GB2119915A

GB2119915A - Burning off apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2119915A
Application number: GB08311985A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Malcolm White
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-04-30
Filing date: 1983-05-03
Publication date: 1983-11-23
Also published as: GB8311985D0

Abstract

An agricultural and horticultural burning off apparatus comprises a chassis 2 supporting a boom arrangement 30 having a plurality of burning nozzles 66, fuel from a supply source 16 being supplied to said boom arrangement or directly to said nozzles under controlled conditions. The boom arrangement is in three sections 32, 34, 36, each section comprising a single boom or an upper boom 70 and a lower boom 72 (Figure 5, not shown). In a preferred embodiment, the fuel tank will also act as an air receiver for receiving pressurised air, said air being fed to said boom sections and being used to support combustion of the fuel at the burning nozzles. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Burning off apparatus This invention relates to agricultural and horticultural burning apparatus, and particularly to apparatus for burning off stubble and weeds and grassland, and other general vegetation.

It is conventional practice to burn off stubble and weeds and grassland by merely setting such alight and allowing the resultant fire to spread randomly.

There are inherent disadvantages with the conventional method. A first of such disadvantages is that the fire may not spread evenly so that the whole area will not always be burned off, and a second of such disadvantages is that a great deal of somke issues whilst the burning off is taking place.

The invention seeks to provide apparatus for burning off stubble and weeds and grassland and other general vegetation, which will not perpetuate the above disadvantages of conventional burning off.

According to the present invention there is provided burning off apparatus comprising a chassis supporting a boom arrangement having a plurality of fuel burning nozzles, said boom arrangement on said nozzles being supplied with fuel from a fuel supply source under controlled conditions. Preferably the fuel supply source will comprise a fuel storage tank carried on said chassis. Said apparatus will preferably include means for controlled feeding of pressurised air to said boom.

Preferably, said boom arrangement will consist of an upper boom for receivng pressurised fuel, and a lower boom for receiving pressurised air, the fuel passing to said burning nozzles via by-pass pipes connecting said nozzles to said upper boom. The boom arrangement will preferably comprise a central section and two or more flanking sections, said flanking sections being movable relative to said central section.

The fuel tank will preferably also act as an air receiver for receiving pressurised air, the air being pressurised by a compressor or by making use of the exhaust of a tractor unit used to tow the apparatus, or the fuel tank may act purely as a storage tank with the air passing directly to control means for controlling the supply of air to said lower boom.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, an embidiment thereof will now be described, by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a rear elevation of apparatus according to the invention; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of the apparatus of Figures 1 and 2; Figure 4 is a front elevation view of the apparatus of Figures 1 to 3 but not showing the boom arrangement; and Figure 5 is a sectional elevation, to a larger scale, on line V-V in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing, the burning off apparatus comprises a chassis 2 which is mounted on wheels 4 and 6; suspension units 8 and 10 respectively are provided between the axles on which the wheels are mounted and the chassis 2 so as to provide suspension for the chassis. The chassis 2 carries a coupling bar (not shown) by which the apparatus may be attached to towing means (not shown) such as an agricultural tractor.

Mounted on the chassis by means of spaced-apart supporting structures 12 and 14 is a fuel tank and air receiver 16 which is connected via a pipe or hose (not shown) to a compressor 18 mounted on a support 20 carried by the chassis 2. The fuel tank is provided with an output control unit 22 incorporating a pressure gauge, a relief valve, inlet and outlet ports for compressed air, and a filling port, all these items generally forming part of the control unit 22.

The compressor 18 is powered via a shaft (not shown) coupled to a power take-off shaft of the aforementioned tractor. Associated with the compressor, although not shown in the drawing, is an arm carrying a control lever for operating the valves controlling the flow of fuel and air as will be later described.

Mounted behind the fuel tank and air receiver 16 and carried by the chassis is a boom structure indicated generally by reference numeral 30 which in the particular embodiment illustrated comprises a central section 32 and flanking sections 34 and 36.

The flanking sections 34 and 36 are pivotally connected to the central section 32 by means of spring hinges indicated by reference numerals 38 and 40 such that the flanking sections 34 and 36 may be moved about the spring hinges and relative to the central section 32 from operative positions - as shown in the drawing - to inoperative positions as indicated by the dash lines 34A and 36A in Figure 3.

As will be seen in the drawing the central section 32 of the boom carries and supports the flanking sections 34 and 36, but additional struts may be provided if considered desirable.

The spring hinges 38 and 40 will permit the flanking sections 34 and 36 of the boom to move rearwardly in their general planes both for storage and transportation and so as to overcome obstacles lying in the path of movement when the apparatus is moving linearly without causing damage to the boom itself. Thus at each outboard end 348 and 36B of the flanking sections 34 and 36 respectively, there is provided a depending arm 42 and 44 respectively which will contact any obstacle and cause pivotal movement of the said flanking sections.

The boom 30, or more accurately the central portion 32 thereof, is pivotally mounted to the chassis 2 at 2A through the intermediaries of pivotted struts 46 and 48, and is additionally pivotally connected to the chassis 2 at 2B through the intermediaries of pairs of expandable struts 50, 52 and 54, 56, the struts of each pair of struts being connected together by linkages 58 and 60 respectively. The struts 50 and 54 are used for setting the pitch of the boom and the struts 52 and 56 are used to set the height of the boom, although the struts work in conjunction with each other due to their interconnection by the linkages 58 and 60. All of this arrangement is indicated in dash lines in Figure 2, the various integers carrying the appropriate reference numerals suffixed by the letterA.

Each section 32,34 and 36 of the boom 30 is constituted by an upper boom 70 and a lower boom 72, the lower booms 72 each carrying a plurality of fuel burning nozzles, some of which are indicated by reference numerals 66. Referring now to Figure 5, the upper boom sections 70 receive fuel from the fuel tank and air receiver 16 and the lower boom sections 72 receive air from said tank, the fuel from the upper boom sections 70 being fed to the burners 66 via bypass hoses or pipes 74 to bored connections 68 depending from the lower boom sections 72. Fuel from the fuel tank and air receiver 16 is fed from the tank via a hose or pipe (not shown) to an appropriate control valve on the arm associated with the compressor from which the fuel is fed to the upper booms by one or more pipes or hoses (not shown).Air from the fuel tank and air receiver 16 is similarly fed to an appropriate valve on the said arm and thence via an air manifold 80 from which a plurality of pipes or hoses (not shown) to the lower boom sections 72. Such valves for the fuel and air are controlled by the lever associated with said arm.

The fuel used may be diesel oil (35 second oil), heating oil (28 second oil), or liquid gas such as for example propane, the fuel preferred being fed to the upper booms at a pressure of 15 p.s.i. The air is supplied to the lower booms at a preferable pressure of 40 p.s.i. It will however be appreciated that these pressures may be varied. When propane is used as the fuel, the compression may be dispensed with, the propane at a pressure of approximately 100 p.s.i.

being fed from the bottom of the tank as a liquid or from the top of the tank as a vapour via the control valve on the arm and thence to the boom which, in the absence of the compression, may be a single fuel receiving boom, the air receiving boom being dispensed with.

After the fuel has been fed from the valve to the upper booms and thence via the by-pass hoses or pipes 74 to the burning nozzles 66, the fuel, on contact with the air from the lower booms, it becomes atomised in the burner chambers of the nozzles. Thereafter the fuel is ignited - by any suitable means - and burning of the fuel will continue until the control lever on the aforementioned arm is actuated to close the fuel flow valve. A coil for ignition control may be provided on the aforementioned tractor.

Thus, by means of the invention, stubble and weeds and grassland - and general vegetation - may be burned off efficiently and without or with very little smoke, this being due to the atomisation of the fuel prior to ignition. The apparatus also has application for melting snow and ice on roads, runways etc.

In an alternative arrangement of the invention, use could be made of the exhaust gases from the tractor towing unit to pressurise the fuel tank and air receiver, in which case the compressor may be dispensed with.

In a still further alternative arrangement of the invention, pressurising of the fuel tank may be rendered unnecessary by merely having the tank as a storage tank and pumping or gravity feeding the fuel to the control valve. In such an arrangement air would be fed directly to the air control valve instead of passing through the fuel tank. Aiso, the pressurised air may be fed directly to the boom sections without first passing through the manifold.

If desired, in yet a further alternative embodiment of the invention, the fuel may be injected into the manifold from the tank 16 or through a venturi orifice or other restricted passageway in or at the end of the main air hose from the compressor so that the fuel is atomised in the manifold or in the main air pipe and then fed to a single boom arrangement and thence to the fuel burning nozzles.

It will also be appreciated that other modifications may be made to apparatus according to the invention. For example, there may be more or less than the three boom sections illustrated, and the booms may be raised or lowered by means other than the arrangement described and illustrated; these may be conventional raising and lowering means.

In addition, the valve controls for the fuel and air may be electrically or electronically operated instead of lever operated.

Finally, by removing the burner heads from the burning nozzles 80 and by filling the tank 12 with insecticides or other material, the apparatus may be used as a conventional crop-spraying apparatus.

Claims

1. Burning off apparatus comprising a chassis supporting a boom -arrangement having a plurality of fuel burning nozzles, said boom arrangement or said nozzles being supplied with fuel from a supply source under controlled conditions.

2. Burning off apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the fuel supply source is a fuel storage tank carried on said chassis.

3. Burning off apparatus according to Claim 1, or Claim 2 including means for controlled feeding of pressurised air to said boom.

4. Burning off apparatus according to any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein said boom arrangement consists of a central section and two flanking sections, said flanking sections being pivotally secured to said central section.

5. Burning off apparatus according to any of Claims 1 to 4, wherein said boom arrangement consists of an upper boom for receiving pressurised fuel and a lower boom for receiving pressurised air, the fuel passing to said burning nozzles via by-pass pipes connecting said nozzles to said upper boom.

6. Burning off apparatus according to Claim 5, wherein said fuel tank acts as an air receiver for receiving pressurised air, said pressurised air being fed from said tank to said lower boom.

7. Burning off apparatus according to Claim 5, wherein pressurized air is fed directly to said lower boom without passing through said tank.

8. Burning off apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein fuel from said supply source is injected into a manifold or through a venturi orifice or other restricted passageway so that the fuel is atomised prior to being fed to the boom arrangement.

9. Burning off apparatus according to any of Claims 4 to 8, wherein said central section of the boom arrangement is pivotally mounted to said chassis at two pairs of connection points so that the height and pitch of the boom arrangement can be varied.

10. Burning off apparatus according to Claim 9, wherein the height and pitch of the boom arrangement is varied through the intermediary of expandable struts.

11. Burning off apparatus constructed and adapted to operate substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

12. Burning off apparatus substantially as herein described.