Patent Abstract:
An apparatus for sealing a piling to a planar member extending around the piling comprises a base collar sized to surround the piling at a first location and having a planar base flange extending therefrom and an upper collar sized to extend around the piling at a second location, the upper collar being sealable around the piling. A longitudinally extendable sleeve extends between the base collar and the upper collar sealing the base collar to the upper collar.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/727,028 filed Nov. 15, 2012 entitled Piling Boot. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to sealing members in general and in particular to a method and apparatus for sealing around a ground piling. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    In many industries, storage tanks are utilized to store or otherwise contain a variety of fluids. Some of such fluids may be hazardous or otherwise polluting to the environment, such as, by way of non-limiting example diesel fuel, glycol, or other chemicals utilized for industrial or commercial applications. Disadvantageously, such storage tanks may periodically have leaks, spills or other failures which may lead to contaminants entering the local soil and polluting the environment. 
         [0006]    One common method of reducing possible impact of contaminant spills has been to place the storage tank on pilings inserted into the soil and to then also cover the surrounding soil with a ground sheet. As the ground sheet is required to contain any contaminants escaping from the storage tank, it has commonly been necessary to seal the ground sheet around piling. Previous solutions to the above difficulty have been to seal the ground sheet directly to the piling or to provide a collar extending from the sheet which may then be sealed to the 
         [0007]    One disadvantage of such a system is the difficulty of maintaining the seal between the ground sheet and the pilings. In many locations, the ground surrounding such storage tanks may be prone to expansion, contraction, shifting or settling due to the influence of time, water infiltration or ground freezing and thawing. Such fluctuations in ground level may cause the ground sheet to move relative to the pilings making sealing such ground sheet around the pilings difficult. As the connection between the ground sheet and the piling may become stretched due to the movement of the ground sheet past the strength limits of the connection or the ground sheet. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    An apparatus for sealing a piling to a planar member extending around the piling. The apparatus comprises a base collar sized to surround the piling at a first location and having a planar base flange extending therefrom and an upper collar sized to extend around the piling at a second location, the upper collar being sealable around the piling. The apparatus further comprises a longitudinally extendable sleeve extending between the base collar and the upper collar, the sleeve sealing the base collar to the upper collar. 
         [0009]    The sleeve may comprise a cylindrical bellows. The sleeve may comprise tubular member having an s-shaped wall cross-section. The sleeve may be sealable to the base collar and upper collar. The sleeve may be integrally formed with the base collar and upper collar. 
         [0010]    The base flange may extend substantially perpendicularly from the base collar. The base flange may have a substantially rectangular outer edge. 
         [0011]    The upper collar may be sealed around the piling by a clamp. The clamp may comprise a hose clamp. The base flange may be sealed to the ground sheet. 
         [0012]    Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]    In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention wherein similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in each view, 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a piling and ground sheet having an apparatus for sealing the piling to the ground sheet according to a first embodiment of the present invention applied thereto. 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a cross sectional view of the apparatus of  FIG. 1  as taken along the line  2 - 2  at a first or retracted position. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a cross sectional view of the apparatus of  FIG. 1  as taken along the line  2 - 2  at a second or extended position. 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view of the apparatus of  FIG. 1  as taken along the line  2 - 2  according to a further embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view of the apparatus of  FIG. 4 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0019]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , an apparatus for sealing around a piling  8  to a ground sheet  6  according to a first embodiment of the invention is shown generally at  10 . The apparatus a top collar  12 , a base collar  20 , and a longitudinally extendable sleeve  40  extending therebetween. The base collar  20  surrounds the piling and includes a flange  28  extending substantially radially therefrom. 
         [0020]    The top collar is sealably secured to the piling such that the apparatus seals the ground sheet around the piling so as to prevent contaminants from escaping the ground sheet past the penetration through ground sheet provided for the piling. 
         [0021]    With reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the top collar  12  comprises a substantially tubular member defining a central passage  14  therethrough and may be secured to the piling with a hose clamp  16  or the like. The central passage  14  may be substantially circular, rectangular or any other shape so as to correspond to the outer surface of the piling. The clamp  16  may comprise any suitable clamping member, such as by way of non-limiting example, a hose clamp, band clamp or the like. Optionally, the top collar  12  may be secured to the piling by any other known method, such as, by way of non-limiting example, adhesives, welding or the like. The central passage  14  may be sized to be slightly larger than the outer surface of the piling so as to facilitate installation thereover or may also optionally have an interference fit with the piling. The top collar  12  may be formed of any suitable material, such as by way of non-limiting example, metal, plastic, natural or synthetic rubbers or composite materials. In particular, it has been found that forming the top collar  12  of high density polypropylene has been particularly useful. The top collar may have any length as is necessary to provide a secure fitting and seal around the piling, such as, by way of non-limiting example, between 2 and 16 inches (51 and 406 mm) although it will be appreciated that other lengths may be useful as well. 
         [0022]    The base collar  20  comprises a substantially tubular member extending between top and bottom ends,  24  and  26 , respectively and having a central passage  22  extending therethrough. The base collar  20  includes a flange  28  extending substantially radially from the bottom end  26  of the base collar for securing to the ground sheet  6  as will be further described below. The central passage  22  may be substantially circular, rectangular or any other shape so as to correspond to the outer surface of the piling and is sized so as to surround the piling without engaging thereon. In such a manner it will be observed that the central passage  22  and also the base collar  20  are freely movable relative to the piling. The base collar  20  may be formed of any suitable material, such as by way of non-limiting example, metal, plastic, natural or synthetic rubbers or composite materials. In particular, it has been found that forming the base collar  20  of high density polypropylene has been particularly useful. The bottom collar may have any length as is desired by a user, such as, by way of non-limiting example, between 2 and 16 inches (51 and 406 mm) although it will be appreciated that other lengths may be useful as well. 
         [0023]    The flange  28  comprises a sheet of material extending substantially radially from the bottom end  26  of the base collar  20 . The flange  28  may have any outline as desired by a user, such as, by way of non-limiting example, circular, square, octagonal, triangular or irregular. The flange may be formed of any suitable material, such as by way of non-limiting example, metal, plastic, natural or synthetic rubbers or composite materials. In particular, it has been found that forming the flange  28  of high density polypropylene has been particularly useful. The flange  28  may be formed separately from the base collar  20  and thereafter secured to by way of welding, adhesives or the like or may optionally be co-formed with the bottom collar. As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the flange  28  may include an outer edge portion  30  which may be utilized to be sealably secured to the ground sheet  6  by adhesives, plastic welding or the like as is commonly known in the art. 
         [0024]    The sleeve  40  is formed of an outer, or first tubular portion  42 , and an inner, or second tubular portion  44  which are co-axial with each other about a central axis  15  of the apparatus. As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the base collar  20 , and first and second tubular portions  42  and  44  form an s-shaped cross-section which permits the apparatus to longitudinally extend along its axis  15 . The sleeve  40  may be formed of any suitable material, such as by way of non-limiting example, metal, plastic, natural or synthetic rubbers or composite materials. In particular, it has been found that forming the sleeve  40  of high density polypropylene has been particularly useful. The sleeve may be formed separately from the base collar  20  and the top collar  12  and thereafter secured to by way of welding, adhesives or the like or may optionally be co-formed with the bottom collar. 
         [0025]    As illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the sleeve may further include additional one or more additional secondary tubular portion  43  offset from the second tubular portions  42  with a step  47 . Similarly the additional secondary tubular portion  43  and the top collar  12  may be offset by a step  45 . The additional secondary tubular portions  43  and the second tubular portions  44  provide additional diameters which may be utilized as the top collar. In particular the sleeve may be cut along the additional secondary tubular portion  43  proximate to the step  45  such that the additional secondary tubular portion  43  then forms the top of the apparatus. In such configuration, the additional secondary tubular portion  43  will then form the top collar for use with a larger diameter piling. It will be appreciated that a plurality of such additional secondary tubular portions  43  may be utilized so as to accommodate a plurality of potential piling diameters. Additionally, the second tubular portion  44  may also be cut proximate to the step  47  so as to cause the second tubular portion  44  to form the top collar. 
         [0026]    As illustrated the first and second tubular portions  42  and  44  may be co-formed with the base collar  20  with a first radiused bend  46  located between the base collar  20  and the first tubular portion and a second radiused bend  48  located between the first and second tubular portions  42  and  44 . As the piling  8  is moved in an upward direction, generally indicated at  50  in  FIG. 3 , relative to the ground sheet the second radiused bend  48  may be shifted along the sleeve so as to shorten the first tubular portion  42  and lengthen the second tubular portion  44  due to the deformation of the sleeve. While undergoing such movement, it will be appreciated that the piling  8  will move freely upward relative to the base collar  20  and the ground sheet  6  while moving through a bore  7  in the base sheet  6 . It will also be appreciated that other deformations within the sleeve  40  may be possible to permit such free movement of the top collar  12  relative to the base collar  20 . 
         [0027]    In operation, a user may place the assembled or pre-formed apparatus  10  around the piling after piling has been driven into the ground and the ground sheet has been located around the base of the piling. In such a configuration, the piling  8  will extend through a bore  7  in the ground sheet  6  and be unconnected thereto. After locating the apparatus  10  around the piling  8 , the user may seal the top collar to the piling with a hose clamp  16  or the like and may then seal the outer edge  30  of the flange  28  to the ground sheet  6  through adhesives, welding or the like. Thereafter, the apparatus will maintain the seal of the ground sheet  6  around the piling  8  during movement of the underlying soil structures due to frosts, soil erosion or the like and thereby prevent spills of any contaminants. As illustrated the apparatus  10  has a substantially cylindrical profile so as to surround a tubular piling  8  however it will be appreciated that other cross-section profiles, such as, by way of non-limiting example, square, triangular, octagonal or irregular may also be utilized so as to conform to the cross-section of the piling. 
         [0028]    With reference to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , an alternative embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. As illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the apparatus may include top and base collars  12  and  20  as set out above with an longitudinally expandable sealing member  60  therebetween. The seal member  60  may be formed of first and second end sleeves,  62  and  64 , respectively and a corrugated or bellows section  66  therebetween. The corrugated section  66  is longitudinally extendable along the axis  15  of the apparatus  10  as set out above. The corrugated section  66  may be formed integrally with the top and base collars  12  and  20  or may optionally be formed separately therefrom and thereafter connected to the top and bottom sleeves by adhesives fasteners or the like. 
         [0029]    The apparatus  10  may be formed of any suitable material, such as by way of non-limiting example, metal, plastic, natural or synthetic rubbers or composite materials. In particular, it has been found that forming the apparatus of high density polypropylene has been particularly useful. The separate elements of the apparatus  10  may be formed separately and thereafter secured to each by way of welding, adhesives or the like or may optionally be co-formed with the bottom collar. 
         [0030]    While specific embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, such embodiments should be considered illustrative of the invention only and not as limiting the invention as construed in accordance with the accompanying claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 4