IE903670A1 - High Pressure Cleaning Device - Google Patents

Abstract

In a high-pressure cleaning device for discharging cleaning fluid which is made to foam by feeding in compressed air, a water shut-off valve (2) is arranged in the fluid feed line (3, 5) and an air shut-off valve (11) is arranged in the air feed line (12). The cleaning fluid mixed with compressed air is fed to a working hose (6) forming a foaming space and is discharged from the latter in a foamed state. A hose-shaped control line (20) which is fed with compressed air is connected by one end to a reverse valve (21) which, when a high pressure is present on the control line (20), feeds the shut-off valves (2, 11) with compressed air which closes them, and has at its other end adjacent to the outlet end of the working hose (6) a manually opening valve (23). The control line (20) runs partially inside the working hose (6).

Description

The invention relates to a high-pressure cleaning device for the delivery of cleaning fluid foamed by the introduction of compressed air, with a fluid-supply line for water under a high pressure, which can be closed by a water shut-off valve, and with an air-supply line for compressed air, which can be closed by an air shut-off valve, which is connected to the fluid-supply line between the water shut-off valve and a working-hose, which is connected to the fluid-supply line and forms a foaming space, and with a chemicals-supply line connected in the region between the water shut-off valve and the connection of the air-supply line to the fluid-supply line.

In a known high-pressure cleaner of this type (German Patent Application P 24 45 689.1) the high-pressure water is passed through an injector or a water-jet pump with the chemicals-supply line connected to its intake opening, so that the high-pressure water carries along the chemicals and a mixing of water and chemicals takes place, which mixture then on the introduction of compressed air reaches the foaming space where the cleaning foam, to be delivered under high pressure, is formed.

A great many different possibilities are available for high-pressure cleaning devices to ensure that the supply of high-pressure water or the like is interrupted when the operator interrupts the cleaning process. For example, a known means of achieving this is to transmit electrical signals by means of separately provided electrical devices from the delivery area, e.g. - 2 the handle part of the lance, connected to the working-hose, to the corresponding control means, so that the latter interrupt the supply of the material to be delivered.

The disadvantage of this known process is that it is relatively costly because it requires specially protected and constructed devices, and/or it does not always function reliably under rough usage .

The object of the invention is to provide, in a high-pressure cleaning device for delivering foamed cleaning fluid, a simple and reliable means of interrupting the supply of high-pressure water and compressed air when the operator releases a control which is held in an operating position during use.

To achieve this object, a high-pressure cleaning device of the type mentioned in the introduction is constructed according to the invention by a control line in the form of a hose which can be pressurized with compressed air and which is closed off next to the outlet end of the working-hose by means of a valve which can be opened manually and of which the end facing away from the valve is connected to a reverse valve, which when a high pressure builds up in the control line pressurizes the shut-off valves with this compressed air, and in which the control line runs at least partly inside the working-hose.

In the high-pressure cleaning device according to the invention, the compressed air provided for the foaming process is therefore used as a control medium, in that a valve held open during use by the operator by pressure on a handle or lever element allows compressed air to escape continuously from one end of a hose-like, i.e. flexible, control line, and when the valve closes automatically as a result of the handle or lever element being - 3 released, an increased pressure is built up in the control line by the compressed air which switches over a reverse valve so that the compressed air closes the shut-off valves for the high- pressure water and the compressed air. There is still compressed air at the reverse valve, but firstly the connection between the source of the high-pressure water and the working-hose, and secondly the connection between the compressed-air source and the working-hose is interrupted.

Moreover, because the hose-like control line extends at least partly inside the working-hose, a corresponding interruption of the supply of high-pressure water and compressed air also takes place if the working-hose is bent excessively when in use. Such a deformation of the working-hose then also causes a kink in the hose-like control line which is bent together with the working-hose, and as a result, at least while the control line is kinked, an over-pressure forms which closes the shut-off valve.

In order to achieve a direct correlation between the deformation of the working-hose and the kinking of the control line, the control line can be embedded in the wall of the. working-hose over a rather long distance or can be attached to its inner surface.

The shut-off valves preferably consist of pneumatically operable ball-valves .

The compressed-air source for pressurizing the control line with compressed air can be connected to one inlet of the reverse valve which consists of a 4/2-way valve, which then has one outlet to the control line and one or more other outlets to connecting lines to the shut-off valves, particularly the pneumatically operable ball-valves . - 4 In the following the invention is explained in more detail with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a high-pressure cleaning device.

Figure 2 shows in perspective representation a high-pressure cleaning device with the associated working- hose and a lance connected thereto.

The structure, represented in schematic form in Figure 1, of a high-pressure cleaning device for delivering foamed cleaning fluid has a connecting line 1 for the supply of high-pressure water, which is connected to the inlet of a pneumatically operable ball-valve 2, from the outlet of which a line 3 leads to an injector 4, the outlet of which is connected via a line 5 to the inlet of a flexible working-hose 6. A chemical supply connector 17 is attached which is connected via a non-return or check valve 16 and a metering valve 15 to a source of chemicals.

Compressed air is supplied through a line 10 and the line 10 is connected to the inlet of a pneumatically operable ball-valve 11, the outlet of which is connected via a line 12 to the line 5, i.e. it connects between the injector 4 and the inlet of the working-hose 6 into the line 5 which carries the high-pressure water, mixed with chemicals.

A compressed-air line 22 branches from the compressed-air line 10 to the inlet 1 of a 4/2-way valve 21 in front of the inlet of the ball- valve 11. Two outlets 2, 4 of the 4/2-way valve 21 are connected via lines 25 and 26 with the pneumatic drives for the ball-valves 2 and 11. The compressed-air line 22 is attached to a hose-form, i.e. flexible, control line 20 and there is a - 5 connection to a control inlet of the valve 21. The control line 20 enters the rear-end region of the working-hose 6 and extends to its front end, being as much as possible in contact with the inner surface of the working-hose 6. The front end of the control line 20 is closed by by a spring-actuated valve 23, which can be opened by pivoting or moving a lever 24.

If the high-pressure cleaning device represented in schematic form is connected via its lines 1 and 10 to sources of high-pressure water and compressed air, and if a connection to a source of chemicals is formed by means of the line 17, the non-return or check valve 16 and the metering valve 15, then when the valve 23 is opened by pivoting the lever 24, high-pressure water is fed through the injector 4 and thereby is enriched with chemicals. Compressed air is added to this cleaning fluid through the line 12 so that the cleaning fluid is foamed in a known manner in the working-hose 6 and is then delivered to the area to be cleaned through an outlet nozzle 7 shown schematically. It should be mentioned that in this operating condition, compressed air flows from the line 10 through the line 22 and the control line 20 and emerges through the valve 23, while the inlet 1 of the valve 21 is connected to the outlet 2 and consequently the line 25. The pressure in the line 25, which is connected to the pneumatic ball-valve drives, holds the ball-valves 2 and 11 open.

If the valve 23, which is under spring action, is closed due to the lever 24 being released by the operator or if the control line 20 is kinked by excessive bending of the working-hose, then an increased pressure builds up in the control line 20 due to the blocked compressed air, and as a result the valve 21 is switched over against the pressure of the spring shown so that the inlet 1 is connected to the outlet 4 and therefore to the line 26. The compressed air thus supplied to the line 26 from the line 22 acts - 6 on the pneumatic ball-valve drives and causes the ball-valves 2 and 11 to close, and therefore interrupts the supply of high-pressure water and compressed air to the line 5 and therefore to the working-hose 6.

As soon as the pressure in the control line 20 drops again, the ball-valves 2 and 11 are re-opened and the delivery of foamed cleaning fluid can be continued.

In the high-pressure cleaning device shown in detail in Figure 2, the same or corresponding parts are marked with the same reference numbers as in Figure 1, and are not described again in detail.

As can be seen, in the high-pressure cleaning device in Figure 2 the ball-valves 2, 11 with the associated pneumatic ball-valve drives 30, the injector 4 and the valve 21 are located in a case 40 shown open, into which pass the line 1 for the high-pressure water, the line 10 for compressed air and the line 17 for the chemicals to be added, and out of which pass the line 5 for the mixture of water and chemicals mixed with compressed air and the control line 20. It should be mentioned that, a compressed-air regulating valve 31 and an air filter 32 are also provided along the line 22 and a compressed-air regulator 33 and a non-return valve 34 are also provided along the line 12 which are not shown in Figure 1.

It can be seen that the working-hose 6 is connected by a hose coupling 35 to the line 5 and a lance 36 is attached to the outer end of the working-hose 6 which lance carries an outlet nozzle 38 on its free end and which has a hand-grip on its inner end region, in which the valve 23 with the pivotable lever 24 is also located. The control line 20 enters in the middle of the working-hose 6 in the region of the hose coupling 35 and emerges from the - 7 working-hose 6 near the inner end of the lance 36 and is connected at this end to the valve 23.

The high-pressure cleaning device in Figure 2 operates in a manner corresponding to that shown in Figure 1, i.e., when the lines 1 and 10 are connected to high-pressure water and compressed air and the line 17 is connected with a source of the chemicals to added, the operator can open the valve 23 by holding the lance at the handle 37 and pulling the lever, so that, as shown in Figure 2, the compressed air present in the control line 20 emerges from the valve 23 through an opening lying near the inner end of the lever 24 while foamed cleaning fluid is delivered simultaneously through the lance 36 and the outlet nozzle 38.

If the operator releases the lever 24 so that the valve 23 closes, or if the working-hose 6 is bent such that the control line kinks, the resulting over-pressure pressurizes the lines 25 and 26 with compressed air and thus activates the pneumatic ball-valve drives 30 to close the ball-valves 2 and 11.

Claims (5)

1. High-pressure cleaning device for the delivery of cleaning fluid foamed by the introduction of compressed air, with a fluid-supply line (3, 5) for high-pressure water, which can be closed by a water shut-off valve, and with an air-supply line (112) for compressed air, which can be closed by an air shut-off valve (11), and which is connected to the fluid-supply line (3, 5), between the water shut-off valve (2) and a working-hose (6) which is attached to the fluid-supply line g- (3,5) and forms a foaming space, and with a chemicals-supply line (17) connected to the fluid-supply line (3, 5) in the region between the water shut-off valve (2) and the connection of the air-supply line (12) , characterized by a hose-like control line (20), which can be pressurized with compressed air, which control line (20) is closed near the outlet end of the working-hose (6) by a valve (23) which can be opened manually and is connected with its end facing away from the valve (23) to a reverse valve (21), which valve (21) pressurizes the shut-off valves (2, 11) with this closing compressed air when a high pressure builds up in the control line (20), wherein the control line (20) extends at least partly inside the working-hose (6). c

2. High-pressure cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that the control line (20) is embedded in the wall region of the working-hose (6) or is in contact with its inner surface.

3. High-pressure cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that the shut-off valves consist of pneumatically operable ball-valves (2, 11).

4. High-pressure cleaning device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the compressed-air source for pressurizing the control line (20) with compressed air is connected to an inlet of the reverse valve (21) which consists of a 4/2-way valve.

5. A high-pressure cleaning device according to claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.