FR2850684A1 - Manual tool for collecting disposed waste e.g. petrol, spread on sand, has sieving unit via which pulverizing material e.g. sand, falls to retain only viscous material, and forming receptacle when material is in state of droplets - Google Patents

Abstract

The tool has a unit for handling (1) a sieving unit (3). The sieving unit has a detachable grill (5) held on a frame (7). Pulverizing material e.g. sand, falls through the meshes of the sieving unit so that only the viscous material is retained in the sieves before being discharged. The sieving unit forms a receptacle to collect the droplets when the viscous material is in the form of droplets.

Description

The present invention relates to a manual tool for picking up

  litter deposited on the surface of the ground, and in particular a viscous material such as crude oil spilled on a pulverulent material such as sand.

  In a number of circumstances, it may be necessary to pick up litter deposited on the surface of the soil, and in particular a viscous material such as crude oil spilled on a pulverulent material such as sand.

  This is the case, for example, when a ship transporting crude oil is damaged at sea and its cargo escapes from it and contaminates coastal beaches.

  To clean the beaches following such an "oil spill", there are very sophisticated automatic machines.

  In addition to the fact that the price of such devices is often prohibitive, it should be noted that these devices are only suitable for very open surfaces, and that they are totally unsuitable, especially when it comes to cleaning beach areas. 15 arranged between obstacles such as rocks.

  For these reasons, and also because voluntary manpower is seldom lacking in this kind of circumstances, manual tools remain widely used to clean up the beaches contaminated by the oil spills.

  When crude oil forms slicks on the surface of the sand, traditional shovels are often used: the shovel is inserted under the slick, and with each shovel, a piece of slick is extracted with a certain amount of sand.

  To be sure to remove the tablecloth over its entire thickness, there is generally a tendency to take a safety margin, and to insert the shovel fairly deep in the sand.

  It follows from this that finally a significant amount of sand is extracted, which is unnecessarily tiring and leads to the landfill of tons of sand that could have been better used.

  When crude oil forms pellets, traditional forks are often used: to pick up the pellets, the picks of the fork are planted in them.

  It is easy to see that such an operation is extremely laborious and completely unsuitable for the extent of the damage caused by an oil spill.

  The object of the present invention is to provide a manual tool for picking up refuse deposited on the surface of the ground, and in particular a viscous material such as crude oil spilled on a pulverulent material such as sand, which makes it possible to overcome the inherent drawbacks shovels and forks, that is to say which allows in particular to collect the viscous material practically without pulverulent material when this viscous material is in the state of sheets, and which allows to efficiently collect the viscous material when it is in the form of pellets on the pulverulent material.

  This object of the invention is achieved with a manual tool for picking up trash deposited on the surface of the ground, and in particular a viscous material such as crude oil spilled on a pulverulent material such as sand, remarkable in that it comprises screening means, and means for handling said screening means.

  This tool according to the invention makes it possible in particular to drop the pulverulent material through the meshes of the sieving means and to keep in these means only the viscous material to be landfilled: an effective segregation is thus obtained between what must be kept on site and what should be discarded.

  When the viscous material is in the form of pellets, the sieving means form a receptacle making it possible to collect a plurality of pellets at a time, and thus to go much faster than with traditional means such as a fork.

  According to other characteristics of the present invention: - said screening means comprise a frame and a grid stretched over this frame, - said grid is removable from said frame, - said grid is formed from a material chosen from the group comprising a material plastic and metal, - said grid is formed of a wire whose diameter is between 1 and 3 mm, and is preferably equal to substantially 2 mm, the openings of said screening means are substantially square, - the openings of said means sieving are substantially circular, - the openings of said sieving means have an area between 0.5 and 3 cm2, and preferably equal to substantially 1 cm2, - said sieving means are substantially planar, - said handling means comprise a handle connected to said screening means, - said tool comprises means for inserting said screening means under said viscous material, - said means inserts are arranged opposite said handling means with respect to said screening means, said insertion means comprise a blade connected to said and located in the extension of said screening means.

  Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will appear on reading the description which follows and on examining the appended drawing, the single figure of which represents a perspective view of a tool according to the present invention.

  In the following, the tool according to the invention will be described in the particular case where it is intended to pick up a viscous material such as crude oil on a pulverulent material such as sand, but it is understood that this tool could be used to pick up any other type of litter on the ground.

  As shown in the appended figure, the tool according to the invention comprises handling means which can take the form of a handle 1, as well as sieving means which can take the form of a sieve 3 preferably substantially plan.

  The handle 1 can be formed from wood, and the sieve 3 can be obtained by means of a grid 5 formed from plastic or metal, stretched over a frame 7 by

metallic example.

  The grid 5 can be formed of a wire whose diameter is between 1 and 3 mm, and is preferably equal to substantially 2 mm.

  The mesh of the sieve 3 can be square, circular, or have any other shape.

  These meshes have an area between 0.5 and 3 cm2, and preferably equal to substantially 1 cm2.

  The diameter of the wire and the mesh of the sieve will be adapted to the nature of the detritus to be collected.

  Alternatively, the screen 3 could be obtained by means of a perforated plate.

  Provision may be made for the handle 1 to be removable from the sieve 3, so as to be able to change this sieve when it is worn out or when the sieve has to be adapted to a particular type of trash to be picked up.

  As a variant, provision may be made for the grid 5 to be removable from the frame 7.

  Insertion means which can take the form of a blade 9 are preferably fixed in the extension of the screen 3, opposite the handle 1.

  The method of use and the advantages of the tool according to the invention result

  directly from the above description.

  When one wishes to pick up a viscous material such as crude oil spilled on a pulverulent material such as sand, one catches the sieve 3 by means of the handle 1, and one comes to insert this sieve in the pulverulent material, under the material viscous, providing a safety margin to ensure that the entire screen is well under the viscous material.

  The insertion of the sieve into the pulverulent material is facilitated by the blade 9, which, moreover, will be noted that it can also be used to cut on the surface portions of the sheet of viscous material so as to facilitate its collection.

  The sieve 3 is then extracted from the soil by means of the handle 1, and it is stirred so as to cause the extracted powder material to fall back by gravity.

  In this way, only viscous material is kept in the sieve 3, which can thus be easily discharged into landfill.

  When the viscous material is spread in the form of sheets, the tool according to the invention thus makes it possible to avoid moving and unnecessarily throwing considerable masses of pulverulent material.

  When the viscous material is in the form of pellets, the tool according to the invention makes it possible to collect a plurality of pellets at the same time, and thus to save considerable time.

  Note that it will be necessary to adapt the shape and the area of the mesh of the sieve to the nature of the viscous material and that of the powder material.

  It has been found that square meshes about 1 cm wide are particularly suitable for picking up crude oil on sand.

  With such dimensions, it has indeed been found that the pieces of crude oil slicks collected remained stretched over the meshes of the sieve, and therefore that they did not pass through these meshes.

  It has also been found that such dimensions were suitable for retaining the vast majority of the crude oil pellets collected.

  It will also be noted that the choice of material forming the grid 5 of the screen 3 may depend on the nature of the viscous material to be extracted: this material must in fact have a low adhesion with respect to the viscous material, so that 'This viscous material can easily be detached from the screen grid for its landfill.

  In the case where the viscous material is crude oil, it has been found that a plastic material is particularly suitable for forming the grid 5 of the screen 3.

  It will also be noted that the fact of providing that the screen 3 is substantially flat makes it possible to position this screen in the ground substantially parallel to the interface between the pulverulent material and the viscous material, and thus to minimize the amount of pulverulent material extracted. .

  Of course, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described and shown, provided by way of illustrative and nonlimiting example.

Claims (13)

  1. Manual tool for picking up trash deposited on the surface of the ground, and in particular a viscous material such as crude oil spilled on a pulverulent material such as sand, characterized in that it comprises sieving means (3), and means (1) for handling said screening means (3).   2. Tool according to claim 1, characterized in that said screening means (3) comprise a frame (7) and a grid (5) stretched over this frame (7).   3. Tool according to claim 2, characterized in that said grid (5) is removable from said frame (7).   4. Tool according to one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that said grid (5) is formed from a material chosen from the group comprising a plastic material and metal.   5. Tool according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that said grid (5) is formed of a wire whose diameter is between 1 and 3 mm, 15 and is preferably equal to substantially 2 mm .   6. Tool according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the openings of said screening means (3) are substantially square.   7. Tool according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the openings of said screening means (3) are substantially circular.   8. Tool according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the openings of said screening means (3) have an area between 0.5 and 3 cm2, and preferably equal to substantially 1cm2.   9. Tool according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said sieving means (3) are substantially planar.   10. Tool according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said handling means comprise a handle (1) connected to said screening means (3).   11. Tool according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises means (9) for inserting said sieving means (3) under said viscous material.   12. Tool according to claim 11, characterized in that said insertion means (9) are arranged opposite to said handling means (1) with respect to said screening means (3).   13. Tool according to one of claims 11 or 12, characterized in that said insertion means comprise a blade (9) connected to said and located in the extension of said screening means (3).