MACHINE TO CLEAN FACADE OF A BUILDING

MACHINE DE NETTOYAGE DE FACADES D'IMMEUBLES

English Abstract

An apparatus for cleaning facades including glass surfaces of high-rise
buildings. The apparatus
comprise of a) a thrust provider for generating force to keep the machine in
contact with the
facade; b) a hoist unit(s) that provide vertical movement for the machine; c)
a close loop of
fabric sheet that run between squeezing rollers; d) water spray nozzles that
wash the close loop
fabric sheet; e) retractable arms extended toward facade putting the fabric
sheet in contact with
facade; f) close loop water system consist of tank, discharge pump, water
filtration unit and
water collecting tray; g) an electrical controls unit that provide proper
function to electrical
components on the machine. The machine provides a number of novel elements and
safety
features by applying simple design concept that is practicable to wide range
of buildings of glass
or flat façades.

French Abstract

Appareil conçu pour le nettoyage de façades, notamment les surfaces vitrées des immeubles de grande hauteur. Lappareil comprend ceci : a) un élément de poussée qui génère de la force afin que la machine demeure en contact avec la façade; b) un ou des unités de levage qui permettent le mouvement vertical de la machine; c) une boucle fermée de feuille de tissu qui se déplace entre des rouleaux exprimeurs; d) des injecteurs deau qui lavent la feuille de tissu en boucle fermée; e) des bras rétractables qui sallongent vers la façade et font entrer la feuille de tissu en contact avec la façade; f) un système deau en boucle fermée constitué dun réservoir, dune pompe dévacuation, dune unité de filtration de leau et dun plateau collecteur deau; g) une unité de commande électrique qui permet le fonctionnement approprié des composants électriques de la machine. La machine présente un certain nombre de nouveaux éléments et de caractéristiques de sécurité en appliquant un concept simple qui se pratique sur une vaste gamme dimmeubles en verre ou de façades planes.

Claims

CLAIMS
1. An
apparatus configured to clean facade while moving along a building and using
recirculation cleaning system, comprising:
a) a structural frame;
b) a thrust provider for generating force to keep the apparatus in contact
with the
facade; c) a close loop circuit of fabric sheet to wipe clean the facade;
d) high pressure water pump that discharges water and/or detergent into the
fabric
sheet via spraying nozzles;
e) squeezing rollers where the fabric sheet runs in-between the rollers to
extract water
from the sheet;
f) collecting tray placed underneath the squeezing rollers and spraying
nozzles to
gather squeezed and sprayed water;
g) reservation water tank that supply water to the high pressure water pump;
h) filtration unit to filter water gather by the collecting tray wherefrom a
small water
pump sends it to the reservation tank;
i) retractable arms extended toward facade to put the fabric sheet in contact
with facade;
j) hoist unit(s) to provide vertical movement for the apparatus;
k) wire ropes suspending the apparatus from the top of building.
8

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the frame is a structural
chassis configured for
moving along the facade of the building.
3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thrust provider is fan(s)
discharging mass of
air flow in direction opposite to the façade.
4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fabric sheet is to collect
particles from
facade and the particles are removed from the fabric sheet by pressurized
water and or
detergent discharged from spraying nozzles.
5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the close loop fabric sheet
runs between
squeezing rollers to provide pulling force to move the sheet and to squeeze
out the water and
impurities entrained during facade cleaning.
6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the close loop fabric sheet is
to collect dust,
sand, dirt, and smaller particles from the facade.
7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of the squeezing rollers
is driven by
electrical gear-motor.
8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising hoist unit(s) and at
least two wire
ropes to move the apparatus vertically along the facade of the building.
9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a computer for
controlling motion
and cleaning operations of the main unit.
10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the retractable arms allows
the apparatus to
9

avoid obstacles during facade cleaning.
11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the facade includes windows,
panes, marble,
any smooth surface and frames.
12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the building includes
residential apartments,
towers, multiplexes, office buildings and other structures.
13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a tray below the
squeezing rollers
and the spraying nozzles to collect water and send it to a filtration unit.
14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein water from the filtration
unit is sent to a
reservation tank to store and reuse the water.
15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the spraying water is heated
by an electrical
water heater.

Description

CA 02736228 2013-11-01
MACHINE TO CLEAN FACADE OF A BUILDING
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[001] The present invention pertains generally to apparatus and methods for
cleaning facades
of high rising buildings.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] The number of buildings with large glass or flat façades is increasing
all over the world.
These façades must be periodically cleaned using manual cleaning which is the
conventional
method today to clean external surface of high rising building.
[003] Cleaning windows on high rise buildings is both difficult and expensive.
Workers utilize
the Building Maintenance Unit (BMU) to reach the façade. While the cradle of
BMU is moving in
front of building's windows, cleaning workers occupying the cradle use sponge
and cleaning
detergent to wipe clean the façade. This procedure has high risk for the
workers and takes
weeks to clean the facades of a single high rise structure. The workers
sometimes have to
perform their work under intense conditions leading risking injury. The method
is also messy in
operation and is highly sensitive to the weather condition. After cleaning one
high rise structure
the workers need to move to other side of the building with the equipment
making it a laborious
and time consuming process.
[004] Apart from the high cost and time for cleaning, another disadvantage of
current method
is that windows can only be cleaned in longer intervals, and it is not cost
effective to wash
individual sections of the building even if the need persists. Also as the
façade workers are not
always a part of Building Maintenance, important information could be seen or
leaked during
the cleaning process.
[005] Though a few automated or semiautomatic applications exist for cleaning
buildings in the
market, but have failed due to reasons like; a weak safety concept, poor
cleaning quality,
1

CA 02736228 2013-11-01
requiring additional construction to the facade, expensive initial or
operating costs, unable to
avoid obstacles such as an open window or minor structural protrusion. Even
though some
methods have been successful to some extent but are applicable only to a
particular building.
[006] Accordingly, a need exists for a window cleaning system that can be
operated
autonomously and which can be utilized for performing overall periodic
cleaning or performing
cleaning on an as needed basis. The present invention overcomes the weaknesses
of existing
systems by simple designing of the machine to clean wide range of high rise
building of glass or
flat façades.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[007] An automated facade cleaning system is described that is particularly
well-suited for
washing the exterior surfaces or glass windows on high rise buildings. The
system can be
configured for semiautomatic cleaning, or for fully automated remote cleaning
operations.
Although the bulk of the description herein describes a fully automated
system, it will be
appreciated that the invention may be implemented without one or more of the
inventive
aspects described and may thereby require manual intervention when so
implemented.
[008] The invented machine is a frame housing electrical and mechanical
components referred
to as the Main unit which can be simply integrated with the existing BMU by
replacing BMU's
cradle with it. The unit requires electric power supply that can be provided
through electric
power cable either from the roof of the building or ground underneath it.
[009] In an aspect of the present invention the main unit lifting and lowering
is provided by the
existing hoist of BMU that is located on the roof part of BMU, however on some
BMU systems
the hoist unit is installed on a cradle, therefore the invented machine has a
hoist device(s)
which can provide the desired up & down movement.
[0010] The surface is cleaned while the main unit is moving on front of the
façade, a close loop
circuit of micro fabric sheet wipe the façade while resting on a soft or
spongy roller attached to
extended arms from the main unit.
2

CA 02736228 2013-11-01
[0011] In an aspect of the present invention thrust providing equipment
generates air flow that
may provide the necessary pushing force towards the window, thereby keeping
the spongy
roller and the micro fabric in contact with the surface.
[0012] The fabric sheet then enters a Laundry Chamber where it gets sprayed by
high pressure
water and/or cleaning solution from nozzles that are directed into fabric
sheet to remove the
particles. Afterwards the sheet is run between two or more rollers that are
pressed against each
other, squeezing most of the water out from the sheet.
[0013] In an aspect of the present invention a tray placed under the spraying
nozzles and
squeezing rollers collects all sprayed and squeezed water wherefrom a small
pump sends it to
a filtration unit to remove dust, dirt, sand and other particles. The purified
water is then sent
back to a water reservation tank.
[0014] In an aspect of the present invention the water in the tank is heated
by an electrical
water heater.
[0015] An aspect of the present invention is the ability to accomplish the
cleaning task for
different types of towers and skyscrapers depending on its construction of the
external surface.
[0016] Another aspect of the present invention is to allow installing the
fully automated façade
cleaning system without the need of structural changes to the building.
[0017] Another aspect of the present invention is the reduced time of
performing the facade
cleaning tasks in comparison with the conventional methods and also lower
consumption of
water for the façade cleaning process.
[0018] Since the present invention eliminates direct human interference for
façade cleaning it
is safer, more reliable and can be operated on a wide range of weather
conditions.
3

CA 02736228 2013-11-01
[0019] Yet another aspect of the present invention is its environmental
friendly nature and cost
effective solution over the conventional methods without degradation of the
cleaning quality.
[0020] Further aspect and advantages of the invention will be brought out in
the following
portions of the specification, wherein the detailed description is for the
purpose of fully
disclosing preferred embodiments of the invention without placing limitations
thereon.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0021] Further features and advantages of the present invention will become
apparent from
the following detailed description, taken in combination with the appended
drawings, in which:
[0022] Fig. 1 shows overall the Main unit and its metallic structural chassis
where all the
electrical and mechanical components of the main unit are attached;
[0023] Fig. 2 shows the positioning of the main unit main in respect to
Façade; and
[0024] Fig. 3 shows a Laundry Unit and its accessories.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0025] Referring more specifically to the drawings for illustrative purposes,
the present
invention is embodied in the method generally described as shown in Fig. 1 to
Fig. 3. The
following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art
to make and use the
invention as provided in the context of a particular application and its
requirements.
Furthermore, it is to be understood that inventive aspects may be practiced in
numerous
alternative ways by one or ordinary skill without departing from the teachings
of the present
invention. Therefore, various modifications to the preferred embodiments will
be readily
apparent to those skilled in the art, and the principles defined here may be
applied to other
embodiments. Thus the present invention is not intended to be limited to the
embodiments
shown below but only by its claims.
4

CA 02736228 2013-11-01
[0026] The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.
Furthermore,
aspects of the invention may be implemented separately or in various
combinations without
departing from the teachings of the present invention. Specific embodiments
are typically
shown having a given set of features for the sake of clarity; however, it will
be appreciated that
the invention may be implemented with more or fewer aspects without departing
from the
present invention. Few aspects of the invention may also be replaced by
mechanical means
without departing from the scope of the present invention.
[0027] Fig. 1 shows a metallic structural chassis 5 where all electrical and
mechanical
components of the main unit are attached and are described in an embodiment of
the present
invention below.
[0028] As shown in Fig 1 the thrust provider are fans 10 driven by electrical
motors, the fans 10
will generate mass of air flow as shown in Fig 2-44 in the opposite direction
of the façade. Figure
1 also shows a soft or spongy roller 20 supported by arms 30 on the structural
chassis 5. Wire
rope 32 connecting fasteners 35suspend the main unit from the roof of
building. Fig 3 show
close loop of fabric sheet 28 pass between squeezing rollers 14. Squeezing
rollers 14 driven by
an electrical gear-motor 60. In an embodiment of the invention a high pressure
discharge pump
55 is used to discharge water into the fabric sheet 28. Sprayed water 2
discharged from nozzles
4 and Water extracted by squeezing rollers 14 is collected by a tray 70. A
circulation pump 43
collects the water from tray 70 and sends it to a filtration unit 45. Water
from the filtration unit
45 is sent to a reservation tank 50.
[0029] Thus the thrust provider helps the machine to cling on to the surface
of the façade and
fabric sheet in direct contact with the façade.
[0030]The fabric sheet 28 is a close loop circuit that is rolling between
laundry unit and the
façade.

CA 02736228 2013-11-01
[0031] Fig. 2 shows the positioning of the main unit against the façade. The
natural pushing
force that the cleaning machine apply against the façade is equal to (SIN B
(Fig.2-15) * the unit
weight * gravity (g)). Since the horizontal distance 26 is limited and the
height 25 is increasing
significantly in comparison to the horizontal distance 26, it results in a
very small 0 15 and
therefore a little and an inadequate pushing force. Hence, the thrust provider
is needed to
generate sufficient pushing force that will keep the unit with good contact to
the surface.
[0032] Fig. 3 shows a Laundry Unit with its accessories. Part of the cloth
fabric sheet 28 is
contained in the laundry unit. The sheet is washed by being sprayed from
nozzles 4 by
pressurized water and/or detergent 2 to remove particles collected from the
facade.
[0033] After the initial cleaning of facade the fabric sheet runs in between
the squeezing rollers
14 that are pressed against each other squeezing most of the water from it.
One of the squeezing
rollers 14 is rotated by the electrical gear-motor 60 to provide the movement
and pulling force
for the fabric sheet 28.
[0034] Underneath the squeezing rollers 14 and the sprayed water area is tray
70, which
collects the water and sends it to the filtration unit 45. A circulation pump
43 sends the water
collected from the tray 70 back to the reservation tank 50 where water is
store to be reused.
[0035] In an embodiment of the present invention, the water in the tank is
heated by an
electrical water heater 52. The water is then sent to the high pressure
discharge pump 55 which
pumps the water through a high pressure hose 57 to the nozzles 4 and
discharges pressurized
water 2 it onto the fabric sheet 28.
[0036] The roller 20 is attached to the extended arms 30 that are connected to
the main unit. In
an embodiment of the present invention, the roller may be a spongy roller. The
spongy roller is
to offer cushion contact with facade surface and improve on the cleaning
coverage by being able
to reach into corners. The arms are fixed to the main unit frame with a
retractable mechanism.
6

CA 02736228 2013-11-01
[0037] In an embodiment of the present invention, the extended arms 30 are
retractable to
allow the machine to avoid obstacles like an open window or a minor structural
outcrop while
continuing to perform the cleaning job.
7

Representative Drawing