EP2094442B1

EP2094442B1 - Method and apparatus for cleaning surfaces

Info

Publication number: EP2094442B1
Application number: EP07735865A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Susanna Giovannini
Original assignee: IBIX Srl
Current assignee: IBIX Srl
Priority date: 2006-09-18
Filing date: 2007-05-11
Publication date: 2011-05-04
Anticipated expiration: 2027-05-11
Also published as: KR20090094221A; DE602007014403D1; KR101470040B1; ITRA20060055A1; WO2008035236A1; ES2364289T3; ATE507934T1; EP2094442A1

Abstract

Inside a container body (1) are arranged the tank-compartment (1A) for the material to be contained and the duct (1B) through which the coming compressed air flows, both to pass directly in the tank-compartment (1A) and to flow further towards the mixing valve (15), suitable for mixing the compressed air and the material.

Description

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method and the relative portable apparatus to clean metal and non-metal surfaces using sodium bicarbonate indistinctively matched with mineral or vegetable material.

Background Art

In comparison to the traditional sandblasting methods, which use silica abrasives, the use of sodium bicarbonate is preferable not only from an ecological point of view, but also it is very effective because it leaves the support unaltered even in case of polished surfaces. On the other hand, though, this material is also particularly difficult to operate since it is notoriously subject to adhere to the surfaces of the tank in which it is kept and to create intermediate vacuums, with subsequent problems of discontinuity in the supply.
Furthermore, the present cleaning machines are conceived to operate with the sodium bicarbonate matched distinctively either with mineral material or with vegetable material because, having these materials very different physical, mechanical and particle-size features, they need different types of apparatuses.
Clearly, this is detrimental to the functional capacity by the users and implies high operating costs for a plurality of different apparatuses.

Disclosure of Invention

Disclosure

An aim of the present invention is to overcome the cited drawbacks through a surface cleaning method that guarantees the perfect storing, inside the preset tank, of the sodium bicarbonate matched with the chosen cleaning material and, also, the continuous and regular supply of the said material from the spray gun when needed.
Within this scope it is a further aim of the claimed invention to devise a portable apparatus for surface cleaning that, reliable and of easy maintenance, indistinctively allows the use of mineral material or of vegetable material proceeding with the simple replacement of the used material.
The claimed invention concerns a portable cleaning apparatus according to claim 1. This is used with the double aim both to allow the perfect storing of the sodium bicarbonate and of the chosen cleaning material, being inserted directly inside the respective tank, and also to be mixed with the above-mentioned abrasive product together with whom to reach the suitable spray gun.
A cleaning apparatus according to the preamble of claim 1 is disclosed in document EP 0119021 .

Description of Drawings

Description details of the invention will be further evident in the illustration of a preferred embodiment of the invented portable apparatus illustrated in the guideline drawing attached, wherein:
fig. 1 and 2 illustrate a vertical section and a bottom view of the claimed apparatus;
fig. 3 and 4 illustrate the transverse sections XX and YY relating to fig. 1.

Best Mode

As it is evident from the attached drawing, in the apparatus there illustrated, a tank 1A is provided for the cleaning material, realized as a hollow cylindrical body 1 that, preferably obtained through extrusion, is closed on the upper side through a lid 2 provided with a slot 2A for the filling and the subsequent refillings of material. The cylindrical body is completed in the lower part by a base 3 having a discharge opening 3A closed by a suitable trapdoor 4 and is also equipped with a couple of feet 5 and a couple of wheels 6 for the firm rest of the apparatus and for its easier transport.
The said cylindrical body 1 comprises, internally and for its entire length, a tank-compartment 1A and an adjacent duct 1B superiorly comprising two transverse holes, a first hole 1C and a second hole 1D. The first hole connects the outside with the inside of the tank 1A (fig. 3) while the second one only connects the outside with the duct 1B (fig. 4).
In the above-mentioned holes 1C and 1D are applied the compressed-air inlet valve 13, for the air inlet both into the duct 1B and inside the tank 1A, and the safety valve 14 for the outburst of the excess air.
The said compressed air reaches, from a compressor not represented in the illustrations and through the supply pipe 8, the anti-condensate filter 9 and the following treatment assembly 10, and then flows through the supply duct 11 up to the pressure regulator 12 and the above-mentioned inlet valve 13.
The air that passes through the first hole 1C fills a sort of compression 'pre-chamber', that is that space suitably left above the cleaning material, let in through the slot 2A of the upper lid 2, in order to realize a constant pressure onto the product and consequently its perfect storing inside the tank 1A.
In order to exclude that the said pre-chamber could be completely filled with the product, the slot 2A is closed by a spring door 7 suitably applied underneath the lid 2 so that it can be opened exclusively towards the inside of the tank itself.
Underneath the lower base 3 is applied a mixing valve 15 completed, at the exit, by a nozzle 16 on which is suited to be fixed the flexible rubber hose carrying the spray gun 17 at its opposite end.
At the starting of the compressor and with the activation of the spray gun 17, the said valve 15 receives inside its mixing chamber both the compressed air coming from the duct 1B above, through the outflow slot 3B suitably arranged on the lower base 3, and also the abrasive material coming from the tank 1A above, through the slot 3C suitably realised on the base 3 too.
The outflow of the above-mentioned material through the outlet slot 3C is made regular and continuous by the uniform thrust exerted by that part of air simultaneously let into the compression pre-chamber through the first hole 1C.
The said mixing valve 15 can easily adjust itself to the different physical, mechanical and particle-size features of the various cleaning material usable, offering thus the possibility to adjust the outflow by means of a wider or smaller opening of its manual valve 15A and making so the portable apparatus, on which it is installed, flexible.

Claims

Portable apparatus for cleaning surfaces, having a container body (1) comprising a tank-compartment (1A) for the containment of an abrasive product, in particular sodium bicarbonate and a cleaning material, and a duct (1B) for allowing the flow of compressed air, and having a mixing valve (15) for the mixture of said abrasive product with said compressed air before flowing out of a suitable spray means (17) suited to be connected to said mixing valve (15), being said duct (1B) suitable for allowing the flow of said compressed air both directly into the said tank-compartment (1A) above the contained product and also further towards said mixing valve (15), to allow the effective storing of said abrasive product inside said tank-compartment (1A),
characterized in that the said container body (1) is realized as a cylindrical body, wherein the said tank-compartment (1A) and the said duct (1B) extend adjacent one another all along the longitudinal extent of said cylindrical body (1).
Portable apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the said duct (1B) shapes at its upper part a first transversal hole (1C) suitable to connect the outside with the inside of the said tank-compartment (1A), a second transversal hole (1D) suitable to connect the outside with the duct (1B) only, being the said first and second holes (1C, 1 D) respectively intended for the connection of a compressed air-inlet valve (13) for the air inflow both in the said duct (1 B) and inside the said tank-compartment (1A), and of a safety valve (14) for the outburst of the excess air.
Portable apparatus for cleaning surfaces according to claim 2, characterized in that the said cylindrical body (1) is closed on its upper side by a lid (2) provided with an inlet slot (2A) for the filling and the subsequent refillings of material, and is closed on its lower side by a base (3) having a discharge opening (3A) equipped with a trapdoor (4) and equipped with a couple of feet (5) and a couple of wheels (6) for the firm rest of the apparatus and its easier transport.
Portable apparatus for cleaning surfaces according to one of the previous claims, characterized in that the said inlet slot (2A) is closed by a door (7) that can be opened towards the inside of the said tank-compartment (1A) in order to guarantee, during the filling of the latter and above the cleaning material, the forming of a compression pre-chamber by means of which to obtain a substantially constant pressure onto the product and consequently its effective storing inside the tank (1A).
Portable apparatus for cleaning surfaces according to one of the previous claims, characterized in that the said mixing valve (15) is applied underneath the said lower base (3) and, being completed at the exit by a nozzle (16) suitable for the fixing of a flexible rubber hose carrying, at the opposite end, a spray gun (17), is provided with a knob (15A) for the manual adjustment of the material inflow depending on the characteristics of the material itself.