Cleaning and liquid contact with solids – Apparatus – With alarm – signal – indicating – testing – inspecting,...
Patent
1994-05-12
2000-05-30
Stinson, Frankie L.
Cleaning and liquid contact with solids
Apparatus
With alarm, signal, indicating, testing, inspecting,...
134131, 134181, 134201, 1985021, 198794, B08B 302
Patent
active
060680040
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
DESCRIPTION
The present invention refers to a vessel cleaning machine according to the generic clause of claim 1.
For examining the wear or rather the condition of the interior of such known vessel cleaning machines, a mechanic climbs into the interior of the machine; before this is possible, the liquid contained in the immersion baths must be drained and some rows of cages must be removed from the machine, and this is disadvantageous. Moreover, due to the darkness and the extremely narrow spatial conditions, the examination of the interior by the mechanic is very unpleasant and it entails danger of accident, such as injuries by puddles of residual suds as well as the risk of bruising by the movable inner parts of the machine. Furthermore, the examination of the interior by the mechanic is very time-consuming.
Hence, it is the object of the present invention to further develop a machine of the type mentioned at the beginning in such a way that the interior of the vessel cleaning machine can be examined safely, reliably and rapidly.
In order to achieve this object, the present invention suggests that an inspection device should be arranged on the conveyor chain of the vessel cleaning machine according to the generic clause of claim 1. By means of said conveyor chain, the inspection device is transported through the interior of the vessel cleaning machine, the condition of the machine being continuously examined in the course of this process. The inspection device is ready for use even if the immersion baths have not been emptied. It is now no longer absolutely necessary to drain the immersion baths for examining the machine. A particularly advantageous aspect is, however, the safe, reliable and rapid performance of the examination of the interior of the vessel cleaning machine.
In order to permit a more effective execution of the examination of the vessel cleaning machine, one embodiment of the present invention is provided with the feature that the inspection device comprises at least one camera and/or a sensor including each an adequate display device. The sensors can operate according to completely different physical methods, e.g. as mechanical sensor means or contactless-operating sensors, such as electromagnetic or capacitive proximity sensors. It will be expedient when data transmission from the camera and/or sensor to the respective display device, e.g. a monitor, is effected in a continuous mode, said data transmission being preferably carried out by wireless transmission, e.g. by radio.
One variant of the present invention discloses the feature that the inspection device comprises at least one camera and/or a sensor and an adequate data memory arranged on said camera and on said sensor, respectively. Also signal lines can thus be dispensed with, whereby the structural design will be simplified. External energy supply lines will also be superfluous, provided that an energy store, e.g. a battery, is carried along with the data memory, the sensor or the camera.
In order to be able to establish a relationship between the measurement results and the interior of the vessel cleaning machine upon evaluating the data, it will be expedient to provide in the interior of the vessel cleaning machine marks which are adapted to be detected by the sensor or the camera. Repair work, which may perhaps be necessary, can thus be carried out purposefully at the right point. In order to permit less difficult repair work to be carried out immediately, a further development of the present invention is provided with the feature that the inspection device additionally includes a controllable device (manipulator) which serves to remedy simple defects.
A further development of the present invention is provided with the feature that at least one carrier means is replaceably arranged on the conveyor chain, said carrier means being constructed such that it is adapted to hold the inspection device. A carrier means which, for example, serves to hold a vessel cleaning device for cleaning the vessel cleaning machine itself can thus
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Krones AG Hermann Kronseder Maschinenfabrik
Stinson Frankie L.
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