Patent Publication Number: US-9409639-B1

Title: Method and system for protection of vessels against intrusions

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a non-provisional application of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/178,205 filed Apr. 2, 2015, entitled A DEFENSE SYSTEM FOR MARINE AND RIVER VESSELS AGAINST THE INTRUSION OF UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS ON BOARD, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a vessel anti-piracy′ protection system and, in particular, to a method and system for creating a water wall barrier around the perimeter of the vessel in order to prevent the pirates or other intruders from approaching the vessel and getting on board. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Modern maritime piracy has become a very serious problem with more than 400 attacks recorded in 2010 and 2011. The numbers of reported attacks have decreased slightly over the resent years, but protection of merchant and passenger boats and vessels remains a serious problem that exists on an international scale. This problem has not been solved because of the maritime international laws prohibiting use of weapons or presence of armed guards on board of merchant and passenger ships. Other protection means such as protection of the perimeter of the ship with barb-wire fences are used, but they are costly and ineffective against pirates who can approach the vessel in large boats and throw up hooks and ladders and climb on board regardless of the fences. The barbed fences need to be installed at a high cost and not every commercial ship owner is willing to spend money on the security modifications of his ship. In 2014 only, the world community had spent 8 billion of US dollars in order to protect cargo and passenger ships from pirate attacks with a minimal success. 
     Some companies use water guns positioned on board of a ship for protection against pirates. While the water guns or canons can assist in protecting a ship to some degree, they are proven to be ineffective in cases when a massive pirate attack occurs. In these cases, some of the pirates can get on board by avoiding the water guns. They can take control of the ship and turn off the water guns so the rest of the gang can board the ship. 
     Accordingly, a method and system for efficient and inexpensive protection of a vessel against pirates or intruders is desired. It is also desired to have an anti-piracy system that does not require any modifications to the existing vessel structures. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to vessel protection against pirates and, in particular, to a method and system for creating a continuous water wall barrier around the perimeter of the vessel in order to prevent pirates or other intruders from approaching the vessel and getting on board that substantially overcomes one or more disadvantages of the related art. 
     The present invention is directed to a method and system for creating a water wall barrier around the perimeter of a ship by pumping a high-pressure water stream through a plurality of rotational water dispensing heads positioned around the perimeter of the ship. Each of the water dispensing heads produces a water circle and the overlapping water circles create a water wall barrier around the ship that cannot be breached by the intruders attempting to approach the ship and to climb on board. Each water head has several jet nozzles dispensing water streams under high pressure. The water heads rotate under a reactive force impact of the water jet streams coming at an angle from the water dispensing jet nozzles. Thus, the entire boat is covered by a continuous water wall barrier, which does not allow for any intrusion attempts from another boat, from air or from a pier. 
     Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ATTACHED FIGURES 
       The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
       In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a top view of a multipronged head, in accordance with the exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a side cross section view of a multipronged head, in accordance with the exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates how the multipronged head rotates under the impact of the reactive forces produced by jet streams, in accordance with the exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a positioning of water jet nozzles on the multipronged head; in accordance with the exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a mechanism for blocking a water stream in the water jet nozzles based on their positioning, in accordance with the exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a top view of positioning of the multipronged heads along the perimeter of the vessel, in accordance with the exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a side view of positioning of the multipronged heads along the perimeter of the vessel, in accordance with the exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a water wall formed by intersecting circles, in accordance with the exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 8.1  illustrates truncated water wall circles, in accordance with the exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 9  illustrates creation of two water walls by alternating straight and angled jet nozzles of the multipronged heads, in accordance with the exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 10  illustrates an A-shaped shield created by the multipronged heads positioned at a certain angle, in accordance with the exemplary embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
     The present invention is directed to a method and system for creating a continuous water wall around the perimeter of a ship by pumping a high-pressure water stream through a plurality of rotational water dispensing heads positioned around the perimeter of the ship. Each of the water dispensing heads produces a water circle and the overlapping water circles create a water wall barrier around the ship that cannot be breached or broken by the intruders attempting to approach the ship and to climb on board. 
     Each water head has several jet nozzles dispensing water streams under a high pressure. The water heads rotate under an impact of the reactive force created by the water jet streams coming at an angle from the water dispensing nozzles. Thus, the entire boat is covered by a continuous water wall barrier, which does not allow for any intrusion attempts from another boat, from a pier or from air. Herein, for the purpose of this description the water wall system is referred to as a “Water Fort.” 
     According to an exemplary embodiment, the Water Fort system includes a plurality of rotating water dispenser heads located along the perimeter of the boat as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . An assembly of a single water dispenser head is illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The water head dispenser includes a flat cylindrical base water head container  110  made from a hard metal capable to withstand a high-pressure created inside the base water head container  110 . The inner surface of the base water head container  110  is polished in order to minimize friction and loss of pressure of turbulent water streams entering the base water head container  110  under high-pressure. 
     The base water head container  110  has a water input  150  for connecting a high-pressure hose or water pipe, which provides a continuous water stream  170  from a main water pump as shown in  FIG. 2  depicting a side view of the water head. Note that the conventional ship water pump is advantageously used. The base water head container  110  is connected to the high pressure pipe (or hose) by means of flanges in such a way that the base water head cylinder  110  can rotate about its axis. In order to reduce rotational friction, bearings or special rotational spacer rings can be used inside the flanges. Note that the dimensions of the water dispensing head unit (i.e., a height and a diameter of the base water head container  110 ) are calculated for each particular ship based on a required number of high-pressure water jet nozzles  120  placed on the surface of the cylinder of the water head container  110 . The length of the surface area of the water head container  110  depends on a radius of the cylinder. 
     According to one exemplary embodiment, the water head  110  can have 4 to 6 high-pressure water jet nozzles  120 . However, an arbitrary number of the jet nozzles can be used based on a volume of the water head cylinder, which can be calculated as:
 
 V=πr   2   H  
 
     where r—radius of the cylinder and H—height of the cylinder. The water head with 4-6 jet nozzles creates a water wall positioned in a vertical plane. If the water head has a larger radius r, more jet nozzles can be attached at different angles (see  FIG. 4  right drawing). This embodiment can produce several water wall barriers positioned in different planes as shown in  FIG. 9 , which is discussed in more detail herein. Additionally, the water spraying nozzles can be used for creation of a mist cloud. According to one embodiment, some of the jet nozzles can dispense colored water for additional protection of the vessel. Note that since the proposed system uses the standardized jet nozzles  120  and the connection couplings  130 , the size of the water head is selected to accommodate a desired number of the jet nozzles for a particular vessel. 
     A number of the water head required for protection of an entire perimeter of a vessel is determined by the size of the vessel and a vessel pump capacity. The number of the required water heads can be determined as follows:
 
 M =( L*H )/MPa,
 
     where M is a number of the water heads, L—length of a vessel, H—height of the walls of the vessel above the water, MPa—a pressure of a water jet coming out of a jet nozzle. The produced water jets have significant length of a compact effective portion of the jet. For example, if the water jet pressure is 10 MPa, and the diameter of the jet is 30 mm, the effective portion of the jet can dismantle a body of an intruder at a distance of up to 50 m form the jet nozzle. At pressure of 90 MPa, a water jet of the diameter of 20 mm can cut Granite rocks. A diameter of a protected area can be in a range from 100 to 130 m. Consequently, in order to protect a vessel of 300 m in length, only 7 water heads are required (see  FIG. 6 ). 
     According to the exemplary embodiment, the base water head container  110  has water passages  160  located on the outer part of the cylinder of the base water head  110  at equal distances from each other for dispensing the water stream  170  into water jet nozzles  120 . A number of the high-pressure water jet nozzles  120  are selected based on the diameter of the cylinder of the base water head  110 . The high-pressure water jet nozzles  120  are connected to the cylinder of the water head base  110  by connection couplings  130  that provide for very fast and easy attachment (or detachment) of the high-pressure water jet nozzles  120 . 
     The high-pressure water jet nozzles  120  form continuous compact water jet streams of a pre-defined diameter and a pre-determined shooting range. The jet streams are formed from a turbulent water stream created inside the water head base cylinder  110 . According to one embodiment, special jet heads  140  are placed onto the water jet nozzles  120  in order to produce a water spray instead of a compact jet stream. According to one embodiment, the water jets can be replaced by a spray with a pre-set periodicity in order create a masking water mist around the perimeter of the ship. 
     According to the exemplary embodiment, the connection quick-release adjustable couplings  130  are implemented in such manner that the water jet nozzles  120  can be attached at a certain angle (see  FIG. 4 ) in order to accommodate a shape of the vessel as shown in  FIG. 6 . Thus, the created water wall barrier wraps up the contour of the ship more closely. The horizontal and vertical angles of the positioning of the water jet nozzles  120  are calculated for a particular ship and can be changed almost on-the-fly if it is required by the situation (i.e., waves, weather condition, visibility, etc.). Alternatively, the angled water jet nozzles  120  can replaced by the straight ones and vice versa as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     According to on exemplary embodiment, the straight and angled water jet nozzles  120  can be alternated on the water head  110  as shown in  FIG. 4 . The quick-release adjustable couplings  130  allow for quickly changing the angles of jet nozzles as dictated by the situation. Thus, this embodiment produces two different water walls—one is vertical (i.e., parallel to the side of the ship) and one positioned at an angle to the side of the ship as shown in  FIG. 9  (see large circle). According to the exemplary embodiment, the angled water wall servers as an attacking tool against the pirate boats (see a boat shown inside the right circle) attempting to approach the side of the ship. Additionally, some of the water jet nozzles  120  can be equipped with the jet heads  140  placed onto their tips for producing a high-pressure water spray, which ultimately creates a mist (or a cloud) around the ship. 
     This way the ship is protected in three different ways—i.e., it is made to be virtually invisible by the mist cloud; it has an angular water wall for preventing the intruders from approaching the ship and the vertical water wall making it impossible for the intruders to climb on board. This triple protection makes the Water Fort a very efficient and reliable system for protection of the ship against the intruders. 
     According to the exemplary embodiment, all water jet nozzles  120  are attached to the base cylinder  110  at an angle to diameter line of the base cylinder by quick-release adjustable couplings as shown in  FIG. 3 . Therefore, the water jet streams A coming out of the jets  120  create a pressure force B and reactive force C that produce a resulting force which cause rotation of the base cylinder  110  with the water jet nozzles  120  in a clockwise direction. 
     In order to create a sufficient reactive force, the jet nozzles are positioned at an angle to the diameter of the water head cylinder as shown in  FIG. 4 . The higher the angle of the jet nozzles, the faster is the angular velocity of the water head unit. The higher is the side wall of the ship (over the water), the faster rotation (angular velocity) of the water head is needed so the water jets cross over the potential intrusion point more frequently. For example, the same ship can have a height of the walls over the water 6-8 m under cargo load and can have the height of the walls over the water 20-25 m when it is empty. This can be accommodated by the quick-release adjustable couplings  130  ( FIG. 2 ) that can change the angles of the jet nozzles  120  and thereby control the angular velocity of the rotating water heads required for protection of the particular vessel in its current loaded or unloaded state. 
     As discussed above, the rotation at a high rate of angular velocity creates a monolith water circle of a set range R as shown in  FIG. 8 . Note that the overlapping water circles produce the protective water wall barrier—i.e., a Water Fort, which cannot be breached by the intruding pirates, providing that the water pressure is sufficient. 
     In order to implement the water wall barrier around the perimeter of the ship, a number of the water dispensing units (i.e., water heads) are placed on the deck along the edges of the ship as shown in  FIG. 6  depicting the top view and  FIG. 7  depicting the side view. According to one exemplary embodiment, in order to improve the effectiveness of the Water Fort system and to reduce water usage, the water circles depicted in  FIG. 8  are truncated (i.e., flattened out) as shown in  FIG. 8.1 . This is particularly important in terms of a view field available to the captain and the crew on board. The flattened out water walls allow for monitoring maneuvers of the pirates in order to adjust the positioning of the water jet nozzles using quick-release couplings according to the situation. It also helps to navigate the ship in tight spaces and when being docked at the ports or at a pier. 
     This is accomplished by a locking device  210  attached to the connection couplings  130  as shown in  FIG. 5 . The locking device in a form of a valve blocks the water jet stream once the water jet  120  moves to a certain position above the horizon line. Once the water jet passes  120  the horizon line, the valve opens and the water jet stream comes out creating a lower portion of a water wall circle depicted in  FIG. 8.1 . Thus, the upper portion of the water circle is eliminated (see  FIG. 8.1 ), advantageously, saving some water and making the Water Fort more efficient and less costly. According to one implementation of the Water Fort system, the water jet nozzles  120  can be located on the upper deck of the vessel positioned at a certain angle as shown in  FIG. 10 . This implementation can be used for producing a layer of a sick cloud of mist around the entire ship including the masts, antennas and the captain&#39;s cabin. 
     This implementation basically masks or hides the ship and makes it impossible for the pirates to shoot at the ship even from a close range. In this mode of the operation, the heads  140  (see  FIG. 2 ) are attached to the tips of jet nozzles  120  in order to produce a dispersed water spray instead of a compact jet stream. According to the exemplary embodiment, the Water Fort system uses the vessels&#39; existing pumping equipment or, optionally, installed additional pumps. The Water Fort system is very efficient, as it uses the sea water surrounding the vessel by pumping the water through a high intensity multiport head. 
     An arbitrary number of the water jet nozzles can be used, for example, between 4 and 30 based on a capacity of the pump. According to the exemplary embodiment, the Water Fort heads are placed 15 to 25 cm from the side of the of the vessel (see  FIG. 6 ) in order to create a virtually impenetrable wall of water around the vessel. The Water Fort heads can be placed at different locations and at different angles along the perimeter of the vessel creating multiple water walls. This not only prevents the intruders from scaling the walls of the vessel, but by placing the Water Fort heads anywhere from 1 to 10 meters from the side of the vessel, can also prevent the intruders from getting close enough to the vessel in order to shoot at the persons on board or to throw a grenade. 
     As discussed above, by replacing the high intensity nozzles with lower intensity (or by changing the heads of the nozzles) and positioning the spray nozzles at a different angle, the Water Fort system can create a cloud-like (mist) wall all around the vessel, thus reducing the visibility to the potential intruders and reducing their ability to maneuver their boats near the vessel being protected. To increase the effectiveness of the Water Fort system, the multipronged water dispensing head can be fitted with a “floating” variable axis, creating unpredictable streams of water and angles of the water walls all around the vessel, making it even harder for potential intruders to plan their attack. 
     In the event of an attack from the air (such as an unauthorized helicopter landing), the Water Fort multipronged heads can be placed at angle as shown in  FIG. 10 . This will result in an A-shaped water shield all around the vessel for preventing the vessel from intrusion from air such as an unauthorized helicopter landing. By placing both the high-intensity jet nozzles and low-intensity spray nozzles at the upward angle, an additional barrier in the form of a “water cloud” can be created for shielding the vessel from the aerial view. This implementation can be especially useful for military applications, for the purpose of covert movement of the individual vessels of various sizes. 
     According to the exemplary embodiment, the Water Fort System, advantageously, has a high reliability employing high-intensity water streams capable of breaking rock formations. The Water Fort system employs high and low intensity jet streams forming a variety of water barriers around the vessel. These barriers make it impossible for an intruder to scale the outer walls of the vessel. 
     Employing the multipronged heads at an appropriate angle, makes it extremely difficult for attacking boats to approach the vessel, and practically impossible for them to dock to the protected vessel. Employing the lower-intensity spray nozzles creates a “water cloud” barrier, which provides for an additional defense against arial attacks by impairing visibility, as well as reducing the mobility of the intruding forces. 
     The proposed Water Fort system, advantageously, requires little to no special training for the crew members. The system, once set up, can be easily activated by pressing a power button, which starts the flow of water instantly. The Water Fort system can be used a very low cost making it available to the owners of ships of various size and value. The Water Fort System can use standard pumps available on most vessels, such as firefighting pumps, drainage pumps, drinking water pumps and special pumps that only operate during an attack on the vessel. The Water Fort system is equipped with inexpensive, readily commercially available nozzles and parts, used by fire departments all around the world. Additional costs of the system assembly may include the manufacture of the multipronged head, the quick-release adjustable couplings, pipes and the installation of the parts. 
     Note that one high-pressure fire hose is capable of creating a powerful stream reaching up to 100 meters, for example. One Water Fort high-pressure nozzle can create a powerful jet stream of up to 50 meters, thus creating a circular water barrier with a diameter of 100 meters along the sides of the vessel. Thus, in order to secure the perimeter of the ship of a 300 meters length, only 7 multipronged heads (as depicted in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ) are needed. The Water Fort vessel protection system adheres to all international maritime laws and regulations making it available to be used by any ship owner or a company on any of his fleet. 
     Having thus described a preferred embodiment, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that certain advantages of the described method and apparatus have been achieved. In particular, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the proposed anti-piracy vessel system provides an efficient low-cost protection against pirates or other intruders attempting to board the vessel. 
     It should also be appreciated that various modifications, adaptations, and alternative embodiments thereof may be made within the scope and spirit of the present invention. The invention is further defined by the following claims.