U.S. patent application number 10/575499 was filed with the patent office on 2007-05-03 for blast mitigation structures.
Invention is credited to Peter James.
Application Number | 20070094944 10/575499 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 29433747 |
Filed Date | 2007-05-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070094944 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
James; Peter |
May 3, 2007 |
Blast mitigation structures
Abstract
This invention relates to a blast mitigation structure (1)
comprising one or more rigid free-standing frames (2) of one or
more channel section, the or each frame being adapted to receive in
the or each channel, in use, one or more rupturable containers (3)
adapted to contain liquid to thereby form a protective tunnel
around e.g. a vehicle for mitigating against the effects of an
explosion.
Inventors: |
James; Peter; (Chepstow,
GB) |
Correspondence
Address: |
KING & SCHICKLI, PLLC
247 NORTH BROADWAY
LEXINGTON
KY
40507
US
|
Family ID: |
29433747 |
Appl. No.: |
10/575499 |
Filed: |
October 7, 2004 |
PCT Filed: |
October 7, 2004 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/GB04/04234 |
371 Date: |
December 12, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
52/79.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F42D 5/045 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
052/079.1 |
International
Class: |
E04H 6/00 20060101
E04H006/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 11, 2003 |
GB |
0323871.4 |
Claims
1. A blast mitigation structure comprising one or more rigid
free-standing frames of one or more channel section, the or each
frame being adapted to receive in the or each channel, in use, one
or more rupturable containers adapted to contain liquid to thereby
form a protective tunnel around a vehicle for mitigating against
the effects of an explosion.
2. A blast mitigation structure according to claim 1, wherein the
or each rigid free-standing frame is in the form of an arch.
3. A blast mitigation structure according to claim 1, wherein the
or each rigid free-standing frame is made of a rigid, lightweight
material.
4. A blast mitigation structure according to claim 3 wherein the
material is aluminum, reinforced plastic or the like.
5. A blast mitigation structure according to claim 1, wherein the
or each rigid free-standing frame has apertures therein such that
the exposed parts of the or each rupturable container are in the
direct path of an explosion.
6. A blast mitigation structure according to claim 5 in which the
or each free-standing frame has apertures therein in the form of a
grill.
7. A blast mitigation structure according to claim 1, wherein
opposing sidewalls of the or each said channel section of the or
each rigid free-standing frame extend only partially around
opposing side walls of the or each rupturable container, such that
where two or more of such frames and corresponding containers are
placed side-by-side, when inflated the side-by-side containers
touch beyond the opposing sidewalls of the side-by-side frames.
8. A blast mitigation structure according to claim 1, wherein said
structure is transportable.
9. A blast mitigation structure according to claim 8, wherein said
structure is in the form of a wheeled vehicle.
10. A blast mitigation structure according to claim 1, wherein a
plurality of said rigid free-standing frames are placed adjacent
each other to form an arched tunnel.
11. A blast mitigation structure according to claim 10, wherein
free-standing water-filled rupturable containers are positioned at
each open end of said tunnel, so as to provided a closed
structure.
12. A blast mitigation structure according to claim 1, further
comprising one or more rupturable containers containing liquid, the
blast mitigation structure forming a protective tunnel around a
vehicle for mitigating against the effects of an explosion.
13. A kit of parts capable of providing a blast mitigation
structure according to claim 12, the kit of parts comprising one or
more rupturable containers adapted to contain liquid and one of
more rigid free-standing frames of one or more channel section, the
or each frame being adapted to receive in the or each channel, in
use, said one or more rupturable containers.
14. A kit of parts according to claim 13 further comprising a
plurality of trolleys on which at least the one or more rigid
free-standing frames are disposed.
Description
[0001] This invention relates to blast mitigation structures which
use liquid-filled containers such as water-filled flexible bags,
arranged so as to mitigate the effects of a blast or explosion by
dissipating and/or converting to heat the resulting blast
energy.
[0002] Blast mitigation structures using water-based technology are
well known and for instance U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,079, the disclosure
of which is incorporated herein by reference, teaches various
embodiments of bomb blast inhibitors which can be inflated with
air, placed around e.g. a bomb, and then filled with water, the
water then acting to suppress or otherwise mitigate against the
effects of any ensuing explosion. This concept has been taken at
least a further step by the use of, effectively, twin-walled
containers as taught in GB2374625A, the disclosure of which is also
incorporated herein by reference, which include internal connectors
between opposing walls and surfaces, such as through the use of
drop stitch material, by which the container is prevented from
bulging outwardly, the main benefit being that a protective wall
can then be erected which is taller than the width of the base
without the container collapsing or toppling over under the weight
of water.
[0003] A problem with such prior art devices is that although they
are very efficient in safely dealing with the effects of
explosions, given that the containers themselves are not made of
rigid material and hence when fragmented by an explosion such
fragments do not constitute flying debris equivalent to shrapnel,
it will be apparent that the inflation of such structures by air
followed by substitution of air under pressure for water under
pressure by e.g. the use of a suitable pressure relief valve
arrangement, still necessarily takes some time to complete the
structure. In the event of e.g. a car bomb having to be dealt with
it will be understood that this may jeopardise the safety of
personnel erecting such blast mitigation structures around the
car.
[0004] The present invention is derived from the realisation that,
especially when dealing with potential car bombs i.e. suspect
vehicles, speed is of the essence in quickly and safely erecting a
blast protection structure around the vehicle using rupturable
liquid-filled containers such as water-filled bags, but in
conjunction with means for rapidly deploying the containers
therearound.
[0005] According to the invention, there is provided a blast
mitigation structure comprising one or more rigid free-standing
frames of one or more channel section, the or each frame being
adapted to receive in the or each channel, in use, one or more
rupturable containers adapted to contain liquid, such as water, to
thereby form a protective tunnel around e.g. a vehicle for
mitigating against the effects of an explosion.
[0006] Conveniently, the or each rigid frame is in the form of an
arch made of some suitably rigid but lightweight material such as
e.g. aluminium or reinforced plastics such that even though,
following detonation of e.g. a car bomb, such material then
disintegrates into flying debris or shrapnel the relatively low
mass of each piece thereof provides a correspondingly lower risk of
injury or damage, as the case may be.
[0007] The or each rigid frame may suitably include apertures
therein, such as by being in the form of a grill, the exposed parts
of the or each rupturable container thereby being in the direct
path of the explosion such that rupturing of the exposed surface
area of the or each container occurs simultaneously with damage
caused to the or each rigid frame by the explosion.
[0008] Conveniently, opposing sidewalls of the or each channel
section of the or each rigid frame extend only partially around
opposing side walls of the or each rupturable container such that
where two or more of such frames and corresponding containers are
placed side-by-side they touch beyond this region. Hence, as they
rupture during an explosion the containers prevent or inhibit the
sidewalls of the channels from flying off following an explosion
without at least being partially restrained by the presence of the
water and/or the flexible material from which the rupturable
containers are made.
[0009] Conveniently, the blast-suppressing structure is
transportable and may even take the form of a wheeled vehicle which
may be moved, such as by being towed or pushed by a powered vehicle
over and around a suspect device or vehicle, as the case may be.
Alternatively, where the structure is intended to be formed by a
series of rigid frames placed adjacent each other to form an arched
tunnel each such arch and associated rupturable container or
containers may be placed on individual trolleys connectable with
others, such as those used to transport luggage around
airports.
[0010] As will be apparent, an arched tunnel structure necessarily
implies open ends and, accordingly, the invention also envisages
the use of free-standing water-filled rupturable containers being
positioned at each open end so as to provide an entirely closed
structure when the assembly is complete.
[0011] The invention will now be described, by way of example only,
with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of part of a blast
mitigation structure in accordance with the invention,
[0013] FIG. 2 is an end view of the structure of FIG. 1 showing a
vehicle therein,
[0014] FIG. 3 is a schematic sectioned view of part of the
structure of FIGS. 1 and 2,
[0015] FIG. 4 is a schematic sectioned view of an alternative
embodiment to that shown in FIG. 3,
[0016] FIG. 5 is a schematic sectioned view of a further
alternative embodiment to that shown in FIGS. 3 and 4,
[0017] FIG. 6 is a side elevation of part of a blast mitigation
structure in accordance with a further embodiment of the
invention,
[0018] FIG. 7 is an end elevation of part of a blast mitigation
structure in accordance with a still further embodiment of the
invention,
[0019] FIG. 8 is a schematic side view of individual elements
making up a blast protection structure in accordance with the
invention being transported,
[0020] FIG. 9 is a side elevation of a fully constructed blast
mitigation structure in accordance with one embodiment of the
invention, and
[0021] FIG. 10 shows an alternative embodiment of a blast
mitigation structure to that shown in FIG. 9.
[0022] Referring firstly to FIGS. 1 and 2 an arched structure shown
generally at 1 is composed of individual segments of free standing
arched rigid frame sections 2 having channels into each of which
are placed individual inflatable bags 3 shaped to fit therein such
that, as will be apparent, initially these bags are generally
rectilinear but become arched towards the top of the structure
1.
[0023] In FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 are schematically shown various
alternative embodiments of structures having profile frame section
for making up the arched structure 1. In FIG. 3, the profile of the
rigid sections 2a is such that they are connected together to form
a length of connected channels in which side walls 4 are shared by
adjacent inflatable bags 3. In addition, apertures 5 are provided
in the bottom of each channel section 2a such as being in the form
of a grill so that, following an explosion, the side walls of the
bags 3 in this region are exposed thereto and, as a consequence,
water contained in the bags 3 is then able to mitigate against the
effects of the explosion even while the rigid frame caused by the
presence of the channel section 2a remains intact momentarily.
[0024] In FIG. 4 an alternative profile is proposed in which each
rigid frame section 2b is shown capable of accommodating, in this
embodiment, a total of three lines of bags 3 which are retained in
their respective positions by virtue of return lips 6 which help
retain the outer most bags 3 in position. Each rigid frame section
2b is capable of being buffed up against an adjacent frame section
2b as shown in the drawing and hence whilst still being
transportable can be used to quickly form the structure shown in
FIGS. 1 to 2.
[0025] In FIG. 5 there is an alternative embodiment in which
instead of individual rigid frame sections 2b as shown in FIG. 4,
each able to accommodate three lines of the bags 3, the rigid frame
sections 2c shown may be of any desired length, having individual
channel sections to accommodate any desired number of bags 3.
[0026] In FIG. 6 there is shown a side view a completed arched
tunnel with an alternative arrangement in which the side walls 4a
of each frame section 2d do not support the entire side walls of
the bags 3 but instead allow the bags to "close in" around the
walls 4, such that no rigid elements are visible outwardly other
than at the ends of the respective tunnel. In this embodiment, it
is envisaged that, following an explosion, flying debris from the
rigid structure made up by the individual channel elements 2d has
to pass through the wall of bags 3 in the region where they overlap
such that there is at least some suppression of some or all of the
resultant flying debris.
[0027] In FIG. 7 there is shown an end elevation of a further
alternative embodiment of the invention which envisages the use of
hoses strategically placed around the inside walls of the rigid
frame sections 2, 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d which may be interconnected or
interconnectable with each other and with the bags 3 such that upon
the structure 1 being assembled the bags may thereafter be quickly
filled with water to complete this part of the assembly of the
entire blast mitigation structure.
[0028] In FIG. 8 is shown schematically an arrangement by which
individual rigid frame sections 2 with attendant bags 3 may be
transported on e.g. luggage trolleys as conventionally used at
airports. Larger bags 8 may be individually transported and may be
used for particular applications, such as blocking holes or in
combination with other such bags surrounding small bombs.
[0029] In FIGS. 9 and 10 are shown two alternative but complete
blast mitigation structures of the type shown with reference to
e.g. FIG. 1 but in which the ends have been blocked by means of
self-supporting inflatable bags. These are initially filled with
air in order to attain their required shape and then through the
use of pressure relief valves the air is replaced with water under
pressure to thereafter maintain the desired shape. In FIG. 9, the
bags 3a are pneumatically interconnected and include internal
reinforcements, such as by being made of drop stitch material, to
maintain the desired shape, in this example a stepped structure of
shape sufficient to close the arched structure 1.
[0030] In FIG. 10 a different configuration is adopted where the
bags 3b collectively define when inflated a right angled triangle
in section, where bag forming the hypotenuse is used as
reinforcement to ensure that the structure does not collapse.
* * * * *