U.S. patent application number 09/683492 was filed with the patent office on 2003-07-10 for method and apparatus for shielding the interior walls of an explosion containment chamber.
Invention is credited to Donovan, John.
Application Number | 20030126976 09/683492 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 24744272 |
Filed Date | 2003-07-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030126976 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Donovan, John |
July 10, 2003 |
Method and apparatus for shielding the interior walls of an
explosion containment chamber
Abstract
A method and apparatus to protect the interior surfaces of an
explosion suppression and containment chamber. The present
invention uses a plurality of modular armor tile plates fixedly
attached to the interior surfaces of the chamber. The present
invention also uses a shield armor plate to protect all interior
exhaust orifices from potential shrapnel damage.
Inventors: |
Donovan, John; (Danvers,
IL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BULLWINKEL PARTNERS, LTD.
19 SOUTH LASALLE ST.
SUITE 1300
CHICAGO
IL
60603
US
|
Family ID: |
24744272 |
Appl. No.: |
09/683492 |
Filed: |
January 8, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
86/50 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F41H 5/013 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
86/50 |
International
Class: |
F42B 033/00 |
Claims
1. An interior surface protection apparatus for an explosion
suppression and containment chamber, said chamber having a
plurality of walls, a ceiling, a floor, at least one exhaust
orifice, and at least one access door, each of said walls having an
interior surface, said ceiling having an interior surface, said
floor having an interior surface, said access door having an
interior surface, and each of said walls being supported by a wall
support system, said apparatus comprising; a plurality of armored
tile plates, each of said armored tile plates being fixedly
attached to said interior surface of said walls with an attaching
means thereby creating a seam between the adjoining armored tile
plate, and creating an exposed wear-absorbing face array of said
armored tile plates.
2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a
plurality of armored tile plates fixedly attached to said interior
surface of said ceiling.
3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising at least
one armored tile plate fixedly attached to said interior surface of
said access door.
4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a
plurality of armored tile plates fixedly attached to said interior
surface of said floor.
5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said armored tile
plates are constructed of a material meeting AR-500 armor material
specifications.
6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said seam is located
directly above said wall support system.
7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said attaching means
is a conventional fillet weld placed along the periphery of each
said armored tile plates.
8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein said conventional
fillet weld is created with an inclined angle.
9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a means
of protecting said exhaust orifice.
10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein said means of
protecting said exhaust orifice comprises a shield plate.
11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein said shield plate
is constructed of the same material as said armored tile
plates.
12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein said shield plate
is shaped in a "U" configuration.
13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein said means of
protecting said exhaust orifice is fixedly attached to said exposed
wear-absorbing face array of said armored plates with an attaching
means whereby substantially covering said exhaust orifice.
14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein said attaching
means is a conventional fillet weld placed along the intersection
of said means of protecting said exhaust orifice and said armored
tile plates.
15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 14 wherein said conventional
fillet weld is created with an inclined angle.
16. A method of protecting the interior surface of an explosion
suppression and containment chamber, said chamber having a
plurality of walls, a ceiling, a floor, at least one exhaust
orifice, and at least one access door, each of said walls having an
interior surface, said ceiling having an interior surface, said
floor having an interior surface, said access door having an
interior surface, and each of said walls being supported by a wall
support system, said method comprising the step of; attaching a
plurality of armored tile plates to said interior surface of said
walls with an attaching means whereby creating a seam along the
adjoining armored tile plate and creating an exposed wear-absorbing
face array of said armored tile plates.
17. The method as claimed in claim 16 further comprising the step
of attaching a plurality of armored tile plates to said interior
surface of said ceiling.
18. The method as claimed in claim 16 further comprising the step
of attaching at least one armored tile plate to said interior
surface of said door.
19. The method as claimed in claim 16 further comprising the step
of attaching a plurality of armored tile plates to said interior
surface of said floor.
20. The method as claimed in claim 16 wherein said armored tile
plates are constructed of a material meeting AR-500 armor material
specifications.
21. The method as claimed in claim 16 wherein said seam is located
directly above said wall support system.
22. The method as claimed in claim 16 wherein said attaching means
is a conventional fillet weld placed along the periphery of each of
said armored tile plates.
23. The method as claimed in claim 22 wherein said conventional
fillet weld is created with an inclined angle.
24. The method as claimed in claim 16 further comprising the step
of attaching a means of protecting said exhaust orifice.
25. The method as claimed in claim 24 wherein said means of
protecting said exhaust orifice comprises a shield plate.
26. The method as claimed in claim 25 wherein said shield plate is
constructed of the same material as said armored tile plates.
27. The method as claimed in claim 25 wherein said shield plate is
shaped in a "U" configuration.
28. The method as claimed in claim 24 further comprising the step
of fixedly attaching said means of protecting said exhaust orifice
to said exposed wear-absorbing face array of said armored plates
with an attaching means whereby substantially covering said exhaust
orifice.
29. The method as claimed in claim 28 wherein said attaching means
is a conventional fillet weld placed along the intersection of said
means of protecting said exhaust orifice and said armored tile
plates.
30. The method as claimed in claim 29 wherein said conventional
fillet weld is created with an inclined angle.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is related to my application Ser. No.
09/457,976, filed Dec. 9, 1999, now issued U.S. Pat. No. ______,
which is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No.
09/191,045, filed on Nov. 12, 1998, now issued U.S. Pat. No.
6,173,662. patent application Ser. No. 09/191,045 is also a
continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 08/823,223 filed
Mar. 24, 1997, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,569. The latter
application is a continuation-in-part of my parent application Ser.
No. 08/578,200, filed Dec. 29, 1995, now issued U.S. Pat. No.
5,613,453 which has since been reissued with Re. 36,91 2 on Oct.
17, 2000. This patent application is also related to my co-pending
application Ser. No. ______, filed . This patent application is
commonly assigned as the patents and applications stated above and
incorporates herein all of the same by reference.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to a method and apparatus for
containing, controlling and suppressing the detonation of
explosives, particularly for the disposal of unwanted
shrapnel-containing explosive munitions. More particularly, this
invention relates the ability to protect the interior surfaces of
an apparatus used for containing, controlling, and suppressing the
detonation of explosives, which is continuously subjected to high
impact pressures and instantaneous temperature variations, thus
drastically increasing the usability and decreasing the over-all
maintenance requirements of such an apparatus.
[0003] Explosives have many useful industrial applications
including surface hardening of austenitic manganese alloy steels,
surface deposition coating, welding of metallic components,
compression molding of components from powders and granular media,
and disposal of unwanted explosive or toxic materials.
[0004] The prior art reflects many attempts to contain the
explosion process for the suppression of noise, shock and noxious
polluting explosion products.
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,862, to Hampel, ('862 patent) discloses
a large explosion chamber in which an explosive work piece is
introduced in through an air lock into a vacuum chamber where it is
detonated, and after detonation the explosion products are allowed
to escape into the atmosphere. The chamber is mechanically secured
by anchor rods to a foundation. However, a limitation of the '862
patent is that is releases the explosion by-products, such as gases
and the like, into the immediate atmosphere. Not only does this
present an environmental pollutions problem with the potential
release of heavy metals and other toxins, but also presents an
immediate danger to the near-by operating crew.
[0006] Gambarov, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,783 discloses a
cylindrical containment vessel, split along its diameter for
separation, and openable for the insertion of large work pieces
such as railway frogs, stone crusher wear parts and the like. After
insertion of a work piece and explosive charge, the chamber is
closed and locked and the explosive detonated by a built-in
detonating device. The explosion combustion products are allowed to
exhaust to the atmosphere through an air valve.
[0007] Deribas U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,883 and Minin U.S. Pat. No.
4,081,982 disclose spherical containment vessels with a bottom
opening through which a work piece incorporating an explosive is
introduced through an elevator means, and continuous feed wire
electrodes are used to make contact with an electrically initiated
detonator when the work piece is in place. The latter patent also
discloses means for introducing an internal liquid spray after the
explosion for the purpose of neutralizing toxic by-products of the
explosion.
[0008] Smirnov, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,612 discloses a roughly
hemispherical containment vessel mounted on a concrete foundation
with a shock-absorbing work table for supporting the work piece and
explosive material, which are detonated through electric ignition
wires leading through openings in the containment vessel to the
outside.
[0009] A different approach is disclosed by Paton, et al. U.S. Pat.
No. 3,910,084 in which multiple closed-end pipes are disposed
radially around a central column in-which the explosion is
initiated, with the shock waves dampened by internal baffles within
the tubes. Access is gained to the chamber through a removable top
cover plate.
[0010] Klein, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,611,766 discloses a vertical
explosion chamber incorporating a cushioned work table for
supporting the work piece and explosive charge, and an internal
shock-mounted mechanical dampening means consisting of a steel
grate for absorbing the explosive pressure waves. Klein U.S. Pat.
No. 3,464,249 discloses a similar containment vessel, in this case
spherical, with a bottom covering of loose granular material such
as sand which supports the work piece and explosive charge. The
explosion products are discharged through a vertical pipe
containing a noise silencer, and the entire assembly is supported
by shock absorbing means in a reinforced brick or concrete pit for
the further suppression of shock and noise.
[0011] All of the above prior art devices represent improvements
over the methods first used for explosion containment and
suppression which generally entailed placing the explosive device
at the bottom of an open pit such as an abandoned gravel pit, and
setting off the explosion in the open air with resultant noise,
dust, disturbance and contamination of the environment. In
addition, the uncontrolled use of explosives required great amounts
of space, posed substantial danger to equipment and personnel, and
had the undesirable effect of demolishing the ignition leads, the
work piece support surface, and everything else within the
immediate vicinity of the explosion. However, a limitation present
in all of the prior art is the need to provide a structurally sound
and durable inner wall surface which has the ability to absorb
numerous explosion activities, such as instantaneous high pressure
impact and temperature variations, without the added need for
continual maintenance and inner wall replacement.
[0012] The present invention overcomes this limitation by, for
example, providing a plurality of armored plates which are fixedly
attached to the interior surfaces of the explosion chamber. The
armored plates have the ability to withstand and absorb numerous
chamber explosions while requiring minimal maintenance.
Furthermore, upon the eventuality that a portion of the armored
inner surface becomes damaged, the armored tile plates support
modular replacement thus negating the need for complete wall
replacement or repair, which decreases cost and minimizes
maintenance time.
[0013] The present invention overcomes the disadvantages and/or
shortcomings of known prior explosion suppression and containment
chamber protection systems and provides significant improvements
upon them.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[0014] It is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide an improved protection system for the interior surfaces of
an explosion containment and suppression chamber.
[0015] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an
explosion chamber interior protection system which decreases the
amount of normal maintenance required on an explosion containment
and suppression apparatus, thus decreasing total cost of ownership
and maintenance down-time.
[0016] It is still another object of the present invention to
provide a modular tiled armor plating system to the interior walls
of an explosion suppression and containment chamber device which
allows the replacement of only the damaged sections of the interior
surface without requiring rebuilding or replacing the entire
wall.
[0017] The present invention comprises the application of
individual modular armored tile plates, of approximately square
configuration, to the interior surfaces of an explosion containment
and suppression chamber, such as those described and disclosed in
my U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,173,662, 5,884,569, and Re. 36,912. By
utilizing a modular armored tile plate system, the present
invention not only adequately protects the interior surfaces of the
explosion containment and suppression chamber more efficiently, but
it also provides the ability to quickly replace only damaged
sections, if such replacement is required. As such, the interior
surfaces do not require continuous maintenance and eventual
replacement. Furthermore, the present invention also utilizes
armored protective shields to substantially cover the existing
exhaust orifices of the explosion chamber, further protecting the
exhaust orifices from shrapnel and explosion pressure and
temperature damage.
[0018] The present invention preferably locates the seams of the
adjoining modular armor tile plates above the wall support beams.
Referring to my U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,173,662, 5,884,569, and Re.
36,912, the support beams are preferably "I-beams" spaced at
approximately two feet center-to-center. However, the present
invention can be utilized with any type of wall support
configuration. Furthermore, the present invention armored plate
seams can function without the seams located above any type of
support system.
[0019] The present invention further preferably fixedly attaches
the individual modular armor tile plates to the interior surfaces
with a conventional angled fillet weld. The preferred application
of an angled fillet weld reduces interior sharp corners, thus
dissipating explosive forces in a more efficient manner.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0020] The preferred embodiment is herein described in detail with
references to the drawings, where appropriate, wherein:
[0021] FIG. 1 is a simplified elevation view depicting the
preferred embodiment's armored tile plate layout on an interior
wall of an explosion suppression and containment chamber;
[0022] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view depicting the preferred
method of fixedly attaching the present invention's modular armor
tile plates with a fillet weld to the interior skin of the
explosion suppression and containment chamber; and
[0023] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the preferred
embodiment's exhaust orifice shield plate protection system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0024] The preferred embodiment of the present invention is best
described as a method and apparatus to shield the interior surfaces
of an explosion suppression and containment chamber device. The
present invention utilizes a system of preferably individual
modular armor plates fixedly attached to the interior surface of
the inner walls within an explosion suppression and containment
chamber. Alternately, the present invention"s modular armor tile
plates can be attached to the ceilings, floors, doors, or any other
interior surface of an explosion suppression and containment
chamber.
[0025] The present invention has the ability to efficiently and
effectively protect the inner surface walls which are continuously
subjected to high impact pressures and instantaneous variations in
temperature attributable to conventional explosions. By utilizing
the present invention, an operator of an explosion suppression and
containment chamber does not require repetitive, and ultimately
costly, maintenance of the interior surfaces of the explosion
chamber. Furthermore, since the present invention is preferably
installed utilizing modular pieces of armor tile plating which are
adjacently interconnected, if a single armored tile plate becomes
damaged, that one plate can be replaced without effecting the
remainder of the inner surfaces.
[0026] Referring to FIG. 1, the preferred embodiment of the present
invention utilizes a plurality of armored tile plates 1
interconnected together creating plate seams 2. Preferably, the
armored tile plates 1 are spaced apart approximately 1 inch. As can
be seen in FIG. 1, a conventional roofing system 3, wall system 4,
and flooring system 5 can be utilized. The armored tile plates 1
are preferably square. Alternately, the armored tile plates 1 can
be any type of geometric configuration.
[0027] The preferred embodiment of the present invention uses
armored tile plates made of a material meeting specifications of
AR-500 armored materials. Furthermore, the preferred embodiment
uses armored tile plates 1 of approximately {fraction (1/2)} inch
to 1 inch thick. Alternately, any appropriate thickness can be
utilized, wherein the thickness is ultimately dependent on
variables such as the interior size of the chamber, the amount of
explosives used and the structural stability of the existing
chamber wall system. Preferably, the armored tile plates 1 are
approximately 11 inches to 12 inches square, once again depending
on the chamber variable discussed above.
[0028] Referring to FIG. 2, according to the preferred embodiment
of the present invention, armored tile plates 1 are fixedly
attached the to the interior surface 7 of the explosion suppression
and containment chamber with a suitable attaching means. The seams
2 of the armored tile plates 1 are preferably located above the
wall support system 8. Alternately, the seams 2 can be located
anywhere on the wall surface. The armored tile plates 1 are thereby
assembled into an array in which they present an exposed
wear-absorbing face to the interior of the explosion chamber. The
preferred attaching means is conventional fillet welds 6 created at
an inclined angle to facilitate explosive pressure dissipation,
which securely fasten the armored tile plates 1 to the interior
surface 7. Alternatively, other methods of attachment may be
utilized, such as adhesives, threaded fasteners, rivets, and the
like. Still alternately, to facilitate quick and easy replacement
of the armored tile plates 1, a method and apparatus of tile
attachment as disclosed in my co-pending U.S. patent application
Ser. No. ______, filed can be used.
[0029] Within the preferred embodiment of the present invention,
the armored tile plates 1 are pre-cut prior to placement on the
interior surface 7 to maintain the exhaust orifice 9 and any other
required openings. Alternately, the armored wall plates 1 can be
attached to the interior surface 7 and then drilled or cut to
incorporate an orifice access location.
[0030] Referring to FIG. 3, the present invention further includes
a protective means for the exhaust orifices located within the
explosion suppression and containment chamber. The preferred
embodiment uses a shield design 1 0, in a modified "U" shaped
configuration which substantially covers any exhaust orifice 9. The
protective means is preferably made of the same material as the
armored tile plates 1 discussed above. However, alternate geometric
configurations of the shield design can be effectively utilized.
The shield design 10 is fixedly attached to the armored tile plate
1 with an attaching means, preferably using conventional fillet
welds 11. Alternately, other methods of attachment means can be
utilized, such as threaded fasteners, rivets, or adhesives. The
fillet welds 11 are preferably appropriately angled in order to
facilitate explosive impact pressure dissipation encountered during
the explosion.
[0031] While preferred and alternate embodiments have been
described herein, it is to be understood that these descriptions
are only illustrative and are thus exemplifications of the present
invention and shall not be construed as limiting. It is to be
expected that others will contemplate differences, which, while
different from the foregoing description, do not depart from the
true spirit and scope of the present invention herein described and
claimed.
* * * * *