TOOL FOR CLEANING SURFACES

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a tool for cleaning surfaces, in particular ship hulls, with a tool body which has at least one nozzle body which is arranged in a removal space of the tool body and whose nozzles are positioned substantially radially starting from the surface center of the nozzle body, wherein the at least one nozzle body can be driven in rotation via a drive system, and the axis of rotation of the nozzle body is arranged substantially parallel to and spaced from the axis of symmetry of the tool body.

[0002] In particular, the paint condition of ship hulls is usually checked at regular intervals. The defective areas discovered can range from small (spot treatment) to full-surface damage and must subsequently be removed before being recoated. This removal is usually carried out using ultrahigh-pressure waterjet technology, with high-pressure nozzles arranged in a corresponding tool. The individual high-pressure nozzles have only a small effective area, so that in the known devices, these removal nozzles are arranged on a rotating nozzle body, which is essentially star-shaped, in order to achieve increased removal performance. This results in an essentially annular removal of the damaged paint, which means that, especially for larger areas, the removal tool must be moved to achieve complete removal.

[0003] Such a tool can be found, for example, in WO 2013 / 164487 A1.

[0004] It is an object of the invention to provide a tool of the type mentioned at the outset which eliminates the disadvantage of the known prior art and ensures full-surface removal.

[0005] This object is achieved according to the invention in that the at least one nozzle body is movable within the tool body along a plane substantially normal to its axis of rotation.

[0006] In a first embodiment of the invention, the distance between the axis of symmetry of the tool body and the axis of rotation of the nozzle body remains constant during operation, namely during the removal of layers from a surface to be treated. The nozzle body is moved essentially in a circular motion around the axis of symmetry of the tool body, so that, due to the rotation of the nozzle body during operation, a spiral and consequently full-surface removal occurs using high-pressure water jets.

[0007] In the context of this disclosure, "axis of symmetry" is understood to mean the (central) axis of the tool body which, during operation, is essentially aligned normally with the surface to be machined and which passes through the centre of the bearing surface of the tool body on the surface to be machined.

[0008] In this case, it is particularly preferred that the at least one nozzle body is arranged on an eccentric disc. In this embodiment, the rotational axis of the eccentric disc is arranged concentrically with the axis of symmetry of the tool body, while the rotational axis of the nozzle body and the connected drive unit are arranged eccentrically on the eccentric disc.

[0009] In this case, it is particularly preferred that the drive unit itself be mounted rotatably on the eccentric disc, thus preventing the drive unit from rotating with the eccentric disc. To absorb the torque generated by the drive of the nozzle body, the drive unit is connected to the removal tool by means of a torque support. This torque support transmits the reaction torque of the drive unit into the housing of the removal tool without impairing the movement sequence of the drive unit and nozzle body predetermined by the rotation of the eccentric disc. Such a torque support is, for example, a kinematic system with a tension-compression rod.

[0010] The distance between the rotational axis of the nozzle body and the symmetry axis of the tool body remains constant and preferably corresponds at least to the maximum distance between the nozzles.

[0011] In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the distance between the axis of symmetry of the tool body and the axis of rotation of the nozzle body can be changed during operation. In this case, it is provided that the at least one nozzle body is movable within the tool body along a plane substantially perpendicular to its axis of rotation. This, in turn, achieves substantially full-surface removal without the tool body itself having to be moved. The movement takes place along a motion vector that is substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the nozzle body.

[0012] Particularly preferably, the at least one nozzle body is movable by means of at least one linear guide. The linear guide, via a corresponding drive, causes a back-and-forth movement of the simultaneously rotating nozzle body, which in turn achieves full-surface removal. This linear guide is arranged outside the removal chamber of the tool body and is sealed against environmental influences. The seal extends over the entire stroke length to prevent water and waste residues, such as paint residues, from escaping into the environment.

[0013] Furthermore, it is provided that the nozzle body can be driven via a drive system with a hydraulic motor and a gear. This type of drive is particularly suitable for the aforementioned embodiments of the invention.

[0014] It is preferably provided that during operation the minimum distance between the axis of symmetry of the tool body and the axis of rotation of the nozzle body corresponds to the maximum distance between the nozzles of the nozzle body in order to achieve the most complete removal possible.

[0015] The invention is explained in more detail below using non-limiting embodiments with accompanying figures. In these figures: Fig. 1 shows a side view of a first embodiment of the tool according to the invention with a linear guide; Fig. 2 shows the tool from Figure 1 in a sectional view; Fig. 3 the tool from Figure 1 in a top view of the nozzle body; Fig. 4 the view from Figure 3 without nozzle body; Fig. 5 a second embodiment of the tool according to the invention with an eccentric disc in a side view; Fig. 6 the tool from Figure 5 in a sectional view; Fig. 7 the tool from Figure 5in a top view of the nozzle body; and Fig. 8 the view from Figure 7 without nozzle body.

[0016] The tool 100 according to the invention according to a first embodiment - as shown in the Figures 1 to 4 shown - has a tool body 110, in whose removal chamber 111 a star-shaped nozzle body 120 is arranged. Furthermore, a brush element 130 is attached to the tool body 110, via which the tool 100 is in contact with the surface to be machined. To facilitate the movement of the tool 100 over the surface to be machined, the tool is equipped with rollers 300.

[0017] In this embodiment, the nozzle body 120 has three jet arms 121, which are radially provided with nozzles 122 starting from the center point F of the nozzle body 120 ( Fig. 3 ). The axis of rotation D, around which the nozzle body 120 rotates during operation (arrow P1), runs through the center of the surface F.

[0018] When the tool 100 is brought closer to the surface to be machined, the rotational axis D is typically aligned with the symmetry axis L of the tool body 110 in this embodiment of the invention. During operation, a drive part 140, via which the nozzle body 120 is set in rotation, is displaced along a vector (arrow P2) in a plane substantially parallel to the surface to be machined, so that the rotational axis D and the symmetry axis L are parallel to each other.

[0019] To achieve full-surface processing, the minimum distance A ( Fig. 1 ) between the axis of symmetry L and the axis of rotation D during removal, the maximum distance between two adjacent nozzles 122. The plane of movement is essentially parallel to the surface to be machined and is essentially normal to the axis of rotation D of the nozzle body 120 or the axis of symmetry L of the tool body 110.

[0020] In this embodiment of the invention, the displacement of the rotational axis D of the nozzle body 120 is achieved by means of a linear guide 150. The drive unit 140 is displaced via this linear guide 150, with this lateral displacement preferably taking the form of a periodic back-and-forth movement. Thus, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the distance A between the rotational axis D of the nozzle body and the axis of symmetry L changes continuously during operation.

[0021] The drive part 140 is guided through the housing of the tool body 110 and sealed against it to prevent water, paint residues, and other waste material from escaping from the removal chamber 111. The linear guide 150 is also sealed accordingly.

[0022] In a second embodiment of the invention according to the Figures 5 to 8the nozzle body 120 is arranged eccentrically on an eccentric disc 250, the rotational axis E of the eccentric disc 250 being concentric with the symmetry axis L of the tool body 121 ( Fig. 6 ).

[0023] In contrast to the first embodiment with the linear guide, the nozzle body 120, which rotates about the rotational axis D, is moved in operation in a circular motion (arrow P3) in the removal space 111 about the axis of symmetry L of the tool body 110. The distance A between the rotational axis D of the nozzle body 120 and the axis of symmetry L of the tool body 110 remains constant and corresponds at least to the maximum distance between the nozzles 122 of the nozzle body 120.

[0024] For this purpose, a drive unit 140 is provided for the rotation of the nozzle body 120, which itself is rotatably mounted on the eccentric disc 250 to prevent the drive unit 140 from rotating with the eccentric disc 250. In order to absorb the torque generated by the drive of the nozzle body 120 on the drive unit 140, the drive unit 140 is connected to the tool body 110 by means of a torque support 251.

[0025] The rotation of the eccentric disc 250 is effected by a drive element 252.

[0026] It is understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. Essential to the invention is that the rotational axis of the nozzle body is movable around the axis of symmetry of the tool body at a distance from the latter. The tool according to the invention is suitable for use over large areas as well as for processing small, localized areas on large surfaces.

Claims

1. Tool (100) for cleaning surfaces, in particular ship hulls, having a tool body (110) and at least one nozzle body (120) which is arranged in an ablation space (111) of the tool body (110) and the nozzles (122) of which are positioned essentially radially starting from the surface center (F) of the nozzle body (120), wherein the at least one nozzle body (120) is drivable in rotation via a drive system (140), and he axis of rotation (D) of the nozzle body (120) running through the surface center (F) of the nozzle body (120) and being arranged essentially parallel to and at a distance (A) to the axis of symmetry (L) of the tool body (110), characterised in that the at least one nozzle body (120) is movable within the tool body (110) along a plane which is substantially normal to its axis of rotation (D).

2. Tool (100) according to claim 1, characterised in that the distance (A) between the axis of symmetry (L) of the tool body (110) and the axis of rotation (D) of the nozzle body (120) is constant during operation.

3. Tool (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the at least one nozzle body (120) is arranged eccentrically on an eccentric disk (250).

4. Tool (100) according to claim 3, characterised in that the axis of rotation (E) of the eccentric disk (250) is arranged concentrically to the axis of symmetry (L) of the tool body (110).

5. Tool (100) according to claim 1, characterised in that the distance (A) between the axis of symmetry (L) of the tool body (110) and the axis of rotation (D) of the nozzle body (120) can be varied during operation.

6. Tool (100) according to claim 5, characterised in that the at least one nozzle body (120) can be moved by means of at least one linear guide (150).

7. Tool (100) according to claim 6, characterised in that the at least one linear guide (150) is arranged sealed in the ablation space (111).

8. Tool (100) according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the nozzle body (120) can be driven via a drive system (140) with a hydraulic motor and a gear.

9. Tool (100) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that the distance (A) between the axis of symmetry (L) of the tool body (110) and the axis of rotation (D) of the nozzle body (120) during operation corresponds at least to the maximum distance of the nozzles (122) of the nozzle body (120) from one another.