Abstract:
An oxide and coating removal system includes a mobile gantry or transport system supporting an end effector and high energy waterjet rotating nozzles judiciously located relative to the surface of the vehicle and includes positioning mechanism for locating the nozzle discretely relative to the vehicle. An environmentally safe system serves to re-claim the effluent by removing the contaminated particles and returning the re-claimed water to the pumping system.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0001]    This invention relates to water jets and particular to water jets mounted on a mobile gantry or the like for removing coating and oxidation from transit vehicles.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    As one skilled in this technology appreciates, vehicles, such as trains, railcars, buses, shipping containers, trailers and the like, when treated for removal of oxidation and coatings these treatments are typically environmentally unsafe chemical, abrasive, scrubbing or mechanical processes. It is generally well known that these methods fail to completely de-coat and clean the surface and often are expensive and produce waste water and/or chemicals that require treatment or disposal.  
           [0003]    There are a sundry number of waterjet mechanisms that are discussed in the literature, as for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,517 granted to Knudson et al on Jun. 6, 1995 and entitled HIGH PRESSURE WATERJET NOZZLE; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,293 granted to Meredith et al on Nov. 26, 1996; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,713 granted to Butler et al on Jul. 14, 1998 entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ULTRA HIGH PRESSURE WATER JET PEENING. The earlier two patents being commonly assigned with this patent application to United Technologies Corporation directly or through a subsidiary as noted within the patent and the other patent is assigned to another company not associated with the assignee of this patent application. Essentially, these patents relate to nozzles for stripping the surface materials from a substrate or using high energy waterjet for working the surface of a material. In these types of mechanisms the nozzle operates over a relatively small surface and the surface or nozzle is moved to ultimately treat a larger surface. U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,517, supra, for example, describes a prior art waterjet system that is typically employed to remove for example the coatings applied to aircraft components, space vehicles used in outer space missions and the like. The high power waterjet nozzle of the type depicted in this patent includes mechanism for rotating a nozzle and when translated across a surface creates an array of jet streams discharging from orifices in a nozzle that defines a swath that is intended to uniformly strip the coating from the substrate. In particular an array of radially extended orifices located in the nozzle are dimensioned and located to define the amount of energy of the jet that provides the uniform stripping without incurring damage to the substrate.  
           [0004]    The U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,293, supra, for example, discloses another high pressure waterjet nozzle capable of use for stripping coatings, paint and the like from substrates or components. The nozzle in the structure depicted in this patent includes radially spaced orifices that communicate with a source of high pressure water and the end effector supporting the nozzle is gimbal mounted to provide the desired motion of the nozzle and hence, the swath of highly energized jet stream developed by the nozzle.  
           [0005]    The U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,713, supra, for example, discloses a nozzle with a single orifice that serves to discharge ultrahigh velocity waterjet that is utilized for peening the outer surface of an object so as to alter the properties of the material by localized compression and altering the crystal structure.  
           [0006]    This invention is not an automobile cleaning type of power unit that is mounted on a fixed structure or mobile gantry or a combination thereof, that cleans/waxes the surface of automobiles by spraying a liquid detergent and gently brushing the automobile and then, applying heat to dry the surface. In these mechanisms, a relatively low pressure water is ejected from a nozzle and the automobile is typically pulled by a motorized pulley or track through an array of nozzles and a brush is mounted on a gantry that rides over the automobile. Heating mechanism is associated with this mechanism for drying purposes.  
           [0007]    This invention is more concerned with the removal of oxidation and coatings that are securely affixed to the surface of the vehicle and which coatings are typically difficult to remove and for that reason this invention contemplates utilizing high energy water spray which has never been utilized for this purpose. According to this invention the de-coating and/or de-oxidizing is accomplished with a transporter device, such as a mobile gantry with multiple spray heads with specialized water jetting nozzles being fed from a high pressure water pump(s), having operator control mechanism and employing mechanism for treatment of the effluent materials. Transport mechanism is judiciously employed to align the nozzles in a particular relationship with the surface intended to be de-oxidized or/and de-coated. As will be discussed in more detail hereinbelow, this invention treats the entire vehicle at one time eliminating the time consuming and costly processes that have been heretofore employed.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    An object of this invention is to provide high energy waterjet mechanism operating over a relatively large surface for removing oxidizing or coatings from a vehicle such as a train, railcars, trucks, buses, shipping containers, trailers, and the like.  
           [0009]    A feature of this invention is to mount a plurality of movable nozzles movable relative to its support mechanisms on a transport mechanism or mobile gantry and supply a high energy water stream to the nozzles to produce a waterjet for removing oxides and coatings from a vehicle.  
           [0010]    Another feature of this invention is to mount the movable nozzles on a mobile gantry or the like and include motorized mechanism such as a ball screw actuator to position the nozzle relative to the surface intended to be de-oxidized and/or de-coated.  
           [0011]    Another feature of this invention to provide an improved waterjet oxide and coating removal system from a vehicle having control mechanism to control the relative distance of the nozzle from the surface of the vehicle, to position the gantry, and control the system from a control panel.  
           [0012]    Another feature of this invention is the provision of mechanism for capturing the effluent materials at the surface or in the facility where the treatment occurs and transporting the waste to a treatment center where the particles are removed in an environmentally safe atmosphere and manner.  
           [0013]    The foregoing and other features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of this invention;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 is a side view in elevation of the end effector with the movable nozzle for delivering a high energy waterjet to the vehicle intended to be treated with a portion of the shroud removed for view of the nozzle;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 is another embodiment of the end effector and nozzle illustrating another configuration for effectuating movement of the end effector;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4 exemplifies another embodiment of this invention where a less sophisticated system is shown for treatment to the side portion of the vehicle.; and  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 5 is a view in elevation of another embodiment exemplifying this invention. 
     
    
       [0019]    These figures merely serve to further clarify and illustrate the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope thereof.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0020]    While this invention is shown in its preferred embodiment for removing oxides and coatings from the substrate of a railcar and bus it should be understood that this invention is contemplated for use in the removal of other substances, as for example graffiti that is placed on the surface by different materials, and for use on other types of vehicles that may require different nozzle and gantry configurations.  
         [0021]    The invention can best be seen by referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 showing the high pressure waterjet nozzles generally illustrated by reference numeral  10  being supported by the end effector generally illustrated by reference numeral  12  which in turn is supported to the frame of the transport or mobile gantry  14 . The gantry  14  is supported to and rides on track or guide rail  16  via the wheel  18  that is rotated by a commercially available variable speed motor  20 . As is apparent from the Figs. the gantry traverses the rail and moves horizontally and parallel to the vehicle  22  being treated and carries the opposing vertical frame members  24  and the connecting bridge member  26 .  
         [0022]    The end effectors  12  mounted on the opposing sides of vehicle  22  are mounted on a vertical platform  30  that is supported to a guide rail affixed to the frame  24 . Air cylinder  32  supported on the gantry serves to position the platform  30  and hence the group of three or bank of nozzles  10  and end effectors  14  traverses vertically with respect to the vehicle  22 . Obviously, other types of actuators, such as hydraulic or electrical can be utilized in place of the air cylinder  32 ). The bridge  26  supports a plurality of nozzles  10  and end effectors  12  to treat the top of vehicle  22 . The electric cables, water and air hoses are suitably mounted in the frame in a well known manner and for the sake of convenience and simplicity, these details are not shown herein as one ordinarily skilled in this art would predicate the routing of these hoses and cables on the particular configuration of the waterjet treatment system being employed. A suitable and well known control console with the appropriate switches and control knobs or handles is contemplated for controlling the delivery of air, electrical and water mediums from the respective sources for movement and/or rotation of the various systems components.  
         [0023]    It is apparent from the foregoing and FIG. 1 that the vehicle being treated is placed in a treatment facility or garage and is supported over a well or maintenance pit where the effluent water and debris is collected. The pump  40  serves to remove this contaminated water from the pit and flow it to a treatment facility where the contamination is removed and the water is reclaimed for re-use in the waterjet system. The treated water and/or supplemental well or tap water is pressurized via pump(s)  42  to say 40,000 pounds per square inch (PSI) for return to the waterjet nozzles  10 . Obviously, because of the manner in which the vehicle is treated and the waste water collected, this invention lends itself to treating the effluent in an efficacious way so that the effluent is transported to a treatment system for removing the particles and contaminants in an environmentally safe manner.  
         [0024]    The details of the nozzle  10  and end effector  12  can best be seen by referring to FIG. 2 where the end effector  12  is suitably mounted on base member  44  supporting a suitable commercially available electric motor  45  driving a suitable commercially available ball drive assembly  46  that is rotary supported to the load bearing blocks  48  supported, in turn, to the base member  44  for rectilinearly translating the end effector  12  and nozzles  10  horizontally with respect to vehicle  22 . The triangular shaped support member  50  of the end effector  12  carries a suitable air driven motor  52  which, in turn, rotates the motor shaft  56  via gear  59  for transmitting rotary motion to the nozzle  10  via shaft  58  supported to a commercially available swivel connection for rotating nozzle  10 . Nozzle  10  comprises a plurality of orifices  60  axially facing the target and each orifice is fluidly connected to the nozzle&#39;s manifold  62  for ejecting the waterjet onto the surface of the vehicle being treated. The orifices  60  may be removable so that different aperture sizes can be replaced depending on the particular application of the removal mechanism. High pressure water, at say 40,000 PSI, is supplied to manifold  62  via the high pressure hose  64  that is suitably connected to the hollow shaft  58 . A shroud  66  surrounds the orifices  61  of nozzle  10  to contain the plume of water being ejected from the orifices  60 .  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 3 illustrates another configuration for positioning the end effector  12  and nozzle  10  noting that the duplicate reference numerals represent the same or similar elements in all of the Figures. In this embodiment, the electric motor  45  which drives the commercially available ball drive  70  is mounted in the rectangularly shaped housing  72 . A similarly shaped but smaller rectangular member  75  is supported in housing  72  by the sliding bearings  74  and  76 , where bearing  74  is attached to the outer surface of inner rectangular member  75  and bearing  76  is attached to the inner surface of housing  72 . As is apparent from the foregoing the actuation of motor rotates shaft  78  for translating the member  75  rectilinearly and, in turn, positioning the end effector  12  and nozzle  10  relative to the target. Similar to the embodiment in FIG. 2, the triangularly shaped support  50  supporting end effector  12  includes the air motor  52  driving gear  80  which, in turn, drives the driven gear  82  for rotating the swivel connector  84  for rotating the nozzle  10 .  
         [0026]    In operation, the vehicle is parked in the appropriate position in the maintenance pit and the operator actuates the system by pressing the appropriate button or switch in the control console. The gantry is moved to the starting position and the air, water and electrical utilities are actuated to provide the necessary water, air and electrical power to the system. The water and air pumps are actuated to generate the desired air and water pressures and the operator can then initiate the treatment process. The vertical waterjet nozzles are raised and lowered to the required position and then the gantry is translated horizontally. The rotating nozzles at some point in time in the beginning of the process are positioned via the ball drive relative to the surface of the vehicle and the system continues to operate until the treatment is completed. The nozzles may be repositioned during the operation, as required, either manually or by the use of well known and commercially available position sensors, not shown. Obviously, the effluent is removed from the pit and transported to the treatment center where it is treated and returned to the waterjet system.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 4 exemplifies another embodiment of this invention illustrating the removal equipment mounted on the wall within the area where a vehicle is being treated, and in this instance, the vehicle is bus  90 . The nozzle and end effector in this embodiment can be identical to the nozzle  10  and end effector  12  described in the embodiment disclosed in FIGS. 2 and 3. In this embodiment a rack and gear configuration generally illustrated by reference numeral  100  is utilized to provide the vertical movement of base member  44 . Horizontal movement, i.e. movement in and out of the paper as viewed in the Figs.) Is provided by a suitable well known and commercially available variable speed motor shown in blank as  102 , which drives wheels  109  on track  107  via a set of gears or chains and sprockets. The toothed rack  105  is supported to the vertical support  112 , which in turn, is supported to wheels  109  which ride on bottom track  107  mounted on the floor by the leg  106  and is also supported to the upper track  109 . The vertical support  112  is supported to wall  108  by bracket  110 . The commercially available motor and driven gear assembly shown generally by reference numeral  114  serves to position the base  44  and obviously the vertical position of the end effector  12  and nozzle  10 . The hose and cable (not shown) are supported in the carrier  116  and moves with the vertical support  112  and the motor assembly  102 . Obviously, any well known suitable controls, preferably mounted in a console, can be utilized to control the various mediums utilized in this system. It is apparent from the foregoing, in this embodiment the nozzle is positioned vertically and horizontally to treat one side of the bus. It is contemplated within the scope of this invention that multiple nozzles and end effectors can be utilized and an identical system can be mounted on the other side of the bus in the event that it is desirous to treat both sides of the bus at the same time.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 5 exemplifies another embodiment for treatment of, for example, a rail car utilizing a well known and commercially available scissor lift  130  that is suitably mounted on the parallel tracks  132  for positioning the scissor lift  130  and personnel carrier  134  horizontally relative to the vehicle  22 . The end effector and nozzle are identical to the configuration depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3 and it likewise may include the mechanism for moving the end effector  12  and nozzle  10  horizontally relative to the vehicle  22 . Similar to FIG. 4 the cable and hoses are mounted in carrier  116  which is mounted on a track to move with the scissor lift  134 .  
         [0029]    What has been shown by this invention is a complete self-contained oxide and coating removal treatment system for a vehicle and which system is a continuous operation and once, initiated the system is automatic or alternatively can be controlled by the operator to provide a sequential and continuous operation and is characterized as being relatively simple to operate, efficacious and relatively inexpensive in terms of time required for treatment of the vehicle. The system lends itself to purify the waste water in an environmentally clean atmosphere.  
         [0030]    Although this invention has been shown and described with respect to detailed embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated and understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed invention.