Tank of a municipal vehicle comprising means for suction and discharge of the air blown by a turbine

Abstract

The invention relates to a tank for a municipal vehicle consisting of a chassis (1) that accommodates a cabin (2), a collection tank (3) and a suction conduit (4), said tank comprising means for suction and discharge of the air blown by a centrifugal turbine (7) actuated by a motor (11), said turbine (7) being arranged in the tank (3) at an incline relative to the horizontal by an angle of between 0 and 45°, in order to orient the blown air towards the top or towards the bottom of the tank, inside a protective shell (8) that only allows air to circulate via the upper end (8e) and the lower end (8s) thereof, the air entering via the upper end (8e) comprising two differentiated inlets (8ed, 8eg) and being pushed back by the lower end (8s). The means for discharge of the air blown by the turbine (7) comprise at least one alternately open or closed valve (6), for controlling the discharge of the suctioned air either towards the top or towards the bottom.

Description

ROAD VEHICLE TANK COMPRISING MEANS FOR SUCTION AND EVACUATION OF AIR BLOWED BY A TURBINE

[0001] The present invention relates to a tank comprising means for suction and evacuation of air blown by a turbine, intended for use on road vehicles, such as for example urban sweepers or dust removal vehicles.

[0002] Vehicles of this type are essentially composed of an articulated or non-articulated chassis, comprising at least two axles and to which cleaning means such as brushes or brooms, suction means, a receptacle for receiving the vacuumed residues, possibly a water tank of sufficient capacity and a control station can be connected.

[0003] The chassis is actually made up of two half-chassis, the front part receiving the suction means and the rear part receiving the tank and motorization elements, and as well as, where appropriate, means allowing other tools to be attached behind the chassis.

[0004] The suction means comprise a suction duct provided at its lower end with a nozzle directed towards the ground and the upper end of which cooperates with the vehicle's suction turbine. In a known manner, when it is a question of sucking up waste or dust present on the ground or on the area to be treated by the vehicle, a vacuum is created inside the receptacle. The waste or dust is generally moistened just before being sucked up, in order to facilitate its transfer to the bottom of the tank, which also makes it possible to bind it and prevent the dust from being released through the turbine.

[0005] An example of a tank of this type is illustrated in document EP2299000, which describes a tank for receiving waste collected by a road cleaning vehicle, of the type comprising a chassis, a cabin, cleaning means and suction means consisting of a turbine and a suction duct associated with means for filtering and separating particles, arranged inside the tank.

[0006] In vehicles of known type, the circulation of the air which is sucked in by the turbine and then evacuated from this turbine, is not optimal. Firstly, the dust-laden air, which must necessarily be evacuated to the outside, cannot be reused in the suction circuit after filtration, for example to cool the turbine motor. However, in the event of prolonged use of the vehicle, the efficiency decreases with its duration of use, and it becomes necessary to provide means of cooling this motor, which complicates the design of the vehicle and increases the cost of production.

[0007] Secondly, in all known vehicles, the air is discharged either upwards or downwards based on an air circuit which was predefined at the design stage of the vehicle, and which cannot be modified, which can pose difficulties depending on the configuration of the premises, or even require temporarily interrupting the evacuation of the air if it is not possible to blow it in certain places.

[0008] Document DE102016102299, which constitutes the closest prior art as known to the applicant, discloses a tank for a road vehicle of the type composed of a chassis, receiving a cabin, a collection tank, a suction duct, comprising means for suction and evacuation of the dirty air blown by a circular turbine driven by a motor inside a protective shell, with an inclination relative to the horizontal at an angle of between 0 and 45° to direct the blown air upwards or downwards of the tank, the shell only allowing the circulation of air through its upper and lower ends, the air entering through the upper end being discharged through the lower end.

[0009] The present invention proposes to remedy the drawbacks mentioned above by producing a tank for an urban road vehicle comprising air suction and evacuation means which do not compromise the capacity or efficiency of the turbine, and whose internal airflow can be modified.

[0010] For this purpose, the tank according to the invention is associated with a turbine which is arranged in a protective shell with improved geometry housed inside the tank, which is closed on the top by a two-part cover, the evacuation of the sucked air being able to be done by means of valves, either upwards or downwards, and the blown air being able, if necessary, to generate a vortex effect to cool the engine.

[0011] The invention will be better understood with reference to the appended figures in which:

[0012] is a schematic view of a road vehicle with its component parts.

[0013] shows a waste collection tank according to the present invention.

[0014] is a top view of the tank.

[0015] is a side sectional view of the tank showing the air circulation in the tank with an upward discharge,

[0016] is a view identical to that shown in the, but with downward evacuation.

[0017] is a top view of the turbine, showing the circulation of the blown air subject to a vortex effect.

[0018] The represents a conventional type road vehicle on which a tank according to the present invention is mounted.

[0019] As is known, the vehicle is composed of a chassis (1) which is here articulated in two parts, a front part (1a) and a rear part (1b). By front and rear parts of the chassis, we refer to the direction of movement of the vehicle when it is in normal operating mode. It should be noted, however, that the tank according to the invention could perfectly well be arranged on a non-articulated chassis with some adaptations.

[0020] The front part (1a) of the chassis (1) receives a cabin (2) from which the operator can drive and steer the vehicle and control various accessories in order to perform the cleaning function of a specific area.

[0021] In front of the cabin (2) in the lower part of the chassis (1) and close to the ground, there are cleaning means which are neither detailed nor shown here and which are mounted on a structure which allows them to be moved. These may be, for example, rotating brushes.

[0022] The rear part (1b) of the chassis receives a tank (3) as well as the means for suctioning waste or dust collected from the ground, said suction means cooperating with the tank (3) via a suction conduit (4).

[0023] This is an isolated view of the tank according to the present invention. The tank (3) is composed of a trapezoidal volume which is closed at the top by a cover (5). The tank (3) is separated into two parts, respectively front (3a) and rear (3b) and comprises an air inlet (10) and two air outlet orifices (12).

[0024] The front part of the tank means the part of the tank inside which the turbine and the suction means will be housed, and which is located opposite the cab of the road cleaning vehicle. The rear part of the tank means the part located opposite, and in which the suctioned residues will be collected.

[0025] It will be noted that if in the embodiment illustrated by the figures, the tank (3) has a trapezoidal shape, this does not constitute a determining characteristic of the invention.

[0026] The cover (5) consists of two parts (5a, 5b), covering the front part (3a), respectively the rear part (3b), of the tank (3).

[0027] As can be seen in the, the front part (5a) of the cover (5) is fixed.

[0028] The rear part (5b) of the cover is hinged around a hinge (5c) to tilt upwards around an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the tank, and allow access to a receptacle for collecting the waste and dust collected.

[0029] The rear part (3b) of the tank (3) constitutes the receptacle which is intended to receive the waste or dust collected during cleaning operations.

[0030] The front part (3a) of the tank has on its front wall, towards the bottom, an orifice for the passage of the suction duct (4) whose lower end, that is to say the one opening onto the outside, can be connected to a suction nozzle (not shown).

[0031] It shows schematically the top of the tank (3) and the various elements which allow the waste or dust collected to be brought in to the rear part (3b) of the tank serving as a receptacle for the collected waste and dust.

[0032] A circular centrifugal turbine (7) inclined at an angle of between 0 and 45° to the horizontal, is housed inside the tank (3), in its front part (3a), in a protective shell (8) which isolates it from the outside and from the rest of the tank with which it communicates only by its ends (8e, 8s) to allow the circulation of air. More particularly, the air entering through the upper end (8e) comprising two inlets (8ed, 8eg) is discharged through the lower end (8s), as can be seen in Figures 3 and 4.

[0033] By "upper" and "lower" we refer to the position in the horizontal plane of the tank and the protective shell it houses.

[0034] The turbine (7) is driven by a motor (11) visible in figures 4 and 5.

[0035] The protective shell (8) allows the turbine suction threshold to be raised and therefore improves suction performance.

[0036] To do this, its geometry has been improved to increase its efficiency.

[0037] The two end inlets (8e) of the shell (8), one on the right (8ed) and the other on the left (8eg), are differentiated to generate inside the shell (8) a rotation of the air taken at the inlet.

[0038] This differentiation occurs through different shapes, different dimensions, or different aerodynamics.

[0039] By "right" and "left" we refer to the sides of the vehicle when it is moving forward.

[0040] The direction of rotation of the air thus generated will depend on the direction of rotation of the turbine (7), the surface area of ​​the inlet corresponding to the direction of rotation of the turbine being larger than that of the other inlet.

[0041] Of course, if the direction of rotation of the turbine is reversed, the dimension ratio between the inlets (8ed, 8eg) will also be reversed.

[0042] This improved geometry significantly increases the turbine's efficiency.

[0043] To suck up the waste, a vacuum is created inside the front part (3a) of the tank (3), which will allow it to be collected and introduced inside the tank.

[0044] The dust is sucked in at the lower end of the duct (4) to be transported to its opposite upper end, which opens into the rear part (3b) of the tank serving as a collection receptacle.

[0045] An important characteristic of the invention is the presence of at least one valve (6) making it possible to direct the circulation of the air discharged from the shell (8) after having been sucked into it, said valve being arranged below the air outlet (8s) in a discharge casing (13) outside the tank (3).

[0046] In the example shown in Figures 4 and 5, two valves (6, 6') are provided, one being open when the other is closed, to allow the evacuation of air to be controlled either upwards through the evacuation orifices (12), or downwards.

[0047] The second valve (6') is positioned above the air outlet (8s).

[0048] The side section shows the circulation of air inside the tank (3), the valve (6') being open and the valve (6) closed, to allow the evacuation of the air sucked upwards.

[0049] This time, Lamontre shows the evacuation of the air sucked downwards through the valve (6), the valve (6') being closed to prevent the passage of the air sucked towards the top of the tank (3) and the evacuation orifices (12).

[0050] The air drawn in in front of the tank (3) can be blown downwards or upwards by operating a lever (not shown) which will control the opening, or closing, of the valves (6) and (6') respectively depending on the desired evacuation direction.

[0051] According to an advantageous variant, only one valve (6) may be provided. When the valve (6) is open, the air discharged from the shell at its outlet (8s) which is located above said valve can pass and be evacuated towards the ground. Conversely, when the valve (6) is closed, the air discharged at the outlet (8s) will necessarily be pushed upwards by bouncing off the closed valve.

[0052] The choice of evacuating the sucked and filtered air upwards or downwards can be dictated either by the nature of the waste collected or by the configuration of the premises.

[0053] Thus, if the vehicle is traveling in a residential area or one with tree branches or street furniture in the area above the one to be treated, it may be appropriate to use the downward evacuation option, to avoid any damage, which could be linked, for example, in autumn to the fall of dry leaves caused by the blowing and which will then have to be collected, or to avoid projecting residual dust contained in the evacuated air towards residential areas.

[0054] Conversely, a downward discharge depending on the nature of the ground to be treated, could increase the noise reverberation and the quantity of dust raised.

[0055] The tank according to the invention therefore makes it possible to adapt the blowing of the sucked air according to environmental constraints.

[0056] When such features are not present, it may be appropriate to choose the option of an upward discharge, the air thus discharged after filtration being able to fulfill a cooling function for the turbine motor, as described below.

[0057] To enable the separation of the collected dust from the air introduced into the turbine, it is necessary to reduce the speed of the sucked air by generating a mechanical gyroscopic effect and to weigh down the waste or dust with a water mist which is sprayed onto the collected waste.

[0058] The air is sucked in through a nozzle (not shown) arranged at the end of the free part of the conduit (4), called the lower part, which opens into the open air from the lower part of the tank (3).

[0059] Due to the suction generated by means of the turbine (7), the air thus taken is conveyed to the other end of the conduit (4), called the upper end, which opens upwards inside the rear part of the tank (3b) serving as a receptacle.

[0060] At this level, means are implemented to generate a water mist, these means not being shown here because they are known. The wet dust forms a rotating mist which accentuates the weighting effect and causes it to fall downwards, that is to say onto the bottom of the part of the tank (3) serving as a receptacle for the waste collected.

[0061] After separating the dust and the sucked air, there are still particles which must be filtered before being released outside.

[0062] To do this, the air suspended after dust removal is filtered through filtration grids (9) which have been folded accordion-style to increase their useful surface area, thus making it possible to reduce the diameter of the outlet orifice.

[0063] The grids (9) communicate with the interior of the shell (8), as seen in figures 4 and 5.

[0064] The air thus filtered is then blown inside the shell (8) and the operator will then choose to evacuate it towards the top or the bottom of the tank.

[0065] As detailed above, if the air is directed upwards (), it will be exhausted through the exhaust vents (12) and if the air is directed downwards (), it will be exhausted to the outside under the vehicle chassis.

[0066] An essential feature of the invention is the possibility of using the sucked dirty air to cool the motor (11) of the turbine (7).

[0067] The configuration and arrangement of the circular centrifugal turbine (7) allows, by creating an air intake, to generate a vortex effect at its outlet, to cause the reintroduction of air through the air inlet orifice (10) to cool the motor (11) of the turbine (7).

[0068] The vortex effect corresponds to a whirlwind that is generated in the air flow that is sucked into the tank, with a constant angular speed.

[0069] Illustrates the circulation of air subjected to this vortex effect.

[0070] The dirty air which is blown on either side of the turbine (7) along its circular periphery is directed to be discharged through two orifices (14) provided on either side in its rear part, and arranged in such a way that a vortex effect is generated to cause the suction of clean air through the grille (9), which can then be used to cool the motor (11) of the turbine (7).

[0071] List of digital markers

[0072] 1. Chassis

[0073] 1a. Front part

[0074] 1b. Rear part

[0075] 2. Cabin

[0076] 3. Tank

[0077] 3a Front part of the tank

[0078] 3b Rear part of the tank

[0079] 4. Suction duct

[0080] 5. Cover

[0081] 5a. Front part of the cover

[0082] 5b. Rear part of the cover

[0083] 5c. Lid hinge

[0084] 6. Lower flap

[0085] 6'. Upper flap

[0086] 7. Turbine

[0087] 8. Protective shell

[0088] 8th. Shell air inlet

[0089] 8th ed. Right air inlet

[0090] 8eg. Left air inlet

[0091] 8s. Air outlet from the shell

[0092] 9. Filtration grids

[0093] 10. Tank air inlet

[0094] 11. Engine

[0095] 12. Air evacuation from the tank

[0096] 13. Discharge housing

[0097] 14. Discharge port

Claims

A tank for a street cleaning vehicle of the type comprising a chassis (1) receiving a cab (2), a collection tank (3), a suction duct (4), means for suctioning and expelling the dirty air blown by a circular turbine (7) driven by a motor (11), the turbine (7) being disposed in the tank (3) inside a protective shell (8), inclined with respect to the horizontal at an angle between 0 and 45° and at least one valve (6) for directing the blown air upwards or downwards in the tank, the shell (8) allowing air circulation only through its upper (8e) and lower (8s) ends, the air entering through the upper end (8e) which has two inlets (8ed, 8eg) being expelled through the lower end (8s), characterized in that the two inlets (8ed, 8eg) at the end (8e) of the shell (8) are differentiated to generate, inside said shell, a rotation of the air taken in at the inlet,depending on the direction of rotation of the turbine (7), the surface area of ​​the inlet corresponding to the direction of rotation of the turbine is larger than that of the other inlet. Tank according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for suction and evacuation of the dirty air blown on either side of the turbine (7) along its circular circumference comprise two orifices (14) provided on either side in the rear part of said turbine, arranged to cause the reintroduction of air through the orifice (10) to cool the motor (11) of said turbine. Tank according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the means for evacuating the air blown by the turbine (7) comprise at least one valve (6) disposed below the air outlet (8s) in a discharge casing (13) outside the tank (3). Tank according to claim 3, characterized in that the means for evacuating the air blown by the turbine (7) comprise a second valve (6') positioned above the air outlet (8s), the valve (6') being closed when the valve (6) is open and vice versa. Tank according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the interior of the shell (8) communicates with the rear part of the tank (3) by means of filter grids (9). Tank according to claim 5, characterized in that the filter grids (9) are folded accordion-style.

Images