Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47L1/00—Cleaning windows
  • A47L1/02—Power-driven machines or devices

Definitions

• the invention relates to a cleaning device, in particular for glass and facade surfaces, with a cleaning head with at least one cleaning chamber, which is supplied with cleaning liquid from a container, which is sucked off again by a vacuum device.
• the cleaning device can be designed fully automatically and can be used, for example, to clean the window and facade surfaces of high-rise buildings.
• the cleaning head can be fastened, for example, to a gondola hanging on ropes and can be guided over the surfaces to be cleaned by a control device.
• the associated components of the cleaning system such as water tanks, energy generators, drive devices for the cleaning head, lines, etc., are then located on the gondola.
• the gondola can be suspended from a crane that can be moved on rails, which is located on the roof of the housing, whereby the gondola can be moved from window to window by the crane in order to carry out a cleaning process there.
• a gondola hanging on ropes it is also possible, for example, to provide a carriage which can be moved on rails and which carries the components of the cleaning device.
• the cleaning device does not have to be fully automatic, but it can also be a semi-automatic device, in which e.g. the cleaning head is guided by an operator over the surfaces to be cleaned, while the cleaning function of the cleaning head runs automatically.
• the cleaning liquid is supplied to the cleaning head by a pump and that the cleaning agents provided in the cleaning head work automatically, these cleaning agents being, for example, rotating means which are in contact with the surface to be cleaned and which are driven by a motor.
• nozzles can also be provided as cleaning agents, from which the cleaning liquid is directed at the surface to be cleaned with high pressure, or an ultrasonic pulse generator, which transmits ultrasonic vibrations to the cleaning liquid completely filling the cleaning head, through the dirt particles quickly and thoroughly from the one to be cleaned Area to be detached.
• the invention is not restricted to any specific cleaning agents in the cleaning head, but rather can be applied in general to any cleaning heads.
• the cleaning device can also be a relatively small hand-held device in which the cleaning head is located on a long pipe or the like, with the aid of which the cleaning head is guided by an operator, for example, over high-lying, otherwise difficult-to-reach window areas or over the roof of a winter garden.
• the surfaces to be cleaned can in principle be vertical, oblique or also horizontal, the cleaning device being used, for example, to remove dirt from the underside of a glass roof.
• the present invention has for its object to provide a cleaning device of the type under consideration, in which a smooth movement of the cleaning head over the surface to be cleaned is possible with a relatively small effort.
• the cleaning head contains at least one, preferably a plurality of hydrostatic bearing devices from which liquid emerges, on which the cleaning head glides over the cleaning surface during movement.
• the liquid forms a liquid film, preferably of adjustable thickness, between the end faces of the cleaning head and the surface to be cleaned, which prevents the cleaning head from coming into direct contact with the surface to be cleaned. The sliding on the liquid film takes place practically smoothly, so that only a very small amount of force is required to guide the cleaning head over the surface to be cleaned.
• the hydrostatic bearing devices also ensure that the surface to be cleaned is protected from damage by the cleaning head, for example from scratching, and that the cleaning head can slide smoothly over the unions on the surface because of the distance from the surface.
• the hydrostatic bearings are preferably connected to the cleaning liquid container, from which the cleaning liquid is fed to the cleaning head by means of a pump. This is water, to which suitable cleaning additives can be added.
• the cleaning liquid of the cleaning chamber and the liquid of the hydrostatic bearing devices are sucked off into the cleaning liquid container by a vacuum device, for example a suction fan, from which the cleaning liquid is preferably returned to the cleaning chamber in a closed circuit.
• a vacuum device for example a suction fan
• the dirty water is cleaned beforehand by a suitable filter device.
• the at least one cleaning chamber and the hydrostatic bearing devices are surrounded by a circumferential suction channel, which can be separated from the cleaning chamber by a circumferential web.
• the cleaning head does not contain a scraper in the form of a sealing lip or the like, but rather the entire liquid is sucked into the annular channel without liquid exiting beyond it. Without a scraper, the cleaning head can move freely in any direction, whereby - as mentioned above - sliding on a thin layer of water in the area of the hydrostatic bearing devices is smooth and practically without frictional resistance. This also applies to the case that the surface to be cleaned is not smooth, but rather rough.
• the pressure of the liquid supplied to the hydrostatic bearings can be adjusted by a suitable pressure setting device, so that the thickness of the liquid film can be adapted to the particular application. It should be expedient to increase the thickness of the liquid layer accordingly in the case of a particularly rough or uneven surface.
• the liquid is supplied to the hydrostatic bearings by the pump, which also supplies the cleaning chamber with liquid
• a device for reducing the pressure is preferably provided, the water pressure at the hydrostatic bearings being able to be different from the pressure of the wash water introduced into the cleaning chamber.
• adjustable throttle valves are arranged in the lines leading to the hydrostatic bearings (or a common manifold), with which the pressure of the supplied liquid can be changed in a simple manner.
• the hydrostatic bearings are expediently designed such that end wall sections of the cleaning head have openings for the liquid to exit. These can be circular holes that widen conically towards the exit plane or, for example, in a flat trough shape.
• the liquid flows from the holes or depressions through the end wall sections into the cleaning chamber and partly directly into the circumferential suction channel.
• a plurality of hydrostatic bearings spaced apart from one another are expediently arranged along the edge of the cleaning chamber. If the cleaning head has a rectangular shape - to which the invention is not limited, however - at least in the corner regions of the cleaning chamber, a hydrostat cal bearing, additional hydrostatic bearings, for example in the middle of the long sides, can also be provided.
• cleaning liquid is continuously fed to the cleaning head and the hydrostatic bearing devices, which, at the same time, is preferably suctioned off again, processed and fed again from an external annular channel.
• relatively large amounts of water circulate, which enable effective cleaning of glass, facade and other surfaces, whereby it is nevertheless ensured without the arrangement of circumferential sealing lips that practically no water escapes from the area of the cleaning head onto surrounding surfaces and the cleaning head with an extremely low effort can be performed on the cleaning surface.
• Fig. 1 is an end view of a cleaning head
• FIG. 2 shows a section through the cleaning head according to FIG.
• the cleaning head 1 shown in the figures contains a central cleaning chamber 2, which is surrounded by a suction channel 3 running around the outside.
• the suction channel 3 is separated radially on the inside by a circumferential web 4 from the cleaning chamber 2 and is likewise delimited on the outside by a circumferential web 5.
• the webs 4 and 5 end on the side of the cleaning head 1 facing a cleaning surface 6 in a common end plane.
• the cleaning head 1 has a rectangular shape. In the four corners and in the middle of the long sides, hydrostatic bearings 7 are formed in each case, which contain end wall sections 8 which lie in the same plane as the end edge edges of the webs 4 and 5.
• the end wall sections 8 also contain outlet openings 9 for the cleaning liquid, which forms a liquid layer for hydrostatic mounting of the cleaning head between the wall sections 8 and the surface 6 to be cleaned during operation of the cleaning device.
• cleaning fluid is supplied to the outlet openings 9 through channels 10 (see FIG. 2), the circumferential web 4 in the area of the hydrostatic bearings having a correspondingly greater wall thickness.
• the cleaning device contains, separately from the cleaning head 1, a cleaning liquid tank 11, which is connected via a line 12 to a pump 13 and a filter 14, from where the line 12 opens into the cleaning chamber 2 in order to supply the latter with cleaning liquid.
• the line 12 is provided with an adjustable throttle valve 15 with which the pressure of the cleaning liquid introduced into the cleaning chamber 2 can be adjusted.
• a line 16 with a further adjustable throttle valve 17 branches off from the line 12 in the flow direction upstream of the throttle valve 15. From the line 16, cleaning fluid is supplied to the channels 10 and thus to the hydrostatic bearings 7 with an adjustable pressure.
• the water cycle closes in that an air / water / dirt mixture is sucked out of the circumferential suction channel 3 through a line 18 and introduced into the tank 11, for which purpose this is connected in its upper region to a suction fan 19.
• the cleaning head 1 slides on a liquid film over the surface 6 to be cleaned, ie at a small distance from the surface 6.
• the actual cleaning process can be carried out by any suitable means arranged in the cleaning chamber 2 are caused.
• a fixed throttle 20 is advantageously arranged in each of the channels 10. This prevents that if the area of a hydrostatic bearing e.g. glides over a depression, practically the entire amount of liquid escapes from this hydrostatic bearing and the other hydrostatic bearings are not supplied. This is an essential feature of the invention.

Landscapes

• Cleaning By Liquid Or Steam (AREA)
• Cleaning Or Drying Semiconductors (AREA)
• Electrical Discharge Machining, Electrochemical Machining, And Combined Machining (AREA)
• Surgical Instruments (AREA)
• Cleaning In General (AREA)
• Surface Treatment Of Glass (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=7877300

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Families Citing this family (2)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 1998
  • 1998-08-12 DE DE19836527A patent/DE19836527A1/de not_active Ceased
• 1999
  • 1999-07-07 WO PCT/DE1999/002099 patent/WO2000008996A1/fr active IP Right Grant
  • 1999-07-07 AT AT99945936T patent/ATE255357T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1999-07-07 DE DE59907952T patent/DE59907952D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1999-07-07 EP EP99945936A patent/EP1105030B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1999-07-07 ES ES99945936T patent/ES2212625T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1999-07-07 AU AU58489/99A patent/AU5848999A/en not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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