GB2056532A - Street cleansing vehicle - Google Patents

Description

SPECIFICATION Street cleansing vehicle The invention relates to a street cleansing vehicle particularly a suction type street-cleansing vehicle with a suction pipe conveying the refuse from the surface being cleaned to a refuse holder and a deflecting plate inclined to the floor of the refuse holder that guides the refuse after it leaves the suction pipe, the top of the refuse holder behind the deflecting plate being connected to a radial fan. In proposed street cleansing vehicles of this type the deflecting plate ends abruptly in a free edge. In *the proposed vehicles air is entrained and forced downwardly and rectilinearly like a jet, to a sump, which consists of refuse that has settled out and 'water from a spray ofwater. The air then exits. Dirty water can be forced upwardly by the air jet, resulting in contamination of the exiting air and mist formation. Such undesirable consequences may be unduly prominent if water is additionally sprayed into the suction pipe in order the better to separate the dirt particles in the refuse by means of agglomeration. In order to seek to obviate these disadvantages, it is an object of the invention to improve the separation of the dirt particles of the refuse from the transporting air and achieve a non-turbulent air outflow behind the free edge of the deflecting plate. According to the invention there is provided a suction-type street cleansing vehicle, comprising a suction pipe for conveying refuse from a surface being cleaned to a refuse holder, a refuse holder, a deflecting plate inclined to the floor of the refuse holder for guiding the refuse after it leaves the suction pipe, the top of the refuse holder downstream of the deflecting plate being connected to a radial fan, and means for reducing pressure in the airstream at or adjacent the free edge whereby the air is urged to flow upwardly and the air and refuse are separated. The said means may be a free edge of the deflector plate which is curved upwardly. Thus by bending the free edge of the deflecting plate upwardly the air charged with the refuse is deflected as at an aerofoil, without the refuse itself being entrained. Using the invention it is possible to provide a region of reduced pressure in the flow because of the curvature at the end of the deflecting plate, which region deflects or diverts the air stream but does not interfere with the further flight of the dirt particles, on account of their inertia, in the direction of the sump. The refuse is thus passed to the sump while ;the air stream on the other hand is for the most part deflected upwardly, before reaching the sump surface, to the connection between the top of the refuse holder and the suction pipe of a radial fan. The result is a substantially improved separation of the dirt particles from the air, and also a non-turbulent air outflow; entrainment of dirty water is thus avoided. An embodiment of the invention is hereinafter described by way of example with reference to the drawing. The drawing shows a side elevational view showing the interior of a street cleansing vehicle according to the invention. The street cleansing vehicle, which is shown complete, essentially consists of a chassis with a driver's cab 1, and a refuse holder 2. The refuse swept up (black arrow) by a brush 4 is sucked up from the surface being cfeansed, viz. a street, through a suction line 3 with the aid of a blowpipe 5, and is ejected from an opening 10 in the suction line 3 into the refuse holder 2. Inthis connection, the air stream together with the refuse is deflected by an inclined deflecting plate 11, rounded at 13, which is mounted on the top of the refuse holder 2. The refuse and air mixture is forced downwardly in an inclined direction (as viewed) and the refuse is separated from the air; the refuse-free air stream escapes through a mesh 8 covering the refuse holder 2 and passes to a radial fan 9 mounted in front of the blowpipe 5. In order that the separation of the air and refuse is as complete as possible, the free edge 12 of the deflecting plate 11 is curved upwardly like an aerofoil so that the air charged with the refuse is deflected similar to the manner of an aerofoil, roughly in the direction illustrated by the three arrows, and without the refuse itself being entrained. It will be understood that the expression "street cleansing vehicle" is used herein to include any similar vehicle which is used to cleanse a surface such as for example a factory or warehouse floor, a quay or airport apron or like installation.

Claims (3)

1. A suction-type street cleansing vehicle, comprising a suction pipe for conveying refuse from a surface being cleaned to a refuse holder, a refuse holder, a deflecting plate inclined to the floor of the refuse holder for guiding the refuse after it leaves the suction pipe, the top of the refuse holder downstream ofthe deflecting plate being connected to a radial fan, and means for reducing pressure in the airstream at or adjacent the free edge whereby the air is urged to flow upwardly and the air and refuse are separated.

2. A street cleansing vehicle according to Claim 1, the means for reducing pressure in the air stream comprising a free edge of the, deflector plate which is curved upwardly.

3. A suction-type street cleansing vehicle, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the;accompanying drawing.