Cleaning and liquid contact with solids – Apparatus – For work having hollows or passages
Patent
1996-09-30
1998-02-10
Coe, Philip R.
Cleaning and liquid contact with solids
Apparatus
For work having hollows or passages
239227, B08B 302, B08B 912
Patent
active
057158525
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an apparatus for the cleaning of the inside surfaces of a tank or similar space by means of a jet of fluid from a nozzle lowered into the interior of the tank, said nozzle being capable of being rotated around a first axis and also swivelled, oscillated, around a second axis at right-angles to said first axis in a predetermined manner, so that the jet of fluid is traversed around at the same time that it is moved upwards and downwards inside the tank and comprising a turbine driven by a stream of fluid which, via a drive, gives rise to rotation of the nozzle.
The interior of a tank, such as an oil storage tank on a ship, containers, vessels and the like, must at intervals be cleaned of sludge and other impurities which are deposited on the inside surfaces of the tank.
This is usually carried out by means of a cleaning apparatus which can be mounted permanently on the tank, and which is provided with a nozzle mounted on the end of a shaft which extends a suitable distance down into the tank.
The nozzle is supplied with cleaning fluid under pressure which is discharged while the nozzle is brought to move in a predetermined pattern, so that the cleaning fluid systematically hits and sweeps all surfaces and hereby dissolves and flushes away the sludge deposits which hereafter can be led out together with the fluid.
By means of a drive unit in the apparatus, the nozzle can both be turned around in relation to the shaft in a horizontal plane and swung up and down in a vertical plane. It is hereby ensured that the cleaning pattern is one which ensures an effective sweeping of all surfaces.
From U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,594 a tank washing machine with selective wash programming is known, in which washing liquid is discharged from a nozzle mounted on a housing which is rotatable about a first axis (e.g. vertical) in relation to other normally fixed parts of the machine. The nozzle is rotatable or pivotable about a second axis (e.g. horizontal). The second axis is therefore for instance perpendicular to the first. A single driving means (preferably a single turbine powered by washing liquid) is connected via gears and a clutch mechanism to rotate the housing about the first axis and via other gears to pivote or rotate the nozzle about the second axis, the ratio of the angular speeds of the nozzle and housing about their respective axes being constant, but the absolute angular speeds being varied in accordance with a selected program.
By choosing different washing programmes, the speed of rotation of the nozzle about the first axis, and the speed of oscillation about the second axis can be altered to meet the requirements of the particular tank being cleaned.
The programmes are selected by the profile of a cam and a shift between different programmes is done by a shift to another profiled cam.
This is difficult and timeconsuming because the only possibility of altering the program is to change the cam, and the nozzle movement and herewith the cleaning pattern are not easily altered, which means that further cleaning time and cleaning fluid must be used in such cases where the cleaning is not adequate and must therefore be repeated until all deposits are removed. In practise, this will typically be in the corners in the bottom of the tank.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide an apparatus which by a simple mechanical drive can provide a stepless variable setting of the swinging movement of the nozzle in that the drive of the apparatus must be able to withstand the tough surroundings of a tank vessel.
This object is achieved by an apparatus of the type disclosed in the preamble, which apparatus according to the invention is characteristic in that the drive also turns a worm shaft and a worm wheel, said worm wheel being provided with a stud which is in sliding engagement with a connecting link, the other end of which is in sliding engagement with a stud on a first pinion which, upon rotation of the worm wheel, turns the first p
REFERENCES:
patent: 3472451 (1969-10-01), Orem et al.
patent: 3601136 (1971-08-01), Marcham
patent: 3874594 (1975-04-01), Hatley
patent: 4244524 (1981-01-01), Wellings
Coe Philip R.
Toftejorg A/S
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