AU601810B2 - Surface drying machine - Google Patents

Description

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA6 mFr Patents Act 1952-1 969 0 1 1j o :TE SPE I 11-WQR 1 ION las Int. Class IMA.I Application Number Lodged Complete Application No.

Specification Lodged Published Priority: Related art:

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~T~sTime~contaiis the Lam-! ut made uinder 49an is correct for (LODGED AT SUB-JOFFICE -9 F EB 1988 Adelajie 0 a a Name of App~icant: TO P-r COMPLETED BY APPLICANT HAROLD ANDERTON IJGHT]3URN Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor Poplar Banks, Scott Creek, State of South Australia, Commonwealth of Australia HAROLD ANDERTON IJGHTBURN Address for Service- CO1LLISON CO., Patent Attorneys, 117 King William Street, Adelaide, South Australia, $000.

Complete Specification for the Invention entitled: "SURFWACE DRYING MACH-INE" The following statement is a full, description of this Inventionl, Including the best Method of performing it known to me: 2 This invenjion relates to a surface drying machine, more particularly a machine for drying a horizontal surface such as a tennis court or other playing surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Ii It is well known that the problemn which arises In~ the removal of pools of water which collect on tennis coufts, playing fields and the like, is cne which has not been adequately overcome, also there is the problem of removing petrol and other liquids which may become spilled on the grouno.

With reference to tennis courts it is usual to sweep the pools of water from the court 'Onto the surrounding areas by the use of brooms, squeegees and hand-operated sponge like rollers.

However, these have the disadvantage that the water is not completely removed but is usually only removed from the playing area onto surrounding areas from which it is hoped that it will drain away and not run back onto the playing area.

For large areas, such as cricket ovals, football pitches, bowling giwens and the like, large power driven machines are kncwn which comprise a largo, sponge roller to lift the water from which it is deposited into a tank on the machine, but these machines are relatively heavy a~nd axe not often suitable for use on soft ground.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART A small machine is disclosed in Australian Patent specification No. 1 34085/84, which like a lawn-mower operates on the ground effect principle and which has a fan for blowing air downwardly in the centre of the machine to recirculate the air to deposit the collected liquid into an annular chamber surrounding the fan.

While this would be satisfactory In some circumstances, It is to be noted that the saturated air Is merely recirculated, and the capacity of the machine is limited by the annular chamber, and also the collected weight of water would be detrimental to the ground effect aspect of the machine.

BRIEF STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION Thus there is provided according to the invention a machine for drying 1 0 surfaces and/or collecting the liquid therefrom, the machine comprising a housing in the form of an inverted basin shape, a dual fan situated within the housing, said dual fan comprising an inner fan to blow air downwardly and on the outer periphery of the inner fan there is provided an outer fan to blow air upwardly, a discharge duct from the base, and a chamber carried by the S1 5 machine at the end of the discharge duct.

o oea ooo In a further for,. of the invention there is provided a machine for drying surfaces and/oi lollecting liquid therefrom, the machine comprising a base having downturned edges to form a cavity thereunder, fan means within said cavity to blow air downwaidly centrally of the cavity and exhaust the air collected from the periphery of the base through a duct, a chamber connected to the duct, said chamber having a collecting well adjacent the outlet of the O"t duct, and a larger collecting compartment in the chamber, and pump means for transferring liquid collected in the well into the larger compartment, BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAVING a* FIG. 1 is a part cross-sectional view of the machine.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 0 t Thus in a preferred form of the invention, the machine 1 can comprise a base 2 mounted on wheels 3, the base being similar to a rotary lawn-mower having a spiral or involute discharge duct 4 extending rearwardly of the base.

The base 2 thus has downturned edges 5 and has a motor 6 mounted centrally of the base, the motor having a shaft extending downwardly into the space in the base, the shaft carrying fan means 8. The fan means 8 is a dual fan, there being an axial flow fan 9 attached to the shaft to move air downwardly against the ground or other surface from which water is to be removed. On the periphery of this axial fan 9, there is provided a further axial fan 10, this further axial fan 10 having its blades shaped to move the air upwardly from the ground or other surface.

The base 2 is provided adjacent the shaft with one or more holes or apertures 11 to allow the first fan to draw air downwardly into the lo first fan 9, the second fan 10 moving the air upwardly and discharging the air together with the collected water out through the discharge duct 4.

On the rear of the machine and at the end oi the discharge duct 4 there is provided a tank 12 which could be similar to the normal grass catcher. However, this tank 12 is provided with a small chamber 13 at its inlet end, and spaced from this there is a wall 14 to divide the tank into two compartments, a main tank compartment 15 and the chamber 13. The water carried by the air is deposited in the chamber 13, and a pump 16 is provided for transferring this water from the chamber 13 into the main tank In order to do this a small pump 16, preferably a positive flow pump such as a gear or vane pump is mounted on the base 2, and is driven from the motor 6, preferably by the belt 17. The inlet line to the pump 16 can be a hose 18 which is inserted into the chamber 13, and the outlet of the pump 16 discharges through a hose 19 into the tank compartment Thus it will be seen that as the machine is moved over the water to be collected, there is a strong air flow downwardly by the first fan drawing air through the inlet or inlets, this striking the water and then moving generally radially outwardly to be lifted by the second or further fan to be carried through the chute into the tank.

The tank can be provided with a tap or the like to allow the water to drain or run therefrom, or alternatively in order to empty the tank, the inlet hose to the pump may be removed from the weir compartment and inserted into the tank compartment, and the outlet hose from the pump can be removed from the tank and then be directed to discharge to any desired point or area.

However, it is preferred that at the inlet to the pump there is provided a valve 20 to which the hose 18 is connected, and also a further hose 21 so that the valve 20 can connect the inlet to the pump to either hose 18 or hose 21. Hence, in order to empty the tank, the valve is turned to connect the pump inlet to hose 21, and hose 19 removed from the tank to thus direct the water to any lo desired waste water disposal area such as a storm water drain, gully trap or any other area such as a garden, etc.

L In order to assist in the air circulation and drying effect, the exilaust pipe 22 of the engine can be directed into the inlet opening 11 to PJ the central fan 9. This gives an increased air flow and also has the i 0t 1CI effect of quietening the exhaust.

The fan 8 is thus formed in two portions, the inner fan 9 for directing the air downwardly, and also the outer fan 10 for directing ,2o the air upwardly and between the two portions there is preferably attached an upwardly extending ring or sleeve 23. This co-operates with and is closely spaced in an overlapping relationship to a further ring 24, the two rings thus forming a labyrinth type seal to substantially prevent cross air flow between the two fan portions. The further ring 24 can be attached to the undersurface of the base 2.

Also a further ring or guide 25 can be attached to the outer end of the fan portion 10 to assist in directing the air upwardly to the discharge chute.

Inside the tank 15 there can be provided one or more baffles 26 which can have small openings 27 in their lower portions to prevent the collected water surging in the tank during operation.

Also the tank can be fitted with a small castor wheel 28. This can be spring loaded so that as the tank fills with water an increasing 6 load is applied to the castor wheel 28. When the tank is empty the wheel need not touch the ground.

In order to assist in the removal of the water there can be fitted to the fan a brush 29 which sweeps and agitates the water so that it is more readily lifted and transferred by the air flow. The brush is shown as being attached to the fan 10, but it is to be realized that it may instead be attached to the inner fan 9, or alternatively be attached to both fans.

Thus it will be seen that according to the invention it is merely necessary to wheel the machine over the areas to be dried, the machine rapidly picking up the water by the air flow under the machine to discharge this water into the chamber from which it is transferred into the tank.

In an alternative form, instead of there being a chamber, the chute can be extended upwardly to discharge directly into the tank, the front portion of the tank thus forming a wall to provide the capacity required in the tank.

Although one form of the invention has been described in some detail it is to be realized that the invention is not to be limited thereto but can include various modifications falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

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Claims (11)

1. A machine for drying surfaces and/or collecting liquid therefrom, the machine comprising a housing in the form of an inverted basin, a dual fan situated within the housing, said dual fan comrprising an inner fan to blow air downwardly onto said surface, and an outer fan to blow air upwardly, a 1 0 discharge duct extending from said base, and a tank carried by the machine at the end of the discharge duct, whereby the flow of air across the surface from the inner fan to the outer fan picks up liquid from the surface and deposits it in the tank. 0000 o 1 5

2. A machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said inner and outer fans are co-planar, said inner fan being mounted on a vertical shaft driven by a motor oooo mounted on the upper surface of said base, said outer fan being mounted on the periphery of said inner fan to rotate therewith,

3. A machine as defined in claim 2, wherein between the inner and outer fans there is provided an upstanding member to co-operate in close conjunction with a member depending from the base to form a labyrinth seal between the inner and outer fans. 25

4, A machine as defined in claim 1, wherein the tank is provided at its entry end with a chamber separate from the remainder of the tank by a wall o 0, upstanding from the bottom surface of the tank to collect water delivered by the fans, and a pump to transfer the water from the chamber into the tank. ooooa3 30

5, A machine as defined in claim 4, wherein the pump is driven by the motor driving the fans, the outlet of the pump connected by an outlet hose to the tank,

6. A machine as defined in claim 5, wherein a valve is positioned at the inlet to the pump, the first inlet hose connecting said valve to said chamber, and a further inlet hose connecting said valve to said tank, whereby the valve may be adjusted to connect said first or said further inlet hose to the pump, so that In order to empty said tank the valve is connected to said further hose and said outlet hose is removed from said tank and directed to a waste water disposal area, 8

7. A machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said tank has an outlet for the emptying of the tank,

8. A machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said outer fan has a depending brush to sweep and agitate the water for removal from the surface. 1 0

9, A machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said dual fan is driven by a motor mounted on the base, a shaft from the motor passing through an opening in the base to the inner fan, said opening allowing passage of air therethrough. 0 oQ

10. A machine as defined in claim 9, wherein the exhaust of the motor is t°o directed into said opening to assist in the air flow and to quieten the exhaust of o the motor, 0 4

11. A machine for drying a surface and/or collecting liquid therefrom substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing. DATED this 9lh day of July 1990. HAROLD ANDERTON LIGHTBURN By his Patent Attorneys COLLISON CO. I 44