Patent Grant
9388543
This patent application is a national phase entry under 35 U.S.C. §371 of PCT International Patent Application PCT/EP2011/065505, filed Sep. 7, 2011, designating the United States and published in English as International Patent Publication WO/2012/032101 on May 15, 2012, which claims the benefit, under Article 8 of the PCT, of European Patent Application Ser. No. 10425291.1, filed Sep. 8, 2010, the benefit and entire disclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated herein by this reference.
The present invention relates to a multi-purpose truck that is specifically equipped in order to provide the best support in the activities for re-establishment of safe and practicable road conditions, after car accidents.
The multi-purpose truck is able, using some special devices installed on it, to support the re-establishment of safe traffic conditions and to prevent, even in relevant accidents, any damage to the environment. This is possible because it supports the cleaning of the road platform and the aspiration of functional polluting liquids (lubricating oils, fuels, cooling liquids, etc.) eventually lost by vehicles involved in the accident. Further, the road platform is subject to a treatment under specific products, so that any slippery surface is avoided, and the solid debris related to typical car equipments (broken glasses, parts made of plastic, metals, remaining parts of structures, etc.) is removed.
The interventions associated with cleaning the road platform in larger accidents are supported by different multi-purpose vehicles, more exactly the multi-purpose vans and the multi-purpose top trucks, as described in their technical aspects in a previous European patent EP 09007776 filed by the same undersigned applicant. Another multi-purpose motor vehicle has entered in the group of the above special vehicles, and this motor vehicle is able to support the usual road interventions and the re-establishment of safe traffic conditions after car accidents.
Indeed, these vehicles can support the interventions, addressed to re-establish safe traffic conditions and to prevent any damage to the environment, on most of the road accidents, because they are equipped with special devices providing a jet of water solution and other devices having a high aspiration power, further containing specific products able to remove any slippery condition of surfaces, like the ecological surfactant and the molecular chain destroyer; these special devices can further collect and contain a large quantity of solid debris lost by vehicles involved in the accidents; and the above emergency vehicles can reach the site of accidents very quickly.
It is here remarked how these vehicles, equipped with a suction system and a pressure water gun, both working with electric power supply, require the installation on board of a 7-8 Kw electric energy generator, having a relevant weight and size.
During the design of the multi-purpose truck, these technical problems have been subject of a specific study, and the final choice has been to avoid devices requiring electric power supply, or requiring compressed air supply, that have as a consequence a short operative autonomy. Both the above solutions have resulted to be not compatible with this type of vehicles, especially with reference to the typical weight of an electric generator and its large size. Another solution is disclosed in document US 2007/0095370A1 where the truck engine provides the energy to the devices.
Therefore, the main objective of the present invention is to avoid all the above said drawbacks, and to obtain a technical system that is autonomous, and can work for a long time depending only on the quantity of the available fuel.
Further particular and specific features of the multi-purpose truck—having two or three, symmetric or asymmetric wheels, powered by a combustion, electric, or hybrid engine—are the following:
Therefore, it is specific subject of the present invention a multi-purpose truck for re-establishment of safe and practicable road conditions, after car accidents, through cleaning of the road platform, said truck being equipped by:
The present invention will now be described for illustrative but not limitative purposes, according to its preferred embodiments, with particular reference to figures of the enclosed drawings, wherein:
It is here underlined that, in the following, only some of the many conceivable embodiments of the present invention will be described, and that they are just some particular examples that do not introduce any limitations, having the possibility to describe many other embodiments based on the disclosed technical solutions of the present invention.
In
In particular cases, the intervention can involve the treatment of dangerous goods, hazard substances, and industrial wastes transported on the same vehicles involved in the accident. In these situations, the intervention will be managed by companies of specialists having all the certificates and skills required by law, usually operative partners of the intervention network.
In fact, multi-purpose trucks 100 and 110 are part of a national intervention network that includes different type of vehicles, like, i.e. the multi-purpose vans, the multi-purpose top trucks, and the multi-purpose motor vehicle, chosen according to the type and extension of the accident.
This network is coordinated by an operative Headquarter that receives all the intervention calls coming from all around the national territory. The requests are received directly, through an Italian toll free phone number “800.014.014”, that is active 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. When a telephone call arrives, related to an accident, a worker of the Headquarter calls the local operator and ask him to go urgently on site, and to start as soon as possible the activities of re-establishment of normal road conditions, through cleaning of the road platform.
During the travel, the same operator has some computing means available on his truck 100, like i.e. the tablet PC 300 of
The tablet PC 300 has a special navigation system, installed inside, connected to a data base containing detailed maps with indications of the best way to reach any destination in the shortest possible time. When the operator arrives on site of accident, he has the first duty of recognizing exactly the nature of materials and eventual chemical substances to be treated and/or removed, so that he can implement the proper recovering methods in cooperation with personnel of the Headquarter.
In order to reach this goal, the operator uses the same tablet PC 300, available in said truck 100, connected to a data base containing:
The same data base is available to the operative Headquarter and further comprises information about:
The communication between local operator and operative Headquarter can be integrated with audio/video clips, e-mails, digital photos, etc., everything transmitted in real time, using the same tablet PC 300 available on truck 100.
With reference to
Once the connection pipes are installed, connecting the terminal devices of the hydraulic circuit to respective independent tanks, placed on vehicle 100, the operator 816 (eventually assisted by a second operator 817) can start the operations of cleaning the road platform and related parts invaded by polluting liquids and/or other not biodegradable materials. As a priority, the same operator 816 will remove immediately, using the suction system 804, most of the existing polluting liquids lost by vehicles in the accident, then he will wash the road platform using a solution of water and specific products 803 (ecological surfactant and molecular chain destroyer). This solution is sprayed using a high-pressure water gun, including a rain jet adjustment, 802, so that the polluting material is removed from the platform, avoiding any slippery condition, and it activates a degradation process of hydrocarbons provided by natural bacteria.
Finally, the resulting emulsion 806 is aspirated and collected in the proper container 807, and then temporarily stocked at the site of the company that made the intervention, before being definitely delivered to special and authorized plants, where they are processed and properly finished.
The power supply, necessary to make the multi-purpose truck 100 work properly, can be directly provided by the engine and/or any other point of energy transmission in the kinematic chain. The extracted energy can be therefore used as a power supply for mechanical, electrical or hydraulic devices.
In case that the multi-purpose truck 100 has a pneumatic circuit previously installed on it, like i.e. in case of trucks equipped for transportation of vehicles, having a mechanical arm or a load platform with variable orientation, then the above energy transmission system can be achieved in a different way.
With reference to
More in particular, said points of deviation 412 can be represented by a three ways distributor, that takes the energy from oil under pressure in circuit 410, and gives the energy simultaneously to hydraulic engine 409 that supplies water pump 417, and to hydraulic engine 404 that activates the vacuum pump 406. The special washing liquid (ecological surfactant), composed of water, washing powder and/or additional substances for treatment of the road platform (molecular chain destroyer, of oil and oil related products), is contained, in its final composition, inside tank 414. The hydraulic pump 417 pushes and directs the high-pressure liquid from tank 414 towards water gun 408, where it is sprayed outside on the road platform, under control of the operator. The vacuum pump 406 extracts air from tank 405, creating a vacuum state inside, so that the suction system 407 can remove, under control of a second operator, the resulting emulsion from the road platform towards tank 405.
The removed liquids are a mix of the previous washing liquids and other liquids and polluting materials having origin in petroleum, eventually lost by vehicles involved in the accident.
In a different embodiment, another additional tank 415 is installed, connected through a three ways distributor 416, that contains clean water. This additional quantity of water can be useful in order to dilute the sprayed solution, or to alternate different steps of cleaning, with special substances and without them.
Therefore, with the above described systems the truck 100 results to be completely autonomous, from an energetic point of view, and can directly supply said high-pressure water gun 802 and said system of fast suction of liquids 804, without any need of an external electric generator.
Once operations of cleaning of road platform and related parts are completed, the operator must update the information, using the same tablet PC 300 available on the truck 100, in order to put in the data base:
In case it is required, instead, the clearance of the territory, because some big dispersions have occurred, or some dangerous or toxic materials have been lost in the environment, situations as described in the Italian law 334/1999 (Seveso), the Headquarter further contacts the most qualified companies in the country, usually operative partners of the organization.
At the end of the operations, the data base is updated with the following information:
As previously explained, after the cleaning procedures, the emulsion contained in tank of truck 100 is temporary stocked at the site of the company that made the intervention, before being definitely delivered to special and authorized plants, where they are processed and properly finished.
An innovative feature of truck 100, is that it includes a specific system, alerting the incoming drivers about the dangerous traffic conditions. This system is composed of: four visual signaling devices with a yellow blinking light, to be placed on ground, in order to signal the obstacle on the road, in case of night intervention or low visibility conditions; a visual signaling device, having a yellow blinking light, or having a blue blinking light, according to the type of authorization obtained; and an acoustic signaling device.
The acoustic signaling device is connected to a proximity sensor, and it is able to detect the approaching of a vehicle that is potentially dangerous for all the persons staying in the area of the accident: the operators responsible for returning it to safe traffic conditions, the Police officers, the workers of mechanical emergency, and the same people of vehicles that have been involved in the accident. When a new vehicle is arriving, the system is automatically activated and generates an acoustic alarm signal, that is diffused around by loudspeakers installed on the same truck 100. According to different embodiments, the alarm signal can be diffused by a pocket device and/or earphones, so that the persons can be alerted immediately about the danger and have the time to run to a safe place.
Another important feature of the present invention is that the same computing and communication means, i.e. tablet PC 300, are available to operators on truck 100, as a remote control for the intervention devices.
In example, operators can control remotely the above instruments of high-pressure water gun 802 and suction system 804, that are eventually integrated with computers, or they can control emergency signaling means, and other devices for pulling and/or lifting vehicles, usually installed on trucks for transportation of vehicles.
All these operations can be done remotely using the same tablet PC 300, where functions of supervision and control are embedded, with reference to specific intervention devices; the same tablet PC 300 comprising: a user interface, preferably with touch screen, means for data acquisition from sensors and detectors; means for data processing; means for control of engines and actuators; and means for data radio transmission.
In order to support any possible emergency and assistance to people involved in car accidents, or natural disasters, the truck 100 further includes a set of boxes and housings, particularly suitable to contain medical emergency material, like i.e.: medical emergency box; first aid medicines; defibrillator; a small oxygen cylinder for asthmatic people; thermic cover; a bottle of water, etc.;
Therefore, the above examples show that the present invention achieves all the proposed objectives. In particular, it permits obtainment of a multi-purpose truck supporting the activities addressed to re-establish safe and practicable road conditions, through cleaning of the area involved in car accidents, by aspiration of the functional liquids lost by vehicles, and collection of the solid debris related to the same involved vehicles.
The same invention includes an internal system for generation and transmission of energy, necessary as a power supply for a high-pressure water gun device and a fast aspiration of liquids device, so to avoid the need to carry an external electric generator, with its drawbacks concerning additional weight and size.
Furthermore, the above said high pressure water jet device and fast liquids aspiration device are integrated and designed in such a way that they result in being efficient and at the same time they take a small amount of space, so that they can be transported and used in a very comfortable way.
Again, according to the invention, the equipment of the truck includes a system for signaling dangerous situations, i.e. due to the activities of operator and to vehicles that are stopped in the center of the road; this system protects everybody who is travelling through the area, and the persons involved in the operations of returning the road to safe traffic conditions.
Furthermore, the equipment of the truck includes computing means and means for a real time communication with an operative Headquarter, said means embedding functions of:
Furthermore, the same computing and communication means embed the additional function of
The present invention has been described for illustrative but not limitative purposes, according to its preferred embodiments, but it is clear that modifications and/or changes can be introduced by those skilled in the art without departing from the relevant scope, as defined in the enclosed claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10425291 | Sep 2010 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2011/065505 | 9/7/2011 | WO | 00 | 8/19/2013 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2012/032101 | 3/15/2012 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5596788 | Linville | Jan 1997 | A |
| 6182328 | Roden | Feb 2001 | B1 |
| 20050120505 | Tani | Jun 2005 | A1 |
| 20070095370 | Kratser | May 2007 | A1 |
| 20070262180 | Adams | Nov 2007 | A1 |
| 20100196129 | Buckner | Aug 2010 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2133474 | Dec 2009 | EP |
| 2428284 | Mar 2012 | EP |
| 2428285 | Mar 2013 | EP |
| Entry |
|---|
| Partial European Search Report/Annex to European Search Report for EP 2428284A1. |
| International Search Report for PCT/EP2011/0655505. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20130318739 A1 | Dec 2013 | US |
