Deployable barrier apron apparatus for use with contaminant recovery systems

A readily deployable barrier apron is used with contaminant recovery systems to encompass contaminant material or to channel such material to collection devices. An upper apron member which is impenetrable has a lower penetrable member attached. Deployment devices such as hinging segments or spooling rolls of such apron barrier are utilized with an uprighting construction to provide for a quickly deployable, ready to use, and easy to control barrier construction for such uses as the containment of oil spills.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates in general to pollution abatement apparatus 
and, in particular, to contaminant recovery systems for removing and/or 
recovering contaminant materials from the surface of a body of water. 
Only recently has there been an overwhelming realization for the importance 
of protecting various elements of the earth's environment. In the area of 
water pollution, for example, society has only started to pay the price 
for years of careless, indiscriminate pollution of our oceans, rivers and 
lakes. Industrial wastes and refuse, public sanitation wastes, and mammoth 
oil spills are only some of the sources of pollution responsible for the 
virtual destruction of many of our bodies of water. One recent oil spill, 
for example, responsible for the dumping of millions of gallons of 
unrefined crude oil into the ocean, attested to the severity of our 
pollution problems in the form of marred beaches, wildlife destruction, 
and millions of dollars expended merely to trace the direction of the 
spill and determine its environmental impact. The overall damaging effects 
must be realized to include the virtual loss of extremely valuable and 
expensive resource material itself which could not and has not been 
recovered for reuse and/or reclamation. 
It thus becomes apparent that there exists at present an overwhelming need 
for systems, apparatus, and the like which make possible the recovery of 
contaminant material from a myriad of bodies of water in order to prevent 
the destructive consequences now being encountered. These systems at the 
same time must be capable of recovering and reclaiming the often valuable 
resources causing the pollution itself. 
Several relatively recent inventions have been directed to just these 
purposes. Some of these devices, for example, are directed primarily to 
the separating of oil and solids from water. While these are necessary 
elements for any attempt to recover the lost contaminant, for the most 
part, these inventions fail to solve the problem encountered with actually 
recovering the contaminant from the body of water before separation is 
attempted. 
Other inventions have ranged from the utilization of flexible shields 
within a boat hull to act as a buffer in case of collision so as to 
protect an oil cargo; to vacuum inventions in which contaminant material 
is sucked into a vacuum hose suspended just below the surface of the water 
to fill a tank. With such a device the oil and water are sucked in 
together and, if given enough time, separate by gravity, at which time the 
water can be drained from the bottom of the tank and the oil reused. 
In one invention, oil is removed from the surface of water by applying a 
mixture of wax and a volatile inflammable substance. The resulting mixture 
is ignited, the wax fuses into a solidified mass and is then picked up. 
Such an invention is embodied in U.S. Pat. No. 3,785,972. In U.S. Pat. No. 
3,785,496, a carbohydrate fatty acid ester in powder, fibrous, or granular 
form, is applied to spilled oil on water. After picking the absorbent 
material back up, much of the oil is claimed to be recovered. 
Several types of skimming devices have been utilized for the recovery and 
reclammation of contaminants such as oil. One type of oil skimming device, 
referred to as a drum type skimmer utilizes a rotating drum or cylinder 
covered with an oil absorbent material to absorb the oil from the oil and 
water mixture. The surfaces are generally not wetted by water but instead 
only by oil. The oil is squeezed or scraped off the surface of the drum by 
a knife blade or by rollers and then segregated from the water. It should 
be noted that the effectiveness of this type of skimmer is substantially 
small due to the substantial inefficiency utilized in skimming and 
withdrawing the oil from the saturated drum. 
Another type of oil skimming device utilizes an oil absorbent surface on a 
continuous belt to absorb the oil from an oil and water mixture. In a 
manner equivalent to the drum type skimmer, this belt type skimmer carries 
the oil to the top of the belt mechanism where a blade or similar piece of 
equipment squeezes the oil from the belt before recycling. The belt is 
supported normally on two drums: one to submerge the belt in the oil and 
water mixture, and the other out of the mixture where the removal of the 
oil takes place. Besides encountering the inefficient removal problems 
discussed previously with the drum type oil skimmer, such a belt type oil 
skimming device is generally limited to calm waters or where oil films are 
of considerable thickness. 
Another type of apparatus removes a surface layer of low density from a 
body of liquid of higher density. This Weir type of skimming device 
comprises a flexible pipe or pipes surrounded by a layer of buoyant 
material in an outer sheath so that the flexible pipes float on the 
surface of the body of liquid. A number of suction nozzles connected to 
the flexible pipes, a filter for separating the surface liquid from the 
liquid of the body and a method for discharging the separated water back 
into the main body of water are all incorporated into the apparatus. In 
operation, the pipeline is laid on the surface of the sea so that it 
surrounds the patch of oil which is to be removed. The suction nozzles dip 
into the surface layer and the contaminant and a certain amount of sea 
water are sucked into the piping and carried into a ship where it is 
forced to a filtering apparatus to separate the oil from the water. 
The problems with existing contaminant recovery systems include their 
inability to accommodate all the variations that can occur with regards to 
(1) the type of contaminant being recovered, (2) the characteristics of 
the body of water from which the contaminant is being recovered, and (3) 
the temperatures of and reaction by the water and the contaminant to one 
another. For example, while some recovery devices work relatively well in 
calm waters, these devices have little, if any, effectiveness with 
turbulent or rolling seas which often complicate the recovery process. 
Further, all contaminants are not in the same material form. For example, 
three different types of petroleum contaminants, sweet, sour, and 
asphaltic, all provide different recovery problems for a skimming or 
recovery system. Asphaltic oil on the surface of substantially cold water, 
virtually hardens into an asphalt-like material which needs to be removed 
more like a solid than a liquid. Additionally, extremes in temperature of 
any body of water causes a contaminant located thereon to possess 
different and sometimes peculiar characteristics which cannot often be 
handled by the conventional skimming apparatus. 
For the most part, the conventional skimming, vacuum, or other type of 
recovery devices require substantial machinery and investment, and are 
often cumbersome and difficult to deploy and control. Additives which 
break down the petroleum substance might offer a viable alternative to 
assist the environment but at the same time they destroy the resource that 
could be recovered. Various types of barrier restraints which merely 
surround the contaminant to keep it from spreading, again, protect the 
environment while doing little in the way of recovering a substantially 
valuable resource. 
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a system for 
effectively removing from the surface of a body of water petroleum and/or 
many other types of undesirable contaminants including vegetation or 
refuse, while at the same time recovering the contaminant in its original 
form for reuse or reprocessing. 
It is further an object of the present invention to be flexible for use 
with many different types of contaminants in several types of bodies of 
water at varying temperatures. 
Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to improve the 
recovery rate and efficiency with which the contaminant is recovered while 
at the same time being relatively easy to deploy and control. 
Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for 
effectively recovering the contaminant at a substantially reduced cost and 
with a minimum of manpower. 
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent in light of 
the present specification. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention comprises a readily deployable barrier apron 
apparatus for utilization with contaminant material recovery systems to 
encompass the contaminant material floating on the surface of a body of 
water. The apparatus comprises upper impenetrable apron means which 
extends from below the bottom surface of the contaminant material on the 
body of water, to a position substantially above the upper surface of the 
contaminant material; and lower penetrable apron means extending 
downwardly from the upper apron member from a position beneath the lower 
surface of the contaminant material for maintaining the apparatus in a 
generally upright position in the body of water, while stabilizing the 
apparatus while it is moved through the body of water. Additionally, the 
invention comprises deployment means for quickly and easily deploying the 
apparatus in the body of water, as well as uprighting flotation means for 
effectively positioning the apparatus in an upright position in the body 
of water, and for maintaining the apparatus afloat in the body of water. 
In one embodiment of the invention, the apparatus includes an upper 
impenetrable apron means comprising a substantially plastic non-porous 
member, and a lower penetrable apron means comprising a substantially 
porous screen member attached thereto. In another embodiment of the 
apparatus, the upper and lower apron means are integrated into a single 
integral apron member of plastic material which is impenetrable along an 
upper portion, and penetrable along a lower portion, with the lower 
portion having a plurality of lower portion apertures fabricated therein 
to provide for liquid penetration. In either of these two embodiments, the 
uprighting flotation means comprises buoy means which are attached to the 
outer periphery of the upper and lower apron means, or the outer periphery 
of the upper and lower portions, by buoy attachment means. 
In the preferred embodiment of the invention the deployment means comprise 
a plurality of hinged apparatus segments to accommodate stacking the 
apparatus in a minimum of space and for enabling the quick, efficient 
extension of the apparatus with a minimum of effort. When strings of 
stacked apparatus segment are to be joined for an overall lengthy 
deployable barrier apron, undercut pallet means facilitate the connection 
of each of these stacked runs of apparatus segments to one another to form 
a substantial continuous barrier apron. Alternatively, in order to provide 
for the quick and easy deployment of the apron apparatus when it is formed 
of the plastic material which could be substantially flexible, roller 
means are utilized on which the apparatus is spooled. Through either of 
these deployment means, it should be readily apparent that deployment form 
airplanes and/or boats will be facilitated. 
The preferred embodiment of the invention calls for yet another embodiment 
of the apron barrier, in which the upper and lower apron means, the 
deployment means, and the uprighting flotation means are operably 
integrated into an integral apron member. This apron member is divided 
into substantially small apron segments, which may be hingedly attached to 
one another for quick and easy deployment. Additionally, the apparatus 
utilizes aperture channel means proximate to the lower penetrable apron 
means for the entry of water therein to provide ballast for the lowering 
of that portion into the water. Integrated buoyancy channel means are 
located proximate the upper apron means for maintaining the upper apron 
proximate to the surface of the body of water, thereby quickly and 
efficiently uprighting the device no matter which position it is in when 
dropped into the water. In this preferred embodiment, each of the apron 
segments are curved longitudinally in order to provide a more effective 
barrier toward the contaminant material. 
The preferred embodiment of the invention includes a plurality of shorter 
apron segments pinned to one another in order to maintain a surface 
position on a body of water that is rolling or turbulent.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, 
there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described, several 
specific embodiments with the understanding that the present disclosure is 
to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention 
and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments illustrated. 
The contaminant recovery system as shown in FIG. 1 is one such recovery 
system with which the present invention could be used. The particular 
system shown is the subject matter of a co-pending application by the 
present inventors. In this drawing, the overall system is shown removing 
and recovering contaminant materials, such as contaminants 23 and 30 from 
a body of water. Towboats 27 and 21 and 26 and 22, respectively, utilize 
the barrier apron means of the present invention, 24 and 25 respectively, 
to pre-channel contaminants into equivalent barrier aprons 18 and 17, 
towed by towing means 19 and 20. Barrier means 18 and 17 converge into and 
towards collection point 16, at which time the contaminant material is 
collected and removed from the body of water for reuse and/or reclamation. 
At the collection point 16, a contaminant material 15 is discharged into a 
collection means 14 which transfers the contaminant material 15 therein 
into a permanent storage means 12 by means of a pump 13. The permanent 
storage means is propelled by a tow boat 11 traveling at the same velocity 
of tow boats 19 and 20. Buoys 28 and 29 may be attached to the apron means 
24. 
In the barrier apron apparatus shown in FIG. 2, the upper and impenetrable 
apron means 34, comprises a substantially plastic non-porous member 32 or 
38, to which lower penetrable apron means 35 is attached. These lower 
penetrable apron means comprise a substantially porous screen member 33 or 
39, which assists in the positioning and stabilization of the barrier 
apron apparatus when it undergoes movement with the recovery system, as 
depicted by FIG. 1. In the particular embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the 
barrier apron apparatus comprises a plurality of apron segments 36, 31 and 
37, pivotally attached to one another at pinned points 40-41 and 42, to 
facilitate the constant surface positioning of the barrier apron apparatus 
relative to a turbulent and rolling body of water. The directional arrow D 
indicates the longitudinal direction of the barrier apron apparatus. 
A second embodiment of the barrier apron is shown in FIG. 3 in which 
barrier apron 43 comprises upper portion 44, which is impenetrable, and a 
lower portion which is penetrable due to a plurality of lower portion 
apertures fabricated therein, such as those shown by apertures 47. Segment 
attachment points 45 and 46 are also shown in FIG. 3 and provide the pivot 
points through which segment 43 could pivot relative to adjoining 
equivalent segments. 
FIG. 4 of the drawings shows barrier apron 50, in which upper and lower 
apron means 59 and 53, respectively, as well as the deployment means and 
uprighting flotation means merged operably into an integral apron member. 
As can be seen, apron 50 is divided into substantially small apron 
segments, such as segments 56 and 58, which are hingedly attached at 
hinges 55 and 57 for quick and easy deployment. The apparatus utilizes 
aperture channel means 52 proximate to the lower penetrable apron means 
for the entry of water thereinto through aperture 54, so as to provide 
ballast to the lower apron means. Additionally, integrated buoyancy 
channel means 51 are located proximate the upper apron means for 
maintaining the upper apron means proximate to the surface of the body of 
water. Additionally, each of the apron segments are curved longitudinally 
in order to provide effective barrier encompassing characteristics toward 
a contaminant material which would be facing the front illustrated side of 
the barrier apron. 
In FIG. 5, segment 50 is shown with upper portion 59, buoyancy channel 
means 51, lower portion apertures 60, and aperture channel means 52, with 
aperture 54 to allow the entry of water into aperture channel 52. One run 
61 of accordion-stacked barrier apron segments is shown in FIG. 6 on 
supporting means 62. Several of these runs 63, 64 and 65, are shown in 
FIG. 7 on cutaway pallets 70, 69 and 68 respectively, which enable the 
quick, facilitated connection to one another through hinging devices at 66 
and 67. Through such a construction, several lengths of multi-segmented 
barrier aprons can be connected to produce a substantially long barrier 
apron in a matter of minutes. 
Three deployment procedures are identified in FIGS. 8 through 10. In FIG. 
8, stacked apron segments 73 through 76, making up barrier apron 72 are 
deployed from an airplane and are opened by starter chute 77. In 
equivalent fashion, a substantially flexible barrier apron with screens 78 
and upper apron means 79 is shown being deployed from roll 83 in airplane 
71. Here again, initiation of the deployment is created by starter 
parachute 77. In FIG. 10, boat 84 is using equivalent roller means 82, to 
deploy barrier apron 80, which is maintained in proper position relative 
to the body of water through buoys, such as buoy 81. 
The foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate the 
invention, and the invention is not limited thereto, except insofar as the 
amended claims are so limited, as those skilled in the art have the 
disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations 
therein, without departing from the scope of the invention.