate and spaced from said tank wall about the periphery thereof;
- a protection ring affixed to said support means and surrounding a wall of a storage tank, said ring being spaced from such wall and defining an uninterrupted gap between said ring and any element of the wall so that said ring is structurally distinct from the wall, said ring unrestrainably surrounding the tank wall so that no force is applied to that wall by said ring until a crack in the wall causes that wall to expand a distance corresponding to the size of said gap, said ring abutting a cracked, expanded wall to prevent widening of that crack beyond a size determined by the size of said gap.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.