Sealing system for a water flow control gate

Abstract

A sealing system for a water flow control gate is provided. Each of a plurality of panels has an upper edge extending the length of the panel with a flat surface rounded upward to a wall at the rear side of the panel. The lower edge of each panel has a central perpendicular foot extending the length of the panel with side flanges and a neck between the central perpendicular foot and the rest of the panel. At each end of each panel is a vertical channel extending across the end of the panel. A horizontal sealing strip on each panel surrounds the central perpendicular foot and extending the length of the panel and a vertical sealing strip is positioned within each vertical channel, so that water flow through the water flow control gate is prevented by the horizontal sealing strips between adjacent stacked panels and by the vertical sealing strips between the ends of each panel and the frame.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to water flow control gates, and in particular relates to a sealing system for the components of sluice gates and the like.

2. Description of the Related Art

Water flow control gates (also known in various applications, for example, as sluice gates, flume gates, stoplog gates, slide gates or penstocks) are used selectively to control water flow from one area of a channel to another by opening or closing off the channel to the water flow.

In cranberry bogs, such gates allow control of flooding and draining operations, which are used to protect the crop from frost and to change water levels during the harvest of the cranberries. An early flume gate for cranberry bogs is provided by Whipple (U.S. Pat. No. 2,530,747). Typically, the flume gates as used in the cranberry industry comprise a series of stacked contiguous horizontal panels or spill-boards that together form a flat face. The stacked boards are held in place by a vertical guide way or frame on each end of the spill-boards. Typically in the cranberry industry, as well as in other applications, the panels are made of simple wooden boards, but they may be made of lightweight metals or fabricated materials so long as the panels are made of a sufficiently strong and impermeable material to be able to hold back the water and function as needed in the gate.

Individual spill-boards can be added or subtracted from the stack by sliding them on to (downward) or off of (upward) the guide way or frame to maintain the water behind the gate at a desired level. This process is often done by mechanized lifting and lowering means. When spill-boards are removed, water that was being held behind the spill-boards that have been removed can flow over the remaining spill-boards, thus lowering the level of water being held by the gate. When spill-boards are added to increase the height of the gate, the level of water flowing toward the gate rises because the flowing water is blocked by the newly added spill-boards.

Because the spill-boards must be removable to allow adjustment of the water level behind the gate, and because the water behind the gate, where the water is higher than in front of the gate, is pushing against the spill-boards, water leakage between and around the spill-boards is a common problem. At its extreme, the leakage through the gated area can greatly reduce or eliminate the usefulness of the gate. This problem, of course, is not confined to sluice gates and can occur whenever a multi-part door or gate is being used to keep water from flowing.

The seriousness of the problem addressed by the invention herein is indicated by the wide variety of attempts that have been made to reduce leakage from sluice gates and similarly used barricades or gates for prevention of water flow. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,075,851 of Gardner has fixed vertical guide members that engage the sides of a door and which form a resilient vertical seal, and a base invert seal onto which the lower edge of the door seals and which is formed by liquid flow of a material that is formed into shape under compressive force.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,882 of Crow provides a sealing member for a slide gate that is received in a two-compartment groove in a frame, with sealing occurring when a portion of the sealing member is displaced into the inner compartment of the groove.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,420 of Aston et al. provides means for urging one flat face of a gate against another, such as a screw-threaded element.

The patents of Whipps (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,439,061; 4,848,962; 6,176,493) provide various side and lip seals, some of which are held in place by bolts.

The patent of Powell (U.S. Pat. No. 4,514,110) uses a continuous length of a sealing member that has a channel containing a secondary seal on a gate assembly for subdividing a pond or reservoir.

The floodgate panel of Hollander, Jr. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,451) provides pneumatically inflatable peripheral sealing elements and a noninflatable sealing skirt element.

The sealing assemblies of Labelle (U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,709) have an elastomeric seal strip with a U-shaped cross-section with a central web and a pair of arms, which is fastened to a sealing location by mounting means, with the web sandwiched between the mounting means and the sealing location and the arms projecting past the mounting means to effect a sealing with their free ends.

Fontaine (U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,361) provides a door seal on which a water slide gate slides and is grasped by resilient portions of the seal.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,051 of Wood et al. provides a valve vise to force a sluice-gate to seal using a domed seal ring.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,707 of Baxter utilizes inflatable sealing elements to prevent ingress of flood water into a building.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,698,766 of Simon provides a slide gate sealing system with a ball seal in a seal mounting frame, so that when the slide gate blade is moved toward a closed position, round material attached to the underside of a slide gate blade and a ramping cam of a ramping mechanism cooperate to urge the slide gate blade upward to come into contact with the ball seal.

While many of the prior sealing mechanisms increase the water-holding capacity of particular water flow control gates, there remains a need for a sealing system that both impedes water flow between the stacked boards in a water flow control gate and impedes flow of water around the sides of the stacked boards where the boards are held in a guide way or frame.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a new sealing system for water flow control gates, such as in the cranberry growing industry, that both impedes water flow between the stacked boards in a water flow control gate and also impedes flow of water around the sides of the stacked boards where the boards are held in a guide way or frame.

Other objects and advantages will be more fully apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention herein is a sealing system for a water flow control gate. Each of a plurality of panels has an upper edge extending the length of the panel with a flat surface rounded upward to a wall at the rear side of the panel. The lower edge of each panel has a central perpendicular foot extending the length of the panel with side flanges and a neck between the central perpendicular foot and the rest of the panel. At each end of each panel is a vertical channel extending across the end of the panel. A horizontal sealing strip on each panel surrounds the central perpendicular foot and extending the length of the panel and a vertical sealing strip is positioned within each vertical channel, so that water flow through the water flow control gate is prevented by the horizontal sealing strips between adjacent stacked panels and by the vertical sealing strips between the ends of each panel and the frame.

Other objects and features of the inventions will be more fully apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a water flow control gate with which the sealing system of the invention herein may be used showing four panels according the invention placed in the gate.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the water flow control gate of FIG. 1, with one of the panels being removed from the gate.

FIG. 3 is an end view of a panel with the panel top and bottom edge cut according the invention herein.

FIG. 4 is a partial side perspective end view of a panel showing a vertical channel.

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective end view of a panel with a horizontal sealing strip.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective end view of a panel with a vertical sealing strip.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of four panels according to the invention assembled as they would be in a gate, but with the gate removed so that the panels are better seen.

FIG. 8 is an end view of the panels of FIG. 7, with the topmost panel being removed.

FIG. 9 is a close-up view of the junction of two panels of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view of one end of a horizontal sealing strip of the invention herein.

FIG. 11 is a partial perspective view of one end of a vertical sealing strip of the invention herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS THEREOF

The present invention provides a sealing system for a water flow control gate. As used herein the term “water flow control gate” refers to any gate which has removable panels, such as stacked horizontal spill-boards that together form a flat face, and that are held in place in a vertical guide way or frame on each end of the spill-boards, and includes sluice gates, flume gates, stoplog gates, slide gates or penstocks or other comparable gates having a comparable function. Generally such water flow control gates also have a cross-bar structure at their top to hold the vertical guide way or frame on the two sides of the channel together.

In particular, the invention herein is a sealing system for a water flow control gate, and a water flow control gate having the sealing system of the invention on each panel forming the gate. Each of a plurality of panels has an upper edge extending the length of the panel with a flat surface rounded upward to a rear side of the panel. The lower edge of each panel has a central perpendicular foot extending the length of the panel with side flanges and a neck between the central perpendicular foot and the rest of the panel. At each end of each panel is a vertical channel extending across the end of the panel. A horizontal sealing strip on each panel surrounds the central perpendicular foot and extending the length of the panel and a vertical sealing strip is positioned within each vertical channel, so that water flow through the water flow control gate is prevented by the horizontal sealing strips between adjacent stacked panels and by the vertical sealing strips between the ends of each panel and the frame. At the bottom of the gate where the lowest panel of the invention rests, a sealing strip as known in the art is placed so that the horizontal sealing strip on the lowest panel rests against a sealing strip.

Referring in greater detail to the figures, FIG. 1 shows a water flow control gate 10 with which the sealing system of the invention herein may be used in its preferred embodiment (the upper cross-bar structure that is typically present is not shown). The water flow control gate 10 with which the sealing system of the invention is used is a sluice or flume gate such as that used in the cranberry industry. Such a water flow control gate 10 comprises a guide way or frame 12 that may take any number of forms, each of which forms has pair of vertical grooves 14 opposite each other in the two opposite side walls 16 of a flow channel 18. The grooves 14 are typically formed by an opening between adjacent boards of the frame 12 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, with each end of each panel being held between the adjacent boards of the frame 12 as shown.

A variable number of removable panels 20 slidably fit into the vertical grooves 14, so that each panel 20 extends across the channel 18 between the two opposing side walls 16 in a direction perpendicular to the flow of water in the channel. Such panels 20 are thus as long as the width of the channel, for example, for a channel that is just over four feet wide, the panels 20 may be about 4 feet long, and are typically about 5-5½ inches high, and about 1½ inches thick. The actual dimensions of the panels may vary as appropriate for particular water flow gates without departing from the invention herein. The direction of water flow is shown by the arrow (FIG. 2).

The panels 20 may be made of wood as is known in the art, or may be molded of a similarly sturdy, water impermeable material, such as hard plastics, for example, black polyvinyl chloride plastic (PVC). The molded panels (not shown) are preferably formed with cross members and hollowed-out areas to reduce the cost and weight of the panels.

In this type of water flow control gate 10, a first (bottom) panel 22 is introduced into the vertical grooves 14 and slides downward to rest on the bottom horizontal surface 24 of the channel opening. Any additional panels 20 that are subsequently introduced into the vertical grooves 14 are stacked upon one another as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In this way, the panels 20 in the vertical grooves 14, together with the vertical grooves 14 and the bottom horizontal surface 24, form a barrier gate to the flow of water. By varying the number of panels 20 and/or the height of the panels used in the water flow control gate, the height of the barrier gate and thus the level of water that is held behind the barrier gate can be regulated as desired.

The sealing system of the invention comprises panels 20, which are to mate with a horizontal sealing strip 26 and vertical sealing strips 28 formed as discussed herein.

As shown in FIG. 3, a preferred panel 20 for use in the invention herein has its upper edge 30 (as oriented when placed in the water flow control gate) formed so that at its rear side 32 it is rounded to extend upward from a generally horizontal front plane 34 to a wall 35 that extends along the length of the panel 20, so that the panel's upper edge is curved upward as shown above the horizontal front plane 34. The importance of this curved configuration will be apparent from the discussion that follows.

The lower edge 36 of each panel of the invention is cut (if the panel is made of wood), or formed (if the panel is molded) in the shape shown in FIGS. 3 and 5-9. In particular, the lower edge 36 as viewed from the end of the panel 20 preferably is in the form of a central perpendicular foot 38 having two equal-length horizontal flanges 40 and a central neck 42. The width of the central perpendicular foot is less than that of the panel 20 itself, so that each flange 40 extends to a point that is a distance a that is about ¼ inch from the line formed by the side of the panel. The central neck 42 is about ¼ inch high and about ¼ inch wide, so that the sides of the neck 42 are a distance b about ⅝ inch from the line formed by the side of the panel (FIG. 3).

Each horizontal sealing strip 26 as shown in FIG. 10 is formed of a sturdy resilient waterproof, sun resistant material, such as NEOPRENE™, SANIPRENE™ or the like. A preferred material is 45 durometer SANIPRENE™. Preferably the horizontal sealing strip 26 is black for sun-resistance purposes. The horizontal sealing strip is preferably molded to be the length of a panel, or is cut into the length of a panel after molding. Preferably the horizontal sealing strip 26 is formed to have a central trough 44 and an upper opening 46 extending the length of the horizontal sealing strip 26. The horizontal sealing strip 26 is assembled on the panel, for example, by sliding in lengthwise so that it fits tightly around the lower edge of the panel (FIG. 5). When assembled on the lower edge 36 of a panel 20, the horizontal sealing strip surrounds the central perpendicular foot 38 of the panel 20 to form a resilient layer that is preferably wider than the central perpendicular foot 38 and is slightly narrower than the panel 20 itself (FIGS. 8-9). The main requirements are that the horizontal sealing strip 26 of each panel fits on the central perpendicular foot 38 and also fits snugly on the curved upper surface and wall of the panel below.

The preferred panel 20 for use in the invention further comprises two vertical channels 48, one on each end of the panel, as shown in FIG. 4. Preferably each vertical channel 48 is at least an inch wide, and most preferably about 1¼ inches wide, with the outer edge 50 of the vertical channel 48 and is close to the end of the panel 20, with just a sufficient portion of panel remaining to hold a vertical sealing strip 28 (discussed below) on the panel 20.

A vertical sealing strip 28 is placed in each vertical channel 48 (FIG. 6). Each vertical sealing strip 28 is slightly wider than the width of the vertical channel 48 so that it fits tightly in the vertical channel 48 and is slightly thicker than the depth of the vertical channel 48 so that it provides a good seal against the frame 12 when the panel 20 is pushed against the frame 12 by water pressure. The vertical sealing strip 28 is preferably made of the same material as the horizontal sealing strip 26. Preferably the outer surface 56 of the vertical sealing strip 28 has a plurality of grooves 58 across the outer surface 56 to provide multiple sealing points across the outer surface 56. Preferably the inner surface 60 has at least two lengthwise grooves 61 as shown in FIG. 11. The vertical sealing strip 28 is held in the vertical channel 48 by friction between the slightly wider vertical sealing strip 28 and the inside of the vertical channel 48.

In use, when each panel 20 is placed in the water flow control gate 10, the lower edge 36 of each panel 20 with its horizontal sealing strip 26 rests on the upper edge 30 of the panel 20 below it (FIG. 7-9). The weight of the higher panel 20 results in substantial sealing between the panels. When there is water pushing against the panels 20, as shown in FIG. 9 the panels 20 with their horizontal sealing strips 26 are pushed toward the rear side 32 of the upper edge 30 of the panel 20 below, providing additional sealing between the panel. The sides of each panel 20 are held within the vertical grooves 14 of the frame 12 as known in the art. Importantly, the force of the water behind the panels 20 pushing on the panels also forces the ends of the panels and their vertical sealing strips 28 toward the rear portion of the frame 12 resulting in additional sealing along the sides of the water flow control gate at the ends of the panels 20.

To hold the stacked panels down firmly against each other, a board or other structure is preferably wedged at each end of the panel between the top of the topmost panel 20 and the cross bar structure at the top of the frame (not shown), or other weighted means may be used as known in the art to hold the panels down.

While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it will be appreciated that numerous variations, modifications, and embodiments are possible, and accordingly, all such variations, modifications, and embodiments are to be regarded as being within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A sealing system for a water flow control gate having multiple removable panels and a frame for holding the panels, the sealing system comprising:

a) a plurality of panels, each panel having: (i) an upper edge extending the length of the panel, and having a flat upper surface rounded upward to a wall formed on the rear side of the panel; (ii) a lower edge extending the length of the panel and having a central perpendicular foot with side flanges and a neck between the central perpendicular foot and the rest of the panel; and (iii) two ends, each of the ends having a vertical channel extending across the end of the panel;

b) a horizontal sealing strip on each panel, surrounding the central perpendicular foot and extending the length of the panel; and

c) a vertical sealing strip positioned within each vertical channel, wherein when water presses against panels that are stacked adjacently in the frame for holding panels, the vertical sealing strip on the bottom of each stacked panel rests on the upper edge of the panel beneath it and is pushed against the wall of the panel below; and wherein water flow through the water flow control gate is prevented by the horizontal sealing strips between adjacent stacked panels and by the vertical sealing strips between the ends of each panel and the frame.

2. The sealing system of claim 1, wherein the horizontal sealing strips and the vertical sealing strips are made of a resilient material selected from the group consisting of NEOPRENE™ and SANIPRENE™.

3. The sealing system of claim 2, wherein the horizontal sealing strips and the vertical sealing strips are made of SANIPRENE™.

4. The sealing system of claim 1, wherein the panels are made of wood.

5. The sealing system of claim 1, wherein the panels are made of plastic.

6. A water flow control gate comprising multiple removable panels, a frame for holding the panels, and a sealing system according to claim 1.