Fire extinguishers – Special applications – For vehicles
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-03
2001-11-06
Morris, Lesley D. (Department: 3752)
Fire extinguishers
Special applications
For vehicles
C169S070000, C239S172000, C239S289000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06311781
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ballast tank mountable to an excavator. More particularly, the present invention relates to a tank mountable to excavating equipment for holding fluid for both ballast and fire fighting purposes.
2. Description of Related Art
Vehicles adapted for delivery of pressurized fluids are well known and widely used in fire fighting, agriculture and construction site applications. Movable vehicles are practical for applications requiring mobility and delivery of large volumes of fluid under pressure.
The majority of fire fighting vehicles are highly specialized and designed with large storage fluid tanks and high pressure pumps to deliver fluid to a fire from a relatively safe distance. Examples of such vehicles can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,756 granted on Apr. 12, 1994 to Robert G. Relyea for a “Vehicle Mounted Aerial Lift”, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,158 granted on Aug. 4, 1998 to Robert G. Relyea for an “Automatic Leveling Fluid Nozzle for Aerial Boom”.
Other designs known to the inventor for general fluid spraying equipment mountable to a vehicle include U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,196 granted on Apr. 6, 1993 to Paul M. Straley for an “Earth Grading Soil Compaction Tractor with Water Spray Capability”, U.S. Pat. No. 3,016,201 granted on Jan. 9, 1962 to Oren D. Brogden for a “Tunnel Cleaning Machine” and U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,594 granted on Sep. 25, 1962 to Harold K. Nansel for a “Boom-Type Spraying Means”.
There exist applications where it is desirable for a fire fighting vehicle to be able to get close to the fire. For example, in some cases, simultaneous delivery of pressurized fluid and penetration and removal of burning debris is desirable. Such work often occurs in forest fires or at building sites where some or all of the structure has collapsed. To work in such conditions requires a vehicle that is able to operate in the extreme heat adjacent a fire and that is stable and able to maneuvering over terrain strewn with debris.
Existing excavating equipment equipped with hydraulically operated buckets at the end of manipulating arms function well to remove debris, however, such equipment is not designed to carry large volumes of fluid for fire fighting nor is it designed to operate in the very hot environment in the vicinity of a fire.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a solution to the problems discussed above. Rather than design a new fire fighting vehicle from scratch, I have developed a multi-purpose tank that is retro-fittable to existing excavating equipment to function as a ballasting means and to provide fluid under pressure for fire fighting operations.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a tank for an excavator vehicle having a frame and body with a hydraulically operated bucket and an engine, the tank comprising:
a main body mountable to the frame adjacent the engine, the main body having a sealed interior volume;
at least one ballast region formed within the interior volume to hold fluid for ballast;
at least one discharge region formed within the interior volume to hold fluid for discharge from the tank;
at least one valve communicating the at least one ballast region with the at least one discharge region to permit one way flow from the ballast region to the discharge region;
a pump having an inlet in communication with the discharge region and an outlet; and
a conduit extending from the pump outlet for delivering fluid forwardly of the excavator bucket.
In a preferred embodiment, the tank of the present invention includes an additional sealed compartment adapted to retain a fire retardant material, the additional compartment including an outlet in communication with the flexible hose for delivering fluid forwardly of the excavator bucket to mix the fire retardant material with the fluid.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2946598 (1960-07-01), Foster
patent: 3016201 (1962-01-01), Brogden
patent: 3055594 (1962-09-01), Nansel
patent: 3169581 (1965-02-01), Cummins
patent: 3396983 (1968-08-01), Massey et al.
patent: 3785439 (1974-01-01), Britt
patent: 4062407 (1977-12-01), Bentrup
patent: 4250869 (1981-02-01), Doyle
patent: 4811796 (1989-03-01), Allen
patent: 5199196 (1993-04-01), Straley
patent: 5301756 (1994-04-01), Relyea et al.
patent: 5788158 (1998-08-01), Relyea
patent: 6053256 (2000-04-01), Lu
patent: 6095251 (2000-08-01), Mitchell et al.
Dickinson McCormack & Heuser
Hartwell Kolisch
Karic Ventures Ltd.
Morris Lesley D.
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