Flexible self-sealing wall member
First Claim
1. A flexible self-sealing non-metallic wall member for forming a liquid non-metallic container, characterized by:
- (a) said wall member having an inner surface directly contacting liquid filling the container, and an outer surface directly forming the outer surface of the container and being free of any contact with metallic sheet material, and(b) said wall member comprising at least two solid non-porous sheets of elastomer in surface contact with one another, means joining said elastomer sheets together exclusively and only at a plurality of spaced positions, and a plurality of regions remaining between said spaced positions whereat said elastomer sheets are free to move laterally across each other.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A flexible self-sealing wall member for fuel tanks has a plurality of thin layers of natural or synthetic rubber which are held together at spaced points by lines of drop thread stitching or by spots of adhesive so that the sheets are free to move across each other between the points of connection. The wall may also include a reinforcing fabric web, an outside barrier layer, and an inside barrier layer, both impermeable to fuel held in the tank of which the wall member forms a part. The wall member is self-sealing when penetrated by a projectile because the rubber layers undergo large dynamic elongations and rapidly recover to close up the holes formed, these holes generally being out of alignment.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A flexible self-sealing non-metallic wall member for forming a liquid non-metallic container, characterized by:
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(a) said wall member having an inner surface directly contacting liquid filling the container, and an outer surface directly forming the outer surface of the container and being free of any contact with metallic sheet material, and (b) said wall member comprising at least two solid non-porous sheets of elastomer in surface contact with one another, means joining said elastomer sheets together exclusively and only at a plurality of spaced positions, and a plurality of regions remaining between said spaced positions whereat said elastomer sheets are free to move laterally across each other. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15)
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14. In a flexible self-sealing wall member for a liquid container whose flexible walls are in direct contact with the liquid and are freely supported by external non-metallic supports, the combination of a multiplicity of solid non-porous sheets of elastomeric material, said sheets being joined face to face at an array of spaced points only and being free to move laterally one across the other in all other regions.
Specification