JP2012180222A - Refuse collecting vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refuse collecting vehicle that can prevent a refuse in a packing box from igniting, and effectively extinguish a fire even if the fire breaks out at the worst.SOLUTION: The refuse collecting vehicle including the packing box 11, an air compressor 25, a compressed air tank 27 to which the compressed air from the air compressor is supplied, and a nitrogen gas generator 29 to which the compressed air from the tank is supplied, and is configured such that an explosion proof atmosphere may be kept in the packing box 11 by (i) storing the compressed air from the air compressor 25 in the compressed air tank 27, (ii) supplying the compressed air in the compressed air tank 27 to the nitrogen gas generator 29 to generate the nitrogen gas in the nitrogen gas generator 29, and (iii) supplying the generated nitrogen gas to the packing box 11.

Description

  The present invention relates to a refuse collection vehicle, and more particularly, to a refuse collection vehicle that prevents ignition of dust loaded in a packing box and can effectively extinguish it even if it is ignited.

  Conventionally, in a garbage truck, cassette cylinders, spray cans, etc. where flammable gas remains are compressed and destroyed in the packing box, and the injected flammable gas fills the packing box, and then the dust is compressed. Occasionally, accidents such as explosions or fires occur due to sparks ignited by the fire or fire types remaining in the dust.

  This is the same even when metal fragments that may cause sparks due to friction in the dust, or highly flammable liquids or paper fragments are mixed in, and it is impossible to completely prevent this. The reality is close.

  In order to minimize such damage, many proposals have been made in the past to inject a fire extinguishing agent, an inert gas, or the like toward a fire source when a fire occurs in a packing box (for example, Patent Document 1). To 4).

  However, in the above-described conventional apparatus, fire extinguishing work is performed only after an actual fire has occurred, so damage cannot be prevented completely, and damage to the vehicle is difficult to avoid. In addition, since the cylinder is filled with a fire extinguishing agent and a fire extinguishing gas, there is a problem that the danger is high, and it takes time and effort to manage the remaining amount in the gas cylinder and to replace an empty cylinder.

  On the other hand, the concentration of combustible gas in the container box of the garbage truck is constantly monitored by a sensor, etc., and when the concentration of combustible gas exceeds the safe range, a detection signal is transmitted and noncombustible gas is sent. There is also known an invention in which the outlet valve of the tank is opened, incombustible gas is sent into the packing box, and the inside of the packing box is diluted with inert gas (see, for example, Patent Document 5).

  However, even in the invention described in Patent Document 5, the combustible gas detection means is complicated, and since the noncombustible gas is filled in the gas cylinder, the above-mentioned problems relating to the gas cylinder remain in the same manner. It was.

  In addition, a nitrogen gas generator is installed in the garbage truck, and this is linked with the driving motor or the hydraulic pressure for dust loading to ensure that the cargo box is always filled with non-flammable gas. There is also known an invention that generates an atmosphere and thereby prevents a flame or explosion. (For example, see Patent Document 6)

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-011406 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 01-090705 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-026303 JP 2003-095404 A JP 2002-087509 A JP 2005-170644 A

  However, in the invention described in Patent Document 6, for the purpose of always filling the packing box with an inert gas, the air compressor is used as a driving motor for traveling or a hydraulic machine for loading dust. There is a problem that it is always linked and uneconomical.

  The present invention, which has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, is a garbage collection vehicle equipped with a system for supplying nitrogen, which is an inert gas, to a packing box, which prevents ignition of dust in the packing box and An object of the present invention is to provide a garbage truck that can effectively extinguish a fire even if it is ignited.

That is, the present invention is as follows.
1. A packing box,
An air compressor,
A compressed air tank to which compressed air from the air compressor is supplied;
A nitrogen gas generator to which compressed air from the tank is supplied;
A waste collection vehicle comprising:
(I) storing compressed air from the air compressor in the compressed air tank;
(Ii) supplying the compressed air in the compressed air tank to the nitrogen gas generator to generate nitrogen gas (nitrogen-enriched gas) in the nitrogen gas generator;
(Iii) A garbage collection vehicle configured to maintain an explosion-proof atmosphere in the packing box by supplying the generated nitrogen gas into the packing box.

The “garbage collection vehicle” includes any of the so-called packing box rotation type, compression plate type, and rotation plate type garbage collection vehicles.
The “explosion-proof atmosphere” preferably refers to an atmosphere having an oxygen concentration of 10% or less.
The nitrogen gas supply method for “maintaining an explosion-proof atmosphere” is not limited to the method of continuously supplying nitrogen gas, but is determined to be necessary if necessary (for example, based on the detection result of a sensor or the like). In this case, a method of intermittently supplying nitrogen gas is also included.
“Maintaining an explosion-proof atmosphere” does not mean that the oxygen concentration should exceed a certain reference value (for example, 10%). Until the value becomes lower than the value, the oxygen concentration may temporarily exceed the reference value.

2. In addition, it has a dust input chamber following the packing box,
2. The garbage truck according to 1 above, wherein nitrogen gas is also supplied to the dust input chamber.

3. Furthermore, it has an open / close door that opens and closes the packing box,
3. The garbage collection vehicle according to 1 or 2, wherein the supply amount of the nitrogen gas when the open / close door is closed is configured to be relatively reduced as compared to when the door is open.

4). The garbage truck according to any one of 1 to 3, wherein the nitrogen gas generator is a gas separation membrane module.

5). Furthermore, the refuse collection vehicle as described in any one of said 1-4 which has an oxygen sensor which measures the oxygen concentration in the said packing box.

6). Measure the oxygen concentration in the packing box with the oxygen sensor,
6. The garbage collection vehicle according to 5 above, wherein when the oxygen concentration exceeds a certain value, nitrogen gas is supplied into the packing box so that the oxygen concentration is kept below a certain value.

7). Furthermore, the refuse collection vehicle as described in any one of said 1-6 provided with the temperature sensor which measures the temperature in the said packing box.

8). Measure the temperature in the packing box with the above temperature sensor,
8. The garbage collection vehicle as described in 7 above, wherein when the temperature exceeds a certain value, nitrogen gas is supplied into the packing box so that the oxygen concentration is kept below a certain value.

  According to the present invention, as described above, there is provided a garbage truck that can prevent the dust in the packing box from being ignited and can effectively extinguish it even if it is ignited.

It is a side view showing typically a garbage truck of one form of the present invention. It is a top view of the refuse collection vehicle of FIG. It is a figure which shows typically the structure of the inert gas supply system in the refuse collection vehicle of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows typically the gas separation membrane module as a nitrogen generator. It is a flowchart which shows the operation example of an inert gas supply system.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the garbage collection vehicle 1 includes a driver's seat 10, a packing box 11 behind the driver's seat 10, and a dust input chamber 15 at the rear of the packing box.

  The dust input chamber 15 is a space into which dust is input by an operator, and inside thereof is a rotating plate 17 that moves the input dust to the packing box 11 side, and the packing box 11 and the dust input chamber 15 are partitioned. A door 18 is provided. The open / close door 18 swings around the upper horizontal axis to open and close the cargo box 11. The open / close door 18 is configured to operate in synchronization with the rotary plate 17, and the dust thrown into the dust input chamber 15 is scraped up by the rotary plate 17 and pushed into the open / close door 18. It is accommodated in the packing box 11.

  The garbage collection vehicle 1 includes an inert gas supply system that supplies nitrogen gas to the packing box. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the system includes an air compressor 25 that compresses air, a compressed air tank 27 connected to the air compressor 25, and a nitrogen generator 29 connected to the tank. . Furthermore, a control device (not shown) for controlling the operation of these devices and the like is provided.

The air compressor 25 is not particularly limited as long as it can generate compressed air. As an example, even if the air compressor 25 compresses air using a part of the output from the output shaft of the internal combustion engine. Good. For example, an air compressor (for example, used for applications such as an air brake) that is normally provided in this type of vehicle may be used as it is.
The drive source of the air compressor 25 is not limited to the internal combustion engine, and may be an electric motor or the like.

  The compressed air tank 27 is connected to the air compressor 25 through a pipe, and the compressed air from the air compressor 25 is fed into the tank 27. The pressure in the compressed air tank 27 is measured by a sensor (not shown). When the pressure value becomes a certain value or less, the compressed air is sent again into the tank and the replenishment of the compressed air is performed. This replenishment operation is stopped when the pressure value in the tank reaches a certain value. In this way, the pressure of the air in the tank is maintained within a certain range.

  As the compressed air tank 27, an air storage tank for an air brake, which is conventionally provided in this type of vehicle, may be used.

  The nitrogen generator 29 is connected to a compressed air tank 27 through a pipe, and compressed air is supplied from the tank 27. The nitrogen generator 29 generates nitrogen-enriched gas (hereinafter also simply referred to as nitrogen gas) using the compressed air. Although it will not specifically limit if it has such a function, As a nitrogen generator 29, a gas separation membrane module or a pressure swing adsorption apparatus (PSA: Pressure Swing Adsorption) etc. can be utilized.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a gas separation membrane module is used as the nitrogen generator 29. This separation membrane module includes a hollow fiber bundle 35 that is a bundle of a number of hollow fiber membranes having selective permeability, and a container 30 that accommodates the hollow fiber bundle 35. The container 30 has a cylindrical body 32 and caps 31A and 31B attached to both ends thereof.

  Both ends of the hollow fiber bundle 35 are fixed to both ends of the body 32 by tube plates 36A and 36B. When compressed air is supplied from the inlet of the inlet-side cap 31A, the air is fed into the hollow fiber membrane. When the air passes through the hollow fiber membrane, it is separated into an oxygen-enriched gas and a nitrogen-enriched gas, and the oxygen-enriched gas is sent to the outside from an outlet provided in the body 32, and the nitrogen-enriched gas is It passes through the hollow fiber membrane and is sent out from the outlet of the cap 31B.

  A conventionally known hollow fiber membrane can be used, and any material can be used as long as it has gas separation performance. For example, polymer materials such as polyimide, polysulfone, polyetherimide, polyphenylene oxide, and polycarbonate, which are made of a glassy polymer material at normal temperature (23 ° C.) are preferable because of good gas separation performance.

  Although not particularly limited, in the example of FIG. 1, the air compressor 25, the compressed air tank 27, and the nitrogen generator 29 are all provided on the lower side of the cargo box 11. As shown in FIG. 2, the air compressor 25 is arranged on one side of the vehicle in the left-right direction, and the compressed air tank 27 and the nitrogen generator 29 are arranged on the opposite side.

  Referring again to FIG. 3, the nitrogen gas from the nitrogen generator 29 is configured to be sent to the packing box 11 and the dust input chamber 15. In this example, one pipe p1 extends from the outlet of the nitrogen generator 29, and pipes p2 and p3 leading to the packing box 11 and the dust input chamber 15 are branched from the middle of the pipe p1. . A valve 43 that opens and closes the flow path is provided on the pipe p1. The valve 43 may not only simply open and close the flow path, but may have a function of adjusting the gas flow rate and the oxygen concentration.

  A plurality of discharge ports 48 and 49 are provided in the vicinity of the ceiling of the packing box 11 and the dust input chamber 15. The discharge ports 48 and 49 are, for example, downward nozzles, and nitrogen gas is ejected downward from these nozzles. Each of the discharge ports 48 and 49 may have an opening / closing mechanism by itself, and thereby the gas supply ON / OFF may be switched, or may not be provided with an opening / closing mechanism and may be simply sent. It may be of a type that ejects a gas. Below, it demonstrates as what is the latter type.

  In addition, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, the inert gas supply system in this embodiment may also be provided with various sensors, such as the oxygen sensor which measures the oxygen concentration in the packing box 11, and the temperature sensor which measures temperature. Signals from these sensors are sent to a control device (not shown), and the control device performs a predetermined process based on it.

An example of the operation of the garbage truck configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
First, in step S1, the compressed air tank 27 is filled with compressed air. This filling is performed by sending air from the air compressor 25 into the tank until the pressure value in the tank 27 reaches a certain value. When an existing air storage tank provided in a vehicle is used as the compressed air tank 27, the air storage tank may be filled with compressed air by a conventionally known method.

  In step S2, the oxygen concentration and temperature in the packing box 11 are measured. Each measurement is performed using an oxygen sensor and a temperature sensor in the packing box 11. Only one of the oxygen concentration and the temperature may be measured.

  Next, in step S3, it is determined whether or not the measured oxygen concentration exceeds a certain value, or whether or not the measured temperature exceeds a certain value. If not, the measurement process (S2) is continued. If exceeded, the process proceeds to the next step S4.

  In step S4, the valve 43 (FIG. 3) is opened, and nitrogen gas from the nitrogen generator 29 is supplied into the packing box 11. Nitrogen gas is fed into the cargo box 11 from each discharge port 48, thereby lowering the oxygen concentration in the cargo box 11. Nitrogen gas may be supplied into the dust charging chamber 15 as necessary.

  In step S5-1, measurement of a parameter that triggers the end of supply of nitrogen gas, for example, measurement of the oxygen concentration in the packing box 11 is performed. In step S5-2, it is determined whether or not the measured oxygen concentration has dropped to a certain value or less. When the oxygen concentration is still higher than a certain value (for example, 10%), the supply of nitrogen gas (S4) is continued, and when the oxygen concentration is less than the certain value, the supply of nitrogen gas is terminated (step S6). Note that the supply amount or supply time of the nitrogen gas may be measured, and the supply of the nitrogen gas may be terminated when it exceeds a certain value.

  The above process maintains the explosion-proof atmosphere by supplying nitrogen gas into the packing box 11 and / or the dust input chamber 15 and lowering the oxygen concentration. As a result, fire prevention and fire spread prevention are realized. The

  In the garbage truck 1 of the present embodiment described above, the compressed air tank 27 is interposed between the air compressor 25 and the nitrogen generator 29, and compressed air is supplied from the compressed air tank 27 to the nitrogen generator 29. It is configured to be sent. In the conventional configuration that does not include the compressed air tank 27, it is necessary to always supply compressed air from the air compressor 25 to the nitrogen generator 29. However, according to this configuration, the compressed air is stored in the compressed air tank 27. Therefore, it is not necessary to always operate the air compressor 25, which is efficient and energy saving.

  In this embodiment, in particular, the air compressor 25 and the compressed air tank 27 can use the air compressor and the air storage tank that are conventionally provided in this type of vehicle as they are. In this case, in order to configure the inert gas supply system according to the present invention (see FIG. 3), it is only necessary to add the nitrogen gas generator 29 and the like to the existing garbage collection vehicle.

  A configuration in which nitrogen gas is supplied not only to the packing box 11 but also to the dust input chamber 15 is preferable because it is possible to prevent fire in the chamber 15 and prevent fire spread.

When the nitrogen gas generator 29 is a gas separation membrane module, there are the following advantages compared to PSA.
(I) In order to generate nitrogen in the gas separation membrane module, basically, it is only necessary to supply compressed air, and no special power / electric power is required (PSA is a power source for operating the valve) Or a control device).
(Ii) The gas separation membrane module is small and lightweight, and is suitable for in-vehicle use.

The present invention is not limited to the above, and may be as follows, for example.
(About valves etc.)
A valve (for example, one having a function of opening / closing a flow path or one having a function of adjusting a flow rate) may be provided between the compressed air tank 27 and the nitrogen gas generator 29 as necessary. Such a valve may be provided as a substitute for the downstream valve 43 of the nitrogen gas generator 29, or both such a valve and a downstream valve 43 may be provided.

  Further, for example, a valve for switching the gas supply state to the pipes p2 and p3 may be provided at a branch portion (FIG. 3) of the pipe p1. Such a valve may be provided in each of the pipes p2 and p3.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the oxygen sensor that measures the oxygen concentration in the packing box 11 and the temperature sensor that measures the temperature is described has been described, but it is not always necessary to arrange them.

(Discharge port)
The arrangement positions of the discharge ports 48 and 49 can be variously changed. For example, they may be provided not on the ceiling but on the side wall of the packing box 11 or the dust input chamber 15.

(About gas supply timing)
The timing of supplying nitrogen gas into the packing box 11 is such that the supply of nitrogen gas is stopped when the door 18 is closed, and the nitrogen gas is supplied when the door 18 is opened (for example, in the state of FIG. 3). It is good also as a structure. In addition, a relatively small amount of nitrogen gas may be supplied when the open / close door 18 is closed, and a relatively large amount of nitrogen gas may be supplied when the door 18 is opened.
According to such a configuration, since the supply of gas is suppressed when the open / close door 18 is closed and the nitrogen gas is difficult to escape to the outside, wasteful gas supply is prevented.

(Other)
A monitor is provided at a predetermined location of the garbage truck 1, and when an increase in temperature or an increase in oxygen concentration in the cargo box 11 is detected as described above, that fact or supply of nitrogen gas is started. It may be configured to be displayed on the monitor. The monitor position may be, for example, in the driver's seat 10. Alternatively, it may be a part of the garbage throwing chamber 15 so that a worker who is working can easily see it.

  In the above, the example of the rotary plate type garbage collection vehicle has been described, but the present invention is also applicable to a dust box collection vehicle of a packing box rotation type or a compression plate type.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Garbage collection vehicle 10 Driver's seat 11 Cargo box 15 Dust input chamber 17 Rotating plate 18 Open / close door 25 Air compressor 27 Compressed air tank 29 Nitrogen generator (gas separation membrane module)
30 Container 31A, 31B Cap 32 Body 35 Hollow fiber bundle 36A, 36B Tube plate 43 Valve 48, 49 Discharge port p1-p3 Pipe

Claims (8)

A packing box,
An air compressor,
A compressed air tank to which compressed air from the air compressor is supplied;
A nitrogen gas generator to which compressed air from the tank is supplied;
A waste collection vehicle comprising:
(I) storing compressed air from the air compressor in the compressed air tank;
(Ii) supplying the compressed air in the compressed air tank to the nitrogen gas generator to generate nitrogen gas in the nitrogen gas generator;
(Iii) A garbage collection vehicle configured to maintain an explosion-proof atmosphere in the packing box by supplying the generated nitrogen gas into the packing box. In addition, a dust input chamber that follows the packing box,
The refuse collection vehicle according to claim 1, wherein nitrogen gas is also supplied to the dust input chamber. Furthermore, it has an opening / closing door for opening and closing the packing box,
The refuse collection vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the supply amount of the nitrogen gas when the open / close door is closed is configured to be relatively reduced as compared to when the door is open.   The garbage truck according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the nitrogen gas generator has a gas separation membrane module.   Furthermore, the refuse collection vehicle of any one of Claims 1-4 provided with the oxygen sensor which measures the oxygen concentration in the said packing box. Measure the oxygen concentration in the packing box with the oxygen sensor,
The refuse collection vehicle according to claim 5, wherein when the oxygen concentration exceeds a certain value, nitrogen gas is supplied into the packing box so that the oxygen concentration becomes a certain value or less.   Furthermore, the refuse collection vehicle of any one of Claims 1-6 provided with the temperature sensor which measures the temperature in the said packing box. Measure the temperature in the packing box with the temperature sensor,
The refuse collection vehicle according to claim 7, wherein when the temperature exceeds a certain value, nitrogen gas is supplied into the packing box so that the oxygen concentration becomes a certain value or less.

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