Truss Air Manifold Assembly for Underground Disaster Shelters
An air manifold assembly for underground shelters which is capable of withstanding extreme weather conditions. The air manifold assembly includes a ventilation pipe, a tank-head-shaped dome, an annular plate, and a plurality of holes. A top end of the ventilation pipe is concentrically positioned within the annular plate. The annular plate is laterally connected about the ventilation pipe and joins the ventilation pipe to the tank-head-shaped dome. The tank-head-shaped dome protects and prevents the clogging and damage of the ventilation pipe. The tank-head-shaped dome is positioned adjacent to the top end of the ventilation pipe and is perimetrically connected to the annular plate. The plurality of holes exposes the ventilation pipe to the external atmosphere. The plurality of holes is radially distributed about the annular plate with each hole normally traversing through the annular plate. Opposite the tank-head-shaped dome, the ventilation pipe is connected to the underground shelter.
The current application claims a priority to the U.S. Provisional Patent application Ser. No. 62/460,286 filed on Feb. 17, 2017.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates generally to an apparatus in the field of underground disaster shelters. More specifically, the present invention is a truss air manifold assembly for underground disaster shelters which is capable of withstanding high winds, H20 truck axle loads, and impacts from loose debris. The name Truss comes from the shape of a truss screw head.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONUnderground shelters need a method of intaking fresh air and exhaust spent air from the underground shelter. The conventional solution is a gooseneck air duct with a cap. This design is vulnerable to flying debris, which can bend or shear the air pipe of the duct off at the ground level, closing the air connection for the underground shelter. As a result, the air manifold at ground level represents the most vulnerable part of an underground shelter. The air manifold is also subject to vehicles such as farm tractors or trucks running over it and is also vulnerable to intruder assaults that aim to cut off the air supply to people within the underground shelter, thus forcing them out of the underground shelter. Negative pressure from a nuclear blast or from ground zero of an F5 tornado can also suck air manifolds out of the ground, severing the connection of fresh air to the people within the underground shelter.
The present invention has significant and unobvious improvements over all of the previous designs and conventional solutions. The present invention is aerodynamically smooth to resist damage from heavy flying debris with an angle of incidence of less than 15 degrees. Under section 305.2.1 of the ICC 500 code for commercial tornado shelters, this type of air manifold is below the 30-degree threshold angle of incidence and therefore considered a horizontal surface and is exempt from testing from flying missile debris. There is just not enough area exposed and not a high enough angle of incidence to result in any significant damage to interfere with its intended function. The present invention looks to introduce an apparatus in the field of underground disaster shelters with pre-assembled structures designed to provide life support in extremely high winds, vehicle axles loads as H20 loading which is a 32,000 pound axle load or a 16,000 pound wheel load, with flying debris.
All illustrations of the drawings are for the purpose of describing selected versions of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus in the field of underground disaster shelters. More specifically, the present invention is an apparatus in the field of underground disaster shelters with pre-assembled structures designed to provide life support in extremely high winds with flying debris.
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The plurality of holes 11 exposes the ventilation pipe 1 to the external environment around the tank-head-shaped dome 7. The plurality of holes 11 is radially distributed about the annular plate 10 with each of the plurality of holes 11 normally traversing through the annular plate 10. In one embodiment, the present invention further comprises a plurality of filters 15 which filter the air entering the ventilation pipe 1 through the plurality of holes 11. More specifically, each of the plurality of filters 15 is an insect screen which prevents insects and debris from entering the ventilation pipe 1. Although, in alternative embodiments, other types of filters may be used for each of the plurality of filters 15 to improve the air quality entering the ventilation pipe 1. Each of the plurality of filters 15 is sized complimentary to the each of the plurality of holes 11. More specifically, the plurality of filters 15 is radially distributed about the annular plate 10. Additionally, each of the plurality of filters 15 is connected to the annular plate 10 within a corresponding hole from the plurality of holes 11.
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Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
Claims
1. A truss air manifold assembly for underground disaster shelters comprises:
- a ventilation pipe;
- a tank-head-shaped dome;
- an annular plate;
- a plurality of holes;
- a top end of the ventilation pipe being concentrically positioned within the annular plate;
- the annular plate being laterally connected about the ventilation pipe;
- the tank-head-shaped dome being positioned adjacent to the top end of the ventilation pipe;
- the ventilation pipe being positioned within a concave portion of the tank-head-shaped dome;
- the tank-head-shaped dome being perimetrically connected to the annular plate;
- the plurality of holes being radially distributed about the annular plate; and
- each of the plurality of holes normally traversing through the annular plate.
2. The truss air manifold assembly for underground disaster shelters as claimed in claim 1 comprises:
- an internal tube;
- the internal tube being positioned within the concave portion of the tank-head-shaped dome;
- the top end of the ventilation pipe concentrically traversing into the internal tube; and
- the tank-head-shaped dome being terminally connected to the internal tube, opposite the ventilation pipe.
3. The truss air manifold assembly for underground disaster shelters as claimed in claim 1 comprises:
- an annular gravity dish;
- the annular gravity dish being positioned adjacent to a bottom end of the ventilation pipe;
- the ventilation pipe concentrically traversing through annular gravity dish;
- the annular gravity dish being oriented towards the tank-head-shaped dome; and
- the annular gravity dish being laterally connected about the ventilation pipe.
4. The truss air manifold assembly for underground disaster shelters as claimed in claim 1 comprises:
- the ventilation pipe comprises a top tubular portion, a middle tubular portion, and a bottom tubular portion;
- the top tubular portion being terminally connected to the middle tubular portion;
- the bottom tubular portion being terminally connected to the middle tubular portion, opposite the top tubular portion;
- the top tubular portion being positioned at a first obtuse angle relative to the middle tubular portion;
- the top tubular portion and the bottom tubular portion being oriented parallel to each other;
- the top tubular portion, the middle tubular portion, and the bottom tubular portion being in fluid communication with each other; and
- the top tubular portion being positioned adjacent to the tank-head-shaped dome.
5. The truss air manifold assembly for underground disaster shelters as claimed in claim 4, wherein the first obtuse angle is 135 degrees.
6. The truss air manifold assembly for underground disaster shelters as claimed in claim 1 comprises:
- a plurality of filters;
- the plurality of filters being radially distributed about the annular plate; and
- each of the plurality of filters being connected to the annular plate within a corresponding hole from the plurality of holes.
7. The truss air manifold assembly for underground disaster shelters as claimed in claim 1 comprises:
- an underground disaster shelter;
- a flexible seismic joint;
- an annular flange;
- the annular flange being laterally connected about a bottom end of the ventilation pipe;
- the flexible seismic joint being concentrically connected to a bottom end of the ventilation pipe by the annular flange;
- the underground disaster shelter being adjacently connected to the flexible seismic joint, opposite the ventilation pipe; and
- the ventilation pipe, the flexible seismic joint, and the underground disaster shelter being in fluid communication with each other.
8. The truss air manifold assembly for underground disaster shelters as claimed in claim 1, wherein an angle of incidence for the tank-head-shaped dome being less than 15 degrees.
9. The truss air manifold assembly for underground disaster shelters as claimed in claim 1 comprises:
- the tank-head-shaped dome comprises an annular sidewall and the concave portion;
- the annular sidewall being concentrically positioned with the annular plate;
- the annular sidewall being adjacently connected to the annular plate;
- the concave portion being positioned adjacent to the annular sidewall, opposite the annular plate; and
- the concave portion being perimetrically connected to the annular sidewall.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 12, 2018
Publication Date: Aug 23, 2018
Inventor: Walton McCarthy (Fate, TX)
Application Number: 15/894,419