Strainer with float

Abstract

Conventional float-type strainers do not allow the float and strainer body to be detached, and even if they were detachable, assembly would be time-consuming, making them not necessarily suitable for firefighting purposes. [Solution] The present invention is a float-equipped strainer comprising at least two pairs of floats for buoying the strainer body in the stored water, a connecting rod to which the ends of the floats are detachably attached for connecting the two floats, and the strainer body attached to the connecting rod, making it easy to disassemble and assemble.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a strainer with a float, which is attached to the end of a water suction pipe connected to a pump such as a fire truck, on the side that is put into a water storage site.

Background Art

[0002] When water is sucked from a water storage site such as a pond or a river using a fire pump or the like, if pebbles, sludge, etc. that are stirred up from the water bottom are sucked in at the same time, there is a risk that the pump or the like will be damaged. Accordingly, there have existed strainers with a float in which the strainer main body is floated in water at a distance from the water bottom, making it difficult to suck in foreign matter from the water bottom. However, the conventional strainer with a float has a complicated and large structure, which is inconvenient for transportation and handling.

[0003]

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Disclosure of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] Although the above Patent Document 1 discloses a strainer with a float, this strainer with a float has a complicated structure. In addition, the float and the strainer main body are not detachable and cannot be easily disassembled and assembled, so if they are transported to a fire scene in a disassembled state, there is a risk that they will not be in time for fire fighting which requires every minute to count. The present invention has been made in view of the drawbacks of such conventional techniques, and realizes a strainer with a float that is easy to disassemble and assemble and can be floated in water.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] (1) The present invention relates to a float-equipped strainer to be attached to the end of a suction pipe connected to a suction pump mounted on a fire truck or the like when drawing water from a water storage facility such as a pond or river, the end of which is fed into the water storage facility, and comprises at least two pairs of floats for floating the strainer body in the water storage facility, a connecting rod to which the ends of the floats are detachably attached and for connecting the two floats, and the strainer body which is rotatably attached to or fixed to the connecting rod. According to the present invention, since the strainer body is detachably attached to the float, even if the strainer body and float are transported separately, they can be easily assembled in a short time at the firefighting site, thus contributing to rapid firefighting operations. Furthermore, in water storage facilities such as artificial reservoirs and swimming pools, where the presence of foreign objects like pebbles and sludge at the bottom is not a major concern, there is little risk of pebbles and sludge being stirred up. Therefore, it is not a problem to place the strainer directly on the bottom without using a float. In such cases, it is possible to participate in firefighting activities even more quickly.

[0007] The connecting rod preferably consists of the same number of annular sections as the number of floats and connecting rods that connect the annular sections, with the ends of the floats detachably attached to the annular sections. The connecting rod is provided with an annular section to which each float can be detachably attached, allowing for quicker assembly of the float-equipped strainer.

[0008] (2) Both floats are cylindrical, and preferably at least one end is spindle-shaped, with each spindle portion fitted and clamped to the annular portion of the connecting rod. Both floats are cylindrical, with at least one end being spindle-shaped, and each spindle portion is fitted and clamped onto the annular portion of the connecting rod, so that the spindle portions can be easily inserted into and fixed to the annular portion.

[0009] (3) It is preferable that the strainer body be rotatably mounted or fixed to the connecting rod. When the strainer body is rotatably mounted on the connecting rod, the strainer body is rotatably mounted near one end of the float, and even when the float is floating near the water surface, the strainer body remains submerged, reducing the risk of air being drawn in and preventing a decrease in water intake efficiency. Furthermore, if the strainer body is fixed to the connecting rod, the strainer body can be kept submerged in water at all times by adjusting the buoyancy of the float.

[0010] (4) It is desirable that the strainer body has a water intake pipe mounting port at one end to which a water intake pipe is attached, and that the other end is rotatably attached or fixed to the connecting rod. If a water intake pipe mounting port is provided at one end to which a water intake pipe is attached, and the other end is rotatably attached to the connecting rod, the range of rotation of the strainer body relative to the connecting rod is widened, and even if the float is floating near the water surface, the strainer body remains submerged, reducing the risk of air being sucked in and preventing a decrease in water intake efficiency. Furthermore, even if the other end of the strainer body is fixed to the connecting rod, the strainer body can be kept stably submerged in water at all times by adjusting the buoyancy of the float.

[0011] (5) The float is expandable and contractible, and it is desirable that the spindle portion is inserted into the connecting rod when the float is contracted, and then the float is expanded after insertion to fit and clamp the spindle portion into the annular portion. The float is expandable and contractible, and when the spindle portion is inserted into the annular portion of the connecting rod in a contracted state, and the float is then expanded to fit and clamp the spindle portion into the annular portion, the float-equipped strainer can be assembled more easily and quickly. In this case, the ship's air fender, which is made of polyvinyl chloride and allows for the intake and exhaust of air, can be used as the float, eliminating the need to prepare a separate special float. This is another major difference from conventional float-equipped strainers.

[0012] (6) It is desirable that at least one end of each float has a projection extending in the direction of the float, and that a fixing rod is provided that engages with the projection of each float to fix the floats together. If a fixing rod is provided to secure each float to the others, even if one float detaches from the annular portion of the connecting rod, the floats will not go missing because they are all fixed to each other.

[0013] (7) The strainer body preferably has a filter inserted into a housing with an open bottom, and the inside of the filter is in communication with the water intake pipe mounting port. If the mesh is too fine for a filter, it will clog easily and the pressure loss will be large, so a mesh size of around 5 to 15 is appropriate. The strainer body has a casing with an open bottom into which a filter is inserted, and the inside of the filter is in communication with the water intake pipe port. Therefore, all water sucked in from the bottom of the casing is filtered by the filter and then drawn in through the water intake pipe port and sent to the pump.

[0014] (8) The filter preferably has a shape obtained by cutting a cylindrical body perpendicular to its end face and parallel to its axial direction, with a number of fine openings on its curved surface forming a mesh, and is housed in the box in a position where the side with the number of fine openings and mesh is facing downwards. When the filter is housed in the box with the side having numerous micro-holes and forming a mesh facing downwards, it can sufficiently draw in water from the reservoir from the bottom (curved surface), reducing the vertical thickness of the filter and making it inexpensive. Furthermore, it becomes less susceptible to the effects of water fluctuations in the reservoir, allowing for stable water intake.

[0015] (9) It is desirable that a bottom plate be fixed to the lower part of the housing at a certain interval. When a bottom plate is fixed to the lower part of the housing at a certain interval, even if the strainer body is positioned at the water bottom, the filter does not directly contact the water bottom, and pebbles and the like on the water bottom will not be sucked up. Effects of the Invention

[0016] According to the present invention, since the strainer body is detachably mounted on the float, even if the strainer body and the float are transported separately, they can be easily assembled in a short time at a fire extinguishing site, which can contribute to rapid fire extinguishing activities. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0017] [Figure 1] It is an external perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] It is a plan view of one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] It is a cross-sectional view of the housing of the strainer body according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] It is a partial plan view showing a state where the spindle portion is inserted into the annular portion according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] It is the A-A' cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 in water according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] It is a perspective view showing a connecting rod and a strainer body according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] It is a perspective view showing a filter according to another embodiment of the present invention. Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0018] In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a connecting rod, which is constituted by two annular portions 2 and a connecting rod 3 that integrally connects the upper portions of the annular portions 2, and has a shape like an eyeglass frame as a whole. Inside the annular portion 2, one spindle portion 5 of two floats 4, each with a spindle shape at both ends, is fitted and held in place. Specifically, it is made of a commercially available ship's air fender made of polyvinyl chloride, which allows air to be vented and released from inside. By using a commercially available ship's air fender in this way, there is no need to prepare a separate special float.

[0019] The float 4 is hollow inside and expands when air is injected from the outside using a simple pump such as a ball pump, and contracts when air is removed from the inside. The two floats 4 are arranged parallel to each other at a certain distance apart, and a strainer body 6 is located between the two floats 4. An engaging device 7 is provided at the rear of the strainer body 6, and the strainer body 6 is rotatably mounted to approximately the center of the connecting rod 3 via the engaging device 7. Although not shown in the figures, the engaging device 7 is configured to be difficult to move in the direction of extension of the connecting rod 3.

[0020] The front of the strainer body 6 is provided with a water inlet 9, to which a water intake pipe 8 (Figure 5) for drawing water out of the strainer body 6 is detachably attached. Furthermore, protrusions 10 extending in the direction of the float 4 are formed at both ends of the float 4, and through holes 11 penetrating horizontally are provided in the protrusions 10. A fixing rod 12, with both ends engaging, is inserted between the through holes 11 of at least the innermost protrusion 10, thereby fixing the two floats 4 to each other.

[0021] Next, the structure of the strainer body 6 will be explained according to Figure 3. The strainer body 6 is formed by a stainless steel housing 14 with a U-shaped cross-section and an opening 13 at the bottom, and a cylindrical filter 15, also made of stainless steel, housed within the housing 14. Numerous fine openings 16 are provided on the cylindrical side surface of the filter 15, forming a mesh. When this mesh is converted to a mesh size, it is approximately 10 mesh, but depending on the application, a mesh size of approximately 5 to 15 mesh is appropriate. In this figure, the right end face of the filter 15 is closed, and the water intake port 9 is fixed to the left end face. A handle 17 is fixed to the top surface of the housing 14, and a bottom plate 19 is fixed to it via a spacer 18, facing the opening 13 on the bottom surface.

[0022] Next, the operation of fitting the spindle portion 5 of the float 4 onto the annular portion 2 of the connecting rod 1 and clamping it will be described according to Figures 4(A) and 4(B). Note that the convex portion 10 is not shown in this figure. First, as indicated by the arrow in Figure 4(A), the spindle portion 5 of the float 4, which has become slightly smaller in diameter and softer due to the release of air, is inserted into the annular portion 2. Then, with the float 4 partially inserted, a small amount of air is supplied into the float 4 using the aforementioned simple pump (not shown). As shown in Figure 4(B), the spindle portion 5 of the float 4 expands and fits into and is clamped by the annular portion 2. In this way, the strainer body 6 is connected to the two floats 4 to complete the float-equipped strainer. This takes less than a minute, so preparations for firefighting can be completed quickly at the fire scene.

[0023] Next, the water absorption process will be explained according to Figure 5. First, based on the weight of the strainer body 6, the water supply pipe 8, and the float 4 itself, the buoyancy required when a portion of the float 4 is above the water surface 20 (the strainer body 6 does not come into contact with the bottom 21) is predicted. The volume and air pressure of the float 4 are then appropriately selected to correspond to this, and the components are assembled.

[0024] Next, these are poured into a reservoir such as a pond or river, and when water is drawn in by a pump (not shown), the water drawn in direction a from the opening 13 on the bottom surface of the strainer body 6 (the bottom plate 19 is not shown in this figure) is filtered by the filter 15 inside the strainer body 6, and then drawn in direction b from the water supply pipe 8 to the pump, and finally discharged to the firefighting site.

[0025] Depending on the water depth of the reservoir, the bottom plate 19 of the strainer body 6 may come into contact with the bottom 21 in some cases, but even in this case, water will be drawn in through the gap between the filter 15 and the bottom plate 19.

[0026] Next, an embodiment in which the strainer body 6 is fixed to the connecting rod 3 will be described with reference to Figure 6. A trough-shaped groove 22 with an upward-facing opening is fixed to the lower edge of the strainer body 6. Furthermore, two connecting rods 3 are fixed to the connecting rod 1, one above the other, parallel to each other, and the lower connecting rod 3 is fitted and fixed into the groove 22. Furthermore, the annular portion 2 is provided with a fixing rod 12 that extends substantially outward in a curved manner from near its base, and the free ends of the fixing rod 12 are inserted into and fixed through holes 11 of each of the two floats 4 (not shown in Figure 6). Therefore, in this embodiment, the strainer body 6 is fixed to the connecting rod 3. Furthermore, the water depth of the strainer body 6 can be changed by inverting the portion of the strainer body 6 that is fitted onto the connecting rod 3.

[0027] Next, another embodiment of the filter 15 will be described with reference to Figure 7. In this embodiment, the filter 15 has a shape obtained by cutting a cylindrical body perpendicular to its end face in a direction parallel to its axial direction, and a large number of fine openings 16 are opened on its curved surface 24 to form a mesh structure, and the filter is housed in the box body 14 (not shown in Figure 7) in a position where the curved surface 24 with the large number of fine openings 16 and the mesh structure is facing downwards. Furthermore, since the flat top surface 23 does not contribute to water absorption, no micro-portions 16 are provided on it. Thus, by making the parts that do not contribute much to water absorption flat, the vertical dimensions become smaller compared to the cylindrical filter 15 (Figure 3), and the entire strainer body 6 becomes thinner, making it less susceptible to the effects of water fluctuations in the reservoir and enabling stable water absorption. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0028] 1 connecting rod, 2 annular section, 3 connecting rod, 4 float, 5 spindle section, 6 strainer body, 7 engaging device, 8 suction tube, 9 suction port, 10 protrusion, 11 through hole, 12 fixing rod, 13 opening, 14 housing, 15 filter, 16 fine port, 17 handle, 18 spacer, 19 bottom plate, 20 water surface, 21 bottom, 22 trough-shaped groove, 23 top surface, 24 curved surface.

Claims

1. In a float-equipped strainer attached to the end of a suction pipe connected to a suction pump that is fed into the reservoir when drawing water from a reservoir, At least two floats in pairs to suspend the strainer body in the stored water, Each of the aforementioned floats is detachably attached near its respective end, and a connecting rod is provided for connecting the two floats to each other. The strainer body is attached to the connecting rod, A more powerful strainer with a float.

2. The strainer with float according to claim 1, wherein the strainer body is fixed to the connecting rod.

3. The strainer with float according to claim 1, wherein the strainer body is rotatably mounted on the connecting rod.

4. The float strainer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the connecting rod comprises the same number of annular sections as the number of floats and a connecting rod connecting the annular sections, and the vicinity of the ends of the floats are detachably attached to the annular sections.

5. The float-equipped strainer according to claim 4, wherein both floats are cylindrical, at least one end of which is spindle-shaped, and each spindle portion is fitted and clamped to the annular portion of the connecting rod.

6. The float-equipped strainer according to claim 4, wherein one end of the strainer body is provided with a water intake pipe mounting port to which a water intake pipe is attached, and the other end is attached to the connecting rod.

7. The float-equipped strainer according to claim 5, wherein the float is expandable and contractible, the spindle portion is inserted into the connecting rod when contracted, and the float is expanded after insertion to fit and clamp the spindle portion into the annular portion.

8. The float strainer according to claim 1, wherein at least one end of each float has a projection extending in the direction of the float, and a fixing rod is provided that engages with the projection of each float to fix each float to each other.

9. The strainer body is a float-equipped strainer according to claim 1, wherein a filter is inserted into a housing with an open bottom, and the inside of the filter is in communication with the water intake pipe mounting port.

10. The strainer with float according to claim 9, wherein the filter is cylindrical and has a large number of fine openings on the side surface of the cylinder, forming a mesh structure.

11. The strainer with float according to claim 9, wherein the filter has a shape obtained by cutting a cylindrical body perpendicular to its end face in a direction parallel to its axial direction, and a large number of fine openings are made on its curved surface to form a mesh, and the filter is housed in the box in a position where the side with the large number of fine openings and mesh is facing downwards.

12. A float-equipped strainer according to claim 9, wherein a bottom plate is fixed to the lower part of the housing at a certain interval.

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