Patent Application
20190223428
The invention relates to equipment for killing and weakening plants and other organisms, which comprises a conveying device for moving the equipment, a high voltage source and an applicator which is electrically connected to the high voltage source.
In order to thin out weeds, for example, it is known to guide a housing provided with electronics to deliver a high voltage at a predetermined distance above the ground. By means of a high voltage between the electrode and an earth contact or the earth or plant, the plant concerned is killed or weakened by an electric shock.
Particularly on railway embankments, in the track bed and the directly adjoining areas, chemical weed control agents are used in order to keep the track area free from unwanted plant growth. In many areas, however, this is undesirable, and therefore EP 1 256 275 A2 and EP 0 026 248 A1 propose equipment of this type which can be used to prevent the growth of plants by means of a high voltage device.
Devices of this type are complicated, very difficult to manage electrically, can only be used at low travelling speeds, do not take into account the increasing number of control and signalling technology in and around the track bed, the increasing number of different types of track bed systems and often only result in limited damage to the plants and to considerable damage to the infrastructure. Thus, until now, this equipment has not yet supplanted chemical plant eradicating agents.
Chemical plant eradicating methods are generally highly effective in their action and are used at speeds of up to 50 km/h. However, they can only be used to a limited extent, or even cannot be used at all in nature reserves and aquatic conservation areas, railway stations, on bridges, etc, for example and in general often only have restricted permits for use because of the (eco)toxicity of the active substances. In addition, some plant types have become resistant to herbicides or can no longer be killed with them, and so those plants can propagate invasively. In some cases, therefore, manual, thermal or mechanical methods are also used, but these are very expensive and labour-intensive or are very difficult to integrate into a high speed process which would be highly advantageous from a logistical viewpoint.
Thus, the aim of the invention is to further develop equipment of this type, in particular but not exclusively for use in rail transport systems in a manner such as to enable high voltage to be used economically and effectively to control unwanted plant growth at transport speeds and which does not suffer from the problems and disadvantages of chemical and thermal/mechanical control for a majority of areas.
This aim is achieved by means of a device of the type described, in which the speed-adapted applicator is provided with a sensor-guided height adjusting device.
The sensor-guided height adjusting device of the applicator opens up a great number of new applications, in particular in the railway area, where traffic areas and adjoining regions, in particular ballast areas and the directly adjoining inspection lines and waysides have to be kept free from unwanted plant growth. The tracks or traffic lines include the traffic line itself as well as inspection lines which are necessary for the traffic for technical reasons; around them, safety distances are specified for trees the growth of which has to be contained.
When using high voltage, fixed current applicators or chains which are dragged over or suspended over the rails and sleepers are used which restrict plant growth by being moved slowly using a large amount of electrical power. However, because of the small number of independently controlled applicators and occasionally poor local management (chains hitting, vibrating drag applicators), this equipment produces an extremely uneven electrical power output, so that areas with uneven growth are not properly treated, or whole areas remain untreated. Plates and chains used as current applicators do not reach small plants in most cases, particularly between the taller sleepers. When in a low configuration, they constantly hit every sleeper and the concomitant wobbling and vibration caused by impacts mean that they readily come into contact with the rails, points and bolts and the increasing number of other technical assemblies. Thus, with applicators of this type, it is only possible to move at a very travel low speed and higher speeds result in greatly increased wear and risk of damage to the applicators and the traffic infrastructure.
The sensor-guided height adjusting device in accordance with the invention for the applicator ensures that even known applicators can be used, as long as they are not uniquely manually adjusted to an optimal height, but can be adapted by means of the sensor-guided height adjusting device during travel, for example to the varying heights of the plant growth and in particular can be automatically and rapidly adjusted by onboard assemblies. This means that, depending on the growth and technical devices on the line to be navigated, the height of the applicator can automatically be adjusted to an optimal value. In this manner, the travel speed of the conveying device can be raised and the applicator can be positioned above the surface to be processed at a continuously adapted height in order to prevent collisions. The height adjusting device is preferably adjusted pneumatically. In this regard, a tightening return spring can sit in an accordion-like, airtight plastic bellows. When the bellows are supplied with compressed air, it extends downwardly and by means of the spring, high voltage is guided onto a contact plate on the underside of the applicator. The underside may be inclined in the direction of travel so that larger plants make contact for longer and are dragged over the applicator better. The level of filling of the bellows or its length may be monitored and controlled electronically in order to get out of the way of obstacles which have been detected by height sensors. A matrix-like arrangement in which a large number of individually controllable applicators are disposed alongside each other and one behind the other are disposed in a grid means that long contact times are possible without making contact with the ground and damage is minimized in the event of a collision if the construction is elastic and only springs back upwardly after the bellows bursts.
In addition to being used for drag applicators, bellows of this type may also be used for a belt system which is used as an applicator, either as a whole or via individual segments.
In equipment of this type, advantageously, the applicator comprises at least one brush. A brush can be guided relatively close to the surface to be treated, because the bristles yield more easily as regards resistance and deflect elastically because of their low mass, but then return to their original position due to attenuation and support in the bundle of bristles. The surface may be erratically rough (ballast) and considerably profiled (sleepers). The air resistance of the brushes, the mobility of the bristles and the self-cleaning capability of the brushes can be controlled particularly well by suitable orientation of the bristles with straight or slightly rearwardly directed dispositions and geometric dispositions of the rows of brushes with inclined rows and helically disposed gaps. However, if the bristles collide too severely with fixed parts of the railway infrastructure, rubbish or plants protruding above the surface, the bristles wear out too quickly and devices can be damaged. Thus, the height adjusting device enables a brush applicator to be used in particular with relatively long bristles or bundles of bristles even at higher speeds of the conveying device relative to the surface to be processed, in particular when taller assemblies such as signalling equipment or points have to be passed over or unavoidable collisions have to occur with as little wear as possible.
Particularly in order to obtain long-lasting effectiveness at high speeds, the invention also concerns a method for using a device of this type, in which the applicator is moved by means of the conveying device over a ground surface and relative to the conveying device, wherein the speed of the applicator relative to the ground surface is varied as a function of the lateral speed of the conveying device relative to the ground surface. This means that the relative speed between the applicator and the growth being trailed over can be optimized to a speed which is usually lower than the movement of the equipment as a whole relative to the ground surface to be treated. In this manner, the mechanical stress on the applicator and the infrastructure is reduced, collision damage is minimized and the efficiency of the applicators is increased independently of the varying lateral speed of the conveying equipment relative to the ground surface for operational reasons.
In a device of this type, advantageously, the applicator comprises at least one brush which rotates at a dynamically adjustable speed. In this manner, the bristle speed relative to the plant (and the track) can be set in an optimized manner for an optimized current transfer and a sufficient contact time to passivate or possibly tear out the plant independently of the operationally necessary varying speed of the transport vehicle. By means of the optimized selection of the rotational speed of the various types of brushes, contact with the ballast or the sleeper can be optimized in a manner such that abrasion at all elements is minimized. A rotating brush can be introduced a long way into the upper interference contour of the erratically rough (ballast) and considerably profiled (sleepers, rail fixings, assemblies) surface. The bristles of a brush turning in this manner touch the objects frequently with fewer than 1/10 of the brushes at this speed and can therefore deflect much more easily or penetrate into the plants. The smaller deflection and vibration of the bristles and the even better function of the attenuation in the brush composite means that the bristles return to the original position particularly quickly and can therefore be inspected locally much more easily. In this manner, weeds much closer to the metal parts can be removed without the risk of arcing. Because rotating brushes can steer wheels in a specific direction by an appropriate arrangement of bristles, even with non-conducting bristles in the edge regions, weeds can be pulled in the direction of the electrical contacts, thereby improving the cleaning power. With an air passage through a set of bristles with a high air resistance or a helical air passage, foliage that is torn out can be specifically removed from the ground simply by the exchange of the load of the air resistance at the upper and lower side of the brushes and can optionally be carried to the exterior. If, however, the bristles collide too strongly with solid parts of the railway infrastructure, rubbish or plants which protrude from the surface, the bristles will nevertheless wear too quickly and the equipment may be damaged. Therefore, the height adjusting device in combination with the use of a rotating brush applicator mean that high speeds for the conveying device relative to the area to be processed can be used, in particular when taller assemblies such as signalling units or points have to be passed over so that unavoidable collisions cause as little damage as possible.
Because the turning brush moves upwards on the side of the direction of travel, the regions where plasma formation and heating of the applicator surface due to the airstream are possible are massively reduced and penetrate into the more and more closely packed bristles. In this manner, sparks can intrinsically be minimized without additional outlay. As an alternative or in addition to a brush or a plurality of brushes disposed one behind the other, the applicator may also comprise a belt which is guided as a continuous belt over spaced rollers. In this regard, the belt preferably moves in the direction of the conveying device, so that the spaced rollers are disposed one behind the other. Like a brush turning about an axis, a belt of this type can be adapted to the relative speed between the device and the surface to be processed, by adapting the circumferential speed of the belt or the brush. A belt also has the advantage that the spaced rollers may be have different separations from the surface to be processed. When, for example, the front roller has a greater separation from the substrate than the rear roller, then taller plants are in contact with the belt for longer than shorter plants. This longer time means that larger plants are processed for longer.
Both with cylindrical brushes as well as with a continuous belt, advantageously, the applicator has a roller within which the high voltage source is disposed. Preferably, the applicator is driven by this roller. This leads to a particularly compact construction.
Because the conductivity of bristles or a belt can be improved by moisture, it is proposed that the equipment be provided with water jets. These water jets may be directed into the applicators or onto a forward position in the travel direction.
Further downwardly directed water jets, which also may be disposed under a sensor-guided flexible height cover, may spray steam or hot water over plants in order to destroy them or at least restrict their growth. Using hot water or steam to kill plants is known. The method consumes a great deal of energy and thus is usually used with very slow-moving road vehicles, where in particular it kills the parts of the plant that are above the ground. In the method described in accordance with the invention, hot water or steam is initially sprayed, after all of the plants protruding above the rail profile have been electrically or mechanically killed or cut down. The method with hot water or steam is especially relevant in combination with the high voltage treatment or in cases in which a high voltage treatment alone cannot be used for reasons of space or for technical reasons; the use of chemical substances can be further reduced or completely avoided with this method. Furthermore, an essential part of the invention is that no other sources of energy are required for preparing the hot water and/or the steam, because in accordance with the invention, the energy is extracted from the cooling water and/or from a heat exchanger in the exhaust gas flow of the current-producing generator unit. The water/wet steam which is temporarily stored can then very quickly be used in large quantities, for example in the ballast bed. The concentrated use, which might be focussed even further by means of hoods and concentrated onto plant growth regions by sensor-guidance, permits an efficient and effective use of the exhaust heat in the context of co-generation.
In order to adapt the equipment to the surface to be processed in an optimized manner, it is proposed that the applicator comprises brushes or belt segments which are disposed so that they can move with respect to each other. Preferably, the mechanisms allow the position of the segments during the movement of the equipment over the surface to be varied. These segments enable an applicator to be adapted in an optimized manner to the processing of a contoured surface such as, for example, a railway embankment. In addition, bristles or surface structures may be provided on the belt which, as flexible elements, improve the contact between the belt and the plants.
Particularly advantageously, the applicator segments are connected to the high voltage source separately from each other. This means that at different times, the segments can be supplied with high voltage, with different and, if appropriate, alternating polarities or with different intensities in order to be able to react individually as quickly as possible to a situation detected by the sensors. In this manner, for example, the deep action of the applicators in respect of the plant growth and the ground resistance/energy consumption can be regulated and controlled. Thus, when the plant density is high, applicators can be used in an energy-saving manner and effectively as plant-plant applicators, and when the plant density is low (sensor/current characteristics of the individual applicators as detection), an applicator may, for example be dropped down to the ground material, preferably on the fine-grained and possibly better-conducting wayside, and act as a better-conducting earth applicator.
The applicator segments may be disposed next to one another in a manner such that several segments form an arc which, for example, may be U-shaped with arms which can be disposed at different angles. In this manner, for example with a railway embankment, the applicators may run over the central track region and the lateral sloped areas in each case and their height will be adapted to the actual situation.
On the one hand, with a plurality of applicators, a profiled surface such as a peaked shape may be produced. On the other hand, however, the applicator itself may have a profiled surface. Thus, for example, the bristles of a brush may differ in length so that a roller brush has longer bristles at the edges than in the central region.
Thus, for example in the region near the track bed, brushes may have very long bristles, possibly with appropriate stabilization, so that when they touch solid objects they can deflect, while in a central region over the track, they have shorter bristles.
A specific brush shape has very long flexible bristles, in particular physically directly fixed close to the central axis or fixed using mechanical devices, which deploy under mechanical control or in particular as a function of the rotational speed and make contact with the ground. This allows a free adaptation to the surface contours and a rapid retraction of the bristles from collision regions by rapidly braking the brush.
Even at high travel speeds, there are regions which are definitely free from collisions. In this regions, wires and blades may be used as the current applicators; plants which come into contact with these current-carrying wires or cutters are attacked by the current in one or more sections, and thus the upper portions are almost immediately separated.
A particularly preferred field of application is the use of the equipment with a rail vehicle as the conveying device. The use of other conveying devices such as wheeled vehicles, tracked/chain vehicles, drones, walking conveyors etc, in particular with any installations connected with transport, is equally possible.
Bogies are provided particularly with rail vehicles. In this regard, it is proposed that in the case in which the conveying device comprises a bogie, the applicator is fixed to the bogie. This means that applicator systems can be disposed in the gaps between carrier wagons.
Cumulatively or alternatively, the applicator may also be disposed between two bogies. In this case, a lateral adaptation sensor system is advantageous.
Particularly advantageously, the railbound or non-railbound conveying device comprises one or more actuator robots for operations which in particular are beyond the track bed over the height adjustability of the applicators, which control the movement of the equipment. In this manner, mobile partially autonomous or even autonomous treatment robots are produced.
In this manner, finally, equipment for the treatment of plant growth is produced having a generator, a high voltage unit, a control and at least one movable current applicator pair based on brush contacts or sliding contacts, which may be combined with other mechanical devices, for example for mowing, cutting, sawing and blowing in order, for example, to grasp brambles or other larger plant parts while killing them or after killing them with current by means of gripping equipment, which initially grips the brambles and then energizes the current and then cuts them down.
A particularly advantageous case is when the equipment also comprises a mechanical device for killing or, weakening plants or other organisms by a chemical or physical method. The very combination of high voltage with chemical plant protection or other physical methods for killing or weakening plants offers the possibility, with just a single pass of an area, of extensively compromising the plant growth in compliance with requirements on very different substrates and in regions with very different infrastructures or restrictions on control as dictated by regulations.
In accordance with the invention, as a matter of priority, the high voltage method is used either down to close to the ground or, where this is not possible, to just above the interference edges. In this manner, even with combined applications, tall, deep-rooted plants at the same location are initially killed by electricity, and if necessary, the remaining tall biomass is substantially reduced with the aid of brushes or other applicators.
In this manner, the regions which cannot be reached with high voltage but which are more accessible following the pre-treatment, in particular the ruptured plant interfaces, are sprayed with a minimizable quantity of chemical substances, or other methods such as hot water or steam can now reach the smaller but also less deep-rooted plants which until then had been inaccessible significantly more easily (with less pre-cooling). By alternating the spatial use, exactly those regions which were not reached using high voltage but which had been detected by the sensor system of the plant stock are selectively exclusively treated with chemical or physical methods.
Particular possibilities for the further development of the equipment are opened up when it comprises a memory which is connected to a control device which is connected to the height adjusting device. This means that geoinformation can be used for controlling the system. In this manner, the type of weed control, such as chemical, mechanical or thermal, can be controlled on the basis of the geoinformation. The data may be determined on the basis of line construction data or regulatory data from aquatic conservation areas and nature reserves. Local inputs from automatic sensor data which determine the weed growth on a line or installation data such as energy consumption on the basis of voltage profiles, the spraying agent consumption and other measurements, constitute other possibilities.
In order to protect the equipment even more and use it in an optimal manner, it is proposed that data should be collected regarding the area to be treated, and the high voltage source and/or the height adjusting device should be controlled on the basis of the determined data.
These data may derive from different data sources. Advantageously, during the use of the equipment, data regarding the use of the equipment and/or the areas to be treated and/or the treated areas should be collected. This makes it possible to constantly improve the data set by being able to access these data for each subsequent treatment step.
Furthermore, manual inputs from mobile data capture devices during measurement runs or control runs may indicate constructional data, special plant types, and in particular resistant types. Data of this type may also be acquired using drone flights which are carried out ahead of time or at the same time as the treatment.
These time- or geo-referenced data may also be supported by technical devices to augment reality (augmented reality, 3D glasses, heads-up displays), or automatic lighting guides for marking and for use as a working light. Even with subsequent runs with independent appliances in the complex environment which changes because of the advancing vegetation, by means of the transferred time and location data, the user can input the earlier treatment areas into a live camera image virtually in order to be able to control the treatment outcome better or to initiate further treatments manually or to carry them out automatically using robots.
A physical model of the conveying device offers further advantages, in order to generate respectively optimized eradication methods and procedures by means of automatic context-based assignment of the geodata and other information wherein, for example, braking, acceleration and setup times can be taken into account.
Determination of the productivity data may also form the basis of an accounting system for licence costs for the high voltage treatment and other processing steps in order to use geodata and information regarding the travelled lines, plant densities etc as the basis for billing.
Advantageous exemplary embodiments are described in the drawings and will be described in more detail below. In the drawings:
The cross section through a railway embankment shown in
The brushes shown in
The rotating brushes 60, 61 shown in
The bundle of bristles shown in
The cross section through brushes 81 to 83 rotating about an axis 80 shown in
An object 101 adhering to a bristle 100 is pressed against the bristle 100 in the lower region of the rotating brush 102 by the airstream 103. As the brush 102 turns further in accordance with the arrow 104 during the movement of the brush 102 in accordance with the arrow 105 relative to the track 106, the particle 101 moves upwardly and at the point 107 is blown away from the bristle 100 by the airstream 108.
The height of all of the brushes can be adapted by means of sensors to the profiled surface of the rails, sleepers, ballast and other assemblies. In the exemplary embodiment, they rotate under control somewhat more slowly but in the same direction of rotation as the wheels 127 and 128. The height adjustment possibilities of the brushes are indicated with the arrows 129 and 130 (numbered only by way of example).
All of the brushes may have profiled configurations in the region of their radially outer surface. This is shown in
The equipment 140 shown in
The equipment 160 shown in
The equipment 180 shown in
A vehicle travelling on the rails 200 or in fact next to the rails 200 can be set to move slowly in order to robotically treat this region using a brush 201 which can be robotically moved in accordance with the arrows 202 and 203 between the rails and the outer railway region, circumventing signal assemblies and masts.
In addition to the ballast bed 204, when rail traffic is busy, the right-of-way may be treated with a low sensor-controlled partly autonomous or autonomous travel-and-application robot with a brush 205 which is disposed on a robot 206. In this regard, weeds can be robotically grasped or killed or cut down.
The dispensing system 210 for hot water or steam 211 has a sensor-guided height adjustment 212, 213 with which the drift of the height-adjustable hood 214 can be reduced and the contact time with the track bed 215 can be increased. Inclined downwardly directed bundles of bristles 216 or appropriately disposed flexible strips make it easier for the height adjustment device 212, 213 to set a minimum gap between the hood 214 and the ballast bed 215. Openings 217, 218 on the top of the hood 214 allow a flow of air to enter the region beneath the hood 214, whereupon the hot water or hot steam 211 which is sprayed out can be forced into the track bed during travel in the direction 219.
Bristles with different lengths on a roller brush mean that, as can be seen in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2016 011 289.1 | Sep 2016 | DE | national |
| 10 2017 001 827.8 | Feb 2017 | DE | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/DE2017/000303 | 9/18/2017 | WO | 00 |
