TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a self-propelled soil
modifying machine for modifying a soil quality by mixing a raw soil
such as an excavated soil, a polluted soil or the like with a soil
conditioner or a conditioning agent.
BACKGROUND ART
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. HEI 9-195265
proposes a self-propelled soil modifying machine.
This self-propelled soil modifying machine generally
comprises a machine body having a traveling equipment, a raw soil
hopper into which a soil to be modified i.e., a raw soil, is thrown, a
belt conveyer for conveying the raw soil stocked in the raw soil
hopper, a soil conditioner supply device for supplying a soil
conditioner to the raw soil on the way of being conveyed by the soil
conveyer, a mixer for mixing the raw soil with the soil conditioner
so as to modify a quality of the raw soil and a modified soil
conveyer for conveying the modified soil to discharge it out of the
machine body.
The soil conditioner supply device of the self-propelled soil
modifying machine mentioned above comprises a soil conditioner
hopper into which the soil conditioner is thrown, a shooter
mounted to a discharge port of the hopper, and a rotor having a
plurality of feeder plates for feeding the soil conditioner stocked in
the hopper to the discharge port, the rotor being provided to a
bottom portion in the hopper. When the powdery soil conditioner is
thrown into the hopper and the rotor is driven to be rotated, the
soil conditioner is supplied through the shooter and dropped down
on the raw soil conveyer.
Further, the soil conditioner supply device is attached to a
portion between the raw soil hopper and the mixer, and the device
takes a high location position above the raw soil conveyer.
Therefore, because of such high location position, a height of the
soil conditioner hopper from a ground becomes very high.
Due to the above arrangement, in a case where the soil
conditioner is thrown into the soil conditioner hopper, it is
required to pack the powdery soil conditioner into a bag and then
the bag is required to be lifted up to a position higher than that of
the hopper by means of a crane. Therefore, the lift-up working for
the bag becomes very complicated and troublesome, hence
requiring a lot of time.
In addition, since a mounting position of the soil
conditioner hopper is limited, if a capacity of the hopper be
increased, it is required to make the machine body large.
Accordingly, the size of the self-propelled soil modifying machine
will be made disadvantageously large, and accordingly, there is a
limit to increase the capacity of the hopper. Therefore, in a case
where the soil modifying operation is continuously performed, the
soil conditioner stocked in the soil conditioner hopper will be
consumed in a short time, so that the soil conditioner is required
to be frequently supplied to the soil conditioner hopper to thereby
refill the hopper.
Based on these disadvantages, the refilling work of the soil
conditioner is very troublesome and takes a lot of time.
Further, although a supplying amount of the soil
conditioner is controlled by a rotation speed of the rotor mentioned
above, since the soil conditioner is powdery, there may cause a
case where the soil conditioner is not accurately supplied at an
amount corresponding to the rotation speed of the rotor. Thus, it is
difficult to accurately supply the soil conditioner at a
predetermined amount.
Furthermore, in a case where a plurality of soil
conditioners having properties different from each other are
supplied, a plurality of soil conditioner supply devices are required
to be provided to the machine body. Therefore, a space for locating
or installing the devices becomes large, and, hence, the size of the
self-propelled soil modifying machine is made disadvantageously
large.
In addition, there may cause a case where the solidly
aggregated powdery soil conditioner clogs the hopper and the rotor
of the soil conditioner supply device, and the soil conditioner
cannot hence be supplied.
Furthermore, there may cause a case where the powdery
soil conditioner leaks out through a gap formed between
constructional machine members and is floatingly scattered in
ambient atmosphere to thereby deteriorate an environmental
condition.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a self-propelled
soil modifying machine capable of solving the
aforementioned problems encountered in the prior arts.
In order to achieve this and other objects, according to a
first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a self-propelled
soil modifying machine comprising:
a machine body having a traveling equipment; a raw soil hopper mounted to the machine body, into
which a raw soil to be modified is thrown; a raw soil conveying device mounted to the machine body
for conveying the raw soil thrown in the raw soil hopper; a mixer mounted to the machine body for mixing the raw
soil conveyed by the raw soil conveying device; a power source mounted to the machine body for
supplying a power to the traveling equipment, the raw soil
conveying device and the mixer; and a soil conditioner supply device for ejecting a liquid soil
conditioner from a liquid ejecting means to which the liquid soil
conditioner stocked in a liquid tank is supplied by a liquid supply
means,
wherein the liquid ejecting means is attached to at least
one portion in a passage ranging from the raw soil hopper to a
discharge portion of the mixer.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the
soil modifying machine comprises the soil conditioner supply
device in which a liquid soil conditioner stocked in a liquid tank is
supplied by a liquid supply means, and the liquid soil conditioner
is ejected from a liquid ejecting means. Since the soil conditioner
is in a liquid state, the liquid tank and the liquid supply means
can be formed to provide an arbitrary shape and can be attached
to an arbitrary portion in relation to the liquid ejecting means or a
portion apart from the liquid ejecting means.
Therefore, the liquid tank can be mounted to a lower
portion, and since the tank can be formed to provide an arbitrary
shape by utilizing a flowability (fluidity) of the liquid so as to be
adaptable to a space in which the tank is mounted, the liquid tank
can be formed to secure a large capacity. In a case where the liquid
soil conditioner is supplied into the liquid tank, there is no need to
use a crane or the like for supplying the powdery soil conditioner,
so that the work for supplying the conditioner can be easily
performed and a time interval of the supplying work becomes long
to thereby reduce a frequency of the supplying work.
In cooperation with these advantages, the work of
supplying the liquid soil conditioner can be easily performed in a
short time, so that the efficiency of the supplying work can be
improved.
Further, since the amount of the liquid soil conditioner to
be supplied by the liquid supplying device per unit time is
accurately controlled by the rotation speed or a delivery (discharge)
amount of the pump, the liquid soil conditioner can be accurately
supplied at a predetermined amount, so that a quality of the
modified soil becomes constantly stable. Further, an amount of the
soil conditioner to be wastefully used is decreased, so that a
production cost can be also reduced.
Furthermore, the liquid tank can be mounted to an
arbitrary portion in an arbitrary shape, so that a space for the
liquid tank is efficiently available and a plurality of liquid tanks
can be easily equipped. In this case, a plural kinds of soil
conditioners can be supplied, so that the liquid soil conditioners
suitable for the raw soil can be supplied individually or in a
combined state, and the modifying effect is further improved. In
addition, the self-propelled soil modifying machine can be formed
in a compact scale, providing a small size.
In addition, since the soil conditioner is used as liquid,
there is no fear that the liquid is solidified and clogs like the
powdery soil conditioner and no fear that the liquid leaks out and
is floated and scattered in an ambient atmosphere. Furthermore,
the liquid soil conditioner has a good infiltrating property
(permeability) to the raw soil, so that a mixing property can be also
enhanced.
In the first aspect of the present invention, it is preferable
that the liquid ejecting means is attached to at least one portion
selected from a portion in the raw soil hopper, a portion above the
raw soil conveying device close to an input port of the mixer, a
portion in the mixer, and a discharge port of the mixer.
According to the above structure, the liquid soil
conditioner can be supplied to at least one soil selected from the
raw soil stocked in the raw soil hopper, a raw soil to be conveyed,
the soil in the mixer and the soil discharged from the mixer.
For example, when the liquid soil conditioner is supplied
to the raw soil stocked in the raw soil hopper, the liquid soil
conditioner is also infiltrated into the soil on the way of being
conveyed, and hence, a degree of the infiltration is enhanced to
thereby improve a mixing performance of the soil conditioner at the
mixer.
When the liquid soil conditioner is supplied to the raw soil
to be conveyed at a portion of the raw soil conveying device close to
an input port of the mixer, a portion of the machine to which a
suitable measure should be taken to prevent a leakage of the liquid
soil conditioner can be reduced. In addition, the liquid soil
conditioner quickly infiltrates into the raw soil with their good
infiltrating property, so that the conditioner can be sufficiently
mixed by the mixer.
Furthermore, the amount of the liquid soil conditioner to
be supplied in accordance with an amount of the raw soil to be
conveyed can be accurately controlled through a control of
pumping operation, so that the mixing ratio of the conditioner to
the raw soil is always made suitable, and the control thereof is
made simplified.
When the liquid soil conditioner is supplied inside the
mixer, the interior of the mixer takes an atmosphere of the liquid
soil conditioner, the raw soil and the conditioner can be
sufficiently mixed, and there is less fear of the liquid soil
conditioner leaking outside.
In the first aspect of the present invention mentioned
above, it is preferable that the liquid ejecting means is attached
respectively to a passage ranging from the raw soil hopper to the
interior of the mixer and the discharge portion of the mixer.
According to the structure described above, the mixer
mixes the raw soil with the liquid soil conditioner ejected from one
liquid ejecting means to thereby primarily modify the soil, and
then, the liquid soil conditioner is ejected from the other liquid
ejecting means to the primarily modified soil discharged from the
mixer, so that a reaction for modifying a quality of the raw soil can
be promoted. In particular, when a soil polluted with hexavalent
chromium is mixed with a ferrous sulfate solvent by means of a
mixer to form a primarily modified soil and water is then added to
the primarily modified soil, the reaction of modifying the quality of
the soil is quickly promoted, so that the polluted soil can be
modified in a short time.
In the above first aspect of the present invention, it is
preferable that a rear mixer for mixing a soil discharged from the
mixer is further provided.
According to this arrangement, the soil discharged from
the mixer is further mixed by the rear mixer, so that a mixing
performance can be further improved and the modifying reaction is
also promoted quickly.
In the above first aspect of the present invention, it is
preferable that the liquid ejecting means is attached to the
discharge port of the mixer, and the rear mixer for mixing the
ejected liquid soil conditioner with the discharged soil is mounted
to a portion lower than the liquid ejecting means.
According to this arrangement, the soil discharged from
the mixer and the liquid soil conditioner are further mixed by
means of the rear mixer, so that a mixing performance can be
further improved and the reaction of modifying the quality of the
soil is promoted more quickly.
In a second aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a self-propelled soil modifying machine comprising:
a machine body having a traveling equipment; a raw soil hopper mounted to the machine body into which
a raw soil to be modified is thrown; a raw soil conveying device mounted to the machine body
for conveying the raw soil thrown into the raw soil hopper; a mixer mounted to the machine body for mixing the raw
soil conveyed by the raw soil conveying device ; a modified soil conveying device mounted to the machine
body for discharging the soil mixed by the mixer; a power source mounted to the machine body for
supplying a power to the traveling equipment, the raw soil
conveying device, the mixer and the modified soil conveying device;
and a soil conditioner supply device for ejecting a liquid soil
conditioner from a liquid ejecting means to which the liquid soil
conditioner stocked in a liquid tank is supplied by a liquid supply
means,
wherein the liquid ejecting means is provided to at least
one portion in a passage ranging from the raw soil hopper to the
modified soil conveying device.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, in
addition to the same advantageous effects as those provided in the
first aspect of the present invention, there can be also provided the
following effects. That is, the modified soil having improved quality
can be conveyed to the outside of the machine body by the
modified soil conveying device, and since the modified soil
conveying device travels and moves together with the machine
body, there can be provided a self-propelled soil modifying machine
excellent in mobility.
In this second aspect of the present invention, it is
preferable that the liquid ejecting means is attached at least one
portion selected from a portion in the raw soil hopper, a portion
above the raw soil conveyer close to an input port of the mixer, a
portion in the mixer, and a discharge port of the modified soil
conveying device.
According to this arrangement, the liquid soil conditioner
can be supplied to at least one soil selected from the soil stocked
in the raw soil hopper, the raw soil to be conveyed, the soil in the
mixer and the soil to be discharged from the mixer.
In the above second aspect of the present invention, it is
preferable that the liquid ejecting means is attached respectively to
a passage ranging from the raw soil hopper to the interior of the
mixer and the discharge port of the modified soil conveying device.
According to this arrangement, the raw soil is mixed with
the liquid soil conditioner ejected from one liquid ejecting means to
thereby primarily modify the soil, and then, the liquid soil
conditioner is then ejected from the other liquid ejecting means to
the primarily modified soil discharged from the modified soil
conveying device, so that a reaction for modifying a quality of the
raw soil can be promoted. In particular, when a soil polluted with
hexavalent chromium is mixed with a ferrous sulfate solvent by
means of a mixer so as to form a primarily modified soil and water
is then added to the primarily modified soil, the reaction of
modifying the quality of the soil is quickly promoted, so that the
polluted soil can be modified in a short time.
In the above second aspect of the present invention, it is
preferable that the self-propelled soil modifying machine further
comprises a rear mixer for mixing a soil discharged from the
modified soil conveying device.
According to this arrangement, the soil discharged from
the modified soil conveying device is further mixed by the rear
mixer, so that a mixing performance can be further improved and
the reaction is also promoted quickly.
In the above second aspect of the present invention, it is
preferable that the liquid ejecting means is attached to the
discharge port of the modified soil conveying device, and the rear
mixer for mixing the ejected liquid soil conditioner with the
discharged soil is mounted to a portion lower than the liquid
ejecting means.
According to the above arrangement, the soil discharged
from the modified soil conveying device and the liquid soil
conditioner are further mixed by the rear mixer, and thus, a
mixing performance can be further improved and the reaction of
modifying the quality of the soil is promoted more quickly.
In the first and second aspects of the present invention
mentioned above, it is preferable that the liquid supply means and
the liquid tank are mounted to the machine body.
According to this arrangement, since the liquid supply
means and the liquid tank travel and move together with the
machine body, a mobility of the self-propelled soil modifying
machine is excellent.
In the above first and second aspects of the present
invention, it is preferable that either the liquid supply means or
the liquid tank is independently provided from the machine body,
or both the liquid supply means and the liquid tank are
independently provided from the machine body.
According to such arrangement, the machine body is not
required to provide a space for mounting either the liquid supply
means or the liquid tank or both the liquid supply means and the
liquid tank to be independently provided from the machine body,
so that the self-propelled soil modifying machine can be formed so
as to provide a compact size.
In the first and second aspects of the present invention, it
is preferable that the liquid supply means comprises a fluid pump
driven by the power source for the pump, and a delivery
(discharge) side of the fluid pump is connected to the liquid
ejecting means through a delivery pipe.
According to this arrangement, the amount of the liquid
soil conditioner to be supplied per unit time is easily and
accurately controlled through the adjustment of the power source
for the pump to thereby increase or decrease the rotation speed of
the fluid pump. Therefore, the supply amount of the liquid soil
conditioner can be easily and accurately controlled to be an
arbitrary amount.
In addition, since the delivery side of the fluid pump is
connected to the liquid ejecting means through the delivery pipe,
even if the fluid pump is located so as to be apart from the liquid
ejecting means, the fluid pump is connected to the liquid ejecting
means by providing the delivery pipe, so that the liquid ejecting
means can be mounted in a narrow space.
Furthermore, since it is also possible to independently
provide the fluid pump and the liquid tank so as to be apart from
the machine body, the liquid tank can be formed to have a large
capacity, so that the soil-quality modifying work can be
continuously performed without resupplying the soil conditioner to
the liquid tank for a long time.
In any one of the arrangements described hereinbefore,
the liquid ejecting means may preferably be constituted by any one
of members such as a pipe, a long pipe to which a plurality of
ejecting holes are provided, a pipe having a funnel-shape at a front
end portion thereof and a plurality of ejecting holes are formed to a
front end surface of the pipe, and a pipe having a large-diametered
front end portion and a plurality of ejecting holes having a small
diameter are formed to a front end surface of the pipe.
According to the above arrangement, the following effects
are obtained. That is, the liquid ejecting means constituted by the
pipe simplifies a shape of the means, thus resulting in a low cost.
When the liquid ejecting means is constituted by the long
pipe to which a plurality of ejecting holes are provided, the liquid
soil conditioner can be uniformly supplied to a broad area of the
soil.
When the liquid ejecting means is constituted by the pipe
having a funnel-shape at the front end portion thereof and a
plurality of ejecting holes are formed to the front end surface of the
pipe, or when it is constituted by the pipe having a large-diametered
front end portion and a plurality of ejecting holes each
having a small diameter are formed to the front end surface of the
pipe, the liquid soil conditioner can be uniformly ejected in a mist
form over a broad area of the soil. Therefore, this type of the liquid
ejecting means is suitable for a case where the liquid soil
conditioner is ejected to the soil in the mixer or the soil discharged
from the modified soil conveying device.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will become more apparent upon a
consideration of the following detailed explanations of the
preferred embodiments of the present invention taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be
understood that the embodiments shown in the accompanying
drawings are not for particularly specifying the present invention
but for merely making the explanations and understanding of the
present invention more easily.
In the accompanying drawings:
FIG. 1 is a side view showing one embodiment of a self-propelled
soil modifying machine according to the present
invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a front view of the embodiment. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view explaining an operation of
the embodiment. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view explaining a soil conditioner
supply device of the embodiment. FIGs. 6A to 6C are perspective views each showing a liquid
ejecting means for the soil conditioner supply device. FIGs. 7A to 7C are explanatory views each explaining a
mounting position of the liquid ejecting means. FIG. 8 is a side view showing a mounting portion of a rear
mixer for the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view taken along the line IX-IX
in FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is a side view showing another mounting portion
of the rear mixer. FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view taken along the line XI-XI
in FIG. 10. FIGs. 12A and 12B are explanatory views each showing an
embodiment in which a plurality of liquid ejecting means are used. FIGs. 13A and 13B are explanatory views each showing an
embodiment in which a plurality of different liquid soil
conditioners are mixed and then the mixed liquid is ejected from
one liquid ejecting means. FIG. 14 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment in
which the liquid ejecting means and the rear mixer are mounted to
a portion close to a discharge port of the mixer. FIGs. 15A to 15C are explanatory views each explaining a
mounting position of a liquid supply means and a liquid tank.
BEST MODE FOR EMBODYING THE INVENTION
Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will
be described hereunder with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
As shown in FIGs. 1, 2 and 3, right and left traveling
equipment 2, 2 are attached to a machine body 1 so as to form a
self-propelled machine (vehicle). A mixer 3 is provided to an
intermediate portion between front and rear portions of the
machine body 1. At a front portion side of the machine body 1 is
provided a power source unit 4 including an engine, a hydraulic
pump, a generator, or a combination thereof. The power source
unit 4 is covered with a cover 5. The traveling equipment 2 is
formed as a crawler-type structure, but may be formed as a wheel-type
structure. Further, the machine body 1 is provided with a
boarding platform 1a.
At a rear side of the machine body 1 is provided a mount
frame 6 so as to project rearward from the machine body 1, and a
raw soil conveying device 7 is mounted on the mount frame 6 so as
to extend in the longitudinal direction thereof. Further, a raw soil
hopper 8 is mounted to the mount frame 6 so that the hopper 8 is
positioned above a rear side of the raw soil conveying device 7. A
cover member 9 is attached to a portion between the raw soil
hopper 8 and the mixer 3, and this cover member 9 covers a space
above a front side portion of the raw soil conveying device 7.
At a lower portion of the machine body 1 is provided with
a modified soil conveying device 10 so as to extend in the
longitudinal direction thereof. One end potion (rear side portion) of
the modified soil conveying device 10 in the conveying direction is
positioned below the mixer 3, while another end portion (front side
portion) of the modified soil conveying device 10 extends forward
over the machine body 1.
The power source unit 4 has a function of supplying a
power force to the traveling equipment 2, the raw soil conveying
device 7, the mixer 3 and the modified soil conveying device 10.
A liquid supply means 11 is provided to either right or left
side portion on the front side portion of the machine body 1, while
a liquid tank 12 is provided to either right or left side portion on
the rear side portion of the machine body 1. At a portion above the
raw soil conveying device 7 close to the inlet port of the mixer 3, a
liquid ejecting means 13 is attached to the cover member 9 so as
to oppose to the raw soil conveying device 7. This liquid ejecting
means 13, the liquid supply means 11 and the liquid tank 12
constitute a soil conditioner supply device.
As shown in FIG. 4, the mixer 3 is provided with a soil
cutter device 15 as a primary mixing unit and a plurality of impact
hammers (rotor provided with rotators) 16 as a secondary mixing
unit mounted in a case 14.
The aforementioned raw soil conveying device 7 is
constituted as a conveyer which is composed of a driving wheel 17,
a driven wheel 18 and an endless belt-like member 19 wrapped
therearound. This raw soil conveying device 7 has a discharge side
end portion which extends into the case 14 of the mixer 3 through
an entrance (input) port 20 formed to a side wall section 14a of the
case 14 of the mixer 3. The endless belt-like member 19 is a
crawler belt composed of a plurality of iron crawler plates that are
connected in an endless shape. However, a belt can be also used
as the endless belt-like member 19.
The raw soil hopper 8 into which the soil to be modified is
thrown has a discharge port at which a raking (raking-type) rotor
21 is mounted, the raking rotor having a function of making
constant a cut-off height b of the raw soil a. This height b means a
height of the raw soil a conveyed by the raw soil conveying device 7
towards the mixer 3.
A raw soil sensor 17a for detecting a height of the soil is
disposed above the raw soil conveying device 7, and this sensor
17a is switched over to "ON" state to detect the conveyance of the
raw soil on the conveying device 7 at a time when the height of the
raw soil on the conveying device 7 becomes a predetermined height,
for example, 70% of the height b.
One side portion in the conveying direction of the modified
soil conveying device 10 is positioned below a discharge port
(outlet port) 22 of the case of the mixer 3.
As shown in FIG. 5, the aforementioned liquid supply
means 11 is a fluid pump 31 to be driven by a power source 30 for
the pump such as an internal combustion engine, an electric
motor or the like. A suction port of the fluid pump 31 is connected
to the liquid tank 12 through a suction pipe 32 such as pipe, hose
or the like, so that the fluid pump 31 sucks the liquid soil
conditioner stocked in the liquid tank 12, and then, the sucked
conditioner is delivered to a delivery pipe 33 such as pipe, hose or
the like. In this connection, it is also possible to use the engine of
the power source unit 4 as the power source 30 for the pump.
The liquid ejecting means 13 comprises a plurality of pipes
34 and each of the pipes 34 is connected to the delivery pipe 33. In
this regard, the pipe 34 may be formed from a single pipe structure.
As shown in FIG. 4, the raw soil a such as the excavated
soil or the like thrown in the raw soil hopper 8 is adjusted by a
rotor 21 so as to provide a predetermined cut-off height and then
conveyed by the raw soil conveying device 7 towards the mixer 3.
When the raw soil is conveyed to the mixer 3, the raw soil sensor
7a is made "ON" and the power source 30 for the pump is started,
so that the liquid soil conditioner is sprayed on the raw soil a
through the liquid ejecting means 13 (pipe 34). This liquid soil
conditioner quickly infiltrates into the raw soil, thus providing a
good infiltrating property.
The raw soil a and the liquid soil conditioner conveyed into
the case 14 of the mixer 3 are subjected to a primary mixing
treatment by being cut off by the soil cutter device 15, and then,
subjected to a secondary mixing treatment (crushing, mixing and
stirring) by being crushed by the impact hammers 16, whereby the
nature and quality of the raw soil a can be modified to be a
modified soil c. The modified soil c of which nature and condition
are improved is then fallen and supplied onto the modified soil
conveying device 10 through the discharge port 22 formed to the
case 14 of the mixer 3, and thereafter, conveyed by the modified
soil conveying device 10 forward the machine body.
As described hereinbefore, the raw soil a is cut off by the
soil cutter device 15 so as to provide a flake-shape having a
predetermined thickness, and the liquid soil conditioner adheres to
a portion of the cut-off soil. The raw soils a each having the flake-shape
fall in a state that the portions, to which the liquid soil
conditioner adheres, take various positions such as upper position,
lower position, lateral position or the like, and then crushed and
mixed by the impact hammers 16, so that the raw soil and the
liquid soil conditioner are sufficiently mixed.
As shown in FIG. 6A, the liquid ejecting means 13 can be
formed to provide a structure in which a plurality of ejecting holes
36 are formed to a plurality of portions along the longitudinal
direction of a long pipe 35, and a connecting portion 37 for
connecting a delivery pipe 33 is formed to the long pipe 35.
Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, the liquid ejecting means 13
can be also formed to provide a structure in which the liquid
ejecting means 13 comprises a pipe 38 having a funnel-shape at a
front end portion thereof, and a plurality of ejecting holes 36 are
formed to a front end surface of the pipe 38.
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6C, the liquid ejecting
means 13 can be also formed to provide a structure in which the
liquid ejecting means 13 comprises a pipe 39 having a large-diametered
front end portion, and a plurality of ejecting holes 36
having a small diameter are formed to a front end surface of the
pipe 39 to eject an atomized liquid solid conditioner.
The liquid supply means 11 and the liquid tank 12 can be
formed to provide an arbitrary form and can be mounted to an
arbitrary portion of the machine body 1. That is, since the soil
conditioner is liquid, the flowability thereof can be utilized, so that
the liquid supply means 11 and the liquid tank 12 can be formed
to provide an arbitrary form so as to match with the arbitrary
portion i.e., a space, and can be mounted to the arbitrary portion.
The portion to which the liquid ejecting means 13 is
attached is not limited to the cover member 9. For example, the
liquid ejecting means 13 can be also attached to a portion closer to
the mixer 3 than the rotor 21 provided in the raw soil hopper 8.
According to above the arrangement, the liquid soil conditioner
promptly starts to infiltrate into the raw soil a thrown in the raw
soil hopper 8, so that a degree of the infiltration of the liquid soil
conditioner is further improved.
Furthermore, as shown in FIG.7B, the liquid ejecting
means 13 may be attached to an upper portion in the case 14 of
the mixer 3 so as to, direct downward. In this case, the liquid
ejecting means 13 shown in FIGs. 6B and 6C are preferably
adopted. According to the above arrangement, an interior of the
case 14 of the mixer 3 becomes an atmosphere filled up with the
liquid soil conditioner, so that the mixing performance of the raw
soil a and the liquid soil conditioner can be improved. In addition,
there is no fear of the liquid soil conditioner leaking out from the
case 14.
Still furthermore, as shown in FIG.7C, the liquid ejecting
means 13 may be attached to a portion close to the discharge
portion of the modified soil conveying device 10 so as to oppose to
the soil falling from the modified soil conveying device 10. In this
case, the liquid ejecting means 13 shown in FIGs. 6B and 6C are
also preferably adopted.
A concrete structure of the liquid ejecting means shown in
FIG. 7C will be explained hereunder.
For example, as shown in FIGs. 8 and 9, a mount member
40 is fixed to a discharge end portion of a frame body 10a of the
modified soil conveying device 10, and a cover member 41 is fixed
to the mount member 40. Thereafter, the liquid ejecting means 13
is attached to an upper portion of the cover member 41 so as to
oppose to the falling soil.
Further, a rear mixer 42 is attached to a lower portion of
the cover member 41. The mount member 40 has an H-shape in a
plan view and is formed in such a manner that a pair of mount
plates 43 are connected through a connecting member 44, and
then, a pair of plates 45 are fixed to the connecting member 44
and the paired mount plates 43 are fixed to both right and left side
portions of the frame body 10a by means of bolts or the like.
The cover member 41 has an approximately rectangularbox-shape
in which a rear side wall 41a is fixed to the connecting
member 44 by means of bolts or the like, while right and left side
walls 41b being positioned inside the paired plates 45, and the
liquid ejecting means 13 is attached to an upper portion of a front
side wall 41c of the cover member 41.
The rear mixer 42 mentioned before comprises a rotor 48
formed in such a manner that a plurality of mixing blades 47 are
arranged around a rotational shaft 46 so as to extend radially from
the shaft to form a mixing unit, then a plural set of the mixing
units are attached to the rotational shaft 46 with intervals in an
axial direction of the rotational shaft 46. The rotational shaft 46
passes through holes 49 formed to lateral side walls 41b of the
cover member 41 and is supported to be rotatable by the paired
right and left plates 45 through bearings 50.
A hydraulic motor or an electric motor 52 is mounted to
one of the paired plates 45 through a cylinder body 51, a drive
shaft of the motor 52 is connected to the rotational shaft 46 in the
cylinder body 51 through a coupling member (not shown), so that
the motor 52 is driven so as to rotate the rotor 48. In this regard,
as a power source for the motor 52, the hydraulic pump or the
generator constituting the power source unit 4 mentioned before
may be also utilized.
In addition, the rear mixer 42 can be also formed so as to
provide a concrete structure shown in FIGs. 10 and 11. That is, a
cover member 41 having a rectangular section and cylindrical
shape is fixed to a discharge end portion of the frame body 10a of
the modified soil conveying device 10 so as to direct downward,
and the liquid ejecting means 13 is attached to an upper portion of
the cover member 41 so as to oppose to the falling soil.
The rotational shaft 46 of the rear mixer 42 is supported
to be rotatable at lower portions of the lateral side walls 41b of the
cover member 41, and the hydraulic motor or the electric motor 52
is mounted to a rear side wall 41a of the cover member 41.
A belt 55 is wrapped around a portion between a pulley 53
fixed to the rotational shaft 46 and a pulley 54 to be rotated by the
motor 52, so that the motor 52 is driven to rotate the rotor 48.
According to the arrangement mentioned above, the liquid
soil conditioner is ejected to the soil falling from the modified soil
conveying device 10 to mix the soil and the soil conditioner
together. Thereafter, the soil and the liquid soil conditioner are
sufficiently mixed again by the rear mixer 42.
In this case, as the mixer 3, it is also possible to use a
mixer having a function of only crushing the raw soil a so as to
realize a fine powdery state without including a lump soil.
In a case where the liquid ejecting means 13 is attached to
a portion shown FIGs. 7A and 7B, there can be adopted an
arrangement in which the liquid ejecting means 13 is not attached
to a portion close to the discharge portion of the modified soil
conveying device 10 but only the rear mixer 42 is mounted thereto.
A portion to which the liquid ejecting means 13 is attached
is not limited to one portion, but the liquid ejecting means 13 may
be also attached respectively to four portions as indicated in FIGs.
4, 7A, 7B and 7C.
Furthermore, the liquid ejecting means 13 can be also
attached respectively to two portions arbitrarily selected from the
four portions shown in FIGs. 4, 7A, 7B and 7C.
Still furthermore, the liquid ejecting means 13 can be also
attached respectively to three portions arbitrarily selected from the
four portions shown in FIGs. 4, 7A, 7B and 7C.
As mentioned hereinbefore, in a case where the liquid
ejecting means 13 are attached respectively to a plurality of
portions, a set of the fluid pump 31, the liquid tank 12 and the
power source 30 for the pump may be independently provided to
each of the liquid ejecting means 13 as shown in FIG. 12A.
According to the above arrangement, when the liquid soil
conditioners of the kinds different from each other are packed in
the liquid tanks 12 respectively, the liquid soil conditioners of the
different kinds can be ejected and supplied to various portions.
Further, as shown in FIG. 12B, there can be also adopted
an arrangement in which one fluid pump 31, one liquid tank 12
and one power source 30 for a pump are provided so that one kind
of liquid soil conditioner is supplied under pressure to a plurality
of the liquid ejecting means 13.
Furthermore, there may be also provided a structure in
which the liquid soil conditioners of the kinds different from each
other are mixed so that the mixed conditioner is ejected through
one liquid ejecting means 13. In this case, as shown in FIG. 13A,
the liquid soil conditioners stocked in the plurality of the liquid
tanks 12 are sucked and discharged by one fluid pump 31. In
another case such as shown in FIG. 13B, the liquid soil
conditioners stocked in the plurality of the liquid tanks 12 are
respectively sucked by the fluid pumps 31, and discharge sides of
these fluid pumps 31 are formed so as to be combined together,
whereby the liquid soil conditioner is forcibly supplied to one
liquid ejecting means 13.
The rear mixer 42 may be disposed independently from the
modified soil conveying device 10. In this case, for example, the
cover member 41 is mounted to a support frame disposed on the
ground or a movable support frame through the mount member 40,
or the cover member 41 is directly mounted to the support frame.
Further, the liquid ejecting means 13 and the rear mixer
42 may be mounted to an intermediate portion in the conveying
direction of the modified soil conveying device 10.
Next, a concrete example of the soil modification will be
explained hereunder.
An explanation will be started by way of example in which
the liquid ejecting means 13 is attached to the cover body 9 as
shown in FIG. 4 or the liquid ejecting means 13 is attached to a
portion closer to the mixer 3 than the rotor 21 mounted in the raw
soil hopper 8 as shown in FIG. 7A and a polymer-type solidifying
agent is ejected as a liquid from the liquid ejecting means 13.
A mud as the raw soil is thrown in the raw soil hopper 8.
Then, the mud and the polymer-type solidifying agent are mixed by
the mixer 3 to thereby modify the nature and condition of the mud
to form a modified soil, which is then conveyed by the modified soil
conveying device 10 and discharged outside the machine body.
According the operation mentioned above, the mud, for
example, discharged at the time of the tunnel excavation using a
shield-type tunnel excavator, can be modified to a hard soil having
a good quality.
Further, it is preferable that a ferrous sulfate solvent is
ejected from the liquid ejecting means 13 (shown in FIG. 6A)
attached to the cover body 9 shown in FIG. 4 while water is ejected
from the liquid ejecting means 13 (shown in FIG. 6B or 6C)
attached to the modified soil conveying device 10 shown in FIG. 7C,
and a soil polluted with hexa-valent chromium is thrown in the
raw soil hopper 8.
According to this arrangement, the soil polluted with
hexavalent chromium and the ferrous sulfate solvent are mixed by
the mixer 3, and the water is then ejected to the mixture, so that
the soil polluted with hexa-valent chromium can be modified to
obtain a state of the hexavalent chromium being undissolved. In
addition, due to the addition of the water, the reaction of modifying
the quality of the soil can be easily promoted.
Furthermore, it is also preferable that a ferrous sulfate
solvent is ejected from the liquid ejecting means 13 (shown in FIG.
6B) attached to the mixer 3 shown in FIG. 7B while water being
ejected from the liquid ejecting means 13 (shown in FIG. 6B or 6C)
attached for the modified soil conveying device 10 shown in FIG.
7C, and the soil polluted with hexavalent chromium as a raw soil
is thrown in the raw soil hopper 8.
According to such arrangement, the soil polluted with
hexavalent chromium and the ferrous sulfate solvent are mixed by
the mixer 3, and the water is then ejected to the mixture, so that
the soil polluted with hexavalent chromium can be modified to
obtain a state of the hexavalent chromium being undissolved. In
addition, due to the addition of the water, the reaction of modifying
the quality of the soil can be easily promoted.
It is also possible to modify the self-propelled soil
modifying machine to a soil modifying machine having no modified
soil conveying device 10 described hereinbefore. In this case, the
power source unit 4 supplies the power to the traveling equipment
2, the raw soil conveying device 7 and the mixer 3.
In such case, since the modified soil is discharged through
the discharge port 22 of the mixer 3, it is also possible to adopt an
arrangement in which a belt conveyer for discharging the modified
soil is independently mounted below the discharge port 22 to
thereby discharge the modified soil outside the machine body or
the discharge port 22 of the mixer 3 is formed to a portion outside
the machine body (i.e., a portion forwardly apart from the traveling
equipment 2) to thereby discharge the modified soil outside the
machine body.
In case of using the self-propelled soil modifying machine
mentioned above, it is also possible to mount the liquid ejecting
means 13 and the rear mixer 42 to a portion close to the discharge
port 22 of the mixer 3.
For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the discharge port 22 of
the mixer 3 is formed so as to provide a shape having a narrow
width, and the liquid ejecting means 13 and the rear mixer 42 are
mounted to a portion close to the discharge port 22 of the case 14
through the mount member 40 and the cover member 41 as the
same manner as described hereinbefore.
According to this arrangement, a crushed soil having a
fine powdery state including no lump soil discharged from the
discharge port 22 of the mixer 3 can be effectively mixed with the
liquid soil conditioner, thereafter, the mixture can be further
sufficiently mixed by the rear mixer 42.
Next, the control system for controlling a supply amount of
the liquid soil conditioner will be explained hereunder.
In the above case, a supplying speed of the raw soil is
controlled by adjusting the motor for driving the driving wheel 17
of the raw soil conveying device 7 and the motor for rotating the
rotor 21 mounted in the raw soil hopper 8.
Further, the amount of the liquid soil conditioner to be
ejected from the liquid ejecting means 13 is controlled by adjusting
a rotation speed of the fluid pump 31 driven by the power source
30 for the pump.
Furthermore, a detecting means for detecting a raw soil
supply amount is provided for a portion close to the input port 20
of the mixer 3. For example, a plurality of switches or laser
systems as the detecting means detect a height of the raw soil to
be supplied, and the amount of the raw soil to be supplied per unit
time is detected in accordance with the height of the raw soil to be
supplied and a supplying speed (conveying speed) of the raw soil at
the raw soil conveying device.
In the arrangement mentioned hereinbefore, a mixing ratio
of the raw soil and the liquid soil conditioner is previously set to
an appropriate value. Based on this mixing ratio and the detected
amount of the raw soil, the supply speed of the raw soil or the
amount of the liquid soil conditioner is controlled to thereby
secure a constant mixing ratio at any time.
In the described embodiment, although both the liquid
supply means 11 and the liquid tank 12 are mounted to the
machine body 1, it is also possible to independently or separately
dispose at least one of the liquid supply means 11 and the liquid
tank 12 from the machine body 1.
For example, as shown in FIG. 15A, the liquid supply
means 11 is independently disposed from the machine body 1, and
the suction port of the liquid supply means 11 is connected to the
liquid tank 12 mounted to the machine body 1 through the suction
pipe 32 while the delivery pipe 33 is connected to the liquid
ejecting means 13.
Further, as shown in FIG. 15B, the liquid tank 12 is
independently disposed from the machine body 1, and the suction
port of the liquid supply means 11 mounted to the machine body is
connected to the liquid tank 12 through the suction pipe 32.
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 15C, both the liquid supply
means 11 and the liquid tank 12 are independently disposed from
the machine body 1, and the delivery pipe 33 is connected to the
liquid ejecting means 13.
Although the present invention has been described with
reference to the exemplified embodiments, it will be apparent to
those skilled in the art that various modifications, changes,
omissions, additions and other variations can be made in the
disclosed embodiments of the present invention without departing
from the scope or spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, it
should be understood that the present invention is not limited to
the described embodiments and shall include the scope specified
by the elements defined in the appended claims and range of
equivalency of the claims.