Patent ID: 12234917

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The minimum waste concrete pump valve, object of the present invention, comprises a valve container structure (10) provided in the upper portion with a screwed cover (11) which purpose is to allow the opening, in this case for installation and removal of the inlet conduit, and for inspection, cleaning and replacement of wear parts, said cover (11) having an opening (111).

On the rear face of the structure (10) there is a discharge tube (12), and a screwed cover (121) which purpose is to allow opening, in this case for installation and removal of the discharge conduit, and for inspection, cleaning and replacement of wearing parts. In the front portion, the structure (10) has pump tubes (13) and (13A), and the cover (11) is screwed together with the container (10) in order to allow access to the interior when necessary.

The structure (10) allows the arrangement of the concrete reception hopper (not shown) along the opening (111) arranged in the upper portion so that the concrete is directed to the interior of the inlet conduit of the structure (10) by gravity.

The structure (10) is sealed so that it is designed to work when flooded with water, being provided with vent points (112) arranged on the cover (11) for pressure equalization and drainage point (103) along the lower portion of the container (10), said cover (11) allowing access to the internal components.

The structure (10) is provided in the inner portion by an inlet conduit (20) interconnected to a discharge conduit (30), so that each conduit is provided with wear plates (21) and (31).

The wear plate (21) is arranged between the inlet conduit (20) and the pump tubes (13) and (13A) of the structure (10) in order to avoid direct contact between the conduit (20) and the structure (10), and the wear plate (21) is the one that suffers from the friction of the set linear commutation.

The wear plate (31) is arranged between the discharge conduit (30) and the discharge tube (12) of the structure (10) in order to avoid direct contact between the conduit (30) and the structure (10), and the wear plate (31) is the one that suffers from the friction of the set linear commutation.

The inlet conduit (20) is provided with a front plate (22) equipped with projections (221) at its ends and equipped with two openings (23) at the ends connected to each other through a tube (24), said tube (24) having an opening (241) provided with a wear plate (242) that remains aligned along with opening (111) of the cover (11).

The front plate (22) of the conduit (20) also has an opening (25) provided with a projection (251) that allows the connection of the discharge conduit (30).

The discharge duct (30) has a tapered body provided in its front portion by an opening (32) of circular shape and in the rear portion by an opening (33) of oblong shape, said opening (32) that fits together with the projection (251) of the opening (25). The opening (33) provided by the wear plate (31) is aligned with the discharge tube (12) so that its oblong shape allows the conduit (30) to always be aligned with the tube (12) as the valve moves, according toFIGS.18and18A.

The conduit (20) provided by the front plate (22) and openings (23) and (25) is aligned with the pump tubes (13) and (13A) so that the set movement is performed through a linear switching performed through of switch cylinders (40) connected together with the projections (221) of the plate (22) through pins (222), in order to allow the movement of the conduits (20) and (30) inside the valve structure (10).

The conduit (20) has cylindrical nozzles (26), arranged on both sides, which connect to the nozzles (34) of the conduit (30) telescopically through a spring (261) that holds the wear plates (21) and (31) constantly pressed against the walls of the structure (10), resulting in a permanent expansion system of great amplitude in order to keep the conduits (20) and (30) always adjusted despite the natural wear of the plates (21) and (31).

This pair (26) and (34) of cylindrical nozzles that are telescopically connected and house the springs (261), in addition to having the purpose of generating a contact pressure between the conduit (20) and (30) together with the respective walls of the structure (10) serve another purpose which is to transmit the switching movement from the inlet conduit (20) driven by the pair of switch cylinders (40) to the discharge conduit (30). They also serve to eliminate the possibility of rotational movement if the discharge conduit (30) were connected to the inlet conduit (20) only through the projection (251). Furthermore, they also serve to minimize the bending tendency existing between the two conduits (20) and (30) during valve switching.

Spiral (helical) springs (261) can be replaced with plate springs (not shown) in order to maintain the same functional characteristics.

The valve structure (10) has protrusions (101) in its front portion arranged in the upper and lower portions in order to allow the arrangement and accommodation of the switch cylinders (40).

The switch cylinders (40) are fixed and positioned in the internal portion of the structure (10) through fixing points (102) that allow the connection with the hydraulic flow for movement.

The double action switch cylinders (40) with double rod passing through are equipped with rods (41) connected at its ends with the projections (221) and sleeve (42) equipped with projections (421) fixed along with points (102) of the structure (10) and connected to the hydraulic flow to promote linear movement of the rods (41), as shown inFIG.17.

The operation of the minimum waste concrete pump valve occurs through the unloading of the concrete into the hopper (not shown) arranged along with cover (11) opening (111) of the structure (10), wherein the concrete flows by gravity into the inlet conduit (20) through the opening (241) of the tube (24).

The valve being in this coupling state, a cycle of filling the pump cylinder (13) then begins, and the filling of this cylinder (13) takes place by the suction of the piston (not shown) inside the pump cylinder (13) and when the piston inside the cylinder reaches the end of its stroke, this state is detected by a sensor (not shown) that sends a signal to the equipment hydraulic central, which in turn simultaneously activates the switching of the pump valve. During the filling piston stroke of the pump cylinder (13), the emptying movement of the pump cylinder (13A) occurs simultaneously and at the same rate of filling of the latter.

Note that in the state prior to switching, the discharge flow from the pump cylinder (13A) is conducted into the discharge conduit (30), with one end of the discharge conduit (30) connecting in the two states of switching to the discharge tube (12), so that the discharge tube (12) will be coupled to the concrete conduction pipe. These two stroke states of the pump piston, like the two switching states of the valve, alternate continuously during the pumping process.

For the pump return operation, that is, for the inversion of the flow, wherein the equipment starts to suck from the concrete conduction pipe, through the discharge tube (12), and conduct the pumped fluid into the hopper, it is enough to invert the valve switching sequence by activating a certain command, which activates a hydraulic valve that inverts the activation sequence of the pump valve assembly.

In this mode, the transport cylinder that is discharging (emptying) will remain coupled to the inlet conduit (20) and the transport cylinder that is suctioning (filling) will remain coupled to the discharge conduit (30). These switching states alternate continuously during the return process.

After the end of a concrete pump operation, unlike most pumps used on the market, the minimum waste valve pump does not have a cover at the bottom of the hopper to evacuate the waste that is retained in the hopper, and which is dumped into the floor, so that you just pump until all the concrete is used up from inside the hopper, to somewhere inside the construction site, or even at the point where the concrete is poured.

As the concrete amount retained in the minimum waste valve is very small, a jet with pressurized water and a small amount of water is sufficient to complete the cleaning of the equipment.

Once the cleaning of the valve and pump cylinders has been completed, the valve container is drained, which is filled with water and is drained with a drain valve/register (not shown) that will be attached to the nozzle (103) arranged in the lower portion of the structure (10).

The valve container, where the conduits (20) and (30) are located, must always be filled with clean water at the beginning of each operation, and drained at the end. The valve container, flooded with water, is intended to keep it clean, removing wastes that propagate between the wear plate sets (21), (31) and (242). These wastes will only be the thin cement grout that will be diluted in the water in which the conduits are submerged, and it will be removed with the replacement of water after each concreting event.

In a second embodiment, it is foreseen for the removal of this cement grout that is diluted in the water of the container the possibility of using a water recirculating system of the container, by means of a water pump, which sends this water to an external circuit, and in this circuit, it passes through a filtering system to retain waste.

Another embodiment feature of this project, and very advantageous for the cleaning procedure, is the slope that the discharge conduit (30) presents in relation to the pump cylinders, favoring the flow of water with the waste by gravity.

In this description of the valve operation, we consider its application for alternative double-cylinder pumps intended for pumping concrete and other pasty substances, and the valve then has two operating states (two switching positions), as shown inFIGS.19and20.

Alternatively, the inlet hole nozzle (111) of the cover (11) can be connected to a pipe of rigid tubes or some flexible hose instead of the hopper, in order to have the hopper remote, or even to use the tubing to suction fluid from a hard-to-reach place.