Method and device for emptying and washing refuse containers, and refuse vehicle equipped with such a device

Abstract: Method for both emptying and washing refuse containers (3) in, or respectively on, the same crushing device, such as a refuse truck (1). As a result of the fact that the loading cycle and the cleaning take place after one another, the required power can be delivered by a single motor; extra motor power is not necessary. The washing device used contains one or more (rotating) spray heads (11) for washing liquid, such as water, which can be turned away in a relatively narrow part of the space to which the refuse opening (6) provides access. For this purpose the head is located at the end of one of two arms (12,14), which can move in a shearing manner with regard to one another, controlled with the aid of a steel cable between the frame of the device (the truck) and the arm on which the head is located, for an adjusted length with adjusted fixation points.

Description: The invention relates to a refuse collection truck comprising a refuse trough at one of the sides of a loading space to receive refuse from a refuse container, which trough is provided with a container loading device, with means to move said refuse to the loading space and to compress it in said loading space, and with a container washing device comprising spraying means for spraying a washing liquid under pressure in said container once it is emptied. The present invention moreover relates to a method for emptying and washing refuse containers in which a container is emptied into a refuse trough at one of the sides of a loading space of a refuse truck and the inside of the container is cleaned with the aid of a cleaning liquid being sprayed therein under pressure, which liquid is removed from it, partly together with the removed dirt and is collected in a storage tank, at least for its majority. Such a method is customary for emptying the normal customary refuse containers, both the so-called rolling containers and the plastic containers, the so-called mini- containers: a full container is placed, after any cover has been removed, on a refuse opening which gives access to a loading trough in, for example, a refuse truck; the refuse then falls into the trough and is then carried from that trough to another space, for example the loading space of the refuse truck. In the refuse trucks which are customary at this time the refuse is brought from the trough to the loading space with the aid of a moving and compression mechanism. Such a mechanism consists of a so-called sleigh plate, a flat, plate-shaped plate which is mainly vertical, but which extends when seen from bottom to top in a small angle towards the loading space, on which a so-called pressure plate is fixed in a hinging manner on the lower side. The sleigh plate can be moved along a guide from top to bottom and vice-versa. The pressure plate is hingeable via a separate pressure plate cylinder. When refuse falls on the bottom of the trough the sleigh plate and the pressure plate are in a rest position, i.e.: the sleigh plate is drawn up as far as possible and the pressure plate is hinged as far as possible towards the loading space. The sleigh plate then moves downwards, naturally, together with the pressure plate, whereby the pressure plate hinges from the loading space in the direction of the refuse opening. When the sleigh plate has finally arrived at its lowest position the pressure plate is hinged in the direction of the loading space, so that it acts as a kind of "grabber". The refuse is then compressed in the loading space by the pressure plate. This entire operation is called the loading cycle. After the loading cycle has been completed the container is removed from the refuse opening and placed "on the street". The container is cleaned outside of the refuse truck. In doing so use is made of, for example, cleaning liquid, usually ordinary water, which, for example, is sprayed under pressure into the container, after which the washing liquid is removed from the container together with the dirt and stored. The separate cleaning of the container in this way, after it has been emptied, is experienced as an obstacle. In it therefore an object of the present invention to provide for a refuse collection truck of the kind described in the opening paragraph and a method for emptying and washing refuse containers which do not suffer from this drawback. The invention is based on the recognition that it is possible to both empty and compress the refuse and to clean the container immediately on the refuse truck. It seemed that this was not achievable in a good manner, as a result of the fact that the space in the trough, opposite the refuse opening, seemed to offer no possibilities for attaching the spray heads necessary for cleaning; it seemed that they would get in the way of the refuse tipping and the transport of the refuse after that. Furthermore, it also seemed that the additional motor power which is necessary to drive the, for example, rotating spray heads and the water pump could only be achieved at the expense of high extra investments in it and space for it. Yet, the invention overcomes these long standing prejudices. according to the invention a refuse collection truck of the kind described in the opening paragraph is characterized in that the spraying means comprise one or more removable spraying heads which are mounted at the end of a first arm which is pivotably connected at its opposite end to an end of a second arm which is pivotably connected at its opposite end near the top of the refuse trough extending downwards inside said trough, in that an end of a cylinder rod and a cylinder body of pneumatic cylinder are pivotably connected to the second arm and a body portion of the truck, and in that the length of both arms and the angle which they cover, between an extended and withdrawn position respectively, are adjusted to the available space and the intended position of the container opening in the refuse trough. At this instance it is noticed that a refuse truck which enables both the emptying and cleaning of refuse containers is in itself known from USP 3.901.255. This document describes a refuse truck of the so called top loader type in which containers are emptied directly in a open loading space. This truck however does not comprise any mechanism for moving refuse from a refuse trough to the loading space, which evidently adversely affects the maximum loading capacity of the truck. Moreover, after it has been emptied, a container should be moved to a separate cleaning site on top or aside of the truck where it is cleaned by means of a fixed spraying head projecting upwards. It will be clear that such a construction is entirely unsuitable for a refuse truck of the type the present invention is concerned with, as such a fixed spraying head would be completely crushed under the force of the compression mechanism. Apart from that, the necessary handling of the container from its position where it is emptied to the cleaning site requires additional time and accordingly reduces the container throughput. The invention on the other hand facilitates emptying and cleaning of the container at one and the same location. The invention moreover provides a method and an associated container washing device with which the aims which have been set are achieved, while the previously assumed objections nevertheless do not occur. To that end the method of the aforementioned kind is, according to the invention, for emptying and washing refuse containers in which a containers is emptied into a refuse trough at one of the sides of a loading space of a refuse truck and the inside of the container is cleaned with the aid of a cleaning liquid being sprayed therein under pressure, which liquid is removed therefrom, partly together with removed dirt and is collected in a storage tank, at least for its majority, said method being characterized in that, after the refuse has fallen in the refuse trough, it is moved from the refuse trough to a loading space in which it is compressed, in that a movable washing head is moved from a first position not in front of the opening of the refuse container to a second position in front of the opening of the container by which the interior of the container is cleaned and in that the movement and compression of the refuse, the movement of said washing head, the further emptying and cleaning of the container and the collection of dirty cleaning liquid are separately performed in consecutive steps, the power required for the various process steps being delivered by the same motor. By carrying out said process steps after one another it is possible to have the power which is required for all this delivered by the same motor. This means that a main objection against the implementation of the cleaning process immediately on the refuse truck is removed. The objections which there are with regard to the available space can be solved according to the invention with the aid of measures of a constructive nature. Naturally, when the refuse trucks also clean the containers, space must be found for the necessary tanks; both for the washing liquid and the used dirty water. The present invention also provides a solution for this. The problems of a constructive nature are solved according to the invention by using a container washing device, containing one or more tanks for the storage of washing liquid, means to spray the washing liquid under pressure into a container, such as a liquid pump and one or more spray heads, and means to remove the dirty water. The device is furthermore characterized to that end in that it can be built into the customary refuse trucks, which are equipped with a container loading device and a mechanism to remove the refuse which has fallen from the container from the trough and to compress it in a loading space, in that it is equipped with one or more spray heads, which are hung in a manner in which they can be turned away opposite the refuse opening, to this end a spray head is mounted at the end of a first arm, which is attached at its other end hinging around a first hinge to (the end of) a second arm, which is equipped at its other end with a second hinge with a hinge axis, parallel to that of the first hinge, which second hinge is equipped with means to attach it to the body of the refuse truck, and the second arm is equipped with means to attach it, hinging around a third hinge, with a hinge axis parallel to that of the other said hinges, with the cylinder rod of a pneumatic driving mechanism, the cylinder of which is equipped with means to attach it, hinging around a fourth hinge, with a hinge axis parallel to the other said hinge axes, to the body of a refuse truck, whereby the length of both arms and the angle which they cover, in the extended and withdrawn position of the cylinder respectively, are adjusted to the space which is present in the construction of a particular refuse truck and the position of the opening for the container. In the case of such a washing device, if mounted in the space of which the bottom side forms the trough, i.e.: seen from the side of the truck which contains the refuse opening in front of the sleigh plate, one can therefore ensure that during the loading cycle the spray heads are not situated in front of the refuse opening, and that when that cycle is finished, that this is indeed the case: then the cleaning of the container can begin. As a result of the fact that both the pneumatic power source and the both arms and the spray head(s) can be located mainly in a single plane, the mechanically movable part of the device concerned takes up relatively little space and it can be built into the majority of the refuse trucks which are in use. This building-in can be achieved in a simple manner, via, for example, two attachment points, one for the attachment of the cylinder of the pneumatic power source and one for the attachment of "second hinge" mentioned above. One must ensure that the most extreme positions of the pneumatic power source correspond with the desired positions of the spray head(s). That means that both the length of the arms and the manner in which they are "folded up", or "folded open", respectively, by the power source must be adjusted to the dimensions of the space concerned. The desired adjustment of the most extreme positions of the arms, and therewith the place which the spray head(s) assume(s), is ensured in a simple manner, according to a further characteristic of the device according to the invention, as a result of the fact that the angle which is covered by both arms is determined by a steel cable or such like, which is attached at one end to the body of the refuse truck and which runs, via a guide mounted on the second arm, to a attachment point on the first arm, and the length of which corresponds with the angles which one desires the arms to cover in the case of a cylinder rod which is extended or withdrawn, respectively. The attachment of the ends of the steel cable to the arms must, in order to ensure a good leverage effect, be located at some distance from the end of the first arm. The invention includes refuse trucks of the type described, in which a container washing device according to the invention has been built-in. The clean water tank(s) is (are) preferably located in front of, that is to say on the side turned away from the trough, and at the bottom of the loading space, and the dirty water tank(s) is (are) located above them. In this manner the expulsion cylinder remains easily accessible for checks and maintenance. The stabilization of the construction of the truck is also guaranteed, both with full clean water tanks and with will dirty water tanks and a full loading space. Customary tank contents are, for example, 1000 litres per tank. If more than one clean and/or dirty water tanks are built into a truck, they are preferably coupled as communicating vessels, and a collection of casks is equipped with a level viewing glass. The washing device in a refuse truck according to the invention generally has two rotating spray heads next to one another. For cleaning rolling containers this is a good solution. If mini-containers must be cleaned, the use of one washing head is sufficient; one washing head is then turned- off. Therefore, a washing device for a refuse truck according to the invention is preferably equipped with two or more spray heads, constructed in such a manner that the possibility exists to turn-off at least one spray head. In order to guarantee that the washing force and the water consumption, and thus the washing result, is constant for each washing head, also if one or more washing heads are turned-off, the device is equipped for example with a circuit through which the liquid which is not used is led back to the clean water tank, whereby the circuit has a resistance for liquid which is approximately equal to that of the washing head(s) which has (have) been turned-off. During the washing, washing liquid, together with dirt which has been sprayed loose, falls into the trough. Therefore, after washing, there is dirty washing water and refuse sediment in the trough. In a subsequent loading cycle the washing liquid with the refuse sediment is moved together with the newly introduced refuse to the loading space and compressed there. The washing liquid which has also come along then flows out of the loading space back into the trough and ends up in the dirty washing liquid which is already present there. In order to ensure that the washing liquid level in the trough does not become too high, then according to the invention the bottommost part of the trough is preferably equipped, at a certain height above the bottom, with an overflow opening with a filter rooster, which opens up into a container area situated behind the trough, in which a level switch is located which activates a pump when a certain liquid level has been reached, which pumps the dirty water to the dirty water tank. The power which is necessary for this pumping is also taken from the same motor, which is used for the other processes on the truck, and not simultaneously with those other processes. Extra motor power is therefore not necessary. The invention will be explained further with the aid of the drawings in which, schematically and then in vertical cross section: fig. 1-5 the steps of the loading cycle which occur successively, with the subsequent cleaning, are shown; fig. 6 shows the overflow construction at the bottom of the trough; fig. 7-8 show the washing device with the spray head in the position in which it is turned away, and in the operational position, respectively. In fig. 1, 1 is the body of a refuse truck, of which a wheel 2 is drawn. A refuse container 3 is placed on the refuse opening 4, through which the refuse falls into the loading trough 5 at the bottom of the refuse catching area 6. In the refuse catching area 6 there is a plate 7 which can be moved (with the aid of a hydraulic driving mechanism) in the sleigh along guide 8. The pressure plate 9 is attached to this sleigh plate 7 in a hinging manner around hinge 10. Also situated in the refuse catching area 6 is the washing device, of which the following are drawn here: the washing head 11, which is mounted to the end of a - first - arm 12, which is attached in a hinging manner around hinge 13 to a - second - arm 14, which is attached at its other end, hinging around hinge 15, to the body of the truck. The pressure plate 9 has been pulled-up by the sleigh plate 7 and leaves the loading trough 5 and the access thereto free for the refuse which falls out of the container 3. The washing head 11 is located in the position in which it is turned away, that is to say: it is not located in front of the refuse opening 4 and is therefore not an obstacle for the refuse which falls through there from the container 3 into the trough 5. When the refuse has fallen into the trough 5, the sleigh plate 7 moves along the guide 8 in the direction 16 - see fig. 2 - downwards. The pressure plate 9 is turned - hydraulically driven - around hinge 10 in the direction 17. In practise pressure plate 9 is, of course, first turned and then sleigh plate 7 is moved. The washing head 11 remains in the position in which it is turned away. After this, the pressure plate 9 is hinged back again in the direction 18 - see fig. 3. The refuse in the trough 5 is then moved by the pressure plate 9 to the loading space 19, in which it is compressed, as a result of the fact that the sleigh plate 7 is moved in the direction 20. The refuse has now been removed from the trough 5 and the container 3 is empty. The washing head 11 is then brought in front of the refuse opening. In the drawing only one washing head had been drawn, but in practise two or more of such rotating spray heads are always present, of which, if 3 is a mini-container, only one is used. The container 3 can now be cleaned with the aid of washing liquid which is sprayed from the washing head 11. The dirt then falls together with the washing liquid into the trough 5. When the container has been cleaned in this manner the washing head 11 is turned away again from the refuse opening 4. This is shown in fig. 5. The situation according to fig. 5 is once again the starting situation according to fig. 1. The container is removed and a following loading cycle can begin. In the trough 5 the dirt and cleaning liquid will mix to a certain degree. When the liquid level in the trough 5 has reached a certain height 21, then it will flow off via the overflow opening 22 equipped with a filter from the trough 5. The liquid is then collected in a collecting vessel and when a certain quantity of liquid has collected in that vessel, will be pumped away to the dirty water tank present in the refuse truck. Fig. 7 shows the washing device in more detail. The washing head 11, which contains a rotating spray part 23, is attached to the end of a first arm 12. That arm 12 is attached via hinge 13 to a second arm 14, which is connected via hinge 15 to the truck body. The arm 14 is connected via a hinging connection 24 with the cylinder rod 25 of the hydraulic driving mechanism 26. The cylinder of that driving mechanism is connected via hinge 27 with the body of the truck. In order to be able to turn-away the washing head 11 from the refuse opening, the arm 14 of the cylinder rod 25 is moved upwards. In order to ensure that the washing head then moves in the relatively narrow space which is available between the refuse opening 4 and the sleigh plate 7, both arms 12 and 14 must move in a shearing manner with regard to one another. That means that the arm 12 must be "lifted" more or less in comparison with the arm 14. For this purpose use is made of a steel cable 28. This is attached with its one end 29 to a part 30 of the body. Via the guide 31 - in the case which is drawn: a roller -, attached on the arm 14 the cable 28 is attached at 32 to the arm 12. By choosing the length, the place of the guide 31 and the attachment place 32 well, the movement of the head 11 can be "steered" through the relevant part of the catching space 6. Figure 8 shows the washing device in the operational position. The washing head 11 is located in the operational position in the case of an entirely extended cylinder axis. As a result d the force d gravity alone it will, it there is no counter-active force, "fall" into the operational position. The cable 28 ensures that the operational position of the head 11 is always the same, even if another "stop", such as may be attached for example to the hinge 13 - see drawing - does not or no longer lead(s) to a particular desired operational position.

Claims: Refuse collection truck (1,2) comprising a refuse trough (5) at one of the sides of a loading space (19) to receive refuse from a refuse container (3), which trough (5) is proved with a container loading device, with means (7-10) to move said refuse to the loading space and to compress it in said loading space, and with a container washing device comprising spraying means (11) for spraying a washing liquid under pressure in said container once it is emptied, characterized in that the spraying means comprise one or more removable spraying heads (11) which are mounted at the end of a first arm (12) which is pivotably connected at its opposite end to an end of a second arm (14) which is pivotably connected at its opposite end near the top of the refuse trough extending downwards inside said trough, in that an end of a cylinder rod and a cylinder body of pneumatic cylinder (25) are pivotably connected to the second arm and a body portion of the truck, and in that the length of both arms (12,14) and the angle which they cover, between an extended and withdrawn position respectively, are adjusted to the available space and the intended position of the container opening (4) in the refuse trough. Refuse truck according to claim 1 characterized in that said angle, covered by both said arms in an extended and withdrawn position respectively, is determined by a cable (28) of pre-determined length which at one end (29) is attached to the body (30) of the refuse truck and at the opposite end to the first arm (12), running over a guide (31) mounted on the second arm (14). Refuse truck according to claim 1 or 2 characterized in that it is provided with means to collect dirty washing liquid and to store it in a dirty washing liquid tank which is located above a clean washing liquid tank at the front end of the bottom of the loading space. Refuse truck according to claim 3 characterized in that it comprises several clean washing liquid tanks and/or several dirty washing liquid tanks which are mutually interconnected like communicating vessels and are proved with a viewing glass. Refuse truck according to any of the preceding claims characterized in that the container washing device comprises a number of spraying heads, at least one of them being switchable between an open and a closed state, and in that the switchable spraying head is provided with a shunt circuit of approximately the same resistance as the spraying head itself for feeding any washing liquid destined for said spraying head back to the clean washing liquid tank in case of a closed state of said at least one spray head. Refuse truck according to any of the preceding claims characterized in that the refuse trough comprises at its bottom at a certain height above the floor an overflow opening (22) prodded with a rooster filter, which opens up into a collecting area situated behind the trough proved with a level switch for activating a pump capable of pumping the collected dirty washing liquid to the dirty washing liquid tank on reaching a certain liquid level in said collecting area. Container washing device intended to be used in the refuse truck according to any of the preceding claims. Method for emptying and washing refuse containers in which a container (3) is emptied into a refuse through (5) at one of the sides of a loading space (19) of a refuse truck (1,2) and the inside of the container is cleaned with the aid of a cleaning liquid being sprayed therein under pressure, which liquid is removed therefrom, partly together with removed dirt and is collected in a storage tank, at least for its majority, characterized in that, after the refuse has fallen in the refuse trough, it is moved from the refuse trough to a loading space in which it is compressed, in that a movable washing head is moved from a first position not in front of the opening of the refuse container to a second position in front of the opening of the container by which the interior of the container is cleaned and in that the movement and compression of the refuse, the movement of said washing head, the further emptying and cleaning of the container and the collection of dirty cleaning liquid are separately performed in consecutive steps, the power required for the various process steps being delivered by the same motor.

Inventors: BRAKEL PIETER JOHANNES VAN, VAN BRAKEL, PIETER JOHANNES
Applicants: BEKKER L J HOLDING, L.J. BEKKER HOLDING B.V.
Application year: 1993
Main classification: B65F7
IPC codes: B65F7, B08B9