AU734143B2 - Hose reel - Google Patents

Description

P/00/0o11 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT

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Applicant: TIEMAN INDUSTRIES PTY LTD The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: IP AUSTRALIA 0BL RECEIVED p 10 DEC 1998 7MELBOURNE C:7Do~ORHARO~MNDREGENERMA5I4DOIC DCC -2- HOSE REEL The present invention relates to a reel for a hose and particularly, although not exclusively, relates to a reel for fitting to a liquid transport tanker.

The development of the invention for that particular purpose makes it convenient to describe the invention as applied in that manner, although it should be appreciated, that the invention is envisaged to have wider application and should not be considered restricted to the application hereinafter described.

Liquid transport vehicles (or otherwise known as "tankers") are used to 10 transport a wide variety of different liquids. Such vehicles also employ a Ce•.

00 variety of different arrangements by which the vehicle can be filled and "°"emptied. In one particular arrangement, which is commonly used for the transport of milk, the vehicle employs a hose which is in liquid communication with the liquid storage compartment of the tanker and which can be extended from the tanker, for coupling to a farm vat containing milk. In this arrangement, milk is pumped from the vat through the hose and into the storage compartment. The various arrangements for coupling the hose to the vat and to the tanker, as well as the pumping arrangements employed, vary from tanker to tanker.

In one convenient arrangement, the hose extends from a rear end of the S re tanker, so that the tanker can be reversed into close proximity with the farm vat for connection to the hose, in order that the hose length needed to connect to the vat can be minimised. This arrangement has been successfully employed in known tankers and is the preferred arrangement in the construction of new tankers.

In one of applicant's milk tankers, the hose depends from the rear end of the tanker, and a pumping facility is also provided at the rear end, to pump milk from the vat under vacuum, through the hose and into the storage compartment of the tanker. The milk tanker also typically includes electronic sampling means for taking milk samples. Sampling is required, because a tanker may visit and collect milk from several farms to obtain a completely full -3load and it is important that the milk taken from various farms is sampled prior to mixture within the tanker, so that the quality of the milk taken from the various farms can be determined. This is important for several reasons, one being that, in the milk industry, premium grade milk can attract a higher price per litre (in the order of two to three cents per litre) than a lower grade milk.

Thus, farmers producing higher grade milk are concerned that that be recognised, as literage volumes from a commercial farm can be in the order of 500,000 litres per year and the higher value of that milk can result in significant

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10 Samples are also important in order to determine whether contaminated

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•**milk has been taken from one or more farms. Sampling thus enables

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contaminated milk to be identified, and also facilitates identification of the source of the contaminated milk.

The known sampling arrangements generally take a sample of milk from between the hose and the entry of the milk into the storage compartment of the tanker. This is a convenient position to sample the milk and allows the sampling facility to be located at the rear of the tanker at the same region as the hose itself and the pumping facility. Therefore, the controls necessary to pump and sample the milk can be located on the one control panel at the rear of the tanker.

One difficulty with known arrangements, is that the accuracy of milk samples taken from farm to farm can be compromised if the hose is not completely emptied of milk between farms. That is, should the hose contain small amounts of milk from an earlier farm, samples taken from the next farm may give erroneous results as to the true nature of the quality of that milk. This is particularly the case if milk remaining in a hose deteriorates during transport between farms, for example due to exposure to heat, causing the development of bacteria.

A further disadvantage relates to known hose stowage arrangements which generally require a significant amount of effort to carry the hose between a vat and the tanker by the tanker driver. In one known arrangement, the hose -4is simply stored in a trough and the tanker driver is required to lift the hose out of the trough before carrying it to the vat. The weight of the hose can be substantial and the effort needed to lift and carry the hose can result in injury to the tanker driver, such as back injury. Also, it is desirable to use a hose having a large internal diameter, for example an internal diameter of three inches, but such a large hose often is too heavy for the tanker driver to repeatedly handle without risking injury. Thus, the hoses generally employed are lighter weight by reducing the internal diameter, with the resultant disadvantage of a reduced flow rate therethrough.

10 It is a further disadvantage that known reels are difficult to clean and maintain because of their composite construction.

It is an object of the invention to provide a hose reel that overcomes or alleviates one or more of the above problems.

According to the present invention a hose reel for use with a liquid transport vehicle having a liquid storage compartment, the hose reel including o *a cylinder about which a hose can be wound and being, in use, disposed substantially vertically, supporting means being provided for supporting each S•winding of a hose about said cylinder and connection means being provided for Ssoconnecting the cylinder to drive means for rotating the cylinder about its cylindrical axis for winding and unwinding the hose from about the cylinder, and a flow conduit disposed at an end of the cylinder which is, in use, a lower end, for connection between an end of the hose and the liquid storage compartment and permitting liquid transfer between said hose and said liquid storage compartment.

The hose reel of the invention has several advantages over known hose stowage arrangements. The supporting means enables the hose to be wound about the vertically disposed cylinder without the hose falling away from the cylinder under its own weight. Furthermore, the supporting means facilitates proper winding of the hose about the cylinder, so that overlapping of the hose does not occur. The correct'winding of the hose about the cylinder also orientates the hose correctly so that it spirals in a downwardly inclined manner towards a lower portion of the cylinder. This downwardly spiralling orientation facilitates drainage of the hose when the hose has been wound onto the cylinder.

The supporting means can take any suitable form and in one arrangement comprises a coil which spirals about the cylinder substantially its full height. The spirals of the coil are spaced apart an amount slightly greater than the diameter of the hose, so that the hose can be received between adjacent coils and supported by the lower of those coils. The coil can be a spiralling flange for example, or can be a spiralling hoop which is spaced from 10 the outer surface of the cylinder. The hoop may be connected to the outer surface of the cylinder by suitable means such as bridging elements, or may be alternatively connected at either end of the cylinder.

When the hose reel is connected to suitable drive means, the effort required by the operator of the tanker to wind and unwind the hose from the cylinder is minimal and all that is necessary of the operator is to carry the portion of the hose which is unwound from the cylinder between the tanker and the vat.

When the hose is to be rewound, the operator may simply allow the drive means to drag the hose back on to the cylinder, although the operator may be required to ensure that the hose, particularly the end of the hose, does not become soiled, such as through contact with the ground, as that may compromise the hygiene of the hose. The drive means conveniently may be provided as part of the tanker equipment and may be of any suitable kind such as an hydraulic, pneumatic or electric motor, or in an alternative, but less preferred arrangement, could be manually operated. Further, the drive means can be reversible, so that assistance is provided in both the unwinding condition of the hose reel and the winding condition.

The flow conduit preferably rotates with the cylinder when the cylinder rotates to wind or unwind the hose. In this arrangement, a swivel connection is preferably provided between the flow conduit and the liquid storage compartment.

-6- The hose reel preferably includes guide means for guiding the hose during winding or unwinding from the cylinder. The guide means, in one construction includes opposed guide members which extend respectively above and below the hose, and side members which extend perpendicular to said guide members to create a square or rectangular frame through which the hose passes during winding or unwinding of the hose from the cylinder. The hose typically includes a nozzle at the free end thereof and the nozzle preferably includes a flange which extends outwardly to a greater extent than the outer surface of the hose, and which prevents the nozzle from passing, 10 through the guide frame. In this arrangement, engagement of the nozzle ;flange with the guide frame provides an indication that the hose is fully wound onto the cylinder.

S•The guide means is preferably supported on a frame that enables it to traverse vertically upwards and downwards relative to the cylinder as the hose is wound or unwound therefrom. This enables the opening of the guide frame to remain adjacent the level of the hose extending from the cylinder as the hose is wound or unwound, so that the hose passes through the guide frame substantially perpendicular to the opening of the frame at all times. This action of the guide means is useful when the hose is being unwound from the cylinder, but it is more particularly useful when the hose is being wound onto S• the cylinder, because it can correctly orientate the hose relative to the support means as the hose rises vertically up the cylinder.

To facilitate vertical movement of the guide means, a worm guide arrangement including a follower to follow the supporting coil can be employed.

The follower could take the form of a roller which rolls along the surface of the coil and which is connected to the guide means so that the guide means moves with the roller, as the roller moves up and down the supporting coil by rotation of the cylinder. Alternatively, other means as appropriate may also be utilised.

The attached drawings show an example embodiment of the invention included in an assembly of the foregoing kind. The particularity of those -7drawings and the associated description does not supersede the generality of the preceding broad description of the invention.

Figure 1 illustrates a partially cut-away side view of a hose reel according to one embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the hose reel shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows a cross-sectional exploded view of a swivelling flow conduit appropriate for use in the embodiments illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of an hydraulic motor arrangement *eo suitable for use with the embodiments illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

10 Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of a breather device for use in a hose.

~Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a hose reel 10 is shown, including a V cylinder 11 about which a hose 12 is wound. The cylinder 11 is disposed vertically and supporting the hose windings, is a series of supporting rings 13 which support the weight of the hose 12. As shown in Figure 2, the supporting rings 13 are thin hoops, preferably of a metallic or plastic material, which are spaced from the outer surface 14 of the cylinder 11 and are connected thereto by bridging elements 15. The supporting rings 13 are formed in a spiral configuration so that they are continuous and are displaced from the horizontal axis by an amount of several degrees.

20 To facilitate winding and unwinding of the hose 12 from the cylinder 11, guide means 16 is provided to guide the hose 12. The guide means comprises upper and lower guide members 17 and 18 and side guide members 19 and The arrangement of these members creates a guide frame through which the hose extends and the arrangement of the members is such that, while the hose 12 can pass through the guide frame, a nozzle 21 attached to the end of the hose 12 cannot. Thus, when the hose is fully wound about the cylinder 11, the nozzle 21 will abut against the upper and lower guide members 17 and 18.

The guide means 16 is assembled on frame members 22 and 23. The guide means is arranged to traverse in a vertical direction up and down the frame members 22 and 23, as the hose 12 is wound or unwound onto/off the cylinder 11. The guide means 16 includes bushes about the frame members -8- 22 and 23 and these are preferably linear bushes, which are bushes that employ ball bearings to run against the frame members. The ball bearings substantially eliminate friction between the guide means 16 and the frame members 22 and 23 when the guide means is traversing upwards and downwards relative to those members. The opening created between the guide members 17 and 18, and side guide members 19 and 20 preferably remains substantially perpendicular to the travel of the hose as it is being wound and unwound. In that way, the guide means 16 thus operates to ensure that the hose 12 is correctly aligned between the supporting rings 13, 10 particularly when the hose 12 is being wound onto the cylinder.

C.iO The guide means 16 traverses up and down the frame members 22 and 23 by virtue of a worm guide arrangement employing rollers 62 and 63. The lO.i rollers 62 and 63 roll against the upper surface of supporting rings 13 so that as the cylinder 11 rotates, the guide means 16 is either raised or lowered.

The spacing between the side guide members 19 and 20 allows a small S- amount of hose movement in a transverse direction depending on the direction in which the hose needs to be pulled towards its connection to a vat. This reduces the likelihood of a kink or bend forming in the hose if the hose is 09 a required to be bent away from the reel in order to connect it to a vat.

l l, r 20 The hose reel 10 further includes a swivel mounted flow conduit 24 and this is shown in more detail in Figure 3. The swivel mounted flow conduit 24 includes a cylindrical shaft 25 which is connected at an inlet end 26 to the end of a hose. The shaft 25 is formed with a flange 27-which includes openings 28 to receive bolt fasteners for fastening the hose end to the shaft 25. To seal the hose to the shaft, an O-ring groove 29 may be provided for receiving a suitable O-ring. The shaft 25 includes a shoulder 30 between the flange 27 and the elongate portion 31. The shoulder 30 is arranged to seat against a bearing 32 which is arranged within a bearing housing 33, which includes an opening 34 to receive the underneath surface 35 of the step 30. The vertical height of the step 30 is greater than the thickness T of the upper surface 36 of the bearing housing, so that the flange 27 of the shaft 25 is spaced from upper surface 36 -9of the bearing housing 33 so as not to restrict rotation of the shaft 25 with the bearing 32.

The portion 31 of the shaft 25 extends through the bearing 32, the bearing housing 33, the bearing plate 37 and into an outlet 38. The shaft 25 is a friction fit within the bearing 32, so as to prevent relative movement therebetween. For ease of assembly, the outer surface 39 of the shaft 25 has a greater diameter in the region of engagement E with the bearing 32, and a lesser diameter below that region, so that the shaft can be extended through *e e the bearing 32 during assembly and only meet frictional resistance at the 10 region E. The outer surface 39 of the shaft 25 is seated within the outlet 38 and rotates in sealing engagement with seals 40. The lower end 41 of the i shaft 25 rests against a teflon seal 42. Clearly, the types of seals employed in Sm the outlet 38 can be of any suitable style and material.

The various components of the flow conduit 24 are connected together by suitable threaded fasteners, such as as indicated by the reference numeral 43. Clearly however, other arrangements could be employed.

°The outlet 38 includes means to connect to a suitable conduit at the em S outlet end 44. The outlet end 44 may for example be threaded, so that a threaded conduit can be applied thereto. Alternatively, a snap fastener arrangement or other suitable arrangement may be employed.

The hose reel 10 further includes a motor mount for connecting a motor to drive the cylinder 11. Referring to Figure 4, a motor 45 is schematically shown seated within an inner motor mount bracket 46, which in turn is seated within an outer motor mount bracket 47. The arrangement is such that a drive spindle 48, driven by the motor 45 extends through an opening in the base plate 49 of the inner motor mount bracket 46 and extends into a boss 50 and is rigidly connected thereto by a key 51. The boss 50 is welded to an interior head plate 52 (see also Figure which is fixed to the internal surface of the cylinder 11, such that the drive spindle 48 drives the boss 50, which in turn drives the cylinder 11 through the head plate 52.

The motor shown in Figure 4 is preferably a hydraulic motor although other kinds of motors can also be used. The hydraulic motor 45 is reversible so that the cylinder can be rotated in both a clockwise and an anti-clockwise direction to wind or unwind a hose from the reel.

The motor 45 is also removable from the hose reel 10, by removing the threaded fasteners 53 so that the inner motor mount bracket 46 can be removed from the outer motor mount bracket 47. The key way connection between the drive spindle 48 and the boss 50 will slidably disengage.

000S The invention also extends to a hose reel having a hose attached 10 thereto and in a further aspect of the invention, a breather device 54 is *000 Poe* provided which is fitted into the free end of the hose, although it can be positioned elsewhere, such as in the outlet 38 of the flow conduit 24. The e g.

breather device is shown in detail in Figure 5. The breather device 54 is attached to the free end of the hose 12 and forms part of the nozzle 21. As can be seen from Figure 5, the breather device 54 includes a threaded section and this is received in threaded connection with a threaded end 56 (Figure S: 2) of the hose 12. The breather device 54 is provided to regulate vacuum formed within the hose 12 when the pump arrangement designed to evacuate C Sthe hose 12 of liquid is activated. The breather device 54 opens the free end ••I~i of the hose 12 to atmosphere upon generation by the pump of a maximum acceptable vacuum within the hose 12.

.:.600 In order to operate in the desired manner, the breather device includes a spring loaded plunger 56 seated within the interior of the device 54. The spring acts against a head 57 of the plunger and against a base section 58 of the device which the plunger moves relative to. When the pump is activated and commences generation of a vacuum within the hose, the valve is seated within an opening in the device, closing that opening to atmosphere. Upon generation of the maximum desired vacuum, the plunger is displaced against the bias of the spring 59 to open the device to atmosphere by the exposure of a gap -11- The need for the breather device 54, is to prevent damage to the pumping/sampling system by ingress of air pockets into the system caused by generation of a vacuum greater than the maximum desired. Thus, the vacuum generated by the pump can be controlled, by the use of a spring of particular biasing force.

The hose can also include a filter device 61, which is also seated at the free end of the hose 12 and which serves to filter large contaminants from the milk to prevent them from entering the tanker. Any suitable filter can be used for this purpose and the filter is preferably removable for cleaning purposes.

10 The arrangement of the invention is particularly suitable for the transport of milk. In this respect, the vertical disposition of the cylinder 11 suffices to provide a self-draining effect of liquid within the hose 12, when the hose 12 has S•been re-wound onto the cylinder 11 following transference of milk from a farm vat to the tanker. The majority of milk within the hose will be removed by the generation of vacuum within the hose, however small amounts of milk can remain if the cylinder is disposed in a horizontal or substantially horizontal S" disposition. However, by disposing the cylinder 11 vertically, the milk tends to run towards the lower end of the cylinder so that a more complete flush of .6 S"liquid within the hose 12 occurs.

The hose 10 also minimises the potential for injury to operators, by minimising the effort needed to lift and carry the hose from the tanker to the vat. The existence of a motor drive simply means that the operator needs to carry the free end of the hose to the vat for connection therewith and to return it to the tanker when the operation is finished.

The invention is also advantageous in that the motor and the flow conduit 24 are easily removable for maintenance and cleaning purposes.

These components can be easily disassembled and reassembled with minimum effort.

The invention described herein is susceptible to variations, modifications and/or additions other than those specifically described and it is to be -12understood that the invention includes all such variations, modifications and/or additions which fall within the spirit and scope of the above description.

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Claims (23)

1. A hose reel for use with a liquid transport vehicle having a liquid storage compartment, the hose reel including a cylinder about which a hose can be wound and being, in use, disposed substantially vertically, supporting means being provided for supporting each winding of a hose about said cylinder in a downwardly spiralling manner and connection means being provided for connecting the cylinder to drive means for rotating the cylinder about is cylindrical axis for winding and unwinding the hose about the cylinder, and a flow conduit disposed at an end of the cylinder which is, in use, a lower end, for connection between an end of the hose and the liquid storage compartment and permitting liquid transfer between said hose and said liquid storage compartment.

2. A hose reel according to claim 1, said supporting means including a spiral coil extending substantially the full height of the cylinder, respective spirals being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the hose.

3. A hose reel according to claim 2, wherein said coil is formed by a flange extending outwardly of said cylinder. oooeo oo

4. A hose reel according to claim 2, wherein said coil is formed by a hoop which is spaced from the outer surface of said cylinder. S: A hose reel according to claim 4, said hoop being connected to the outer surface of said cylinder by bridging elements extending between said hoop and said cylinder.

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6. A hose reel according to claim 4, said hoop including two ends and said ends being respectively connected to upper and lower ends of said cylinder. eeeee: i:\tonia\BF\Spe097020-9.d0C -14-

7. A hose reel according to any preceding claim, said drive means being a hydraulic, pneumatic or electric motor.

8. A hose reel according to any one of claims 1 to 6, said drive means being manually driven.

9. A hose reel according to any preceding claim, said drive means being tog* •c •reversible.

A hose reel according to any preceding claim, at least one part of said flow conduit being rotatable to rotate with said cylinder. 0*04

11. A hose reel according to claim 10, said connection between said at least one part of said flow conduit and said liquid storage compartment comprising a swivel connection. w o

12. A hose reel according to claim 11, said swivel connection including a .0 cylindrical shaft which is connectable at one end to a hose and which includes a shoulder which is seated against a bearing for rotation about its longitudinal 505, axis, said bearing being located within a housing which is fixed to a bearing Coss plate, said shaft extending through said housing and said bearing plate so that the other end of said shaft extends into an outlet in which it is sealingly connected for rotation therein, said outlet being connectable to a conduit for flow of liquid therethrough.

13. A hose reel according to any preceding claim, including guide means which guides said hose during winding thereof onto said cylinder into correct alignment with said supporting means and which also guides said hose during unwinding thereof from said cylinder.

14. A hose reel according to claim 13, said guide means including a frame through which the hose extends and which is supported to traverse longitudinally of said cylinder, when said cylinder is rotated, toward the lower end thereof as said hose is unwound and in the opposite direction when the hose is rewound. A hose reel according to claim 14, said frame having opposed guide members which extend respectively above and below the said hose, and side members which extend perpendicular to said guide members, creating a square or rectangular frame.

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16. A hose reel according to claim 14 or 15, a worm guide arrangement being employed in the support of said frame, said worm guide arrangement including a follower to follow said supporting means and to continuously adjust the longitudinal position of said guide means relative to said cylinder during winding or unwinding of said hose, so that during winding or unwinding said C ae.. guide means remains adjacent to the position at which said hose is being removed from said cylinder. .•O

17. A hose reel according to claim 16, said follower being a roller that rolls upon the spiral surface of the spiral coil. *,0a.

18. A hose reel according to any preceding claim, said hose reel further including a motor assembly which includes a motor having a drive spindle in connection with said connection means for rotating said cylinder, said assembly including a pair of mounting brackets, the motor being located within a first of said brackets and Said first bracket being located within said second bracket, said first bracket being releasably fixed to said second bracket.

19. A hose reel according to claim 19, said drive spindle extending through an opening in said first bracket and into a boss to which it is releasably -16- connected, said boss being fixed to said cylinder so that rotation of said drive spindle causes rotation of said cylinder through said boss.

A hose reel according to claim 19, said boss being welded to a head plate which is fixed to the interior surface of said cylinder.

21. A hose reel according to any preceding claim and including a hose connected thereto. 10

22. A hose reel according to claim 21, said reel including a breather device fitted to the free end of said hose, said breather device including a housing accommodating a plunger which is biased to close said hose from atmosphere, said plunger being displaced to open said hose to atmosphere upon generation of a predetermined evacuating vacuum within said hose.

23. A hose reel substantially as herein described with reference to any one 00 of the accompanying drawings. C DATED: 10 December 1998 20 PHILLIPS ORMONDE FITZPATRICK ATTORNEYS FOR: TIEMAN INDUSTRIES PTY LTD SLC C:AWINWORD\SHARO"MNDREVANODELETEUIOSEREELDOC