Hurricane protection harness

Abstract

A hurricane protection harness apparatus for protecting homes, buildings and other assets from the destructive forces of high winds such as from hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones and typhoons is disclosed. The disclosure presents an apparatus for mooring and securing a building roof and the underlying structure during periods of high winds, as well as a means of deflecting flying debris from windows and doors. The harness covers 40 to 90% of the home or building from the roof to the ground, covering the doors, windows and other vulnerable areas against breaking windows and damage from flying debris. The mesh material of the harness has small holes therethrough for permitting the wind to pass through the mesh while blocking flying debris. The harness forms an “A” frame shaped hip style roof shape, thereby preventing the wind from forming a vortex and lifting the roof from the structure. The harness helping to protect the roof from wind damage including the lifting and removing of shingles, and lifting and removal of sheathing. The mesh harness is moored to ground anchors by tensioned straps thereby holding the building structure together and on the foundation during hurricane strength winds. The harness is removable after the threat has passed.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application having Ser. No. 60/595507 filed Jul. 11, 2005 entitled “The storm stopper hurricane protection harness” having a common applicant herewith.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosures made herein relate generally to apparatus for protecting homes, buildings and other assets from wind damage and, more particularly, to apparatus for protecting homes and other assets from the destructive forces of high winds such as from hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones and typhoons. More particularly, the inventive disclosures herein present an apparatus for mooring and securing a roof and the underlying structure to the ground during periods of high winds, as well as a means of deflecting flying debris from windows and doors preventing damage and broken windows, etc.

BACKGROUND

The threats to life, health and property and the magnitude of damage that can be caused by high winds on buildings, homes, boats, automobiles and other high value assets is well understood, particularly in the aftermath of the hurricanes in Florida and Louisiana in 2005.

A variety of hardware is known for strengthening a building against hurricane strength winds, one example being hurricane clips designed to strengthen the structural joint between roof rafters and building side wall members to which they are attached. Such reinforcing clips have drawbacks in that they do not improve the building's resistance to very high winds which may tend to topple or lift a building from its foundation. Additionally, such methods do not provide a debris shield to deflect airborne debris away from windows, doors and other vulnerable areas of structures. Another disadvantage is that such methods do not deter or reduce wind damage is shingled roofs wherein shingles or even roof sheathing is lifted from the roof and carried off in high winds. Other assets such as vehicles, boats, motor homes, and mobile homes require more deliberate and effective resistance to high winds.

Therefore, a hurricane protection harness which is designed to prevent the destruction of tangible assets in high winds by securing the asset to the ground, a hurricane protection apparatus which provides a harness or harness assembly of multiple connected harnesses sized and configured to extend over the top and sides of a building, thereby anchoring the building to the ground, holding the building to its foundation, and preventing structural and sheathing members from detaching from the building in high winds, a hurricane protection apparatus that provides a plurality of ground anchors for fixing the asset to the ground, a hurricane protection apparatus that provides a shield-like harness mesh for deflecting flying debris away from windows, doors and other sensitive areas, a hurricane protection apparatus that may be quickly assembled and installed when needed then removed when the threat subsides, such a hurricane protection harness would be useful and novel.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Accordingly, embodiments of the inventive disclosures made herein comprise various embodiments of a hurricane protection harness for securing assets such as homes, buildings, planes, boats, motor homes, mobile homes, and motor vehicles from the damaging effects of high winds from hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes, cyclones and the like.

Embodiment of the inventive disclosures herein are directed to a mesh harness made of a high strength mesh material that has a high tensile strength, high tear and burst strength, and is light in weight. The straps that crisscross on the surface are stitched for high tensile strength and are stitched also on both sides of the mesh harness section made from nylon/polypropylene or a material that has high tensile strength. The straps have fasteners connected to them such as hooks, rings, snaps or other connectors that are of sufficient tensile strength. The main mesh harness is ordered in sections. Each section is ordered by length and width depending on the size of the windows and doors (if used on a building) and how many straps are needed. The second component is the ratchet tie down straps. The tie down straps are nylon or rope but in either case both have ratchet mechanisms for taking up slack and tensioning the harness sections over the asset to be protected. The ratchet tie down straps can be ordered by size length and work load tensile force capacity as well as the size of ratchets. The ratchets tie down straps have fasteners connected to them on opposing ends of the strap, fasteners such as snap-hooks, hooks or other suitable fasteners permitting ratchets straps and ratchets to have a sufficiently high pull strength rating. The third component of the hurricane protection harness is the anchors. The anchors are of supreme importance as the anchors moor the whole harness or harness assemblies and protected assets to the ground. Typical anchors have a work load from 2,500 lbs tensile force to 49,000 lbs force depending on the size needed for the job. Typical anchors are recessed anchors made of stainless steel or zinc plated steel. The main ground anchors may be imbedded in fresh concrete, the size of the hole needed to be dug out will determine the pull out strength. Another variety of main anchor is a recessed tie down ring having a nominal 6,000 lb force capacity. The zinc plated tie down ring is drilled and mounted in hardened concrete with concrete bolt screws. Four bolts hold the tie down ring plate in place. The remaining varieties of anchors are typically only used as the secondary anchors, such as anchors used as safety anchors for the main anchors. Anchor types that can be used are auger anchors, screw anchors, duck bill anchors, as well as conventional anchors used to anchor metal buildings.

The mesh harness has tension straps stitched along opposing sides of the mesh. The tension straps have connectors on the ends that may be buckles, hooks, rings, or snaps for example. Each harness that extends over the roof connects one strap to another strap flat on the roof. The harness ends include tension straps that extend to the ground on both sides of the mesh harness. These straps are connected to the ratchet tie down straps. The cross straps connected to the mesh harness and extending down the sides of the building or home connect also to ratchet tie down straps. The substantial parts of the building or home are covered by the mesh harness and held in place by ratchet tie down straps. The ratchet tie downs straps connect to the ground or cement anchors. The ratchets on the ratchet straps are then torqued down to tighten the harness onto the building or asset being protected. After installation, it is prudent to tension every ratchet to assure that all straps are tight. A harness assembly may consist of multiple harness segments. Each harness segment is joined by one or more cross straps extending outwards from the harness segment substantially perpendicular to the tension straps. The cross straps are stitchably secured to the tension straps and mesh harness netting, and once tensioned permit the multiple harness assembly to perform as a unit.

In one or more embodiments of the inventive disclosures made herein, the mesh harness comprises a material selected from the set consisting of nylon, or polypropylene.

In one or more embodiments of the inventive disclosures made herein, the asset protected is a motor vehicle.

In one or more embodiments of the inventive disclosures made herein, the asset protected is a boat.

In one or more embodiments of the inventive disclosures made herein, the asset protected is an airplane.

In one or more embodiments of the inventive disclosures made herein, the asset protected is a mobile home.

In one or more embodiments of the inventive disclosures made herein, two or more harness segments are joined in a side by side distally spaced parallel relationship by the one or more cross straps spanning across the harnesses with the cross straps extending across the tension straps of the harnesses and secured to the harnesses such as to secure the harnesses into a one piece harness assembly. The assembly is sized to fit the asset to be protected and secure the asset against hurricane wind.

In one or more embodiments of the inventive disclosures made herein, the harness assembly extends over the roof of the building and down the sides with the mesh protecting windows and doors from flying debris together with the harness assembly holding the building to its foundation as well as holding the building together through hurricane winds.

In one or more embodiments of the inventive disclosures made herein, the harness assembly covers between 40 to 90% of the building from roof to ground.

In one or more embodiments of the inventive disclosures made herein, the asset is a building having a hip roof wherein the harness assembly is positioned over the roof with the tension straps substantially perpendicular to the hip of the roof such that the harness assembly holds the roof and roofing materials to the building.

In one or more embodiments of the inventive disclosures made herein, the ground anchor comprises a metallic anchor having a first end embedded and secured to a buried concrete mass and an opposing second end having the anchoring strap receiving fastener secured thereon wherein the anchor strap receiving fastener comprises a metallic ring for engaging the fastener on one end of the ratchet strap.

In one or more embodiments of the inventive disclosures made herein, the ground anchor comprises a metallic anchor plate having a plurality of anchor holes, the holes arranged around periphery edges of the plate, the holes positioned and sized for mounting the anchor plate to a stationary mass such as a concrete mass. A half ring pivotally is secured to the anchor plate, half ring for engaging the fastener on one end of the ratchet strap.

In one or more embodiments of the inventive disclosures made herein, the ground anchor comprises a triangular shaped anchor member having one of the points of the triangle configured as a drive point for driving into the ground. A drive rod is secured to the anchor member opposing the drive point and extending upwards from the anchor member. The drive rod is for driving the anchor member into the ground while the triangular shape anchor resists width drawl of the anchor from the ground. A cable is secured at one end to the anchor member with an opposing second end of the cable having a loop member. The loop member engages with the fastening means on the end of the ratchet strap.

In one or more embodiments of the inventive disclosures made herein, the ground anchor comprises a helical anchor member having a first end configured for rotably engaging with and screwing into the ground. A cable is secured at one end to the anchor member with an opposing second end of the cable having a loop member. The loop member engages with the fastening means on the end of the ratchet strap.

It is another objective of the inventive disclosure made herein to provide a hurricane protection harness which is designed to prevent the destruction of tangible assets in high winds by securing the asset to the ground.

It is another objective of the inventive disclosure made herein to provide a hurricane protection harness which provides harnesses sized and configured to extend over the top and sides of a building, thereby anchoring the building to the ground, holding the building to its foundation, and preventing structural and sheathing members from detaching from the building in high winds.

It is another objective of the inventive disclosure made herein to provide a hurricane protection apparatus that provides a plurality of ground anchors for fixing the asset to the ground.

It is another objective of the inventive disclosure made herein to provide a hurricane protection apparatus that provides a shield-like harness mesh for deflecting flying debris away from windows, door and other sensitive areas.

It is another objective of the inventive disclosure made herein to provide a hurricane protection apparatus that may be quickly assembled and installed when needed, then removed when the threat subsides.

These and other objects of the invention made herein will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and associated drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings show a form of the invention that is presently preferred; however, the invention is not limited to the precise arrangement shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 depicts a perspective view of a hurricane protection apparatus installed to secure a building from hurricane strength winds in accordance with the inventive disclosures herein.

FIG. 2 depicts a perspective view of one set of anchors, ratchet tie down straps and tension strap, all interconnected and securing the harness to the ground in accordance with the inventive disclosures herein.

FIG. 3 depicts a partial cross sectional perspective view of a main ground anchor (anchor securing the harness tension straps) in accordance with the inventive disclosures herein.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of an alternate type anchor in accordance with the inventive disclosures herein.

FIG. 5 is a top view of a main tie down swivel ring anchor with a 6000 lb force capacity in accordance with the inventive disclosures herein.

FIG. 6 is a top view of an another type of main tie down swivel ring anchor having a 6000 lb force capacity in accordance with the inventive disclosures herein.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a helical ground anchor (not a main anchor) in accordance with the inventive disclosures herein.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a triangular shaped anchor having a driven point and cable in accordance with the inventive disclosures herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In preparation for explaining the details of the present inventive disclosure, it is to be understood by the reader that the invention is not limited to the presented details of the construction, materials and embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, as the invention concepts are clearly capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and realized in various ways by applying the disclosure presented herein.

FIG. 1 depicts a perspective view of a hurricane protection apparatus installed to secure a building 32 from hurricane strength winds in accordance with the inventive disclosures herein. The illustrated hurricane protection apparatus 10 comprises three harness segments (16 being one of three segments) having a mesh harness netting material 12 having a substantially rectangular shape. The mesh has holes sized to permit the wind to blow through while deflecting flying debris. Ratchet tie down straps 22 are secured at one end to anchors 26 and secured at the opposing end to the tension straps of the harness segments 12. One or more cross straps 20 extend outwards from the harness segment substantially perpendicular to the tension straps of the harness 12, the cross straps stitchably secured to the tension straps and mesh harness netting.

FIG. 2 depicts a perspective view of one set of anchors, ratchet tie down straps and tension strap, all interconnected and securing the harness to the ground in accordance with the inventive disclosures herein. Ratchet straps 22 are secured on one end to the swivel ring 24 of anchor 26 and secured at the opposing end to the tension straps of the harness segments 12. Ratchet straps are secured to the tension straps by fastening means 20 which may comprise a metal hook mating into a metal ring or other removable fastening means.

FIG. 3 depicts a partial cross sectional perspective view of a main ground anchor (anchor securing the harness tension straps) in accordance with the inventive disclosures herein. Ratchet tie down strap 22 is secured to ground anchor 24 by attaching to a swivel ring on the anchor. Concrete tie down bolts 28 secure the ground anchor to the concrete anchor mass 26 which rest upon the ground 30.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of an alternate type anchor in accordance with the inventive disclosures herein, which has a screw down cover to hide the swivel anchor ring when not in use. This anchor is intended for embedding into concrete as in FIG. 3 above.

FIG. 5 is a top view of a main tie down swivel ring anchor with a 6000 lb force capacity in accordance with the inventive disclosures herein. A 360 degree flush mounted zinc plated swivel ring 38 is secured to an anchor plate having a plurality of mounting hole 34 through which bolts are inserted to mount to a concrete mass or other stationary mooring object.

FIG. 6 is a top view of an another type of main tie down swivel ring anchor having a 6000 lb force capacity in accordance with the inventive disclosures herein. Steel ring 36 is pivotally mounted to the anchor plate. The anchor plate is provided with four mounting holes 34 through which bolts are inserted to mount to a concrete mass or other stationary mooring object.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a helical ground anchor 24b (not a main anchor) in accordance with the inventive disclosures herein, wherein the helical portion is rotated to screw the anchor into the ground.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a triangular shaped anchor 24c having a driven point and cable for attaching to a ratchet strap in accordance with the inventive disclosures herein.

The discussed construction, illustrations and sequence of operation is for one embodiment of the invention but is in no way limiting to other embodiments. The operating modes may be changed and enhanced without deviating from the intention of this inventive disclosure.

In the preceding detailed description, reference has been made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments and certain variants thereof have been described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. It is to be understood that other suitable embodiments may be utilized and that logical, material, and mechanical changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. To avoid unnecessary detail, the description omits certain information known to those skilled in the art. The preceding detailed description is, therefore, not intended to be limited to the specific forms set forth herein, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as can be reasonably included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus for preventing hurricane winds from destroying a tangible asset by securing the asset to the ground, the apparatus comprising:

one or more harness segments for securing the asset to the ground, the harness extending over a top portion of the asset for securing to the ground at opposing sides of the asset, the harness segment comprising: a mesh harness netting material having a substantially rectangular shape, the netting having two opposing ends connected by two opposing sides spanning between the ends and over top portion of the asset, the mesh having holes sized to permit the wind to blow through while deflecting flying debris; and two tension straps, straps stitchably secured along length of the opposing sides of the mesh netting, the straps in a distally spaced parallel relationship along opposing side of the mesh, each end of the strap having a connecting means secured thereto, wherein the harness comprises a high tensile and tear strength material;

one or more cross straps extending outwards from the harness segment substantially perpendicular to the tension straps, the cross straps stitchably secured to the tension straps and mesh harness netting, the straps having a connecting means secured to each opposing end of the cross strap, the cross straps comprising a high tensile and tear strength material;

a plurality of ground anchor means for securing the one or more harness to the ground, the ground anchor means comprising: a ground anchor means of fixedly engaging the ground; and an anchoring strap receiving fastener secured to the ground anchor means, wherein the ground anchor fixedly engages with the ground resisting movement in or tensile removal from the ground; and

a plurality of ratchet tie down straps, each strap comprising: a first end having a fastening means sized and adapted to retentively and tensionally engage the connecting means on the end of the straps; a second end having a fastening means sized and adapted to retentively and tensionally engage the anchoring strap receiving fastener of the ground anchor; and a ratchet means for latchably shortening the length of each strap, the ratchet mean for removing slack from the tie down straps and tensioning the side straps of the harness against the ground anchor.

2. The apparatus for protecting a tangible asset from hurricane winds of claim 1, wherein the mesh harness comprises a material selected from the set consisting of nylon, polypropylene.

3. The apparatus for protecting a tangible asset from hurricane winds of claim 1, wherein the asset is a motor vehicle.

4. The apparatus for protecting a tangible asset from hurricane winds of claim 1, wherein the asset is a boat.

5. The apparatus for protecting a tangible asset from hurricane winds of claim 1 wherein two or more harness segments are joined in a side by side distally spaced parallel relationship by the one or more cross straps spanning across the harnesses, the cross straps extending across the tension straps of the harnesses and secured to the harnesses such as to secure the harnesses into a one piece harness assembly, wherein the assembly is sized to fit to and secure the asset against hurricane wind.

6. The apparatus for protecting a tangible asset from hurricane winds of claim 5, wherein the asset is an airplane.

7. The apparatus for protecting a tangible asset from hurricane winds of claim 5, wherein the asset is a building, wherein the harness assembly extends over roof of the building and down the sides protecting windows and doors from flying debris, wherein the harness assembly holds the building to its foundation and holds the building together through hurricane winds.

8. The apparatus for protecting a tangible asset from hurricane winds of claim 7, wherein the harness assembly covers between 40 to 90% of the building from roof to ground.

9. The apparatus for protecting a tangible asset from hurricane winds of claim 7, wherein the asset is building having a hip roof, and wherein the harness assembly is positioned over the roof with the tension straps substantially perpendicular to hip of the roof, wherein the harness assembly holds the roof and roofing materials to the building.

10. The apparatus for protecting a tangible asset from hurricane winds of claim 7, wherein the building is a mobile home.

11. The apparatus for protecting a tangible asset from hurricane winds of claim 1, wherein the ground anchor means comprises a metallic anchor having a first end embedded and secured to a buried concrete mass, and an opposing second end having the anchoring strap receiving fastener secured thereon wherein the anchor strap receiving fastener comprises a metallic ring for engaging the fastening means on the second end of the ratchet strap.

12. The apparatus for protecting a tangible asset from hurricane winds of claim 1, wherein the ground anchor means comprises a metallic anchor plate having a plurality of anchor holes, the holes arranged around periphery edges of the plate, the holes for mounting the anchor plate to a stationary mass, wherein the anchoring strap receiving fastener comprises a half ring swively secured to the anchor plate, the anchor ring for engaging the fastening means on the second end of the ratchet strap.

13. The apparatus for protecting a tangible asset from hurricane winds of claim 1, wherein the ground anchor means comprises:

a triangular shaped anchor member, wherein one of the points of the triangle is configured as a drive point for driving into the ground;

a drive rod secured to the anchor member and extending outwards in a direction opposing the drive point, the drive rod for driving the anchor member into the ground, the triangular shape for resisting width drawl of the anchor from the ground; and

a cable having a first end secured to the anchor member, an opposing second end of the cable having a loop member, wherein the loop member is the anchor strap receiving faster for engaging the fastening means on the second end of the ratchet strap.

14. The apparatus for protecting a tangible asset from hurricane winds of claim 1, wherein the ground anchor means comprises:

a helical anchor member having a first end and an opposing second end, the helical anchor with first end configured for rotably engaging with and screwing into the ground; and

a cable having a first end secured to the second end of the anchor member, an opposing second end of the cable having a loop member, wherein the loop member is the anchor strap receiving fastener for engaging the fastening means on the second end of the ratchet strap.