EP0750576B1 - A method and construction element for establishing systems for provisional storage of potentially leaking containers with dangerous liquid - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to the use of refuse containers and more explicit to an installation for temporary storage of such containers. The invention aims at the type of containers that has approximately the same extension as a usual platform body on a truck, with side walls rising to bigger or smaller height, and accommodated to be delivered and picked up by means of special container trucks provided with a hauling winch, which by the use of pulling wires, can haul up a container to be carried on a special support.

This system is almost fully standardized, the containers being provided with holding hooks and guiding rollers for the pulling wires and with special supporting ribs in front and at the bottom, for cooperation with the supporting parts of the container trucks.

By the use of these containers it is a problem that the collected refuse often holds dangerous liquids, and in practice it is very difficult to obtain a total tightness for liquids of these containers, i.e. a leaking of dangerous liquids has to be anticipated - or in so far of every added liquid, including rain.

On this background there has already been developed constructions for storing more or less filled containers, in such a way that these can be kept standing under safe environmental conditions, typically in being brought to a parking place located partly or totally underground, with a layer of concrete to prevent dangerous liquids from percolating into the underground, and with a stationary roof construction counteracting access of rain into the well thus formed; thereby the rainwater will not add to the leaking liquid, which in a relevant way can be collected in the well and later be sucked up therefrom.

These parking sites are very expensive and are furthermore troublesome in that they are considered as real buildings, which limits the floor area ratio for a given site area. The problems in the prior art are solved by the method of claim 1 and the construction of claim 3.

With the invention it is recognised that these conditions can be improved substantially in using as carrier supports for the refuse containers separate flat tank units built specifically as leakproof containers for supporting standard sized refuse containers and collecting liquids leaking therefrom. Such tank units can be constructed in such a way that they can be delivered and unloaded at desired places in just the same way as the refuse containers themselves, and in a simple way they can be such accommodated that they are suited for occasional emptying by means of a sludge exhauster.

On this background there will be no need for any fixed parking installation, and the flat tanks, which can be deposited anywhere, on any scantily planned area, will not be registrated as fixed building units, so they will not limit the floor-area ratio on the single ground, even though they remain at the same place for years.

The single flat tanks can easily be provided with a relatively weak roof construction, to drain the rain without having the character of a fixed roof construction. By way of example, movable roof units on suitable stay rods can be used, only to be lashed to stabilize the units against wind.

Obviously the flat tanks must be made in a heavy construction in a corrostable way, but in this case it is an advantage that they are just reckoned to receive standardized units, in such a way that on the inside they can have infilling proflies stretching along just the stretches where the refuse containers themselves have ground supporting profiles; thereby the load is transmitted to the ground directly by the infilling profiles, to enable the flat tanks to carry very great loads without the tabs otherwise or as a whole having to be extremely heavy.

The refuse containers are usually made with an outer width corresponding the permissible maximum for transportation on roads, and for the same reason the flat tanks cannot be made with a still greater width. It is very important that they can collect the leaking liquid from the aide edge area of the containers, because these areas are particularly liable to be leaky, and on this background, it is a special feature of the invention that the flat tanks can be constructed with the concerned maximum width or even slightly narrower than this and, in addition, be provided with attachable or pivotable sidewalls which, in the parking position, can be placed as outwardly and inwardly projecting hopper walls along the upper lateral edges and, if required, also along the end edges.

If or when it is desired to move such a collector tank it can be done in a very simple way using a container truck.

The flat tanks should be mounted or supported in such a way that their top sides are slightly sloping against one end, at which one or more simple inlet holes can be provided, through which even an emptying with a sludge exhauster hose can be effected. In a preferred embodiment the tanks are made with a rigid underframe, mounted sloping thereon, such that the tank inclination, which is also of significance for an effective emptying, is suitable when the tank is placed on an approximately horizontal base.

For the delivery and removal of the refuse containers it is of no practical importance that the supporting area for the containers is at a certain small height over the base level, for example 50 cm. It is important, however, that the tanks are correspondingly raised slightly above the base, because they can then be visually inspected for tightness.

In the following the invention is described in more detail with reference to the drawing, in which

Fig. 1 is a partly sectional perspective front view of an embodiment of a tank according to the invention, seen from above,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the rear part of the tank, and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the tank and a scrap container placed upon it.

The flat tank shown in Fig. 2 is made as a flat box construction, for example by steelplates with a thickness of 4 mm. The tank is built on a supporting frame fully corresponding to the carrying frame of standard refuse containers, cf. the container at the top of Fig. 3, viz. a pair of lengthwise supporting bars 4 below, to which there is fixed a number of overlapping transverse bars 6 supporting the bottom plate of the overlying container structure. In the front the bars 4, as usually, continue in upright front supporting parts 8, which can make a stop against the fixed parts of a container truck by hauling up the unit on such a truck.

Inside the tank lengthwise sectional irons 10 are mounted just above the bars 4. These irons fill the tank in the height and in that way make fully supporting parts for the bottom bars 4 of a refuse container placed upon the tank 2.

The transverse bars 6 have a rearwardly decreasing height dimension, such that the flat tank will be slightly sloping downward and rearwardly, when it is placed with its bars 4 on a substantially horizontal base.

The inner profile irons 10 are at their rear ends provided with lower throughpassages 12, such that liquid can be distributed throughout the tank.

As shown in the upper corner of Fig. 1 the upper surface on the tank is provided with low upright edge shoot parts 14, by which the surface of the tank forms a tray for liquid leaking from a refuse container placed upon the flat tank. At the lower rear end of this tray a pair of holes 16 is provided in top plate of the tank, through which such collected liquid can be lead down to the inside of the tank 2. In those holes there may be retractable grids 18, see Fig. 2, such that only small impurities can soak into the tank. The grids 18 can he picked up when the tank is due to be emptied, by guiding a sludge exhauster hose through one or both of the holes.

For the refuse containers in question, cf. the container 20 shown in Fig. 3, it is characteristic that there is a roller 22 at the bottom in the rear end, by which it is possible to roll this end of the container on the base when the front end is lowered along the loading ramp of the container truck by unloading of the container or, respectively, when the container is hauled onto the ramp by loading. The flat tank should he provided with a similar roller 24, Fig. 2, but because the roller projects a little below the bottom plane of the longitudinal bars 4 it is preferred that this roller is fitted up in a detachable way, as shown in Fig. 3, where it is removed after unloading the tank. It can be remounted (not shown) when the tank has to be moved.

Correspondingly, the upper side of the flat tank is designed with a view to receiving and delivering of containers having such rollers 22. Along the median plan a reinforced rolling path is provided in the shape of a sheet strip 26, for example a 5 mm steel sheet, which at the rear and continues in a countersinking 28, in which the container roller fits in such a way that the longitudinal hare 4 at the bottom of the refuse container may be in contact with the upper side of the flat tank over their entire length, for an even distribution of the pressure. In a part of the wall in the countersinking or sump 28 there can be a drainhole to the inside of the tank.

Additionally, there are upright longitudinal guide rails 30 fixed to the upper side of the tank for central guiding of the container roller, which rails in the front have converging parts 32 for guiding in.

In the rear the tank is provided with a level indicator 34, Fig. 2, which may be of any suitable type.

As shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the upper edges of the tank along its lateral sides are provided with upwardly and outwardly projecting edge sheets 36, which will safely catch leaking liquid from the side areas of the received refuse container. These edge sheets are not rigidly mounted from the beginning, because they have to be dismounted or swung inwardly when the tank is transported on a road by a container truck. Preferably they are made of a strong rubber, but it is not significant for the invention, how they are made or fixed.

It should be mentioned that at the front transition between the bars 4 and 8, the tank is provided with bollards 38, in quite the came way as refuse containers, as guidance for relevant pulling wires, for which fixing eyes are provided on the side of the bars under the bottom of the container.

In practice a type of containers are known, at which the central roller 22, Fig. 3, is replaced by two opposed rollers placed near the sides, and of course the relevant flat tank for such containers should be designed with similarly modified top sides, including the countersinkings 28 at the sides.

The flat tanks according to the invention will, besides, be usefull for temporary storage of other types of containers, for example barrels in connection with clean out works, as one or more flat tanks can easily be moved to a convenient location in the working area. Likewise, such flat tanks can be used more or less stationary at places, for example in industrial plants, where it in relevant to have temporary storage of potentially looking containers with more or less dangerous contents.

The tanks are most easily emptied by the use of a sludge exhauster, but if the holes 16 can be shut tightly, another option will be to move a more or less full flat tank, driven directly on a container truck, to be emptied at on authorized location.

Claims (8)

1. Method for establishing and use of constructions for temporary storage of potentially leaking containers (20) with contents of dangerous liquid, particularly refuse containers, comprising delivering to the relevant location a mobile storage construction in the shape of a flat and substantially closed tank (2), which is placed with its flat upper tray shaped side sloping slightly downwardly towards one end, where one or more inlet openings (16) from its upper side to the tank occur to lead collected liquid down to the inside of the tank (2) which upper side is used as a supporting base for the containers, and that the tank (2) is emptied as required by transporting it away or by sucking up or letting out the collected liquid to a qualified recipient.
2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the delivery and a possible moving of the flat tank (2) is effected by means of a container truck, to the loading system of which the tank in adapted.
3. Construction element for use by the method according to claim 1, consisting of a flat, substantially closed tank (2) built on a supporting frame and designed with a tray-shaped, substantially flat upper side, from which one or more inlet holes (16) to lead collected liquid down to the inside of the tank (2) are provided near one end of the tank.
4. Construction element according to claim 3, characterized in that the supporting frame is designed in a way standardized for refuse containers (20), yet preferably with a rearmost container roller (24) mounted detachably and with transverse supporting bars (6) with rearwardly decreasing height.
5. Construction element according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the upper side of the tank (2) is provided with facilities for carryingly receiving a standard refuse container, e.g. a countersinking (28) in the rear for receiving of a supporting roller on the rear end of the container, and preferably also upright, longitudinal guiding ribs (30) for such a roller.
6. Construction element according to claim 4, characterized in that the tank (2) is internally stayed up between top and bottom with filling bars (10) placed straight above lower longitudinal supporting bars (4) of the supporting frame.
7. Construction element according to claim 5, characterized in that the tank (2) is made with substantially the same width as refuse containers (20) of standard type and that it includes lateral edge parts (36), which are mountable in inclined positions projecting upwardly and outwardly from the top edges of the tank.
8. Construction element according to claim 3, characterized in additionally comprising a light roof construction to be placed over the tank site, supported by legs standing on the ground and adapted for lashing to suitable holding elements.

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