This class provides for subject matter relating to the following when not provided for elsewhere:
The control or treatment of water in open channels, naturally or artificially occurring bodies of water, or of water otherwise lying on the earth's surface.
The control or treatment of earth material is situ, and the
securement or stabilization of structures in the earth.
Storage of fluid in underground cavities and disposal of waste in the earth.
Tunnel construction or pipe or cable laying or retrieving.
Apparatus and methods by which underwater work operations may be performed.
Apparatus and methods for launching a marine vessel into or removing it from a body of water, transportation of a vessel across dry land, or exposing a normally wetted surface, e.g., a vessel's hull, to the atmosphere.
REFERENCES TO OTHER CLASSESSEE OR SEARCH CLASS
14, Bridges,
75, and 77.3 for piers including structure peculiar to bridge construction. Class 405 provides for piers or piles of general application and methods and apparatus for installing or constructing the same in situ.
29, Metal Working, for processes and apparatus for mechanical manufacture, repair or disassembly. As between Class 405 and Class 29, an assembling, disassembling, or repair method or apparatus, when restricted to a marine environment or claimed in combination with an earth treating or handling step or means, is proper for Class 405 unless provided for elsewhere. For example, assembly or tunnel lining panels, per se, will be found in Class 29, and Class 405 provides for an additional excavating step or means or a step or means for applying the panels to the earth. The assembly or disassembly of pipe or cable is provided for in Class 405 when a step or means is recited for handling earth material, or for submerging or handling the pipe or cable beneath the surface of a body of water.
37, Excavating, appropriate subclasses for digging, removing, and handling of excavated material, per se, including hydraulic dredging. Class 405 provides for specialized excavating combined with an additional nonexcavating step or means (e.g., tunneling, pipe, and cable laying, etc.).
52, Static Structures (e.g., Buildings), appropriate subclasses foundations having additional means which render the foundation peculiar to the support of a particular Class 52 structure (e.g., wall, shaft, etc.), and
155, for piercing or expanding earth anchors. Class 405 takes methods of securing earth anchors or bolts in the earth when the character of the surrounding earth is altered Class 405 also provides for a Class 52 structure recited in a marine environment (i.e., secured to a marine bed).
114, Ships, appropriate subclasses for floating or submerged storage vessels, floating harbors, landing areas, boat docks, etc., which are moored or anchored to the earth by a flaccid connecting member, and
312+, for submarine vessels without specific means for performing an underwater work operation, other than equipment necessary to effect docking with another active vessel.
137, Fluid Handling,
236.1, for fluid handling systems including or particularly related to some geos:graphic feature (e.g., hill, river, ocean, etc.); and subclasses 544+ for means for separating material from a fluid mixture in a tank. 138, Pipes and Tubular Conduits,
97+, for a process or apparatus for repairing conduits. This class (405) provides for methods and apparatus for raising a line of pipe or cable from the floor (subclass 173) and apparatus and methods by which personnel may gain access to a submerged pipeline to repair the same.
166, Wells, for processes and apparatus relating to shafts or deep boring in the earth for the extraction of fluids therefrom. Class 405 is generic with respect to Class 166 regarding earth treatment and handling, i.e., Class 166 takes earth treating and handling methods and apparatus peculiar to wells and the formation thereof. Offshore drilling platforms and apparatus for repairing or assembling submerged pipeline to a submerged well are classified in Class 405 unless significant well structure is recited.
175, Boring or Penetrating the Earth, appropriate subclasses for processes and apparatus for forming a bore in the earth for the reception of a structure. See the class definition of Class 175, Lines With Other Classes and Within This Class, for the line between Class 405 and Class 175.
210, Liquid Purification or Separation, appropriate subclasses for means for separating water and foreign matter, particularly
154+, for flume screens. Class 405 provides for apparatus and methods for containing the spread of a floatable material in a canal or body of water, and for structures which effect the setting of suspended matter in a canal or body of water by retarding the flow and allowing the material to settle by gravity.
239, Fluid Sprinkling, Spraying, and Diffusing, appropriate subclasses for terminal elements, per se, which discharge or project a fluid, and see the search note to Class 405 in the Class 239 main definition in References to Other Classes regarding irrigation systems and devices.
249, Static Molds, appropriate subclasses for molds for forming hydraulic and earth control structures in situ and which are not combined with earthworking or treating means, and which do not become a permanent part of the structure.
264, Plastic and Nonmetallic Article Shaping or Treating: Processes, appropriate subclasses for a method of casting a hydraulic or earth-control structure, per se, without an earthworking or treating step.
299, Mining or In Situ Disintegration of Hard Material, appropriate subclasses for a process or apparatus for recovering valuable material from the earth or disintegrating hard material in situ. See References to Other Classes in the class definition of Class 299 for the line.
404, Road Structure, Process, or Apparatus, appropriate subclasses for methods and apparatus for treating or otherwise working with the earth when limited to the making, installing, repairing, or maintaining of a highway, pathway, or walkway structure. 425, Plastic Article or Earthenware Shaping or Treating: Apparatus, appropriate subclasses for apparatus which include a molding surface which shapes a fluent or bulk material, particularly
59, wherein a portion of the earth below the surface is employed as part of the molding surface. Class 405 provides for the combination of molding and earthworking or treating means.
507, Earth Boring, Well Treating, and Oil Field Chemistry,
100+, for earth boring and well treating compositions.
520, Synthetic Resins or Natural Rubbers, appropriate subclasses, particularly Class 523,
132+, for a composition containing a synthetic resin or natural rubber and having utility in situ as a soil conditioner or stabilizer or to processes of preparing said composition.
588, Hazardous or Toxic Waste Destruction or Containment,
249+, for earth burial of hazardous or toxic waste.