Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Shaped or strengthened by fluid pressure – Intersecting tubular elements form framework
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-10
2001-02-27
Friedman, Carl D. (Department: 3635)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Shaped or strengthened by fluid pressure
Intersecting tubular elements form framework
C052S002220, C052S002230, C052S087000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06192633
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to rapidly erectable, protective enclosures, and more particularly, to a structure capable of being water tight and air tight and supported by a network of inflatable supports having superior strength and durability, which supports are individually repairable and replaceable from within the protective enclosure without sacrificing the operational framework or compromising the integrity of the enclosure as a whole.
2. Preliminary Discussion
Temporary shelters or enclosures are designed to be at least relatively rapidly deployable to protect occupants and their belongings from adverse or hostile environmental conditions. Campers and hikers, for example, rely on tents for protection from the rain, insects and the like. Such tents are usually lightweight, portable, easy to erect and break down, and constructed from materials particularly adapted for providing the necessary protection from all anticipated adverse conditions. A hiker's tent, for example, might be constructed primarily from waterproof material on the sides and bottom to shield the occupants from rain, storms and the like, yet have a sufficient amount of netting near the top to allow for the passage of air to and from the outside, with such netting being fine enough to keep even the most persistent insects from invading the enclosed area. A temporary, protective enclosure might, for example, also be constructed primarily from netting material if insects are a principal issue and the weather is not.
Temporary shelters or enclosures are, by their very nature, generally not indestructible, and are designed to withstand considerably less abuse than a so-called “brick and mortar” construction. Portable shelters involve a balance of transportability and protection, with the least amount of protection usually afforded to the shelter with the greatest amount of portability or transportability. Of course, the concepts of portability and protection are highly relative, depending on whether occupants are a pair of hikers traversing the mountain wilderness for two weeks, or a team of doctors desiring to establish a temporary, decontamination unit in the parking lot of a corporation for employee victims exposed to a spill or chemical disaster.
Regardless of its nature, anyone using or administrating the continued operation of a temporary shelter or enclosure should be equipped with or have available some means of repair in response to breakage or an unforeseen destructive incident. In certain situations, failure to repair a temporary shelter may have serious consequences, particularly if the occupants are relying on the integrity of the shelter to shield them from potentially life-threatening environmental hazards. Temporary enclosures for military application are often concerned with a level of protection extending far beyond pesky insects, involving protection from chemical and biological warfare, nuclear radiation and fallout, and traditional ordnance hazards, for example, projectile blasts, flying shrapnel and debris, which makes the ability to successfully repair a shelter a top, if not a life and death priority.
Portable shelters or enclosures having diverse military field application must be designed to effectively withstand many of the above mentioned chemical, biological, nuclear and ordnance-type hazards. While fabric tents or sandbag bunkers might be sufficient for certain situations, such shelters would be woefully inadequate as a means to protect soldiers from microscopic warfare agents, i.e. biological, chemical or the like agents. Traditional fabric and other military-type tents also suffer from their inability to be quickly deployed or deployable, usually involving considerable efforts during erection by a team of soldiers, particularly when the frame of the tent comprises multiple rigid supports anchored by multiple stakes and lines. An effective temporary and portable shelter, particular for military application, would be able to not only shield the occupants from particularly hazardous environmental conditions, but would also be rapidly deployable in response to emergency situations where lives are at risk and every moment counts, and also rapidly and effectively repairable so that any breach in the integrity of the enclosure can be rapidly and effectively rectified from within the enclosure, without requiring the repair person to risk exposure to outside hazardous environmental conditions.
The present inventor has perceived a need to provide a protective enclosure that is particularly suited for both military and non-military applications, that is rapidly deployable in response to emergent conditions, that is easily transportable without sacrificing protective sturdiness, and is easily repairable from within the enclosure. The present inventor has designed a protective enclosure that utilizes an inflatable, structural framework of high strength, sturdiness, and versatility, that is encased in a protective membrane that shields the occupants and their belongings from adverse and hostile environmental conditions, such as weather-related, chemical, biological, nuclear and ordnance-type hazards, such as artillery fire and the like, and that is further repairable from the inside of the enclosure so as to minimize or prevent exposure to such adverse or hostile environmental conditions during any such repair. The structural framework is preferably created from a plurality of individual tubular supports disposed in a spaced apart relationship and inflated under high pressure conditions, which transforms such tubes into so-called “air beams,” making the framework extremely sturdy as compared with conventional inflatable tent structures, which are almost invariably inflated under low pressure conditions. Each tubular support is individually removable and replaceable without sacrificing the inflation integrity of the framework as a whole. Furthermore, the protective membrane that encases the inflatable framework is designed to create an air-tight environment within the enclosure, which enables use of the enclosure, incorporated with lifesupport means, in even the most hostile and hazardous environmental conditions.
The rapidly deployable enclosure of the present invention represents an advance over prior art inflatable structures not seen before. Conventional prior art enclosures are generally inflatable under low pressure conditions, i.e. one to ten pounds per square inch, which tends to be sufficient to only establish and maintain the framework in a freestanding condition. The enclosure of the present invention is inflatable under high pressure conditions, which has the benefit of increased strength and sturdiness, and transforms the inflatable framework into a network of beam-like structures of considerable rigidity. These beam-like frame supports of the present invention have the added benefit of being separately manipulatable within the structural framework, so as to be individually replaceable and repairable without sacrificing the operation and stability of the framework as a whole. The rapidly deployable enclosure of the present invention is also capable of modular operation in an interconnected fashion with other rapidly deployable enclosures to form a system or complex of modularly arranged, enclosed units. Each enclosed unit in the system could function in a distinct manner, depending on the needs of the occupants and system administrator, and each unit could therefore be equipped with unique services having distinct functionalities. A typical use might, for example, involve decontamination services, where an occupant might proceed in stages through a modular arrangement of protective enclosures and experience successively greater levels of decontamination with the passage through each successive enclosure unit.
3. Description of Related Art
The prior art is replete with temporary structures and shelters of the inflatable type, which are relatively rapidly deployable. The prior art does not, however, disclose a versatile, inflata
Friedman Carl D.
Syres Christy M.
Wilkinson Charles A.
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