AU2009202800A1 - Protective mesh - Google Patents

Description

59239 HKS:JP P/00/011 Regulation 3.2 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT ORIGINAL Name of Applicant: BARRY ANTHONY HOLDING Actual Inventor: BARRY ANTHONY HOLDING Address for Service: COLLISON & CO.,117 King William Street, Adelaide, S.A. 5000 Invention Title: PROTECTIVE MESH Claiming Priority from Provisional Application: Australian Patent Application No. 2008903512 dated 9 July 2008 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: Thisq invonrtinnr rplIAtq tn mp.h tn ;:k mizthndi of crnnqtri u-tinn nf A moqh qnrl M This invention relates to mesh, to a method of construction of a mesh, and to structures involving the mesh. L I5QLALBAQJ QBQ LINPQETHidNVLEWJQN There are currently known applications where a mesh having advantageous 5 features would be very useful. This is especially the case if such advantageous features can be achieved from a construction that was economic to achieve. Such an application can be a mesh which can be used in underwater locations to separate marine animals. 10 An example of this is a shark net. In another the mesh is useful as reinforcement in concrete structures. A raajor difficulty with shark nets at the moment is that they are necessarily very expensive to produce and are vulnerable to damage when in position. In another application, there is a barrier which can protect above water animals 15 such as sharks or even seals from passage therepast where for instance quantities of fish may be kept. In another application, such a mesh acting as a barrier can be supported beneath the surface of water either as a single curtain or as a contained fully enclosing shape.

2 RRQ$JEM.TPAHCHiTHI1S INVENTIONS IS DRECTED. In the examples given, there are currently significant challenges to provide such a barrier or mesh that will be strong enough to resist concerted attempts by marine animals to pass thereby or through., while at the same time being able to 5 be manufactured at a cost that will assist in the economic viability of any enterprise for instance an aquaculture or mariculture application, or even simply where the advantage is social as in a conventional shark net defining a bathing area of a beach. QQ-JECT.QF :!TillSJNVENT ON 10 It is an object of this invention to provide for a mesh that will at least to some extent reduce the difficulties previously expressed and which will assist in enabling such an approach to be economically achieved. BRIEE aUMMABY QEJTHJUlNENRTtQ In one form of this invention, although it need not necessarily be the only or 15 indeed the broadest form of this, there is proposed a mesh consisting of a plurality of rings each ring being formerly a portion only of a tyre casing which portion includes all of a bead of each respective tyre casing the rings being each positioned relatively one with respect to the other so that each ring overlaps and is positioned to be adjacent at least a further of one of the rings, 20 and is crossing across at least two separate locations of a portion of an adjacent ring, and means securing together the respective rings by means engaging around the rings at at least some of the crossing locations. In preference, the rings in at least one case includes all of a bead of one side of a tyre casing.

3 An advantage of the invention arises because it will establish an inherent value of a portion of a tyre casing which has formerly been discarded and indeed there is a payment for persons to remove such tyres in many communities. I have discovered that I can relatively economically sever a portion of a tyre so that there is provided a ring shape which has as its body a portion which is formerly the side wall of a tyre. In a further case this includes a portion which is generally referred to as the "bead" so that the bead is then separated from a remainder of the tyre and whether it includes some further residual rubber of the tyre, will conventionally then have a metal reinforcing embedded within a 10 surrounding tyre rubber outer material. This "ring" especially but not exclusively, if it has the bead included, has considerable advantages in that it is designed and manufactured to a very high standard for purposes of providing safe vehicular transport and the quality both of the reinforcing within the bead and the surrounding rubber is very high indeed 15 to the extent that this material then could be expected to last for a very long time in even a most difficult environment for instance in a coastal marine situation. Further however, each ring will naturally assume a circular shape which then can be combined with other like rings and by either joining such rings together in crossing locations or by adjacent locations, a larger mesh can then be 2(0 constructed, Joining such rings together is the further challenge but according to my investigations and research thus far, by using plastics, these can be wrapped around and caused to be effectively joined together so as to provide an effective substantially long lasting join between adjacent overlapping rings at crossing 25 locations. I have referred to crossing locations in that, with an application such as a shark in mind, the diameter of the inner part of a ring of a conventional vehicle tyre 4 might be too large and therefore some sharks could be expected to pass therethrough. My proposal is therefore to locate the rings In overlapping relationship so that there might be two or three rings overlapping a further ring so that the open 5 passageway area thereby allowed would be much smaller. Such passageway shapes and sizes can be a factor that can be allowed for by choosing appropriate tyre sizes in the first instance and then the particular overlapping configuration in the second but it will be apparent to the reader that various configurations now can be accommodated. 10 in joining the rings together, I have found that conventional plastic strapping for instance in one case of a type used to strap larger parcels can be used and wound once or twice or more times around the respective overlapping ring locations at their crossing point and the strapping can then either be joined end to end in a conventional heat sealed relationship or in another case, a stainless 15 steel buckle can be used if there is any need subsequently to undo this. In a further instance this can be a plastic tie having at one end an interlocking head and at its other end a plurality of teeth that will intercept with the locking head. In preference, the portion of the tyre referred to is a portion of the wall of a tyre. This can in one case include the portion with the bead and this can include 20 some with a rubber in an immediate vicinity of the bead. When referenced to the word "tyre" is made, it is understood that this is intended to refer to a tyre casing. In preference then, the means to join the rings at crossing locations are a strap jointly encircling the rings only at the crossing locations.

5 In preference, the bead is the part of the tyre casing which anchors the tyre or a rim when in use, In preference, the rings have a consistent size so that each has the same or similar outer and inner diameter. 5 In preference, the ring is formed by being a removed portion of a part of a tyre casing by effecting a cutting of the wall of a tyre at a diameter which is larger than that of the bead and cutting fully through the wall and thereby separating fully a ring that includes the bead from a remainder of a tyre casing. In constructing larger barriers, it has been found that there can be benefit in 10 constructing sections which comprise a first plurality of rings joined in the manner described, and then a second section where this is also comprised of a plurality of rings joined in the manner described, and these are joined as separate sections by adjacent portions of each section being comprised of the rings being secured one with respect to the other by appropriate joining means. 15 Such a side by side joining may differ in so far that portions of the rings of each section may not be directly overlapping adjacent portions of the rings in the other section. In a further preferred arrangement, a barrier constructed in the way described can be used by being located within a body of water and being supported at an 20 upper end by means floating on the water which are attached at least to a portion of a section of a barrier constructed according to the above descriptions. In a further instance, it is preferred that in order to assist in both handling respective sections which can be located in a marine environment, there can be advantage in having the section buoyant or at least substantially buoyant.

6 In one instance, in preference, I have provided that there is attached to a section, at least one tyre casing that has within it closed cells containing air or a gaseous fluid where the casing is then also attached to the section. i have previously disclosed in earlier patent applications an arrangement for 5 assisting buoyancy using discarded tyre casings and in preference, such a technique can be further used here by attaching such further buoyant devices to the sections. While I have referred to sections in this case being therefore transported to a marine environment and by having modified buoyancy, allowing each section to 10 be lowered into the water, there is advantage also in having a structure that projects above the water which is also constituted by rings joined in the manner described and in such a case, it is of value to have such a barrier supported above means providing buoyancy at a surface of the water. In a further preferred feature, if there are at least two sections of barrier that are 15 intended for above water usage, then in a further instance, if there is an upright to each side supported by the buoyancy means and between which the barrier is secured either by strapping or similar means, then each upright can of itself be attached to an adjacent upright holding a further section of barrier in the manner described where there is extending therebetween, rings derived from 20 being cut from the wall of a tyre casing but in this case such ring need not include the bead of a tyre. If there are a plurality of such rings, then these themselves can provide an effective further resilient barrier which firstly will provide a long life in an otherwise extremely challenging environment but separately, can be provided at 25 a cost which has to be lower than originally manufactured products for the purpose alone.

7 A further feature includes the provision of a "net" comprised of the rings as disclosed which then can be used for many different applications. One of these could for instance include using a net to wrap around an existing installation such as an arrangement of current nets being used but not being currently 5 adequate to constrain access from sharks or seals into a contained area with fish. A further arrangement is to use a net to extend from a shore position to a further shore position as in a protective shark net for bathers. For a better understanding of this invention it will now be described with the 10 assistance of drawings and in relation to embodiments wherein: Figure 1 is a plane view of a plurality of rings incorporating beads which are joined at respective crossing locations by straps, Figure 2 is a section constituted by a barrier constructed as in the first embodiment in Figure 1 but arranged and positioned to be joined alongside a 15 second section and to be joined as section to section, Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the portion derived from a tyre casing which incorporates the bead of casing and this shows part cutaway showing the high tensile steel reinforcement within the bead, Figure 4 illustrates a fish farm showing in schematic detail a set of barriers 20 supported by buoyant tyres in this case, Figure 5 illustrates an above the water barrier construction including sections supported between vertical uprights and joining means between the vertical uprights constituted by rings which are not incorporating the bead of a tyre, and 8 Figure 6 illustrates again in schematic detail, a plurality of sections supported by buoyant members located across a bay defining a bathing area to restrict passage therepast of marine animals including sharks, Figure 7 illustrates a side view of the arrangement as in Figure 5 with however 5 the net supported by the buoyant tyres, and Figure 8 illustrates a side view of the arrangement as in Figure 7. Referring then to the drawings and in particular to Figures 1, 2 and 3, the concept incorporates using parts of tyres or, and it is variously referred to as "tyre" or "tyre casing" where especially the wall in this case can be cut both in a 10 manner that I have previously described in previous Patent Applications but in so far that this is applicable to this particular case, includes a blade and a relatively secured tyre casing and either the blade or its support in the one case or the tyre in the other is relatively rotated so that the blade will affect a cutting fully through the side wall of a tyre casing. 15 My experience with such a method is that I can now achieve this quickly and economically in that in manufacturing such tyre casings, such walls are able to be cut by such cutting means. The achievement however is to achieve a ring which in this case then is a member derived from a tyre casing but which includes in one case all of the 20 bead of a tyre casing (noting that there are two beads namely one to each side but we are discussing removing either one or both separately so as to then have a circular article which includes the bead portion formerly of the tyre and the undamaged then internal high tensile steel reinforcing or whatever has been used in the tyre, and such small or additional quantity of rubber as may be 25 arbitrarily selected when the cutting is made.

9 However we also can cut a further ring from the wall of a tyre which does not include the bead and such a ring is also useful in this application. A ring 1 incorporates the bead 2 and there are a plurality of such rings shown typically as 1 so as to form collectively a barrier 3 which is constituted by each 5 of the rings 1 being located in an overlapping relationship so that there are conventionally a plurality of crossing locations so for instance with ring 4 there are 12 crossing locations shown at 5 in one case and in this way there will be necessarily a smaller defined area through which a marine animal or other intruder could pass. 10 In each case, the ring 1 can be considered as a substantially planar unit or at least defines generally at least a plane, and any overlapping ring would then also be planar and would then approximately lie in a similar plane so that they will lie one across the other in touching contact and of course at two locations which means that they do not coincide in their axis and therefore define closed 15 passageway areas which are smaller than either of the inner circular area that otherwise would exist through each of the rings. The illustration in Figure 1 is one example of how the overlapping relationship can be used but it will also be realised that there could be additional overlapping rings so that where they are as shown one ring upon another, there can be a 20 further ring upon a remaining underneath two rings so that in effect there are three layers and so on. Also, the number of crossings that are tied will be varied depending on the application. Also the drawings herein are schematic so not all of the crossings are shown as tied necessarily. Such a construction however is most useful if the rings can be joined together in 25 a way that is both economic, long lasting, and can be achieved preferably with little difficulty.

10 We have discovered that one such joining technique can be using conventional polyethylene or propylene strapping and there has been developed significant expertise in wrapping machines and welding machines for the general packaging industry. 5 By effecting either one or two surrounding straps at each of crossing locations of the rings 1, we then achieve a joining technique which is indeed advantageous in the manners described. It may not be so convenient to join a number of rings into a single construction where the total weight then of the construction is such that very heavy lifting 10 equipment is necessary to both lift, transport and install subsequently such a barrier. Accordingly, it is proposed that as shown in Figure 4, there should be sections which are constituted by being formed of rings 1 joined in the manner described but there can then each section 6 could be joined to an adjacent section for .15 instance 7 by means which can include either strapping, or by rope, high quality chain, or the like but in that such joining may occur subsequent to an initial installation of each section within a marine environment, then such further joining would be at spaced apart locations and would be such that it could be easily achieved by a diver. 20 We have described sections then but it will also be understood that while such sections can be installed to hang vertically, it is also then appropriate to attach to a bottom of each section, a further section which then can be attached so as to hang at least one end from the curtain but then extend more or less horizontally to the curtain being the bottom end of the section at an opposite 25 location.

There can be included in the embodiment shown, attached tyre casings to each section which have been previously filled with contained closed cell plastics which therefore provide a controlled extent of buoyancy. This can be used to assist in installing such sections and as appropriate, can be 5 subsequently removed from the section or can be left there if for any reason in the future, it is considered necessary to either lift the section or modify the section. While we have shown in the illustration, an external barrier, it is understood that there may be a further fish containing mesh on the inner side of such a barrier -10 to keep fish from getting too close to the barrier and therefore being able to be captured by portion of a marine predator partially passing through some of the apertures within the barrier. In Figure 4 we have shown how a composite arrangement may be arranged including a plurality of buoyant tyres 8 which are arranged to be adjoining each 15 other and either directly or indirectly held in this way but so that a net 9 comprised of the many rings held together at crossing locations by means not specifically shown then can provide a fully surrounding containment system. In Figure 5, we have shown an upper construction providing a barrier the barrier sections being shown at 10 which each comprise a plurality of rings 11, and 20 these are joined at crossing locations 13 so as to form the section 10. Supported to extend vertically are vertical uprights 14 which have secured therebetween in the manners described by strapping, the barrier section 10. The uprights then are joined together by adjacent uprights by a plurality of rings 15 which have been previously cut from walls of tyres so as to provide a full 25 encircling ring.

12 In figure 6 there is shown the linear net system where the rings 17 are held together at crossing locations by ties not shown but such that the net 18 is supported by a plurality of buoyant tyres 19. In figure 7 there is shown a superstructure 20 including a metal frame system > 21 which are supported by and attached to buoyant tyres 22. The tyres 22 also support a net system 23 which is made up of rings 24 attached together at crossing locations. The individual tyres are joined through the straps 25 connecting across the vertical posts 14. This allows for relative movement between the tyres 22. 10 The figure 8 shows a side view of the arrangement as in figure 7. As can now be seen the arrangement offers many advantages and can also apply to a method where the step includes using a ring system as described. Also a method of manufacture of a net which includes the steps of separating a portion of a wall of a tyre and effecting a net by joining a plurality of such 15 portions when overlayed one over the other at least some of their crossing locations. In another application it is known to use different materials embedded within concrete to provide strengthening reinforcement for such concrete. My proposal is the to use this mesh as a replacement or in addition to reinforcement in at 20 least portland cement structures. This would include the mesh being positioned to extend along directions that are appropriate for such strengthening purpose and having such mesh still constructed as a plurality of overlapping rings. This mesh can then be embedded below any external surface within the concrete structure. Its value is enhanced in so far that it is of materials that are highly 25 resistant to corrosion, that the implicit shape of the rings assists in these interlocking within the concrete, and the rings can be obtained very economically.

Claims (13)

1. A mesh consisting of a plurality of rings each ring being formerly a portion only of a tyre casing which portion includes all of a bead of each respective tyre casing the rings being each positioned relatively one with

5. respect to the other so that each ring overlaps and is positioned to be adjacent at least a further of one of the rings, and is crossing across at least two separate locations of a portion of an adjacent ring, and means securing together the respective rings by means engaging around the rings at at least some of the crossing locations. 10 2. A mesh as in claim 1 where at least both respective portions of two rings at an overlapping crossing location are joined by an elongate joiner wrapping around both portions. 3. A mesh as in either claim 1 or 2 where there are at least three overlapping crossing locations fro at least one of the rings. 15 4. A mesh as in any one of the preceding claims where there is flat strapping of a type used to strap larger parcels wound at least once around at least some of the respective overlapping ring locations at their crossing point. 5. A mesh as in any one of the preceding claims further comprising rings which can include some with a rubber in an immediate vicinity of the bead. S. A mesh as in any one of the preceding claims further comprised in that each of at least a plurality of the rings include as a significant part of the ring the bead being that part of the tyre casing which anchors the tyre to 25 a rim of a vehicle wheel when in use. 14

7. A mesh as in any one of the preceding claims further comprised in that at least a plurality of the rings are each the same or of substantially similar outer and inner diameters.

8. A mesh as in any one of the preceding claims further comprised in that a 5 plurality of the rings are formed by being a removed portion of a part of a tyre casing by effecting a cutting of the wall of a tyre adjacent the bead fully through the wall and thereby separating fully a ring that includes the bead from a remainder of a tyre casing.

9. A mesh as in any one of the preceding claims further comprised in that a 10 first plurality of rings is joined as in any one or more of the preceding claims, and then a second section is also comprised of a plurality of rings joined as in any one of the preceding claims, and these sections are joined as separate sections by adjacent portions of each section being comprised of the rings being secured one with respect to the other by appropriate joining means.

10. In a further preferred arrangement, a barrier constructed in the way described can be used by being located within a body of water and being supported at an upper end by means floating on the water which are attached at least to a portion of a section of a barrier constructed 20 according to the above descriptions.

11. A mesh as in any one of the preceding claims further comprised in that at least one tyre casing that has within it closed cells containing air or a gaseous fluid where the casing is then also attached to the section.

12.A mesh as in any one of the preceding claims further comprised in that 25 there are at least two sections of barrier that are intended for above water usage, with each side supported by the buoyancy means and 15 between which the barrier is secured either by strapping or similar means, and having each upright of itself attached to an adjacent upright holding a further section of barrier in the manner described where there is extending therebetween, rings derived from being cut from the wall of a tyre casing but in this case such ring need not include the bead of a tyre.

13. A protective barrier including a mesh as in anyone of the preceding claims.

14. A mesh as in any one of the preceding claims when used as reinforcement within concrete structures. 10 15. A concrete structure having as at least a portion of its reinforcement a mesh as in any one of pre ceding claims.

16. A concrete structure having a mesh as in any one of the preceding claims which is embedded below an external surface within the concrete structure. Its value is enhanced in so far that it is of materials that are 15 highly resistant to corrosion, that the implicit shape of the rings assists in these interlocking within the concrete, and the rings can be obtained very economically.

17. A method of forming a mesh which comprises the steps of cutting rings from tyres and using these by overlapping and joining the rings at at least 20 some of the overlapping locations.

18. A mesh substantially as described in the specification with reference to and as illustrated by any one or more of the accompanying illustrations.