WO2008023884A1

WO2008023884A1 - Water-reusing sewage treatment apparatus of garbage vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2008023884A1
Application number: PCT/KR2007/002965
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bung-Jeon Han; Dong-Hwi Shin; Wan-Soo Do; Sung-Nam Chun
Original assignee: Sealy Co., Ltd.; Korea Electric Power Corporation
Priority date: 2006-08-21
Filing date: 2007-06-19
Publication date: 2008-02-28
Also published as: CN101309871B; CN101309871A; JP2010501329A; JP4967022B2; KR100674138B1; MY178348A

Abstract

A sewage treatment apparatus of a garbage vehicle separates sludge from collected sewage and filters the sewage to supply reusable water. The apparatus comprises a first filter (20) provided as a partition inside a sludge tank (10), a second filter (30) to filter the sewage filtered by the first filter (20), a first water pump (40) to pump the sewage passed through the second filter (30) to an outside of the sludge tank (10), a filter tank (50) to receive the sewage pumped by the first water pump (40) and filter the sewage with a filter unit (60) to produce treated water as reusable water, a second water pump (70) to pump the treated water into a water tank (80), and the water tank (80) to receive the treated water pumped by the second water pump (70). The water tank (80) comprises separate water tanks (80a) and (80b) disposed at opposite sides of the sludge tank (10) and configured to allow water to be distributed thereto via a communication pipe.

Description

WATER-REUSING SEWAGE TREATMENT APPARATUS OF

GARBAGE VEHICLE

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a vacuum suction vehicle for cleaning manholes or drains, and more particularly to a water-reusing sewage treatment apparatus of a garbage vehicle that enables reuse of water in such a way as to suck sewage containing sludge from manholes or drains, collect the sewage in a sludge tank, separate the sludge from the collected sewage, and filter the sewage to supply reusable water to a spray pump for a cleaning operation.

Background Art

[2] Generally, installations such as manholes for electric or communication facilities, drains, and the like require periodic cleaning due to corrosion, inflow of foreign matter, etc. When cleaning the manholes or the drains, a conventional vacuum suction vehicle generally sprays water at high pressure and sucks sewage along with sludge after cleaning.

[3] The conventional vacuum suction vehicle includes a double tank divided into a water tank for containing water for high-pressure spraying to clean sludge and dirt, and a sludge tank for collecting sewage containing the sludge and dirt, a high-pressure pump and a nozzle to spray water at high pressure from the water tank, and a suction pump to suck the sewage containing the sludge and dirt.

[4] When cleaning the manholes or the drains using such a conventional garbage vehicle as described above, water in the water tank is sprayed through the nozzle by means of the high-pressure pump to perform the cleaning operation, and sewage remaining after the cleaning is sucked and collected along with sludge in the sludge tank by means of the suction pump.

[5] Here, when the sludge tank is completely filled with the sewage, the sewage must be discharged therefrom for a subsequent cleaning operation, and when the water tank lacks water, water must be supplied again thereto.

[6] Therefore, the conventional garbage vehicle has disadvantages in that, since it must move to other locations for sewage discharge or water supply during the cleaning operation, it takes a long time to perform the cleaning operation, and, in that, since it has the sludge and sewage in a mixed state inside the sludge tank, additional costs are required for treatment of the mixture, which deteriorates economic efficiency of the conventional garbage vehicle. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[7] The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sewage treatment apparatus of a garbage vehicle that enables efficient reuse of water in such a way as to separate sludge from sewage produced by cleaning and having been sucked into the apparatus, and to filter the sewage to supply reusable water for cleaning, thereby improving cleaning efficiency.

[8] It is another object of the present invention to provide the sewage treatment apparatus of the garbage vehicle that is constituted with independent tanks comprising a sludge tank disposed at the center of the apparatus, at least one water tank disposed around the sludge tank, and a filter tank separated from the sludge tank and including fiber filters to purify sewage filtered through a filter mesh in the sludge tank, enabling more efficient sludge separation and allocation of capacities to the respective tanks as well as effective use of mounting space in the vehicle. Technical Solution

[9] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, the above and other objects of the present invention can be achieved by the provision of a sewage treatment apparatus of a vacuum suction vehicle for cleaning manholes or drains by spraying high-pressure water from a water tank and withdrawal of sewage and sludge in a sludge tank via vacuum suction, the apparatus comprising: a first filter provided as a partition inside the sludge tank to filter garbage or foreign matter having a large volume from sewage sucked into the sludge tank through a suction port of the sludge tank; a second filter disposed at a discharge port of the sludge tank to secondarily filter the sewage having passed through the first filter; a first water pump to pump the sewage from the sludge tank to an outside through the discharge port; a filter tank to receive the sewage supplied from the sewage tank by the first water pump and filter the sewage using a rotational filter unit disposed therein to separate sludge from the sewage; and a second water pump to pump water filtered and removed of the sludge through the filter tank and to supply the water into the water tank.

[10] The filter unit may comprise a power generator provided outside the filter tank to generate a rotational force in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction; a power transmission provided inside the filter tank to transmit the rotational force of the power generator while defining a discharge path for discharging treated water; a discharge hose connected with the discharge path of the power transmission to guide the treated water to be discharged to the outside of the filter tank along the discharge path; a rotational coupling member rotated by the rotational force from the power transmission and having a hollow space defined therein; a cylindrical filter barrel having plural water passing holes formed therein, and a connection tube extending from one end of the filter barrel and coupled to the discharge path of the power transmission through the hollow hole of the rotational coupling member to guide the treated water to flow to the discharge path, the filter barrel being closed at the other end thereof; a plurality of fiber holders radially secured to the rotational coupling member at one side of the filter barrel and to a bracket at the other end closed; a plurality of fiber filters fixedly connected between the fiber holders at the opposite sides of the filter barrel; a holding frame coupled at one side to the rotational coupling member and at the other side to a rotational shaft of the filter barrel to maintain rotation of the filter barrel while holding the filter unit; and a rotation check mechanism including a rotation check member provided to the holding frame and latch protrusions formed on the bracket to restrict rotation in one direction while enabling rotation in an opposite direction. [11] The apparatus may further comprise an on/off valve to open or close a reusable water path defined between the second water pump and the water tank, and a return valve to open or close a return path defined between the second water pump and the filter tank to return reusable water from the second water pump to the filter tank for a predetermined time period at an initial operation of the filter unit.

Advantageous Effects

[12] According to the present invention, the sewage treatment apparatus of the vacuum suction vehicle enables reuse of sewage as cleaning water using a filter unit and other components by filtering the sewage collected after water spray cleaning, accomplishes efficient use of the mounting space in the vehicle through independent installation of at least one water tank, a sludge tank and a filter tank, and optimizes capacities of the water tank and the sludge tank with respect to the size of the vehicle. Brief Description of the Drawings

[13] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a water-reusing sewage treatment apparatus of a garbage vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention;

[14] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the independent construction of tanks of the apparatus according to the present invention;

[15] Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating the construction of a filter tank and a filter unit of the apparatus according to the present invention;

[16] Fig. 4 is a constructional view of the filter unit of the apparatus according to the present invention;

[17] Fig. 5 is a view of a rotation check structure of the filter unit according to the present invention; and

[18] FIG. 6 is a diagram of a water-reusing sewage treatment apparatus of a garbage vehicle according to another embodiment of the present invention. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[19] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[20] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a water-reusing sewage treatment apparatus of a garbage vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[21] According to the present invention, a sewage treatment apparatus is mounted on a garbage vehicle to perform a cleaning operation via spraying high-pressure water and to collect sewage produced by the cleaning operation. The apparatus comprises a sludge tank 10 evacuated to a vacuum by means of a vacuum suction device (not shown) to suck sewage through sewage suction hoses 11, 12; a first filter 20 provided as a partition inside the sludge tank 10 to primarily filter the sucked sewage; a second filter 30 to secondarily filter the sewage filtered by the first filter 10; a first water pump 40 to pump the sewage filtered by the second filter 30 from the sludge tank 10 to an outside; a filter tank 50 to filter the sewage pumped by the first water pump 40 using a filter unit 60 to provide purified water as reusable water; a second water pump 70 to generate and apply a suction force to the filter unit 60 of the filter tank 50, such that sludge can be separated from the sewage through a fiber filter in the filter tank 50, and to pump the purified water; and water tank 80 from which water is sprayed at high pressure through a high pressure nozzle (not shown) for the cleaning operation and to which the purified water pumped by the second water pump 70 is supplied. For the apparatus according to the invention, a controller is generally disposed in an operating room of the vehicle to control a motor, valves, and other components. Here, the controller monitors operation of these components in response to signals sent from sensors which detect operating states of the components, and has a similar construction to that of a conventional vacuum suction garbage vehicle. The controller comprises program and signal connections for controlling the operation. Detailed description of the controller and the program are omitted herein.

[22] The sludge tank 10 is a typical sludge tank, which can be mounted on the vehicle and is configured to collect sewage in a vacuum suction manner. For vacuum suction, the sludge tank 10 has a cylindrical body, and includes a hatch 10a and a boom 13 disposed on the top of the tank 10 to allow movement of suction hoses (not shown). The sludge tank 10 has a sewage suction path, which is defined by a first suction hose 11a detachably connected to the boom 13 and a second suction hose 1 Ib detachably connected to a valve 12 passing through the hatch 10a. In Fig. 1, reference numeral 10b denotes a vacuum suction connecting device connected to a high vacuum device. Here, since the sludge tank 10 is the same as or similar to that of a conventional garbage vehicle and the constructions of the suction hose connecting device, hatch, vacuum suction device, nozzles, etc. are well known in the art, detailed description thereof will be omitted herein. The present invention has a characteristic in that the first filter 20 is provided as the partition and the second filter 30 is provided to secondarily filter sewage filtered through the first filter 20 in the sludge tank 10.

[23] After being filtered by the first and second filters in the sludge tank 10, sewage is pumped toward the filter tank 50 through a valve 41 by means of the first water pump 40. When supplied into the filter tank 50 through a valve 51 by the first water pump 40, the sewage is purified through the filter unit 60 inside the filter tank 50 to separate sludge therefrom and to produce reusable water, which is supplied to the second water pump 70 through a valve 53 to be reused as cleaning water. Reference numeral 52 denotes a drain valve for discharging the sludge inside the filter tank 50.

[24] The water tank 80 may comprise a single tank or two separate tanks 80a and 80b disposed at opposite sides of the sludge tank 10 and in communication with each other through a communication pipe (not shown), as shown in Fig. 2. The water tank 80 is provided with a water supplying device to supply water from outside thereto, a high pressure pump to spray water at high pressure, a hose having a high pressure nozzle attached thereto, etc., which are not shown in the drawings and have the same constructions as those of the conventional garbage vehicle.

[25] The apparatus may further comprise an on/off valve 72 to open or close a reusable water path defined between the second water pump 70 and the water tank 80, and a return valve 71 to open or close a return path defined between the second water pump 70 and the filter tank 50 to return reusable water from the second water pump 70 to the filter tank 50 for a predetermined time period at an initial stage of the filter unit.

[26] Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating the construction of the filter tank and the filter unit of the apparatus according to the invention, Fig. 4 is a constructional view of the filter unit of the apparatus of the invention, and Fig. 5 is a view of a rotation check structure of the filter unit according to the invention.

[27] In the filter tank, a hydraulic motor 61 is provided as a power generating unit, a swivel 62 having a rotational shaft 62b rotatably inserted into a case 62a is provided as a power transmission, and a rotational coupler 62c is provided as a rotational coupling member.

[28] Specifically, the filter unit 60 may comprise the hydraulic motor 61 provided outside the filter tank 50 and having a rotational shaft inserted into the filter tank 50 through a bushing to generate a rotational force in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction; the swivel 62, which is coupled to the rotational shaft of the hydraulic motor 61 to transmit the rotational force from the hydraulic motor 61 inside the filter tank 50, and which includes the rotational shaft 62b having a hollow space through which purified water passes and rotatably inserted into the case 62a having a purified water discharge port; the rotational coupler 62c coupled to the rotational shaft 62b of the swivel to transmit the rotational force and having a hollow space formed therein; a cylindrical filter barrel 63 including plural water passing holes formed therein, a connection tube 63a extending from one end of the filter barrel 63 to be inserted into the hollow space of the rotational coupler such that the treated water can pass through the connection tube 63a, and a rotation support shaft 63b extending from the other end thereof which is closed; a bracket 66d through which the rotational support shaft 63b of the filter barrel 63 is inserted and on which a plurality of latch protrusions 66c are circumferentially formed at a predetermined distance from the center of the bracket 66d; a plurality of fiber holders 66a and 66b radially secured to the rotational coupler 62c and the bracket 66d, respectively; a plurality of fiber filters 65 each being coupled at opposite ends to the fiber holders 66a and 66b positioned at opposite sides of the filter barrel by means of hooks; a holding frame 67 coupled to the rotational coupler 62c and the rotation support shaft 63 to hold the filter unit while rotatably supporting the rotational coupler 62c and rotation support shaft 63; a rotation check member 67a secured to the holding frame 67 to be folded in one direction by a spring and latched in the other direction to enable rotation only in the one direction through a latch behavior with the latch protrusions 66c of the bracket 66d; and a discharge hose 68 connected with the discharge port formed in the case 62a of the swivel 62 to guide the treated water to be discharged to the second water pump 70 via a valve 53 outside the filter tank 50. Reference numeral 54 denotes an air safety valve.

[29] In cleaning operation by the garbage vehicle having the sewage treatment apparatus of the invention mounted thereon, after filling water tank 80 (80a, 80b) with water, the garbage vehicle is moved to a target location and cleans a manhole or a drain by spraying high-pressure water toward the manhole or the drain from the water tank 80 using a high pressure spray device (not shown). During the cleaning, the sludge tank 10 is evacuated to a vacuum state by a high vacuum device (not shown) such that sewage can be collected in the sludge tank 10 through one or both of the suction hose 1 Ia connected to the boom 13 and the suction hose 1 Ib connected to the hatch 10a.

[30] After being collected in the sludge tank 10, the sewage is filtered by the first filter 20 through which garbage or foreign matter having a large volume is separated from the sewage, and is then filtered again by the second filter 30. At this time, by operating the first water pump 40, the sewage filtered by the second filter 30 is supplied as treated water from the sludge tank 10 to the filter tank 50.

[31] In the filter tank 50, the treated water is purified by the filter unit 60 to produce reusable water, which is sent to the water tank 80 by the second water pump 70. Here, in the event where the second filter 30 is blocked by sludge to prevent the first water pump 40 from pumping the treated water, the sludge can be removed from the second filter 30 by supplying the treated water back to the second filter 30 using the first pump 40.

[32] The filter unit 60 of the filter tank 50 employs the hydraulic motor 61 that is capable of rotating in clockwise/ counterclockwise directions and can rotate at a lower speed when the filter tank is filled with the treated water. The rotational force of the motor 61 is transmitted to rotate the rotational coupler 62c through the rotational shaft 62b of the swivel 62 acting as the power transmission.

[33] The fiber holders 66a are secured to the rotational coupler 62c to hold one side of each fiber filter 65 and rotated to cause rotation of the fiber filters 65. As the fiber filters 65 are rotated, the rotational force is applied from the fiber filters 65 to the fiber holders 66b that hold the other side of each fiber filter 65. Then, the rotation of the fiber filters 65 is restricted when the latch protrusions 66c of the bracket 66d are latched by the rotation check member 67a, which serves to help a unidirectional rotation of the filter unit.

[34] In other words, by the clockwise rotation, the fiber holders 66a at one side are rotated, whereas the fiber holders 66b at the other side are stopped due to restriction of the rotation check member. As a result, the fiber filters 65 are tightly twisted. At this time, the hydraulic motor 61 generates the rotational force until a predetermined load is applied thereto, and is controlled to maintain the predetermined load.

[35] While operating the motor 61 to rotate and twist the fiber filters 65 as described above, the second water pump 70 is operated to pump purified water into the filter barrel 63. Thus, as sewage passes through the fiber filters 65 in a twisted state by the rotational force as described above, sludge is separated from the sewage, and as the filtered sewage passes through an outer barrel 64 and the water passing holes of the filter barrel 63, sludge is further separated from the sewage.

[36] As the second water pump 70 is driven to pump purified water which has been treated through the fiber filters 65, outer barrel 64 and filter barrel 63, the purified water is sucked into the rotational shaft 62b of the swivel 62 through the connection tube 63a of the filter barrel 63, passes through the rotational shaft 62b to a discharge water hose 78, and is finally pumped to the outside through the second water pump 70 via the valve 53.

[37] Here, at an initial stage of operation, water is recovered to the filter tank 50 by closing a valve 72 disposed between an outlet pipe of the second water pump 70 and the water tank 80 while opening the return valve 71 which serves to return water to the filter tank 50. That is, since water containing sludge is sucked before the fiber filters 65 are twisted to a desired density at the initial stage, treated water in the second water pump 70 is returned to the filter tank 50 typically for 1 or 2 minutes.

[38] In a normal mode after such a return mode as described above, the return valve 71 is closed, whereas the valve 72 is opened, allowing the purified water to flow into the water tank 80.

[39] With the process as described above, sewage is collected, filtered and treated through the filter tank and the like, and is finally supplied to the water tank 80 from which the purified water can be supplied as cleaning water. Then, in the case where water is not sucked well due to sludge trapped between fibers of the fiber filters 64, that is, in the case where the second water pump 70 lacks water and is overloaded, the second water pump 70 is stopped and the motor 61 is driven in the counterclockwise direction.

[40] Then, the rotational force of the motor 61 is transmitted to the rotational coupler 62c via the swivel 62, so that the rotational coupler 62c is rotated to cause rotation of the fiber holder 66a in the counterclockwise direction, thereby untwisting the fiber filters 65. At this time, as the fiber filters 65 are untwisted, the fiber holders 66b at the other side of the filter barrel are subjected to the rotational force of the fiber filters 65 in the counterclockwise direction, and rotated with the latch protrusions 66c sliding along slanted planes of the rotation check members 67a, respectively. Specifically, when the fiber holders 66b are rotated in the counterclockwise direction, each of the rotation check members 67a resiliently supported by the spring (not shown) allows the latch protrusion 66c to be rotated while sliding along the slanted plane of each rotation check member 67a, so that the clockwise rotation of the latch protrusions 66c is restricted, whereas the counterclockwise rotation thereof is allowed.

[41] Therefore, as the fiber filters 65 are rotated and untwisted by the rotational force of the fiber holders 66a at one side, the fiber holder 66b at the other side is also rotated by the rotational force transmitted thereto via the fiber filters 65, so that the fiber filters 65 are not twisted during the counterclockwise rotation.

[42] In this manner, by untwisting the fiber filters 65 through the counterclockwise rotation, the sludge trapped between the fibers are separated therefrom. Then, the apparatus is operated in the normal mode after being operated in the return mode of the initial stage while rotating the motor in the clockwise direction.

[43] Here, the sludge accumulated on the bottom of the filter tank 50 can be removed by opening the drain valve 52. In addition, the sludge and foreign matter accumulated inside the sludge tank 10 can be removed by opening the sludge tank 10 and slanting the sludge tank 10.

[44] Fig. 6 shows a sewage treatment apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus of this embodiment is different from the apparatus of Fig. 1 in that a third filter 45 having a screen filter shape is disposed between the first water pump 40 and the filter unit 50. Other constitutions of this embodiment are the same as those of the above embodiment, and description thereof will be omitted hereinafter. [45] Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments and the accompanying drawings, it is not limited to the embodiments and the drawings. It should be understood that various modifications and changes can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention defined by the accompanying claims.

[46]

Claims

[1] A sewage treatment apparatus mounted on a garbage vehicle to perform a cleaning operation by spraying high-pressure water and to collect sewage produced by the cleaning operation, comprising: a sludge tank 10 evacuated to a vacuum by means of a vacuum suction device to suck sewage through sewage suction hoses 11, 12; a first filter 20 provided as a partition inside the sludge tank 10 to primarily filter the sucked sewage; a second filter 30 to secondarily filter the sewage filtered by the first filter 10; a first water pump 40 to pump the sewage filtered by the second filter 30 from the sludge tank 10 to an outside; a filter tank 50 to filter the sewage pumped by the first water pump 40 using a filter unit 60 to provide purified water as reusable water; a second water pump 70 to generate and apply a suction force to the filter unit 60 of the filter tank 50 such that sludge can be separated from the sewage by a fiber filter in the filter tank 50 and to pump the purified water; and a water tank 80 from which water is sprayed at high pressure through a high pressure nozzle for the cleaning operation and into which the purified water pumped by the second water pump 70 is supplied.

[2] The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the water tank 80 comprises two separate water tanks 80a and 80b disposed at opposite sides of the sludge tank 10 and in communication with each other through a communication pipe.

[3] The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the filter unit 60 comprises: a hydraulic motor 61 provided outside the filter tank 50 and having a rotational shaft inserted into the filter tank 50 through a bushing to generate a rotational force in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction; a swivel 62 coupled to the rotational shaft of the hydraulic motor 61 to transmit the rotational force of the hydraulic motor 61 inside the filter tank 50, and including a rotational shaft 62b having a hollow space through which the purified water passes and being rotatably inserted into a stationary member 62a having a purified water discharge port; a rotational coupler 62c coupled to the rotational shaft 62b of the swivel to transmit the rotational force and having a hollow space formed therein; a cylindrical filter barrel 63 including plural water passing holes formed therein, a connection tube 63a extending from one end of the filter barrel 63 to be inserted into the hollow space of the rotational coupler such that the treated water can pass through the connection tube 63a, and a rotation support shaft 63b extending from the other end thereof being closed; a bracket 66d through which the rotational support shaft 63b of the filter barrel

63 is inserted and on which a plurality of latch protrusions 66c are circum- ferentially formed at a predetermined distance from a center of the bracket 66d; a plurality of fiber holders 66a and 66b radially secured to the rotational coupler

62c and the bracket 66d, respectively; a plurality of fiber filters 65 each being coupled at opposite ends to the fiber holders 66a and 66b positioned at opposite sides of the filter barrel by means of hooks; a holding frame 67 coupled to the rotational coupler 62c and the rotation support shaft 63 to hold the filter unit while rotatably supporting the rotational coupler

62c and rotation support shaft 63; a rotation check member 67 a secured to the holding frame 67 to be folded in one direction by a spring and latched in the other direction to enable rotation only in the one direction through a latch behavior with the latch protrusions 66c of the bracket 66d; and a discharge hose 68 connected with the discharge port formed in the stationary member 62a of the swivel 62 to guide the treated water to be discharged to the second water pump 70 via a valve outside the filter tank 50.

[4] The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an on/off valve 72 to open or close a reusable water path defined between the second water pump 70 and the water tank 80; and a return valve 71 to open or close a return path defined between the second water pump 70 and the filter tank 50 to return the treated water from the second water pump 70 to the filter tank 50.

[5] The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a third filter 45 between the first water pump 40 and the filter unit 50