RUSSELL LAWRENCE O (CA)
RUSSELL LAWRENCE O (CA)
US4692060A | 1987-09-08 | |||
US4555201A | 1985-11-26 | |||
US5040919A | 1991-08-20 | |||
DE8711154U1 | 1987-09-24 | |||
US5059065A | 1991-10-22 | |||
GB2269618A | 1994-02-16 |
1. | A flood control bag of flexible waterproof material comprising an elongated bag body with substantially triangular crosssection having a base, forward and rear walls and end walls, at least one of the front and rear walls having a lower hose extending therefrom adjacent the base, at least one of the front and rear walls having an upper hose extending therefrom adjacent to the upper end thereof, the upper and lower hoses providing communication with the interior of the bag body and having connectors at their free ends to enable the hoses to be connected to upper and lower hoses respectively of a like adjacent flood control bag. |
2. | A flood control bag according to claim 1 wherein the hoses are of such a length that, when two adjacent bags have their upper and lower hoses connected together and the bags are substantially full of water, adjacent end walls of the bags are held in engagement with each other by the connected hoses. |
3. | A flood control bag according to claim 2 wherein both the front and the rear walls of the bag body are provided with a lower hose. |
4. | A flood control bag according to claim 1 wherein a sealer strip of wateφroof material is provided for positioning over adjacent portions of the front and rear walls of adjacent bag bodies and between the hoses and the bag bodies to form a seal between adjacent bags. |
This invention relates to flood control bags of flexible waterproof material which in use are substantially filled with water and positioned to restrain flood water or spilled liquids.
Various prior attempts have been made to provide suitable bags for this purpose. One such bag is described in U.S. Patent No. 5,040,919 (Hendrix) issued August 20, 1991, the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. Usually, a series of flood control bags will be placed side by side to form a flood control barrier. For barrier stability, it is desirable to connect the bags to each other. However, so far as applicants are aware, flood control bags which can be satisfactorily connected to each other are not available. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a flood control bag which can be satisfactorily connected to a like bag.
According to the invention, a flood control bag of flexible waterproof material comprises an elongated bag body with a substantially triangular cross-section having a base, forward and rear walls and end walls, at least one of the front and rear walls having a lower hose extending therefrom adjacent the base, at least one of the front and rear walls having an upper hose extending therefrom adjacent to the upper end thereof, the upper and lower hoses providing communication with the interior of the bag body and having connectors at their free ends to enable the hoses to be connected to upper and lower hoses respectively of a like adjacent flood control bag.
Advantageously, the hoses are of such a length that, when two adjacent bags have their upper and lower hoses connected together and the bags are substantially full of water, adjacent end
walls of the bags are held in engagement with each other by the connected hoses. Preferably, both the front and the rear walls of the bag body are provided with a lower hose.
A sealer strip of waterproof material may be provided for positioning over adjacent portions of the front and rear walls of adjacent bag bodies and between the hoses and the bag bodies to form a seal between adjacent bags.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a flood control bag in accordance with one embodiment of the invention,
Fig. 2 is a rear view of adjacent end portions of two connected flood control bags, Fig. 3 is a sectional view along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2,
Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the bags of a flood control barrier being filled with water by one method,
Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the bags of a flood control barrier being filled with water by another method, Fig. 6 is a sectional side view of a flood control bag in accordance with another embodiment of the invention, and
Fig. 7 is a bottom view of the bag of Fig. 7.
Referring to the drawings, Figs 1-3 show a flood control bag 10 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention which has a bag body 12 of suitable flexible waterproof plastic material with a substantially triangular cross section and having a base 14, forward and rear walls 16, 18 and end walls 20, 22.
The front wall 16 has lower hoses 24, 26 extending laterally therefrom near the base 14 adjacent the end walls 20, 22 respectively. The rear wall 18 has lower hoses 28, 30 extending
laterally therefrom near the base 14 adjacent end walls 20, 22 respectively. The rear wall 18 also has upper hoses 32, 34 extending laterally therefrom near the upper end thereof adjacent each end wall 20, 22 respectively. The free ends of hoses 24, 28, 32 adjacent end wall 20 of the bag body 12 are provided with connectors 36, and the free ends of hoses 26, 30, 34 adjacent end wall 22 of the bag body 12 are provided with connectors 38 which are readily engageable with and disengageable from the respective connectors 36. The connectors 36, 38 may be of known kind.
A number of sealer strips 30 of suitable flexible waterproof plastic material are also provided for use in a manner which will be described later.
One manner in which such bags can be used is illustrated in Fig. 4. A series of bags 10 connected together in the manner described is positioned to retain flood water 42. A water pump 44 with an inlet pipe 46 extending into the flood water 42 and an outlet pipe 48 connected to the lower hoses 26, 30 of an end bag 10 is operated to pump water into the bags 10. The water passes from one bag to another through lower hoses 24, 26 and 28, 30. The lower hoses 28, 30 of the last bag 10 will be closed by suitable end connectors (not shown). Air in the bags 10 is displaced by the entering water and travels from one bag 10 to another through the upper hoses 32, 34. The upper hose of each end bag 10 is left open to enable the air to escape.
A sealer strip 40 is used at each junction between two bags 10. Each strip 40 is placed over adjacent portions of the front and rear walls 16, 18 of adjacent bag bodies 12 and between the hoses and the bag bodies 12 to form a seal between adjacent bags 10. The sealer strip 40 is long enough to extend beyond the bags 10 both at
the front and at the rear thereof.
Fig. 5 illustrates another method of erecting a flood control barrier using the flood control bags 10. One of the bags 10 is provided with a separate inlet 50, for example with a check valve, to which the outlet pipe 48 of the water pump 44 is connected. In this case, the front and rear lower hoses at each end of the barrier will be closed.
The length of hoses 24, 26, 28, and 30, 32, 34 is such that, when two adjacent bags 10 are connected together and are substantially filled with water, adjacent end walls 20, 22 of the bags
10 are held in engagement with each other by the connected hoses. Another advantage of the described construction is that, if one of the filled bags 10 (other than an end bag) becomes punctured and loses water, the hoses at each end of the punctured bag will hold the bag in at least a semi-erect configuration.
Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate another embodiment, namely a flood control bag 110 which is generally similar to the bag 10. Similar parts are identified with reference numerals obtained by adding 100 to the reference numerals of corresponding parts of the bags 10. In the present embodiment, the underside of the base 110 is provided with a series of longitudinally spaced pouches 115 with openings which can be opened and closed in a suitable manner, such as by zippers 117. Ballasts such as sandbags 119 can be inserted into the pouches 115. A barrier formed by a connected series of bags 110 can be inflated by an air pump and floated to the desired location. A water pump can then be used to substantially fill the bags 110 in the manner previously described. The weight of water in the bags 110 together with the ballast weight will cause the bags 110 to sink to the bottom and hence remain in the desired position. This enables
the bags 110 to be used as an effective coffer dam if desired.
When a barrier is no longer required, the bags 10 or 110 can be emptied by pumping at the water, with this process being the reverse of the filling process. The advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the foregoing description of the preferred embodiments. Other embodiments of the invention will be clearly apparent to a person skilled in the art.
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