WO1987001410A1

WO1987001410A1 - A hydraulic concrete bin

Info

Publication number: WO1987001410A1
Application number: PCT/FI1986/000089
Authority: WO
Inventors: Pekka Rautio
Original assignee: Rakennusliike Insinöörirakentajat Oy
Priority date: 1985-08-26
Filing date: 1986-08-15
Publication date: 1987-03-12
Also published as: FI853261L; FI73289B; FI853261A0; FI73289C

Abstract

A hydraulic concrete bin (1) which comprises a control unit (5) for controlling the hydraulic operations of the concrete bin (1). In order that the operational costs of the concrete bin (1) were low and in order that the use of the bin (1) were secure, the control unit (5) comprises a detector (6) and a decoder which enable a wireless operation of the control unit by means of a control device emitting infrared rays. The infrared rays sent from the control device to the detector (6) are applied from the detector to the decoder through a conductor (7), the decoder identifying the signal in order to effect the desired hydraulic operation of the concrete bin (1).

Description

A hydraulic concrete bin

The invention relates to a hydraulic concrete bin comprising a control unit for wireless control of the hydraulic operations of the concrete bin.

Hydraulic concrete bins are widely used on buil¬ ding sites. Such bins act as intermediate concrete storage containers before the concrete is transported to the point of application thereof. The concrete is usually transported to the point of application by means of a transport container operated by a tower crane.

The hydraulic system of a hydraulic concrete bin, which system comprises hydraulic valves, hydraulic cylin¬ ders, and at least one hydraulic motor, effects the desired operations of the bin, i.e. lifting of the bin to an emptying position and lowering thereof to a filling position; opening and closing of an emptying hatch pro- vided in the bottom part of the bin; and possible vibra¬ tion of the bin. Today, these operations usually require that a person operating the control mechanism of the bin must nearly all the time be positioned beside the bin. This is not only expensive but also dangerous: when the concrete transport container is brought to the concrete bin and away therefrom by means of the tower crane (or some other device), the transport container may shove the person beside the concrete bin with serious consequences.

Attempts have been made to avoid the above-men¬ tioned drawbacks by means of a cable-controlled concrete bin, i.e. by controlling the operations of the concrete bin from the control cabin of a tower crane. This idea, however, has not proved to be particularly practicable, because the cable by means of which the control of the operations of the bin is effected gets tangled very easi¬ ly and, consequently, is easily damaged. When the tower crane performs a circular motion, the cable is wound around the crane and is thus exposed to mechanical strain, A^" cable lying on a building site is very liable to damage for many other reasons, too. Furthermore, a multicore cable is expensive as well as a power-current operated control device.

5 Further, concrete bins have been developed in which the operations of the bin are radio-controlled. The use of this arrangement is disadvantageous in that it is expensive inconstruction and that a regional ^'licence subject to a charge must be obtained from the

10. local authorities for the use of radio-controlled de¬ vices. In practice, several licences have to be applied, because the concrete bins and tower cranes used on buil¬ dings sites are frequently transported from one locality to another.

15^'* The object of the present invention is to provide a- hydraulic concrete bin the use of which does not bring about the above problems but enables the concrete bin to be- operated wihtout any security risks and with an extremely small amount of labour. This object is achieved 0 by the utilization of an infrared control technique known per se for a long time. According to the invention the wireless operation of the control unit and the starting of the desired operations of the concrete bin are effected by providing the control unit with a 5^" detector for receiving infrared rays from the control device and a decoder for the identification of the signals coming from the detector through a conductor.

A major advantage of the hydraulic concrete bin according to the invention is that the control of the 0 bin does not require any "extra" person for the opera¬ tion of the bin, but the operator of the tower crane, far instance, can control the operations of the bin; and the control of the bin is effected in a simple manner which is both reliable in operation and inexpensive. In 5 addition, the system can be transported from one locality to another without any problems. Also, safety at work will be increased when the concrete bin according to the invention is used on a building site.

The invention will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing, wherein ~ 5 Figure 1 illustrates a hydraulic concrete bin, a control unit attached thereto, and a concrete transport container positioned thereby,

Figure 2 illustrates a wireless control device of the control unit shown in Figure 1 , and

10 Figure 3 illustrates schematically the system according to the invention.

Figure 1 illustrates one embodiment of the hydraulic concrete bin according to the invention. The concrete bin, which is generally indicated by the

15 reference numeral 1, can be lifted up and lowered along bars indicated by the reference numeral 2 under the control of hydraulic and magnetic valves which are connected in parallel. The vertical movement of the bin 1 is effected by means of a hydraulic lifting cylinder

20 which is driven by a contactor-controlled hydraulic motor (not shown in the figure) . The bottom part of the concrete bin 1 is provided with an emptying hatch which is indicated by the reference numeral 3 and through which the concrete is tapped into another vessel, i.e.

25 a concrete transport container. In the Figure, this transport container, which is indicated by the reference numeral 4, is seen in the left connected to the hook of a tower crane. The closing and opening of the emptying hatch 3 is also effected hydraulically. In order to make

30 the filling and emptying of the concrete bin 1 easier, a hydraulic contactor-controlled vibration motor (not shown in the figure) is connected thereto. The operations of the concrete bin 1 are controlled by a control unit which is attached at the side of the bin 1 to the bars 2

35 _and which is indicated generally by the reference nume¬ ral 5. The control unit 5 can be operated either manually by pressing the buttons thereof or in a wireless manner by means of a control device and a detector 6 thereof, to which detector infrared rays are sent. The rays are converted into signals and transmitted from the detector 6 to the control unit through a conductor 7, thus effec¬ ting the control of the magnetic valves and the contac¬ tors so that the desired operations of the hydraulic system get started. The length of the conductor 7 bet¬ ween the detector 6 and the concrete bin 1 can be several tens of meters. When the length of the conductor 7 is 30 to 40 meters, it is always possible in practice to mount the detector in a location where it is capable of receiving the infrared rays sent thereto without hamper¬ ing the work on the building site. If required, the control unit can always be operated manually.

Figure 2 illustrates the control device of the system, which device emits infrared rays. This device, which is indicated by the reference numeral 8, can be held in hand is battery-operated. The battery can be of any commercially available type, e.g. a small-sized battery of 9 volts, the operating time of the battery being long due to the low power consumption of the control device 8. The cover of the housing of the control device 8 is provided with push buttons, whereby a wave length and a message desired in each particular case can be sent from the device by pressing these buttons. The control device shown in the figure comprises a main switch 9 and eight push buttons A to H by means of which e.g. the following operations are controlled: A = the hydraulic motor on, B = the hydraulic motor off, C = the concrete bin up, D = the concrete bin down, E = the empty¬ ing hatch open, F = the emptying hatch closed, G = vibration on, and H = vibration off. One end of the control device according to the figure is provided with openings 10, 11 and 12 through which rays having diffe¬ rent wave lengths are sent towards the detector 6. The distance between the control device 8 and the detector 6 can be up to 80 m, whereby the operating range of the control device 8 and the concrete bin 1 is sufficient to meet the practical requirements. A strap 13 is attached to the control device 8 so that this can be easily carried.

Figure 3 illustrates schematically the idea of the invention. An infrared ray from the control device 8 is directed to the detector 6, wherefrom a signal is sent to a decoder 14. After the signal has been identi¬ fied by the decoder 14, the control unit 5 puts into effect the desired operations of the hydraulic system 15.

Even though it has been stated above that the control device is operated from the tower crane, it is equally possible to control the operations of the con¬ crete bin from some other suitable place, e.g. from a building site vehicle. The concrete bin does not necessarily need to perform precisely the operations described above; the operations can be modified in the scope of the idea of the invention and the attached claims.

Claims

Claims:

1. A hydraulic concrete bin ( 1 ) comprising a control unit (5) for wireless control of the hydraulic operations of the concrete bin, c h a r a c t e r i z ¬ e d in that the wireless operation of the control unit (5) and the starting of the desired operations of the concrete bin ( 1 ) are effected by providing the control unit (5) with a detector (6) for receiving infrared rays ^, from the control device (8) and a decoder (14) for the identification of signals coming from the detector through a conductor ( 7) .

2. A hydraulic concrete bin (1) according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the housing of the control device (8) is provided with push buttons for starting a desired operation of the concrete bin ( 1 ) .

3. A hydraulic concrete bin (1) according to claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the wave length of the infrared rays coming from the control device (8) is determined by the operation which the concrete bin ( 1 ) is to perform.

4. A hydraulic concrete bin (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the housing of the control unit (5) is provided with push buttons for a manual operation of the control unit in a conventional manner.

5. A hydraulic concrete bin (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the desired operations of the concrete bin ( 1 ) ' preferably comprise lifting of the bin to an emptying position and lowering thereof to a filling position, opening and closing of an emptying hatch (3) provided in the bottom part of the bin, and switching on and off the vibration of the bin.