Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
3~
~ P~r~ ?r ~ r1~- 1`L1~ Ve~ .ids i~ t~Q -fOrr.n. -
o~ cornl?act ~oa~
:`he invention relate~ to an apparatus .for rnixing ~nd deliv_
ering liquids in ti-~e for~ of a co~pact loam~ -the application
:rield for ~hich is to be found in large areas where, with a
certain frequency, it is necessary -to tho~oughly clean vast
surfaces that have been sullied ~vith residues of animal na-
ture (fats in par-ticula.r) such as, for example, slaughter
houses and factories ~IYhere salami ? cheeses and food~tuffs
in general, and the like~ àre produced,
In sueh places, the cleaning operation consists in contem-
poraneously washing do~n the ~looring and the walls~ both
of ~,vhich are generally faced with tiles, marble or steel et-
cetera.
15 ~ecause OL -the e~ten~ion of the ~aid sur~aces, the washing
operation can only be effected with equipments o~ an indust-
r~al nature, amongst which abound conventional hoses sup_
plied with water at a high pressure and temperature, which
opera-te prevalently t'nrough a mechanical action o~ the water
2~ with resul-ts that are reasonably good (cleaning in the or_
der of ~0 - ~5%) though with very high loss and ~ater heat-
ing co~-ts.
:Equipment~ have, therefore, been desi~ned to deliver foam
from a solvent_liquid detergent mixture which, in quite a
compact form, can easily be applied to -the walls and be
left there for a gi~en periQd o~ time sufficient to exer~
cise an ex-tremely efficient clean~ing action, a~ter which
i-t ean be removed -through a normal rinsing operation.
3o
Such equipments are con~tituted by Q vessel -that is filled
./ith a predetermined quantity of water ~9 -to which the op-
,. ~
--2--
erator adds each time, the right percentage oE liquid de-
tergent s with which to obtain the desired mixture. The
operator then mixes A and s, seals the container hermeti-
cally and connects it to a source of compressed air. The
water-de-tergent mix-ture passes from the said container into
a mixing device to which, moreover, the aforementioned
source of pressurized air is connected, and thus the in-
coming liquid mixture is '`-transformed'- into foam, this being
due to the high percentage of air and to the surface tension
characteristics of the liquid B.
Wi-th the said equipments there i5, however, a large scale
problem because of the limited volume of the pressure ves-
sel both for fixed installations and, above all, as can be
seen in practice, for a mobile plant. In the latter case,
the vessel is emptied in an extremely short span of time
(in the order of a few minutes), wi-th the result that the
operator has to constantly repeat the aforementioned oper-
ations of -discharging'' the pressure from the container,
filling it with the liquid A, adding the liquid B, mixing
one with the other and sealing the container, besides run-
ning the risk of coming into contact with the liquid deter-
gent that is highly toxic.
The object of the invention consists, therefore, in over~
coming the a~ove mentioned difficulties by making available
an apparatus that allows a first liquid solvent and at
least a second liquid detergent, or solute, to be mixed con-
tinuously in predetermined quantities, and the said mixture
to be subsequently delivered in the form of a compact foam,
without it being necessary to have to continually inter-
vene manually in the said mixing operation, without highvolume pressure vessels being used, and without interrupt-
ions in the delivery of the foam, all this with an ex-
-tremely simple apparatus, the cost of which is low in com-
.
B2~2
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parison to the results obtai.nable therewith~
A further object of the invention consists in constructinythe said apparatus in such a way t.hat without having to al-
ter the capacity of the vessels - and of the l:iquid solven-t
vessel in particular - it can be utilized both for fixed
applications and for mobile employment.
These and other objects too are al.l attained with the ap-
paratus accordin~ to -the invention, which comprises a
first tank for a solvent, at least one second container for
a solute and mi~ing-injecting device for the liquids, char-
acterized in that the first tank and the second container
are not pressurized, and in that the first tan~ is connected,
via a first conduit, to the inlet of a mixing pump whose out-
put is in turn connected, vi.a a second conduit, to the
mixing-injecting device operable by compressed air for for-
ming foam, the mixing-injection device being supplied with
compressed air by a third pipe connected to a source of com-
pressed air, a~ least the second container being provided
with a fourth conduit that runs, via a regulator-doser into
the first conduit upstream of the pump.
In another embodiment, the first tank is connected, upstream~
to a source of supply of the solvent, and downstream, to
the first conduit. In a still further embodiment, the
regulator-doser is a doser pump.
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will
become more obvious from the detailed description that
follows, ill.ustrated purely as an unlimited example, on the
accompanying drawing, in which:
- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of the apparatus
forming the subject of the invention.
3~
-3a-
With refer*llce to the above mentioned figure, the apparatus,
which in its mobile form of embodiment is moun-ted on a non
illustrated carriage in order to allow it to be moved into
the place of use, comprises a first -tank 1 that contains
the solvent (or water) A that is connected directly, via a
flexible pipe 2, to a continuous source of supply and, down-
stream is connected to a first conduit 3, fitted wi-th a non
-- 4
retu~n ~alve 4, connec-te~ to pumpin~ ~c~ns P (in the case
under consideratiQn, a centrifllgal pump) ~ -the deli~rery oY
hich goes, via a second concluit 5, to a mixing_injecting
device 6 o~ a kno~ type, u-tilized for forming the ~oam to-
5 ge-ther wibh a source o~ compressed air coming from a co~_
pressor C via a third pipe 7.
At 8 there is a s~cond -tank that contains a li~uid deter_
gent ~or solute) ~, which is sent, via a ~ourth con~uit 9,
1~ in~o the solvent ~ upstream of the pump P. ~he s~id ~ourth
conduit 9 i8 provided with3means for dosing the liquid ~~
and *or cutting o~f the flow thereof, shown globally at 109
in the ca~e under co~sideration constituted by a do~er pump
of, f or exampla, the diaphragm type .
'~he operation o~ the apparatus is extremely simple since
all tha-t has to be done is to actuate, at the s~me ^time 7 the
pump P and the mean~ 1~ in order to cause the liquid A to be
drawn ~rom the tank 1 and the liquid ~ from the tank 8 in
the re~uired qu~ntity determined by the ~ald regula~lng
mean3 10 (obviou~ly in proportion to the quantity drawn of
the 801vent A in ~uch a way as to define the exact percen-t-
age o~ the mi~ture to be "trans~orm~d" into ~oam).
2~ ~he two li~uids A and ~, partially mixed at the ~nlet tO
the pump P undergo, -throu~h the action of the impeller o~
the lat-ter, complete and thor~u~h mi~ing in such a way that
when ent2ring the mi~ing-injecti~g device 6, the solution
i8 in an ideal condition to give rise, together ~ith the
compre~sed air coming from the conduit 7, to a oompact ~oam
that i~ deposited on to the walls to be cleaned and stays
there all the time needed ~or a cleansing ac-tion.
'llith the apparatus in questio~ it is, there~ore, possible
35 to have a constant delive~y of foam because of the liquid
5 --
~ 1ei~g s~lpllie~ continuo~ t~roug~. the pipe 2 andl like-
wise, because of the continuous ~upply and l~.ixing cf the
liquid B which can be varied, ~ll the time, percentage Yise
within required values such as to give rise to the format-
ion o~ foam havl~g more or less variable physical and at~tacking characteristics, withou-t the need to resort to pres-
sur~ tanks and the in-termittent operation consequential
thereto~ and without manual assistance, especially a~ re-
~ards the liquid 3.
Gbviously the various components, in view of the toxicity
of the solute, ~hall be constructed out of suitable mater_
ial (staInless steel)~ while in place of the do~er pump 10
the use may be envi~aged of an on-off valve 10' and of a
doser valve 10". In general, the tank 1 shall be provided
with a float device so as to maintain constant the level o~
liquid in the inside thereof.
~he apparatu can be utilized as a mobile plant, a~ illus_
trated, or as a fixed installation? in which ca3e it is en-
visaged that a number of mixing devices 6 be installed in
the various ar~as to be cleaned.
In its practical form of embodiment, the in~ention may al~o
adopt fo.~ms that differ from the one illu~trated and, in
particular, numerous modifications of a practical nature
may be made wi-thou-t there being any deviation from tha
framewor1~ of protection afforded to th0 invention.
