Patent ID: 9227232
Filing Date: 2016-01-05
CPC Classification: B08B

Claim Text:
1. A system for monitoring a tank cleaning process, the system comprising: a tank cleaning device having a single shaft linked to a spray head mechanism via a gearing mechanism, said single shaft being driven by an actuator that causes rotation of the single shaft about a drive axis, wherein rotation of the single shaft causes rotation of the spray head mechanism about the drive axis and a second axis disposed perpendicular to the drive axis such that at least one orifice of the spray head mechanism follows a helical path having a circular shape that rotates about the drive axis and that is predetermined based on parameters of the gearing mechanism to provide non-overlapping, equally spaced latitudinal traverses of a spray jet into the interior of the tank; a rotational detector affixed to the single shaft to provide a position signal associated with the single shaft that is translatable to a position of the spray head mechanism about each axis of rotation thereof through multiple complete rotations of the single shaft, wherein the position signal indicates the specific degree of rotation of the single shaft from a starting orientation; a controller programmed and configured to control the rotation of the shaft, and thus the spray head, to adjust, at a given location along the predetermined path, at least one of a stream dwell time and a pressure of the cleaning fluid, and to monitor a tank cleaning cycle by executing the following process: