Patent ID: 7556319

Claim:
An apparatus for removing concrete from a substantially vertical wall, comprising: a crawler assembly; said crawler assembly including a frame of predetermined breadth; a nozzle housing carried by said frame; reciprocating means for causing said nozzle housing to follow a path of travel that reciprocates between a first end of said frame and a second end of said frame; a nozzle carried by said nozzle housing, said nozzle adapted to emit water under high pressure, said water impinging upon and removing said concrete from said substantially vertical wall; lifting and lowering means for lifting said crawler from a bottom of said vertical wall to a top of said vertical wall and for lowering said crawler from a top of said vertical wall to a bottom of said vertical wall; a first support plate and a second support plate secured to said substantially vertical wall at an upper end thereof in laterally spaced apart relation to one another; a first pulley rotatably mounted to said first support plate; a second pulley rotatably mounted to said second support plate; a winch system including a synchronized double winch apparatus mounted on a common drive shaft; a motor connected in driving relation to said winch system; a first elongate cable wrapped about said first pulley, said first elongate cable having a proximal end disposed in coiled relation to a first winch of said double winch apparatus and a distal end secured to said frame adjacent a first end thereof; a second elongated cable wrapped about said second pulley, said second elongate cable having a proximal end disposed in coiled relation to a second winch of said double winch apparatus and a distal end secured to said frame adjacent a second end thereof; whereby a vertical strip of concrete is removed from said substantially vertical wall by said water under high pressure as said nozzle housing reciprocates as said crawler is lowered from a top of said substantially vertical wall to a bottom of said substantially vertical wall, said vertical strip having a width substantially equal to the width of said frame; and whereby rotation of said winch system in a first direction lifts said crawler from said bottom of said substantially vertical wall to said top of said substantially vertical wall and rotation of said winch system in a second direction opposite to said first direction lowers said crawler from said top of said substantially vertical wall to said bottom of said substantially vertical wall.