GB2436117A

GB2436117A - Drying device for rapidly drying a substantially horizontal flat hard surface

Info

Publication number: GB2436117A
Application number: GB0605320A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew Cherill
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-03-17
Filing date: 2006-03-17
Publication date: 2007-09-19
Also published as: GB0605320D0

Abstract

A drying device for drying a substantially horizontal surface 19, comprising a chassis 1 adapted for movement over the surface, a fuel source 17, a burner 7, 8 supplied by the fuel source to create a stream of hot gas or flame, a motor-driven fan 4 downstream of the burner, and an outlet (18, fig.3) downstream of the fan to direct the stream from the fan towards the surface. The fan may be powered by a self-contained engine attached to the fan housing. The outlet preferably extends greater than the width of the device and may include openings to allow part of the stream to drive away excess moisture and debris from the surface ahead of the drying stream.

Description

SURFACE DRYER

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to apparatus for drying a surface, particu-larly a hard surface such as a floor. More specifically, the invention relates to devices and apparatus for rapidly drying flat hard surfaces, such as tarmac, concrete, block paving, factory flooring, and flat roofs.

Background to the Invention

In the construction industry, there is often a need to accelerate the drying process of flat surfaces in order to allow the next stage of construction to corn-mence. For example, when laying block paving, once the blocks themselves have been laid and compacted, it is necessary to fill the gaps between blocks with a fine, kiln-dried sand. Sometimes, a dry mix of fine sand and cement is used. In these examples, it is imperative that the surface is dry, or else the sand will not compact into the gaps between the paving blocks and/or will mark the newly-laid surface. Relying on wind and natural warmth to dry the surface is unreliable, so an artificial method of drying is desirable.

In other examples, a prepared flooring surface may need to be dried be-fore the application of paint, bitumen or other surface finish. Moisture can be fatal to achieving a good and durable surface finish. Concrete flat roofs typically need to be dry, and preferably warm, before applying a bitumen coating or ad-hesive-backed roofing felt, for example.

There is therefore a need for a device that can be used to perform a dry-ing operation on a flat surface.

Summary of the Invention

The invention provides a drying device for drying a substantially horizon-tal surface, comprising a chassis adapted for movement over the surface, a fuel source, a burner supplied by said fuel source to create a stream of hot gas or flame, a motor-driven fan downstream of said burner, and an outlet downstream of said fan to direct said stream from said fan towards said surface.

Other, preferred features of the invention are defined in the claims ap-pended hereto.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with refer-ence to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a drying device according to the invention; Figure 2 is a rear quarter view of a burner assembly used in the inven-tion; Figure 3 is a front quarter view of the major components of the device, showing the front end in greater detail; Figure 4 is a front view of the device; io Figure 5 is an interior view of the impeller of the burner assembly; and Figure 6 is an sectional elevation of a burner arrangement in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description of the Illustrated Embodiments Referring to Figure 1, the drying device includes a chassis structure 1 to which are mounted a pair of rear wheels 2 (only one of which is visible in the drawing) and a front wheel 3. The front wheel may be mounted so as to swivel to assist steering but the device could otherwise be steered by simply by tilting it back on to the rear wheels and manoeuvring the whole device.

Mounted on top of the chassis is fan housing 4 of steel plate or cast alloy and having a radial inlet located behind a deflector plate 5 associated with a burner assembly comprising a mounting collar 6, an air/fuel mixer tube 7 and a fuel vaporiser 8. The vaporiser 8 is coupled to a source of combustible fuel supplied through a rigid fuel feed pipe 9 to one end of a fuel hose 10, whose other end is connected to a valve 11 operated by the user of the device to turn the gas supply on and off, and provided with a control valve lever 12 which can be operated to allow full gas flow to the burner and released to allow a minimal flow sufficient to maintain a small flame during idling. The valve 11 is also con-nected to a main supply hose 17 connected to a source of gas, oil, lpg or other suitable combustible fuel, such as a gas bottle or oil tank, for example.

The valve 11,12 is mounted on a handle assembly consisting of a pair of tubes 13 extending upwards from the chassis and a pair of arms 14 leading at their upper ends to a cross-bar handle 15 and attached at their lower ends to the tubes 13 by bolts, wing nuts or the like 16. The bolts etc 16 enable the arms 14 and handle 15 to be adjusted to the user's height and reach and to enable the device to be moved and stored more compactly when not in use.

The fuel is ignited in the burner assembly 6-8 and a jet of flame, hot air or gas is directed inside the deflector 5, where it is directed into the radial inlet (not visible) of the fan housing 4.

The rear quarter view in Figure 2 shows the inlet pipe 10 connecting the supply hose to the fuel inlet 8 and from there to the burner 7. The burner 7 is held in place by the collar 6, which is mounted to a bracket 22 bolted or other-wise fixed to a flange 23 of the deflector 5. The deflector 5 need be no more complex than a hollow metal box, which tapers from the rear end, where the burner is attached, to the forward end, where the hot gases are directed into the fan housing 4. The various components may simply be bolted together, as indi-cated generically by bolts 20, 21 in Figure 2.

Turning to Figure 5, which shows the fan assembly with the outer cover removed, the fan comprises an impeller mounted for rotation about an axis 50 which extends transversely to the device. The impeller includes a number of blades 51. Although six blades are illustrated, any number may be employed, balancing cost against efficiency. The inlet is substantially axial and the outlet (not shown) substantially tangential to an outlet 18.

Turning back to Figure 1, the hot gases emerging from the fan are di-rected by the outlet 18 towards the surface 19 to be dried. As shown in the front quarter view of Figure 3, the outlet 18 leads to an outlet port extending across at least the overall width of the device. The outlet terminates in a trans-verse box-section mouth 30 directed downwardly towards the surface 19. The outlet terminates just above ground level.

A curtain effect is created by a front plate 31 and side plates 32. These plates create a rectangular opening at each end of the mouth to allow a flow of air to escape in a forward motion to drive off excess surface water or moisture and also to afford an element of protection from debris remaining on the surface and being blown around by the jet when in use.

A rear shoe 24 prevents the device inadvertently tipping backwards.

Although the outlet may be of a simple rectangular design, as shown in Figure 3, it may alternatively be tapered downwards at the ends, as illustrated at in the front view of Figure 4. This Figure also shows the relative disposition of other parts of the device not previously mentioned. A small engine 41, such as a Honda GX16O 5.5HP petrol-driven engine, is fixed to the side of the fan housing 4 and drives the impeller directly.

The impeller may be rotated at a speed of around 3,400 rpm, thereby producing an air flow of around 2,000 cubic feet per minute (56.6 cubic metres per minute) at a speed of around 160 mph (258 km per hour). The burner itself is preferably a 75mm twin-jet vaporising liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) burner.

The temperature of the hot gas or flame emerging from the mouth of the outlet can be as high as 360 F (1 82 C), depending on the intended application.

Where the burner is oil-fired, a separate oil tank can be mounted onto the chassis, thereby dispensing with the need to have trailing hoses leading to rela-tively static fuel bottles or other storage means. However, the fuel oil will need to be pressurised by a pump before passing through the burner jets, and power for driving the pump will need to be provided directly or indirectly from the en-gine, or alternatively by an external electric power supply, for example a trailing mains electricity lead.

Reverting to Figure 4, the motor 41 is associated with a re-coil starter 42 and has a self-contained fuel tank 43 mounted on top. An air filter 44 for the engine is preferably also included. The engine speed is controlled by a throttle lever 45 mounted on the tubes 13 (Figurel) and linked to the engine through a conventional throttle cable 46.

Figure 6 illustrates a preferred form of burner, in which LPG is supplied to an inlet 60 connected to a manifold 61 having two or more burner jets 62 pro-vided within it, each linked to the inlet 60 through cross-bores 63. The inlet 60 communicates with a pre-heat/vaporising tube 64 which projects into the com-bustion chamber 65 so as to be preheated by the flames 66 generated by the jets 62. Air inlets 67 provide the combustion air.

The following further variations and modifications may be adopted. For example, the outlet could be provided with a sacrificial rubber skirt to the sides and rear to protect the surface and to keep the heat away from the front wheel.

The relative location of the outlet and wheels may be varied, e.g. by moving the outlet forward and the wheels backward, to adjust the balance of the machine better. A vacuum device may be added ahead of the blower so as to pick up surface water and remove debris into a collection container. Although the vac-uuming could be done in a separate operation, it may be desirable to have the vacuuming and drying combined into one machine.

The invention therefore provides a compact, efficient device for drying hard flat (i.e. substantially horizontal) surfaces, such as roads, driveways, fac-tory floors or even flat roofs, and is especially suitable for drying block paving, tarmac, and other surfaces prior to painting or applying a bitumen coat or felt or in-filling gaps between blocks or paving with fine grain filling materials such as sand or sans-and-cement mixtures.

Additionally, if the flame is hot enough, the device could be used for burning off previously applied coatings, such as bitumen-based road markings, parking bays designated by bitumen/tarmac or paint and so on.

Claims

CLAIMS

1. A drying device for drying a substantially horizontal surface, com-prising a chassis adapted for movement over the surface, a fuel source, a burner supplied by said fuel source to create a stream of hot gas or flame, a motor-driven fan downstream of said burner, and an outlet downstream of said tan to direct said stream from said fan towards said surface.

2. A drying device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said chassis is mounted on wheels for movement over said surface.

3. A drying device as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein said fuel io source is a source of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and said burner is an LPG burner.

4. A drying device as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein said fuel source is a source of oil and said burner is an oil burner.

5. A drying device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the is fan comprises a cylindrical housing mounted to the chassis, an axial inlet for said stream, an impeller mounted for rotation about said axis, and an outlet to direct said stream into said outlet.

6. A drying device as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said outlet has an inlet substantially tangential to said fan housing.

7. A drying device as claimed in Claim 5 or 6, wherein the outlet of the burner is directed into a deflector attached to a side of the fan, whereby to direct the stream substantially axially into the fan.

8. A drying device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the outlet comprises a first portion connected to the fan to receive the stream emerging from the fan, and a mouth portion extending transverse to the first portion and adapted to direct the stream onto the surface over a width greater than the width of the device.

9. A drying device as claimed in Claim 8, wherein said mouth portion contains at least one opening to allow part of said stream to emerge ahead of the mouth to blow surface moisture from the surface ahead of the drying stream.

10. A drying device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said fan is adapted to be powered directly by a petrol-driven engine forming part of the device.

11. A drying device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said fuel source is mounted on the device.

12. A drying device as claimed in any preceding claim, further com-prising a manually-operable valve to regulate the flow of fuel from said fuel source.

13. A drying device as claimed in any preceding claim, further corn-prising a handle attached to said chassis to enable manual manoeuvring of said device.

14. A drying device as claimed in Claim 13, wherein said handle is ad-

ustable.

15. A drying device, substantially as described with reference to the drawings.