EP1068829A1

EP1068829A1 - Device for cleaning large surfaces

Info

Publication number: EP1068829A1
Application number: EP00202413A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Lenze Cornelis Boer
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-07-13
Filing date: 2000-07-11
Publication date: 2001-01-17
Also published as: NL1012580C2

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for cleaning large surfaces comprising a frame (1), consisting of a bottom part (2), a casing (3) rotatably mounted on said bottom part (2), and a supporting member (4) for a brush member (6), said supporting member (4) being rotatably connected to said casing (3). The brush member (6) is received in a holder (5), provisions having been made for displacing the holder (5) in a straight line in relation to the supporting member (4). The frame (1) is provided with fastening means being complementary to fastening means of a vehicle with a lifting device, such as those of a forklift truck, for example.

Description

The invention relates to a device for cleaning large surfaces, comprising a frame mounting at least one brush member, a housing partially enclosing said brush member, a drive for said brush member and means for supplying a liquid medium.
Such a device is known from JP-A-09000481 (Patent Abstracts of Japan). Said known device is intended for cleaning vertical wall surfaces as well as windows, to which end the device should be moved down and up vertically along a wall with the help of a structure to be positioned on a roof.
Said known device has the disadvantage that it always requires a separate structure to be positioned on the roof of a building, plus a guideway provided for it along the edge of the roof. Besides the fact that this type of structure can not be mounted on every roof, mostly, when seen in proportion to the number of times the outside of a building requires cleaning it does not represent an economically sound investment. A further limitation of said device is that it can only be used for vertical walls.
The object of the invention is to remove these disadvantages and to provide for a cleaning device in which its use is not limited to vertical surfaces and is not restricted to one particular building.
Accordingly, the invention provides for, that the device is arranged in such a way that it can be operated and moved by a lifting vehicle positioned at a location free of the surface to be cleaned. The major advantage thereof is that one device using a vehicle provided with a lifting device is capable of cleaning basically an unlimited number of different buildings. A further advantage is that the device is not restricted to one vehicle or one type of vehicle with lifting device.
Cleaning buildings with the help of one or more driven brushes and a cleaning liquid is particularly suitable for cleaning surfaces provided with a plastic protection coating. Here, we can think of industrial buildings and halls substantially comprised of box-wall plate profiles. This type of building is usually not suitable for mounting a cleaning device on the roof.
Therefore, up to now it has been customary to clean the walls of such buildings with the help of manually operated brushes. This requires very capable personnel, since a uniform or otherwise application of the brushes will determine whether a visually uniform final result will be achieved in addition to a cleaned surface.
With the device according to the invention it is possible to obtain a uniform final result at all times, if it is provided for that the distance of the axis of said brushing member in relation the surface to be cleaned is within a predetermined range. This range depends on the length of the separate hairs of the brush, one requirement being that the hairs must not be able to have their outer ends hit directly against the surface to be cleaned, but are always dragged across it.
In order to be able to keep the brush always within said range on vertical movement of the device along a surface to be cleaned, according to another embodiment it has been provided for, that the device is further provided with means for moving the brush member in at least one direction in relation to the frame, in which said movement can be a translation and/or a rotation.
According to a further embodiment it is provided for that the frame comprises a supporting member being intended for carrying a holder for the brush member, supporting member and holder for the brush member being provided with complementary guide means and extending means for moving the holder for the brush member along the guiding means being applied between the supporting member and the holder for said brush member.
In a simple embodiment, the guiding means can consist of a number of projecting arms mounted on the supporting member, across which arms tube portions mounted on the holder for the brush member can slide. Moving the holder for the brush member in relation to the supporting member can occur in the most simple way with a double-acting hydraulic cylinder.
Through this, it is no problem to keep the brush member always within the desired range in relation to a vertical wall. This provision is necessary since walls may not be exactly vertical, but substantially, however, because the vehicle with the lifting device will not always be located in a plane perpendicular to the wall. Moving the holder with the brush member can take place with the help of e.g. a wireless remote control or through the driver of the vehicle with the lifting device.
According to yet another embodiment it is provided for, that one or more sensors have been arranged on the housing or the guides mounted on it, said sensors being intended to measure the distance or changes in distance of the brush member in relation to a surface to be cleaned. By coupling the signals of said sensors in a known way to a control system for the extending means for the holder of the brush member, the brush member can always be kept precisely at the desired distance from the surface to be cleaned.
Preferably, it has further been provided for, that the frame comprises a bottom part with a casing, the supporting member being fastened to the casing, in such a way, that the supporting member can be rotated around an axis being approximately horizontal during normal use, in relation to the casing, said horizontal axis extending perpendicularly in relation to the possible direction of movement of the holder for the brush member in relation to the supporting member.
This offers the possibility to bring the brush member from a normal position in which it is in a position for cleaning vertical walls, to a position being square to the normal position. This is important because the holder for the brush member is preferably provided with a housing having an approximately semi-circular cross-section, serving for, among other things, preventing the brush from swinging the cleaning agent around together with the removed dirt.
By this provision, the supporting member and the housing with it can be adjusted such that both longitudinal edges of the housing are always at equal distances from the surface to be cleaned. Here we can think of buildings having one or more walls slanting slightly e.g. for architectonic reasons, but more important, at the bottom side of horizontal or slanting spans, such as the span of an industrial hall or of a gas station.
Additionally, it is preferably also provided for that the casing is rotatable in relation to the bottom part around an - in normal use - approximately vertically oriented shaft. Through this it is achieved that when cleaning vertical walls the vehicle with the lifting device can be both parallel to and across an angle to the wall to be cleaned. Preferably a vehicle with a lift working only in a vertical line will be arranged in relation to a vertical wall such that the driving direction of the vehicle is parallel to it. However, this will not always be possible, e.g. in case of recesses in a building. By rotating the casing and the supporting member and brush member across the desired angle, those parts of the building can now be cleaned too.
In cleaning horizontal or slanting surfaces, this provision is necessary, since guiding the brush member along the surface does not take place by moving the device down or up with a lifting device, but, after having applied the brush against the surface through the lifting device, by moving the vehicle slowly.
Further, it is possible to provide driving means for rotating the supporting member in relation to the casing and/or for rotating the casing in relation to the bottom part of the frame. Since changing these positions need not take place continuously, this can also be done by hand. Obviously, locking means are provided, intended to be able to lock one or more positions of the supporting member in relation to the bottom part of the frame.
The frame of the device according to the invention is further provided with fastening means which are meant to be used for a fastening the frame to a lifting device of a vehicle. According to a further embodiment it is provided for, that the fastening means comprise at least two parallel box profiles incorporated in the frame, which are intended for receiving the paddles of a lifting member. Furthermore, it is possible to provide additional fastening means through which the device can be coupled to e.g. a so-called far reacher.
Finally, the device is preferably provided with means, such as a unit for generating an electric circuit and a hydraulic circuit of its own. Although it is possible to embody the device in such a way, that it can use the electric and hydraulic circuits of the vehicle with lifting device, this is not preferred, since those circuits are not equal in all vehicles. In this way, the device is completely independent from them.
Practical tests have shown that a particularly accurate cleaning can be realized with the device according to the invention, in which the cleaned walls show a completely uniform appearance. Furthermore, it has been established that the amount of cleansing agent used can be considerably smaller than the amount used in manual cleaning.
In the following, the invention is further explained by way of the example illustrated in the drawing, in which:
Fig. 1 shows schematically a side view of the device with the brush member in a first position;
Fig. 2 shows schematically a side view of the device with the brush member in a second position;
Fig. 3 shows schematically a side view of the device with the brush member in a third position;
Fig. 4 shows schematically a next side view of the device in the position shown in Fig. 3;
Fig. 5 shows schematically a plan view of the supporting member; and
Fig. 6 shows a rear view of said supporting member.
Fig. 1 shows schematically the frame 1 comprised of a bottom part 2, a casing 3, a supporting member 4, a holder 5 for a brush member, and said brush member 6.
The bottom part 2 is built around box girders 7, 8, in which the necessary transverse connections have been provided to give the bottom part sufficient rigidity. The box girders 7, 8 are intended to be able to receive the paddles of a forklift truck. To that end, the box girders are further provided with locking means not indicated in the drawing, by which paddles slid into the box girders can be locked.
The casing 3 comprises a frame substantially composed of rectangular tubular sections, which is intended to support a horizontal shaft 9 from the middle near the edge of the bottom part 2, with the supporting member 4 being rotatable around said shaft 9. The casing 3 itself is rotatably mounted on the bottom part 2, in which only rotation around a vertical shaft is possible. In order to achieve a stable connection between the bottom part 2 and the casing 3, preferably a rotating disc 10 (see Fig. 4) of a sufficiently large diameter has been mounted between said bottom part 2 and said casing 3.
Apart from the casing 3, out of its rotational range, the bottom part 2 further provides for a screened-off space 11. This space is intended for placing a fuel engine required for driving an electrical unit and the oil pump of a hydraulic system.
At its side turned away from the brush 6, the supporting member 4 has an extension 12 through which the shaft 9 projects, and a further housing 13 being intended for receiving the necessary electric circuits and an electronic control system for the device. A wireless remote control system may be part of it.
Profiled parts 18, 19, 20, 21 mounted on the holder 5 for the brush 6 fit sealingly across four projecting arms 14, 15, 16, 17 of the supporting member 4. Movement of the holder 5 in relation to the supporting member 4 takes place by means of a double-acting hydraulic cylinder 22 mounted on said supporting member 4 (see fig. 4). It is further stated that the profiled parts 18, 19, 20, 21 have not been mounted completely symmetrical in relation to the brush member 6, as a result of whicht the cylinder mounted below the axis 9 can engage the holder 5 exactly in the middle in relation to the guides.
In longitudinal direction at the front side of the casing, the holder 5 has spray nozzles, which may be mounted directly in the reinforcing pipes 23, 24, or for which separate pipes such as pipe 25 can be provided. The spray nozzles are intended for spraying water and cleansing agent, in which it is possible to mix them beforehand, or to spray water and cleansing agent separately. With this latter method, the cleansing agent can be taken along in a reservoir mounted separately on the device.
In the Figures 2 and 3, various positions of the supporting member 4 and the holder 5 with brush 6 are indicated, which are respectively the positions for cleaning a slanting plane and an approximately horizontal plane, such as a ceiling, for example.
In Fig. 4, the same vertical position as in Fig. 3 is shown, but here the holder 5 with the brush 6 is extended further. The Figure clearly shows that the extension 12 of the supporting member 4 falls exactly between two upstanding arms 26, 27 of the casing 3. On the outside in relation to the arms 26, 27, supports 28, 29 are mounted on the rear side 30 (see Fig. 6) of the supporting member 4, so that the complete structure with the through-shaft 9 is securely confined.
The holder 5 provides for a housing which, as can be seen in Figs. 3, 4, has two end plates 31, 32, between which a further housing part 33 of semi-circular cross-section is mounted. The housing part 33 is shaped such that it connects tightly to a rotating brush 6. The housing part 33 further contains a water discharge 39, which provision is necessary in case of a slanting or vertical position.
The shaft 34 of the brush 6 is mounted in the housing in a way not further indicated. The drive 35 for the brush 6 can engage the shaft 34 directly or through a transmission, and is preferably mounted directly against the housing. The drive can be both hydraulic and electric.
Fig. 5 shows a plan view of the supporting member 4 per se, with the projecting guide arms 14, 15, the extension 12 with the cylinder 22 mounted within it, and the housing 13 for the switching and operating systems. Further, the reinforcements 36, 37, 38 mounted at the bottom side of the wall 30 are shown, which serve for imparting the supporting member sufficient rigidity. Fig. 6 shows a rear view of the wall 30 of the supporting member 5, which clearly indicates the positioning of the various parts on the rear wall.

Claims

Device for cleaning large surfaces, comprising a frame mounting at least one brush member, a housing partially enclosing said brush member, a drive for said brush member and means for supplying a liquid medium, characterized in that the device is arranged in such a way that it can be operated and moved by a lifting vehicle positioned at a location free of the surface to be cleaned.
Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the device is further provided with means for moving the brush member in at least one direction in relation to the frame, in which said movement can be a translation and/or a rotation.
Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the frame comprises a supporting member being intended for carrying a holder for the brush member, supporting member and holder for the brush member being provided with complementary guide means and extending means for moving the holder for the brush member along the guiding means being applied between the supporting member and the holder for said brush member.
Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the supporting member is provided with at least two projecting arms and the holder is provided with hollow guiding means, and the extending means comprise one or more hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders.
Device according to claims 3-4, characterized in that the frame comprises a bottom part with a casing, the supporting member being fastened to the casing, in such a way, that the supporting member can be rotated around an axis being approximately horizontal during normal use, in relation to the casing, said horizontal axis extending perpendicularly in relation to the possible direction of movement of the holder for the brush member in relation to the supporting member.
Device according to claim 5, characterized in that the casing is rotatable in relation to the bottom part around an - in normal use - approximately vertically oriented shaft.
Device according to claims 5-6, characterized in that driving means for rotating the supporting member in relation to the casing and/or for rotating the casing in relation to the bottom part of the frame are provided.
Device according to claims 5-7, characterized in that locking means are provided, intended to be able to lock one or more positions of the supporting member in relation to casing and/or one or more positions of the casing in relation to the bottom part of the frame.
Device according to claims 3-8, characterized in that the holder for the brush member comprises a housing having at least one part of approximately semi-circular cross-section, its ends being provided with a bearing for the shaft of said brush member.
Device according to claim 9, characterized in that both ends of the housing mount at least one guide, intended for cooperation with complementary guides of the supporting member.
Device according to claims 7 - 10, characterized in that a number of nozzles for spraying a liquid medium are mounted in longitudinal direction along at least one of the edges of the housing.
Device according to claims 7 - 11, characterized in that the drive for the brush member is mounted against the housing.
Device according to claims 7 - 12, characterized in that one or more sensors have been arranged on the housing or the guides mounted on it, said sensors being intended to measure the distance or changes in distance of the brush member in relation to a surface to be cleaned.
Device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that means for generating an individual electric circuit and an individual hydraulic circuit are provided.
Device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the frame is provided with fastening means which are meant to be used for a fastening the frame to a lifting device of a vehicle.
Device according to claim 14, characterized in that the frame is provided with two parallel box profiles, which are intended for receiving the paddles of a lifting member.