U.S. patent number 3,726,481 [Application Number 05/104,276] was granted by the patent office on 1973-04-10 for high pressure jet cleaning device.
This patent grant is currently assigned to C. H. Heist Corporation. Invention is credited to Willard F. Foster, Robert W. Wild.
United States Patent |
3,726,481 |
Foster , et al. |
April 10, 1973 |
HIGH PRESSURE JET CLEANING DEVICE
Abstract
A machine for cleaning a surface by means of high pressure jets
of liquid comprising a frame for mounting on a vehicle, a manifold
on the frame, a plurality of lances in communication with said
manifold, a plurality of nozzles in said lances for supplying
fan-shaped jets of liquid for impingement on said surface to be
cleaned, said nozzles being oriented to cause the jets to be
inclined at an acute angle to the direction of motion of said
vehicle and being proximate each other so as to clean a swath on
said surface as said vehicle traverses said surface, and adjustment
means for adjusting the inclination of the lances relative to the
vertical and for adjusting the orientation of said nozzles relative
to the direction of travel of said vehicle, and a plurality of pump
units for supplying high pressure liquid to the manifold. The
foregoing machine is used in a system which includes a source of
water and a plurality of motor-pump units placed in parallel across
the machine and the source for producing a sufficient quantity of
water at a sufficiently high pressure for supplying the above
described machine.
Inventors: |
Foster; Willard F. (Alden,
NY), Wild; Robert W. (South Wales, NY) |
Assignee: |
C. H. Heist Corporation
(Buffalo, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
22299578 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/104,276 |
Filed: |
January 6, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
239/754;
239/175 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E01H
1/101 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
E01H
1/00 (20060101); E01H 1/10 (20060101); B05b
009/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;239/172,176,287,286,175,150 ;134/172,198 ;51/8,11,12 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Wood, Jr.; M. Henson
Assistant Examiner: Love; John J.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A machine for removing deposits such as rubber tire marks from a
surface such as a runway by means of high pressure jets of liquid
comprising a frame, means for mounting said frame on a vehicle, a
plurality of nozzles on said frame for providing a plurality of
fan-shaped jets of liquid having knife-like cutting edges, means
for conducting liquid to said nozzles with said liquid being at a
pressure sufficient to cause said jets to remove said deposits from
said surface, means mounting said nozzles across said frame to
provide a continuous swath extending transversely to the direction
of movement of said vehicle, said nozzles having a first
orientation which causes said fan-shaped jets to be inclined to the
vertical, and said nozzles having a second orientation which causes
each fan-shaped jet to be so inclined relative to an adjacent
fan-shaped jet so as to cause them to overlap in a direction
transversely of the direction of movement of said vehicle to
provide said continuous swath without intermingling with each other
prior to striking said surface whereby each jet will not lessen the
force with which an adjacent jet strikes the surface to be
cleaned.
2. A machine for cleaning a surface by means of high pressure jets
of liquid as set forth in claim 1 wherein said nozzles are also
oriented in first and second rows extending transversely of the
direction of movement of said frame.
3. A machine for cleaning a surface by means of high pressure jets
of liquid as set forth in claim 2 wherein said nozzles of said
second row are staggered with respect to the nozzles of said first
row whereby certain of the jets produced by the nozzles in said
second row fall between the jets produced by certain of said
nozzles in said first row.
4. A machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first orientation
is approximately 20.degree. to the vertical.
5. A machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said nozzles are
aligned substantially in a row and wherein said second orientation
is approximately at 20.degree. to the axis of said row.
6. A machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pressure is
approximately at least 4,000 pounds per square inch.
7. A machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said liquid is
supplied at a volume of approximately 120 gallons per minute.
8. A machine as set forth in claim 7 wherein said pressure is
approximately at least 4,000 pounds per square inch.
9. A machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for
conducting liquid to said nozzles includes first conduit means in
communication with a source of liquid, second conduit means in
communication with said nozzles, and a swivel joint between said
first and second conduit means to permit said frame to be rotated
without accompanying rotation of said first conduit means.
10. A machine for cleaning a surface by means of high pressure jets
of liquid as set forth in claim 1 including dump valve means in
communication with said nozzles for selectively routing liquid away
therefrom so as to terminate flow from said nozzles without
terminating flow of said liquid.
Description
The present invention relates to an improved device and system for
cleaning large areas, such as runways, by means of high pressure
jets of water.
In the past the cleaning of rubber tire marks from airport runways
has been very difficult and costly. The tire marks on the runways
had to be removed from time to time because of the hazard which
they posed. First of all, they obscured the markings on the runways
and secondly, they caused the runways to be hazardously slick
during rainy weather. In the past the runways were sometimes
cleaned by the application of chemical solutions, which was time
consuming and costly as well as in some instances detrimental to
the foliage on the sides of the runway. Abrasive devices were also
used, such as rotating brushes or the like but these where highly
ineffective. In fact, there was no known way of removing the tire
markings on runways in an efficient and reasonably inexpensive
manner.
It is accordingly the primary object of the present invention to
provide a high pressure water jet type of cleaning apparatus which
can clean rubber tire marks from runways in a highly efficient and
economical manner.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved
system for supplying high pressure liquid to a runway cleaning
machine in sufficient quantities and at sufficiently high pressures
so as to perform effective cleaning.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved
cleaning machine for cleaning airport runways by means of high
pressure jets of liquid in which the jets are so oriented relative
to each other and relative to the runway so that they produce a
highly efficient cleaning without in any way interfering with each
other. Other objects and attendant advantages of the present
invention will readily be perceived hereafter.
The improved runway cleaning machine of the present invention
includes a frame mounted on the front of the vehicle, a manifold on
the frame, a plurality of adjacent nozzles in communication with
the manifold with each of the nozzles being of a configuration for
supplying a fan-shaped jet of high pressure liquid, said jets being
oriented relative to each other to cause the jets to overlap each
other transversely of the direction of movement of said frame
without interfering with each other, and means for supplying water
to said nozzles in a sufficient quantity and at a sufficiently high
pressure to effect cleaning of the surface.
The improved system of the present invention comprises a first
conduit in communication with a source of liquid, such as a
hydrant, a plurality of second conduits in communication with said
first conduit, a plurality of motor-pump units severally in
communication with said second conduits, a plurality of third
conduits severally in communication with said plurality of
motor-pump units, and a vehicle mounted high pressure water jet
producing unit in communication with said third conduits.
The present invention will be more fully understood when the
following portions of the specification are read in conjunction
with the accompanying drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the improved system of the present
invention which is utilized for cleaning a runway or the like by
means of high pressure liquid jets;
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the improved apparatus of the
present invention mounted on the front of a suitable tractor;
FIG. 3 is a view taken substantially along line 3--3 of FIG. 2 and
showing the improved apparatus in front elevation;
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially
along line 4--4 of FIG. 3 and showing the manner in which the
lances are secured to the remainder of the frame;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken along line 5--5
of FIG. 3 and showing the same subject matter as FIG. 4 but from a
different view;
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially
along line 6--6 of FIG. 3 and showing the relationship between the
manifold and the conduits leading therefrom;
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially
along line 7--7 of FIG. 3 and showing the manner in which the front
row of lances are secured to the frame, with certain portions of
the apparatus being omitted in the interest of clarity;
FIG. 8 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially
along line 8--8 of FIG. 3 and showing the manner in which the rear
row of lances are secured to the frame, with certain portions of
the apparatus being omitted in the interest of clarity;
FIG. 9 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially
along line 9--9 of FIG. 3 and showing the manner in which the
alignment member is secured to the remainder of the frame and also
showing the orientation of the first and second rows of lances
relative to the frame;
FIG. 10 is a view taken substantially along line 10--10 of FIG. 3
and showing the manner in which the lower ends of the lances are
secured to each other;
FIG. 11 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially
along line 11--11 of FIG. 3 and showing details of the frame and
the manner in which the lances are mounted thereon;
FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view showing the shape of the
nozzles which are used to provide a fan-shaped jet;
FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing in plan the orientation between
the first and second rows of nozzles and showing how the jets
produced thereby are oriented at an acute angle relative to the
direction of movement of the vehicle;
FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing the fan-shaped jet produced by
each of the nozzles;
FIG. 15 is a view taken substantially in the direction of arrows
15--15 of FIG. 14 for the purpose of showing that the fan jet
possesses very little thickness in a lateral direction;
FIG. 16 is a schematic view of a system which includes an alternate
type of high pressure jet producing apparatus;
FIG. 17 is a side elevational view of a motor driven cart which
supplies a mixture of sand and water in the form of water jets for
cleaning an airport runway and also includes a swivel connection
for mounting the high pressure hoses on the apparatus;
FIG. 18 is a front elevational view of the vehicle shown in FIG. 17
taken in the direction of arrows 18--18 of FIG. 17; and
FIG. 19 is a fragmentary side elevational view of an alternate form
of sand-drum which may be mounted on the vehicle.
The improved high pressure jet cleaning system 10 of the present
invention is especially adapted for the cleaning of rubber tire
marks from airport runways. More specifically, the system utilizes
a vehicle 11 in the nature of a tractor which is driven by an
operator and carries at its forward end a high pressure water jet
producing unit 12 which directs high pressure water jets against
the runway in a pattern which removes the rubber markings thereon
in swaths as the vehicle traverses the runway. The high pressure
water is supplied to unit 12 by means of a plurality of flexible
conduits 13, 14 and 15 which are in communication with
motor-pumping units 13', 14' and 15', which in this instance are
automotive trucks which carry motor-pump units for increasing the
pressure of water which is supplied thereto through conduits 16, 17
and 18, respectively, which in turn receive their water supply from
conduit 19, which may be an irrigation pipe or the like which is
suitably coupled to a hydrant 20 or any other suitable water source
such as a stream or the like. By the use of the foregoing system
extremely large quantities of water are supplied at extremely high
pressure to the vehicle mounted high pressure jet producing unit
12. By the use of the foregoing system a plurality of relatively
small mobile pumping units such as 13', 14' and 15' may be utilized
to supply the high pressure water, as it would be highly
impractical to use a single large unit for the quantities and
pressures required.
The high pressure jet producing unit 12 includes a frame 21
consisting essentially of a pair of vertical box-like sections or
brace members 22 and 23 which are secured in spaced relationship to
each other by suitable cross members. In this respect, as can be
seen from FIGS. 3, 6 and 11, manifold conduit 24 is a first cross
member which is secured to members 22 and 23 by U-bolts 25 and 26,
respectively, and manifold conduit 27 is a second cross member
which is secured to members 22 and 23 by U-bolts 28 and 29,
respectively. Furthermore, as can be seen from FIGS. 3 and 7, a
cross bar 30 has its ends secured to sleeves 31 and 32 by means of
set screws 33, sleeves 31 and 32 being welded to channel members 34
and 35, respectively, which are secured to members 22 and 23,
respectively, by means of bolts 36 which extend through the sides
of channels 34 and 35 and through brace members 22 and 23 (FIG. 7).
A lower cross brace 37 (FIG. 8) has its ends received in sleeves 38
and 39 and is secured thereto by means of set screws 39'. Sleeves
38 and 39 in turn are rigidly affixed, as by welding, to
channel-shaped members 40 and 41, respectively, which fit around
brace members 22 and 23, respectively, and are secured thereto by
means of bolts 42. It can thus be seen that the cross members 24,
27, 30 and 37 provide a rigid framework in conjunction with frame
members 22 and 23.
A plurality of water conducting lances are secured to the cross
members 30 and 37. In this respect, as can best be seen from FIGS.
3, 11 and 7, a plurality of lances 43 are secured to cross brace 30
by means of U-bolts 44 which extend around brace 30 and mount
blocks 45 and 46 which bracket each of the lances 43 in the manner
depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5. As can be seen, lances 43 are located in
alignment in a front row transversely across the vehicle.
A second row of lances is also provided, each of the lances being
designated by numeral 47 and these lances are located in a row
which lies rearwardly of the front row. Each of these lances is
rigidly secured to cross bar 37 by means of U-bolts 44' which are
identical to U-bolts 44 described above and shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.
Furthermore, U-bolts 44' are used in conjunction with blocks 45'
and 46' which are identical to blocks 45 and 46 described above and
shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. As can be seen from FIGS. 3, 9 and 13,
lances 47 are staggered relative to lances 43 so that the jets
supplied by those in the second row will effectively fall between
the jets supplied by those in the front row to thus produce a
complete swath, as will become more apparent hereafter.
The lower ends of lances 43 are held between plates 48 and 49 which
are secured to each other by bolts 50. The lower ends of lances 47
are secured to each other by plates 48' and 49' which are secured
to each other by bolts 50' (FIG. 11), elements 48', 49' and 50'
being identical to elements 48, 49 and 50, respectively.
The upper ends of lances 43 are in communication with flexible
conduits 51 and the upper ends of lances 47 are in communication
with flexible conduits 52, all of said conduits being coupled to
manifold 24 through suitable coupling members attached to nipples
53 which are in communication with conduit 24.
Suitably mounted on the lower ends of each of the lances is a
nozzle 54 (FIG. 12) which produces a fan-shaped jet 55 (FIGS. 14
and 15) which is extremely broad transverse of the direction of
movement of the vehicle and which is relatively thin from a side
view. This jet provides almost a knife-like cutting edge which is
capable of cutting the accumulated rubber from the surface of the
runway. Essentially each nozzle 54 consists of a body having a bore
54' therein which is intersected by groove 55' at its outer end,
the nozzle also having a threaded end 56' which is screwed into the
end of the lances. Nozzle 59 is a commercially obtainable type
produced by the Spraying Systems Corporation of Bellwood, Illinois,
and is shown on page 30 in their Catalog No. 25-A, published in
1966. These nozzles are of the general type shown in U.S. Pat. Nos.
2,621,078, 2,683,627 and 2,701,412. As can best be seen from the
schematic diagram of FIG. 13, the nozzles in the front row 58 are
oriented relative to each other so that the jets 55 are oriented at
a 20.degree. angle to the row in which they are located.
Furthermore, it can be seen that the nozzles 54 in the second row
59 are also oriented in the same manner. The reason for orienting
the nozzles of each row at an acute angle to the line in which they
are located is so that the sides of the adjacent jets in each row
will not oppose each other to nullify their effect. In this
respect, by orienting the nozzles in the manner shown so that the
jets 55 essentially lie at an angle of about 20.degree. to the line
in which they are located, the edge 56, for example, of one jet
will not interfere with the edge 57 of an adjacent jet because the
latter falls forward of the former. The adjacent jets 55 of each
row are preferably placed sufficiently close to each other so that
when they are viewed from the front of the vehicle, the edges of
the jets will be seen to overlap each other. However, in this
particular embodiment this is not totally necessary inasmuch as the
front jets 55 in the front row 58 are staggered with respect to the
jets in the rear row 59 so that the space between any two adjacent
jets 55 in front row 58 is overlapped by a jet 55 in the rear row.
By virtue of the foregoing orientation a relatively wide swath can
be produced on the runway as the vehicle traverses it and there
will not be any lines between the adjacent jets because of the
overlapping relationship noted above between the jets produced by
the nozzles in the front and rear rows. The reason that the jets in
the rear row are staggered relative to the jets in the front row is
because each jet is less powerful at its outer edges, so that the
rear jet between the two front jet supplements the diminished
cutting action at the outer edges of the front jets.
As also can be seen from FIG. 11, the lances themselves are
inclined at an angle of approximately 20.degree. to the vertical.
This causes the angle of impingement of the jets 55 to be such that
a reasonably good cutting action is obtained which removes the
foreign matter from the surface of the runway. It will be
appreciated, of course, that with the nozzles which are used the
above described angle of 20.degree. for the orientation of the
nozzles relative to each other and the angle of 20.degree. for the
orientation of the lances relative to the vertical may be departed
from if desired depending on the material which is being cut or the
type of nozzle which is being used. In this respect the angle of
the jet emanating from each nozzle can be adjusted very easily by
loosening the U-bolt 44 which holds the lance in position and by
rotating the lance manually any desired amount and thereafter
retightening the U-bolt. The angle which the lance makes with the
vertical can also be adjusted at the same time when the U-bolt is
loosened. Thus there is only one connector which has to be
manipulated for adjusting the lance both for the angle it makes
with the vertical and for the angle which its jet makes in a
direction transverse to the frame. The foregoing is possible
because of the fact that conduits 51 and 52 are flexible. During
the foregoing adjustments bolts 50 are loosened sufficiently and
then retightened after the adjustment has been made.
As noted above, the high pressure water is supplied to conduits 27
and 24 which comprise the manifold which is in communication with
the lances. More specifically, conduits 14 and 15 are in
communication with conduit 24 through a suitably Y connection and
conduit 13 is in communication with conduit 27. At their other ends
conduits 24 and 27 are in communication with each other through tee
60 (FIG. 3), elbow 61 and nipple 62. It can thus be seen that the
water which is supplied by pumping units 13', 14' and 15' is
received by the manifold consisting of conduits 24 and 27. A
pressure gauge 63 is in communication with conduit 24 for
indicating the pressure which is being used.
Another conduit 64 is in communication with the manifold and leads
to a hand operated valve 65 mounted on the vehicle next to the
driver's seat, valve 65 in turn being in communication with dump
hose 66. If for any reason it is desired to terminate high pressure
liquid flow to nozzles 54, it is merely necessary to manipulate
valve 65 and this in turn will cause the water being supplied by
the pumping unit to effectively bypass the lances 43 and 47 and
this water will be dumped at a lower pressure through dump conduit
66.
The vehicle 11 on which the high pressure water jet unit 12 is
mounted, as noted above, is essentially a tractor. Frame 21
includes feet 67 and 68 (FIGS. 9 and 11) which include spaced
upstanding ears 69 and 70, respectively, which are mounted on the
ends 71 and 72 of the spaced tractor arms 73 by means of pins 74.
Ears 75 and 76 are rigidly affixed to and extend rearwardly from
frame members 22 and 23, respectively, (FIGS. 6 and 11). Ear 75 is
secured to arm 77 of the tractor by pin 78 and ear 76 is secured to
an arm 79 of a tractor, which corresponds to arm 77, by means of
pin 80. One link 81 secures ears 69 and 75 to each other as shown
in FIG. 11, and the other link 81' connects ears 70 and 76. Links
81 are secured to pins 78 or 74. As can best be seen from FIG. 2, a
hydraulic motor 82 consisting of a cylinder 83 and a piston 84 is
interposed between vehicle frame member 85 and link 77. It will be
appreciated that piston 84 is locked relative to cylinder 83
because of the triangle formed by links 77, 81 and 73, and the
corresponding triangle (not shown) associated with the other arm 73
effects a similar result with a counterpart (not shown) of cylinder
83 and piston 84.
As can be seen from FIGS. 2, 3 and 11, wheels 87 are pivotally
mounted for swiveling action on threaded shafts 88 which are
adjustably received in the bottom portions of vertical braces 22
and 23. By manipulating the locking screw 89 the shafts 88 may be
loosened and thereafter threaded downwardly or upwardly into nuts
90 which are fixedly secured to the underside of braces 22 and 23.
By adjusting the exposed length of shafts 88, the frame may be
supported relative to the ground. The wheels 87 maintain the
elevation of nozzles 54 a predetermined distance above the surface
on which wheels 87 roll. This is necessary so that the desired
portion of the jet impinges on the surface.
In operation, the tractor 11 is driven lengthwise of the runway 10'
in a forward direction so that the jets produced by the nozzles
will exert a combined cleaning and abrading action on the surface
of the runway. As can be seen, flexible conduits 13, 14 and 15 will
follow along with the vehicle. After the limit of movement has been
obtained in a forward direction, as determined by the length of
conduits 13, 14 and 15, the tractor is reversed and backed up to
return to its original starting point. Thereafter the foregoing
procedure is repeated laterally of the preceding run.
In order for the vehicle operator to gauge his position so as to
cause adjacent swaths to overlap somewhat and thus to provide a
thorough and complete cleaning action, a rod 91 is mounted
transversely of the vehicle in oversized sleeves 92. Rod 91 carries
a pointer 93 at its outer end and this pointer is aligned with a
line on the runway. After a swath has been cut the rod 91 is moved
over and a pin 94 is inserted in rod 91 in a suitable hole. During
the next run the operator maintains the pointer on the same line as
he did on the previous run. This in essence causes the vehicle to
be shifted laterally the amount the rod 91 was shifted. The holes
in rod 91 which receive pin 94 are spaced a distance apart which is
less than the width of the swath, thereby insuring that adjacent
swaths will overlap each other as the rod 91 is moved through
sleeves 92 a distance which is less than the width of the
swath.
By way of example the unit 12 uses 120 gallons of water per minute
at 4,000 pounds per square inch. This is supplied by the three
motor-pump units 13', 14' and 15', each pumping 4 gallons per
minute at 4,000 pounds per square inch, the motors or engines each
producing 100 brake horsepower.
In FIGS. 16-19 an alternate type of high pressure water jet
producing system is shown which includes a vehicle 100 which is
coupled to motor pump units 101 and 102 by means of high pressure
water conduits 103 and 104, respectively. Motor pump units 101 and
102 in turn are coupled to conduits 105 and 106 which are coupled
to irrigation pipe or the like 107 which is in communication with a
suitable source of water, such as a hydrant 108. The system of FIG.
16 may be identical in all respects to that described above in FIG.
1 except for the vehicle 100, and further, it may supply the water
at the above described pressure of 4,000 pounds per square inch at
the rate of 120 gallons per minute, as discussed above.
Vehicle 100 includes a frame 109 which is mounted on a pair of rear
wheels 110 and front wheels 111 which are pivotally mounted on
casters 112. A bracket 113 is secured to the rear wall 114 of frame
109 and mounts a gasoline engine 115 having an output sprocket 116
which is coupled to sprocket 117 on wheel axle 118 by means of
chain 119. It will be appreciated that when sprocket 116 is driven,
the vehicle 100 will move and its movement is guided by means of an
operator who walks behind it and grasps a pair of spaced handles
120.
The vehicle frame 109 includes a pair of spaced channels 121 which
rest on spaced channels 122 which are suitably secured to the bed
frame 123. Vertical frame members 124 are suitably secured to the
ends of channels 121 and mount manifold 125 at their upper ends by
means of U-bolts 126. Manifold 125 receives a supply of high
pressure water, as will be described in greater detail hereafter
and this water is conducted upwardly through nipples 127 to
flexible conduits 128 which are in communication with lances 129
secured to cross bar 130 which in turn is affixed to channels 121
by means of U-bolts 131. More specifically, each of the lances 129
is secured to bar 130 by means of U-bolt and block connections 132
which may be identical to the connections described above in detail
in FIGS. 4 and 5 relative to the other embodiments of the
invention. It can thus be seen that all of the lances 129 are
attached to bar 130 and these may be moved in unison by virtue of
loosening and tightening set screws 133 mounted in sleeves 134
which is tied down to the above-mentioned channels 121 by means of
the U-bolts 131. In other words, bar 130 may be rotated when set
screws 133 are loosened and after the lances have been moved in
unison to the desired position, set screws 133 are retightened.
Mounted on the ends of lances 129 are nozzles 135 which may be
identical to nozzles described above relative to the other
embodiments of the invention and shown in FIG. 12, these nozzles
supplying a fan-shaped jet of high pressure liquid as described
above. In this respect, nozzles 135 are oriented as described
above, namely so that the fan-shaped jets extend at an angle of
about 20.degree. to the direction of travel of the vehicle
(longitudinal axis of the vehicle) so that adjacent portions of
adjacent jets will overlap transversely of the direction of motion
of the vehicle without interfering with each other. This was
described above in detail in FIG. 13. It is to be noted that only
one row of jets are used in the embodiment of FIGS. 18 and 19. One
row also can be used in the embodiment of FIG. 4, provided the
lances are moved sufficiently close to each other. It is also to be
noted from FIG. 17 that the lances 129 are inclined at an angle of
approximately 20.degree. to the vertical, as in the other
embodiments. It will be appreciated that both of the above
discussed angles can be varied as required for optimum cleaning
action, as the surfaces to be cleaned require.
A pair of drums 137 and 137' are spacedly mounted on the vehicle
frame for carrying a sand supply. Drums 137 and 137' are secured to
channels 122 by means of cables 138 having nuts 139 threaded
thereon as shown in FIG. 17. Each of the drums includes a trap door
140 at the top thereof for receiving the sand. As can be seen from
FIG. 18, each of the drums 137 and 137' is in communication with
three lances. In this respect, conduits 141 extend between
distributor 142 on drum 137 and three of the lances 129 and
conduits 141' extend between a distributor (not shown) identical to
distributor 142 mounted on drum 137' and three other of the lances
129. The distributor 142 and its counterpart each include a valve
handle such as 143 which controls the amount of sand passing
through the conduits 141-141'.
A valve 144 is located between the end of each of the conduits 141
and a venturi 145, which is located in each lance proximate nozzle
135. The remainder of the lances have associated with them valves
144' and venturis 145' which are the same as members 144 and 145,
respectively. It will be appreciated that when valves 144 and 144'
are opened a sufficient amount, the flow of the liquid to venturis
145 and 145' will entrain a certain amount of dry sand into the
liquid so that the jets emanating from nozzles 135 have a sandblast
action along with the high pressure jet cutting action.
An alternate type of sand supply is shown in FIG. 19 which includes
a drum 147 which may replace drums 137 and 137'. This drum includes
a bracket 148 mounted thereon which in turn mounts motor 149 which
drives shaft 150 having spaced paddles 151 axially mounted thereon
but oriented at spaced circumferential locations. Drum 147 contains
a mixture of sand and water. Paddles 151 agitate the mixture to
keep the sand in suspension and it is this mixture which is fed to
venturis, such as 145 and 145' through the above described conduits
141 and 141' rather than the dry sand described above. It will be
appreciated that a suitable sand injection arrangement such as
shown in FIGS. 17-19 can be incorporated in the embodiment of FIGS.
1-15.
The vehicle of FIGS. 17 and 18 includes an arrangement which
permits it to be turned at the end of its travel along the runway
without causing entanglement of the hoses 103 and 104 carried
thereby. This is in contrast to the action of the embodiment shown
in the preceding figures wherein the jet cleaning action could be
performed efficiently only when the vehicle traveled in one
direction on the runway but not on the return direction. In this
respect, the vehicle mounts a framework consisting of a rear column
152 and a pair of spaced converging front columns 153. The top of
column 152 is secured to angle 154 and the tops of columns 153 are
secured by angles 155. Secured between angles 154 and 155 is a
pivotal connector 156 having a lower portion including an elbow 157
secured to tee 158 and having conduits 159 extending therefrom,
which in turn are connected to tee 160, which is in communication
with manually controlled valve 16 having a handle 162 thereon. By
suitable manipulation of handle 162 communication may be effected
between conduits 159 and conduits 163 leading to opposite sides of
manifold 125. A pressure gauge 164 in one of the conduits 163 gives
a reading of the pressure thereon. Handle 162 may also be
manipulated to place tee 160 in communication with dump conduit 165
having outlet 166 forwardly of the vehicle whereby a certain amount
of the water may be dumped in the event it is desired to reduce the
pressure in manifold 125, without changing the setting on the
motor-pump units 101 and 102.
The upper portion 167 of swivel unit 156 is connected to a Y 168
which is in communication with conduits 103 and 104. The upper
portion 167 of unit 156 is mounted for pivotal movement about a
vertical axis relative to the lower portion. Because of the
swiveling action of portion 167 it can be seen that vehicle 100 can
be turned around 180.degree. when it reaches the end of the limit
of its travel, as determined by the length of hoses 103 and 104,
without entangling of these hoses relative to the vehicle. Thus
vehicle 100 can clean the runway in both directions of its travel.
If desired a similar swivel arrangement can be mounted on the
embodiment of FIGS. 1-15 to enable it to clean efficiently in both
directions of its travel. The additional advantage of being able to
turn the vehicle around so that it is always moving forwardly is to
make it easier for the vehicle operator, especially in the
embodiment of FIGS. 1-15, as it is more difficult to back the
vehicle than to drive it in a forward direction.
It can thus be seen that the improved cleaning apparatus of the
present invention is manifestly capable of achieving the above
enumerated objects and while preferred embodiments have been
disclosed, it will be appreciated that the present invention may be
otherwise embodied.
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