JPH11344214A - Automatic chimney cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic chimney cleaning device capable of automatically and surely removing foreign materials which adhere to the inner surface of a chimney. SOLUTION: An automatic chimney cleaning device comprises a central axis 2 which is rotated by a motor 1, a movable member 3 which is vertically moved by rotation of the central axis 2 along the same, three or more arms 4 which are provided in upwardly slanting radial directions at equal angular intervals and increase and decrease in diameter as the movable member 3 goes down and up, respectively, brushing mechanisms 5 attached to the tip ends of the arms 4, a TV camera 6 attached to the movable member 3, and rotating mechanisms respectively provided in brushing mechanisms 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic chimney cleaning apparatus, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic chimney cleaning apparatus capable of automatically and surely removing foreign substances such as soot adhering to a chimney inner wall surface. It is in.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an apparatus for cleaning the inner wall of a chimney, two arms each having a rotating brush attached to a tip thereof are arranged in a C shape, and these two arms are driven by a motor. There are devices that are configured to abut the rotating brush against the chimney inner wall by spreading. According to the chimney cleaning device having such a structure, the two arms are raised to the inside diameter of the chimney to expand the diameter, thereby causing the rotating brush to abut on the inner wall of the chimney and rotating the rotating brush. It was possible to clean the chimney inner wall by pulling the wire upwards with a wire.

[0003]

However, the conventional chimney cleaning device as described above has the following problems. That is, since the chimney inner wall is supported by the two arms, the device is in an unstable support state with respect to the chimney, and it is difficult to raise the device parallel to the chimney inner wall. For this reason, the rotating brush could not evenly contact the chimney inner wall, and the chimney inner wall after cleaning was often in a tiger-cut state. Also,
Since the two arms arranged in a C-shape are configured to be expanded by driving a motor, a motor having a large driving force is required, and the entire apparatus is heavy. In addition, there may be protrusions such as wire hooks when assembling the chimney on the inner wall of the chimney.If such protrusions are present, the device will be lifted up by the protrusions. In some cases, it was not possible. Further, since the height of the device in the chimney and the thickness of the chimney cannot be known, the operator cannot confirm the status of the cleaning operation, and the cleaning operation may be incomplete. .

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the invention according to claim 1 has a center shaft rotated by driving a motor and a rotation of the center shaft. A movable member that moves up and down on the central axis with
Three or more arms, which are provided obliquely upward at equal angular intervals in the radial direction and are configured to expand in diameter as the movable member descends and contract in diameter as the movable member rises, and a brush attached to the tip of the arm The present invention relates to an automatic chimney cleaning device, comprising: a mechanism, a television camera attached to the movable member, and a device rotation mechanism provided to the brush mechanism. The invention according to claim 2 relates to the automatic chimney cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the movable member and the arm are connected by a link mechanism.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connecting member in which the movable member is connected to be movable up and down with respect to a center axis, and an insertion rod is inserted so as to be vertically movable with respect to the connecting member. 2. A lower end member attached to a lower end of the insertion rod and having one end of the arm attached thereto, and a spring interposed between the lower end member and the connecting member. 2. The automatic chimney cleaning device according to item 2. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the brush mechanism includes at least a pair of rotating brushes that rotate in opposite directions to each other, and a guide member that is arranged in a pair at upper and lower portions of the rotating brush and abuts against the chimney inner wall. 4. The guide member according to claim 1, wherein two rotating bodies having four cylindrical rollers axially attached to each other at equal angular intervals are arranged in parallel and deflected at an angle of 45 degrees to each other. The present invention relates to the automatic chimney cleaning device described in the above.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the apparatus rotating mechanism comprises a rotating body of the guide member and a motor for rotating the rotating body. To an automatic chimney cleaning device. The invention according to claim 6 is provided with an encoder that measures the height of the device in the chimney, a monitor that displays the measured value, and is configured to be able to photograph the monitor screen with the television camera. An automatic chimney cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein: The invention according to claim 7 is provided with a nozzle for jetting water toward the inner wall of the chimney, and an ultrasonic sensor capable of measuring the thickness of the chimney wall, and the thickness measured by the sensor is displayed on the monitor screen. 7. The automatic chimney cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the automatic chimney cleaning device comprises:

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an automatic chimney cleaning apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external view showing a main part of an automatic chimney cleaning device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a main configuration of the automatic chimney cleaning device according to the present invention. An automatic chimney cleaning device according to the present invention includes a center shaft (2) that rotates by driving a motor (1), and a movable member (3) that moves up and down on the center axis as the center shaft (2) rotates. , Equiangular intervals (1
Three or more arms (4) extending in the radial direction at intervals of 20 degrees (in this embodiment, three arms are shown);
It has a brush mechanism (5) attached to the tip of the arm (4) and a television camera (6) attached to the movable member (3). In FIG. 1, the upper parts of the two brush mechanisms (5) are cut, and in FIG. 2, only one arm (4) and the brush mechanism (5) are shown.

The motor (1) has a columnar mounting base (7).
The center shaft (2) is directly connected to the rotation shaft of the motor (1) and rotates with the driving of the motor (1). Further, a thread groove is threaded on the central axis (2). An air compressor (8) for supplying air to motors and cylinders arranged in various parts of the apparatus is mounted on the mounting base (7). It should be noted that some of the piping tubes and regulators are not shown in the drawings for easy viewing.

The movable member (3) includes a connecting member (31) connected to the center shaft (2) so as to be vertically movable, and an insertion rod inserted vertically to the connecting member (31). (32), a lower end member (33) attached to the lower end of the insertion rod (32) and having one end of the arm (4) attached thereto, and between the lower end member (33) and the connecting member (31). And an interposed spring (34).

The connecting member (31) is provided with a central shaft insertion hole (3a) having an inner surface formed with a screw groove which can be screwed into the screw groove of the central shaft (2). When the motor (1) is driven while being inserted into the central shaft insertion hole (3a), the movable member (3) moves up and down along the central axis (2). An insertion rod (32) is fixed to an insertion rod insertion hole (3b) provided in the connecting member (31), and an outer cylinder (32a) fixed thereto, and is vertically movable with respect to the outer cylinder (32a). And a spring (34) is interposed between the inner cylinder (32b) and the lower end member (33). The inner cylinder (32b) is constantly urged downward by the spring (34), but when a strong radially inward force is applied to the arm (4) such as when there is a protrusion on the inner wall of the chimney. Has a spring (3
4) contracts and the lower end member (33) rises. Since the arm (4) is connected to the lower end member (33), the raising of the lower end member (33) allows the arm (4) to be reduced in diameter in the radial direction and to get over the protrusion. The diameter reducing action of the arm will be described later in detail.
Although not shown, a stopper is formed inside the outer cylinder (32a) so that the inner cylinder (32b) does not fall off.

Hereinafter, the detailed structure and operation of the arm (4) will be described. The arm (4) has four rod-shaped nodes (4
1), (42), (43), and (44) are connected in a four-part chain in a pair around the four pairs, and a lower end member (3
3) a connecting rod (45) pivotally connected to the other end of the lower bar-shaped node (41) of the four-bar chain, and one end of the lower bar-shaped node (41) is attached. A brush mechanism (5) is pivotally attached to the other end of the lower bar-shaped node (41), which is pivotally attached to a fixing plate (71) fixed to the base (7). FIG. 3 is an enlarged external view of a portion where the arm (4) is attached to the lower end member (33) and the fixing plate (71), and as shown, the lower end member (33) and the fixing plate (71) are shown.
Are formed in a substantially triangular shape, and a connecting rod (45) and one end of a lower rod-shaped node (41) are pivotally attached to each vertex thereof.

According to the arm (4) having the above configuration,
When the movable member (3) is raised with respect to the central axis (2) by the driving of the motor (1), the connecting rod (45) pivotally attached to the lower end member (33) of the movable member (3) moves downward. The rod bar (41) is pulled upwards, whereby the four bar chain pulls the brush mechanism (5) radially inward parallel to the central axis (2). On the other hand, when the movable member (3) is lowered with respect to the central axis (2), the connecting rod (45) pivotally attached to the lower end member (33) of the movable member (3) is connected to the lower bar-shaped joint (41). By pushing down, the four-bar chain pushes the brush mechanism (5) radially outward parallel to the central axis (2). When a protrusion is present on the inner wall of the chimney, a strong force is applied to the arm (4) in a radially inward direction. In this case, the connecting rod (4) is connected via a four-bar chain.
From 5), a force is applied to push the lower end member (33) upward, and the pushing force compresses the spring (34) and raises the lower end member (33), whereby the connecting rod (45) moves the lower rod-shaped joint. (41) is pulled upward, and the four-bar chain pulls the brush mechanism (5) inward in the radial direction parallel to the central axis (2). Further, in the automatic chimney cleaning device according to the present invention, since the arm (4) is attached obliquely upward, the arm is lowered when the diameter of the arm (4) is increased in the above operation, and is reduced when the diameter is reduced. The arm comes up. Therefore, when cleaning the chimney, a force in the direction of lowering the arm is required. In this case, however, a motor having a large driving force is not required because the weight of the arm can be used.

As shown in FIG. 1, the brush mechanism (5) includes a pair of left and right cylindrical rotating brushes (51), a motor (52) for rotating the rotating brush (51), and a left and right rotating brush (51). And a columnar body (53) to which a lower bar-shaped section (41) of the arm (4) is pivotally attached on the rear surface, and a total of four columns are arranged on the upper and lower portions of the columnar body (53). And a guide member (54).

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the brush mechanism (5) as viewed from the rear. The cylindrical rotary brush (51) is rotatably mounted on brush mounting members (58) arranged on the left and right of the columnar body (53), and the pair of left and right brush mounting members (58) is connected by a connecting shaft (59). Are linked. A cylinder shaft (5a), which can be expanded and contracted by an air cylinder (not shown), is provided between the columnar member (53) and the central member (50) in which the connecting shaft (59) is inserted.
Is interposed, and the cylindrical rotary brush (5
1) is configured to be movable back and forth with respect to the columnar body (53).

The pair of left and right rotating brushes (51) rotate in opposite directions, that is, inwardly or outwardly. This is because when the two rotating brushes (51) rotate in the same direction, a rotational force is generated on the device, and the operation of the device rotating mechanism described later is hindered.
In the illustrated example, two (one pair of left and right) rotary brushes (51) are attached to one brush mechanism (5), but in the present invention, two pairs of right and left rotary brushes (51) are provided. Or a total of six, three pairs on the left and right. Further, the rotating brush (51) may be formed longer in the rotation axis direction than the illustrated example.

A motor (5) is provided at the lower end of the columnar body (53).
5) is provided, and the rotating shaft (56) of the motor (55) passes through the inside of the columnar body (53) and penetrates the center of a total of four upper and lower guide members (54). By driving (55), all the four guide members (54) in the upper and lower portions are all rotated. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the guide member (54).
4) is constituted by four cylindrical rollers (56) being rotatably mounted on the rotating body (57) so as to be individually rotatable at equal angular intervals as shown in the figure. In the figure, (5
7a) is a through hole for inserting and fixing the rotating shaft (56). The pair of guide members (54) are arranged such that two rotating bodies (57) that are vertically overlapped are deflected at an angle of 45 degrees in parallel with each other. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the angular positional relationship between the two rotating bodies at this time. in this way,
Since the two rotating bodies (57) that are vertically overlapped with each other are arranged at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to each other, the cylindrical roller (56) can be reliably brought into contact with the inner wall surface of the chimney.

The guide member (54) raises the device in the chimney by bringing the device into the chimney and performing the cleaning operation by bringing the surface of the cylindrical roller (56) into contact with the inner wall surface of the chimney. This is to serve as a guide at the time, and when the device is raised in the chimney, the cylindrical roller (56) rotates around a pivot axis to the rotating body (57). This makes it possible to raise the device smoothly in the chimney. Also, the guide member (54)
Also plays the role of a device rotation mechanism for rotating the device in the chimney. That is, while the surface of the cylindrical roller (56) is in contact with the inner wall surface of the chimney, the rotating body (57) of the guide member (54) is rotated by the motor (55) to put the entire apparatus into the chimney. Can be rotated.

The rotation of the device by the above-described device rotation mechanism is performed by rotating the device 120 degrees in one direction and then rotating the device 12 degrees in the opposite direction.
The operation of rotating by 0 degrees and returning is repeated. At this time,
When the rotation angle is slightly larger than 120 degrees, an overlapping portion of the rotating brush (51) occurs at the start and end of rotation, so that the inner wall surface of the chimney can be reliably cleaned at 360 degrees.

In the automatic chimney cleaning device according to the present invention, the wire rope connected to the device is wound up from above by a winch while the device is rotated by the device rotating mechanism while the rotating brush (51) is rotated. Cleaning work can be performed while rising inside. The wire rope is fixed to the device by the wire fixing part (9).
(See FIG. 1) by tying a wire rope.

An encoder is attached to the winch,
The height in the chimney of the device is measured based on the pulse count, and the measurement result is displayed on a monitor (1) mounted on the device.
0) is displayed. The mounting position of the monitor (10) to the device is not particularly limited, but as shown in FIG.
It is preferable that the camera is mounted on the upper part of 3) because the television camera (6) can easily photograph the display on the monitor (10). The television camera (6) is connected via a cable to a monitor television (not shown) installed outside the chimney, so that the captured image can be checked from outside the chimney. Alternatively, the measured value of the height inside the chimney of the apparatus may be directly displayed on the display of a monitor television (not shown) installed outside the chimney.

FIG. 7 shows an upper portion of another columnar body (53).
As shown in FIG. 1, a nozzle (11) for jetting water toward the inner wall of the chimney and an ultrasonic sensor (12) capable of measuring the thickness of the chimney wall are installed. The ultrasonic sensor (12) is an air cylinder (13). ) Makes it possible to contact and separate from the inner wall of the chimney. FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing these members in a side view, in which the tip of the measuring unit of the ultrasonic sensor (12) and the rod of the air cylinder (13) are attached to the upper and lower sides of one plate (14). In addition, the thickness of the chimney wall is measured by bringing the tip of the ultrasonic sensor (12) into contact with the chimney inner wall by the expansion and contraction of the rod. The smaller the thickness, that is, the closer to the value of the thickness of the chimney itself, the better the cleaning is, and the larger the thickness, the more uneven the cleaning. The measurement value of the thickness by the ultrasonic sensor (12) is displayed on the screen of the monitor (10), and is photographed by the television camera (6), whereby the thickness of the chimney wall is monitored by a monitor television installed outside the chimney. You can check. The thickness measurement value of the chimney may be directly displayed on a display of a television monitor (not shown) installed outside the chimney.

When the tip of the ultrasonic sensor (12) is brought into contact with the inner wall of the chimney, water is blown from the nozzle (11) to the inner wall of the chimney, and the inner wall of the chimney and the ultrasonic sensor (1) are discharged.
A water film is formed between the film and the tip of 2). Thereby, there is no gap between the ultrasonic sensor (12) and the inner wall surface of the chimney, so that the thickness can be reliably measured.

Further, in the automatic chimney cleaning device according to the present invention, the brush mechanism can be easily removed by releasing the fastening of the screw at the pivot portion of the lower rod section (41) and the brush mechanism (5). Therefore, if the hole formed in the lower part of the chimney is small, first put only the main unit into the chimney with the brush mechanism removed, and then insert the brush mechanism later to easily assemble the device inside the chimney Is possible.

[0024]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a center shaft that is rotated by driving a motor, a movable member that moves up and down on the center axis with the rotation of the center shaft,
Three or more arms, which are provided obliquely upward at equal angular intervals in the radial direction and are configured to expand in diameter as the movable member descends and contract in diameter as the movable member rises, and a brush attached to the tip of the arm Since the automatic chimney cleaning device is constituted by a mechanism, a television camera attached to the movable member, and a device rotation mechanism provided in the brush mechanism, the following effects are obtained. That is, since the chimney inner wall can be supported by three or more arms, the device can be stably supported in the chimney, and the device can be raised parallel to the chimney inner wall. Can be evenly cleaned. Also,
Since the arm is attached obliquely upward, the own weight of the arm can be used for expanding the diameter of the arm when cleaning the chimney, and a motor having a large driving force is not required.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the automatic chimney cleaning apparatus according to the first aspect, the movable member and the arm are connected by a link mechanism. The brush mechanism can be moved in parallel, and the brush mechanism does not tilt with respect to the chimney inner wall.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the movable member comprises:
A connecting member connected to be movable up and down with respect to the central axis;
An insertion rod inserted vertically movably with respect to the connecting member,
2. A lower end member attached to a lower end of the insertion rod and having one end of the arm attached thereto, and a spring interposed between the lower end member and the connecting member. Since the automatic chimney cleaning device according to item 2, the projection can be lifted by the action of the spring even if the projection is present on the inner wall of the chimney.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the brush mechanism comprises at least a pair of rotating brushes rotating in opposite directions to each other, and a pair of guide members disposed on upper and lower portions of the rotating brush, respectively, and abutting against a chimney inner wall. 2. The guide member according to claim 1, wherein two rotating bodies having four cylindrical rollers axially attached to each other at equal angular intervals are arranged in parallel and deflected by 45 degrees with respect to each other. To 3
Since the automatic chimney cleaning device described above, the following effects can be obtained. That is, since the pair of rotating brushes rotate in opposite directions, no extra rotational force is generated for the device, and the operation of the device rotating mechanism is not hindered. In addition, since the two rotating bodies that are vertically overlapped with each other are arranged at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to each other, the cylindrical roller can be reliably brought into contact with the inner wall surface of the chimney, and the device can be smoothly moved inside the chimney. It can be raised.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the apparatus rotating mechanism comprises a rotating body of the guide member and a motor for rotating the rotating body.
Since the automatic chimney cleaning device according to any one of Items 4 to 4, the entire device is rotated in the chimney by rotating the rotating body of the guide member by a motor in a state where the surface of the cylindrical roller is in contact with the inner wall surface of the chimney. It becomes possible.

The invention according to claim 6 is provided with an encoder for measuring the height of the device in the chimney, a monitor for displaying the measured value, and the television camera is capable of photographing the monitor screen. Since it is an automatic chimney cleaning device according to claims 1 to 5,
The height of the device in the chimney can be reliably grasped, and the cleaning operation can be performed efficiently and reliably.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a nozzle for jetting water toward the inner wall of the chimney, and an ultrasonic sensor capable of measuring the thickness of the chimney wall, and the thickness measured by the sensor is displayed on the monitor screen. 7. The automatic chimney cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the chimney wall is measured by an ultrasonic sensor in a state where water is jetted from a nozzle to a chimney inner wall surface. , The cleaning state of the chimney inner wall can be reliably grasped.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing a main part of an automatic chimney cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a main configuration of an automatic chimney cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged external view of a lower end member of the arm and a portion attached to a fixing plate.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state where the brush mechanism is viewed from behind.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an angular positional relationship between two rotating bodies constituting a guide member.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state where a monitor is attached to a columnar body.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state where a nozzle, an ultrasonic sensor, and an air cylinder are attached to a columnar body.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a state where a nozzle, an ultrasonic sensor, and an air cylinder are viewed from the side.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 motor 2 central axis 3 movable member 31 connecting member 32 insertion rod 33 lower end member 34 spring 4 arm 5 brush mechanism 51 rotating brush 54 guide member 55 motor 57 rotating body 6 television camera 10 monitor 11 nozzle 12 ultrasonic sensor

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A central axis that is rotated by driving a motor, a movable member that moves up and down on the central axis with the rotation of the central axis, and a movable member that is provided obliquely upward at equal angular intervals in a radial direction. Three or more arms configured to increase in diameter as the arm moves down and to decrease in diameter as the arm moves up, a brush mechanism attached to the tip of the arm, a television camera attached to the movable member, and the brush An automatic chimney cleaning device, comprising: a device rotation mechanism provided in the mechanism. 2. The automatic chimney cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the movable member and the arm are connected by a link mechanism. 3. A connecting member in which the movable member is connected to be movable up and down with respect to a center axis, an insertion rod inserted to be vertically movable with respect to the connecting member, and attached to a lower end of the insertion rod. 3. The automatic chimney cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a lower end member having one end of the arm attached thereto, and a spring interposed between the lower end member and the connecting member. . 4. The brush mechanism comprises at least a pair of rotating brushes rotating in opposite directions, and a pair of guide members respectively arranged on upper and lower portions of the rotating brush and abutting on the inner wall of the chimney. 4. An automatic chimney according to claim 1, wherein two rotary members having four cylindrical rollers axially attached to each other at equal angular intervals are arranged in parallel and deflected at an angle of 45 degrees to each other. Cleaning device. 5. The automatic chimney cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said apparatus rotating mechanism comprises a rotating body of said guide member and a motor for rotating said rotating body. 6. An encoder for measuring the height of the device in the chimney, a monitor for displaying the measured value, and wherein the television camera can photograph the monitor screen. 6. The automatic chimney cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein 7. A nozzle for jetting water toward an inner wall of a chimney, and an ultrasonic sensor capable of measuring the thickness of the chimney wall, wherein a thickness measured by the sensor is displayed on the monitor screen. The automatic chimney cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein: