US2459178A - Seal for floating roofs - Google Patents

Description

Jan. fMQYER SEAL FOR FLOATING ROOTS Filed "001;. (-20, 1945 Patented Jan. 18, 1949 Frederick- D.-Moyer,- Chicago; 111.; assignor. to

.iChicagofBridge ezflr'our'company I -Application October 20, 35945;:861121 mwszssis t 10 Claims. (or: 220 26) This invention relates' tox-a seal for -a floating roof tank wherein the space between the-floating v roof and the inner surface=ofl theetankshell is ,H-maintained vapor; tight.

The seal which is the subject of this invention t;

maybe applied-to any .largeupiston-like object terial. As the sealing member wears itmay be easily adjusted because the seal wears. in during use. When theseal is mounted on the roof-of a ufloating roof tankzsufiicient sealing action-may :be achieved with one sealing member only ifthesmember contacts the sides of the tank shell-and the roof of the tank. In the normal construction,

however, there is. provided a primary:= seal i'n addition to thesealing member thatcontactsthe inner surface of the tank shell; and this ,primary seal will extend from the sealing member tofizthe "roof.

'When'this primary seal is-used the. contacting sealing member is .normally: arranged above the top surface of the roofand-the primary seal will extend substantially verticallyefromllthe contacting. vsealing member toathel topwedge, of the roof. This construction is preferred asivthe .1 primary seal is then self-draining andlwill not collect rust, mill scale, water, or the. like.

The seal when appliedto a floating rooitank l includes a plurality of circumferentially,arranged 'pivotally mounted; upstanding arms around the the outer ends of thearms .towardthe innensurface of the shell to provide. sealing -"c'ont'act movement of the arms whereby pressure of ithe seal against the shell islimitedl 'Th'e bodyfi of the sealing member is preferably heldin"'substantially horizontal alignment'againstthe shell ."of the tank through all movements of the arms.

There is' provided an" annular "primary; s'eali of flexible impervious material extendin'giromthe floating roof to the sealing member.

The invention will be described in detail as related to the typical embodiment-"shown ixrthe accompanyingdrawings. "'Of the" draWing's'j-Fig.

1 is aplan 'view ofa floating roof' -storagetank between the sealing member and the shell; Ad justable stop means are provided for limiting 'the v 2 1 I M landlEi. 2 is an "enlarged. fragmentary.vertical section t'akenlalonglinez-r-t ofFig. 1. The storage tank; shown .in theaccompanying l "drawings comprises; a vertical;v wcylind1:ical..sl:l.ell -10 and alflo'ating -ro'ofl l I.".'T..'Ihere. provided .a sealing member: 12.. contactingrthe shell lll of themank ifrhis sealing member is heldzi-n-lplace by a plurality of brackets l3. mounted .lon -the top aof ithe. roof? l.l ...and. Zs'ubstamti'ally v equally spaced aroundthe edge ofithe roof. .-,-.'Ea ch bf the brackets vI 3 includes a vertlcaltpost l4 "mounted.v on top of. -the. .roof and. located a shortilfdistance b'aicklfromlithe.- edge. Pivotally amounted. on thespost I 4 are top'members l:5-andlbdttom mernbers l S'IL'Ihese.membersmay be iron bars and the .top barsli are parallel. toae'ach other, andithe bottomlbars [Glare alsovpa'rallel to eaoliotherIiOne 'of'the top bars'lfi is parallel to a .t bottoinsbar 'l Rand is arranged ina substantially vertical 'plane. l At the. outer" ends of. the parallel @bars 1,5; 16 there is located a. basewmembe'rl' l1 :Lior lholding'uthe .sealing. member" 12. I This base n embefl'l is pivotally connected tolwthe outer 1 ends 'ofthebars so lthatthe post l4', .bars' "l5;-and 6,;and'. base member l1 form verti'c'aL parallelograms whosejshape can be altered as each portion t of""the parallelograms is. pivotally connected" to its adjoining portion.

"Thdibas-e member "'ILs com'prises anso'uter 30' J tI-shaped" member "I8 and an' 'innei" U shaped 'member l9of smaller' -size.These' ushaped members have the sealing .member clamped between them by means of .one orqmorejbolts 20 passing? through "all three: membersTI'T-Ihe bases crime U-shaped'me'mbers l8 and"! 9 are arranged "sub'stzajntially vertically and parallel to thefsliell II Thefo'uter 'member""l 8ihas projecting ,lugs 2 l 2 to:'whieh the"'outer ends of the parallel bars l5 and are pivotal'lyfattached." 'The s'e'alingmemhen-l2 isheld bythe U' shaped' members? and l 9substa'htia1ly'in"the center; withthe'mairr body portion 'of thesealingfi' 'member'on each'isidef of 'theclampe'd' "area: heldsubstantially horizontally, and the emisdfthe sealing "member contacting 45 the shell at anacutean'gle.

The sealing memberfZ' is held in close contact t'ci' *thevs'idesbfthe shell -l 0 by" wrod spring 22 nrging the 'outer-ends of the parallel-bars li and 5 It" down-'towardthe roof oftheta'nk. "This spring In'order to limit the pressure of the shown.

24 extending from the outer end of the bottom rod l6 to the top of the roof. Either of the springs 22 or 24 may be dispensed with orboth may be eliminated by the provision of a weight (not shown) for maintaining the sealing member in contact with the sides of the tank. 3

In the construction shown there is located a primary seal 25 between the sealing member l2 and th'e'itop oflth'eroof l I. This-primary seal-is a flexible; impervious material and is arranged subets therein to collect water, rust, mill scale, and" the like. The primary seal 25 has its lowereedgef:

fastened to the roof by means of a plurality of hooks 26 and a circular rod "21. 'The'lowerledge of the primary seal is placed un'cler"the rod '21 stantially vertically, so that there will be no pock- E around theedgeof theioof and fextending toward "the shell of'the'tank'an' annular flexible sealing member carried on the outer ends of said arms,

each of said arms comprising a pair of substantially parallel bars of substantially equal length mounted one above the other with their inner ends mounted on a substantially vertical post "member attached to the roof andwith the outer and wedges 28 are driven between thewrod2! and the hook 26 to clamp the seal between. the. rod and the top edge of the roof.

The top edge of the primary seal is clamped between the shell contacting sealing member. l2

and the outer U -shapedmember l8. r sealing member I2 against the shell there is provided a stop means'on the parallel rods I5andj I 61" This stop means-includes a projection 29 phone top bar-l5 and extending to'ward its corresponding "bottom barl'd, and a second projection30 on the "bottom bar l6 and extending toward the top bar l5. These projections 29 and 39"have fiatfsides 'substantially parallel to each other with the-first projection 29 being above the second projection 3!]. The secondprojection 30 is slidably mounted on its bar It and is movableby means'of 'a" 's'crew held in aithird projection 32m ount ed on the bottom bar it. The screw 3.! has itst'o'p' end engaging the movable second projection 30, andhas aknob 33 on'its bottom end'fonturning' 'the "screw. Thus the second projection" 30 maybe moved toward and away'from thefirst projection "29 to'regulate the movement of the bars [5 and I6, and thus determine the pressure ofjthe sealing member E2 on the inner surface'of thepshell 10. As the ends of the sealing member-[wear by frictional contact'with the shell ,thesecond'projection Eil'may be lowered to take up this wear.

"The primary seal 2% is preferably inade of a fabric base impregnated with an impervious, flexible material. This material may beasynends; of said bars connected by a substantially vertical base member pivotally connected thereto and carrying the sealing member,'means operating at the outer ends of said bars normally urging them down toward the roof to press the seal against the inner surface of the shell; and adjust'ablestop meansfor limiting .the movement of said bars whereby pressure of the sealagainst the shellis limited.

2. The tank of claim 1 wherein the sealing member is held by the base member withthe body portion of the sealing member held substantially horizontally at all times and the end of the sealing member contacting the inner surface of mfthe she at acute an le.

3; The tank ofcla-im 1 wherein the base member comprises two substantially parallel portions arranged vertically "with the sealing member clamped therebetween at-substantially the cen-- 'ter of the sealing member, thesidesoftheseaI- ing'member being arranged substantially horizontally and the ends contacting the inner'surface of the shell at an acute angle. a I

'*4.-A storage tank comprising an outer shell, a floating roof, a'plurality of circumferentiallyarranged pivotally" mounted upstanding I arms "around the edge of the roof and extending toward the shell of thetank,-an annularflexible sealing member carried on the outer ends of said} arms 'and comprising a plurality of layers of fabric impregnated with a flexible impervious material,

theticrubber, and is preferably neoprene. The

sealing member l2lthat contacts the shellf'also j. comprises a fabric base impregnatedwitha flex 'fible synthetic rubber such as neoprene, and] is [preferably constructed of vlayers of imprejgnated fabric cemented to eachother. A s'showrifth'e' sealing member l2 isymade of threelaye'rs: 'of'material cemented together. These layersina'ybe short lengths, and are arranged one on top of the other in staggered relationship; Thuswhen the individual sections are 6 feetlongone end offthe middle layer may be positioned 2 feet fromfone end of a section in the firstla'yer and one section in the third layer will be Zfeet from the end of the middle layer section. and 4 feet fro mjtheend of the section in the first layer. I I

The bracketsv l 3 holding the sealing member, I 2

and circumferentially spaced around the. edge Y of therooi H serveto'hold the sealing member l2. tightly against the shell I 0. Only one of these brackets has been shown in detail in the drawings, but all brackets. are constructed like the one Having described myinvention in; considerable {d ta l s re a ed t .02 embodiment e fin s each ofsaid arms comprising a pair of. substantially'parallel bars of substantially equal length mounted one above the other, with the inner ends mounted on a substantially vertical post member attached to the roof and with the outer ends of said bars connectedby a substantially vertical base member pivotally connected thereto and carrying the sealing member, said base member comprising two substantially parallel portions arranged vertically with the sealing member clamped 'therebetween at substantially thecenter of the sealing member with the sides of the sealing member arranged substantially horizon- V/ tally and'the ends contacting the inner surface of 'lthefshellat 'ana'cut-e angle, means operating at fthelouter endsbf said barsjnormallyurging' them do wn towardthe roof to press the seal against the inner surface 'ofthe shell, and adjustable Y; 'stop"n ieans, for limiting the movement of said v barsvwherebypressure of the'se'al against the """shen is limited.

,stop means comprises an adjustable member- 5 The tank of claim l wherein thecadjustable mounted.onone of saidbars normally operating against a fixed member on theother baigfsaid membersbeing,adapted etc contact eachjotlger were: a e res eter ned; si nward meiemaeh the bars to prevent further downward movement.

6. The tank of claim 1 wherein there is provided an annular primary seal of flexible impervious material extending substantially vertically from the top edge of the roof to the sealing memher.

7. The tank of claim 4 wherein there is provided an annular primary seal of flexible impervious material extending substantially vertically from the top edge of the roof to the sealing memher.

8. The tank of claim 4 wherein the adjustable stop means comprises an adjustable member mounted on one of said bars normally operating against a fixed member on the other bar, said members being adapted to contact each other after a predetermined downward movement of the bars to prevent further downward movement, and there is provided an annular primary seal of flexible impervious material extending substantially vertically from the top of the roof to the sealing member.

9. A storage tank comprising an outer shell, a floating roof, a plurality of circumferentially arranged pivotally mounted upstanding arms around the edge of the roof and extending toward the shell of the tank, each of said arms comprising a pair of pivotally mounted substantially parallel members of substantially equal length with their inner ends in substantially vertical alignment and their outer ends in substantially vertical alignment, an annular flexible sealing memher, a base member pivotally connected to the outer ends of said arms and carrying the sealing member, means normally urging the arms down toward the roof whereby the seal is pressed against the inner surface of the shell, and adjustable stop means on each parallel member for limiting the movement of said arms whereby pressure of the seal against the shell is limited, the body of the sealing member being held in substantially horizontal alignment through all movements of the arms.

10. A storage tank comprising an outer shell, a floating roof, a plurality of circumferentially arranged pivotally mounted upstanding arms around theedge of the roof and extending toward the shell of the tank, each of said arms comprising a pairxof substantially parallel bars of substantiallyequal length mounted one above the other with their inner ends mounted on a substantially vertical post member attached to the roof, an annular flexible sealing member, a substantially vertical base member pivotally attached to the outer ends of said bars and carrying the sealing member, means normally urging the arms down toward the roof whereby the seal is pressed against the inner surface of the shell and adjustable stop means on each arm for limiting the movement of said arms whereby pressure of thexseal against the shell is limited, the body of the sealing member'being held in substantially horizontal alignment through all movements of the arms.

FREDERICK D. MOYER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 22,169 Hammeren Sept. 1, 1942 1,426,998 Leland et 8.1. Aug. 22, 1922 1,660,021 .Wiggins June 19, 1928 1,673,984 Kuhl June 19, 1928 2,072,798 Cranz Mar. 2, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 487,774 Great Britain June 24, 1938

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