ES2624104T3 - Waste container cleaning facility - Google Patents

Abstract

Installation (I) for cleaning waste containers (2), comprising: - a chassis that defines a horizontal plane (P4), - a cleaning compartment (6), equipped with a central jet projection nozzle (66) of water under high pressure, mobile in rotation (R1) on itself about a longitudinal axis (X66) and adapted to clean an inner surface (22) of a container (2) arranged in the cleaning compartment (6) so covering the central nozzle (66), - a robotic arm (68) movable in rotation (R2) around a rotation axis (X66) parallel to the central nozzle (66), this arm (68) comprising at least one high pressure water spray nozzle (683A, 685A) adapted to clean an outer surface (24, 26) of the container (2), the robotic arm (68) consisting of a vertical part (683) with respect to a horizontal plane (P4) of the cleaning compartment (6) and provided with at least one projecting nozzle (683A) c tion of water under high pressure and the installation being characterized in that the robotic arm comprises an oblique part (685) that extends the vertical part (683) opposite to a chassis (4) of the installation (I), this oblique part comprising (685) at least one high pressure water spray nozzle (685A) adapted to clean an upper outer surface (26) of the container (2), because the vertical part (683) comprises two mobile sections (683B, 683C) in translation (T3) with respect to each other along a longitudinal axis (X683) of the vertical part (683), because the robotic arm (68) comprises a horizontal part (681) with respect to a chassis (4) of the installation (I), this horizontal part (681) comprising two sections (681 B, 681 C) moving in translation (T2) with respect to each other along a longitudinal axis (X681) of the horizontal part (681) and because the arm robotized (68) comprises proximity detectors (683D, 685 B) of the external surface (24, 26) of the container (2) and automatic piloting means (141) of the robotic arm (68) based on signals (S683D, S685B) representative of the position of the robotic arm (68) with respect to the external surface (24, 26) of the container (2) transmitted by the proximity detectors (683D, 685B).

Description

DESCRIPTION

Waste container cleaning facility

5 [0001] The present invention relates to a waste container cleaning facility.

[0002] For the storage of domestic waste, the use of non-displaceable surface containers or buried and centralized in certain locations is known. These waste containers generally have a waste storage tank located below the level

10 of the road or sidewalk and an external part comprising openings through which people can dispose of their waste.

[0003] When waste containers are emptied, they must be cleaned on site. For such cleaning, it is known the integration in truck-displaceable trailers of container cleaning facilities

15 of waste. Such facilities are equipped with a cleaning compartment that especially comprises a central nozzle for projecting high-pressure water jets adapted to clean the inner surface of the container, clean water and sewage tanks, a technical center and a control gangway. . The containers to be cleaned are lifted by means of a crane and descend into the cleaning compartment, in a vertical position supported by the crane. The bottom of the buried containers is open so that the central protection nozzle 20 is covered by the container, which allows cleaning the interior surfaces of the container. The exterior of the container is generally cleaned by an operator equipped with a high pressure irrigation nozzle and positioned on the control gangway, while the container is raised above the installation by means of the crane. Such a process requires labor to clean and pilot the crane and is not satisfactory for environmental reasons, the cleaning waters flow into the surrounding soils.

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[0004] The application of high pressure water jets on internal side walls of the compartment or rotating cleaning brushes is known. Water jets are fixed, which makes cleaning inefficient. Cleaning brushes do not allow to adapt to various types of waste containers and wear out quickly.

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[0005] It is also known from EP-A-1 302 414, the use of a turntable on which the container or a rotating crane that allows the container to rotate around a vertical axis is arranged to clean more effectively Each outer wall. Such solutions involve expensive mechanical devices that are difficult to apply.

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[0006] WO-A-2006/099680 describes a paper cleaning machine according to the preamble of claim 1 comprising a central nozzle and an arm equipped with a nozzle and mobile rotating around the outer surface of a wastebasket placed on the central nozzle.

40 [0007] It is these inconveniences that are intended to solve the invention by proposing a new installation

of cleaning of waste containers that use a cleaning technique more efficient and simpler to apply than the known techniques of the prior art.

[0008] For this purpose, the invention relates to a waste container cleaning facility according to claim 1.

[0009] Thanks to the invention, the cleaning of the outer surfaces of the containers is facilitated and requires little labor thanks to the possibility of rotation of the robotic arm around the container.

[0010] According to some advantageous but not mandatory features of the invention, such a cleaning installation

of waste containers can incorporate one or more of the following characteristics, taken in any technically permissible combination:

- The oblique part is mobile in rotation with respect to the vertical part, according to an axis perpendicular to the respective longitudinal axes 55 of the vertical and oblique parts.

- The installation comprises a control desk located at a rear end of the installation, near the cleaning compartment.

- The control desk comprises manual control means of the robotic arm.

- The robotic arm comprises detectors of proximity to the external surface of the container and some

automatic piloting means of the robotic arm in function of signals representative of the position of the robotic arm with respect to the external surface of the container transmitted by the proximity detectors.

- The installation is equipped with an autonomous energy source.

- The installation includes a wastewater recovery tank.

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[0011] The invention will be better understood and other advantages thereof will be shown more clearly in the light of the description that follows a cleaning installation of waste containers according to its principle, carried out by way of non-limiting example and in reference to the attached drawings in which:

10 - Figure 1 is a perspective view of an installation according to the invention, mounted on a transport truck, where a container is installed in a cleaning compartment;

- Figure 2 is a perspective view, from another angle, of the installation and of the container of Figure 1;

- figure 3 is a side view according to arrow III, in figure 2, of the installation of figures 1 and 2, where the container is represented in section according to a plane III-III;

15 - Figure 4 is an enlarged view of detail IV in Figure 2, where the container is omitted.

[0012] The installation I represented in figures 1 to 4 is intended to be transported on a truck

C. When installation I is taken to a place where waste containers 2 must be cleaned, the installation

I can be left on site, after getting off the truck C by means of a crane G with which it is equipped

20 the C truck, articulated at the rear of the C truck cab.

[0013] Installation I is presented in the form of a tipper comprising a chassis 4 defining a horizontal plane P4. Installation I defines a longitudinal axis X-X ’parallel to the P4 plane. The longitudinal axis X-X ’joins a front part of the installation, which consists of a hitch zone 3 and a rear end 5. The area of

25 hitch 3 allows to receive a hook or an organ of hitch of the truck C to lift the installation I on a platform C1 of the truck C during the transport of the installation I.

[0014] On a lower face 41 of the bottom 4, the installation comprises two castors 42 visible in Figures 3 and 4. The castors 42 facilitate the lifting of the installation I and also its displacements

30 possible over short distances.

[0015] A vertical Z-Z ’axis is also defined and perpendicular to the P4 plane.

[0016] Installation I consists of a cleaning compartment 6, in which the waste containers 2 35 are cleaned. The cleaning compartment 6 is located at the rear end 5. The cleaning compartment 6 consists,

in its lower part, of a sewage tank 62 of a globally rectangular shape, adapted to collect the water from cleaning the waste containers. The wastewater tank 62 allows significant water savings and prevents contamination of soils with respect to known materials in which water projections fall directly on the road or surrounding soils, generate a waste and pollution. . The wastewater tank 62 allows the wastewater to be recovered after the cleaning mission for recycling in a treatment plant.

[0017] Approximately in the center of the cleaning compartment 6, this consists of a central nozzle 66 for projecting water jets under high pressure. The central nozzle 66 extends along an X66 axis

45 parallel to the Z-Z 'axis and is rotatable about itself around the X66 axis with respect to the cleaning compartment 6. The central nozzle 66 is intended to clean, by a rotational movement R1, an internal surface 22 of the containers of waste 2 when these are placed in the cleaning compartment 6.

[0018] The central nozzle 66 is also mobile in translation T1 according to the X66 axis, which allows cleaning, 50 by successive passes, the entire height of the internal surface 22 of the container 2, which is arranged in the

compartment 6 so that it covers the central nozzle 66.

[0019] The cleaning compartment 6 also has a robotic arm 68, which is rotated around the X66 axis. The robotic arm 68 consists of a horizontal part 681, whose end 681A is

55 articulated around the central nozzle 66. The horizontal part 681 is almost parallel to the plane P4 and extends along a longitudinal axis X681.

[0020] The horizontal part 681 is extended by a vertical part 683 that is almost parallel to the Z-Z ’axis and the X66 axis. The vertical part 683 extends along a longitudinal axis X683 from the horizontal part 681 in the direction

of a high part of the cleaning compartment 6, opposite to the sewage tank 62.

[0021] The vertical part 683 of the robotic arm 68 is extended by an oblique part 685 whose longitudinal axis X685 forms a variable angle p1 with the vertical part 683. The oblique part 685 is inclined with

5 with respect to the vertical part 683 so that the X685 axis passes the X66 axis above the central nozzle 66.

[0022] The robotic arm 68 is adapted to clean a lateral outer surface 24 and an upper outer surface 26 of the container 2 by means of a nozzle 683A provided on the vertical part 683 in relation to the central nozzle 66 and a nozzle 685A provided on a part of the oblique part 685 in relation to the

10 central nozzle 66. The nozzles 683A and 685A are adapted to project water under high pressure on the external surfaces 24 and 26, as well as products such as cleaning or disinfecting liquids. The rotational mobility of the robotic arm 68 around the X66 axis, represented by the double arrow R2, makes it possible to clean, by a rotating movement around the waste containers 2, the entire circumference of the external lateral surface 24 of the waste containers 2 .

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[0023] To allow the rotation movement R2 of the robotic arm 68, the containers 2 are held in the compartment 6, above the horizontal part 681, by the crane G. As shown in Figures 1 and 3, the crane G comprises for this purpose a hook G1 adapted to support the containers 2 by means of a hooking system, such as a ring 26a, visible in figures 1 and 3, provided on the upper outer surface 26.

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[0024] To adapt to various sizes and shapes of waste containers 2, the robotic arm 68 consists of several possibilities of supplementary displacements. The horizontal part 681 especially comprises a first section 681 B, located on the side of the central nozzle 66 and a second section 681C located on the side of the vertical part 683. The second section 681C is mobile with respect to the first section 681 B

25 in translation T2 according to the longitudinal axis X681. The relative mobility in translation of sections 681 B and 681C is obtained by means not shown, such as sliding or telescopic shapes. This mobility in translation allows to adapt to different widths of waste containers and also to different forms of containers, especially cubic, parallelepipedic or cylindrical.

[0025] The vertical part 683 also consists of a first section 683B located on the side of the part

horizontal 681 and a second section 683C located on the side of the oblique part 685. The second section 683C is mobile in translation T3 with respect to the first section 683B along the axis X683. This allows the robotic arm 68 to adapt to different heights of waste containers D2 and also clean, by vertical movements according to the X683 axis, by successive passes, the entire height of the waste containers 2. The relative mobility of transportation Sections 683B and 683C are obtained by means not shown, such as sliding or telescopic shapes.

[0026] The oblique part 685 is mounted on the vertical part 683 so that it can pivot with respect to the vertical part 683 according to an axis of rotation XR perpendicular to the axes X683 and X685. This mobility in

40 rotation R3 of the oblique part 685 allows to clean an upper outer surface 26 of the containers 2 efficiently, thanks to the nozzle 685A provided on the oblique part 685.

[0027] The translation movements of the horizontal part 681, the vertical part 683 and the rotation movement of the oblique part 685 are advantageously carried out by means of actuators not represented such

45 as hydraulic or electric cylinders.

[0028] Thanks to the mobility in translation of section 681C with respect to section 681 B, the robotic arm 68 can clean the external surfaces 24 and 26 of a container 2 whose dimensions exceed the dimensions of the cleaning compartment 6.

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[0029] At the rear end 5 of the cleaning compartment 6, the installation I consists of a control desk 8 consisting of control means for the operation of the installation I. The control desk 8 consists especially of control means of the projection of water, of the projection of cleaning product and manual control means of the robotic arm 68, which include for example a lever.

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[0030] Installation I is equipped with anti-projection curtains 10 and 11, provided on two sides of installation I and adapted to be deployed around the cleaning compartment 6 when the cleaning of a container 2 is in progress. The anti-projection curtains 10 and 11 are preferably made of micro-perforated plastic canvas adapted to prevent a water mist from spreading to the surroundings. The anti-curtains

projection 10 and 11 are mounted with the possibility of translation according to axes parallel to the X-X 'axis.

[0031] According to an embodiment not shown, the installation I can also comprise anti-projecting curtains that can be deployed horizontally above the cleaning compartment 6 and vertically

5 above the control desk 8.

[0032] Installation I also consists of a clean water tank 13 provided near the cleaning compartment 6 and a technical center 14. The clean water tank 13 can be filled by connecting it to a fire hydrant accessible on the public highway.

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[0033] Depending on the needs, the clean water and wastewater tanks are sized so that they require the least possible filling and emptying operations, to limit displacements.

[0034] The technical center 14 especially comprises means for pressing and heating

of water and an energy plant that allows energy to be supplied to the various components of installation I, especially the central nozzle 66 and the robotic arm 68.

[0035] The control desk 8 allows, due to its position at the rear end 5, an operator to stay outside of the installation I, for example, on a sidewalk to monitor the immediate environment of the installation I and

to solve any eventual risk linked to the operation of the installation I. In addition, the operator may have remote control means available, for example by radio with a remote control, some movements of the robotic arm 68, which allows the cleaning to be directed of containers 2 with greater precision.

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[0036] The operation of the installation I can also be automated by means of proximity detectors of the external surfaces 24 and 26 of the container 2. The robotic arm 68 comprises, for this purpose, a first proximity sensor 683D provided on the part vertical 683 and which allows detecting at what distance from the outer lateral surface 24 is the vertical part 683. Depending on this measure, means

30 automated control of the robotic arm 68 allow the second section 681C of the horizontal part 681 to be manipulated so that the vertical part 683 of the outer surface 24 approaches or moves away, which improves the cleanliness of the container 2.

[0037] The oblique part 685 also comprises a proximity detector 685B which allows the distance between the oblique part 685 and the upper outer surface 26 of the container to be detected. Based on this measure, the

Second section 683C of the vertical parts 683 and the oblique part 685 may be directed by means of automatic controls to move away or approach the upper surface 24 of the container 2, so as to optimize the cleaning of the container 2.

[0038] The technical center 14 consists of a pilot unit 141 for this purpose that receives electrical signals

S683D and S685B, representative of the position of the robotic arm 68 with respect to the external surface 24 or the upper surface 26, of the detectors 683D and 685B. With the help of an adapted calculation algorithm, the pilot unit 141 sends movement orders S141 to the actuators that direct the parts of the robotic arm 68, so that the movements adapted to position the cleaning nozzles 45 683A and 685A as close as possible to external surfaces 24 and 26, to optimize cleaning.

[0039] The installation I is equipped with an autonomous power source, preferably of electric power by a generator set and does not need to be connected to, for example, a power take-off of the C truck. This allows autonomous operation and authorizes a use of truck C in other tasks when the

50 installation I is placed in a precise place.

[0040] According to an optional aspect of the invention, the installation I consists, in its upper part above the clean water tank 13 and the technical room 14, of waste bags 16. The waste bags 16 are provided along longitudinal edges of the installation I, on both sides of a central space 18.

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[0041] The central space 18 can be used to receive the crane G. in a folded position. The crane G is advantageously manipulated by means of the control desk 8 or with the help of a remote control that the operator carries with it.

[0042] In the example shown, the rotation axes of the robotic arm 68 and the central nozzle 66 are

merge into the X66 axis. According to a variant not shown, these two axes of rotation can be different as well as parallel.

Claims (6)

1. Installation (I) for cleaning waste containers (2), which includes: 5 - a chassis that defines a horizontal plane (P4), - a cleaning compartment (6), equipped with a central nozzle (66) for projecting water jets under high pressure, rotating in rotation (R1) on itself around a longitudinal axis (X66) and adapted to clean a surface inside (22) of a container (2) arranged in the cleaning compartment (6) so that it covers the central nozzle (66), 10 - a robotic robot arm (68) rotating (R2) around a rotation axis (X66) parallel to the central nozzle (66), this arm (68) comprising at least one projection nozzle (683A, 685A) of water under high pressure adapted to clean an outer surface (24, 26) of the container (2), the robotic arm (68) consisting of a vertical part (683) with respect to a horizontal plane (P4) of the cleaning compartment ( 6) and provided with at least one nozzle (683A) for projecting water under high pressure and the installation being characterized in that the robotic arm 15 comprises an oblique part (685) that extends the vertical part (683) opposite to a chassis (4) of the installation (I), this oblique part (685) comprising at least one high pressure water spray nozzle (685A) adapted to clean an upper outer surface (26) of the container (2), because the part vertical (683) comprises two sections (683B, 683C) moving in translation (T3) one with respect to the other according to a longitudinal axis (X683) of the vertical part (683), because the robotic arm (68) comprises a horizontal part 20 (681) with respect to a chassis (4) of the installation (I), this horizontal part (681) comprising two mobile sections (681 B, 681 C) in translation (T2) with respect to each other according to a longitudinal axis (X681) of the horizontal part (681) and because the arm robotized (68) comprises proximity detectors (683D, 685B) of the external surface (24, 26) of the container (2) and automatic pilot means (141) of the robotic arm (68) as a function of signals (S683D, S685B) representative of the position of the robotic arm (68) with respect to the external surface (24, 26) of the container (2) transmitted by the proximity detectors (683D, 685B). 2. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the oblique part (685) is mobile in rotation (R3) with respect to the vertical part (683), according to an axis (XR) perpendicular to the respective longitudinal axes 30 (X683, X685) of the vertical (683) and oblique (685) parts. 3. Cleaning installation according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a control desk (8) located at a rear end (5) of the installation (I), near the cleaning compartment (6). 35 4. Cleaning installation according to claim 3, characterized in that the control desk (8) It comprises manual control means of the robotic arm (68). 5. Cleaning installation according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that this 40 equipped with an autonomous energy source. 6. Cleaning installation according to claim 5, characterized in that it comprises a waste water recovery tank (62).