A fluid filled dam.

The prior art:

The present invention relates to a dam for the shielding of water, the dam comprising at least one elongate tubular section having a substantially uni- form circumference, the tubular section defining a closed volume enclosed by at least a longitudinal tube extending between two end faces all made from a waterproof web material, the at least one elongate tubular section comprising one or more openings arranged in the waterproof web material, and being configured for filling and emptying of liquid to the volume, and where the elongate tubular section has multiple fasteners arranged substantially equi- distantly on the outside of the tubular section along a first line extending be- tween the two end faces in the longitudinal direction of the tubular section..

Dams of the above mentioned type are known in different embodiments and one such example is known from US patent application no. 2017051464. These types of dams are mostly used for efficient protection against flooding in places where such flooding only rarely happens, making it advantageous to use mobile dams that are easy to install and remove when needed as an alternative to permanent installations.

DE utility model no. 20309206 and CN patent application no. 106012966 dis- closes a water filled dam with a triangular cross section. The dam has a first and a second end and a hole arranged at the first end for the purpose of pumping water into the dam. The above mentioned CN document further- more discloses that the dam has fasteners arranged at the ends so that two such dams can be interconnected in each other’s extension having the sec- ond end of one dam section abutting the first end of the next dam section. Furthermore each dam has side flanges and a top flange adapted for secur- ing the dams sections to the ground or to a supporting structure.

US patent no. 5971661 discloses water filled dam sections having a triangu- lar cross section and a number of valves arranged at one end of the dam section for filling water into it. The dam section has two planar structural ele- ments arranged for keeping two sides of the triangular shaped dam planar. The dam sections are stackable and thereby allowing the construction of a higher dam.

In general dams of the above mentioned types can be arranged in each oth- er’s extension and they are very useful for establishing dam constructions of varying lengths on a substantially planar ground

The object of the invention:

On this background it is the purpose of the present invention to provide a low cost dam of the above mentioned type, being easy to deploy, and at the same time providing flexibility with respect to building different dams suitable for different locations and flooding situations, and especially for providing the construction of dams on very uneven or sloping grounds.

According to the invention this is obtained by providing a dam as mentioned in the introduction, and where the elongate tubular section has multiple fas- teners arranged substantially equidistantly on the outside of the tubular sec- tion along a first line extending between the two end faces in the longitudinal direction of the tubular section.

Thereby it is possible to easily install dams having varying lengths as well as different stability because of the option of building single row dams or double row dams where two single row dams are interconnected in parallel with each other via the multiple fasteners and with the individual dam section ar- ranged in an overlapping pattern.

In a preferred embodiment the tubular section furthermore has multiple fas- teners arranged substantially equidistantly on the outside of the tubular sec- tion along a second line extending substantially parallel with the first line be- tween the two end faces and in the longitudinal direction of the tubular sec- tion, and so that the first and the second line divides the waterproof web ma terial of the longitudinal tube into an upper face, and a substantially rectangu- lar section bottom having its shortest side length being less than half, and preferably less than 40%, of the circumference of the longitudinal tube.

In another preferred embodiment multiple stiffening rods may be attached to the section bottom and extending between the first and the second line at different positions along the length of the tubular section.

An especially simple construction is obtained where at least some of the fas- teners are fastening eyes.

In this relation it is advantageous if the fasteners along the at least one line are formed by one flange extending outwardly from the tubular section, and having the fastening eyes arranged equidistantly along the length of the tubu- lar section.

In fact both the fasteners along the first and the second line may preferably be formed by one flange extending outwardly from the tubular section, and having fastening eyes arranged equidistantly along the length of the tubular section, and in this relation it is also advantageous if the tubular section fur- ther comprises a third flange arranged substantially parallel with the first and the second line, so that it divides the upper face into two longitudinal side faces each extending between the two end faces, and between the third flange and one of the flanges with fastening eyes.

Furthermore in another preferred embodiment other fasteners are arranged near each end face, and being adapted for fastening any end of one of said elongate tubular sections to any end of a second of said elongate tubular sections.

The other fasteners preferably comprises hook and loop fasteners.

In a preferred embodiment the dam comprises at least 3 separate elongate tubular sections, where a first and a second one of the elongate tubular sec- tions are arranged so that the end face of the first one of the elongate tubular sections faces an end face of the second one of the elongate tubular sec- tions, and where the third one of the elongate tubular sections are arranged so that it extends on one side of the first and the second elongate tubular sections.

In this relation the first and the second elongate tubular sections may prefer- ably be mutually fastened to each other via the other fasteners arranged near each end face.

In this relation it is especially advantageous if the third elongate tubular sec- tion is arranged so that a first part of it extends in parallel with and along one side of the first elongate tubular section, and the remaining part of it extends in parallel with and along one side of the second elongate tubular section.

Furthermore the third elongate tubular section may advantageously be fas- tened to the first and the second elongated tubular sections respectively via the multiple fasteners arranged substantially equidistantly on the outside of each of the tubular sections along the first or the second line. The drawing:

In the following one or more embodiments of the invention will be described in more detail and with reference to the drawing, where:

Fig. 1 : Is a principle drawing, showing the construction of a single dam sec- tion according to the invention.

Fig. 2: Is principle drawing showing a dam according to an embodiment of the invention with four interconnected dam sections as shown on figure 1. Fig. 3: Is a principle drawing showing a cross section of a dam with one dam section according to figure 1 stacked on top of two other dam sections as shown on figure 1.

Description of exemplary embodiments:

Fig. 1 is a principle sketch showing a dam 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention with one dam section formed with a triangular tube sec- tion 10 extending between end faces 5. The triangular tube section is made from a waterproof web material, and a set of apertures or openings 11 are arranged in the web material for the purpose of filling the dam section with water. According to this embodiment of the invention two such openings 11 are arranged so that one opening 11 is placed near one end of the dam 1 , and the other opening 11 is arranged near the opposite end. In this principle sketch these apertures 11 are shown only as holes in the web material forming the triangular tube section 10 as it is apparent to a skilled person to suggest many different solutions, such as valves, (fire)hose couplings, pumps and any other equipment allowing water to be flushed into the dam section via hoses and thereafter keeping the water in the dam sec- tion by blocking the openings 11 , and for the same reason a set of pressure relief valves 16 are arranged near the top of the triangular tube, allowing quick flushing of water into the dam section without blowing the web material forming the triangular tube section. Thereby it is possible to first arrange a row of such dams on a sloping ground where an uppermost dam and a low- ermost dam in the row of dams are interconnected via e.g. a fire hose ex- tending from the opening near the lowermost end of the uppermost dam sec- tion arranged on the highest ground level, and to the opening arranged near the uppermost end of the lowermost dam section arranged on lower ground, and thereafter filling both dam sections via the opening arranged at the up- permost end of the first dam section. When the lowermost dam is filled the hose may be blocked or the hose removed and the openings blocked, so that continued filling of the uppermost dam does not result in further increase of the water pressure in the lowermost dam.

Thereby it is possible to first arrange multiple empty dam sections in a row extending downwardly on a sloping ground, and thereafter filling all the dams via the uppermost dam section, so that the lowermost dam section is filled first and thereafter it is disconnected from fluid connection with the other dam sections, and then the next lowermost dam section is filled and disconnected from the others, and so on.

In the principle sketch the mid-section of the dam 1 is illustrated using punc- tured lines in order to show the interior of this embodiment of the dam, and because the dam in preferred embodiments may be significantly longer with respect to its height and width shown in this principle sketch. In this relation it is evident that when the dam sections is filled with water and lying on the ground, then the side faces of the dam section will bulge due the weight and pressure of the water. The perfect triangular shape of the dam sections 10 shown in the figure is therefore just made to show the construction of the dam sections, and not the shape they may have when being used in practice.

The elongated tubular section 10 comprises in this embodiment a rectangular section bottom 2 and two longitudinal and rectangular side faces 4, and the section bottom 2 extends between the end faces 5 and the first and the sec- ond line 13, 14 with the first and the second flange 15 both extending parallel with each other in the longitudinal direction of the elongated triangular tube section 10.

On the top of the dam 1 a third flange 20 is provided for further stiffening the elongated tubular section 10, and so that the section bottom 2 and each of the two longitudinal sides faces 4 all has a width in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the elongated tube 10, corresponding to about one third of the total circumference of the elongated tubular section 10, but it will be apparent that e.g. the section bottom may be broader than this in or- der to further stabilize the dam section.

In order to further stabilize the dam section the section bottom is in this em bodiment provided with multiple stiffening rods 21 being firmly attached to the section bottom at different positions along the length of the dam section, and extending our from the section bottom and past the flanges 15. These stiffen- ing rods 21 may be attached permanently or releasably attached to the sec- tion bottom at least near each of the flanges 15, or they may in a preferred embodiment be arranged in a channel extending in a transverse direction with respect to the longitudinal direction of the section bottom, and from the first flange 15 to the second one so that they provide a reinforcement flatten- ing of the web material forming the section bottom. In this relation it will be evident for the skilled person that stiffeners or stiffening rods as mentioned above may be used for the same purpose on any type of dam construction using fluid or bulk as filling material.

For the purpose of providing an easy way of arranging two or more dam sec- tions in each other’s extension a set of hook and loop fasteners 17 are pro- vided near the end faces 5. In the embodiment shown in figure 1 these hook and loop fasteners 17 are arranged identical at each end of the dam section and so that they can be attached to the fasteners 17 on any end of a similar dam section, but it will be apparent to the skilled person that the dam sec- tions may also be mutually connected in each other’s extension by means of any other releasable fasteners 17, such as ropes, hooks or zippers.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the first and the second flanges 15 are provided with fastening eyes 12 providing on the one hand the option of securing the dam section to the ground by means of e.g. earth pegs or other attachment means, but due to the fact that the fastening eyes 12 are arranged substantially equidistantly on the flanges, then they also allow that two, three or more such dam sections may be assembled to form a dam 1 as shown in figure 2, where the dam sections are arranged in two or more paral- lel rows, and where the dam sections in one row is attached to the dam sec- tion in a neighboring row via e.g. rope, shackles or hooks (not shown) being attached to the fastening eyes 12, and due to the fact that the dam section have approximately the same length, then it is easy to arrange the dams sec- tions so that they overlap each other in such a way that the end faces of dam sections in one row are not aligned with the end faces on dam sections in another row. Thereby the complete dam 1 as shown e.g. in figure 2 is very stable against rolling down e.g. a sloping ground, and it can withstand a sub- stantially higher water pressure than what a single row of dams can do. Furthermore, for the purpose of constructing a higher dam where it is need- ed, it is possible to stack a dam section 10 on top of any of the two above mentioned dam sections 10 arranged in parallel rows. As shown in figure 3 this is done by arranging one dam section 10 so that each of the lowermost flanges 15 are attached to one of the uppermost flanges 20 on the two dam sections 10 arranged on the ground. In this situation the dam sections are attached to each other by means of shackles 22. In this way the uppermost dam section 10 will to a certain extend be“hanging” down between the two dam sections 10 resting on the ground, but due to the fact that the two dam sections on the ground are mutually attached to each other via the flanges 15, then the uppermost dam section will not fall in between the dam sections on the ground, and thereby the complete dam will be significantly higher than the dam shown on figure 2.