Patent Application
20080005864
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention are better explained hereunder by the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
a shows operation of some portions of the apparatus according to the invention, while travelling in a curve; and
b highlights—for immediate comparison—operation of an apparatus according to prior art, while travelling in a curve.
With reference to the aforesaid Figures, the self-propelled apparatus 1 according to the invention is indicated as a whole with the number 1.
It has a longitudinal axis 1a, defining a longitudinal direction or direction of rectilinear motion, and a transverse axis 1b, defining a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.
The apparatus comprises briefly propulsion and control members 2 such as an engine and steering means 3, and at least three wheels 4, more preferably four wheels 4, disposed along two axes 4a and 4b, rear and front, substantially parallel to the transverse axis 1b.
The wheels 4 and the steering means 3 are suitable to allow the apparatus 1 to travel in a curve, by means of steering around a point called centre of turning 3a, positioned on the axis of steering 3b, passing through the centre of turning 3a and parallel to the transverse axis 1b.
In the presence of front steered wheels only, the axis of steering 3b coincides with the rear axis 4a of the rear wheels.
Instead when all four wheels 4 are steered, as shown in
As specified in the first part of the present patent, the apparatus 1 is suitable to clean roads and urban areas, therefore to collect refuse 5 from the ground 6.
The term refuse 5 is intended as waste, residues or scraps ranging from macroscopic dimensions, i.e. with sizes in the order of centimetres and decimetres, such as cans, bottles and the like, and minimum dimensions, in particular dusts.
The apparatus 1 also comprises a container 7 for the refuse 5, preferably closed.
It also comprises an accumulation system 8 of the refuse on the ground suitable to convey the refuse located over a wide cleaning area 9 into a narrower accumulation strip 10.
The accumulation strip 10 is substantially realized by the projection, according to the trajectory travelled by the apparatus 1, of a conveying stretch 10b, better specified hereunder.
In detail, the accumulation system 8 is suitably realized by principal brushes 11, positioned at opposite sides of the self-propelled apparatus.
In particular, there are provided two brushes 11 of the cup type, i.e. truncated cone shaped, which rotate about the axis of said truncated cone, transverse to the ground.
These brushes 11 have at ground level centres of rotation 11a spaced from one another and the line that joins—in the plane—these centres of rotation 11 a is herein called reference line 10a.
The reference line 10a is transverse to the longitudinal axis 1a and is preferably, compatible with the assembly precision and oscillations of the brushes 11 during operation, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 1a.
Said conveying stretch 10b is positioned on the reference line 10a and corresponds to the free stretch of said line between the two brushes 11.
There can also be present other additional brushes 11b, such as the front brush shown in
The apparatus 1 also comprises a collection system 12 of the refuse 5, preferably of suction type.
It collects the refuse 5 present in proximity to a collection inlet 13 positioned at ground level.
Inside this collection inlet 13 there is defined a maximum collection section 13a, which realizes the portion of the collection inlet 13 having the greatest width in the direction transverse to the axis 1a.
This maximum collection section 13a is also preferably at least as wide as the conveying stretch 10b.
The collection inlet 13 is preferably disposed so that the maximum collection section 13a and the conveying stretch 10b are parallel with each other and have the same axis in longitudinal direction, preferably coincident with the axis 1a. The collection system 12 also comprises conveying devices 14 of the refuse 5—known per se—which convey the refuse from the collection inlet 13 positioned at ground level to said container 7.
These conveying devices 14 are preferably realized by various types of pneumatic members that operate by sucking up the refuse 5.
In particular, the collection inlet 13 is positioned at the level of a conveying unit 14a which directs the air flows at the level of said collection inlet 13.
Moreover, the conveying devices 14 comprise conveying pipes 14b, a filter 14c, a vacuum pump 14d, suitable to allow said suction, and other known devices, such as a device for air recirculation suitable to obtain improved suction of the refuse 5.
In the self-propelled apparatus 1 described above the steering means 3, the accumulation system 8 and the active collection system 12 for suction are predisposed suitably to dispose the axis of steering 3a in a particular intermediate position between the conveying stretch 10b and the collection inlet 13.
It is seen that along the longitudinal axis 1a of the self-propelled apparatus 1, or parallel thereto, there is a segment 15 extending between the collection inlet 13 and the conveying stretch 10b.
The axis of steering 3a, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis la, is predisposed so that it intersects the segment 15.
More specifically, the segment 15 joins the reference line 10a (or the respective conveying stretch 10b) to the section of maximum collection 13a of the collection inlet 13 and the axis of steering 3a intersects this segment 15 in median position.
For instance, the median portion is between one third and two thirds of the length of the segment 15, or between two fifths and three fifths of this segment 15.
To facilitate this technical solution it is provided that the wheels 4 are all steered and that the steering means 3 can also steer these wheels asymmetrically. It is thus possible to determine an unusual position of the axis of steering 3b, for instance, as indicated in the figures, in a position closer to the front wheels than to the rear wheels.
Operation of the self-propelled apparatus 1, the structure of which is described above, is as follows.
In operating conditions the propulsion and control members 2, the accumulation system 8 and the collection system 12 are activated.
The cup brushes 11 rotate about their axes and convey the refuse 5 located in the cleaning area 9 along the accumulation strip 10.
This strip is generated by the conveying stretch 10b, which is moved by the movement of the apparatus 1. As specified above, the conveying stretch 10b is between the brushes 11 and is positioned along the reference line 10a, which joins the centres of rotation 11 a at ground level of the brushes 11.
The collection system 12 then lifts, by means of suction, the refuse 5 located in proximity to the collection inlet 13 and sends it to the container 7.
During rectilinear travel the reference line 10a—and therefore the conveying stretch 10b—and the maximum collection section 13a travel along trajectories that are superposed, as shown in
The refuse 5 present in the accumulation strip 10 is thus completely collected by the collection inlet 13.
While performing curves or lateral movements, the apparatus 1 instead travels along trajectories having a centre of curvature coincident with the centre of turning 3a, positioned along the axis of steering 3b.
If the axis of steering 3b intersects the segment 15 in a median point thereof, as shown in
The collection inlet 13, during travel of the apparatus 1, thus completely superposes the accumulation strip 10 and the refuse 5 is always completely collected.
On the contrary, as shown in
The invention achieves important advantages.
In fact, the apparatus allows the whole of the accumulation strip 10 to be swept. Therefore, it is unnecessary to increase the dimensions of the collection inlet 13 and therewith the suction power of the apparatus, or to produce a structure of the apparatus that requires the collection inlet 13 to be placed in close proximity to the brushes 11.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| MI2006A 001321 | Jul 2006 | IT | national |
