Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Machines – With air blast or suction
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-29
2001-08-07
Warden, Sr., Robert J. (Department: 1744)
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Machines
With air blast or suction
C015S302000, C015S322000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06269517
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an automatic pane cleaning system. The invention is particularly suited for windows of a high building, such as a skyscraper, but can also be used for automatically cleaning facade surfaces, or the like.
Automatic pane cleaning systems have already been suggested for cleaning windows of high buildings, the systems comprising a gondola which is suspended from ropes and has secured thereto a cleaning head which is guided by a control means over the window surfaces. The gondola has mounted thereon the associated components of the cleaning system, such as water tank, power generator, drive means for the cleaning head, conduits, etc. The gondola is e.g. suspended from a crane which is movable on rails positioned on the roof of the building. The crane displaces the gondola from window to window to perform a corresponding cleaning operation on the windows.
Water is supplied from an associated water tank to the cleaning head by means of a pump and, after the cleaning process, the water is sucked off again from the cleaning head together with the dirt removed from the pane and together with the sucked-in air. The dirt water/air mixture is received in a separate dirty water container in the suggested systems and must be disposed off at a later time.
Such a pane cleaning system has the drawback that a large supply of clean water must be provided on the gondola and that the sucked-off dirty water also requires a large container, resulting in considerable dimensions and a great weight of the lift cage.
EP-A-642758 discloses an automatic cleaning system whose cleaning head is divided into a cleaning chamber and a suction chamber. Furthermore, the system comprises a clean water chamber from which water is supplied to the one cleaning chamber, as well as a dirty water chamber into which the dirt/air chamber is sucked.
Hence, such an automatic cleaning system is operated with a relatively large amount of water being consumed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,804 describes an automatic pane cleaning system which comprises a single chamber from which only air is sucked off. The water flows from a collection region through a conduit into a water container which is arranged below the cleaning head and connected to said head for joint movement, and from which the water is again pumped off and supplied through a conduit to the spray nozzles. The water is not cleaned so that said cleaning system can only efficiently clean panes if it operates with a large amount of water in which the dirt particles received by reason of the cleaning process are virtually not noticeable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of the present invention to provide an automatic pane cleaning system which operates without consuming a large amount of water.
According to the present invention, an automatic pane cleaning system is provided with a cleaning head, at least one cleaning chamber which is supplied with water from a clean water chamber, and at least one suction chamber from which the water is sucked off together with dirt particles and air into a dirty water chamber, the system being characterized in that the dirt water chamber is connected to the clean water chamber via a conduit which has arranged therein a pump and a filter means.
The amount of water needed for supplying the pane cleaning system with water is considerably reduced by the closed circuits consisting of the water which is needed for pane cleaning and has possibly admixed thereto cleaning additives, and of the air which is sucked in together with the soiled cleaning water during the suck-off operation; as a result, the production costs and the operating costs of the pane cleaning system according to the invention are reduced. Moreover, it is only thanks to such a system that a long-term operation becomes possible.
To be more specific, a water container is installed in the air and water circuit, said container containing the dirty water chamber and the chamber for clean water, hereinafter called clean water chamber. A joint container may here be divided by a partition which, however, does preferably not divide the interior into two chambers that are completely separated from one another, but only extends near the upper wall of the water container so that there remains an interconnected joint chamber above the two chambers for the air which is sucked off from the cleaning head together with the dirty water.
However, it is also within the scope of the invention that two separate containers can be arranged for receiving the dirty water and the clean water.
Furthermore, the suggestion is made that the at least one suction chamber of the cleaning head should be connected via a conduit, e.g. a hose, to the dirt water chamber of the water container. It should here be noted that the cleaning head may also comprise a plurality of separated suction chambers or a plurality of separated suction regions provided at the front side, which terminate in a joint rear suction chamber of the cleaning head.
The dirty water chamber of the water container is suitably connected to the clean water chamber via a conduit which has arranged therein a pump and a filter means in which the soiled water is cleaned before passing into the clear, water chamber.
Finally, the clean water chamber is connected to the at least one cleaning chamber of the cleaning head via a conduit provided with a pump; said cleaning head may also be provided with a plurality of separated cleaning chambers into which the pane wash water is introduced. In said at least one cleaning chamber or in said plurality of cleaning chambers, the dirt located on the panes is e.g. removed by ultrasound or mechanically by rotating brushes or by steam, with the dirt intermixing with the water or steam and being subsequently sucked off together with said water or steam.
When the cleaning head is operated by steam, a suitable steam generating means is arranged in the conduit leading to the cleaning chamber.
The air/water circuit is made complete in that the upper air chamber of the water container is connected via a conduit to the at least one air supply chamber of the cleaning head, said conduit being provided with a blower means which during operation of the pane cleaning system constantly sucks off air from the water container and feeds the air to the air supply chamber provided on the cleaning head. Such a closed air circuit prevents the loss of water which would otherwise be observed if the air sucked off together with the dirty wash water was discharged into the environment. The reason is that the air which is sucked off together with the dirty wash water is 100% saturated with water while fresh air which is sucked in from the environment would contain a considerably reduced amount of air moisture. Therefore, if the air sucked in together with the wash water was constantly discharged from the system and if fresh wair was sucked through the cleaning head into the water supply system, this would result in a constant and considerable loss of water which is avoided by the closed air circuit provided according to the invention.
According to a further suggestion of the invention, the at least one air supply chamber encloses the cleaning head. This air supply chamber as an outer annular channel can surround the cleaning head which may be followed radially inwards by a suction chamber, which is also annular. The invention, however, is not limited to such a design; rather, there may be provided suction regions distributed over the entire cleaning head.
It is important that air which is fed from the air supply chamber surrounding the cleaning head and, therefore, has a high content of air moisture, which is probably always within the range of saturation, is sucked into the suction chamber or chambers.
According to a further suggestion of the invention the at least one air supply chamber which surrounds the cleaning head is defined by an outer wall which consists at least in part of a thin-walled elastic material. The thin-walled elastic material makes it also possible to clean
Dornier Technologie GmbH & Co.
Pyle & Piontek
Snider Theresa T.
Warden, Sr. Robert J.
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