Patent Application
20060000490
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and apparatus to facilitate cleaning of the dispensing elements of mixing trucks. More specifically, the invention relates to cleaning the hopper and chutes of concrete mixing trucks while retaining the runoff from the cleaning process for proper disposal at a later time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional concrete mixing trucks include large drum containers for mixing aggregate, sand, and cement slurry together to produce pourable concrete at a job site. Typical operation of a concrete mixing truck begins by loading the truck with the materials, usually by depositing the materials into the drum via one or more loading hoppers at the concrete facility. After loading, the drum rotates to mix the materials, and the truck is driven to a construction site where the delivery chute is positioned at a desired location. The chute is placed at a downward angle so that the concrete mixture may flow down and out of the chute. An auxiliary chute, or chute extension may be attached to the end of the main chute to better direct the flow of concrete. The concrete is discharged from the drum, into a truck hopper, and down the chute to the desired discharge location, such as into a concrete pump, a wheelbarrow, or directly onto the area being coated. A residual amount of concrete or a coating thereof may remain on the truck's dispensing elements after the concrete is poured. This concrete or concrete coating may harden on the chutes and hopper, thereby impeding use of the dispensing elements at a later time. In addition, the residual concrete may accidentally fall from the truck while the truck is returning from the construction site. This can create a hazard to drivers following behind the truck, and may form undesirable deposits of concrete on roads or other areas.
Thus, after concrete has been fully discharged from the truck, the operator must wash away the concrete residue adhering to the truck hopper and outlet chutes before leaving the construction site. In order to remove the concrete residue, the hopper and chutes may be washed off at the construction site using a hose and water. A disadvantage of this method is that a concrete patch is formed on the ground at the site where the washing takes place. For this reason, many localities have laws barring this practice. Accordingly, the contractor must provide a designated location at the construction site where this rinsing operation may occur. This may be inconvenient and inefficient, especially if the rinsing station is located at a site remote from the concrete discharge location.
Moreover, concrete truck wash-off can pose serious environmental concerns. Thus, environmentally friendly and cost efficient systems for cleaning the dispensing elements of concrete mixing trucks have become ever more desirable, especially as it becomes increasingly unacceptable to dump the residual concrete outside of a prescribed disposal area. In many cases, precautions must be taken at the construction site to ensure that concrete residue runoff does not contaminate the site or adjoining waterways. Because construction sites are being subjected to ever-increasing environmental regulations, proper disposal of concrete residue will continue to be of concern for the foreseeable future.
Various systems for ridding residual concrete material from mixing trucks have been proposed, including emptying the material into portable containers for remote disposal, and washing the material directly into sewage systems. These methods are undesirable in that they pose various environmental and practical problems. For example, emptying the material into portable containers, such as buckets, for remote disposal, is labor intensive and time consuming. Washing the material directly into a sewage system causes environmental and other problems. For example, it can increase the burden on the sewage system and may cause blockage of the system, in addition to being environmentally undesirable. Yet other prior art systems require the use of powered pumps or pressurized containers for returning the runoff material to the drum on the truck. These systems are prohibitive because of the expense in acquiring and maintaining the systems.
Consequently, it would be advantageous to provide an environmentally sound and economically practical method and apparatus that would greatly reduce or eliminate the drawbacks of the prior art systems. It would be particularly desirable if such a method and apparatus were able to recycle any residual material so that it may be recovered and reused. The need has therefore arisen for an improved system for cleaning residual material from concrete trucks and disposing of it properly.
In a first aspect, the invention is directed to a system, method, and apparatus for facilitating the cleaning of residual material from the dispensing elements of a truck, such as from the hopper, main chute, and auxiliary chute of a mixing truck. The apparatus of the invention includes a catch basin that is mounted on and carried by the truck for receiving the runoff from washing the material residue from the dispensing elements of the truck. A funnel assembly may be mounted on the truck's dispensing chute, and a drain hose is connected between the funnel assembly and the catch basin. The dispensing elements of the truck are then washed using water or other suitable liquid, and the mixture of liquid and residual material passes through the funnel and hose under the force of gravity, and into the catch basin. The apparatus may also include a means for supporting and cleaning an auxiliary chute.
In another aspect, the method of the invention includes: providing a concrete mixing truck with a catch basin; attaching a funnel to the main chute of the truck; connecting a hose between the funnel and the catch basin; and washing the chute with water or other liquid, whereby the water washes the concrete residue from the chute, into the funnel, through the hose, and into the catch basin. If an auxiliary chute also requires cleaning, the method may also include the step of mounting the auxiliary chute on the catch basin and washing the concrete residue from the auxiliary chute into the catch basin. The runoff received by the catch basin may be emptied at a later time and properly disposed of or recycled.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.
The accompanying drawings, in conjunction with the general description given above, and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments given below, serve to illustrate and explain the principles of the preferred embodiments of the best mode of the invention presently contemplated, wherein:
In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part of the disclosure, and, in which are shown by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specific embodiments by which the invention may be practiced. In the drawings, like numerals describe substantially similar components throughout the several views. The embodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the invention is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
As illustrated in
The apparatus of the invention is advantageously mounted on and carried by truck 12, and includes an on-board catch basin 30 that may be mounted on the rear of truck 12 behind the rear tires 28. As also illustrated in
Catch basin 30 includes a pair of funnel mounting brackets 42 located near upper lip 40 on the exterior surface of front wall 31. Each funnel mounting bracket 42 projects outward from front wall 31, and includes a horizontally-disposed funnel-support pin 46. As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Funnel assembly 50 includes a semi-cylindrical funnel wall 54 having a semi-circular rear funnel wall 56 welded to one end to create a closed end 58 of funnel 50, and an open, mating end 60 of funnel 50. Semi-cylindrical funnel wall is shaped in a half-pipe configuration of a similar size and shape to match the size and shape of free end 20 of main chute 16, so that cleaning water will flow from main chute 16 into funnel 50. Funnel assembly 50 may be constructed from sheet metal materials, such as stainless steel, steel, aluminum, or other suitable materials.
Mating end 60 of funnel 50 includes a funnel lip 62 formed around the perimeter of semi-cylindrical funnel wall 54, and a gasket 64 is attached around the perimeter of funnel lip 62. Gasket 64 forms a seal with free end 20 of main chute 16 when funnel 50 is mounted on main chute 16 to help prevent leakage of cleaning water onto the ground. Gasket 64 may be constructed of a suitable polymeric or other material such as silicone, vinyl, rubber compounds, and the like, and may be attached to funnel lip 62 by adhesive, mechanical fasteners, or other suitable means.
Funnel mounting hooks 52 are located on opposite sides of semi-cylindrical wall 54, and are attached by welding or other suitable means. It may be seen from
Funnel assembly 50 includes a drain opening 70 formed in the bottom of semi-cylindrical funnel wall 54. A drain pipe 72 is attached to drain opening 70 for receiving cleaning water flowing into funnel 50. Drain pipe 72 preferably includes an elbow 74 for angling the drain pipe exit 76 toward basin 30 when funnel 50 is mounted on main chute 16. Drain pipe exit 76 includes a hose connector fitting 78, such as a camlock fitting, threaded hose fitting, or any of the other types of hose fittings commonly known in the art. As illustrated in
The system 10 of the invention also makes provision for the convenient cleaning of auxiliary chute 18 by providing an auxiliary chute support arrangement 88. As illustrated in
Basin 30 includes two pairs of support rod brackets located at two opposed inner corners of near sidewall 32. Each pair of support rod brackets includes an upper support rod bracket 96 and a lower support rod bracket 98. An angle-shaped hole 100 is formed in-line through each support rod bracket 96, 98, so that a support rod 90 can be slid into angle-shaped hole 100 and maintained in an upright position. Because hole 100 is angle-shaped, rather than round, support rods 90 will not rotate when inserted in holes 100. Support rods 90 are inserted in holes 100 in the configuration illustrated in
In addition, it should be noted that bottom 34 of catch basin 30 has a downward slope from front wall 31 to rear wall 33, and from far sidewall 32 to near sidewall 32, so that water will flow toward a drain valve 110 located at a rear corner 112 of catch basin 30. Drain valve 110 includes a handle 114, which may be actuated by pulling outward, as indicated by arrow 116 in
In use, truck 12 travels to a job site to deliver an amount of concrete or other material. At this point catch basin 30 should be empty of liquid and secured by main latch 48 and funnel latch 49 (if installed), as illustrated in
The operator obtains a water hose 120 having an available source of water or other cleaning liquid. The source of water may be city water or well water provided by the contractor at the job site. Alternatively, truck 12 may be fitted with a water tank (not shown) containing a source of water that can be pressurized with a hand pump (not shown), or by other means, as is known in the art. This makes the entire cleaning process self-contained and not reliant on the requirement that there be a nearby source of water. The operator uses the water from water hose 120 to wash the residual concrete from hopper 15 and main chute 16. The combined mixture of water and concrete residue flows into funnel assembly 50, down drain pipe 72, through drain hose 80, and into catch basin 30. After hopper 15 and main chute 16 have been cleaned satisfactorily, auxiliary chute 18 is also cleaned using water from water hose 120. Following cleaning, auxiliary chute 18 is removed from support pins 94 and stowed, drain hose 80 is removed from drain pipe 72, and funnel assembly 50 is removed from main chute 16, replaced on mounting brackets 42, and latched in place using funnel latch 49 (if installed). Support rods 90 are returned to storage tubes 92, and lid 36 is closed and main latch 48 is latched. Truck 12 then returns to the concrete facility and catch basin 30 is drained by opening drain valve 110 by turning handle 114. The contents of catch basin 30 are either properly disposed of, or, preferably, recycled, and catch basin 30 is rinsed out and ready for reuse.
From the foregoing it should be apparent that the system 10 of the invention sets forth a method and apparatus for cleaning the dispensing elements of mixing trucks that have a number of advantages over the prior art. The present invention does not require pumps for operation, and does not require any heavy lifting or manual carrying of waste runoff, but, instead, merely relies on gravity for transporting the runoff to the catch basin. In addition, the invention provides a simple and efficient system for containing and properly disposing of or recycling the residual material.
While specific embodiments have been illustrated and described in this specification, those of ordinary skill in the art appreciate that any arrangement that is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments disclosed. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of the present invention, and it is to be understood that the above description has been made in an illustrative fashion, and not a restrictive one. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the foregoing disclosure. The scope of the invention should properly be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
