METHOD OF ENABLING A REMOTE-CONTROLLED "CONTAINMENT" OF EXPLOSIVE OBJECTS AND CONTAINMENT MEMBER INTENDED FOR THE REALIZATION OF THE METHOD AND TRANSPORT DEVICE INTENDED FOR MANOEUVRING OF THE CONTAINMENT MEMBER TO A DESIRED PLACE AND POSITION

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method of enabling a remote-controlled containment of, preferably explosive, objects, i.e. of demarcating from the environment explosive objects such as terrorist bombs, unexploded shells and chemical processes over which control has been lost. All with a view to protecting the environment against explosion waves and splinters triggered in the event of a possible detonation.

The invention also comprises a method of, in connection with a remote-controlled containment of, preferably explosive, objects, enabling a controlled detonation of the explosive object at a self-chosen time and under the protection of the containment.

The invention further relates to a liquid-filled containment member, which is intended for containment in accordance with the method of remote-controlling a containment of explosive objects and is made of a flexible gas-tight and liquid-tight material.

A transport device intended for manoeuvring of the containment member also forms part of the invention.

PROBLEM DEFINITION, PRIOR ART AND ADVANTAGES AND EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION

The above-stated method and containment member set out, under such controlled forms as are at all possible, where necessary and at a self-chosen time, to disable by exploding the, at that point, ready-contained explosive object.

The traditional method of arranging such a containment of an explosive object is to surround it with a bank of sandbags, which is time-consuming, laborious and far from safe, since, in the setting-out of the sandbags, a great deal of human presence around the explosive object is required.

The aim of the present invention is now therefore, in the first place, to offer a completely new method of realizing such a containment of explosive objects in the shortest possible time with the aid of a specially configured liquid-filling containment member and a tailor-made remote-controlled transport device. As far as the containment of explosive objects is concerned, the time factor is, of course, almost always critical, since it is then in the nature of things that there is very often no way of knowing when and if a possible detonation will occur.

A first advantage of the method and the device according to the invention is therefore that a containment of an explosive obj ect can be rapidly deployed in a crisis situation and that, since this can be done wholly by remote control, no human presence whatever is then required within the particular risk zone.

A second advantage of the method according to the invention is that the liquid-filled containment member which is here used is made ready, i.e. filled with liquid, only as the containment is carried out, which makes the containment member easy to store up to the point of use, yet at the same time the containment member is conveyed to its place in the containment in the ready liquid-filled state, so that as soon as it has arrived in place it begins to act as a damper of the environmental damage in the event of a possible detonation. Apart from access to the containment member in question and its associated transport device and means for driving the same, in the implementation of the basic principle for the method according to the invention access is required to sufficient quantities of a non-flammable liquid, which, in the great majority of cases, can be constituted by ordinary water, which is generally easy to obtain, if by no other means then in the form of one of the fire service tankers.

The actual containment member according to the invention is constituted by a large number of cells, which are made of a gas-tight and liquid-tight flexible material, are demarcated relative to one another yet are interconnected via tailor-made ducts and are limitedly movable relative to one another, and, in the containment of an explosive object, are liquid-filled, i.e. in the great majority of cases water-filled.

The containment member according to the invention is most simply made of a sheet- shaped or strip-shaped gas-tight and liquid-tight flexible material, which is laid in two layers and in which the boundaries of the cells and of the connecting ducts are configured as weld or glue joints between the layers and in which the limited mobility between the various cells has been produced by cuts or snips between neighbouring

joints to neighbouring cells. In the non-filled state, the cells therefore occupy as much space as the sum of the two material layers of which they are .made, but at the same time, owing to their ducts which are common to a plurality of cells, they can be rapidly filled with liquid to substantially greater volumes.

According to an especially advantageous variant of the invention, the containment member is produced in the form of a strip-shaped unit containing a very large number of cells connected via longitudinal common ducts, and this unit or starting material for the ready containment member is kept in the original position rolled up on a storage reel, which in turn is connected to a, in the original position, more or less horizontal transport device, which can be remote-controlled on both sides, as well as upwards and downwards and forwards and backwards, and along which the containment member can be advanced by remote control towards the position in which a containment is required and in which the containment member can be tipped off over the outer end feed roll of the transport device. It is therefore the position of the free outer end of the transport device which determines where the containment member shall be placed.

An especially characteristic feature of the transport device according to the invention is that it comprises members which ensure that the cells of the containment member are filled with water or another non-flammable liquid while they are advanced along the transport device between the point at which the cells are unwound from the storage reel and the point when they reach the free outer end of the transport device, where they are therefore tipped off filled with the originally intended liquid quantity.

The fact that the cells of the containment member have been made limitedly movable relative to one another has made it possible, by virtue of a tailor-made motional pattern for the outer end of the transport device, to place the containment member in both loops and various layers one on top of the other or, moreover, in the pattern which may be appropriate in each particular containment operation. The likely most common form of such a containment will then be something which can most closely be likened to a more or less round mound, with not over-heavily inclined flanks made up of a large number of loops of the water-filled containment member, laid one on top of the other, and with the explosive object buried deep inside the centre of the mound.

In order to enable the previously indicated liquid-filling of the cells while these are transported along the transport device, the ducts which are common to the cells in the containment member according to the invention are provided with liquid inlets at certain

intervals. The distance between these liquid inlets must therefore never be greater than to always allow some of these inlets to be connected to the common ducts of the cells within that part of the containment member which is currently located on the transport device. If all of these liquid inlets within the aforementioned storage reel have already from the outset been connected to a primary liquid source by means of connections which are disconnectable under tensile loads and which, moreover, contain valves which, upon the disconnection, automatically shut off the mutually disconnected connections, and, at the same time, the cells which continue to be located on the storage reel of a counterpressure roller are prevented from being supplied with liquid, then the cells which are gradually advanced on the transport device, within those parts of the containment member which are present there, can be filled with liquid completely automatically.

As stated in the introduction, the traditional method of "embanking" an explosive object is to surround it with a bank of sandbags. Now, although the idea of replacing the sandbags with water-filled bags or rigid water-filled containers is not entirely new, in most cases the notion has then been, with a view to practical handling, to first place these bags or containers at the desired place and only subsequently to fill these with the necessary water quantity. A general procedure of this type means, however, that a certain time elapses before any real protection has come into place and also a certain moment of risk, since the water-filling seems generally to have been expected to be carried out manually.

In patent document GB 2 335 259, rigid stackable bomb protections are described, for example, which can contain liquid-filled bags, i.e. the alternative as discussed above.

In patent document US 4 836 079 there is additionally described a bomb containment unit made of flexible material, which comprises a plurality of interconnected cells which, when the unit is placed over an explosive object according to the text, can be filled with argon, for example, which, with the unit safely in place, can be replaced by water. In the description of this arrangement it is also stated that, if the explosive object is sufficiently small and is constituted, for example, by a hand grenade, then the bomb containment unit, since it can be handled manually in this case, can already be filled with water at the point of supply.

In patent document US 5 719 350 there is further described, and in this case especially in connection with Figures 1 and 2, a water-filled detonation protection, which has a

plurality of cells which partially cover one another and are produced by a flat, winding, flexible starting material having been arranged in loops over a stepped supporting device, which must therefore first be set out. Once in place, the loops or folds of the winding material can then be filled with water from above, over-filled upper loops spilling over to the underlying loops. The device can therefore give a plurality of water layers arranged side by side and more or less covering one another, but it can only be achieved with the aid of the stepped supporting device and it can only be shaped into vertical protective walls.

Compared with these previously proposed solutions to fundamentally the same problem, the method according to the invention therefore provides an initial protection from the very beginning, and this without human presence within the particular safety zone, whilst at the same time, in the containment member according to the invention, the fundamental point is that the quantity, or perhaps rather the length of the containment member which is supplied over and around an explosive object is crucial to the protection achieved for the environment.

As has already partially emerged from the above-stated, an especially distinguishing characteristic of the method according to the invention is that the containment member is filled with liquid immediately after the containment is realized, namely as it is transported to its intended containment position along a feed path belonging to the transport device, and that the containment member will thus be conveyed to its intended containment position in the liquid-filled state. Each cell of the containment member will therefore in principle form part of the finished containment as a small water-filled bag, in which case the real protection effect for the whole of the containment shall be the sum of all the cells or bags included therein and the number can easily be made very large.

The complete system according to the invention also includes, as previously indicated, a device for, where necessary and at a self-chosen time, disabling the explosive object. This supplementary device, too, is intended to be remote-controllable and comprises, purely in principle, a remote-controlled, self-propelled truck provided with a strong own body, which truck is laden with a powerful explosive having an own remote-actuated initiator. This remote-controllable device is therefore intended, in an initial stage, to be manoeuvred up to the immediate vicinity of the explosive object and to be contained, together with the latter, in the manner characteristic of the invention. With this remote- initiated charge in place inside the containment, there are therefore opportunities, if and

when it is deemed necessary, to initiate the charge and thereby also the explosive object, and hence disable the same by explosion.

A method, preferred by the Applicant, of enabling the liquid-filling which is characteristic of the invention, without manual contribution within the particular risk zone, is based on the fact that the containment member, at regular intervals along the filling ducts which are at least partially common to the various cells thereof, is configured with special liquid inlets which, even while the containment member is wound on the storage reel, have already been connected to a main liquid inlet on the transport device. The distance between these liquid inlets must here not be greater than to always allow some liquid inlet to be connected to that part of the containment member which is located on the feed path of the transport device. At the same time, these liquid inlets must be connected to the main liquid inlet via connections which can be pulled apart once the connection in question moves too far away from the main liquid inlet and nears the outer end of the feed path, whilst, at the same time, both the connection to the main liquid inlet and that to the filling ducts must comprise valves which automatically shut off these connections when they are pulled apart. When one of these liquid inlets with connection nears the end point of the feed path, a new liquid inlet with associated new connection must therefore have been unwound from the storage reel and, in so doing, must have taken over the task of supplying liquid to the containment cells located on the feed path and also therefore indirectly, since all the cells are interconnected via the aforementioned ducts, to those containment cells which have already been shaped into a commenced containment.

PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION AND ITS SPECIAL FEATURES Some important objects of the present invention are therefore to produce an improved method of enabling a remote-controlled containment of explosive objects and a method of, in connection with the method of remote-controlling a containment of explosive objects, enabling a controlled detonation of the said explosive objects at a self-chosen time and under the protection of a containment, which methods substantially reduce, preferably eliminate, the risks which can arise for the environment in the event of a detonation, and at least substantially reduce other abovementioned problems, the positive effects of the containment being able to be put to better use than previously.

Other important objects of the present invention are to produce an improved, liquid- filled containment member made of a flexible gas-tight and liquid-tight material, and a

transport device intended for manoeuvring of the said containment member to the desired place and position, which containment members and transport device substantially reduce, preferably eliminate, the risks which can arise for the environment in the event of a detonation, and at least substantially reduce other abovementioned problems.

The said objects, and other purposes which are not enumerated here, are satisfactorily met within the scope of that which is specified in the present independent patent claims. Embodiments of the invention are specified in the independent patent claims.

According to the present invention, therefore, an improved method has been produced of enabling a remote-controlled containment of, preferably explosive, objects, which is characterized in that the containment is realized by the object in question being surrounded on all accessible sides by a liquid-filled containment member comprising a plurality of cells which are integrally j oined together in running lengths and are interconnected, are filled with a non-flammable liquid and are at least partially movable relative to one another and the external walls of which are constituted by a gas-tight and liquid-tight flexible sheet-shaped or band-shaped material, and which cells are conveyed to their intended containment position in already liquid-filled state.

According to further aspects of the method according to the invention, the fundamental point is:

- that the cells of the containment member are gradually filled with the particular liquid as they are advanced along a transport device which can be directed by remote control and which comprises at least one feed path disposed in the longitudinal direction of the same, which feed path, at its feed-in end, is supplied with new, not yet liquid-filled containment member and, at its feed-out end, tips off containment member in running lengths with liquid-filled cells, the final positions of which in the containment are determined by the position and alignment of the feed-out end of the transport device.

- that the containment member transported along the transport device during filling is gradually unwound from a storage reel which is arranged in connection with the transport device and on which a running length of the containment member with not yet liquid-filled cells is wound.

- to conduct a liquid-filling of the cells belonging to that part of the containment member situated on the feed path, those cells which are situated on the feed path and form part of the containment member, while they are present there, being held in connection with special liquid inlets, which liquid inlets were already connected up to a liquid source even while that part of the containment member which includes the liquid inlets was located on the storage reel.

- that this connection to the liquid source is realized via a liquid connection for each such liquid inlet, which liquid connection is broken at a point before the liquid inlet has reached the feed-out end of the feed path and at which point the liquid connection has already been replaced by a new liquid connection connected via a new liquid inlet to the cells which are at this point present on the feed path.

- that when the connection between the liquid inlet and the liquid connection to the liquid source in association with the liquid inlet nearing the feed-out end of the feed path is broken at a separation point between the said liquid inlet and liquid connection, then automatically acting valves disposed on either side of the separation point are activated, which valves shut off all further passage of liquid past the separation points.

Furthermore, the method according to the present invention of, in connection with a remote-controlled containment of explosive objects, enabling a controlled detonation of the explosive object at a self-chosen time and under the protection of the containment is characterized in that a remote-controllable explosive charge, before or in connection with the commencement of the containment, is applied as close as possible to the particular explosive object, and in that the remote-controllable explosive charge is detonated at a self-chosen time after the completion of the containment.

According to the present invention, an improved containment member, liquid-filled during use, has also been produced, which is made of a flexible gas-tight and liquid- tight material and is intended for the method for a remote-controlled containment of explosive objects, which containment member is characterized in that it comprises a plurality of cells intended for liquid-filling, which cells are substantially separated from one another, yet are interconnected via tailor-made common ducts and are partially movable relative to one another.

According to further aspects of the containment member according to the invention, the fundamental point is:

- that it is made of double layers of a flexible gas-tight and liquid-tight sheet- shaped and/or band-shaped laminate material, in which the various cells have been produced by weld or glue joints between the two material layers, which joints are disposed along the desired limit edges of the cells, while the limited freedoms of movement of the cells relative to one another have been achieved by cuts through the two material layers between weld or glue joints which have previously been arranged close together.

- that the containment member in its longitudinal direction comprises cells which are arranged in pairs on either side of a separately configured liquid- filling duct tailored to the liquid medium and which are connected to the liquid-filling duct.

- that the liquid-filling duct, level with each cell pair disposed by the side thereof, has itself been widened to form a third, middle cell.

- that its filling duct for the liquid medium is provided with regularly spaced special liquid inlets and that these liquid inlets comprise valves which only allow the passage of liquid when they are connected to a primary liquid source.

Finally, according to the present invention, a transport device intended for manoeuvring of the said containment member has been realized, which is characterized in that the transport device can be directed and manoeuvred to produce the containment of, preferably, a verified or suspected explosive object to a desired place and position.

Further advantages and effects will emerge in the course of a study and consideration of the following, detailed description of the invention, including a number of its advantageous embodiments, patent claims and the accompanying drawing figures.

LIST OF FIGURES

The invention will be described in greater detail below with reference to the appended figures, of which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of limited parts of a first embodiment of the containment member according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of limited parts of a second embodiment of the containment member according to the invention.

Fig. 3 shows the principle for how the cells of the containment member are filled with water and are conveyed to the immediate area around an explosive object via parts of a transport device (shown diagrammatically) according to the invention, and

Fig. 4 is a side view which shows the principles for the containment of a so-called car bomb, while

Fig. 5 shows in a plan view which components form part of the device which, where necessary, can be used to explode the contained explosive object.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Fig. 1 shows diagrammatically, like Fig. 2, only some of the cells 5, 11, 12, 14 which form part of a containment member 18 according to the invention. Each containment member 18 therefore includes a large number of preferably like cells 5, 11, 12, 14 and the containment member 18 is intended to be delivered close to a usage area as a double-walled flat strip material having ready-formed but empty cells 5, 11, 12 14, which are suited to immediate liquid-filling. Expediently, this strip material is stored wound on a storage reel 17, see Fig. 3, up to the point of use of the containment member 18.

The variants of the containment member 18 which are shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 are made of two flexible gas-tight and liquid-tight material layers 1 and 2, which have been placed one on top of the other to form outer walls and in which weld or glue joints, generally denoted by 3, between the material layers 1 and 2 indicate the limits for the various cells 5, 11, 12 14 and the variants (shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2) of the liquid- filling ducts 4, 6, 13, 15 which form part of the containment member 18 and interconnect the various cells 5, 11, 12, 14 intended for liquid-filling.

In the first variant of the containment member 18 (shown in Fig. 1), the cells 5 situated in pairs on either side of a central liquid-filling duct 4 have the general notation 5. Side ducts 6 in turn connect the liquid-filling duct 4 to the respective cells 5. Between the weld joints 3, which limit the various cells 5 and the ducts 4 and 6, through-cuts 7 are

provided through the material layers 1 and 2, which cuts 7, without depriving the various cells 5 and the ducts 4 and 6 of their function as an integral unit, lend the various parts a certain mutual mobility. By virtue of this design, stacking of both the individual liquid-filled cells and a certain number of liquid-filled cell rows in succession one on top of the other is facilitated, whereby, for example, wall-like or pyramid-like structures can be built.

At certain defined intervals, the liquid-filling duct 4 is provided with special liquid inlets 8 provided with special connectors 9 and a one-way valve 10. The more precise working of these components will be described in connection with Fig. 3.

The second variant of the containment member 18 according to the invention (shown in Fig. 2) comprises the material layers 1 and 2, the weld or glue joints 3, the through-cuts 7 and the liquid inlet 8 with the connector 9 and the one-way valve 10. On the other hand, the cells intended for the liquid-filling have here acquired a somewhat different configuration, comprising two lateral cells 11 and 12 and a widening, disposed level with each of these cell pairs 11, 12, of a central liquid-filling duct 13 into a central middle cell 14, which middle cell 14 is in turn connected to the lateral cells 11 and 12 by ducts 15. Taken as a whole, the containment member 18 according to Fig. 2 is also, however, based on the same basic ideas as that according to Fig. 1. In one embodiment of the invention (not shown), valves can also be disposed at several positions along the ducts, this in order to limit the effect of possible leakage from parts of the containment member which are delimited in this way.

A transport device 32 characteristic of the invention is illustrated in general representation in Fig. 3 and it is presumed mounted on some type of mobile transport trailer 16, which transport trailer 16 can then, of course, be manoeuvred to a freely chosen place or alterable position in relation to the object 26. Also included is a storage reel 17 on which the containment member 18, produced in running length, is wound in the not yet liquid-filled state. From the storage reel 17, the containment member 18 is led down onto a, in the illustrated example, first feed path 19. This is done by a feed and press roll 20, which, apart from the advancement of the empty containment member 18, prevents water from being conveyed to the containment member 18 stored on the storage reel 17.

In connection with Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the special liquid inlets 8 disposed at certain intervals along the containment member 18 have been presented, which liquid inlets 8,

via pull-apart couplings comprising two detachably joined-together connectors 9 disposed one on the liquid inlet 8 of the containment member 18 and one on special connecting members 21-23, are all from the outset connected via the said special connecting members 21-23 to a primary liquid source (not represented). These connecting members 21-23 are expediently unwound concurrently with the containment member 18 from the storage reel 17, and in Fig. 3 three of these connecting members 21-23 are depicted as general hose connections 21-23. Of these, the first hose connection 21 denotes a hose connection 21 which has just passed the press roll 20 and hence has just acquired the facility to start to deliver water to that part of the containment member 18 which has gradually been advanced on the feed path 19. A second hose connection 22 delivers water at full blast to the containment member 18, but will soon have reached its end point, i.e. the hose connection 22 is no more, and in this situation its coupling of the said two joined connectors 9 will be pulled apart at a separation point, at the same time as the valves 10 disposed on either side thereof automatically shut off both the hose connection 22 and the liquid inlet 8 and in this situation the first hose connection 21 is able to fully take over the water supply until the next hose connection (not shown) is unwound from the storage reel 17. The third hose connection 23 (depicted in Fig. 3) illustrates an already disconnected and hence shut-off hose connection 23.

From the first feed path 19, the containment member 18 is fed with its now fully water- filled cells 5, 11, 12, 14 onward to a second feed path 24, which is raisable, lowerable and rotatable by remote control and from the outer end/feed-out end 25 of which the containment member 18 with its water-filled cells 5, 11, 12, 14 is tipped off in the position indicated by the outer end 25 of the feed path 24. It is therefore with this function, possibly together with the change of position of the transport trailer 16, that the position, shape and size of the containment is controlled. It will be appreciated that the number of included feed paths 19, 24 and their length, extensibility, rotatability and foldability, etc. can be varied according to the estimated demands upon the working of the transport device.

Fig. 4 shows in partially cut state a containment 27 of a sizeable explosive object 26, in this case a suspected car bomb 26, which, after all, can have a very large explosive force. In the situation shown in Fig. 4, the containment has been virtually completed, in that the car bomb/the vehicle 26 has been covered by a synthetic mound 27 of a very large number of cells 5, 11, 12, 14 of the containment member 18 according to the invention, which cells have been placed in loops and layers and one on top of the other.

The fact that the various cells 5, 11, 12, 14 of the containment member 18 are limitedly movable relative to one another allows the containment member 18 to form itself easily into such a mound 27.

In Fig. 4, as previously stated, the containment member mound has the notation 27 and, as is evident from the figure, new lengths of the containment member 18 are continuously supplied via the second feed path 24 of the transport device 32 shown in Fig. 3, which second feed path, remote-controlled and directable to its angular position, is continuously displaced in the longitudinal direction, lateral direction and vertical direction to enable the containment member 18 to be given the best possible degree of compaction in the mound 27 formed therefrom. Directing and control members for this are not shown or described in detail, since such are regarded as obvious. However, such members can expediently be comprised by, for example, mechanical, electrical or hydraulic controllers suitable for transport and feed devices.

In Fig. 4, a smaller, remote-controllable, explosives-laden, self-propelled destruction vehicle 28 in the form of a small truck is also present, the function of which is to allow the car bomb 26 to be destroyed if so decided. The procedure in the case of, for example, a verified car bomb or some other suspected explosive object for which there is no full control over what will happen to it, is therefore to firstly scan the suspected explosive object 26 at a safe distance, for example with a remote-controlled mobile video camera, after which the destruction vehicle 28 approaches as close as possible to the charge of the suspected/verified explosive object 26. As soon as the destruction vehicle 28 is in place, the containment is begun, and once this is completed, to the situation, for example, shown in Fig. 4, a decision can be taken on whether the object 26 is to be exploded or not. If the decision is to explode, the charge belonging to the destruction vehicle 28 is detonated, whereupon the charge belonging to the car bomb 26 also generally detonates.

For the design of the destruction vehicle 28, reference is made to Fig. 5, which therefore shows it from above.

The destruction vehicle 28 is constructed with a very strong frame construction 29, this since the quantity of water contained in the formed containment mound 27 is very heavy, so that the destruction vehicle 28 shall not be demolished by the weight of water even if the explosive object 26 were to be thereby demolished. The destruction vehicle 28, furthermore, is caterpillar-driven with the caterpillar tracks 30 and 31. This since the

track operation provides good accessibility and is easy to make remote-controllable, since the control is realized by track-braking, Propulsion via wheeled operation is also, of course, conceivable. In Fig. 5, 33 further indicates a drive motor, 34 and 35 two control brakes, 36 the explosive charge of the destruction vehicle 28, and 37 its remote- controllable detonator. The destruction vehicle 28 is additionally cable-controlled and 38 indicates a small part of the control cable via which the destruction vehicle 28 receives driving and control instructions and, if necessary, also the command to activate the detonator 37 with ensuing detonation.

ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENTS

The invention is not limited to the embodiments specifically shown, but rather it can be varied in different ways within the scope of the invention.

It will be appreciated, for example, that the number, size, material and shape of the elements and component parts belonging to the containment member, such as the cells, weld joints, ducts, connectors, etc., are tailored thereto or to the currently prevailing conditions. It will further be appreciated that, for example, the number of cells in a row and the number of cell rows with associated ducts between the through-cuts and the liquid inlets can be freely chosen, so that any other cell configuration according to the above falls within the inventive concept.