LU502043B1 - Sliding-bottom sewer with a separator device coming into the tank - Google Patents

Abstract

Hydrocleaner comprising a tank (1) with an opening bottom (2) having, in the upper part, an air outlet (11). The bottom (2) comprises a pipe (25) installed in the lower part of the bottom (2) and passing through the latter, having on the outside a connection to fix the pumping pipe (5), a hose (33) connected via one end (33a) to the pipe (25) opening at the back (2b) of the bottom (2), a separator device (3) fixed to the back (2b) and coming into the volume of the tank (1) when the bottom (2) is closed comprising: * a support (31) fixed to the back (2b) receiving the hose (33) to hold its outlet end (33b) in the upper part of the tank (1) when the bottom (2) is closed, and a guide (32) at the outlet (33b) of the hose (33) to guide the liquid down into the tank (1) and let the gases separate therefrom.

Description

BL-5497 LU502043

OPEN BOTTOM HYDROCURATOR CARRYING A DEVICE

SEPARATOR COMING WITHIN THE FIELD OF THE INVENTION TANKER The present invention relates to a pneumatic pumping sewer for liquid material from a tank comprising: a tank with an opening bottom connected to the tank by hinges, the opening bottom having an inlet for liquid materials , the cistern having, in the upper part, an air outlet for the air and the gases given off by the liquid materials arriving in the cistern.

In general, this sewer cleaner makes it possible to pump liquid materials in various receptacles such as tanks, hydrocarbon separators, septic tanks, grease traps or sewer networks; all these concepts are grouped together in the present description for the purpose of simplification in the expression "tank".

STATE OF THE ART There are currently ADR sewer cleaning vehicles equipped with ATEX pumping circuits which are used in industries.

These vehicles are mainly used in industrial environments to collect effluents which can create explosive atmospheres.

These vehicles are versatile and allow both flammable and non-flammable products to be pumped: for example, they can clean fuel tanks, hydrocarbon separators, septic tanks, grease traps or drainage networks. sewers.

These vehicles, which must comply with very strict regulations, consist of a tractor or a carrier cooperating with a tank, the internal part of which is subdivided into at least two compartments, namely on the one hand a first compartment or sludge tank equipped with an opening bottom located at the rear of the vehicle and capable of cooperating with a vacuum pump and with a suction pipe, and on the other hand a second compartment or water tank capable of cooperating with a high pressure pump as well as with a cleaning hose. In some cases, there may be two mud compartments and one water compartment.

In such a vehicle, the vacuum pump is used to reduce the pressure prevailing in the mud tank so as to allow suction, using the suction pipe, one end of which is immersed in the product to be pumped while the opposite end is connected to a filling pipe 40 equipped with a filling valve which is mounted on the external part of the tank.

The tank must separate the gaseous part from the liquid part of the pumped materials. A minimum of spray must come out of this tank.

BL-5497 LU502043 Two pumping modes can be used. Vacuum pumping or pumping without the introduction of air and pneumatic pumping or pumping with the introduction of air. The latter, unlike vacuum pumping, allows the pumping of product in a thin layer or the pumping of products stored at a depth greater than the column of product equivalent to the maximum depression of the pump used.

Pneumatic pumping requires the tank to be filled in the upper part in order to limit vaporization and significant movements of liquid.

In sewer cleaner vehicles of this type, for the pneumatic pumping of flammable products, the elements for filling the tank are outside the tank in order to guide the effluents to the top of the tank. The effluents enter through the top of the tank and then pass through a system that avoids the risk of ignition of the pumped product. The elements used to guide the product in the tank are generally made of steel coated with an anti-sparking material in order to guarantee the absence of sparks during pumping. Control of this coating is necessary to maintain the functionality of the system.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to develop a sewer cleaner facilitating the control of the filling components of the tank by allowing a very rapid visual control of the state of the effluent guidance system at the entry into the tank. and to protect the components against a risk of deterioration by external attacks.

DISCUSSION AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION To this end, the subject of the invention is a vacuum cleaner with pneumatic pumping of liquid materials from a tank of the above type with an opening bottom comprising a pipe installed in the lower part of the bottom, crossing that -ci, and having on the outside a connector for attaching the pumping pipe thereto, a hose connected by its lower end to the pipe opening at the back of the bottom, a separating device for separating liquids and gases, this separating device being fixed to the back from the bottom and coming into the volume of the tank when the bottom is closed, while being accessible when the bottom is open, the separator device 40 comprising: a support fixed to the back receiving the hose to hold its outlet end in the upper part of the the cistern when the bottom is closed, and a guide facing the outlet of the hose to guide the liquid down into the cistern and allow the gases to separate from it, at least some surfaces of the pipingi e, of the hose, the separator device for its support and its guide are made of or covered with an anti-sparking and anti-static material.

BL-5497 LU502043 The present invention overcomes the difficulties of controlling fixed components inside the tank by removing them and allows visual and immediate control of the state of the effluent guidance system at the level of the inlet. effluents, by opening the bottom by examining from the outside and without having to disassemble.

The removal of the effluent guiding components outside the tank also avoids the risk of their deterioration by external attacks.

The hose held by the support attached to the bottom of the tank allows the hose to be given the appropriate shape to guide the effluents into the tank from the bottom of the tank to the top of the tank. This makes it possible to visually check the condition of the hose without dismantling the latter or dismantling other parts The guide makes it possible to separate the gases and the liquid materials charged at the arrival of the effluents at the top of the tank and to direct the liquid materials down the tank while avoiding the creation of sparks due to foreign bodies. The condition of the parts made of anti-sparking and antistatic materials can be checked visually without dismantling them or other parts.

The sewer cleaner according to the invention allows the pumping of flammable products with a separator fully integrated into the tank and nevertheless allowing a visual check of the wear of the pumping circuit without dismantling.

The bulk of the separator is reduced and no components are exposed outside the tank. Such a separator can even be installed on the opening bottom of a tank of reduced dimensions.

The separator device allows effluents to be channeled and serves as a deflector between the air outlet of the tank and the arrival of liquid materials, limiting the spray that can escape from the tank.

According to another characteristic, the support is an open structure formed by two branches, one end of which is fixed around the pipe at the back of the bottom, these branches being connected at their other end to a partition separating, at the top of the tank, the liquid outlet from the hose and the air outlet.

This structure of the support has the advantage of being particularly simple, "transparent" to fluids and easy to examine, check and maintain 45 when the opening bottom is in the open position.

BL-5497 LU502043 According to another characteristic, the support consists of two branches, the lower branch of which is connected to a rising branch joining near the top of the tank, a substantially horizontal extension passing under the float valve installed at the top of the tank , the rising branch and the extension crossing on opposite sides of the partition.

This equipment is very easily visible and accessible from both sides of it.

The support is thus particularly advantageous and simple to manufacture and to control. It constitutes a rigid element which does not vibrate under the effect of the flow of liquids and gases arriving in the tank and also stabilizes the guide inside the tank.

Thus, according to another characteristic, the guide is composed on one side, facing the outlet of the hose, of a series of flat elements, forming a downward guide curve, applied on the field against a part of the partition, this series of elements facing the rising branch which forms another part of the guide and is continued downwards by an element, inclined to the opposite under the series of elements, to reverse the direction of guidance of the flow of liquid, especially towards the front of the tank.

The guide thus produced has the advantage of ensuring a good separation of gases and liquids without creating turbulence in the flow of the liquid leaving the hose to lead it into the liquid which is already in the tank, even if the fluid level is still low.

According to another characteristic, the partition extends above the extension, leaving a gap with respect to it, by a slat joining the back of the opening bottom to which the end of the slat is fixed.

The partition not only stiffens the whole of the support and the guide, but also stabilizes this assembly thanks to its blade which constitutes in a way a third point of attachment for this equipment on the back of the opening bottom.

40 According to another characteristic, the extension on the front side is connected to a panel also connected to the partition.

According to another characteristic, the support and the guide are produced mainly by blades or parts of blades perpendicular to a longitudinal vertical plane of the tank leaving accessible and open the two sides of the structure combining the support and the guide and whose meeting is locally occupied by the panel and its part.

BL-5497 LU502043 According to another advantageous characteristic the branches and their continuation formed by the rising branch and the extension starting from the common fixing of the legs folded around the pipe have on the one hand, the right side of the branches on one side of the plane of the bulkhead and on the other hand, at least the left side of the extension, on the other side of the plane of the bulkhead, according to the orientation going from the front to the rear of the tank. According to another advantageous characteristic, the hose is made of an anti-sparking and antistatic synthetic material and the support and the guide are protected by parts made of anti-sparking and antistatic materials. In summary, the sewer cleaner equipment attached to the back of the opening bottom of the tank meets Atex requirements. The sewer cleaner with its simplified two-phase separator device fitted to the tank of the sewer cleaner or combined sewer cleaner or even an ADR pumping semi-trailer vehicle, makes it possible to pump flammable products that can generate explosive atmospheres.

As already indicated, the size of the equipment carried by the opening bottom is very small and precisely allows, thanks to this reduced size, to be installed inside the covering bottom without the need for any dismantling, even partial, to on the one hand, to allow opening or closing of the opening bottom and, on the other hand, to access this equipment both for checking its condition and for any interventions on it.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be described below in more detail with the aid of an example of a hydrocleaner tank represented in the appended drawings in which: [fig. 1] perspective view of a sewer cleaner tank equipped with an integrated pumping device, [fig. 2] perspective view towards the rear of the tank, by transparency, the hose reel being removed from the opening bottom, [fig. 3] perspective view of the bottom of the tank, detached from it and showing the equipment attached to the lid, 40 [fig. 4] perspective view of the separator device, [fig. 5] front view of the inner side of the cistern and the bottom, [fig. 6A] sectional view of the cistern with the lid closed, [fig. 6B] sectional view of the cistern with the bottom open, [fig. 7] perspective view of the cistern showing the flow of liquids and gases.

BL-5497 LU502043 DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT The subject of the invention is a pneumatic pumping sewer cleaner for liquid materials by pressurizing the reservoir or tank or other volume in which the liquid materials are pumped. To simplify the description of the various components of the sewer cleaner, reference will be made to the front front and the rear rear of the tank 1. The "vertical" and "horizontal" orientations are the natural orientations of the figures as represented. .

According to Figure 1, the sewer cleaner comprises a cistern 1, generally cylindrical, provided with an opening bottom 2 and an air outlet 11 in the upper part at the rear of the cistern 1 with a float valve 111 for gases given off by liquids in tank 1.

The opening bottom 2 is a domed lid mounted on hinges 22 connected to lugs 12 integral with the tank 1 and rib-shaped lugs 221 fixed over a certain length to the outer side 2a of the bottom

2. It carries various equipment including a separator device detailed below. In its lower part, the cover 2 is crossed by a pipe 25 to which the pumping pipe 5 is fixed externally and internally a hose 33.

The back 2b of the bottom 2 carries the separator device 3 receiving the liquid materials arriving in the tank through the pipe 25 to which the pumping pipe 5 is fixed externally and internally the end 33a of a hose 33.

The separator device 3 consists of a support 31 receiving the hose 33 and an effluent guide 32. The support 31 fixed to the back 2b of the bottom 2 carries the hose 33 connected by its end 33a to the piping 25 in part lower part of the bottom 2 to make it emerge in the upper part of the tank 1 and effectively separate the gases and the liquid materials by guiding the liquids continuously without turbulence towards the front of the tank 1, to agitate the liquid as little as possible and reduce or avoid the spray that would escape through the air outlet 40 11 and the float valve 111. The bottom 2 in the form of a domed lid is provided with an edge forming a return 21 carrying the sealing means cooperating with the opening of tank 1, closing latch stops 211 and bottom opening and closing latch supports 212.

BL-5497 LU502043 Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the tank 1 which allows to see more precisely the geometry of the separator device 3 on the side opposite to that of Figure 1 and fitting closely into the envelope formed by the tank 1 while allowing the opening of the bottom 2 by its tilting around the horizontal axis of the hinges 22 to check the state of the separating device 3.

The cutting plan of the tank 1 reveals the structure of the pipe 25 at the passage of the bottom 2 having, on the outside, a connection 251 for the pumping pipe 5 and internally a sleeve 33C integrated in the lower end 33a (cut) of the hose 33. The piping incorporates a valve 253. The crossing of the bottom 2 is done with flanges and non-detailed seals.

Figures 3 and 4 correspond to the object of Figure 2 without the tank 1. According to Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5, the separator device 3 consists of a support 31 fixed to the back 2b of the bottom 2 and carrying a guide 32. The separator device 3 receives the hose 33 connected to the pipe 25.

With the bottom 2 in the closed position, the hose 33 rises in the support 31 to emerge at the top of the tank 1.

The outlet 33b of the hose 33 faces the concavity of the guide 32 to separate the gases and the liquid materials, guided downwards.

The support 31 is a mechanically welded assembly, combined with the guide 32 to form a structure stiffened by the fold lines and the welds. The support 31 consists of two branches 311, 312 in lying V, a lower branch 311 and an upper branch 312. These branches are provided with folded tabs 311a, 312a with circular cutout 311b, 312b to surround the pipe 25 of the bottom and 'a ring of holes 311c, 312c to receive screws for fixing the two legs, at the bottom 2, around the pipe 25.

Beyond the branches 311, 312 of the support 31 and of the elements 321-324 and of the guide 32, the other parts of this structure have both a support function and a function of guiding the liquid and the entrained or released gases.

40 Thus, (figures 2 and 4) the lower branch 311 joins a rising blade 313 stiffened by a fold 313a and provided in its upper part with a circular cutout 313b to receive the end 33b of the flexible hose 33.

The blade 313 is connected in the upper part to the elements constituting the guide 32, namely the elements 321, 322, 323, 324 which are a succession of facets folded or welded together and constituting a polygonal path

BL-5497 LU502043 curved, oriented downwards to form a kind of weir completed by an inclined element 315 at the lower end of the blade

313. The inclined element 315 forms a weir directing the liquid towards the front of the tank, unhindered by obstacles to calm the flow and avoid turbulence when the level of liquid in the tank is low. This liquid material guide path thus has a descending, collected path, formed by elements 321, 322, 323, 324 and 315.

The rising branch 313 joins an extension, preferably horizontal 314 provided with a partition 316 at right angle and therefore substantially vertical; at the front the partition is connected to a panel 317 folded at right angles, at the front of the separating device, this bulk allows the pivoting of the bottom 2 to present the separating device 3 to the control, accessible outside the tank.

At the rear, the partition 316 continues with a blade 318 joining the back 2b of the bottom 2; it has a reduced height so that, on the one hand, the partition 316 rises as high as possible in the tank (FIG. 2) next to the float valve 111 and, on the other hand, the reduced height prevents a gas pocket is retained on the other side of the partition 316 and of the blade 318 with respect to the valve 111. This blade 318 thus forms a third branch of the support 31, connected to the bottom 3b.

The support 31 and the guide 32 are connected by the partition 316: - the guide 32 formed of the elements 321-324, the blade 313 and its downwardly inclined deflector extension 315, is field welded to the part 316a in rectangular trapezium shape of the partition 316.

On the other side of the partition 316, the panel 317 joined to the partition 316 and to the extension 314 stabilizes the liquid and protects the air outlet 11 against waves along the extension 314. After this assembly, the support 31 and the guide 32 are stiffened by the connections at right angles avoiding the vibrations that could be generated by the flow of liquid materials and gas emerging from the flexible 33. This also makes it possible to move the flexible end 33a 33 away from the valve 111 to improve air/liquid separation.

40 The front view (FIG. 5) of the back 2b of the lid 2 highlights the transversely offset shape of the branch 312 of the support 31 from the off-center position of the pipe 25 with respect to the drain orifice 23 at the point bottom bottom 2.

45 The combination of Figures 3 and 4 shows the offset of the branches 311, 312 in the transverse direction, towards the median plane of the tank 1 and

BL-5497 LU502043 the location of the guide 332 and the extension 314 on either side of the partition 316, the plane of which passes next to the outlet 11 and the valve 111. The rear view according to FIG. 5 shows the transverse offset between the lower end 33a of the hose 33 and its upper end 33b which opens near the median vertical plane of the tank 1 near the highest point. In summary, the partition 316 forms a separation of the flows between the outlet of the liquid materials emerging from the hose 33 and the air outlet 11 so that the stream of liquid is not oriented towards the air outlet 11 and does not disturb not the operation by the moving level of the float 111 of the valve.

The presentation of the separator device 3 in these figures also shows that the support 31 and the guide 32 are produced by bent or welded blades, to offer the least grip to the flow of liquids and the passage of gases without favoring the creation of pockets of gas and they facilitate the examination of the state of this structure and, if necessary, interventions on it.

The sleeve 33C is made of anti-sparking and antistatic material and the hose 33 is made of antistatic synthetic material.

The support 31 and the guide 32 are protected by parts made of anti-sparking and antistatic materials.

FIG. 6A shows a side view of the separator device 3 and of the profile of the hose 33 in the closed position of the bottom 2. FIG. 6B shows the open position of the bottom 2 allowing direct control and without disassembly of the separator device 3. These figures show also in side view, the very simple general shape of the separator device 3 and its accessibility from the sides if we take into account Figure 5.

figure 7 shows, by arrows, the circulation of liquid materials and gases conducted by the hose 33 in the upper part of the guide 32 and of the gases which escape and go towards the air outlet 11.

Figures 6A, 6B, 7 also show the anti-spark coating of the 40 elements of the separator device and in particular of the facets of the guide 32.

BL-5497 LU502043

NOMENCLATURE OF THE MAIN ELEMENTS 1 Cistern 11 Air outlet 111 Float valve 12 Hinge bracket 2 Opening bottom 2a Outside side of the bottom 2b Back of the bottom 21 Return 211 Closing bolt stopper 212 Bottom opening/closing cylinder support 22 Hinge 221 Rib 25 Inlet pipe 251 Connector 253 Valve 3 Separator device 31 Support 311 Lower leg 311a Folded leg 311b Circular cutout 311c Crown of holes 312 Upper leg 312a Folded leg 312b Circular cutout 312c Crown of holes 313 Rising leg 313a Fold 313a Circular cutout 314 Extension 315 Inclined element / deflector element 316 Partition 316a Trapezoidal part 317 Panel 318 Blade 32 Guide 321 Element 322 Element 323 Element 324 Element 33 Hose 33a Lower end 33b Upper end 33c Coupling Pumping pipe

Claims (9)

BL-5497 LU502043 CLAIMS 1. Hydrocleaner (1) with pneumatic pumping of liquid materials from a tank comprising: - a tank (1) with an opening bottom (2) connected to the tank by hinges (22), - the opening bottom (2) having a inlet of liquid materials (25), - the tank (1) having, in the upper part, an air outlet (11) for the air and the gases given off by the liquid materials arriving in the tank (1), sewer cleaner characterized in that that - the lid (2) comprises - a pipe (25) installed in the lower part of the bottom (2) and passing through the latter, and having on the outside a connection to fix the pumping pipe (5), - a flexible hose ( 33) connected by one end (33a) to the pipe (25) emerging at the back (2b) of the bottom (2), - a separator device (3) for separating liquids and gases, this separator device (3) being fixed on the back (2b) of the bottom (2) and coming into the volume of the tank (1) when the bottom (2) is closed, being accessible when the bottom (2) is open, - the separating device (3) comprises taking: * a support (31) fixed to the back (2b) receiving the hose (33) to hold its outlet end (33b) in the upper part of the tank (1) when the bottom (2) is closed, * a guide (32) at the outlet (33b) of the hose (33) to guide the liquid down into the tank (1) and let the gases separate therefrom, at least certain surfaces of the piping (25), of the hose (33), the separator device (3) for its support (31) and its guide (32) are made or covered with an anti-spark material. 2. Hydrocleaner (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the support (31) is an open structure formed of two branches (311, 312) one end of which (311a, 312a) is fixed around the pipe (25) on the back (2b) of the bottom (2), these branches being connected at their other end to a partition (316) separating, at the top of the tank (1), the outlet (33b) of the hose (33) and the outlet of air (11). 3. Hydrocureur (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the support (31) consists of two branches (311, 312) whose lower branch (311) is connected to a rising branch (313) joining near the top of the tank (1), a substantially horizontal extension (314) passing under the float valve (111) installed at the top of the tank (1), the rising branch (313) and the extension (314) joining on the field 45 the opposite sides of the partition (316). BL-5497 LU502043 4. Hydrocleaner (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the guide (32) is composed on one side, facing the outlet of the hose (33, 33a), of a series of elements (321-324 ) flat, forming a downward guide curve, applied on the field against a part (316a) of the partition (316), this series of elements (321-324) facing the rising branch (313) which forms another part of the guide and is continued downwards by an element (315), inclined under and opposite the series of elements (321-324), to reverse the direction of guiding the flow of liquid. 5. Hydrocureur (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the partition (316) extends above the extension (314), leaving a gap relative to the latter, by a blade (318) joining the back (2b) of the opening bottom (2) to which the end of the slat (318) is fixed. 6. Hydrocleaner (1) according to any one of claims 2 and 5, characterized in that the extension (314), front side AB is connected to a panel also connected to the partition (316). 7. Hydrocleaner (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the support (31) and the guide (32) are produced mainly by blades or parts of blades oriented transversely to the longitudinal direction AV / AR, that is to say perpendicular to a longitudinal vertical plane of the tank (1) leaving accessible and open the two sides of the structure combining the support (31) and the guide (32) and therefore the meeting is locally closed by the panel (316) and its part (316a). 8. Hydrocleaner (1) according to any one of claims 3 and 7, characterized in that the branches (311, 312) and their continuation formed by the rising branch (313) and the extension (314) start from their common fixing by the folded tabs (311a, 312a) fixed around the piping (25) have, on the one hand, the right side of the branches (311, 313) on the side of the plane of the partition (316) and on the other hand, the left side at least of the extension (314) of the other side of the plane of the partition (316), according to the orientation going from the front front to the rear rear of the tank (1). 9. Hydrocleaner (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the hose (33) is made of an anti-sparking and antistatic synthetic material and the support (31) and the guide (32) are protected by parts made of anti-sparking materials. and antistatic.