Gap Seal Member for Load-Supporting Surface Liquid Leakage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Temporary or semi-permanent load-supporting surfaces often experience liquid leakage through gaps between interconnected components, leading to environmental and safety concerns, as well as significant cleanup and disposal challenges, with existing plastic liners being ineffective or difficult to dispose of.
Innovation Solution
A liquid-impermeable elongated seal member, constructed from materials like rubber, is integrated into the load-supporting surface, forming a seal across gaps between mats by engaging with elongated channels and moving with the mats to maintain sealing engagement, eliminating the need for plastic liners.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If plastic liners are placed below and around the support surface to capture liquids, then liquid containment is improved, but disposal difficulty and landfill space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the sealing function from the bottom liner approach and relocates it to the top surface gaps between mats. By placing seal members at the gap locations where liquids actually leak, the system eliminates the need for extensive bottom liners while maintaining containment effectiveness. This extraction of the sealing function to a more practical location resolves the contradiction between containment reliability and disposal ease.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of preventing liquid leakage from below the support surface using liners, the patent inverts the approach by sealing the gaps between mats from the top side. This inversion of the sealing location fundamentally changes the problem-solving approach, allowing liquids to be contained within the mat system rather than attempting to block them from below, thereby eliminating disposal difficulties associated with bulky liners.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If plastic liners are used to prevent liquid leakage, then environmental protection is improved, but operational effectiveness and clean-up capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the sealing function from the bottom liner approach and relocates it to the top surface gaps between mats. By placing seal members at the gap locations where liquids actually leak, the system eliminates the need for extensive bottom liners while maintaining containment effectiveness. This extraction of the sealing function to a more practical location resolves the contradiction between containment reliability and disposal ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal members are designed to be actively connected to the mats through engagement features that allow the seals to move with the mats. This self-adjusting mechanism ensures the seals maintain contact with the mat surfaces and continue to function effectively even as the mats move or deform, providing reliable liquid containment without requiring external intervention or complex active control systems.
3Adaptability or versatility
If gaps are left between interconnected mat components to allow movement, then adaptability to movement is improved, but liquid leakage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces seal members as intermediary elements that fill the gaps between mat components. These seal members act as mediators that allow the mats to move relative to each other while preventing liquid from passing through the gaps. The seal members are constructed with flexible materials and engagement features that enable them to accommodate mat movement while maintaining the liquid barrier function.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal members are designed with dynamic characteristics, including flexible materials and active connection mechanisms that allow them to move with the mats. The engagement features enable the seals to adapt their position and shape in response to mat movement, maintaining effective sealing under varying operational conditions. This dynamic design resolves the contradiction by allowing both movement flexibility and liquid containment.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus for forming a liquid-tight seal across gaps formed between adjacent components of a load-supporting surface useful at an outdoor worksite includes a liquid-impermeable, elongated, seal member configured to be sealing coupled to first and second mats in the load-supporting surface and extend across the gap formed therebetween.