This invention relates to apparatuses, systems and methods for the safe removal and disposal of concrete waste and washout that overcome various shortcomings in previous systems and methods. Specifically, a concrete washout collection truck incorporating a novel combination of components including a multi-piece washout container and a vacuum module is disclosed. These novel components allow for new and improved residue collection methods, including the siphoning of liquid waste and solid concrete washout by a single truck.
Concrete, cement and related products are used in the construction industry to form concrete structures or to form both exterior and interior wall surfaces. The tools and machinery used in these processes needs to be cleaned after each use. In the course of a large construction project, these repeated washings produce substantial quantities of highly caustic liquid residue that then needs to be safely contained to limit any harm to the environment.
Concrete is a standard building material made by mixing a cementing material (such as Portland cement) and a mineral aggregate (such as sand and gravel) with sufficient water to cause the cement to set and bind the entire mass. Concrete is typically carried to job sites in transit mixer trucks and may be moved within the site with concrete pump trucks. When pumping or pouring is complete, a small amount of concrete will remain in the trucks, while concrete residue will remain on the tools and equipment used during the process. If any excess concrete and concrete residue is not quickly removed, the concrete will harden. At best, this will significantly complicate the cleanup process. At worst, it will result in damage to the equipment. Therefore, the mixer and pump portions of the truck along with concrete finishing tools must be washed off at the job site after pouring or pumping concrete to allow continued use of the equipment.
Once hardened, concrete is inert and harmless to the environment. However, the same is not true for the water used to cure concrete, or to clean equipment used to deliver and place concrete. If not properly isolated, this wastewater can leach into groundwater, raising pH and heavy metal levels, both of which can be harmful to living organisms. Therefore, primarily due to environmental concerns and requirements, the waste, or washout, is commonly drained into a pit lined with a waterproof sheet.
Typically, a concrete pump truck is equipped with a plug that may be removed from the bottom of the concrete pump, allowing water and waste concrete to drain into the disposal pit. Parts of the truck in contact with concrete are then washed, usually with a hose, to remove concrete residue. A similar operation is performed for transit mixer trucks, and any other equipment and tools used to handle the concrete. The wastewater remains on top of the pit while the heavier concrete components sink to the bottom. Over time, the waste concrete components solidify. They can then be removed from the pit and transported to a permanent disposal site.
There are a number of problems with this traditional approach. First, it is labor intensive. A pit (or pits, depending on the size of the project) must be dug and then lined. Then, regardless of when the pit is full, the waste concrete material must be allowed to harden before it can be loaded and transported to the disposal site. Second, spills are almost unavoidable while dumping the waste concrete into the pit and washing the equipment. Third, even when crews are careful, damage to the plastic liner—allowing caustic wastewater to leak out of the pit and into groundwater—was common.
The improper disposal of wastewater has serious health implications, including gastrointestinal illness, reproductive problems, and neurological disorders. Infants, young children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems are particularly at risk. Numerous federal, state and local regulations have been enacted to address wastewater disposal issues. For example, the Clean Water Act, 40 CFR, Subchapters D, N and O, non-compliance can result in civil (fines) and criminal (incarceration) penalties.
A number of containment structures and methods of disposal have been proposed to collect and confine contaminated wash residues, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,312 (“Schmitz, Jr.”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,008 (“Price”); U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,872 (“Tarvin et al.”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,995 (“Connard III”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,866,047 (“Marvin”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,121,288 (“Jenkins”); U.S. Appln. No. 2007/0272303 (“Vizl”); and U.S. Appln. No. 2006/0059653 (“Mickelson”). These references generally describe either a portable wash collection assembly or a deployable structure that sometimes includes an elastic or compliant containment membrane that is laid on the ground to provide an erectable peripheral barrier for confining the draining wastewater while such are concurrently pumped out into a collection container for disposal. While suitable for the purposes intended, these prior art structures have significant drawbacks.
Jenkins discloses a washout container for collecting mixtures of solid and liquid waste materials, such as a mixture of waste concrete (slag) and water from cleaning concrete residues from vehicles and tools. Once waste materials, such as concrete slag and washout water, is collected, the liquid portion may be periodically removed from the washout container making room for additional waste material. The liquid may be pumped into a container vehicle for proper recycling or disposal. By pumping off excess liquid, the washout container need not be hauled away until solid material has sufficiently built-up in the container to limit the space available for further disposal. The container may then be collected by a different vehicle and the built-up solids dumped out of the washout container. Jenkins also discloses attaching ramps to the washout container to facilitate extending a portion of mixer trucks over the washout container for emptying waste materials and cleaning the trucks. Among numerous other problems (including cost), Jenkins' process for attaching the ramps is labor intensive and failing to attach to ramps properly could result in damage to the trucks and/or spillage of waste material at the construction site.
Vizl describes a generally rectangular containment structure having a transversely aligned intermediate wall separating the containment structure into a covered front portion and an open rear portion. The wall includes vertical tubular housings which each have a slot extending into the open rear portion and a slot extending into the covered front portion, forming a liquid communication path thereacross. A set of filter assemblies are located in the housings to limit transfer of larger sized particulates of the aggregate. According to Vizl, the wall and filter arrangement may be used to separate the diluted concrete paste from the aggregate, thereby simplifying the removal and disposal of the inert and massive part of the wash product while the caustic hydroxide parts of the hydration reaction are separately collected for neutralization and disposal. The covered front portion is provided with a pump-out port which may be periodically connected to a powered pump that transfers its caustic contents into drums to be thereafter neutralized and disposed. However, a container having a transverse wall and tubular housings as disclosed in Vizl is far more difficult and expensive to construct than typical containers. Also, the filters would need to be installed and periodically replaced, further adding to the cost to build and maintain the containment structure.
The above systems and methods also provided limited options for collecting wash out and wash-out containers. When a wash-out container is ready to be removed from a construction site, two trucks may be sent to collect the container. A first truck may be used to pump out the liquid, accumulated at the top of the container. A second truck may then collect the wash-out container with the residual solid concrete. Preparing and coordinating the two trucks, and hiring drivers to operate the two trucks is inefficient and costly.
Mickelson at least provides a truck mounted liquid concrete waste vacuum system with a storage tank adapted to be used in conjunction with a watertight concrete washout bin. The concrete washout bin is configured to roll off a transport vehicle for delivery to a construction site and to contain all solid and liquid concrete washout waste from construction activities. When the concrete washout waste is to be removed from the site, the liquid concrete waste vacuum system attached to the transport vehicle is first used to remove the liquid waste from the washout bin and store it in the tank. The bin containing the remaining solid waste is loaded on the transport vehicle and taken to the treatment facility where both the solid and liquid waste is safely off-loaded. So while Mickelson does present an all-in-one option, a principal problem with Mickelson's truck is that it is almost prohibitively expense to produce.
A need exists for systems and methods for facilitating concrete disposal that allows convenient emptying and cleaning of waste concrete from concrete mixing, hauling, and/or concrete application equipment without subjecting the environment to contamination hazards. The present invention satisfies those needs, as well as others, and overcomes the deficiencies of previously developed concrete disposal solutions.
The present invention is directed to improved apparatuses and methods for collecting and transporting concrete washout.
It is an object of the present invention to reduce the number of roll-off trucks and truck operators required to collect concrete washout from a construction site.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide on a roll-off truck a vacuum module capable of emptying the contents of a vacuum tank to either side of the truck.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide ramps integrated with a concrete container to reduce the time and labor required to prepare the ramps, and reduce the incidents of accidents resulting from improper preparation of ramps.
Numerous variations may be practiced in the preferred embodiment.
A further understanding of the invention can be obtained by reference to embodiments set forth in the illustrations of the accompanying drawings. Although the illustrated embodiments are merely exemplary of apparatuses, systems, and methods for carrying out the invention, both the organization and method of operation of the invention, in general, together with further objectives and advantages thereof, may be more easily understood by reference to the drawings and the following description. Like reference numbers generally refer to like features (e.g., functionally similar and/or structurally similar elements).
The drawings are not necessarily depicted to scale; in some instances, various aspects of the subject matter disclosed herein may be shown exaggerated or enlarged in the drawings to facilitate an understanding of different features. Also, the drawings are not intended to limit the scope of this invention, which is set forth with particularity in the claims as appended hereto or as subsequently amended, but merely to clarify and exemplify the invention.
The invention may be understood more readily by reference to the following detailed descriptions of embodiments of the invention. However, structures, systems, and techniques in accordance with the invention may be embodied in a wide variety of forms and modes, some of which may be quite different from those in the disclosed embodiments. Also, the features and elements disclosed herein may be combined to form various combinations without exclusivity, unless expressly stated otherwise. Consequently, the specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are merely representative. Yet, in that regard, they are deemed to afford the best embodiments for purposes of disclosure and to provide a basis for the claims herein, which define the scope of the invention. It must be noted that, as used in the specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
Another exemplary hoist (310) is depicted in
Hoist (310) includes hoist rails (320, 322) that extend from the front end (312) or hoist (310) to the back end (314) of hoist (310). Each rail (320, 322) has a set of rollers (325) that help facilitate loading and unloading containers from hoist (310). The rollers (325) as shown in
A container (450) may be loaded onto a roll-off truck (400) according to the steps shown in
A roll-off truck (500) according to the present invention is shown in
The bottom (652) and sides (654, 656, 659, and 660) of container (600) may be formed from a metal, such as steel, or from another material such as plastic. The sides (654, 656, 659, and 660) may be vertical, each attached at a 90-degree angle to the bottom. Alternatively, to facilitate emptying container (600), as shown in
The top of container (600) may be open. Alternatively, a cover (not shown) may be placed on top of container (600). The cover may be formed from the same material as the sides. Alternatively, the cover may be formed from a different material, such as a fabric sheet. Container (600) may be, for example, approximately 16 feet long, from front side (658) to the back side (660).
To facilitate loading container (600) onto a roll-off truck and transporting container (600) by a roll-off truck, the underside of bottom (652) of container (600) may have sills (670). Sills (670) may be made from metal, such as steel. Sills (670) are preferably parallel to each other, and preferably parallel to left side (654) and right side (656) of container (600). The sills may be spaced so as to slide along rollers place along the rails of the hoist of a roll-off truck. Wheels may also be attached to the bottom (652) of container (600) and/or to sills (670) to facilitate loading the container (600) onto a roll-off truck, and unloading container (600) from the roll-off truck.
As shown further in
As shown in
Platform (750) may consist of an upper layer (754) and a lower layer (756). Upper layer (754) and lower layer (756) may be joined by a bearing that allows upper layer (754) to rotate in a horizontal plane with respect to lower layer (756) so that when vacuum module (700) is loaded on a roll-off truck, vacuum tank (720) can be pointed to either side of the truck, to the front or back of the truck, or at any angle with respect to the truck.
Vacuum tank (720) may have a cylindrical shape with a longitudinal axis (722) running along the center line of vacuum tank (720). The front end (724) and back end (726) of the tank (720) may be flat, or may be curved (e.g. concave) to provide greater strength. A hose (not shown) extending from tank (720) may be used to vacuum liquid from container (600) to the tank (720). The vacuum (730) may attach to tank (720) by a flexible hose (735) or a pipe that connects at or near the top of tank (720). A flotation ball may be included within the tank. The flotation ball may rise as the liquid in the tank rises, and block the entrance to hose (735) when the liquid rises to the top of tank (720) to prevent liquid from being sucked into the vacuum. In addition or in the alternative, a check valve within tank (720) may prevent fluid from passing from tank (720) to the vacuum (730).
Tank (720) may include a valve (728) near the bottom of tank (720) at one end for emptying tank (720). In addition or in the alternative, one end (724, 726) of tank (720) may open as a door. The door may be hinged at or near the top of tank (720). A hydraulic cylinder (725) attached to tank (720) may raise one side of tank (720) to help empty the tank.
A hose may be connected between tank (720) and container (600). Vacuum pump (730) may be used to create negative pressure within tank (720), causing liquid residue from the container to tank (720) to be syphoned into tank (720). The liquid may be siphoned while container (600) is on the ground, or while container (600) is loaded on roll-off truck (500).
Vacuum module (700) may be loaded onto roll-off truck (500) using the method shown in
When loaded on the roll-off truck (500), the longitudinal axis (722) of vacuum tank (720) may be oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of hoist (510). In that case, sills or skids (770) beneath platform (750) may be oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of vacuum tank (720) to facilitate sliding vacuum module (700) onto the truck bed.
Vacuum tank (720) may be oriented so that it may be emptied toward the driver side of the roll-off truck (500) or the passenger side of the roll-off truck (500). If vacuum pump (730) and engine (740) are placed to the side of vacuum tank (720) so that they are either on the side of vacuum tank (720) facing the front end (512) of hoist (510) or on the side of vacuum tank (720) facing the back end (514) of hoist (510), vacuum tank (720) may be designed so that it can be emptied on either side. For example, a drain or valve (728) may be placed at each side of the tank. In addition or in the alternative, one or both the ends (724, 726) of vacuum tank (720) may open to allow emptying of the tank. Two hydraulic cylinders may be placed so as to allow either side of vacuum tank (720) to be raised. For example, a sub-platform may be placed under vacuum tank (720). A first hydraulic cylinder attached to one end of the sub-platform may raise that side of the tank. A second hydraulic cylinder may attach the platform to the sub-platform and may raise the opposite side of the sub-platform.
After vacuum module (700) is loaded onto roll-off truck (500), container (600) may be loaded on roll-off truck (500) using the method shown in
At a construction site, washout container (600) may be placed on the ground where the wash-out is to be performed. One or more ramps (880) may be pivotally attached to cradle (800) by second hinge (836). Each ramp may have a first part (846) and a second part (848) attached, for example by a third hinge. When the ramp is extended and first part (846) is parallel and in line with second part (848), the hinge may be locked to form one long flat ramp. When not in use, the ramp(s) (880) may be folded so as to extend over the top of container (600). A crane (not shown) may be used to unfold the ramps (880). The crane may be attached to the roll-off truck that deposited container (600). When the ramp(s) (880) are unfolded, the top of the ramp(s) (880) may not reach the top of container (600). The portion of container (600) that extends above the top of the ramp(s) (880) may serve as a back stop to inhibit a truck from backing up too far and falling into container (600).
Referring to
The members may be arranged and connected so as to form a frame having a floor (920), a front wall (930), a rear wall (940), and right and left side walls (950). As shown in
Front wall (930) of cradle (900) may be higher than rear wall (940). In the alternative, rear wall (940) may be higher than front wall (930). Front wall (930), rear wall (940), and/or side walls (950) may be vertical in relation to bottom (920), each attached at a 90-degree angle to the bottom. Alternatively, to facilitate emptying the container, as shown in
The top of cradle (900) may be open. Alternatively, a cover (not shown) may be placed on top of cradle (900). Cradle (900) may be, for example, approximately 16 feet long, from front side (930) to the back side (940). Sills (870) may be attached to the underside of cradle (900). Wheels may also be attached to the underside of cradle (900) and/or to sills (870) to facilitate loading cradle (900) onto a roll-off truck, and unloading cradle (900) from the roll-off truck.
Referring to
As shown in
While the invention has been described in detail with reference to embodiments for the purposes of making a complete disclosure of the invention, such embodiments are merely exemplary and are not intended to be limiting or represent an exhaustive enumeration of all aspects of the invention. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous changes may be made in such details, and the invention is capable of being embodied in other forms, without departing from the spirit, essential characteristics, and principles of the invention. Also, the benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that may allow or facilitate any benefit, advantage, or solution are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential to the invention. The scope of the invention is to be limited only by the appended claims.