Rotating containment and repelling boom and method for confining a material floatable on a liquid surface
OwnerRichard J. Lazesinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A non-contact floating containment or repelling device used to gather, contain or repel a material such as oil that has been spilled on the surface of a body of water. This device consists of a plurality of paddlewheels serially connected along a shaft secured between distant vessels. This shaft is rotated, thereby rotating the paddlewheels which churn the water, thus repelling the spilled material away from the device and toward a central region. By this arrangement, the device itself never becomes contaminated by the spilled material and is sprayed with the churning water, and therefore, should a fire break out, damage to the device is unlikely.
Claims36
A device for the containment or repelling of a material floatable on a liquid surface comprising:
- a plurality of serially connected rotatable paddlewheels, each said paddlewheel having a central axis and, comprising:
- a plurality of elongated paddle blades extending around said central axis, said paddle blades extending generally parallel to and spaced about said central axis;
- and,
- means for supporting said paddle blades about said central axis;
- and,
- means for providing buoyancy to said paddlewheels.
A device for the containment or repelling of a material floatable on a liquid surface comprising:
- a plurality of serially connected rotatable paddlewheels, each said paddlewheel having a central axis and, comprising:
- a plurality of elongated paddle blades extending around said central axis;
- and,
- means for supporting said paddle blades about said central axis;
- means for providing buoyancy to said paddlewheels;
- and,
- drive means extending concentrically with said central axis and passing through and connected to each of said paddlewheels for providing rotational movement to said paddlewheels, whereby said material is repelled from said paddlewheels.
A containment device for the non-contact confinement or repelling of a material floatable on a liquid surface comprising:
- a plurality of serially connected paddlewheels, each said paddlewheel having a central axis and comprising:
- a plurality of elongated paddle blades extending around said central axis;
- and,
- means for supporting said paddle blades about said central axis;
- means for providing buoyancy to said paddlewheels;
- and,
- drive means extending concentrically with said central axis and passing through and connected to said support means of each of said paddlewheels for providing rotational movement to said paddlewheels, whereby said material is repelled from said paddlewheels.
A non-contact method of confining a material floatable on a liquid surface by a floating containment boom comprising the steps of:
- surrounding said material with a plurality of serially connected paddlewheels, each said paddlewheel comprising:
- a plurality of elongated paddle blades extending generally parallel to and spaced-apart from a central axis;
- and,
- means for supporting said paddle blades about said central axis;
- extending a shaft concentrically with said central axis and passing said shaft through each said paddlewheel;
- securing each said paddlewheel to said shaft;
- and,
- rotating said shaft about said central axis, whereby upon the rotation of said shaft, said paddlewheels are rotated about said central axis to force said liquid surface to repel said material from said boom.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.