Material for propeller occlusion of marine vessels
View Patent ↗Marine vessel propulsor occlusion systems and devices made of novel fabrics formed from biodegradable and/or dissolvable materials, and methods of manufacturing and using the same are disclosed. The propulsor occlusion devices can slow and/or incapacitate a marine vessel without serious injury to occupants and without destroying the vessel's propulsion system.
1. A propulsor occlusion device for use in slowing a marine vessel in a body of water, the device comprising:
multiple strips of fabric having a basis weight of from about 75 to about 150 g/m2 (GSM) and comprising a plurality of bonded fibers, the fibers comprising:
from about 65% to about 80% by weight polyvinyl alcohol (PVA); and
from about 20% to about 35% by weight polylactic acid (PLA),
wherein the multiple strips of fabric are fastened together at a first end thereof using a biodegradable fastening means and the multiple strips are braided together leaving second ends thereof non-fastened;
wherein when the propulsor occlusion device is submerged into the body of water, the multiple strips of fabric absorb water, expand, separate at the second non-fastened ends and adhere to a propulsor of the marine vessel to reduce the propulsor's thrust generation and thereby slow the marine vessel.
2. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 1 , wherein the fabric is a non-woven fabric.
3. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 2 , wherein the fabric is a spunbond non-woven fabric.
4. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 1 , wherein the fabric comprises a basis weight of about 100 GSM.
5. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 4 , wherein the denier per filament is about 3.
6. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 5 , wherein the fabric comprises a thickness of one or more sheets and each sheet comprises about 504 bound fibers.
7. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 1 , wherein the fibers are bicomponent fibers having a configuration selected from the group consisting of: side-by-side, sheath-core, segmented pie, hollow pie wedge, three island, and island-in-the-sea.
8. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 7 , wherein the fibers comprise a sheath-core configuration with a PVA sheath and a PLA core.
9. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 8 , wherein the fibers comprise about 70% by weight PVA and about 30% by weight PLA.
10. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 1 , wherein the fabric further comprises one or more strength members sewn along a length and a width thereof.
11. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 10 , wherein the fabric further comprises one or more strength members sewn diagonally across the width thereof.
12. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 1 , wherein the fabric comprises one or more apertures throughout a length thereof defining a row of apertures.
13. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 12 , wherein the fabric comprises a plurality of rows of apertures throughout a width thereof.
14. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 1 , wherein strip comprises a thickness of from about 10 to about 20 sheets of fabric bonded together.
15. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 14 , wherein the number of sheets is 15.
16. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 1 , further comprising one or more superabsorbent materials.
17. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 16 , wherein the superabsorbent material is sodium polyacrylate.
18. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 1 , further comprising one or more of: sodium alginate, sodium borate, beeswax, calcium, basalt, citric acid and sodium bicarbonate.
19. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 1 , wherein the multiple strips of fabric comprise a second strip of fabric fastened to first strip of fabric.
20. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 1 , wherein the propulsor occlusion device does not prevent the propulsor from rotating when adhered thereto.
21. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 1 , wherein the propulsor occlusion device maintains a occlusion capable of slowing the vessel for up to about 24 hours after deployment in water.
22. The propulsor occlusion device of claim 1 , wherein the propulsor occlusion device degrades into pieces of less than about 2 inches in length within from about 6 hours to about 48 hours after deployment.