Applicator for narrow areas

Abstract

The present invention provides an application tool for narrow sections that enables the application of a coating liquid to opposing surfaces in narrow sections of bridge structures. [Solution] The confined area coating tool (1A, 1B) comprises a pair of coating rollers 2 and a pair of arms 3, each of which is positioned at the tip of the pair of coating rollers 2. The pair of arms 3 are formed from a U-shaped or V-shaped plate member bent at the base end 31 of the arms, and the base end 31 of the arms acts as a hinge with spring elasticity, so that each of the pair of coating rollers 2 positioned at the tip is configured to elastically spread outward.

Description

Technical Field

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[0001] The present invention relates to an applicator for narrow parts for applying a coating liquid to the opposing surfaces of narrow parts, which are narrow gaps in bridge structures.

Background Art

[0002] In road bridges and the like, wall parapets are installed at both side edges of the road to prevent vehicles from falling. Wall parapets are concrete structures, and in order to suppress the progress of deterioration caused by rainwater, anti-freezing agents, etc., a coating liquid is applied to the outer surface to form a protective material.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, in the median strip of the upper and lower roads or the ramp part where two roads merge or branch, the wall parapets of one lane and the other lane are adjacent to each other, and the gap between the adjacent wall parapets is a narrow part with a narrow gap. In existing road bridges, there are many places where the gap between the wall parapets in the narrow part is only about 20 to 100 mm, and the hands of workers cannot reach. Since the outer surface height of the wall parapet is about 1500 mm, it was difficult to apply the coating liquid to the entire opposing surface of the wall parapet even by working from the outside using an existing coating roller. Therefore, at present, in the narrow part of the wall parapet, there is no measure to apply a coating liquid as a protective material to suppress the progress of deterioration.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an applicator for narrow parts that enables the application of a coating liquid to the opposing surfaces of the narrow parts of bridge structures.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The coating tool for narrow areas according to the present invention is A coating tool for narrow sections, used to apply a coating liquid to opposing surfaces in narrow gaps of bridge structures, It comprises a pair of coating rollers and a pair of arms positioned at the tip of each of the pair of coating rollers, The pair of arms are formed from U-shaped or V-shaped plate members that are bent at the base ends of the arms, and the base ends of the arms act as hinges with spring elasticity, so that each of the pair of coating rollers disposed at the tips is configured to elastically spread outwards. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the coating tool for narrow spaces of the present invention, the spring elastic force of a pair of arms causes a pair of coating rollers to expand in accordance with the width of the narrow gap, allowing each coating roller to be in close contact with the opposing surface of the narrow space. As a result, by moving the pair of coating rollers within the narrow space, the coating liquid can be evenly applied to the opposing surfaces of the narrow space simultaneously. Therefore, the application of a protective coating liquid to narrow spaces such as concrete structures like wall parapets can suppress the progression of deterioration of bridge structures. Thus, the repair period for bridge structures such as wall parapets can be extended. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a cross-sectional view of a road bridge with two roads running parallel to each other, perpendicular to the bridge axis. [Figure 2] This is a perspective view showing the applicator for narrow areas according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 3] This is a front view showing the pair of arms of the applicator for narrow areas of Embodiment 1 in a closed state. [Figure 4] This diagram shows the components of the arm and roller support, with (a) being a front view and (b) being a side view. [Figure 5] This is a perspective view showing the applicator for narrow areas according to Embodiment 2. [Figure 6]This is a front view showing the pair of arms of the applicator for narrow areas of Embodiment 2 in a closed state. [Figure 7] These are schematic diagrams showing the application of a protective coating liquid to the opposing surfaces of a narrow gap between wall transoms, using the narrow application tools of Embodiments 1 and 2. Figure (a) is a schematic diagram of an example of use when the narrow area is a relatively wide gap, and Figure (b) is a schematic diagram of an example of use when the narrow area is a very narrow gap. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a road bridge perpendicular to its axis. As shown in Figure 1, where two roads 90 are located side by side, the wall guardrails 91 of the two roads 90 are adjacent to each other, and the gap 92 between adjacent wall guardrails 91 is a narrow section N. For example, in the median strip of the up and down lanes, the gap 92 between adjacent wall guardrails 91 of the up and down lanes is narrow, forming a narrow section N. Also, at ramps where two roads 90 merge or diverge, where the wall guardrails 91 of one road 90 and the other road 90 are close together, the gap 92 between the wall guardrails 91 is narrow, forming a narrow section N. The gap 92 between wall guardrails 91 that forms a narrow section N is approximately 20 to 100 mm, and the outer surface height of the wall guardrails 91 is generally approximately 1500 mm. The wall railing 91 is a concrete structure (bridge structure), and although concrete deterioration progresses, the progression of deterioration can be suppressed by covering the surface with a protective coating.

[0010] This embodiment discloses a coating tool (1A, 1B) for narrow sections, which applies a protective coating liquid to the opposing surface 93 of a narrow section N, which is a narrow gap 92 between adjacent wall railings 91, as described above. The coating tool (1A, 1B) for narrow sections of this embodiment can also be applied to narrow gaps (narrow sections N) at the ends of girders of bridge structures constructed of concrete or steel plate structures, as examples of narrow sections N in bridge structures.

[0011] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the narrow-area coating tool 1A of Embodiment 1 comprises a pair of coating rollers 2, a pair of arms 3 with each of the coating rollers 2 positioned at its tip, and roller supports 4 provided at the tip of each of the arms 3.

[0012] A pair of coating rollers 2 are arranged at the same position along the length of the coating tool 1A for narrow areas. The coating rollers 2 are rotatably and detachably mounted on the roller support 4. The coating roller 2 has a roller-shaped coating section 22 with a cylindrical core 22a in its center. A hollow cylindrical member 21 is provided inside the cylindrical core 22a. The hollow cylindrical member 21 is structured so that it does not fall out of the core 22a (for example, the outer diameter of the hollow cylindrical member 21 is the same as or slightly larger than the inner diameter of the shaft 22a), and a bearing structure is formed between it and the core 22a (the coating section 22 having the shaft 22a is rotatable around the axis of the hollow cylindrical member 21). The coating section 22 is a cylindrical brush member with densely packed synthetic resin fibers that can absorb the coating liquid and apply the absorbed coating liquid to the coating surface. The material and length of the bristles of the brush member can be arbitrarily selected according to the condition of the coating surface, etc. The coating section 22 may be made of materials other than a brush, such as felt, sponge, suede, or rubber. The pair of coating rollers 2 have the same diameter and length. However, each of the coating rollers 2 may be arbitrarily selected to have a different diameter and length.

[0013] Figure 4 shows the arms 3 and roller support 4. As shown in Figure 4, the pair of arms 3 are formed by bending a long, flat, plate-like metal sheet into a U-shape. The pair of arms 3 may also be bent into a V-shape. The bent arm base ends 31 of the pair of arms 3 form a hinge with spring elasticity. The pair of arms 3 are configured so that their respective tips open elastically under normal conditions due to the spring elasticity of the arm base ends 31 that act as hinges (see Figure 4(a)). That is, when the pair of arms 3 are brought close to each other, the arm base ends 31 bend, and the return elasticity of the bent arm base ends 31 biases the pair of arms 3 to spread outwards. Therefore, the pair of coating rollers 2 provided at the tips of the pair of arms 3 are configured so that they each spread elastically outwards under normal conditions (see Figure 2). Therefore, when a pair of coating rollers 2 are placed in the narrow gap N between the wall railings 91, the spring elastic force of the pair of arms 3 causes each of the coating rollers 2 to spread outwards and come into close contact with the opposing surfaces 93 of the gap 92.

[0014] Alternatively, a biasing means such as a leaf spring or coil spring may be provided between the pair of arms 3, thereby strengthening the force that causes the pair of arms 3 to spread outward, and forcibly biasing each of the pair of coating rollers 2 in the outward direction. With such a configuration, each of the pair of coating rollers 2 positioned within the gap 92 can be pressed against the opposing surface 93 of the gap 92, ensuring that the contact state with the opposing surface 93 is reliably maintained. Figure 4(a) shows an example in which a leaf spring is provided as the biasing means 5 between the pair of arms 3, but a configuration without such a biasing means 5 is also possible.

[0015] The pair of arms 3 are made of flat metal plates, but as shown in Figures 4(a) and 4(b), each arm 3 has a mountain-shaped rib 32 formed on it, with the middle portion in the width direction bulging outwards along almost its entire length. This increases the strength and durability of the arms 3 to prevent buckling, thereby improving the contact between the pair of coating rollers 2 and the opposing surfaces 93 of the gap 92. Note that the rib 32 is not limited to a mountain shape; it may also be curved or bulging inwards.

[0016] A shaft 6 is attached to the arm base ends 31 of the pair of arms 3. This shaft 6 can be used as a hand-held handle or a working rope can be attached thereto.

[0017] The roller support 4 is formed of a metal wire. The base 41 of the roller support 4 is connected to the tip of the arm 3. The roller support 4 has a main body 42 that extends obliquely from the base 41 with respect to the length direction of the arm 3 and has a portion that extends straight in the length direction of the arm 3 from the tip of this oblique portion, and a roller mounting bar 7 that extends in a direction orthogonal to the length direction of the arm 3 from the tip of the main body 42.

[0018] The coating roller 2 is inserted into the roller mounting bar 7 by inserting the core 22a at the center of the coating portion 22 into the roller mounting bar 7. The roller mounting bar 7 is inserted into a hollow cylindrical member 21 provided in the core 22a, and is rotatably and removably mounted on the roller mounting bar 7. Thus, the coating roller 2 and the roller mounting bar 7 are assembled via the hollow cylindrical member 21 in the core 22a. Since the contact friction between the outer peripheral surface of the hollow cylindrical member 21 and the inner wall surface of the core 22a is small and the hollow cylindrical member 21 functions like a bearing, the coating roller 2 can rotate smoothly about the roller mounting bar 7 as an axis.

[0019] In addition, a coating liquid supply tube 8 for supplying a coating liquid to the coating roller 2 is disposed in the coating tool 1A for narrow parts. The coating liquid supply tube 8 has a branched configuration, branching from one original tube 81 into two branch tubes 82, and further branching into two tube ends 83 at the tip of each branch tube 82. The upstream end of the original tube 81 is connected to a delivery mechanism (not shown) such as a pump that delivers the coating liquid from a container. Each of the two branch tubes 82 is disposed along each of the pair of arms 3. The two tube ends 83 branched from the branch tube 82 are disposed on the roller support 4. The tip of the tube end 83 serves as a discharge port 84 for the coating liquid. The discharge port 84 at the tip of the tube end 83 is disposed so as to contact or be close to the circumferential surface of the coating roller 2. Note that the discharge port 84 at the tip of the tube end 83 may be disposed so as to face the opposing surface 93 of the wall height fence 91 that serves as the coating surface and faces outward.

[0020] A tube mounting bar 9 for fixing the tube end 83 of the coating liquid supply tube 8 is provided on the main body 42 of the roller support 4. The tube mounting bar 9 is provided in parallel with the roller mounting bar 7 and extends in a direction orthogonal to the length direction of the arm 3 (see Fig. 4(b)). In the first embodiment, of the two tube ends 83 disposed on each roller support 4, one tube end 83 is fixed to the tube mounting bar 9, and the other tube end 83 is fixed to the main body 42 of the roller support 4 (see Fig. 3). The tube end 83 fixed to the main body 42 is disposed such that the discharge port 84 at its tip faces the circumferential surface of the end of the coating roller 2 on the side closer to the main body 42 of the roller support 4. Note that both of the two tube ends 83 may be fixed to the tube mounting bar 9.

[0021] Since the tube mounting bar 9 is provided parallel to the roller mounting bar 7, it extends along the length of the coating roller 2 attached to the roller mounting bar 7. Therefore, when fixing the tube end 83 of the coating liquid supply tube 8 to the tube mounting bar 9, the tube end 83 is fixed at any position along the length of the tube mounting bar 9 so that the discharge port 84 at the tip is positioned according to a predetermined position along the length of the coating roller 2. Consequently, the coating liquid can be supplied to the required position on the coating roller 2 according to the posture of the coating roller 2 during coating, and the coating liquid can be applied evenly to the coating surface.

[0022] The length of the tube mounting bar 9 is set to be longer than the length of the coating roller 2 at its midpoint in the longitudinal direction, in the same direction as the tip of the roller mounting bar 7. Even in this case, the tube end 83 of the coating liquid supply tube 8 can be fixed to the tip of the tube mounting bar 9, and the discharge port 84 at the tip can be positioned to face the circumferential surface of the end of the coating roller 2 closer to the tip of the tube mounting bar 9. In this embodiment 1, the tube end 83 of the coating liquid supply tube 8 is fixed to a predetermined position on the tube mounting bar 9 such that the discharge port 84 at the tip is positioned on the circumferential surface at the midpoint in the longitudinal direction of the coating roller 2 (see Figure 2). The method of fixing the tube end 83 to the tube mounting bar 9 is to wrap tape 10 around it to fix the tube end 83 to the tube mounting bar 9, but the tube end 83 may also be fixed with a mounting bracket or the like.

[0023] Figure 5 shows the narrow-area coating tool 1B of Embodiment 2. Note that in Figure 5, the coating liquid supply tube 8 and shaft 6 are omitted, and only the components of the coating roller 2, arm 3 and roller support 4 are shown. In the narrow-area coating tool 1B of Embodiment 2, each of the pair of coating rollers 2 is positioned offset in the longitudinal direction of the pair of arms 3. Specifically, in this narrow-area coating tool 1B, each of the pair of arms 3 has a different length, and as shown in Figure 6, it is configured so that the pair of coating rollers 2 at the tips do not come into contact with each other when the pair of arms 3 move inward. Other configurations of the narrow-area coating tool 1B of Embodiment 2 are the same as or equivalent to those of Embodiment 1.

[0024] Next, the use of the application tools for narrow areas (1A, 1B) of the above embodiments 1 and 2 will be described. In Figure 7(a), the narrow section N is a relatively wide gap 92 between the wall railings 91, and in this case, an example of using the narrow section coating tool 1A of Embodiment 1 (see Figure 2) is shown. In Figure 7(b), the narrow section N is a very narrow gap 92 between the wall railings 91, and in this case, an example of using the narrow section coating tool 1B of Embodiment 2 (see Figure 5) is shown. Note that even with the relatively wide gap 92 shown in Figure 7(a), the narrow section coating tool 1B of Embodiment 2 can be used.

[0025] To apply a protective coating to the opposing surface 93 of the gap 92 between the wall railings 91, which constitutes a narrow section N, using the narrow section coating tools (1A, 1B) of Embodiments 1 and 2, the pair of coating rollers 2 are inserted into the gap 92 between the wall railings 91 with the pair of arms 3 closed, and then the closed state of the pair of arms 3 is released. As a result, the spring elastic force of the pair of arms 3 causes each of the pair of coating rollers 2 to expand according to the width of the gap 92, allowing each of the coating rollers 2 to be in close contact with the opposing surface 93 of the wall railings 91. In this state, the narrow section coating tool (1A, 1B) is moved while supplying the coating liquid from the coating liquid supply tube 8 to the coating rollers 2, rolling the coating rollers 2 between the lower and upper ends of the wall railings 91. The narrow section coating tool (1A, 1B) is held by hand using the shaft 6 as a handle, or a work rope is attached to the shaft 6, and it is moved back and forth once or several times between the lower and upper ends of the wall railings 91. This allows the coating liquid to be applied evenly and simultaneously to both opposing outer surfaces (opposing surfaces 93) of the wall railing 91.

[0026] Based on the above, the narrow area coating tools (1A, 1B) of Embodiments 1 and 2 can be used to apply a coating liquid to the surface of the wall railing 91 in the narrow area N to form a protective material. Therefore, the progression of deterioration of the wall railing 91 in the narrow area N can be suppressed, and the repair period for the wall railing 91 can be extended.

[0027] According to the narrow area applicator 1B of Embodiment 2 (see Figure 5), even if the width of the narrow area N is narrower than the size of two applicator rollers 2 (the sum of the diameters of the two applicator rollers 2), a pair of applicator rollers 2 can be placed to simultaneously and completely apply the coating liquid to the opposing surfaces 93 of the gap 92.

[0028] Furthermore, if a biasing means 5 (see Figure 4(a)), such as a leaf spring or coil spring, is provided between the pair of arms 3, and each of the pair of coating rollers 2 is configured to be strongly biased outward, each of the pair of coating rollers 2 positioned between the wall railings 91 can be pressed against the opposing surface 93. Therefore, even if the surface of the opposing surface 93 has large irregularities, the contact state between the pair of coating rollers 2 and the opposing surface 93 can be reliably maintained, making it easier to apply the coating liquid evenly to the opposing surface 93.

[0029] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims. For example, the application tool 1 for narrow areas may not have a coating liquid supply tube 8 and a tube mounting bar 9. In this case, the application roller 2 is immersed in a container holding the coating liquid to impregnate it before use. [Explanation of symbols]

[0030] 1. Applicator for narrow areas 2. Applicator roller 3 Arms 4 Roller support 5. Biasing means 6 shafts 7. Roller mounting bar 8. Coating solution supply tube 9 Tube mounting bar 10 tapes 21 Hollow cylindrical member 22 Coating area 22a Core 31 Arm base 32 Ribs 41 Base 42 Main part 81 Original Tube 82 Branching Tube 83 Tube end 84 Discharge port 90 road 91 Wall railing 92 gaps 93 Opposing surfaces N Narrow part

Claims

1. A coating tool for narrow sections, used to apply a coating liquid to opposing surfaces in narrow gaps of bridge structures, It comprises a pair of coating rollers and a pair of arms positioned at the tip of each of the pair of coating rollers, The pair of arms are formed from U-shaped or V-shaped plate members bent at the base ends of the arms, and the base ends of the arms act as hinges with spring elasticity, so that each of the pair of coating rollers disposed at the tips is configured to elastically spread outwards, in a coating tool for narrow spaces.

2. The coating tool for narrow areas according to claim 1, wherein each of the pair of coating rollers is provided offset in the longitudinal direction of the pair of arms, and is configured so that the pair of coating rollers do not come into contact with each other when each of the pair of arms moves inward.

3. The coating tool for narrow areas according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the pair of arms are provided with biasing means for biasing each of the pair of coating rollers outward.

4. A coating liquid supply tube is provided to supply coating liquid to the pair of coating rollers. Each of the pair of arms is provided with a roller support at its tip, which includes a roller mounting bar for rotatably mounting the coating roller. The roller support is provided with a tube mounting bar for fixing the tube end of the coating liquid supply tube. The coating tool for narrow areas according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the tube mounting bar is provided parallel to the roller mounting bar so as to extend along the longitudinal direction of the coating roller, and the tube end is fixed at any position along the longitudinal direction of the tube mounting bar according to a predetermined position along the longitudinal direction of the coating roller.

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