U.S. patent application number 13/153323 was filed with the patent office on 2012-12-06 for container cover.
This patent application is currently assigned to POSEIDON CONCEPTS PARTNERSHIP LIMITED. Invention is credited to Cliff Wiebe.
Application Number | 20120304372 13/153323 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46197113 |
Filed Date | 2012-12-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120304372 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wiebe; Cliff |
December 6, 2012 |
CONTAINER COVER
Abstract
A cover suitable for use on a liquid containing reservoir. The
cover is composed of an envelope of porous material. The envelope
is subdivided into discrete independent compartments. The
compartments each have access to the internal volume for purposes
of receiving a charge of hollow spheres. A centrally disposed
collection member is positioned at the intersection of the
independent compartments. This position is effectively the centre
of mass of the cover once charged with spheres and permits
expedited positioning and adjustment of the cover on the surface of
the liquid container. The independent compartments facilitate
controlled consolidation of the spheres therein and allow for
simple positioning and removal of the cover which was challenging
with prior art arrangements. The latter typically had to be folded
or rolled causing manipulation difficulties and causing potentially
hazardous situations during manipulation. Advantageously, the
present invention provides all of the benefits typically associated
with spherical geometry in terms of precipitation run off and
further provides for significant insulation capacity for the
cover.
Inventors: |
Wiebe; Cliff; (Calgary,
CA) |
Assignee: |
POSEIDON CONCEPTS PARTNERSHIP
LIMITED
Calgary
CA
|
Family ID: |
46197113 |
Appl. No.: |
13/153323 |
Filed: |
June 3, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
4/498 ;
220/216 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04H 4/106 20130101;
B65D 88/34 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
4/498 ;
220/216 |
International
Class: |
E04H 4/14 20060101
E04H004/14; B65D 88/34 20060101 B65D088/34 |
Claims
1. A cover for a container, comprising: a first layer and a second
layer of porous flexible material in overlying relation and joined
about the periphery and therebetween to define a plurality of
discrete compartments, said compartments adapted for retaining
hollow spheres to provide insulative capacity for said cover; and
independent access means in each compartment to provide access
thereto; and hollow spheres disposed within each compartment to
provide insulative capacity to said cover, said porous flexible
material and said spheres having a specific gravity less than water
to enable flotation in a container of water.
2. The cover as set forth in claim 1, including buoyant independent
members disposed within said compartments.
3. The cover as set forth in claim 2, wherein said buoyant members
comprise hollow spheres.
4. The cover as set forth in claim 1, wherein said flexible
material comprises net material.
5. The cover as set forth in claim 1, wherein the layers are joined
discontinuously while retaining said spheres.
6. The cover as set forth in claim 1, wherein the layers are joined
continuously about the periphery.
7. The cover as set forth in claim 1, wherein said access means
comprises a reclosable opening in each compartment.
8. The cover as set forth in claim 1, further including connection
means at an intersection of said compartments for facilitating
positioning and removal of said cover.
9. The cover as set forth in claim 3, wherein said net material
comprises HDPE.
10. The cover as set forth in claim 2, wherein said spheres
comprise HDPE.
11. The cover as set forth in claim 10, wherein said spheres have a
similar diameter.
12. The cover as set forth in claim 10, wherein said spheres have a
dissimilar diameter for the maximum filling of interstitial volume
between spheres.
13. The cover as set forth in claim 1, wherein said cover comprises
a quartet of compartments.
14. The cover as set forth in claim 2, wherein said cover and
spheres are composed of a material having a specific gravity of
less than water.
15. The cover as set forth in claim 2, in combination with a
container containing water.
16. The cover as set forth in claim 2, in combination with a pond
containing water.
17. The cover as set forth in claim 2, in combination with a pool
containing water
18. A surface cover for covering a surface of contained liquid,
comprising: a first layer and a second layer of porous flexible
material in overlying relation and joined about the periphery and
therebetween to define a plurality of discrete compartments, said
compartments adapted for retaining hollow spheres to provide
insulative capacity for said cover; independent access means in
each compartment to provide access thereto; and hollow spheres
disposed within each compartment to provide insulative capacity to
said cover, said porous flexible material and said spheres having a
specific gravity less than water to enable flotation in a container
of water.
19. The cover as set forth in claim 18, wherein said cover includes
a quartet of compartments.
20. The cover as set forth in claim 18, wherein said compartments
are substantially rectangular.
21. The cover as set forth in claim 18, wherein said compartments
are substantially square.
22. The cover as set forth in claim 18, wherein said compartments
are generally sectors of an arc.
23. The cover as set forth in claim 18, in combination with a
container for containing water.
24. The cover as set forth in claim 18, in combination with a pond
containing water.
25. The cover as set forth in claim 18, in combination with a pool.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a cover for a reservoir or
container which is adapted to hold a liquid material for storage
purposes and more particularly, the present invention is directed
to a cover which has improved insulation capacity and is easily
positioned and removed from a reservoir.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The prior art is replete with covers for reservoirs or
containers as well as those which are adapted to act as a water
fowl deterrent. In the case of the latter, a number of companies
have proposed the use of floating spheres for this purpose as well
as for general coverage of a water body. An example of this can be
found in the Torex company which provides floating ball pond covers
with the purpose for preventing birds from landing on ponds.
Typically, the balls or spheres are composed of high density
polyethylene (HDPE) which have impregnated therein carbon black for
purposes of UV stabilization. The balls have been found to be
particularly useful, since the spherical surfaces can withstand
snow, wind and sun with minor to virtually no destruction into the
balls themselves. Other organizations involved in this area include
Euromatic which has trademarked the Bird Ball. Others involving
this area include Advanced Water Treatment Technologies (AWTT)
which provides a high performance floating cover composed of UV
resistant virgin HDPE under the mark Armour Balls.
[0003] These spheres have obvious utility, however, all of them
suffer from the fact that they are unconsolidated as a mass and
therefore can become separated from the group in which they are
positioned. Further, the balls can be moved by larger animals and
thus become scattered from the main group. This obviously defeats
the purpose of having the pond coverage required and also
exacerbates costs for replacement of the spheres.
[0004] In order to combat these limitations, the art has considered
alternatives in terms of the shapes of the floating bodies. One
example of this is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,214, issued Nov.
23, 1976 to Usab. The reference teaches an open liquid surface
cover composed of a plurality of pentagonal dodecahedrons. The
patentee teaches that the dodecahedrons may be hollow or solid, but
are made of structural foam having a specific gravity which is
approximately one half of the specific gravity of the liquid upon
which they are placed. The advantage to this arrangement is that
the dodecahedrons clearly provide multiple faces and thus do not
present any interstitial volume such as would be the case with
spherical bodies. Accordingly, a substantially full, nonpermeable
surface is presented for the top of the liquid. Although useful,
this arrangement would appear to constitute materials that are
quite expensive and further may not operate optimally in situations
where there is freezing precipitation.
[0005] A variation of that which is taught by Usab is established
in U.S. Pat. No. 7,387,473 issued Jun. 17, 2008, to Smith. The
patentee provides an apparatus and method for creating a floating
cover. The disclosure stipulates that the system has a plurality of
buoyant bodies each having a shape defined by a plurality of faces
and edges where each edge is formed by two intersecting faces. The
bodies, when in use, are partially submerged in a fluid such that
at least a portion of a first face of a first body contacts at
least a portion of a first face of a second body to form a
substantially gapless barrier between the surface of the fluid and
the environment. This structure would appear to be limited to the
same extent as the structure taught by Usab supra.
[0006] In U.S. Pat. No. 7,314,564, issued Jan. 1, 2008, Kruse et
al., teach a method for treating liquids. The method incorporates a
cover having a plurality of hollow bodies disposed on the surface
of the wastewater. Each of the bodies is adapted to float on the
wastewater surface and has the contiguous outer surface and is a
sufficient mass so that 30% to 70% of the outer surface of the
hollow body is exposed to the atmosphere.
[0007] There is no discussion regarding a spherical geometry of the
bodies or any contemplation that such bodies could be put into a
permeable envelope for the purposes of consolidation.
[0008] Turning to U.S. Patent Application Publication No.
2006/0005830, published Jan. 12, 2006, to Rosene et al., there is
disclosed a floating solar pool heater. The arrangement discussed
in the publication is rather conventional in structure and although
providing individual openings, there is an absence of any
instruction regarding the use of the cover with, for example,
hollow spheres, although the cover does provide an insulative
capacity.
[0009] Fish, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,462, teaches a fillable
structure. In the disclosure, the patentee provides for a floating,
flexible structure which can be filled with liquid. The structure
is defined by pieces fixed by side seams and the seams are rendered
buoyant by trapped balls. A vent is disposed in an upper portion of
the container and has thereunder a net bag filled with balls to
maintain gas passage, a transverse tube of netting rendered buoyant
by balls maintains liquid flow for discharge through a hose. The
point of this structure is to recover oil which has been spilled on
the surface of a large body of water.
[0010] In greater detail, the Fish reference uses the balls for
floating attributes, and also to disallow the upper layer of the
"lid" to be tightly contacted by the lower layer to promote a "void
space" that is proposed to act as a container for floating material
on a fluid surface (aimed at recovering oil slicks, etc. on water).
The balls are also contained in a tubular netting to disallow
"bunching up" in sections between the upper and lower liners. This
structure would have no real utility to function as a cover for a
reservoir adapted to contain a predetermined volume of liquid. As a
further point, the structure is not amenable to expeditious
positioning and removal when required from a body of water upon
which it is placed. This would be particularly true for a container
of liquid.
[0011] Further variations on covers and floatable pads include
those structures taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,102,902, 4,749,606 and
7,789,043.
[0012] It is evident that the art has proposed a number of useful
structures; however, these structures are not well adapted for
simple positioning and removal from the surface of a liquid
reservoir which also provide for surface protection from
contamination, insulation capacity and a reduction in evaporation
of the liquid to the atmosphere. Accordingly, it would be desirable
to have a cover structure and cover system that overcomes the
limitations of the prior art. It would be beneficial to use the
netting as the upper and lower barriers simply to contain the balls
without any other impermeable membranes surrounding the balls or
the containment netting.
[0013] Further, using the netting to contain the balls for ease of
installation and removal from the fluid container, the balls
beneficially can be used for insulation purposes while the netting
acts as a deterrent from debris or wildlife/waterfowl from entering
the container. The present invention satiates this need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0014] One object of one embodiment of the present invention is to
provide an improved cover adapted for use on a reservoir or
container suitable for holding a liquid and a system for covering
such structures.
[0015] In accordance with a further object of one embodiment of the
present invention there is provided a cover for a container,
comprising means for providing access to each compartment of said
compartments, said compartments adapted for retaining hollow
spheres to provide insulative capacity for said cover.
[0016] In respect of the cover, it has been found that the use of
HDPE is particularly effective for the composition of the spheres,
netting and the material for releasably opening the netting.
[0017] In a preferred embodiment, the cover is composed of a
plurality of discrete compartments adapted to receive a charge of
hollow spheres which may be 4 inches in diameter by way of example.
The individual compartments will provide access points to
facilitate charging of the net or mesh material with the spheres.
Once the cover is in position, the access point may be sealed with
suitable material which does not interfere with the functioning of
the cover.
[0018] Of particular convenience is the provision of a central
connection means which may be disposed at the central intersection
of each of the compartments. As an example, where the cover were to
contain four compartments the central connection would be
positioned centrally at the intersection of all four compartments.
This has advantages in terms of manipulation of the cover for
placement purposes, since the central point will be effectively the
centre of mass of the cover when the same is removed or positioned.
This also has a distinct advantage in terms of allowing the cover,
when picked up for removal and repositioning, to take the form of a
vertically gathered consolidated article as opposed to having to
roll the cover as is attributed to prior art arrangements.
[0019] The cover is preferably used on reservoir containers,
however, the technology is not limited to this environment; the
arrangement can easily be used for pond, pool, etc. applications.
In the latter scenario, it is contemplated that several manageably
sized cover structures could be grouped together to form a large
cover for an open body of water where the features of the instant
invention are required.
[0020] In accordance with another object of one embodiment of the
present invention, there is provided a surface cover for covering a
surface of contained liquid, comprising: [0021] a first layer and a
second layer of porous flexible material in overlying relation and
joined about the periphery and therebetween to define a plurality
of discrete compartments, said compartments adapted for retaining
hollow spheres to provide insulative capacity for said cover; and
[0022] independent access means in each compartment to provide
access thereto; and [0023] hollow spheres disposed within each
compartment to provide insulative capacity to said cover, said
porous flexible material and said spheres having a specific gravity
less than water to enable flotation in a container of water.
[0024] With respect to the spheres for use in the instant
invention, the spheres manufactured by the Torex company discussed
herein previously are adequate for the purposes of this invention.
With respect to the porous material, i.e. netting or mesh, the same
will obviously have a pore size less than the diameter of the
spheres for purposes of retention. The pore size or mesh size of
the porous material can he any suitable range in size from, for
example, 1 millimetre to 10 millimetres or more. This will depend
on the diameter of the spheres charged into the envelope of the
mesh material. The spheres have been bound to be particularly
useful for purposes of insulation. This has a dramatic effect on
storage of for example, water at a work site. It is desirable to
maintain water temperature for certain purposes at, for example, a
mine site or a hydrocarbon processing site to avoid additional
costs of reheating the water.
[0025] In order to augment the insulative capacity of the cover
containing the spheres, it is contemplated herein that differently
sized spheres may be used to provide a spherical distribution where
the interstitial volume is reduced. In the vernacular, if one were
to use only a single diameter sphere for charging the porous
material envelope, then there would be a significant amount of
interstitial volume which, of course, contributes to potential
evaporation of the liquid and heat loss by passive radiation. By
providing differently sized spheres, the interstitial volume can be
reduced and thus the coverage area increased. This is in contrast
to the structures discussed in the prior art, namely those set
forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,993,214 and 7,387,473. In the latter
arrangements, the degree of flexibility between adjacent bodies
would not be as free as it would be with spherical bodies. The
dodecahedron situation is believed to be quite inefficient, since
parallel faces contact one another and where freezing precipitation
is involved, the faces could effectively sheer one another and
potentially damage the body itself and lead to large areas of the
bodies being frozen together due to the fact that they do not have
the benefit of the spherical surface which would otherwise
dissipate the precipitate.
[0026] Having thus generally described the invention, reference
will now be made to the accompanying drawings illustrating
preferred embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0027] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the
cover structure according to the present invention;
[0028] FIG. 2 is an alternate embodiment of FIG. 1;
[0029] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the
present invention where the cover is in situ;
[0030] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the cover structure during
positioning in situ as a pool cover;
[0031] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of yet a further embodiment of
the present invention where the cover is disposed on the surface of
a pond; and
[0032] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of
the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.
[0033] Similar numerals employed in the drawings denote similar
elements.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0034] Referring now to FIG. 1, shown is a first embodiment of the
cover, globally denoted by numeral 10. The cover includes a first
layer of porous flexible material 12 which overlies a second layer
of porous flexible material 14. The first layer 12 and second layer
14 are joined about the periphery 16 by suitable fastening means
(not shown). A suitable fastening means could be stitching,
etc.
[0035] A plurality of discrete compartments are provided by the
inclusion of stitching 18. The stitching may be a continuous
stitching or intermittent stitching. This divides the liner 10 into
individual compartments 20, 22, 24 and 26. In the example shown in
FIG. 1, there is a quartet of compartments of 20 through 26. Each
of the compartments 20 through 26 includes independent access via,
for example, a slit 30, 32, 34 and 36, respectively relative to the
compartments 20 through 26. The independent access slits 30 through
36 are recloseable with suitable stitching as noted with respect to
member 18, defined herein previously as stitching 18.
[0036] Disposed within the individual compartments 20 through 26,
via access slits 30 through 36 respectively, are disposed buoyant
members 38, shown in the example as spheres. The spheres 38, by way
of example, may comprise hollow carbon black four inch diameter
spheres. It has been found that by providing a spherical surface,
that a high insulation value is achieved and that precipitation
does not adhere as would be the case with conventional cover
arrangements. The buoyant members 38, may also take the form of
polygons, depicted by numeral 40 in FIG. 1.
[0037] The cover 10 includes in a centrally disposed position and,
more particularly, at the intersection point of each of the
individual compartments 20 through 26, a connection area 42. The
connection area 42 includes a connector 44, shown in the example as
a ring which can be used to position the liner 10 on the top
surface of a layer of liquid to be covered as is illustrated in
FIGS. 3 through 5 to be discussed hereinafter.
[0038] Advantageously, by providing the connection area 42 at a
central position in the cover, the cover 10 is more easily
manipulated. The central area 42 is effectively a centre of mass of
the cover 10. As such, when the cover 10 is picked up, the entire
unit folds into a downward draped position as an orderly
consolidated unit. The fact that the cover 10 includes the
individual compartments 20 through 26 also contributes to the ease
of manipulation. The individual compartments 20 through 26 allow
for more consolidated retention of the spheres 38. This is in
marked contrast to a system that would not incorporate individual
compartmentalization. In the absence of compartments, the buoyant
members 38 or spheres, when the cover is picked up for
repositioning, would have the tendency to bunch together in the
form of an inverted bulb shape, as opposed to an individual draped
unit. This has ramifications in terms of control of the cover 10
during movement as the inverted bulb type situation would provide a
concentrated mass of spheres at a relatively localized point which
could prematurely stress the flexible material leading to premature
wear or breakage. Further, it will be appreciated by those skilled
in the art that the inverted bulb shape, during high wind
conditions, presents a very large surface area for the wind to
contact and thus become somewhat challenging to move. These
disadvantages are avoided by providing compartmentalization which
distributes the mass of the buoyant bodies 38 in a more efficient
manner to avoid high stress points with the flexible material 12
and 14.
[0039] It has been found that the material of which the cover may
be made in terms of the flexible material 12, 14 as well as the
stitching 18 may comprise HDPE. Other suitable examples will
include polypropylene, high impact polystyrene (HIPS), and
polyethylene. These materials are suitable owing to the fact that
they have properties that are desirable for the cover structure,
namely a specific gravity less than water. The ability to retain UV
stabilizers to prevent premature oxidation by the exposure to sun
and durability in use conditions where the temperature fluctuates
from high temperatures to temperature below freezing.
[0040] It has also been found that by making use of the flexible
material 12 and 14 of the cover 10 with the buoyant members 38,
that freezing precipitation does not have any proclivity to be
retained on the flexible material or spheres 38. This is due to the
fact that precipitation will effectively be transferred through the
porous material 12 and 14 onto the spheres 38. Since the spheres
obviously have a round surface, there is a tendency for the
precipitation to simply run off the surface of the spheres 38. As
is illustrated in FIG. 1, the buoyant members or spheres 38 may
also be substituted with a polygonal shaped 40. The polygonal
shaped 40 also has the similar attributes of the spheres concerning
precipitation run off, etc.
[0041] Turning to FIG. 2, shown as a further embodiment of the
present invention, where the cover structure 10 is shown in a
generally rectangular form, as opposed to the circular form shown
in FIG. 1.
[0042] Turning to FIG. 3, shown as a perspective view of the cover
10 as positioned in situ in a liquid holding container 46.
[0043] In respect of FIG. 4, the rectangular version of the cover
10 is shown as positioned on the top surface of a pool, globally
denoted by numeral 48.
[0044] FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment where the cover 10 has an
asymmetrical shape in order to cover a pond 50.
[0045] Regarding FIG. 6, shown is a further variation of the
overall structure of FIG. 1.
[0046] As depicted, the buoyant bodies 38 in this embodiment
illustrate two differently sized spheres. Although the single
diameter spheres have obvious utility in adding insulative capacity
to the cover 10, the provision of a second or plurality of
differently sized spheres also has significant advantage. This
advantage is realized by the fact that where a single diameter
sphere is used, there is interstitial volume between the spheres.
By providing differently sized spheres, the interstitial volume may
be filled to thus provide a surface that has an even greater
insulative capacity. This is due to the fact that there are no open
areas; the differently sized spheres will interstitially fill the
entire area to be covered.
[0047] It is known by those skilled in the art that maximum
spherical packing can be achieved by making use of a particle size
distribution where there are a number of sphere sizes within a
given distribution. This provides the greatest possible degree of
spherical packing and thus a minimal amount of interstitial volume.
It is contemplated that the cover 10, according to the present
invention, can include a plurality of diameters for the buoyant
bodies in the case of spherical geometry. In respect of the
polygonal geometry, a similar situation exists; depending on the
specific geometry of the polygon, differently sized polygons can
contribute to the interstitial contribution.
[0048] As has been indicated herein previously, the stitching 18
between compartments 20 through 26 may be continuous or
discontinuous. In the case of the latter, it will be appreciated
that the stitching will be sufficient to maintain the buoyant
bodies 38 such that they do not transmigrate from one compartment
to another.
[0049] In terms of the material of which the flexible layers 12 and
14 are made, it has been discussed what suitable materials may be
used. In terms of the porosity, any suitable netting or mesh size
may be incorporated as long as it is sufficiently dimensioned to
retain the buoyant bodies 38 within each individual compartment 20
through 26.
[0050] Although embodiments of the invention have been described
above, it is not limited thereto and it will be apparent to those
skilled in the art that numerous modifications form part of the
present invention insofar as they do not depart from the spirit,
nature and scope of the claimed and described invention.
* * * * *