BACKGROUND

[0001] The object of the invention is a cleaning device for mechanically manufactured products using a modular drive of individual cleaning chambers separated from each other, the drives and cleaning nozzles being controlled so that each chamber module performs a certain degree of cleaning of the products.

The cleaning water of the individual chambers does not flow freely back and forth between the chambers, but is controlled according to the degree of contamination.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND REEATED ART

[0002] Such a modular cleaning system is useful wherever metallic and non-metallic materials are processed to remove impurities in the form of chips, shavings, burrs, emulsions, dust and other contaminants.

The automotive industry in particular demands absolutely clean products, especially when it comes to braking systems, steering mechanisms and other safety-critical components.

[0003] Known state of the art:

In the SIPO databases, under the keyword “Cleaning chamber”, we find

One patent, namely:

Application number: 201900225

Title of the invention: Indoor flue gas treatment plant

The present invention proposes a treatment plant for purifying indoor flue gases which, in addition to cleaning, also provides humidification and temperature control of the indoor air. This patent has no technical features in common with the proposed invention.

Under keyword: “Cistilna naprava” (Treatment plant)

In the SIPO patent databases we find 20 patents that deal with or protect completely different technical features than our proposed invention.

None of these inventions deals with technical inventions similar to our proposed invention. Moreover, neither of them proposes selective washing of objects in steps or stages.

None of these inventions proposes pumping contaminated water between chambers.

Under keyword: “Ciscenje” (Treatment)

In the SIPO patent databases we find 1 patent, which is no longer in force:

Application number: 9200263

Title of the invention: Method for treating industrial waste water containing small amounts of toxic organic substances.

The present invention relates to a process for the treatment of industrial wastewater with a low content of toxic organic substances, in particular highly toxic, non-biodegradable organic substances, using catalytic oxidation.

Again, this invention does not affect the technical features of our proposed invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] Further information:

Classical industrial cleaning plants, which are a known existing technology, use a so-called cleaning tunnel in which cleaning nozzles are installed to spray water or cleaner onto the objects to be cleaned. The contaminated water or cleaner is collected below the device and circulated through filters in the system by means of pumps to clean the objects again.

Some of the machines - treatment plants use the same water through all the tunnel chambers.

Machines with multiple pools (multi-chamber machines) usually use multiple water systems in different chambers.

The problem is that there is usually no break between the chambers and the water mixes heavily across the pallets and the pieces themselves.

In a machine with two basins, for example, we have a water-cleaner agent mixed liquid in the first chamber and clean water in the second.

Without interrupting the chambers, the dirty water from the first chamber - with cleaner agent - moves strongly gradually and along the conveyor chain, belt, etc. towards the second chamber.

In the proposed invention, this movement of dirty water is interrupted.

The maintenance cycle is extended and the cleaning quality is improved.

Computer-controlled servo drives ensure that the items that are being washed can be cleaned in a targeted manner (in case of jammed chips, etc.).

The problem with the existing systems is that they are cleaned with the same water. This means that we need extremely strong filters, especially for the last stage, or we have to change the water and the purifier regularly, which means enormous costs and a great burden on the environment.

Therefore, the problem with the existing systems is that they also use a lot more treatment water because we have to use fresh, unpolluted water at the end of the sewerage system, which means that the cost of treatment is high and the pollution of the environment or the discharges into the sewerage system are high. Another problem with existing systems is that the journey through the cleaning tunnel is just one and the products cannot be treated partially depending on the level of contamination (in each separate chamber), but are treated continuously along the entire treatment route.

This undoubtedly leads to bigger energy consumption of the whole washing machine. Washing in existing systems is random and a lot of energy is wasted in this random manner (random water spraying, random positioning of the items, no closing of the chambers).

While different cleaning nozzles can be used depending on the position in the cleaning tunnel, the direction of the drive cannot be changed depending on the individual segment of the cleaning channel and the shape of the items to be cleaned.

The objects to be cleaned are of different shapes and must be rotated according to the direction of the cleaning water of the cleaning nozzles for complete cleaning, which is not possible with the existing systems, so that the required degree of cleanliness of the objects cannot be achieved.

In the proposed invention, the pallet is moved up and down the chamber as desired, depending on the shape and dirtiness of the objects, to achieve optimal cleaning. It allows pallet and its items to stop and to even reach inside of different parts with moving rods connecting to air or servo driven cylinders.

A module or chamber is usually 2 times as long as the pallet or object carrier.

In this way, we can arrange any nozzles around the object carrier and switch them on or off, according to a CNC program that we have defined based on our experience and tests for cleaning specific objects. CNC program is set - programmed with classic G and M codes.

The nozzles can be mounted on the cylinders and perfectly positioned on the air cylinders near the dirty zone of each object.

Since we have a servo drive connected to the CNC, we can program any number of programs. Problems solved by the proposed invention:

The proposed invention allows a much better, faster and higher quality cleaning of objects, since the objects are cleaned step by step in each chamber according to a predetermined program which allows reversing the driving direction of the carrier on which the objects are placed according to a certain geometry, or positioning the objects under the cleaning nozzles in such a way that these nozzles clean the intended surfaces of the objects.

Thus, the first chamber cleans most of the contaminants, the next chamber again uses its unique single program to clean the remaining contaminants and so on until the last chamber again rinses the objects according to its program intended for a specific range of objects.

Different objects can be placed on a particular carrier (pallet, etc.) and locked in place, but they are locked in place according to a standard that has been determined based on the results of tests and practical experience on site and entered into the computer program for that particular carrier.

The objects are loaded onto the carrier (pallet etc.), usually by a robot or a manipulator, according to a specific program that we have established according to the results of the washing tests for the different objects.

The individual chamber recognises - reads - a specific carrier via a CNC program, via a barcode, RFS signal, mechanically or otherwise, which is not the object of the present invention, and triggers the individual program of the respective chamber intended for cleaning the objects held on the carrier according to a partial standard cleaning protocol entered in the computer program of the entire system. Thus allowing to have in each chamber its individual separate item.

The cleaning waters or cleaning agents from the individual chambers do not mix uncontrollably with each other and the cleaning rate is therefore much higher, as the last chamber has the cleanest water intended only for rinsing the objects. To be even more environmental and sustainable, the clean water is used and periodically flows to the prior chamber, where the cleaning agent is automatically added. This water or cleaning agent from the last chamber, which is occasionally partially replaced by fresh water, can be dosed into the previous chambers via a controlled system, which is the case with all interconnected chambers.

In this way, the only water we produce as waste is the water from the first chamber. And that is why, maintenance periods on Modular industrial cleaning plant with control according to product range are very long (up to 14 days).

This water is also treated and returned to the process or the last chamber through special treatment systems, which are not the subject of this application.

In the application of the proposed invention, considerably less cleaning water or cleaning agent is required than in systems on the market. In addition, machine consume much less energy needed for water heating, as there are fewer energy losses because of cleaning taking place in closed chambers.

The final chamber may be a blow-off chamber in which air is injected under pressure through nozzles onto the objects, thereby drying the objects. We can use similar principle to blow off pallets between chambers.

As in the other chambers, the blowdown water in the rear chamber is also collected in other chambers.

This water or cleaning agent is also returned to the upstream chambers as described for the other chambers that spray water or cleaning agent.

Description of the proposed invention:

The proposed invention is described in an implementation example and figures showing:

Figure 1 - shows a cross section of a side view of a modular cleaning chamber with three chamber modules in which the cleaning of objects is performed in all chambers.

Figure 2 - shows a cross section of a side view of a modular cleaning chamber with three chamber modules, showing the passage of the carrier from the first to the second chamber, while the third chamber is used for cleaning the article objects.

Figure 3 - shows a cross section of a side view of a modular cleaning chamber where cleaning of items takes place, and the cleaning water/detergent circulation system is shown.

The modular cleaning system with control according to the product range consists of one to 30 separate but systemically connected chambers K, the last of which can only be the blowoff chamber K, which is essentially identical except that air is blown through the spray nozzles BS and the nozzles are adapted to the medium air with a pressure of 3 to 30bar.

The last chamber K can also be a so-called vacuum chamber K, in which water vapour and water or cleaning agent OV are extracted from the objects P or from the chamber K via the spray nozzles BS.

Each chamber K has its own actuator PK, consisting of a front-drive sprocket PK1 and a rear-drive sprocket PK2 and a roller chain or belt or similar to PK3.

The actuator PK is known state of the art and can be realised in all known technical ways, so that it is not described separately in the application.

The only important thing is the operation of the PK actuators, which must be coordinated with each other, which is described below.

A carrier N is placed or locked on the actuator PK by gravity or by special grippers, which are not the subject of the present application, on which the specific objects P to be cleaned are placed in the correct geometrical arrangement determined by the tests and entered into the system program.

Each carrier N is provided with an identification code, which may be mechanical or in the form of a barcode, RFID chip or the like.

The means for identifying each carrier N as it enters or leaves the chamber K is known in the prior art and are not the subject of the present application.

It is important that the objects P are correctly positioned on the respective carrier N. This is determined by tests and made possible by the loading of the carriers N by a robot or manipulator controlled by computer via settings determined by tests for a specific range of objects P on the respective carrier N and stored in a computer program of the system.

Each chamber K is closed on all sides by being closed at the entrance by an entrance door VKV and at the exit by an exit door VKI, both of which move in the direction NE to open upwards and to close downwards.

A sump ZK is installed under each chamber K to collect the contaminated water or treatment agent OV.

From the sump, a line Cl is installed through which the contaminated treatment agent OV flows into a filter subsystem with a pump FC that cleans the treatment agent OV and transports it under a certain pressure through line C2 to spray nozzles BS installed on the ceiling or sides of chamber K.

The spray nozzles BS spray the water or the cleaning agent OV onto the objects P, controlled by a computer system which is known in the prior art and is not the subject of the present application.

The water or cleaning agent OV can be heated from a room temperature of about 10 degrees Celsius to up to 100 degrees Celsius.

The heating of the water or cleaning agent is made possible by an electric heater that is an integral part of the filter subassembly with the FC pump and is adjustable via the software.

The method for heating the water or the cleaning agent OV and the temperature setting is not described further, as it is known state of the art and is not the subject of this application. The drive of the chamber PK, the filter subsystem with the pump FC, the drive of the inlet and outlet gates VK1 and VK2, the opening and closing of the spray nozzles BS are controlled by a computer program which is not the subject of this application.

The control of the individual chambers K is unique for each chamber K, depending on the volume of objects P on the carrier N, in that the chambers K are interconnected by a computer control program that allows the carrier N with the objects P to pass from the previous chamber K to the following chamber K and, of course, through all the following chambers to the exit and to the last chamber K, which is generally the blow-off chamber K.

The mutual control of the chambers K is not the subject of the present application, since it relies on known prior art. However, it is of the utmost importance that the following conditions are met when moving the carrier N from the preceding chamber K to the succeeding chamber K, namely: a. The objects P on the carrier of the preceding chamber K must be arranged according to the intended program. b. The preceding chamber K must have an open VKI exit port. c. The items P on the carrier N of the next chamber must be cleaned according to the intended program. d. The next chamber K must be empty and the VKI entrance port must be open. If there is a carrier N with or without P objects, the exit door VKI must also be open. e. Then, the drive PK of the next chamber K is programmed in the direction V. At the same time or at a later time, the actuator of the previous chamber K is activated in the V direction. f. The carrier N of the next chamber K moves in direction V, to the next chamber K or finally to the systems of the entire system. g. However, the N prechamber carrier also moves in direction V to the next chamber K. h. When sensors not covered by this application detect that the N carriers are in the K chambers, the system stops the drive in the V direction and closes the VHF and VKI entry and exit ports. i. The system then integrates the filtering and pumping system FC, the spray nozzles BS and the PK actuator of the chamber K, which in turn now operates in a left and right V direction according to pre-programmed software defined with respect to each chamber K and an assortment of objects P on each identifiable carrier N, which are not the subject of the present application as they are known techniques. The spray nozzles BS spray water or detergent OV onto the objects at a certain pressure and temperature, which may be between 10 and 100 degrees Celsius. When the program is finished, the spraying stops and a new passage between the K-chambers begins. j. All K-chambers connected in a modular system work in this way. k. The cleaning water or cleaning agent OV of each chamber K remains only in that chamber K and is collected in the chamber collector ZK, with the addition that the water or cleaning agent OV of the last chamber K, even if this chamber K is only a blow-off chamber K or a vacuum chamber K, can be partially or completely pumped into the previous chamber K, and this applies to all chambers K that are connected in the modular system of the treatment plant. The water or cleaning agent OV from the first chamber K is waste, but it can be purified again by the filters and returned to the system as clean water or cleaning agent OV in the last chamber K, because we have to replace the pumped water or cleaning agent OV from this chamber into the previous chamber K. Therefore, only in the last chamber K, which can also be the blow-off or vacuum chamber K, can fresh water or cleaning agent OV or, as mentioned above, purified water or cleaning agent OV from the first chamber K be supplied. All other chambers K do not produce waste water, as the water or cleaning agent OV is only pumped from the less dirty chamber K to the dirtier one. Therefore, only the last chamber K, which can also be the blow-off or vacuum chamber K, can be added. l. In this way, we have achieved considerable savings in terms of financial costs and, above all, in terms of environmental performance.

The PK drives of the individual K chambers are usually electrically driven and can operate at variable speeds V and VK in both directions, controlled from a central account. The CNC program is not the subject of this application. When transferring N-carriers from the previous chamber K to the next chamber K, the same V- speeds of the PK drives of the previous and the next chamber K can be used, or even slightly different ones if the N-carrier is to be transported to the next chamber K faster than the new N- carrier is transported to the previous chamber K.

The same V-speeds of the drives of the previous and the next chamber K can be used. These speed differences can be gently determined depending on the particular carrier N with the particular pallet of items P, of course the previous washing attempts of these items P in the particular chamber K and the desired destinations or washing quality of the particular chamber K.

The opening and closing speeds of the VKV and VKI doors can also be arbitrary.

Faster opening and closing of the VHF and VKI doors and higher V speeds of the PK drives naturally reduce the time required to move the carrier N to the next chamber K and thus increase the productivity of the entire cleaning system.

Much more important than this, however, is the conservation of nature, as the proposed method produces significantly less waste water or treatment agent OV than existing systems.

In the proposed invention, only water or cleaning agent OV is withdrawn from the first chamber K and fresh or purified water or cleaning agent OV is passed from the first chamber K only to the last chamber K, which may be only the blow-off chamber K.

Other water or cleaning agent OV is only pumped between chambers K from the cleaner chamber K to the less clean chamber K or its storage tank ZK.

The method of pumping the water or purifying agent OV through the K is not the subject of the present application, but is mentioned in the present application only as a technical system enabling higher efficiencies of the treatment system.

In the FC pump system, the individual K chambers are cleaned (filtered) after a certain time and the mechanical impurities are removed.

Of course, larger filters can be used in the preceding K-chambers than in the last K-chamber, as the first K-chamber removes most of the impurities and vice versa. The spray nozzles BS are positioned in the chamber K according to the optimal washing results of the objects P and are different for each range of objects P and, of course, according to the desired cleanliness.

A significant advantage of the proposed invention is that the BS spray nozzles are movable and, in certain cases, can also be steered about an axis or parallel to the carrier N or otherwise.

The spray nozzles BS may be attached to pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders or otherwise to mechanical carriers that move the spray nozzles BS closer to and further away from the objects P according to the CNC program.

For the usual P object washing demands, the BS injection nozzles are not moved as it is not necessary.

Another advantage of the proposed invention is that different pressures of water or cleaning agent OV are applied in the individual chambers K, thereby optimising energy consumption and improving the efficiency of the overall system.

It is particularly important that the last chamber K can only be a blow-off chamber K, which blows off the water or cleaning agent OV remaining on the objects P, especially from the concave contours, via spray nozzles BS adapted to the medium air.

After or instead of the blow-off chamber K, a so-called vacuum chamber K can also be installed, which sucks water and water vapour of the cleaning agent or water OV from the objects P or from the volume of the chamber K via vacuum pumps.

The vacuum chamber K is only used for cleaning very demanding objects P where a maximum degree of cleanliness or cleanliness level necessary for subsequent technologies and in order to prevent the oxidation on the surface of the P objects is specified.

This is particularly important for cleaning automotive parts that are subject to the so-called D documentation, which means safety.

These items are mainly braking and steering parts.

In a similar way, but perhaps with an even higher level of cleanliness, parts - aerospace industry objects, medical devices, etc. - need to be cleaned. Each K-chamber is designed to be converted into a drying or vacuum chamber.

When converting a K chamber into a drying chamber, the cleaning agent or water medium OV is replaced by compressed air.

However, when the K chamber is converted into a vacuum chamber, the direction of the air from the BS nozzles is changed so that the BS nozzles draw air from the K chamber and the compressor is replaced by a vacuum pump.

These modifications are not described in detail as they are not within the scope of the present invention and are partly part of the prior art.

The blowdown water or cleaning agent OV is also collected in the storage tank ZK of the last so-called blow-off chamber K or vacuum chamber K, except that this chamber uses a local pneumatic compressed air supply with pressures of 3 to 30bar or a vacuum pump instead of the FC subsystem.