EP0965693B1 - Suction turbine arrangement for utility vehicles - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a suction turbine arrangement for road vehicles, urban sweeper type.

More particularly, the invention relates to the positioning of the turbine suction on such a vehicle.

Vehicles of this type consist, for the most part, of a chassis having at least two axles and to which the cleaning means such as brushes or brooms, means a receptacle for receiving the sucked residues, a station for control, and possibly a water tank.

The suction means comprise a suction turbine and means for the collection and transfer of waste sucked to the receptacle.

The suction turbine is usually arranged either at the front or on the above the vehicle.

For example, the document FR 2 626 911 describes a sweeper comprising a vertical axis suction turbine attached to the top of the tank of waste collection. The turbine is attached to the ceiling of the tank and draws air by an orifice arranged in correspondence.

In known manner, a vacuum is created inside the collection vessel to suck the waste. These may eventually be moistened just before aspiration, to facilitate their transfer to the bottom of the tank and bond the dust to prevent it from being rejected.

The materials are collected, for example by means of brushes or brushes mounted under the chassis of the vehicle, and directed to a nozzle placed at the end of a suction duct.

The depression created inside the collection tank brings these materials inside this conduit.

This modality is simple and functional, but generates air flows to high speed which, in the long run, entails the risk of clogging the grid placed before the turbine, or ejection of waste through the turbine, with the essential consequence of less effective and risk of component damage.

To preserve the efficiency and integrity of the vehicle and its components, it It is therefore necessary to proceed very regularly and frequently maintenance and maintenance of the turbine, which has the consequence of immobilising the vehicle since it will be necessary to dismantle and remove certain components before replace them after cleaning.

The problem to solve is to slow down the air before the turbine, to ensure regular flows to prevent any risk of clogging and to facilitate maintenance and maintenance of the turbine so as to avoid the immobilisation of the vehicle and the assembly and reassembly operations long and complicated.

EP 0 291 844 illustrates a non-articulated road vehicle in which a suction turbine of horizontal axis is arranged at the front of a waste collection tank, the air sucked through a first conduit opening towards the ground near the vehicle brushes and then by a second duct placed in the upper position, on the top of the tank before being repressed.

This solution is not fully satisfactory as it imposes the use of a particularly long exhaust duct, since provide a length much greater than that of the tank to reach the turbine located forward, which is further separated from the latter by a water tank, resulting in significant pressure drops. In addition, it is not applicable to a vehicle with articulated chassis, since the exhaust connecting the rear of the tank to the front turbine has at least two elbows excluding any rotational movement barely damaging.

DE 43 30 233 discloses a turbine arrangement also involving the use of long conduits for ensure the circulation of the air and its repression. The turbine is mounted in front part of the receptacle for waste and the solution is therefore not transposable to an articulated vehicle. The invention proposes to remedy these drawbacks by realizing a suction device for an urban sweeper comprising a chassis articulated, a suction turbine and a receptacle for the collection of waste suction, the suction turbine being of horizontal axis and being disposed at the rear of the receptacle.

According to this arrangement, the suction turbine will be mounted at the rear of the waste collection tank on the same side as the drain port.

• la figure 1 est une vue de côté montrant le châssis d'un véhicule de voirie, avec l'agencement de turbine selon la présente invention,
• la figure 2 est une vue de trois quarts arrière du châssis représenté à la figure 1 et
• la figure 3 montre le cheminement de l'air aspiré.

The invention will be described hereinafter with the aid of a non-limiting example of embodiment, and with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

• FIG. 1 is a side view showing the chassis of a road vehicle, with the turbine arrangement according to the present invention,
• FIG. 2 is a rear three-quarter view of the frame shown in FIG.
• Figure 3 shows the path of the sucked air.

With reference to the appended figures, and in particular FIG. in accordance with the present invention, which is referred to as general (1), is mounted on the chassis (2) of a road vehicle.

More particularly, the suction device (1) comprises a turbine (3), for the suction of collected waste through a suction pipe (4) to a collection tank (5).

The turbine (3), of horizontal axis, is mounted at the rear of the tank (5).

The air is sucked by the pipe (4), then reaches the tank (5) before being repressed by a conduit (6) disposed under the lid (8) of said vessel. The conduit (6) has a filtering grid (7)

The air is then discharged through an orifice (9) extending the end bottom of the suction turbine (3).

This arrangement therefore allows the air to be pushed back directly to the ground, at the rear of the vehicle, with an extremely low pressure drop, the part of duct located downstream of the turbine being very short.

Moreover, this arrangement makes it possible to draw air on a very wide surface, so in a regular way, which will prevent that is generated locally irregular or too fast flows that might provoke the clogging of the grid placed before the turbine, or the ejection of waste at through the turbine.

The arrangement according to the invention therefore makes it possible to regulate the flow of air sucked up and removes the effects of acceleration and other inconveniences attached to known type devices.

Indeed, the suction source is not in the immediate vicinity of the tank, the suction surface will not be limited.

In addition, the arrangement according to the invention greatly facilitates the operations maintenance and cleaning of the turbine that can be performed directly through the lid of the drain hole. Conversely, the conventional arrangement comprising a turbine mounted on the opposite side from that by which the emptying of the tank is performed does not offer direct access and imposes a dismantling of various elements, which represents a cost additional time and longer downtime.

Claims (1)

1. Arrangement for utility vehicle on chassis, comprising a horizontal axis suction turbine (3) mounted at the rear of a tank (5) for collecting the waste sucked in, an air suction pipe (4) connected to the tank (5) and an air outlet pipe (6) arranged under the cover (8) of the tank (5), the air sucked in by the suction pipe (4) as far as the tank (5) being blown out by the outlet pipe (6) directly onto the ground by way of an orifice (9) which extends the lower end of the suction turbine (3), characterised in that the turbine (3) is mounted on the same side as that on which the tank (5) for collecting the waste is emptied.

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