Patent Application
20090250922
This invention relates generally to vehicle exhaust extractions systems for emergency vehicles, such as a fire truck or ambulance. More particularly, this invention relates to an apparatus for attachment to a tailpipe of an emergency vehicle and the method of using such apparatus.
Emergency vehicles, such as fire trucks, create a challenge due to the nature of their use. A fire truck is usually backed into a firehouse garage bay and readied for the next emergency call. When an emergency call comes in, the fire truck must be started by one of the firefighters while he waits for everyone to get properly dressed and board the vehicle in their appropriate locations. During this time interval in which the engine is running, exhaust gases exit the tailpipe of the vehicle. Due to the closed nature of the fire bay, these exhaust gases must be vented outside the building to the atmosphere for health and safety reasons.
There are many known emergency vehicle exhaust extraction systems, many of which include a flexible hose which vents to the atmosphere at one end and at the other end is secured to an apparatus or adapter for securement to the tailpipe of the vehicle.
One known system utilizes magnets to removably secure an apparatus located at the end of the hose to the vehicle tailpipe. In such a system, the firefighters need not manually disconnect the hose assembly from the tailpipe. Rather instead, once the garage door to the fire bay is opened, the fire truck may merely exit the building, and the pulling force of the hose pulls the apparatus off the vehicle tailpipe once the vehicle has sufficiently exited the building. This system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,609,298 and 5,927,759, which are both fully incorporated by reference herein.
To date, the exhaust pipes of such fire trucks have commonly been five inches in diameter. However, new diesel engine regulations have required the truck manufacturers to increase the diameter of the vehicle tailpipe; an end portion of the tailpipe is now as large as seven inches in diameter. Therefore, there is a need for an adapter which enables known exhaust extraction systems to couple to a larger diameter tailpipe.
The apparatus of this invention which accomplishes these objectives and one aspect of this invention comprises an apparatus for joining a vehicle exhaust evacuation system to a vehicle tailpipe. The apparatus comprises: 1) an adapter for securement to a vehicle tailpipe and 2) a removable collar which is used to secure the adapter to the vehicle tailpipe.
The adapter comprises a generally cylindrical outer member and a generally cylindrical inner member having a common longitudinal center axis. The inner member is spaced from the outer member by a plurality of spacers secured to the inner and outer members. More specifically, four spacers are secured to the inner and outer members of the adapter and extend therebetween. A portion of the inner member extends outwardly beyond an outer edge of the outer member.
The removable collar is adapted to surround the outer member of the adapter which upon being tightened secures the adapter to the tailpipe.
In one embodiment, a plurality of alignment members are secured to an outer surface of the outer member. These alignment members are located and sized to be received inside corresponding slots in a sleeve of a vehicle exhaust evacuation system to properly align the sleeve of a vehicle exhaust evacuation system so that upon being subject to sufficient force, the sleeve pulls away from the adapter of the present invention.
In the practice of this invention, the adapter is secured to the vehicle tailpipe and travels with it. Therefore, when the vehicle pulls out of the firehouse or similar building, the adapter separates from the sleeve of the vehicle exhaust evacuation system and goes with the vehicle. In one embodiment, the adapter has three alignment members which function to prevent the adapter from extending too far into the sleeve of the vehicle exhaust evacuation system. These alignment members, which are sized and shaped to fit into slots in the sleeve of the vehicle exhaust evacuation system, further function to align the adapter and sleeve properly relative to each other to facilitate quick and easy separation when the vehicle pulls away from the building. These alignment members are welded or otherwise secured to the outer surface of the outer member of the adapter and extend outwardly beyond an outer edge of the outer member of the adapter. The present invention may be used with different sleeves of vehicle exhaust evacuation systems; it is not intended to be limited to sleeves having magnets on the inside thereof such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,609,298 and 5,927,759. For example, another sleeve suitable for use with the present invention is a pneumatically inflatable sleeve lacking magnets. One advantage of the adapter of this invention is the ability to provide a suitable coupling which may be quickly and easily attached and then separated properly from an emergency vehicle exhaust tailpipe which the vehicle pulls away from the fire bay or building.
These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more readily apparent from the following description of the drawings.
Referring to the drawings, the apparatus 10 of this invention comprises an adapter 12 and a collar 14 for joining a vehicle exhaust evacuation system 16 to a vehicle tailpipe 18 extending outwardly from a vehicle (shown in phantom in
The inner diameter of the inner portion 40 of the outer member 26 of the adapter 12 is sized to fit over the vehicle tailpipe 18. A plurality of spaced slots 44 extend inwardly from the inner edge 32 of the outer member 26 of the adapter 12 and aid in fitting the outer member 26 of the adapter 12 and more particularly, the inner portion 40 of the outer member 26 of the adapter 12 over the vehicle tailpipe 18. Although
The adapter 12 further comprises a generally cylindrical inner assembly 45 having an interior 48 and being open ended at both ends. This inner assembly 45 comprises a generally cylindrical inner member 46 and an end ring 58 secured together via welding or any other suitable means. In certain applications, the end ring 58 may be omitted, for example when a non-magnetized sleeve is being used.
The inner member 46 has an outer edge 50 (furthest away from tailpipe 18) and an inner edge 52 (shown in
At its outer end, the end ring 58 comprises a cylindrical portion 60 and a flared portion 62 which is flared outwardly to create a flare 64 extending circumferentially outward away from the longitudinally extending central axis A of the adapter 12. The end ring 58 has an outer edge 59 and functions to aid in the release of the sleeve 66 from the adapter 12 in certain applications. The inner and outer members 46, 26 are secured together in an aligned manner to be coaxial, i.e. have the same central axis A.
The inner member 46 is spaced from the outer member 26 of the adapter 12 by four spacers 68 as shown in
As shown in
In one embodiment, the adapter 12 further comprises three alignment members 70 which are secured via welding to the outer surface 34 of the outer member 26, as shown in
While we have described only two embodiments of this invention, persons skilled in this art will appreciate changes and modifications which may be made without departing from the spirit of this invention.
