Abstract:
A Local Containment Boom and Standoff or Enviro Boom® is described in three embodiments all of which are immediately deployable: Boom Arms, a Dual Pole Standoff, and Dual Chamber Boom Arms. The Boom Arms comprise buoyant material covered with impermeable material with rigid sealed poles inside the Boom Arms. The Dual Chamber Boom Arms have an upper chamber for flotation material and lower chamber for water ballast. Both types of Boom Arms sit partially submerged to block oil from passing both over and under the Boom Arm. Boom Arms are immediately deployable for booming operations, pre-booming operations and quick response spill containment. Structure positioning magnets attach the Boom Arms, Dual Pole Standoffs or Dual Chamber Boom Arms to an aquatic structure. The Dual Pole Standoff comprises sealed poles with structure positioning magnets to stand off other booms, including traditional booms, from an aquatic structure.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This continuation-in-part application claims benefit under 35 USC 120 of commonly invented and copending, U.S. nonprovisional utility patent application Ser. No. 12/137,182, filed Jun. 11, 2008, named Containment Boom and Standoff, incorporated by reference in its entirety and claims benefit of commonly invented and copending PCT/US2009/045099 filed May 23, 2009. 
     
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not applicable 
       REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIX 
       [0003]    Not applicable 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART 
       [0004]    The field of the invention is Hydraulic Engineering. This invention enhances the quality of the environment by reducing floating oil spill damage to water and reducing harm to the local ecology. 
       PATENT DOCUMENT COMPARISON 
       [0005]    Pliable closed cell material in sections has been used for flotation and containment purposes in containment booms for oil spill containment in various prior art devices. Bell et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,616A discloses a plurality of foam sections that are linked together and stacked when necessary for additional height purposes. The sections, once assembled are dragged or towed to a desired location and weighted and anchored in place around a ship for booming or pre-booming operations. 
         [0006]    Nielson in U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,532 discloses the use of a free floating or anchored fender (or standoff) for providing a space between a containment boom and a vessel. Normal use would be with a boom rigged entirely around the ship with a number of the fenders of different sizes and shapes being required all the way around the ship. The number of fenders required depends on individual operational conditions such, for example, as current speed and direction, boom rigidity, boom tension and vessel length. This fender uses tension cables to build open planar structure and ternary structural systems. In order to effectively fender off an area such as a ship, each section of the ship must be analyzed for the dominant shape/feature of that part of the ship and the appropriate fender built for that section of the ship using calculations to determine the number and types of devices required. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The invention is an immediately deployable Local Containment Boom and Standoff. Several vital environmental quality objectives are met by having an immediately deployable Local Containment Boom and Standoff:
       Less water is exposed to the dangers of a spill because a smaller area is contained and it is contained faster;   Less people with less training and less cost of ownership are needed to deploy a Local Containment Boom and Standoff making it more likely to be purchased and more likely to be used and used properly;   Less cost and less downtime are achieved because the Local Containment Boom can be set up in a smaller area, repositioned quickly when necessary and removed in less time, causing less total downtime for the vessel operations.       
 
         [0011]    In order to claim the benefits of the invention, the following definitions should be applied to the invention and the use of the invention: We use the terms ‘Local Containment Boom and Standoff’ or ‘Local Containment Boom’ (also known as Enviro Boom, a registered trademark of Skyler Enterprises) to describe a new specific type of booming and standoff assembly where Boom Arms (see definition below) are secured in a ‘Local Containment Area’ (see definition below) rather than surrounding a ship. Boom Arms are inherently also standoff devices and do not require anchors or weights to hold them in place. 
         [0012]    We use the term ‘Local Containment Area’ to mean′ an area to be pre-boomed in the immediate vicinity surrounding a fueling operation, ballast water discharge, or other ship operation that generally but not necessarily includes the side of the aquatic structure as part of the containment area. ‘Local Containment Area’ also refers to the area where emergency booming using the Local Containment Boom takes place. In an emergency, the immediately area of an actual spill or leak where pre-booming did not take place (such as at sea) can be quickly boomed by the Local Containment Boom where time is of the essence for limiting the spread of the damage from the spill or leak to the smallest area possible (local containment). A spill recovery kit containing the Local Containment Boom can be stored on board a ship and is available for immediate deployment rather than having a spill spread during the time to deliver and set up a traditional booming device. 
         [0013]    We use the term ‘Boom Arm’ to describe a one arm of a dual Boom Arm assembly and ‘Boom Arms’ to describe a two Boom Arms or multiple Boom Arms used together. Boom Arms are inherently also standoff devices and do not require anchors or weights to hold them in place. We use the term Dual Pole Standoff to refer to one of the embodiments of the Local Containment Boom and Standoff where booming is being accomplished by some other means and the Dual Pole Standoff is being used as a standoff only. 
         [0014]    We use the term ‘Immediately Deployable’ to refer to several aspects of the ease of using the Boom Arms and Dual Pole Standoffs and to the short amount of time (just a few minutes) needed to configure the Local Containment Area. One aspect of the ease of use is that few configuration skills are required to place the Local Containment Boom in the needed vicinity—just drop it in the water and connect it to the ship or other aquatic structure in a shape such as a triangle or square suitable to contain any spills or potential spills in the immediate vicinity of the operation using the Structure Positioning Magnets (see definition below) to hold the Boom Arms or Dual Pole Standoff against the aquatic structure. The Boom Arms and Dual Pole Standoffs are immediately deployable because they are small and lightweight compared to traditional booms and can be stored close to where they are needed such as on board a ship, in a service boat, or in a docking area and taken out of storage and put into service in minutes. Boom Arms are immediately deployable because one person can handle their small size (5 to 30 feet in length for one arm) and light weight (50-100 lbs. per dual Boom Arm configuration) and because the self-contained buoyancy and self-righting capabilities require no extra equipment for inflation and no weights or anchors are required. Immediately Deployable also refers to being able to lower the Boom Arms from the deck of a ship with lines into the water and using lines to position the Local Containment Boom in place for emergency operations to quickly contain spills that have already occurred without the use of extra personnel or an extra vessel to deploy the boom. 
         [0015]    We define ‘Structure Positioning Magnets’ as the magnets that hold the Local Containment Boom against the ship or other aquatic structure without the structure having to contain any permanent or semi-permanent fixtures to hold the magnets and Boom Arms or Dual Pole Standoffs in place. One example of a structure positioning magnet is a 12 lb. magnet that has 600 lb. pull strength that is attached with mechanical connectors to each end of the Boom Arms or Dual Pole Standoff and the magnets attached to the ship or other aquatic structure. These structure positioning magnets can be moved vertically or horizontally along the side of the ship by a person in a service boat or by lines from the deck of the ship and adjusted as the ship rises and falls with the change in load that occurs with refueling operations or ballast adjustments or to adjust for weather or current changes. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a pair of Boom Arms. 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  shows a cross-sectional view of a Boom Arm with sealed poles in the sealed compartments. 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  shows a cross-sectional view of the back side (faces open water) of a Boom Arm. 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  shows a perspective view of the back side (faces open water) of Boom Arms. 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  shows a front perspective view of one embodiment of a structure positioning magnet. 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  shows a top view of Boom Arms with a structure positioning magnet attaching the assembly directly to an aquatic structure. 
           [0022]      FIG. 7  is the Dual Pole Standoff with Structure Positioning Magnets at both distal ends. 
           [0023]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a ship or other aquatic structure with multiple Boom Arms acting as standoffs for a conventional boom. 
           [0024]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a ship or other aquatic structure with multiple Boom Arms acting as two sides of a triangular as standoffs for a conventional boom. 
           [0025]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of a ship or other aquatic structure with a plurality of Boom Arms connected together being used as a local containment boom. 
           [0026]      FIG. 11  is a perspective view ship or other aquatic structure with Boom Arms being used as a local containment boom. 
           [0027]      FIG. 12  is the Dual Chamber Boom Arm perspective view. 
           [0028]      FIG. 13  is a cross-sectional view of the Dual Chamber Boom Arm with Flotation Material in the upper flotation chamber and water being used as ballast in the Ballast Chamber. 
           [0029]      FIG. 14  is a perspective view of the either the distal or proximal end of a Dual Chamber Boom Arm. 
           [0030]      FIG. 15  is a perspective view of a Detachable Magnetic Flap Pocket Assembly. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0031]    One embodiment of the Local Containment Boom and Standoff, is the use of Boom Arms for pre-booming (containing potential floating oil spills) around an oil transfer operation or other potential spill operation or as part of an emergency response spill recovery kit. The Boom Arms act as their own standoff in this embodiment. Boom Arms are made of any suitable material such as four pound closed cell polyethylene foam where the Boom Arms are covered with a protective waterproof and oil impermeable material and this cover may also be used to connect between Boom Arms. The covering used may be one of the heavy duty vinyl materials that are specially formulated for booming or other suitable materials. Boom Arms fold together for storage and unfold for immediate deployment. Sealed poles inside the buoyant Boom Arms provide rigidity and keep the assembly upright in the water. The assembly has sufficient buoyancy during deployment in water so the top of the assembly will float high enough in water to block the passage of a floating oil spill over the top and a bottom of the assembly sitting low enough below the waterline to prevent a floating oil spill from going underneath. The invention self-rights itself when properly configured. Elements of the protective cover seal the assembly to the aquatic structure or seal the minimum number of assemblies together to contain a floating oil spill in a local area. Mechanical connectors on both ends of both sealed poles provide attachment means to other devices such as the structure positioning magnets which attach the assembly to an aquatic structure. These structure positioning magnets allow the assembly to be quickly placed where it is needed rather than having to encircle the entire ship like a conventional boom. Structure positioning magnets may be replaced by mechanical connectors when multiple Boom Arms are desired to form larger Local Containment Areas or other geometrical shapes of Local Containment Areas. Other devices such as a current vane, a wind vane and a strobe light can be attached to the mechanical connectors to make monitoring the booming operation easier. This embodiment can also be used as a standoff device to keep other containment booms at a sufficient distance from an aquatic structure during an oil transfer operation or after an accidental spill from other operations. 
         [0032]    Another embodiment of The Local Containment Boom and Standoff is a Dual Pole Standoff (or fender) to stand off a separate containment boom a sufficient distance from an aquatic structure during an oil transfer operation or after an accidental spill from other operations. This embodiment does not act as its own boom (standoff only). Dual Pole Standoffs are pairs of buoyant sealed poles with mechanical connectors on both ends of both sealed poles that provide attachment means to other devices such as structure positioning magnets that attach the assembly to an aquatic structure with the sealed poles as two sides of a triangle using the aquatic structure as the third side. These structure positioning magnets allow the assembly to be quickly placed and held where it is needed rather than employing anchors, lines, cables or other devices like the prior art or rather than allowing the standoff to free float. 
         [0033]    Another embodiment is Dual Chamber Boom Arms that use an upper chamber pre-filled with flotation material such as protectively wrapped closed cell polyethylene foam to keep the boom afloat and upright and a rigid lower chamber that uses ambient water as ballast to restrict the movement of the boom in the water making it more effective for resisting currents, wind, waves and other forces present at the surface of the water and just below the surface of the water. This embodiment acts as its own standoff. This embodiment is an assembly with a pair of Dual Chamber Boom Arms with mechanical connectors on both ends of both assemblies that provide an attachment means to other devices such as structure positioning magnets that attach the assembly to an aquatic structure. The rigidity of the ballast chambers allows the assemblies to act as two sides of a triangle using the aquatic structure as the third side. Other geometric configurations may also be used. These structure positioning magnets allow the assembly to be quickly placed and held where it is needed rather than employing anchors, lines, cables or other devices like the prior art or rather than allowing the standoff to free float as some of the prior art. The assembly has sufficient buoyancy during deployment in water so the top of the assembly will float high enough in water to block the passage of a floating oil spill over the top and a bottom of the assembly sitting low enough below the waterline to prevent a floating oil spill from going underneath. The assembly self-rights itself when configured properly. Elements of the protective cover seal the assembly to the aquatic structure or seal a minimal number of assemblies together to contain a floating oil spill in a local containment area or a higher number of assemblies together to use as a convention boom is used in a non-local area. 
         [0034]    Optional features include attachable wind and current vanes to allow operators to monitor conditions in the containment area so that necessary adjustments can be made in a timely manner. An optional strobe light assists night crews in maintaining visual contact with the containment system. 
         [0035]    Now referring to  FIGS. 1-15  containing the best mode of the invention, wherein like numbers refer to like elements in the various views,  FIG. 1  is perspective view of a Boom Arms  20 . As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the Boom Arms  20  comprises a pair of buoyant Boom Arm  24  covered on all sides with a protective cover  29 . The buoyant Boom Arm  24  has a bore  32  running lengthwise through the buoyant Boom Arm  24  located below a centerline  27  of the buoyant Boom Arm  24 . A sealed pole  40  is contained inside the bore  32 . Boom Arms  20  have a top  28 , a front side  25  (usually faces floating oil spill), a back side  26  (usually faces open water), and a bottom  30 . The back side  26  has a plurality of linking magnets  34  for holding the Boom Arms  20  folded in half lengthwise during storage, deployment and during use as a standoff. 
         [0036]      FIG. 3  shows a cross-sectional lengthwise view of the Boom Arms  20 . A sealed pole end  46  is connected to a mechanical connector  36  at each of the two sealed pole ends  46 . The mechanical connectors  36  at each of the sealed pole ends  46  extend past the protective cover  29  at both a proximal sealed pole ends  39  and a distal sealed pole ends  41  (see  FIG. 4 ). At the proximal sealed pole ends  39 , the protective cover  29  is a flat section  31  which covers the front  25  of the Boom Arms  20  while leaving the back side  26  of the Boom Arms  20  open to leave access to the mechanical connectors  36  and to make the Boom Arms  20  easier to fold. 
         [0037]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the back side  26  of the Boom Arms  20 . A plurality of linking magnets  34  are configured to match the other linking magnets  34  when the Boom Arms  20  is folded in half lengthwise. The protective cover  29  extends beyond the distal ends  41  to form a protective flap  21 . A flap magnet  23  is mechanically connected to the protective flap  21 . 
         [0038]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , the protective flap  21  folds back toward the front side  25  of the Boom Arms  20  so that a structure positioning magnet  42 , (see  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6 ), is protected from the floating oil spill  74  and so that the Boom Arms  20  fits tightly against the aquatic structure  70  as shown in the top view in  FIG. 6 . 
         [0039]    As shown in  FIG. 7 , a Dual Pole Standoff  43  comprising of the pair of sealed poles  40  each with the pair of mechanical connectors  36  (at each end) connected together at the sealed pole proximal ends  39  with the pair of structure positioning magnets  42  attached with the pair of magnet connectors  44  at both the distal ends  41  of the sealed poles using the mechanical connectors  36 . The Dual Pole Standoff  43  acts as a standoff at an aquatic structure  70  attached at the waterline  72  in conjunction with a conventional boom  76  as shown in  FIG. 7 .  FIG. 8  and  FIG. 9  show an application where either the Boom Arms  20  (shown) or the Dual Pole Standoff  43  can be deployed with the conventional boom  76 . In any application, a plurality of the Boom Arms  20  can replace the conventional boom  76 . 
         [0040]      FIG. 8  shows multiples of the Boom Arms  20  acting as standoffs for the conventional boom  76 . The Boom Arms  20  are connected at the structure using the structure positioning magnets  42  (hidden from sight by the protective flap  21 ) or other suitable interface. The Dual Pole Standoff  43  could be substituted for the Boom Arms  20  since the application is for a standoff, however if the Boom Arms  20  were used here, the floating oil spill  74  could be locally contained rather than spread all the way around the ship or other structure  70 . 
         [0041]      FIG. 9  shows multiples of the Boom Arms  20  acting as standoffs for the conventional boom  76  providing two sides of a triangle with the structure  70  acting as the third side of the triangle. The Boom Arms  20  are connected at the structure using the structure positioning magnets  42  (hidden from view) or other suitable interface. The Dual Pole Standoff  43  could be substituted for the Boom Arms  20  since the application is for a standoff, however if the Boom Arms  20  were used here, the floating oil spill  74  could be locally contained rather than spread all the way around the ship or other structure  70 . 
         [0042]      FIG. 10  shows a plurality of the Boom Arms  20  connected together with mechanical connectors  36  between the Boom Arms  20  and the plurality of Boom Arms  20  connected to the aquatic structure  70  with the structure positioning magnets  42 . The protective flap  21  protects the structure positioning magnets from the floating oil spill  74 . The floating oil spill  74  is locally contained in the local area requiring a minimal use of the containment boom. 
         [0043]      FIG. 11  shows one of the Boom Arms  20  functioning as the local containment boom, providing two sides of the triangle with the structure  70  acting as the third side of the triangle. The Boom Arms  20  are connected at the structure using the structure positioning magnets  42  or other suitable interface.  FIG. 11  shows the Boom Arms  20  being used as the local containment boom for the floating oil spill  74 . Because of the compact design of the Boom Arms  20  and fast deployment, the area affected by the floating oil spill  74  can be kept local. 
         [0044]    Now referring to  FIG. 12-FIG .  15 , the third embodiment, the Dual Chamber Boom Arms  80  is shown.  FIG. 12  is a perspective view of the Dual Chamber Boom Arms. The Dual Chamber Boom Arms  80  comprises a pair of Dual Chamber Boom Arms  82  that are covered on all sides (except the Ballast Chamber openings  100 ) with a protective cover  29 . The Dual Chamber Boom Arms  80  have a front side  25  (usually faces floating oil spill), a back side  26  (usually faces open water), a top  83  and a bottom  85 . A slide assembly  106  attaches a Detachable Magnetic Flap Pocket Assembly  120  to the proximal end of Flotation Water Ballast Assembly. The Chamber Boom Arms have an upper sealed Flotation Chamber  84 , a lower Ballast Chamber  88 , and a plurality of Ballast Chamber openings  100 . The Ballast Chamber Openings  100  may be covered with a Ballast Chamber Door  90 . The back side  26  has a plurality of linking magnets  34  for holding the Dual Chamber Boom Arms  20  folded in half lengthwise during storage, deployment and during use as a standoff. 
         [0045]      FIG. 13  is a cross-sectional view of the Dual Chamber Boom Arms  82  with Flotation Material  86  in the upper Flotation Chamber  84  and Water  98  being used as ballast in the Ballast Chamber  88 . 
         [0046]      FIG. 14  is a perspective view of the Proximal End  89  of Dual Chamber Boom Arms  82 . A Protective Cover Endpiece  33  covers and seals the Flotation Material  86  (hidden from sight behind the Protective Cover Endpiece  33 ) inside the Flotation Chamber  84  (see  FIG. 13 ). Filtering Material  96  allows water  98  to move in and out of the Ballast Chamber Opening  100  freely while stopping debris from going inside the Ballast Chamber  88 . Slide connectors  106  on both sides of the Dual Chamber Boom Arms allow the Detachable Magnetic Flap Pocket Assembly  120  (see  FIG. 15 ) to be attached on the front side  25  or the back side  26  of the Chamber Boom Arms  82  (see  FIG. 12 ). 
         [0047]      FIG. 15  is a perspective view of a Detachable Magnetic Flap Pocket Assembly (“magnet assembly”)  120 . The magnet assembly  120  has a Magnet  128  inside the pocket that is made up of the Open Side Securing Material  126  and the Closed Side Securing Material  124 . Slide Connectors  106  allow the magnet assembly  120  to be easily attached to the Proximal End  89  or the distal end of the Chamber Boom Arms. Variable strengths of magnets  128  may be used for different applications depending on the strength needed to hold the lengths of Containment Boom and Standoff in place on the aquatic structure. 
         [0048]    The above disclosure is sufficient to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention, and provides the best mode of practicing the invention presently contemplated by the inventor. While there is provided herein a full and complete disclosure of the preferred embodiments of this invention, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction, dimensional relationships, and operation shown and described. Various modifications, alternative constructions, changes and equivalents will readily occur to those skilled in the art and may be employed, as suitable, without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. Such changes might involve alternative materials, components, structural arrangements, sizes, shapes, forms, functions, operational features or the like.