Method and apparatus for picking up seaweed and other litter

Seaweed is picked up from the surface of a beach with general purpose earth moving machinery by installing a series of fingers extending forwardly and downwardly from the blade or bucket of the machine. By driving the machine forwardly along the beach, the fingers pass through the sand and seaweed on the beach travels up the incline of the fingers. The fingers accordingly act as a separator to separate most of the seaweed from most of the sand. Several embodiments of each moving machines are adapted for seaweed handling or removal.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for picking up seaweed and other litter off a beach.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wind, waves and tides deposit a wide variety of seaweed, debris and the like on beaches. In tourist areas, considerable effort is spent in cleaning beaches to make them tidy, attractive and pleasant. Because these cleaning efforts can be labor intensive and thereby costly, special purpose machines have been proposed to dig up part of the sand on the surface and pass it through a screening device to remove debris, as shown in U.S. Pat Nos. 2,627,712 and 4,050,518.

Efficiently picking up and disposing of seaweed is an altogether different proposition than screening sand to remove debris. The quantity of seaweed deposited on a beach is a function of how much seaweed is in the water and how fast the seaweed is being driven toward the beach. Fortunately, seaweed is deposited on beaches periodically, often in a seasonal pattern. The distribution of seaweed on the beach is more a function of the tides because any seaweed deposited will be between the high and low tide. In an area where tides are not large, as in the western Gulf of Mexico, seaweed will be deposited in a relatively narrow band. Similarly, in areas where tidal movements are larger but the slope of the beach is relatively steep, seaweed will be deposited in a narrow band. In locations where tidal movement is large, seaweed will be deposited in a wider band, the upper end of which is the high tide and the lower end of which is water level.

To date, the known technique for removing seaweed is to use a front end loader, scrape the seaweed and a few inches of sand off the surface, put the material in a dump truck and haul it to a convenient site, usually near the dune line. This type operation is relatively slow and thus relatively expensive. A typical operation comprises one front end loader, two or three dump trucks and the necessary operators and supervisors. Depending on the amount of seaweed involved, experienced crews of this size can typically clean two-tenths of a mile of beach per eight hour day. An inspection of the sand-seaweed piles shows that the major proportion of the hauled material is sand.

The fingers of this invention appear superficially similar to root rakes which are attached to bull dozer blades for the purpose of uprooting brush and small trees. These root rakes are typically attached to pivot connections at the top of the bull dozer blade and extend in front of the blade.

Other disclosures relevant to this invention are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 349,685; 891,709; 3,762,577 and 4,768,331.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In this invention, general purpose motorized earth moving machinery is equipped with an attachment on the earth working blade that provides a series of long, tine like downwardly inclined fingers. The vehicle is driven along the beach with the earth working blade lowered so the fingers extend into the sand by at least an inch or so. If seaweed is the only litter to be picked up, the fingers may be fairly widely spaced apart, e.g. one foot. If other litter is intended to be picked up, the fingers will be spaced closer, e.g. every three inches on centers. The seaweed or other litter is pushed up the incline of the fingers by the forward movement of the vehicle, leaving the sand behind thereby separating most of the seaweed or litter from most of the sand.

In one embodiment of this invention, the earth moving vehicle is a scraper, preferably of the type incorporating an elevating paddle assembly. The fingers attach to the scraper blade and inclined downwardly away from the bowl. By driving the scraper along the beach with the scraper blade above the sand surface and the fingers in the sand, seaweed or other litter is separated from the bulk of the sand at the fingers and the seaweed or litter moves upwardly into the scraper bowl. The elevating paddle assembly pushes the seaweed or litter rearwardly into the bowl. When the bowl is more-or-less full, the scraper drives to a disposal area and the seaweed or litter is dumped, using the mechanism of the scraper to do so.

In another embodiment of this invention, the earth moving vehicle is a motor grader or maintainer. The fingers attach to the blade in a similar manner and incline downwardly from the blade. By driving a motor grader equipped with this invention along the beach with the blade at an angle, the seaweed or other litter accumulates in windrows parallel to the direction of movement of the motor grader and may be picked up in a conventional manner or the motor grader can traverse the beach again, moving the windrow landward. Because the blade is at an angle, the fingers are inclined at an acute angle to the blade so the fingers are parallel to the direction of movement of the motor grader.

In another embodiment of this invention, the earth moving vehicle is a front end loader. The fingers attach to the bucket in a desirable fashion, such as being received in the teeth sockets. Rather than scoop up large quantities of sand, the fingers separate most of the seaweed or other litter from most of the sand before the seaweed or litter enters the bucket.

A trial of this invention using a conventional elevating scraper equipped with fingers designed to pick up seaweed showed that the proportion of sand in the pile is very low, i.e. there is little or no loose sand and the only sand found in a sand-seaweed pile are sand grains sticking to the seaweed.

The method of this invention is inserting a series of inclined fingers carried by a motorized vehicle into the sand of a sandy beach, driving along the beach and separating seaweed or other litter from the sand on the fingers while transporting the seaweed or litter upwardly along the fingers.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for removing seaweed or other litter from a beach.

Another object of this invention is to provide a machine for removing seaweed or other litter from a beach.

A further object of this invention is to provide an attachment for a general purpose earth moving machine to convert it for removing seaweed or litter from a beach.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent as this description proceeds, reference being made to the accompanying drawings and appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring toFIGS. 1-7, there is illustrated a seaweed removing device10of this invention which uses a general purpose earth working device known as a scraper12which has been converted to efficiently remove seaweed14from a sandy beach16bordering a body of water which periodically deposits litter on the beach. The scraper12may be any suitable type and is illustrated as comprising a bowl18mounted on a wheeled frame20pulled by a tractor (not shown). Conventional scrapers comprise either an apron or an elevating paddle assembly22on the front of the bowl18. The paddle assembly22conveniently piles seaweed up in the bowl18as will be more fully apparent hereinafter. Conventional scrapers include means for emptying the bowl18, either in the form of a pusher which is normally hydraulically driven forwardly in the bowl or by providing a retractable bowl bottom wall or floor24.

Many types and sizes of conventionally available scrapers are usable in this invention, such as are made by Caterpillar Inc. of Peoria, Ill., Clarendon Manufacturing and Distribution Co. of Clarendon, Tex. and Deere & Co., Inc. of Moline, Ill. More complete descriptions of conventional scrapers are found in publications of the manufacturers. A particularly desirable scraper is a Clarendon Model24because it is a 4 cubic yard scraper that can be towed behind a modest farm tractor.

Conventional scrapers12include an earth working blade26removably attached to the forward end of the bowl18for cutting a few inches of material from the surface of the earth. In this invention, a plurality of tines or fingers28are attached to the blade support30, either with the blade26on or off. It is preferred to leave the blade26on because any wear that occurs is on the blade26rather than on the support30. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that different manufacturers may have different blade support designs but all blade supports have the ability to remove and therefore replace the blade26. All blades26include openings32receiving threaded fasteners such as bolts or machine screws34captivating the blades26to the blade support30. An important feature of this invention is to use the openings32to attach the tines28of this invention.

As shown inFIGS. 3-4, a typical blade support30includes a backing member or plate36affixed at an obtuse angle38to the bottom24of the scraper12. A series of gussets40are welded to the underside of the bottom24and to the plate36along the open end of the scraper bowl18thereby stiffening the plate36and the bowl bottom24adjacent the plate36. Between the gussets40are pairs of openings42which align with the openings32to receive the bolts43and thereby clamp the blade26to the plate36. It will be seen that the bolts43have to be longer than the bolts34to accommodate the additional thickness of the plate50.

In this invention, the tines28are attached to the blade26and/or the blade support30by removing the bolts34, placing the tines28on the blade26or the blade support30and installing the new bolts43. It will be apparent that the blade26may be removed if desired. To this end, the tines28comprise a ground engaging or earth working end44, a support end46receiving the bolts43and a hook or slot forming member48for receiving the blade26and/or the plate36. The tine28is typically made of metal to provide a strong, durable implement. Looked at in another way, the finger comprises an earth working tip, a support end, a main body section extending from the tip to the support end and a slot forming member48. The support end46includes a flat plate50having openings52sized and spaced to align with the openings32,42and receive the bolts43. One or more gussets or braces54strengthen the plate50and allow the bolts43to extend through the tines28and receive nuts (not shown). The hook or slot forming member48is spaced from an edge56an appropriate distance to receive the blade26and/or plate36and thereby brace the tine28against forces tending to rotate the tine28in the direction shown by the arrow58in FIG.5. It will be evident that the design of the blade supports30and the size and spacing of the fasteners34of different manufacturers may differ substantially. Thus, it may be necessary to provide different designs of the support end46of the fingers28to accommodate the different designs of different manufacturers.

As illustrated inFIG. 6, the plate50is above the plane of the bottom of the slot provided by the slot forming member48. This means, as illustrated, the slot is large enough to receive the blade26and the support plate36. To make the finger28fit more snugly on the blade26and support plate36, the slot may be made narrower with the plate50being recessed so it is more-or-less flush with the bottom of the slot.

Seaweed is obviously plant material and tends to be long and slender. Thus, the fingers28may be relatively widely spaced and still pick up most of the seaweed. The blade supports30of conventional scrapers typically space the openings32in the range of 6″-18″ apart laterally along the width of the bowl18. Fortuitously, this spacing works well for picking up seaweed with the fingers28.

With the tines28attached to the forward end of the bowl18, the seaweed removing device10is driven along a sand beach16littered with seaweed. The scraper bowl18is lowered by manipulation of hydraulic cylinders on the scraper12in a conventional manner to lower the tines28so they pass a few inches into the sand. Seaweed14on the beach16rides up the incline of the edges60provided by the ground engaging ends44of the fingers28thereby leaving most of the sand behind on the beach16. Thus, the tines28have a separating function to remove most of the seaweed14and leave behind most of the sand. The paddle assembly22is actuated at an appropriate time to push seaweed upwardly over the pile of seaweed in the bowl18so the bowl18fills in much the same manner that the bowl would be filled with earth material in a conventional operation. When the bowl18is full, the operator raises the bowl18so the fingers28come upwardly out of the sand. The operator then drives to a convenient dump location and discharges the seaweed from the bowl18as shown in FIG.2. In the conventional paddle assembly scraper12shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, this is accomplished by retracting the bottom wall or floor24and driving through the dump area, typically operating the paddle assembly22in reverse to facilitate forward movement of the seaweed.

A trial of this invention has been conducted as described. A 4000′ long and 8′ wide swath of beach was cleaned in 70 minutes. The scraper bowl had a capacity of 13 cubic yards and was filled a number of times. The loads of seaweed were simply driven to the dune line and dumped in a long path. An inspection of the seaweed piles showed very little free sand was discharged at the dump locations. There was some sand sticking to the seaweed but the proportion of transported sand to seaweed was a small fraction of prior art cleaning techniques. It is apparent that the length of time necessary to clear a beach of seaweed depends, in part, on the volume of seaweed per unit area because the device10has to drive to the dump location and discharge the load before starting again on the beach. This same factor obviously affects conventional cleaning techniques. People experienced in cleaning seaweed from beaches using conventional techniques estimate that a 13 cubic yard capacity bowl18equipped with the seaweed removing fingers28of this invention is capable of cleaning many miles of beach per day compared to two tenths of a mile per day with conventional techniques.

Referring toFIGS. 1,2and7, a drag bar assembly62is provided on the end of the device10to smooth the furrows dug in the sand beach16by the fingers28. The drag bar assembly62comprises a frame64pivoted onto the rear of the device10by a pivot connection66. A pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder68, under the control of the operator, is used to raise and lower the frame64and thereby position a drag element70on the surface of the sand beach. The drag element70may comprise a rigid pipe72connected to the frame64by chains74or may simply comprise a chain.

Referring toFIG. 8, another feature of this invention is illustrated. Experienced scraper operators typically adjust the position of the earth working blade26and the speed of the scraper12in response to a judgment of the load on the scraper motor. For example, if the scraper motor is struggling, it means that too deep a cut is being made so the bowl18is raised or it means the scraper is going too fast so the scraper is slowed. Similarly, if the scraper motor is coasting, it means that too shallow a cut is being made so the bowl18is lowered or it means the scraper is going too slow and the scraper speed is increased. This time honored technique doesn't work well when removing seaweed because the load on the scraper motor is never very much.

As shown inFIG. 8, an indicator76is provided having a mast or brace78fixed to the bowl18so it is rigid with the blade support30. The brace78may be fixed to the bottom wall24or to some component that is fixed to the blade support36or may be fixed to a side wall80of the bowl18so that when the bottom wall24is lowered to an earth engaging position, the distance between the blade support36and a pointer82is known. The indicator76preferably includes an adjustable joint84for purposes more fully apparent hereinafter.

Mounted on a main arm86or other fixed point on the frame20is a member88having a second pointer or mark90cooperating with the pointer82. It will be apparent that the relationship between the pointers82,90is an indication of the depth of the fingers28. The indicator76may be calibrated simply by plunging the fingers28into the sand to what is a desired depth and adjusting the joint84so the pointers82,90align.

Referring toFIGS. 9-10, there is illustrated a modification of the seaweed removing device10so it is also capable of picking up litter off the beach16. The problem with using the device10ofFIGS. 1-7to pick up litter is that the fingers28are so far apart that most of the litter passes between the fingers28along with the sand and is not moved up the incline of the edges60into the bowl18.

To overcome this defect and provide more closely spaced fingers28that are connected to the blade support30, an assembly92is provided as shown inFIGS. 9 and 10.FIG. 9will be seen to be similar toFIG. 5except that at least one additional finger28′ is provided between the fingers28, the finger28′ not being secured by fasteners43to the blade26and blade support30.

The fingers28,28′ may be identical if that is convenient or the finger28′ may be made with the support end46missing. Making the fingers28,28′ identical has an advantage because the plate50will abut the back of the support plate36thereby assisting to prevent rotation of the finger28′ even though it is not bolted up. The fingers28,28′ include a passage94receiving a rod96extending along the width of the blade26sufficient to pass through all of the fingers28,28′. The ends of the rod96are stabilized in any convenient manner, as by the provision of nuts or keepers98on the ends. Thus, the rods96support the intermediate fingers28′ from moving downwardly off the blade26. Suitable pipe shims100are positioned between the fingers28,28′ and prevent the fingers28′ from moving laterally along the rod96. It will be seen that any reasonable number of intermediate fingers28′ may be placed between the fingers28by selecting pipe shims100of suitable lengths. The hooks48′ of the fingers28′ prevent the fingers28′ from rotating in the direction shown by the arrow102.

By using the additional intermediate fingers28′, the spacing between the fingers may be made close enough to pickup man-made litter or debris. The narrower spacing between the fingers does not detract from the ability of the device10to pick up seaweed because the fingers are spaced apart sufficiently so that unconsolidated sand passes between the fingers. Thus, a minimum spacing between the edges of the fingers is on the order of about 1″.

Referring toFIG. 12, there is illustrated a motorized wheeled or tracked front end loader104having a bucket106mounted on suitable pivoted arms108. The bucket106includes a bottom wall110having a blade support112providing an attachment for a detachable earth engaging blade114. The blade114is secured to the blade support112by a series of laterally spaced threaded fasteners116passing through aligned openings118,120in the blade114and blade support112. The similarity between the blades and blade supports of the scraper12and the front end loader104will be apparent.

A plurality of laterally spaced fingers122are preferably attached to the blade114and blade support112although the blade114could be removed if desired. The fingers122provide a ground engaging end124, a support end126receiving the suitable fasteners116and a hook or slot forming member128for receiving the blade26and/or the blade support plate36. Thus, in its simplest form, the fingers122could be identical to the fingers28. The disadvantage would be that the bucket106would have to be tilted to incline the fingers28which would reduce the capacity of the bucket106. To overcome this disadvantage, the ground engaging end124of the finger122is preferably at an obtuse angle130relative to the support end126. Although any suitable angle may be selected, conveniently, the angle130is about 135°. For a seaweed only pick up function, the fingers122should be about 6-18″ apart. It will be apparent that intermediate fingers, as shown inFIGS. 9-11, may be used between the fingers122to provide a litter pick up function. For a seaweed or little pick up function, the fingers122should be closer together, but not closer than about 1″ between edges.

Referring toFIGS. 13-14, there is illustrated part of a conventional motorized wheeled motor grader132that has been modified to pile seaweed and/or litter in a windrow. The motor grader132is of a conventional type having a blade assembly134mounted on a central hub136for rotation about an axis138. The central hub136typically has gear teeth140on the circumference that mesh with a suitable motor (not shown) for rotating the hub136and thereby positioning the blade assembly134at a desired angle142to the direction of travel144in order to windrow seaweed or other litter. Suitable arms146connect to blocks or pivot connections148for tilting the blade assembly134about a horizontal axis extending in the direction of travel as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. A conventional motor grader132also has the capability of tilting the blade assembly134about a horizontal axis150perpendicular to the direction of travel, the horizonal axis150typically being forward of the blade assembly134.

As shown inFIG. 14, a conventional motor grader blade assembly134includes a mold board152, a replaceable earth working blade154with a blade support156and fasteners connecting the blade154to the mold board152. To convert the motor grader132to a seaweed windrowing device, a series of fingers158are attached to the blade support156, using fasteners160preferably without removing the blade154, in the manner previously described. It will be seen that lowering the fingers28into the sand beach16and driving along the direction of travel144will cause seaweed to stack up in a windrow at the rearward edge of the blade assembly134. By placing intermediate fingers between the fingers secured to the blade support156, as inFIGS. 9-11, the motor grader132can be modified to windrow man-made litter along with seaweed.

An important feature of this invention is that the fingers158extend in the direction of travel144rather than perpendicular to the blade assembly134or perpendicular to the blade support156. To this end, a forward or ground engaging end162of the finger158extends at the angle142relative to the blade assembly134. This means the fingers158are positioned parallel to the direction of travel and act like tines or fingers. If the fingers158were perpendicular to the blade assembly134, all of the fingers taken together would act like a blade in front of the blade assembly134and create substantial drag on the motor grader132, interfere with the seaweed or little windrowing operation and provide no beneficial effect.

For a seaweed only windrowing function, the fingers should be about 6-18″ apart. It will be apparent that intermediate fingers, as shown inFIGS. 9-11, may be used between the fingers to provide a litter pick up function. For a seaweed or little pick up function, the fingers should be closer together, but not closer than about 1″ between edges.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that bull dozers have the capability of angularly adjusting the blade relative to the direction of travel. Thus, the fingers158may be attached to a bull dozer blade and aligned with the direction of travel in the same manner that they are attached to a motor grader blade.

Although this invention has been disclosed and described in its preferred forms with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred forms is only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of operation and in the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.