GB2459940A - Flood barrier - Google Patents

Abstract

A flood barrier 1 for an opening of a building 2 the barrier 1 comprises at least one protective member 3 having a wall structure which is shaped to be displaced outwardly from the opening 2, the protective member secured to the wall adjacent to the opening 2. The protective member also comprises a seal for sealing the wall structure at the side and the bottom edges and the ground surface. The wall structure is preferably made up of three panels, a first central panel 3 and two side panels 4 which extend transversely, preferably perpendicularly away from the central panel 3. Corner portions 9 may be provided for connecting the central panel to each side panel. A hook and slot configuration may be provided to secure the barrier to the wall (Fig 4) and there may be a progressive adjustment between the hook and slot allowing the barrier to be drawn into contact with the building.

Description

FLOOD BARRIERS FOR BUILDINGS

This invention relates to flood barriers for buildings.

Many domestic residences and other buildings are located alongside rivers or in other locations where they are vulnerable to flooding in adverse weather conditions. There is therefore a requirement for flood protection for such buildings.

Traditionally sand bags have been used to prevent or limit ingress of flood water through doorways. It is also known to use panels which are fixed over, or are clamped within door frames. Such panel arrangements however may not readily allow opening of the door whilst preventing water ingress. Also these known fixed panel arrangements may require inconvenient or unsightly modification of the door frame andlor the adjacent wall surfaces.

An object of the present invention is to provide a flood barrier for an opening of a building with which interference with the opening can be minimised and unsightly and inconvenient fixings can be avoided.

According to the invention therefore there is provided a flood barrier for fixing relative to an opening of a building comprising at least one protective member, fixing means for fixing the member relative to the building adjacent to the opening, and sealing means for edges of the protective member, wherein the protective member comprises a wall structure shaped to be displaced outwardly away from the opening, and the sealing means comprises seals which are provided for sealing the wall structure at side and bottom edges thereof respectively relative to the building and to a ground surface around the opening.

With this arrangement the shaped configuration of the wall structure can maintain the protective member clear of the opening, e.g. so as not to interfere unduly with normal use of the opening, and the edge seals can ensure water-tight sealing without necessarily requiring unsightly or inconvenient modification of the building.

The wall structure may comprise one or more panels which may be solid or substantially imperforate so as at least substantially to prevent passage of water therethrough. Two or more panels may be used and these may be formed integrally or otherwise permanently or detachably interconnected with a water-tight or substantially water-tight interconnection therebetween. The (or each) panel is preferably substantially inflexible. A double skinned or sandwich plastics construction may be used and this may have internal webs or other bridging elements or solid material for strength. Other materials and constructions can also be used.

In a preferred embodiment the wall structure is shaped to provide a central wall formed from one or more central panels and two side walls, formed from one or more side panels, which are connected to the central wall and extend transversely thereto in a common direction. The central wall may be planar. The side walls may also be planar and may extend parallel to each other and at right angles to the central wall.

With regard to the fixing means, this may take any suitable form. In one embodiment interengaging configurations are provided respectively on opposite said side edges of the wall structure and on fixing members attachable to the building. The interengaging configurations may be adjustable between release and retention positions and provision may be made for progressive adjustment so that the side edges can be drawn progressively tightly against the fixing members or the building.

Locking means may be provided for holding or locking the configurations in an adjusted position.

The interengaging configurations may take any suitable form. In one embodiment they comprise hook and slot configurations. There may be one or more hooks on each said side edge of the wall structure engageable with a corresponding slot or slots in a respective said fixing member. The (or each) hook may be pivotable to achieve the aforesaid adjustment. A pivot arm may be provided for effecting such pivotal adjustment and a locking pin engageable with a hole selected from a range of holes may be provided, as said locking means, for retaining engagement with the arm.

Each fixing means may comprise a tubular member with the (or each) said slot provided therein. Where multiple hooks and slots are provided these may be at positions equally longitudinally spaced. Each fixing member may be removably attachable to the building so that it can be stored out of sight when not required. This removable attachment may be achieved by engagement of keyhole slots on the members with heads of screws or bolts of the like fixed to the building.

With regard to the seals, these may take any suitable form. Thus they may comprise compression seals, such as elongate compressible hollow or solid elastomeric members. Alternatively or additionally they may comprise skirt seals, having one or more flexible walls e.g. of elastomeric material. In one embodiment side compression seals and a bottom skirt seal are used. Where the fixing means uses progressively adjustable configurations as mentioned above at least one of the seals is preferably arranged so that it can be compressed or otherwise tightened by the progressive adjustment. Thus, the side seals may be provided between the configurations or between the side edges and the building.

The barrier of the invention may be provided around a door or window or other opening at any position on a domestic residence or other building, including S -4-below-ground cellar windows or the like. The shaped configuration of the protective member is preferably such as to allow convenient opening of a door or window.

The barrier may be used in conjunction with other sealing panels or the like for other openings of the building.

The invention will now be described further by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of a flood barrier attached to a building around a door opening; Figures 2-5 are perspective views of details of the barrier; Figure 6 is a rear perspective view of the barrier; and Figure 7 is a perspective view of an additional protective device used with the barrier.

Figure 1 shows a flood barrier 1 applied to a door opening 2 of a domestic residence.

The barrier I comprises a generally u-shaped protective member constructed from interconnected panels 3, 4. The panels 3, 4 consist of two central panels 3 and two side panels 4. The panels 3, 4 aie strong, rigid, inflexible planar, rectangular, plastics, sandwich structures each having parallel imperforate UPVC surface skins with strengthening material therebetween which may comprise bridging webs or solid or porous material such as rigid plastics foam. Internal steel skins andlor bars may be provided for strengthening.

At opposite side edges each panel 3, 4 has a channel 5, 6 therealong.

The two central panels 3 are interconnected edge-to-edge to define a planar central wall by means of an inserted solid UPVC member 7 which extends between the two edges of the panels 3 and fits tightly within the channels 5. Fixing bolts 8 are fitted in holes through the panels 3 and the member 7.

The two side panels 4 are connected to the central panels 3 via solid UPVC curved corner members 9 which extend between the adjacent edges of the panel 3, 4 and fit tightly within the channels 5, 6. Fixing bolts 10 are fitted in holes through the panels 3, 4 and the members 9.

The two side panels 4 are at right angles to the central panels 3 and project at the same side through the same distance.

The interconnected panels 3, 4 have a continuous bottom edge and a skirt seal 11, as shown in Figure 5, is fitted over this. The skirt seal 11 is coextensive with the continuous bottom edge and comprises a flexible rubber upwardly open channel 12 with downwardly projecting skirts 13 running the entire length of the seal.

The free side edges of the side panels 4, which face away from the central panels 3, have elongate seals 14 within their grooves 6 (Figure 6). These seals 14 are compressible and comprise elongate solid members or tubes made from rubber. The seals 14 occupy part only of the width of the grooves 6 but project forwardly out of the grooves 6.

Alongside each seal 14 within the respective groove 6 there is a steel locking mechanism incorporating three pivotally mounted hooks 15 at equally spaced positions along the length of the groove 6. As shown in Figure 4, the hooks 15 are connected to an external arm 16, at one side of the side panel 4, which can be used to pivot the hooks 15 together. Holes 17 are provided in the side panel 4 at different positions and a peg 18 is provided for insertion in the holes 17.

The barrier I so far described is fixed in position using fixing members 18 * -6- (Figure 3) removably attached to the building wall one at each side of the door.

Each member 18 comprises a square section hollow steel tube with three slots 19 at equally spaced positions along a front face of the tube. The tubes 18 are removably attached to the building wall by engagement of keyhole slots in a back face of the tube 18 with the heads of screws 20 fixed in the wall (Figure 2). A rubber seal (not shown) is provided along the whole of this back face.

The assembled barrier 1 may be say Im height.

In use, the assembled barrier 1 is fitted around the door opening 2 with the grooves 6 at the free edges of the side panels 4 engaged with the fixing members 18.

The grooves 6 are wider than the tubes 18 so that the tubes 18 fit within the grooves 6 with the projecting seals 14 at outer sides of the tubes 18.

The barrier 1 is pushed into position so that the skirt seal II engages the ground surface and the hooks 15 enter the slots 19 in the tubes 18. The hooks 15 are then rotated using the handle 16. The shape of the hooks 15 and the pivot positions are such that the hooks 15 progressively tighten the barrier 1 on to the tubes 18. As this happens, the seals 14 are compressed against the building wall and the skirt seal 11 is pressed firmly against the ground. The handle 16 is locked in position by insertion of the peg 18 into the appropriate hole 17.

With this arrangement the barrier 1 is firmly sealed relative to the building wall and the ground around the doorway 2. The doorway 2 is thereby effectively protected against flooding.

Due to the shaping of the barrier 1 the door can be readily opened without disturbing the flood protection.

All low level doors and windows of the building may be protected with the same kind of barrier 1. Air bricks and higher level windows may be protected with sealed panels 21 held in position, removably, with screws 22 as shown in Figure 7.

When not required for use the barriers, fixing members and sealed panels can be removed for storage without leaving unsightly fixings. Decorative caps may be provided for the wall screws.

It is of course to be understood that the invention is not intended to be restricted to the details of the above embodiment which are described by way of example only. Thus, for example, additional strengthening members such as steel brackets at the corners of the barrier may be provided.

Claims (12)

1. Claims I. A flood barrier (1) for fixing relative to an opening of a building (2) comprising at least one protective member, fixing means for fixing the member relative to the building adjacent to the opening (2), and sealing means for edges of the protective member, wherein the protective member comprises a wall structure shaped to be displaced outwardly away from the opening (2), and the sealing means comprises seals which are provided for sealing the wall structure at side and bottom edges thereof respectively relative to the building and to a ground surface around the opening (2).
2. 2. The flood barrier (1) according to claim 1, wherein the wall structure comprises one or more panels (3, 4) which are solid or substantially imperforate so as at least substantially to prevent passage of water therethrough.
3. 3. The flood barrier (I) according to either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein wall structure is shaped to provide a central wall formed from one or more central panels (3), and two side walls formed from one or more side panels (4), which are connected to the central wall and extend transversely thereto in a common direction.
4. 4. The flood barrier (1) according to claim 3, wherein the central wall is planar, and the side walls are also be planar and extend parallel to each other and at right angles to the central wall.
5. 5. The flood barrier (1) according to any preceding claim, wherein the fixing means comprise interengaging configurations provided respectively on opposite said side edges of the wall structure and on fixing members (18) attachable to the building.
6. 6. The flood barrier (1) according to claim 5, wherein the interengaging configurations are adjustable between release and retention positions and provision is be made for progressive adjustment so that the side edges can be drawn progressively tightly against the fixing members (18) or the building.
7. 7. The flood barrier (1) according to claim 6, wherein locking means are provided for holding or locking the configurations in an adjusted position.
8. 8. The flood barrier (1) according to any of claims 5 to 7, wherein the interengaging configurations comprise hook and slot configurations having one or more hooks (15) on each said side edge of the wall structure engageable with a corresponding slot or slots (19) in a respective said fixing member (1 8).
9. 9. The flood barrier (1) according to any preceding claim, wherein the seals comprise compression seals (14).
10. 10. The flood barrier (1) according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the seals comprise skirt seals (11) having one or more flexible walls.
11. 11. The flood barrier (1) according to any preceding claim, wherein the barrier is provided around a door or window or other opening (2) at any position on a domestic residence or other building, including below-ground cellar windows or the like.
12. 12. A flood barrier (1) as substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to the accompanying drawings.