Patent Application
20080000507
Referring to
Application of washing fluid, which may be a detergent solution, heated or cool water, or another satisfactory solvent, may be accomplished by spraying a high pressure spray onto the item to be washed from a pressure washer wand which may be inserted through curtain wall 86 in gaps between overlapping curtain panels 16 of sidewalls 10, 12 and end wall 14.
Sidewalls 10, 12 and end wall 14 include an open framework 30 comprising a lower frame assembly 70 and an upper frame assembly 72. Lower frame assembly 70 comprises upright members 20 and lateral members 22, 24. Upper frame assembly 72 comprises top rail 36 supported on standards 74. Standards 74 may be supported on selected upright members 20. Each of lateral frame assemblies 70 and upper frame assemblies 72 may be constructed in eight foot lengths so that open frameworks 30 may be disassembled into components of length not exceeding eight feet. Rigid panels 28 are also eight feet in length and are mounted to lower frame assemblies 70.
Curtain walls 86 are located above rigid panels 28 and comprise plural curtain panels 16 which are suspended from top rails 36 of open frameworks 30. The lower end 26 of each curtain panel 16 lies against an inside face 38 of the rigid panel 28. Curtain panels 16 are non-rigid, being flexible or semi rigid clear polyvinyl chloride strips or other clear flexible or semi-rigid polymer strips.
From reference to
Trough 18 comprises trough sections 48, 49 which may be constructed in eight foot lengths. First trough section 48 longitudinally joins second trough section 49 to form trough 18. Trough sections 48 and 49 are joined at open ends 50, 51 respectively thereof. As best seen in
A multi-walled filter element 52 may be received in removal end 54 of trough 18 to create a compartment 56 for placement of a submersible sump pump (not illustrated) to be used to draw filtered run off from trough 18 as it accumulates. Filter element 22 serves to separate large particulates from the run off wash water.
The inclusion of cross rail 127 and tapered longitudinal rails 132 causes floor 128 of trough 18 to slope downwardly from distal end 130 to removal end 54 to facilitate drainage of run off toward filter element 52 and sump pump compartment 56. Rails 132 are taller at distal end 130 of second trough section 49 than at open end 51 thereof.
Covers 62 rest upon the open top 46 of trough sections 48, 49 but permit run off from deck 4 to enter the open top 46 of trough 18 through openings in the open top 46 left uncovered by covers 62 at tab edges 66 thereof.
Curtain walls 86 comprise curtain panels 16 which are retained to top rails 36 by attachment strips 40. Curtain panels 16 are preferably substantially transparent or translucent semi-rigid or flexible polymer strips about eight inches in width. Curtain panels 16 are preferably constructed of clear polyvinyl chloride of 0.08 inch thickness. Curtain panels 16 are preferably about five feet to about six feet in length, so long as a curtain wall 86 and rigid panel 28 serve to make a barrier to spray reflecting from the equipment being washed.
Deck side panels 76, which may be 8 feet in length, are mountable to the higher ends 58 of deck modules 42 and enclose them. Trough side panels 78 assist in retaining trough sections 48 in abutment with lower ends 60 of deck modules 42 when selected deck modules 42 have been assembled into deck 4. Closed deck end panel 80 may be assembled to lateral frame assembly 70 when used as part of end wall 14. Extension panel 84 extends across distal end 130 of trough 18. Rail extension 146 joins top rail 36 of end wall 14 with the top rail 36 of sidewall 12 and provides a support for flexible panels 16 to hang over an opening between end wall panel 28a and sidewall 12.
Entry end panel 82 is elongate having ends 136 and 138 which mount to the first deck module 42a. Entry end panel 82 includes a projected central region 140, which is spaced away from first deck module 42a when ends 136 and 138 are mounted to the first deck module 42a. Referring additionally to
Referring now to
It is to be understood that curtain panels 16 are arranged in outer rows 100 and inner rows 102 such that portions of the first face 94 of a curtain panel 16 in the outer row 100 will be in close proximity or in touching abutment to the opposing second face 96 of two adjacent curtain panels 16 of the inner row 102. That is, in the illustration of
In the case of end wall 14, flex panels 16 may be longer in the area below rail extension 146 so that a flexible barrier is made across the space between rigid panel 28 and of end wall 14 and side wall 12.
Referring now additionally to
An elongate slot 120 is formed in top plate 110 to receive a tab 64 of a cover 62 (see
Deck module 42 is provided with fork openings 44 to allow deck modules 42 to be easily transported by a forklift or other lifting fork equipped machine.
Deck module 42 includes transverse support ribs 122 which are used to strengthen the deck module 42. Support ribs 122 pass through each of beams 112, 114, 116 and are welded thereto to strengthen the deck module 42. One set of support ribs 122 is attached to beams 112, 114, 116 immediately below top plate 110 and a second set of support ribs 122 is located at the bottom 132 of deck module 42.
First edge 124 of top plate 110 of each deck module 42 cantilevers to overlie the exposed upper end 126 of first support beam 112 of the next adjacent deck module 42 such that each top plate 110 is supported in part by the first beam 112 of the neighboring deck module 42.
By making all components of the wash station 2 modular, it can be understood that the wash station can be enlarged in increments and could be doubled in width with trough 18 centered between deck assemblies with lower ends 60 of the deck modules 42 of a first deck assembly opposing lower ends 60 of the second deck assembly. With such an arrangement, the run off would drain to the center of the deck and into the trough 18 for removal of the used water and its treatment and recycling.
The foregoing description of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations of the embodiments are possible in light of the above disclosure or such may be acquired through practice of the invention. The embodiments illustrated were chosen in order to explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto, and by their equivalents.
