Containment Boom and Standoff

Abstract

A Containment Boom and Standoff has two embodiments, a Dual Plank Assembly and a Dual Pole Assembly. The Dual Plank Assembly is a pair of buoyant planks covered and connected with waterproof and oil impermeable material with sealed poles inside the buoyant planks and mechanical connectors on both ends of both sealed poles. The assembly has sufficient buoyancy during deployment in water so the top of the assembly will float high enough in water to block the passage of a floating oil spill over the top and low enough to prevent oil from going underneath. Structure positioning magnets attach the assembly to an aquatic structure to provide a localized containment boom that is efficient to use as a containment boom and/or a standoff. When only a standoff function is desired, a Dual Pole Assembly (the Dual Plank Assembly without the buoyant plank and without the protective cover) may be deployed.

1 . A Containment Boom and Standoff, embodied in A Dual Plank Assembly (“assembly”) comprising:
 a pair of buoyant planks which can be formed of any buoyant material of sufficient strength, buoyancy, and rigidity wherein the buoyant planks have sufficient buoyancy during deployment in water so that
 a top of the buoyant planks will float high enough in water to block the passage of a floating oil spill over the top of the buoyant planks, and 
 a bottom of the buoyant planks floating low enough in water to block the passage of the floating oil spill under the buoyant planks, and 
 a bore formed in the buoyant planks below a centerline of the buoyant planks with the bore of sufficient diameter to allow 
   a pair of sealed poles to be contained inside the bore of the buoyant planks where the sealed poles function to add strength and stiffness to the buoyant planks and to add weight to the buoyant planks to keep the buoyant planks upright in the water where the sealed pole can be formed of any metal, plastic, wood or other material of sufficient strength, buoyancy, and rigidity and sealed at the ends using any means employed by those skilled in the art and the sealed pole may gain buoyant capabilities by being strategically filled with
 a buoyant material depending on the counteracting buoyancy of the plank and how far the plank extends above and below the water line when in use and 
 a pair of proximal ends to the sealed poles, and 
 a pair of distal ends to the sealed poles, and 
   a waterproof and oil impermeable protective cover material that covers and seals the buoyant planks on a front side and a back side, the top and the bottom and an ends of the buoyant planks where the waterproof and oil impermeable protective cover is of sufficient durability to stand up to harsh conditions and rough treatment and where the waterproof and oil impermeable protective cover extends beyond the sealed portions containing the buoyant planks at
 a flat portion of the protective cover between the proximal ends of the two sealed poles enabling folding of the assembly during storage and deployment and provides a smooth surface on the front side of the covered buoyant planks that faces the floating oil spill, and 
 a pair of protective flaps on the front side of the Dual Plank Assembly that extends from both distal ends of the Dual Plank Assembly to allow the device to seal against the aquatic structure or to seal between a plurality of the Dual Plank Assembly when multiple Assemblies are deployed, and 
   a plurality of mechanical connectors with at least one mechanical connector for each sealed pole end that extends outside the waterproof and oil impermeable cover and connects to the mechanical connectors on other sealed poles and other devices, and   a plurality of linking magnets in mechanical connection with the back side of the Dual Plank Assembly protective cover that allows the assembly to magnetically attach folded together to store efficiently when not in use and to hold together during deployment and after deployment if desired, and   a pair of structure positioning magnets to hold the Dual Plank Assembly at a waterline of an aquatic structure, and   a magnet connector on the structure positioning magnets to link the structure positioning magnet to the mechanical connectors of the sealed pole ends.   
   
   
       2 . The Dual Plank Assembly of  claim 1 , wherein multiples of the Dual Plank Assembly are used as a containment boom and the structure positioning magnets are used at the interface to the aquatic structure and are replaced by other of the mechanical connections or devices where the Dual Plank Assemblies are joined together. 
   
   
       3 . The Dual Plank Assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the other device that is attached to the mechanical connector at the back side of the Dual Plank Assembly is a wind vane. 
   
   
       4 . The Dual Plank Assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the other device that is attached to the mechanical connector at the back side of the Dual Plank Assembly is a current vane. 
   
   
       5 . The Dual Plank Assembly of  claim 1 , wherein a strobe light is attached to the assembly using mechanical fastening means. 
   
   
       6 . The Dual Plank Assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the other device that is attached to a mechanical connector at the back side of the Dual Plank Assembly is an elongated hook or other connection mechanism enabling the Dual Plank Assembly to be used with a conventional boom. 
   
   
       7 . The Dual Plank Assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the other device that is attached to the mechanical connector at the back side of the Dual Plank Assembly is any combination of the current vane, the wind vane and the strobe light on one pole. 
   
   
       8 . A Dual Pole Assembly comprising:
 a pair of sealed poles wherein the sealed poles may be filled with
 a buoyant material, and each one of the sealed poles has 
 a proximal end and 
 a distal end, and 
   a pair of mechanical connectors at each end of the pair of sealed poles wherein the pair of sealed poles are connected at the proximal ends with a plurality of mechanical connectors, and   a pair of structure positioning magnets are attached to the mechanical connector at the distal ends of the sealed poles with the connection between the distal sealed pole end and the structure positioning magnet made with
 a mechanical connector so that the Dual Pole Assembly can be magnetically attached to an aquatic structure where the magnets are positioned at the water line of the aquatic structure where the sealed poles are in a variably open position to act as a standoff for the conventional boom. 
   
   
   
       9 . The Dual Pole Assembly of  claim 8 , wherein a wind vane is mechanically attached to the mechanical connector at the proximate sealed pole ends. 
   
   
       10 . The Dual Pole Assembly of  claim 8 , wherein a current vane is mechanically attached to the mechanical connector at the proximal sealed pole ends. 
   
   
       11 . The Dual Pole Assembly of  claim 8 , wherein a strobe light is mechanically attached to the mechanical connector at the proximal sealed pole ends. 
   
   
       12 . The Dual Pole Assembly of  claim 8 , wherein an elongated hook or other mechanical connector is mechanically attached to the mechanical connector at the distal sealed pole ends so that the Dual Pole Assembly can be attached to the conventional boom. 
   
   
       13 . The Dual Pole Assembly of  claim 8 , wherein the other device that is attached to the mechanical connector at the proximal sealed pole ends is any combination of the current vane, the wind vane and the strobe light on one pole.