GB2231851A

GB2231851A - Vehicle wheel cleaner

Info

Publication number: GB2231851A
Application number: GB8910305A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kenneth James Beadle
Original assignee: SAUNDERS HIGHWAY EQUIPMENT COM
Current assignee: SAUNDERS HIGHWAY EQUIPMENT COM
Priority date: 1989-05-05
Filing date: 1989-05-05
Publication date: 1990-11-28
Also published as: GB8910305D0

Abstract

A wheel cleaner for trucks is provided including a robust frame 12 installed in a pit and two pairs of rollers 14, 15 mounted on the frame with their top surfaces substantially at ground level and over which a truck is successively advanced for the cleaning of its wheels by water sprays from jets on feed pipes 25 while those wheels are rotated by contact with the turning rollers. The two pairs of rollers are independently driven by respective electric motors. Under the rollers there is a wash water tank 22 from which the water for the sprays is drawn by a pump 24 and back into which it drains, the tank being shaped like a hopper and having a conveyor 23 travelling along the bottom to remove mud. The conveyor extends laterally beyond the ends of the rollers where it has a rising section for discharging the mud above ground level. The wash cycle is automatic and the progress of a truck over the cleaner meanwhile is controlled by automatic traffic lights. <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements in Wheel Cleaners for Road Transport Trucks This invention relates to wheel cleaners for road transport trucks.

It is a legal requirement that contractor's trucks leaving a construction or factory site should not deposit mud, dirt or stones on the highway and therefore wheel cleaners are commonly provided over which the trucks must travel on their way to the site exit. Such wheel cleaners may consist of a pair or pairs of freely-rotatable rollers arranged such that the wheels on any driven axle of the truck can rest on the roller pair and be rotated for cleaning while so resting. In one successful type of wheel cleaner, the rollers are so proportioned in relation to the truck wheels that the truck driver can readily spin his truck wheels on the rollers at a speed that causes the mud etc. on the wheels to fly off by centrifugal action.

However, such wheel-cleaning arrangements are only applicable to the driven wheels of a truck.

According to the present invention, there is provided a wheel cleaner comprising at least a pair, and preferably two pairs, of power-driven horizontal rollers mounted over a tank of wash water from which water is drawn by a pump to supply wash jets for washing clean the tyres of truck wheels resting on the pair of rollers and being rotated thereby.

Preferably, a conveyor is provided at the bottom of the wash water tank so that the mud removed from the truck tyres, and falling down with the spent wash water into the tank, can be conveyed out of the tank while the wash water is recycled.

An arrangement in accordance with the invention will now be described in more detail by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, a steel support structure 11 is set in a concrete-lined excavation and carries a horizontal rectangular frame 12 upon opposite side members of which are mounted bearings 13 for two spaced pairs of parallel horizontal rollers 14, 15 that span the frame 12. The top surfaces of the rollers are substantially at ground level and between the two pairs of rollers there is a horizontal grid 16 at the same level, allowing trucks to be driven over the rollers and the grid. Each pair of rollers 14, 15 is independently driven by a respective drive motor and gearbox 16, 17, the two rollers in a pair being coupled by sprockets and a steel chain 18, 19 and the drive to each roller pair incorporating a clutch 20, 21.

Under the rollers 14, 15 is a steel wash water tank 22 in the form of a hopper that converges downwardly and at the bottom of this hopper there is installed a horizontal conveyor 23. A wash pump 24 draws water from the tank 22 and delivers it to water spray jets on feed pipes 25 disposed alongside the locations occupied by the wheels of a truck when resting on the pairs of rollers. The support structure 11, the wash water tank 22 and the conveyor 23 extend laterally beyond the frame 12 and the rollers 14, 15 at one side of the machine and in this region the conveyor has an inclined section 26 rising up out of the tank so as to discharge the mud etc., collected by it at the bottom of the tank, above ground level. A drive motor 27 for the conveyor is situated at the elevated end of the conveyor.

The method of operation of the machine, which is fully automatic, is as follows: As a truck drives on to the machine, which is installed near the exit from a muddy site, a photocell activates the washing cycle. The driver pulls slowly forward until the truck's single or twin-steer front axles are located on the rollers as shown diagrammatically.

After a delay of between 3-6 seconds, the powered rollers 14, 15 rotate, turning the truck's front wheels through at least three revolutions. As the wheels are turned, the wash pump 24 sprays water under pressure on to the tyres, effectively cleaning them. The duration of this part of the washing cycle is pre-settable by a timing device, but 15-20 seconds is recommended.

Once this part of the washing cycle has been completed, the motorised rollers 14, 15 are effectively braked and the truck pulls forward until its rear wheels are in turn located on the paired rollers, again as shown in the diagram. The driver disengages gear and ensures that his rear wheels are unbraked and free to rotate.

After a delay of 3-6 seconds, the washing cycle is repeated. Articulated trailer wheels can be cleaned by repeated cycles in the same fashion. Traffic lights linked to the machine and operated in accordance with the progress of the washing cycles alert the driver when to pull forward or drive away.

Mud etc. removed from the washed wheels of vehicles falls downward with the wash water and collects in the tank 22 immediately beneath the rollers. This mud sinks to the bottom of the tank from where it is removed by regular intermittent operation of the conveyor 23 on a timed control basis. The conveyor can discharge the collected mud into a skip or container beside the wheel-washing machine.

This construction thus provides: - an efficient and fully-automatic means of washing tyres on all the axles of a truck of any wheel configuration; - an automatic system of mud/sludge handling and discharge; - an almost immediate facility for wash water recycling with minimal water loss.

The machine is designed to fit into simple low-cost foundations, i.e. a concrete envelope set in an excavated pit.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A wheel cleaner for road transport trucks comprising at least a pair, and preferably two pairs, of power-driven horizontal rollers mounted over a tank of wash water from which water is drawn by a pump to supply wash jets for washing clean the tyres of truck wheels resting on the pair of rollers and being rotated thereby.

2. A wheel cleaner according to Claim 1, wherein a conveyor is provided at the bottom of the wash water tank so that the mud removed from the truck tyres, and falling down with the spent wash water into the tank, can be conveyed out of the tank while the wash water is recycled.

3. A wheel cleaner according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, comprising two pairs of rollers with their top surfaces substantially at ground level, each pair being independently driven by a respective drive motor via a gearbox and a clutch.

4. A wheel cleaner according to Claim 3, wherein the two rollers in a pair are coupled by sprockets and a chain.

5. A wheel cleaner according to Claim 3 or Claim 4, wherein a horizontal grid is provided between the two pairs of rollers also substantially at ground level.

6. A wheel cleaner according to Claim 2, or any of claims 3 to 5 taken with Claim 2, wherein the wash water tank is in the form of a downwardly converging hopper along the bottom region of which the conveyor runs in a direction parallel to the axes of the rollers.

7. A wheel cleaner according to Claim 6, wherein the conveyor extends laterally of the wheel cleaner beyond the ends of the rollers where it rises to a level at which the mud is discharged above ground level.

8. A wheel cleaner according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising control means that bring about an automatic wheel-washing cycle including driving and braking of the rollers and operation of the wash water sprays when such cycle is initiated by a truck driving on to the wheel cleaner and interrupting a photocell beam.

9. A wheel cleaner according to Claim 8, wherein traffic lights are provided that are automatically operated during a wash water cycle to control the stopping and advancing of a truck as it progresses over the wheel cleaner.