Patent Publication Number: US-2009223013-A1

Title: Water delivery and vacuum retrieval system

Description:
ORIGIN OF THE INVENTION  
     Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119, the benefit of priority from provisional application 61/068,774, with a filing date of Mar. 10, 2008, is claimed for this non-provisional application. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
     The invention relates generally to pressure washing systems, and more particularly to a water delivery and vacuum retrieval system used to supply a pressure washing system with water and retrieve wastewater generated by the pressure washing system. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
     The cleaning of hard surfaces (e.g., concrete, asphalt, aggregate, etc.) is an issue for cities/municipalities, businesses, and the military. Cities/municipalities need to clean their streets, sidewalks and parking lots. Businesses need to clean their hard-floor warehouses and factories, as well as their sidewalks and parking lots. The military needs to maintain the cleanliness of its posts/bases, to include airstrips and tarmacs. 
     Over time, all of the above-noted surfaces get stained from a variety of natural and man-made substances. Most of the man-made substances are dried liquids that drip or are spilled onto one of the surfaces. For example, engine/transmission oil, gasoline and anti-freeze top the list of vehicle “droppings” that stain a hard surface. Spills of these and other products (e.g., paints, chemicals, food, drinks, etc.) add to the staining of a surface. The cleaning of dried-liquid stains from a hard surface has improved in recent years with the development of a variety of pressure cleaning and wastewater reclamation systems. 
     Wastewater reclamation has become increasingly important as federal, state and local regulations require the clean-up of wastewater from most pressure cleaning operations. Accordingly, most state-of-the-art pressure cleaning and wastewater reclamation systems have (i) one or more water hoses leading to a pressure washer wand or cleaning tool, and (ii) one or more vacuum lines leading to a vacuum tool that is separate from or integrated with the cleaning tool. As an operator walks or drives the cleaning and vacuum tool(s) over a surface, the water hose(s) and vacuum line(s) must be constantly manipulated and cleared from the area being cleaned. The task of hose/line manipulation and clearing is typically handled by an additional operator so the “cleaning” operator can concentrate on the surface being cleaned without worrying about the hose/line entanglements. Obviously, the use of an additional operator increases the overall cost for a surface cleaning operation. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for the delivery of high pressure water to a surface cleaning tool and for the vacuum retrieval of wastewater generated by the cleaning tool. 
     Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious hereinafter in the specification and drawings. 
     In accordance with the present invention, a water delivery and vacuum retrieval system for use in pressure cleaning is provided. The system includes a rotatable boom adapted to be coupled to and above a pressure cleaning apparatus for rotation thereover. The boom has a rigid conduit extending from a free end to a freely-rotating housing. The boom also has a flexible conduit loosely fitted in the rigid conduit with the flexible conduit extending from the free end of the rigid conduit to a freely-rotating fluid coupling in the housing. An air space is defined between the housing and the fluid coupling. The housing and fluid coupling are configured for independent rotation. In use, the air space in the housing is placed in fluid communication with a vacuum portion of the pressure cleaning apparatus while the fluid coupling is placed in fluid communication with a water dispensing portion of the pressure cleaning apparatus. One or more tanks can be coupled to the boom via connecting lines/conduits that maintain a water-carrying line/conduit loosely fitted within a vacuum-carrying line/conduit. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reference to the following description of the preferred embodiments and to the drawings, wherein corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a water delivery and vacuum retrieval system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of an embodiment of a boom system of the water delivery and vacuum retrieval system of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of an embodiment of a vacuum recovery tank system that can be used in the water delivery and vacuum retrieval system of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of another embodiment of a vacuum recovery tank system that can be used in the water delivery and vacuum retrieval system of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic view of a belt-driven arm that can be coupled to the water delivery portion of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
     Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to  FIG. 1 , an embodiment of a water delivery and vacuum retrieval system in accordance with the present invention is illustrated within the dashed lines referenced by numeral  10 . System  10  can be used in conjunction with a variety of pressure washing cleaning systems to deliver low or high-pressure (heated) water to cleaning tools and simultaneously retrieve (via vacuum) the wastewater generated by the pressure cleaning. Accordingly, by way of example, system  10  is shown coupled to a high-pressure hot water source  100 , a vacuum source  102 , and a pressure cleaning apparatus  200  (e.g., walk-behind, driven, etc.) that can include individual and separated sprayer tool(s)  202  and vacuum tool(s)  204 . Tools  202  and  204  could also be incorporated into a combination tool without departing from the scope of the present invention. That is, system  10  can be used with either type of tool arrangement. 
     System  10  includes a boom system contained within the dashed lined referenced by numeral  20  and can include a vacuum recovery tank system contained within the dashed lines referenced by numeral  40 . In general, boom system  20  manages both water supply and vacuum lines leading to tools  202 / 204  in a novel way that eliminates the need to manually monitor and manage these lines. Boom system  20  can be readily adapted to work with any walk-behind or driven pressure cleaning apparatus  200  on which tools  202 / 204  are mounted. In general, vacuum recovery tank system  40  links sources  100  and  102  in a novel way to boom system  20  (i) to supply water and vacuum thereto, and (ii) manage the wastewater passed therethrough. 
     Referring first to boom system  20 , a support  22  rigidly couples boom system  20  to pressure cleaning apparatus  200  in order to support boom system  20  at a selected height above cleaning apparatus  200 . As will be apparent from the following description, boom system  20  is maintained (by support  22 ) at a height that will be above the head of an operator  300  of cleaning apparatus  200 . 
     In order to manage both water supply and vacuum lines, boom system  20  employs a rigid vacuum conduit  24  housing a flexible high-pressure water conduit  26 . More specifically, vacuum conduit  24  is sized to loosely contain water conduit  26  so that air can flow along vacuum conduit  24  between the outer wall of water conduit  26  and the inner wall of vacuum conduit  24 . At a free outboard end of this conduit arrangement, vacuum conduit  24  is open while water conduit  26  terminates in a readily-accessible and conventional coupling  26 A (e.g., a “quick connect” coupling). At the other end of this conduit arrangement, vacuum conduit  24  terminates in a rigid and sealed fashion to a freely-rotating housing  28  while water conduit  26  terminates in a freely-rotating high-pressure fluid coupling  30  within housing  28 . In general, housing  28  encases coupling  30  in an air space  28 A so that air can flow freely around coupling  30 . Each of housing  28  and coupling  30  is capable of 360° of independent rotation relative to support  22  and cleaning apparatus  200  as indicated by rotational arrows  29  and  31 , respectfully. 
     The above-described conduit arrangement defines a substantially horizontal (i.e., with respect to the surface on which cleaning apparatus  200  rests) portion having a length “L” that is sufficient to position the free outboard end of the conduit arrangement (i.e., the end with water coupling  26 A) beyond the normal operating position of operator  300 . In this way, both water supply and vacuum lines coupled to and in the vicinity of cleaning apparatus  200  are maintained in a plane above operator  300 /apparatus  200  regardless of the movement/positioning of operator  300 /apparatus  200  since housing  28  and coupling  30  are capable of independent and free rotation. 
     A water line  32  couples rotating coupling  30  to sprayer tool(s)  202  while a separate vacuum line  34  couples air space  28 A to vacuum tool(s)  204 . As mentioned above, tools  202 / 204  can be separated from one another (e.g., a separate sprayer head with a vacuum trailing behind the sprayer head) or can be combined in a single spray/vacuum head without departing from the scope of the present invention. One embodiment of separated tools  202 / 204  could be an enclosed sprayer head that is trailed by a squeegee assembly having a vacuum coupled thereto to vacuum up wastewater corralled/collected by the squeegee assembly. 
     By way of example, an embodiment of the boom system of the present invention is shown in isolation in  FIG. 2 . Where appropriate, reference numerals used to describe elements of boom system  20  ( FIG. 1 ) will be used in describing the embodiment in  FIG. 2 . Support  22  can be realized by a rigid pole  22 A fixedly attached to a rigid plate  22 B at a selected height above cleaning apparatus  200 . A rigid T-pipe  60  is rigidly coupled and sealed to base plate  22 B and is coupled to housing  28  by means of a sealing bearing  62  that allows housing  28  to freely rotate (as indicated by rotational arrow  29 ) relative to T-pipe  60  while allowing the interior of T-pipe  60  to be in fluid communication with air space  28 A of housing  28 . T-pipe  60  further defines an open conduit  60 A to which vacuum line  34  is attached. 
     Water line  32  is led through air space  28 A, bearing  62 , T-pipe  60 , and base plate  22 B. Note that water line  32  is led through base plate  22 B and sealing bearing  62  in a sealed fashion to prevent any loss of vacuum applied via vacuum line  34 . Water line  32  is fixed in place by one or more of the structures it passes through so that water line  32  can serve as a fixed support for freely-rotating fluid coupling  30 . 
     Vacuum conduit  24  is a rigid L-shaped pipe having a vertical portion  24 A that is rigidly coupled to the top of housing  28  such that water conduit  26  can feed vertically into rotating coupling  30 . A support brace  64  rigidly couples housing  28  to a point on the horizontal portion  24 B of vacuum conduit  24  so that vacuum conduit  24  and housing  28  rotate in unison. Horizontal portion  24 B extends for a length “L” as described above. Water conduit  26  loosely fits in vacuum conduit  24  as also described earlier herein. At the free end of water conduit  26  is a quick-connect coupling  26 A. Note that coupling  26 A can protrude from vacuum conduit  24  to facilitate attachment of a water line. 
     Referring again to  FIG. 1 , vacuum recovery tank system  40  serves as a link between sources  100 / 102  and boom system  20 . Briefly, tank system  40  includes the following: 
     at least one tank  42 , 
     a combination water/vacuum port defined by (i) rigid vacuum conduit  44  in fluid communication with the interior of tank  42  and having an open outboard end  44 A, and (ii) a water line  46  passing into vacuum conduit  44  at  46 A in a sealed fashion, and 
     a vacuum port  48  provided in a wall of tank  42 . 
     Water line  46  terminates at either end thereof with couplings  46 B and  46 C (e.g., quick connect couplings) with coupling  46 B being attachable to source  100  and coupling  46 C being attachable to a flexible water line  76  used to connect water line  46  to water conduit  26 . Vacuum conduit  44  is sized so that air flow is supported along vacuum conduit  44  between the outside of water line  46  and the inside of vacuum conduit  44 . A flexible vacuum line  74  attaches to the outside of the outboard end of vacuum conduit  44  and to the outboard end of vacuum conduit  24 . Such attachment can be by any conventional hose clamp, annular compression collar cuff, or a rotating collar or cuff without departing from the scope of the present invention. Water line  76  fits loosely within vacuum line  74  so that air flow is supported along vacuum line  74  between the outside of water line  76  and the inside of vacuum line  74 . 
     In use, water source  100  is attached to coupling  46 B and vacuum source  102  is coupled to vacuum port  48 . Water is supplied to coupling  30  via lines/conduits  44 ,  74  and  24  contained within vacuum lines/conduits  46 ,  76  and  26 , respectfully, that supply a vacuum to housing  28 . As operator  300  pushes (or drives) cleaning apparatus  200  on a surface to be cleaned, boom system  20  keeps the water and vacuum lines/conduits up and out of the way of operator  300 /apparatus  200 . The free and independent rotation provided by housing  28  and coupling  30  maintain the proper orientation of water and vacuum lines regardless of the position of operator  300  and apparatus  200 . This means that the cleaning operation will proceed faster and more efficiently without requiring an operator to monitor the various vacuum and water lines/conduits. 
     As mentioned above, the present invention can also include vacuum recovery tank system  40  that uses one or more tanks. Accordingly, by way of example,  FIG. 3  illustrates a one tank system and  FIG. 4  illustrates a two tank system. Where appropriate, reference numerals used to describe elements of tank system  40  ( FIG. 1 ) will be used in describing the embodiments in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . 
     Referring first to  FIG. 3 , single tank  420  is a hollow tank that can have its sides reinforced as needed to withstand vacuum pressures that it will experience. Tank  420  is supported on legs  422  (or other type of base support) to allow a drain line  424  to be coupled to the bottom of tank  420 . Drain line  424  is in fluid communication with the bottom region of tank  420  and terminates outside of tank  420  in a drain valve  426 . A baffle or weir wall  428  is mounted in tank  420  to thereby define chambers  430  and  432  where vacuum conduit  44  communicates with chamber  430  and vacuum port  48  communicates with chamber  432 . 
     As wastewater enters tank  420  via vacuum conduit  44 , baffle/weir wall  428  traps most of the wastewater solids in chamber  430 . The wastewater liquid can reside in chamber  430 , but the wastewater liquid can also migrate through baffle/weir wall  428  and into chamber  432 . Mounted atop tank  420  is a high-pressure water coupling  434  with a pipe  436  leading from water coupling  434  through chamber  430  to a point in tank  420  just above drain line  424 . A float switch  438  disposed in chamber  432  can be provided/used to automatically activate a pump (not shown in  FIG. 3 ) when the wastewater level in chamber  432  reaches a certain height. This pump is used to pump the wastewater from chamber  432  for treatment, disposal, etc. 
     Since tank  420  will be used to collect wastewater having solids mixed therein, tank  420  needs to be periodically purged. To do this, vacuum conduit  44  and port  48  are sealed and high-pressure water is applied to coupling  434  while drain valve  426  is opened. The high-pressure water is directed from coupling  434  to the bottom of tank  420  by pipe  436 . The high-pressure water exiting pipe  436  pushes wastewater solids collected in the bottom of tank  420  into drain line  424 . As a result, the wastewater&#39;s solids are driven from the bottom of tank  420  and out through drain line  424 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a two-tank system is illustrated that uses tanks  420 A and  420 B. Similar to tank  420 , tanks  420 A and  420 B can be reinforced as needed to withstand vacuum pressures. Tanks  420 A and  420 B are serially connected to one another in terms of vacuum from vacuum source  102 . Thus, tank  420 B has a first vacuum port  48 A coupled to vacuum port  48  of tank  420 A by a line  450 , and has a second vacuum port  48 B coupled to vacuum source  102  by a line  452 . Baffle or weir wall  428  is mounted in tank  420 B to thereby define chambers  430  and  432  where vacuum port  48 A communicates with chamber  430  and vacuum port  48 B communicates with chamber  432 . Note that no such baffle/weir wall is required in tank  420 A. As described above, float switch  438  disposed in chamber  432  can be provided/used to automatically activate a pump  440  when the wastewater level in chamber  432  reaches a certain height. Pump  440  then pumps the wastewater in chamber  432  into a holding/treatment tank  442  where the wastewater can be treated for re-use or for environmentally-safe disposal. 
     As mentioned above, boom system  20  improves the speed and efficiency of a cleaning operation. Additional improvements can be achieved by coupling a direct drive system to the cleaning apparatus&#39; spray head. More specifically and with reference to  FIG. 5 , most hard-surface pressure cleaning apparatus use a rotating arm spray head. A typical prior art spray head is referenced by numeral  80  and includes a water coupling  82 , a rotating bearing  84 , a spray arm  86  extending out from bearing  84  in opposing radial directions, and spray nozzles  88  mounted on the ends of spray arm  86  at an angle of inclination so that spray arm  86  rotates when high-pressure water exits nozzles  88 . Under extreme high pressures of 3000-4000 PSI, spray arm  86  can achieve a rotation rate on the order of 1500 revolutions per minute (RPM). It has been found that this rotational speed can be doubled by coupling a motorized drive system  90  to, for example, rotating bearing  84 . Drive system  90  can be realized by a motor and a belt (not shown) to bring about direct rotation of spray arm  86 . By increasing the speed of the spray arm&#39;s rotation, it has been found that the cleaning apparatus can be pushed/driven at higher speeds thereby reducing the amount of time and cost to clean a hard surface. Further, the direct drive of the spray arm can be combined with the other features described herein to provide a novel hard-surface cleaning system that cleans better and more efficiently than currently-available systems. 
     Although the invention has been described relative to specific embodiments thereof, there are numerous variations and modifications that will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the above teachings. For example, other embodiments of the present invention could utilize the above-described boom system and vacuum tank recovery system independently of one another. That is, the boom system (or vacuum tank recovery system) could be coupled on a stand-alone basis to an existing pressure cleaning apparatus. In addition, the present invention is not limited to use with high-pressure water sources as it could also be used with low-pressure water sources without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
     While the various vacuum tank recovery systems described herein illustrate single vacuum ports for coupling to a vacuum tool, it is to be understood that additional vacuum ports could be provided to allow for simultaneous use of multiple vacuum tools. Further, the present invention could be used without the application of a vacuum for situations where the user wanted to collect/retrieve wastewater using a separate wastewater collection/handling system. Still further, if a separate tow-behind squeegee/vacuum were to be used to collect wastewater, a vacuum line could be directly coupled to the squeegee/vacuum in which case only a water line would be coupled to the boom system described herein. The boom system of the present invention could also be coupled to a pressure cleaning apparatus that had (i) an onboard reservoir/pump to supply high-pressure water for cleaning, and/or (ii) an onboard vacuum system and wastewater reclamation tank. In this instance, the above-described boom system could be used to manage the water supply line used to supply water to the onboard water reservoir and/or the vacuum line used to retrieve wastewater from the onboard wastewater reclamation tank for ultimate disposal or treatment. While the present invention has been described for use with pressure cleaning apparatus, it is to be understood that the boom system could also be coupled to a pushed or driven brush-type cleaning apparatus that uses liquid in a cleaning process. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described.