EP4241876A1 - Device for loading concrete mixers - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for loading concrete mixers with fresh concrete, the device having a collecting funnel for dispensing concrete into an inlet funnel of a concrete mixer, the device further having a drip protection device in order to catch concrete running out of the collecting funnel after loading has ended, and the drip protection device a drip catcher and a cleaning system with more than one spray nozzle for rinsing the inlet funnel with water, the cleaning system being attached directly to the drip catcher.

Description

The invention relates to a device and a method for loading concrete mixers and cleaning the inlet hopper.

Concrete mixers, also known as truck mixers, are transport vehicles with a rotating mixing drum that are used to transport fresh concrete to a construction site. The concrete mixer is filled at a mixing plant, with the concrete being filled into the so-called inlet hopper of the concrete mixer via the so-called collection hopper of the mixing plant. The truck mixer is driven to a predetermined loading point of the mixing plant in order to position the inlet hopper under the collecting hopper.

The inlet funnel must be cleaned with water immediately after loading to prevent the concrete deposited on the surface during loading from hardening. In the simplest case, the inlet hopper is cleaned by the driver of the concrete mixer manually rinsing and cleaning the inlet hopper with water after loading. However, this procedure is complicated and time-consuming. In addition, manual cleaning poses a significant risk of accidents for the driver. In addition, when cleaning the filling hopper, an undefined amount of water is added to the concrete that was previously put into the drum of the concrete mixer was filled. Another known solution is to provide a separate cleaning station, which has spray nozzles, in the mixing plant or in an adjacent area of the mixing plant to which the concrete mixer should be driven after loading. Ideally, such a cleaning station is arranged in such a way that a waiting concrete mixer can be filled at the designated position while the concrete mixer is being cleaned. However, in this example too, a separate cleaning step is necessary, which consists in the concrete mixer first having to be moved to the intended cleaning position before cleaning, which unnecessarily increases the cycle time of a loading and cleaning process. Apart from that, installing or retrofitting a cleaning station is space- and cost-intensive.

Based on the disadvantages outlined above, the present invention is therefore based on the object of providing a reliable solution with which the surface of the inlet hopper of concrete mixers can be cleaned more efficiently after loading.

The stated object is achieved according to the invention by a device with the features of claim 1 and a method for loading concrete mixers and cleaning the inlet funnel, preferred embodiments being the subject of the subclaims.

Accordingly, it is provided that the device according to the invention has a collecting funnel for dispensing concrete into an inlet funnel of a concrete mixer, the device further having a drip protection device in order to catch concrete running out of the collecting funnel after loading has ended, and the drip protection device having a drip catcher and a cleaning system with more as a spray nozzle for rinsing the inlet funnel with water, characterized in that the cleaning system is attached directly to the drip catcher.

According to the invention it is provided that the concrete mixer enters the device for loading and is positioned at a loading position so that the inlet funnel of the concrete mixer is located directly below the collection hopper of the device. The drip protection device, which is still in the end position of the previous cleaning process and which closes the collecting funnel in the end position, is then brought into an open loading position. Once the mixing drum has been loaded, the drip protection device swings into the starting position of the cleaning process and cleaning of the inlet funnel begins. During the cleaning process, the drip protection device swings over the inlet funnel and at the same time keeps the collecting funnel of the mixing system closed. Due to the pivoting movement of the drip protection device, the water jet generated by the cleaning system hits the surface of the inlet funnel at varying angles, thereby improving the cleaning of the surface of the inlet funnel compared to conventional methods. In addition, water consumption is reduced in this way.

Furthermore, the water jet can be adjusted so that as little turbulence as possible occurs in the inlet funnel during cleaning, which promotes improved drainage of dirty water. Since the cleaning system according to the invention is attached directly to the drip catcher, repositioning the concrete mixer is not necessary. As soon as the drip protection device has reached the end position of the cleaning process, the cleaning process is completed and the filled concrete mixer leaves the device in a forward direction so that a subsequent concrete mixer can enter from behind for loading. This results in a drive-through concept overall, which saves a lot of time, especially when filling multiple concrete mixers at regular intervals.

It is particularly preferred that the more than one spray nozzle of the cleaning system is arranged forming a line on the underside of the drip catcher and the more than one spray nozzle can be adjusted at an angle of up to 360 ° in order to adapt the spray angle to the shape of the inlet funnel.

According to the embodiment according to the invention, the cleaning system therefore comprises at least two spray nozzles in order to rinse the inlet funnel with water. The Spray nozzles can be arranged symmetrically with respect to a longitudinal axis of the device, which corresponds to the longitudinal axis of the concrete mixer in the intended loading position. Furthermore, the nozzles can be individually fixed or adjustable, i.e. pivotable, which can further increase the degree of utilization of the cleaning water. Preferably, a piping system of the cleaning system supplies the spray nozzles with water.

The drip protection device preferably has a mechanism driven by an adjustment unit and attached to supports in order to pivot the drip protection device and the cleaning system located thereon back and forth into an open loading position, into a closed cleaning position or with a predetermined pivot angle. It is particularly preferred to design the mechanism in such a way that the drip catcher is moved as part of a pivoting movement between the starting position and the end position of the cleaning process.

It should be noted that a closed cleaning position is assumed when the drip protection device and the cleaning system located thereon are either in the starting position or in the end position of the cleaning process or in between.

The adjustment unit is preferably a swivel cylinder with a travel limitation.

It is further preferred that the drip catcher and the collecting funnel are designed such that the outlet of the collecting funnel is sealed in the closed cleaning position of the drip catcher. For example, the collecting funnel can therefore have a flexible rubber tube. The drip catcher can have rollers which are arranged in such a way that the rubber tube is squeezed when the drip catcher is pivoted in order to close the outlet or is pushed to the side.

Further preferably, the device comprises a control unit which is in signal connection with the adjustment unit, the control unit being designed to: To control pivoting movements of the drip protection device during the cleaning process according to a fixed, manual or recipe-dependent automatic preselection of the number of pivoting movements (back and forth). Furthermore, the control unit is designed to move the drip protection device for loading the concrete mixer from the cleaning position into the loading position and to move it back from the loading position to the cleaning position after the concrete mixer has been loaded.

Preferably, the control unit is designed to initiate the movement of the drip protection device and the cleaning system automatically and depending on the degree of contamination during the cleaning process.

Alternatively, the movement of the drip protection device and the cleaning system can be initiated semi-automatically. The movement is activated with the help of an assistance system for detecting the correct positioning of the concrete mixer or a safety system for monitoring the work space around the concrete mixer and in response to a start command from a driver.

In another embodiment, it can be provided that the control unit is designed to carry out the cleaning process depending on the position of the drip catcher or as a function of time.

Nevertheless, the control unit can be configured in such a way that the cleaning process of the inlet funnel is carried out upstream, i.e. initiated before the actual loading process.

In a further embodiment, the control unit is designed to take the amount of cleaning water into account during the upstream concrete production.

In one embodiment, the cleaning system is designed so that the cleaning process takes place with static water pressure without the use of additional water pumps. In particular due to the arrangement of the cleaning system directly above the inlet funnel and which takes place immediately after filling For cleaning, the water pressure provided from the public water network, which can be between 4 and 10 bar, for example, is sufficient.

There is also the possibility that the device includes visual and/or acoustic assistance systems for the correct positioning of the concrete mixer at the loading position. Position sensors or camera systems are used for object detection, each with coupled traffic lights for visual support. For example, a visual or acoustic assistance system can signal the completion of the cleaning process so that the driver knows when he can leave the device.

In addition to the device, the present invention also relates to a method for loading concrete mixers with a device according to one of claims 1 to 11, according to which the following method steps are provided according to the invention:
At the beginning of the first step, the truck mixer is positioned at the loading point of the mixing plant, with the inlet funnel positioned directly below the drip catcher and the collection funnel (positioning).

As soon as the truck mixer is positioned, the drip catcher swings into the open loading position to start dispensing concrete from the mixing plant's collection hopper via the truck mixer's inlet hopper into the mixing drum.

During the transition from the closed cleaning position to the open loading position, the drip catcher preferably swings forward under the outlet of the collecting funnel in the direction of the mixing drum of the truck mixer with respect to the parking position of the concrete mixer (loading).

After loading the mixing drum, ie after the concrete has been dispensed, the drip catcher swings under the collecting funnel, whereby the partially flexible tube of the collecting funnel is pushed to the side by means of rollers mounted on the drip catcher and is squeezed so strongly that the partially flexible tube of the collecting funnel is closed and further delivery of concrete is prevented (pivoting in).

In the next step, the cleaning process is started manually or automatically at the end of a loading process. In the latter case, a corresponding preselection is made on the control.

During cleaning, the drip catcher is swiveled back and forth over the inlet funnel using the adjustment unit according to a fixed number of swivel movements. In relation to the position of the truck mixer, the drip catcher first moves backwards via the inlet funnel away from the truck mixer (cleaning).

Once the cleaning process has been completed, the last step is for the truck mixer to leave the loading point of the mixing plant so that a subsequent truck mixer can enter the station (leave).

In another embodiment of the method according to the invention, the position of the truck mixer is checked before starting the cleaning process using an inductive sensor or a pivot lever switch provided on the drip catcher.

It could also be provided that the cleaning process is started depending on the position of the drip catcher or as a function of time.

According to another embodiment of the method, the pivoting speed at which the drip catcher is to be pivoted during cleaning can be set manually via the control. Nevertheless, the control can be designed to adjust the pivoting speed depending on the concrete recipe (i.e. the consistency of the concrete that has not yet hardened) and/or the number of concrete mixers that still need to be filled or maintained.

Furthermore, it would be conceivable that the control is designed to monitor the amount of water required for cleaning during concrete production, whereby the overall water consumption can only be reduced to the amount of water required for cleaning the inlet funnel.

Fig. 1:

eine Seitenansicht des Beladebereichs einer erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung, bei der sich die Tropfschutzvorrichtung und das Reinigungssystem in offener Beladeposition befinden;

Fig. 2:

dieselbe Ansicht mit Tropfschutzvorrichtung und Reinigungssystem in Startstellung des Reinigungsvorgangs;

Fig. 3:

dieselbe Ansicht mit Tropfschutzvorrichtung und Reinigungssystem in Endstellung des Reinigungsvorgangs;

Fig. 4:

eine Ansicht des Beladebereichs von hinten, mit Tropfschutzvorrichtung und Reinigungssystem in geschlossener Reinigungsposition;

Fig. 5:

eine Ansicht der am Reinigungssystem angebrachten Sprühdüsen von oben, unter Ausblendung der Tropfschutzvorrichtung und des Sammeltrichters; und

Fig. 6:

eine Ansicht der Sprühdüsen von der Seite, unter Ausblendung der Tropfschutzvorrichtung und des Sammeltrichters.

Further details and advantages of the invention are explained in more detail using the following figures. The figures show:

Fig. 1:

a side view of the loading area of a device according to the invention, in which the drip protection device and the cleaning system are in the open loading position;

Fig. 2:

same view with anti-drip device and cleaning system in starting position of the cleaning process;

Fig. 3:

same view with drip protection device and cleaning system in the final position of the cleaning process;

Fig. 4:

a view of the loading area from the rear, with drip protection device and cleaning system in the closed cleaning position;

Fig. 5:

a top view of the spray nozzles attached to the cleaning system, excluding the drip guard and collection funnel; and

Fig. 6:

a view of the spray nozzles from the side, hiding the drip protection device and the collecting funnel.

The method according to the invention for loading concrete mixers takes place on an embodiment variant of the device 100. From the illustrations according to Fig. 1 to 4 shows the loading area of the device 100 according to the invention with a concrete mixer 200 parked at the loading point. The device 100 includes a collecting funnel 110 in the form of a vertically extending and flexible rubber pipe, the outlet of which ends not far above the inlet funnel 210 of the concrete mixer 200.

Furthermore, the device 100 comprises a drip protection device 120, which has a drip catcher 121 in the form of a plate covering the outlet of the collecting funnel 110 and a mechanism 122 for pivoting the drip catcher 121 between an in Fig. 1 shown open loading position, in which the exit of the collecting hopper 110 is released, and one in the Fig. 2 and 3 shown closed cleaning position, in which the drip catcher 121 closes the outlet of the collecting funnel 110. To pivot the drip catcher 121, the mechanism 122 is coupled to an adjustment unit 125, which, like the mechanism 122, is flanged to supports 101. Based on this, the drip protection device 120 can therefore, for example, pivot back and forth into a specific position or with a predetermined pivot angle. Flanging the device 100 represents a simple and quick way to attach the device 100 to the mixing plant. Alternatively, the device 100 can also be welded to the mixing plant. The mechanism 122 of the device 100 attached to the mixing system is adjusted so that the drip catcher 121 is moved precisely between the starting position and the end position of the cleaning process in the course of a pivoting movement.

In addition, a centering bracket 126 is provided on the drip protection device 120, the opening of the bracket in the open loading position being aligned with the central axis of the collecting funnel below the collecting funnel.

A cleaning system 130 with several spray nozzles 131 for rinsing the inlet funnel 210 of the concrete mixer 200 is also arranged on the drip protection device 120. The spray nozzles 131 are located on the underside of the drip catcher 121, and are arranged and aligned in such a way that all areas of the inlet funnel 210 are sufficiently rinsed with water. A pipe system 132 supplies the spray nozzles 131 with the necessary rinsing water. For water supply, the water pressure provided from the public water network (e.g. 4 to 10 bar) is sufficient to be able to sufficiently rinse the inlet funnel 210 immediately after filling. The arrangement of the spray nozzles 131 and the orientation of their individually adjustable spray direction therefore promote a cleaning system that does not require additional water pumps.

Fig. 4 shows the concrete mixer 200 positioned in the device 100 from behind. The drip protection device 120 has been brought into the starting position of a cleaning cycle, so that the drip protection device 120 and the cleaning system 130 are in the closed cleaning position. On the top of the drip catcher 121, rollers 123 are arranged, which, when pivoted into the cleaning position, squeeze the rubber tube of the collecting funnel 110 so strongly that no material can flow out of the collecting funnel 110. Furthermore, the symmetrical arrangement of the spray nozzles 131 is shown in relation to the central axis of the positioned concrete mixer 200.

A possible arrangement of the spray nozzles 131 is shown in the illustration Fig. 5 while hiding the drip protection device and the collecting funnel. In this illustration, the spray nozzles 131 of the cleaning system 130 are arranged forming a line on the underside of the drip catcher 121. The openings of the spray nozzles 131 can each be rotated at an angle of up to 360° and independently of one another in order to be able to adapt the spray angle to the shape of the inlet funnel 210.

Furthermore, it goes from the Fig. 6 highlights that the spray nozzles 131 can be aligned at different angles around the pipeline serving as an axis to adjust the respective spray directions.

The loading and cleaning of the concrete mixer 200 using the illustrated embodiment takes place in a sequence according to the invention so that the in the Figures 1 to 4 Concrete mixer 200 shown is first driven forward to the loading point of the mixing plant. As soon as the inlet funnel 210 is located below the collecting funnel 110, the drip catcher 121 swings away from under the collecting funnel 110 from the end position of the last cleaning process, in which the drip catcher 121 is still located, and is released as shown Fig. 1 the exit opening of the collecting funnel 110 is free.

The device 100 is controlled from the control room or manually by the driver. It must be ensured that no one is on the cleaning platform of the concrete mixer 200. The concrete is fed from the collecting hopper 110 of the device 100 via the inlet hopper 210 of the truck mixer 200 into the mixing drum. When the control of the concrete mixing plant then reports "mixer empty", the drip catcher 121 swings under the collecting funnel 110 and closes the outlet opening of the collecting funnel 110. The rubber tube of the collecting funnel 110 is pressed to the side by means of the rollers 123 mounted on the drip catcher 121 and so strongly squashed so that material can no longer flow out.

The drip catcher 121 can be controlled in various ways, for example by actively enabling the cleaning process on the control in the control room or on-site operation in the system area. After the pivoting process, the inlet funnel 210 is cleaned using the preset spray nozzles 131 of the cleaning system 130. The amount of water required for cleaning is continuously taken into account or monitored on the control side with regard to concrete production. As soon as the cleaning system 130 has reached the final cleaning position, the concrete mixer 200 is released to continue driving. For example, a traffic light system can switch to green to enable this.

All in all, the present invention represents an excellent addition to the known generic devices for loading concrete mixers with regard to concrete production, loading time, workplace safety, water consumption and other aspects.

Reference symbol list

100

contraption

101

carrier

110

Collection funnel

120

Anti-drip device

121

Drip catcher

122

mechanics

123

Castors

125

Adjustment unit

126

Centering bracket

130

Cleaning system

131

spray nozzle

132

Piping system

200

concrete mixer

210

Inlet funnel

Claims (15)

Device (100) for loading concrete mixers with fresh concrete, the device (100) having a collecting funnel (110) for dispensing concrete into an inlet funnel (210) of a concrete mixer, the device (100) further having a drip protection device (120) in order to To catch concrete running out of the collecting funnel (110) at the end of the loading, and wherein the drip protection device (120) has a drip catcher (121) and a cleaning system (130) with more than one spray nozzle (131) for rinsing the inlet funnel (210) with water,
characterized,
that the cleaning system (130) is attached directly to the drip catcher (121). Device (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the more than one spray nozzle (131) of the cleaning system (130) is arranged forming a line on the underside of the drip catcher (121) and the more than one spray nozzle (131) is at an angle of can be adjusted up to 360° to adapt the spray angle to the shape of the inlet funnel (210). Device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the drip protection device (120) has a mechanism (122) driven by an adjustment unit (125) and attached to supports (101) in order to protect the drip protection device (120) and the cleaning system (130). into an open loading position, into a closed cleaning position or to pivot back and forth with a predetermined pivot angle. Device (100) according to claim 3, characterized in that the adjustment unit (125) is a swivel cylinder with travel limitation. Device (100) according to one of claims 3 or 4, characterized in that the drip catcher (121) and the collecting funnel (110) are designed such that the outlet of the collecting funnel (110) is sealed in the closed cleaning position of the drip catcher (121). is. Device (100) according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the device (100) comprises a control unit which is in signal connection with the adjustment unit (125), the control unit being designed to control the pivoting movements of the drip protection device (120) during the cleaning process according to a fixed, manual or recipe-dependent automatic preselection of the number of pivoting movements (back and forth). Device (100) according to claim 6, characterized in that the control unit is designed to initiate the movement of the drip protection device (120) and the cleaning system (130) automatically and depending on the degree of contamination during the cleaning process. Device (100) according to one of claims 6 or 7, characterized in that the control unit is designed to depend on the cleaning process depending on the position of the drip catcher (121) or time. Device (100) according to one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the control unit is designed to carry out the cleaning process of the inlet funnel (210) upstream. Device (100) according to one of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that the control unit is designed to take into account the amount of cleaning water in the upstream concrete production. Device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cleaning process takes place with static water pressure without the use of additional water pumps. Method for loading concrete mixers with a device (100) according to one of claims 1 to 11, comprising the following steps: Positioning the truck mixer (200) at the loading point of the mixing plant, with the inlet funnel (210) being positioned directly below the drip catcher (121) and the collecting funnel (110); Swinging away the drip catcher (121) to start dispensing concrete from the collecting hopper (110) of the mixing plant via the inlet hopper (210) of the truck mixer (200) into the mixing drum; Pivoting the drip catcher (121) under the collecting funnel (110) after the concrete has been dispensed, whereby the partially flexible tube of the collecting funnel (110) is pushed to the side by means of rollers (123) mounted on the drip catcher (121) and is squeezed so strongly that it partially flexible pipe of the collecting funnel (110) is closed and the delivery of concrete is stopped; Starting the cleaning process, with the drip catcher (121) pivoting back and forth over the inlet funnel (210) by means of the adjusting unit (125) according to a set number of pivoting movements, the drip catcher (121) first swings backwards away from the inlet funnel with reference to the position of the truck mixer (200). Leaving the truck mixer (200) from the loading point of the mixing plant after the cleaning process. Method according to claim 12, characterized in that the position of the truck mixer (200) is checked before starting the cleaning process by means of an inductive sensor or a pivot lever switch provided on the drip catcher Method according to one of claims 12 or 13, characterized in that the pivoting speed at which the drip catcher (121) is to be pivoted during cleaning can be set manually. Method according to one of claims 12 to 13, characterized in that the control is designed to adjust the pivoting speed at which the drip catcher should be pivoted during cleaning depending on the concrete recipe and / or the number of concrete mixers still to be filled.

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