ES2344940T3 - BARREL CLEANING DEVICE. - Google Patents

Abstract

Device for internally scrubbing a barrel that has a mouth (C) on a wall, said device comprising: - an elongated support (14, 52, 54) that is capable of being arranged in a stationary position with respect to the barrel, with a part end (52, 54) inserted into the barrel through the mouth (C), - an arm (56) having an end joined in a pivotal joint to said end portion (52, 54) such that it is susceptible to pivot about an axis (P) that is located transversely with respect to the elongated support, and a work-free end, - a flexible tube (58) having a discharge end (58b) attached to the working end of said arm (56) and an inlet end (58a) connected to liquid supply means through a connecting pipe (64) and is integral with a slide (58, 74) that is supported in such a way that it is slidable in a longitudinal direction in said elongated support (14, 52, 54), - const means riction (80, 82) that guide the flexible tube (58) to make it bend in dependence on the axial displacement of said slide (74) so as to make the arm tilt; characterized in that said slide comprises a rigid liner (74) that surrounds a section (L) of the flexible tube (58) and is axially slidable within guide means (76, 78) that are integral with said end portion (52, 54), and that it comprises means for driving the movement to transmit a corresponding rotational movement to the arm (56) around said transverse axis (P) through the flexible tube (58).

Description

Barrel scrubbing device.

This invention relates to a device for scrub the inside of barrels, and in particular barrels, barrels and similar vessels.

It is known that the taste and aroma of wine is improve it by refining it in barrels or barrels of capacity wood variable, which is typically a few hundred liters. After having emptied a barrel at the end of a cycle and before proceed to a new filling, the inner wall of the barrel should be scrubbed precisely to eliminate stool that has been deposited during the previous cycle, which would affect the Wine quality to be treated in the new cycle.

Such scrubbing step is difficult to perform, because you can have access to the inside of the barrel just to through a mouth that has a size of 4 to 5 cm.

According to an extended current practice for scrub barrels, the barrel is placed horizontally, with its mouth facing down on a support structure that is rotating around a vertical axis that passes through the mouth, and a perforated head inserted into the mouth is connected to a tube that brings the scrubbing water to the head. While you have the rotating barrel, water is pumped to the head, which can out of the perforations those of a series of jets that impact on the inner wall of the barrel.

The known method described above not so It is only uncomfortable to execute, but it is also unsatisfactory because the barrel is scrubbed only briefly, leaving several blind spots that are not directly showered by jets.

Another considerable inconvenience of this method is that of the pressure of the jets, which with respect to the pump discharge pressure has been reduced proportionally to the number of exit holes made in the head is then drastically reduced when the jets strike on the wall, due to the considerable distance from the exit holes of the head, which are practically in the center of the barrel, to the wall.

Consequently, the sweep action is little energetic and does not eliminate with certainty all feces, and in particular the feces that nest at the most critical points, such as p. ex. the corners between the bottoms and the side walls of the barrel.

Document DE 1 607 362 discloses a device according to the preamble of claim 1, in which an inclined arm is driven by a motor to revolve around a horizontal axis The arm has attached to its free end a nozzle to which water is supplied through a connected hose to water supply means. The inclination of the arm is fixed during operation and can be varied manually when the device is at rest. The nozzle describes a circular travel during operation.

US 6,021,793 discloses an apparatus for clean and rinse the interior surfaces of a tank car rail with a single jet sprayed from fluid to high Pressure. The device is introduced into a tank car through its access opening and is fixed using a fixing set. In one embodiment is achieved the actuation of a joint of control of a hose joint and flexion of means which constitute a flexible hose to direct pressurized fluid against the different interior surfaces of the tank car by rotating a rotating nut around about corresponding means that constitute a support column externally threaded The rotating nut mechanism is in operation located inside the cistern and is thus subjected to humid environment prevailing in it.

It is now a main object of the invention the of providing a device for scrubbing the inside of barrels, and in particular of barrels, casks and similar vessels, that is capable of scrubbing the inner wall of a barrel more vigorously than conventional devices, leaving no blind spots and allowing that the scrubbing action is concentrated on the most points critics

The objectives and advantages indicated above and others that will be more clearly evident in the exhibition which is done below are reached by a device of barrel scrubbing that has the characteristics that detailed in claim 1, while the Dependent claims detail other features advantageous but not essential.

It is described in more detail below the invention referring to a preferred embodiment that is illustrates by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view. of a device according to the invention as it is introduced in a generic barrel;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a detail of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of another detail of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view of the device in cross section performed according to the section plane IV-IV of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of another detail of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 shows the detail of Fig. 5 in a configuration of intermediate operation of the device.

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With reference to the Figures above indicated, the scrubbing device 10 according to the invention comprises an elongated support 14 that can be placed in a position stationary with respect to a generic barrel B, with a part extreme PT that is likely to be introduced through a mouth C and rotating around its geometric axis.

The elongated support is a guide 14 comprising a cylindrical tube 16 rising from a base 12, said Guide reinforced by four pillars 18 that are longitudinally welded to the outer surface of the tube and spaced at angles equal around its geometric axis.

The base 12 comprises a support block 12a which is provided with a bore 20 coaxially with respect to the tube 14 and carries a drain tank 12b which is described more in detail below and surrounds guide 14 with its concavity facing the barrel, and has a cylindrical cavity 22 coaxially with respect to bore 20. Guide 14 is attached to the base 12 by means of a socket 24 which is connected to the corresponding end of the tube 16 and in engagement with the cylindrical cavity 22 of reservoir 12b and has an extension annular 24a that is axially retained between an annular projection 26 protruding from support block 12a and a corresponding recess 28 practiced in the cylindrical cavity 22.

Inside the tube 16 of the guide 14 is articulated a hollow shaft 38 having a threaded end 38a passing through of the hole 20 of the support block 12a and is screwed on the shaft hollow motor 42 of a geared motor group 44 that is attached to the base 40 of the support block by means of screws 46. The group gearmotor 44 is controlled by a control unit (not illustrated) that does not belong to the invention. A round nut 48 screwed into the threaded end of the hollow shaft can be fixed against the drive shaft 42 to fix the hollow shaft.

The opposite end 38b of the hollow shaft 38 protrudes from tube 16 upwards and carries a cylindrical connector threaded 50 to which the rotating end part PT is attached previously mentioned. The latter comprises a hollow box 52 from which a fork 54 protrudes parallel to the hollow shaft 38. An arm 56 pivots about a transverse axis P in the fork 54. Inside the hollow shaft 38 a flexible tube 58 is slidable which it has its discharge end provided with a nozzle 60 and is hooked to free end 56b of arm 56, in one position off center when the arm is positioned longitudinally with with respect to axis 38. A connecting sleeve 62 axially connects the inlet end 58a of the flexible tube 58 to a connecting pipe 64 which is also axially slidable within the hollow shaft 38. The joint pipe 64 has a threaded tip 66 which is screwed into the threaded hole 68 of a flange 70 that is attached to gearbox group 44. The free end 66a of the threaded tip 66 is likely to be connected to a pipe of detergent contribution (not illustrated) by means of a gasket swivel 72.

Flexible tube 58 is partially lined in a rigid liner 74, which part of the connecting sleeve 62 encompassing a length L and is slidable between two opposite pairs of rollers 76a, 76b and 78a, 78b, which are mounted on bearings inside the hollow box 52 and are shaped with profiles concave

The flexible tube 58 is guided by means of constriction in order to adopt the desired positions progressively hunched over, in correspondence with the respective inclinations of the arm 56, which depend on the axial displacement of the slide. The constriction means comprise an extension 56a which is extends obliquely from arm 56 beyond its axis transverse P and has a seat 80 shaped like a saddle in its end, where the flexible tube 58 is admitted in such a way that it is slider Flexible tube 58 is elastically retained for be coupled with the seat 80 by an elastic element in U 82 which is arranged obliquely on horseback of flexible tube 58 and is attached to arm 56 by its ends such as 82a.

The end 16b of the tube 16 is attached in solidarity therewith a coaxial cylindrical bushing 84 inside of which a lip seal 86 is housed in airtight coupling with the outer surface of the hollow shaft 38, as well as a bushing guide 87. In addition, the outer cylindrical surface of the bushing cylindrical 84 has an annular area 84a of reduced diameter which it is closely surrounded by a cylindrical skirt 88 that is extends from cylindrical connector 50 in one direction longitudinal to form a labyrinth seal.

The bottom F of the tank 12b is conformed with a circumferential concavity 90 that surrounds the guide and has a drain conduit 92 leading to a discharge opening 94 a which is connected to a tap 96. In addition, a cylindrical window transparent 98 surrounds the tank 12b and supports a ring of connection 100 that has a conical seat 102 that supports the edge of a bellows-shaped fitting 104 whose opposite edge is at contact with the outer wall of the barrel B around the mouth C. An elastic ring 106 tightens the edge of the shaped lining of bellows that is in coupling with the conical seat, with which is formed a tight seal. Other ring joints 108, 110 seal the transparent window with respect to the block of support 12a and connection ring 100. Thus, the support block 12a, the cylindrical window 98, the connecting ring 100, the 104-shaped bellows and barrel sidewall together define a drain chamber V surrounding the guide 14.

In operation, barrel B is supported with the horizontal geometric axis on a support structure fixed, with its mouth C facing down, while the device 10 is preferably mounted on a bench located under the barrel. While the arm is extended longitudinally, the end of the device 10 carrying the nozzle is introduced radially through the mouth, until it is the bellows-shaped fitting 104 applied under pressure against the outer surface of the barrel. Preferably, you can join the support base 12 an auxiliary centering tool (no illustrated) which is provided with four brackets that remain in contact with the outer surface of the barrel B, in order to provide additional support points and help focus the device.

Then water from the device is supplied washing by connecting a pump (not shown) to the connecting sleeve 72. The liquid passes through the joint pipe 64 and the flexible tube 58 to be ejected by the nozzle 60 in the form of a jet at high Pressure. When the geared motor group 44 is put into operation, the arm 56 is actuated to rotate about the motor shaft 42, by middle of the hollow shaft 38, of the cylindrical connector 50, of the housing hollow 52 and fork 54. The rotation of the arm is transmitted, through flexible tube 58 and connecting pipe 64 (which are solidary of arm 56), to threaded extension 66 of the pipe  of Union. The threaded extension 66 cooperates with the flange stationary 70 to be displaced axially, and both its rotation as their linear displacement are applied to the tube section flexible that is stiffened by rigid liner 74, which it will slide inside the hollow box 52 between the rollers 76, 78, which act as guiding means for the constituted slide by the rigid lining that surrounds the flexible tube.

As shown in Fig. 6, the tube section flexible that is free of liner 74 and is attached to arm 56 near from its end, it is bent progressively by virtue of the action of the lever due to the offset between the pipe section flexible insert in rigid liner 74 and end 58b of tube flexible attached to arm 56, thereby making the arm pivot in around the pivot P. The seat 80 and the elastic element 82 cooperate to guide the correct curvature of the flexible tube 58, which will that the inclination of the arm 56 around the P axis when the connecting pipe is displaced, up to an angle α of practically 180 °. Such rotation of arm 56 around the P axis, along with the rotation around the axis geometric of the hollow shaft 38, will cause the nozzle to describe a spherical path, with which the jet will impact the entire inner surface of the barrel B. It should be noted that the distance from the nozzle 60 to the inner wall of the barrel is reduced to only a few centimeters, which are high jet intensity and pressure at the point of impact.

It is evident to an expert in the field that the arm inclination 56 is uniquely defined by the angular position of the motor shaft, whereby the direction of the jet can be determined at any given time from the number of turns performed by the engine. It is therefore possible to stop the engine in the most critical areas, such as the corners between the ends of the barrel and its side wall.

The scrubbing liquid passes into the interior of the drain chamber V by the separation between the mouth C and the guide 14, and from there to the circumferential concavity 90 and to the drain pipe 92, whereby it is finally discharged through the opening of discharge through the tap. Due to the tight seal between the drain tank and the wall of the barrel that surrounds the mouth, the discharge device described above allows the scrubbing is done while maintaining a clean environment of work. In addition, closing the tap and maintaining the contribution of scrubbing liquid, the drain chamber V is filled progressively with discharge liquid, and then it is possible visually verify the degree of cleanliness of the discharged liquid and determine if an additional scrubbing step should be performed.

The displacement of the rigid liner 74 that makes that the arm 56 pivots around the transverse axis P and the rotation of the extreme PT around the geometric axis of the mouth could be carried out by independent drive means and provided separately for displacement and for rotation, in instead of running together by a single geared motor group, as described above.

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References cited in the description This list of references cited by the applicant is provides only as information for the reader and not It is part of the European patent document. Although it has proceeded with great care when compiling the references, you cannot exclude the possibility that errors have occurred or omissions, and the EPO disclaims all liability to this respect. Patent documents cited in the description

DE 1607362 [0008] \ hskip2cm US 6021793 A [0009]

Claims (10)

1. Device for internally scrubbing a barrel that has a mouth (C) in a wall, said saying device: - an elongated support (14, 52, 54) which is liable to be arranged in a stationary position with with respect to the barrel, with an extreme part (52, 54) introduced in the barrel through the mouth (C), - an arm (56) having an end joined in a pivotal joint to said end portion (52, 54) such that it is capable of pivoting around an axis (P) that is located transversely with respect to the elongated support, and one end free of work, - a flexible tube (58) having an end of discharge (58b) attached to the working end of said arm (56) and a input end (58a) connected to a means of providing liquid through a joint pipe (64) and is integral with a slide (58, 74) that is supported so that it is slidable in a longitudinal direction on said elongated support (14, 52, 54), - constriction means (80, 82) that guide the flexible tube (58) to make it bend in dependence of the axial displacement of said slide (74) in order to make bend your arm; characterized in that said slide comprises a rigid liner (74) that surrounds a section (L) of the flexible tube (58) and is axially slidable within guide means (76, 78) that are integral with said end portion (52, 54), and that it comprises means for driving the displacement to transmit a corresponding rotation movement to the arm (56) around said transverse axis (P) through the flexible tube (58).

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2. The device of claim 1, wherein said end portion (52, 54) of the elongated support is rotatable in around the geometric axis of the mouth (C) and is operatively connected to rotation drive means (38, 42, 44). 3. The device of claim 2, wherein said rotation drive means comprise an axis gap (38) that is coaxially attached to said end portion (52, 54), is articulated in said elongated support (14, 52, 54), has to said joint pipe (64) coaxially disposed within the same, and is operatively connected to a motor (44) to rotate around its geometric axis. 4. The device of claim 3, wherein said displacement drive means comprise a threaded end (66) of said cooperating union pipe (64) with a corresponding thread (68) formed in a stationary box (70) which is integral with said elongated support (14, 52, 54), with which a rotation of the threaded tip (66) will cause a axial displacement of the union pipe (64). 5. The device of claim 4, wherein said guiding means comprise at least one pair of facing rollers (76, 78) mounted on bearings in said part end (52, 54) of the elongated support, including housed in such a way that said rigid liner (74) is movable. 6. The device of any of the claims 1 to 5, wherein said means of constriction they comprise an extension (56a) that extends obliquely from the arm (56) beyond its transverse axis (P) and has a saddle-shaped seat (80) at its end, where it is admitted said flexible tube (58) such that it is slidable. 7. The device of claim 6, wherein said constriction means additionally include an element U-elastic (82) that has its opposite ends (82a, 82b) attached to said arm (56) and is obliquely disposed on horseback of said flexible tube (58), thereby predisposing the flexible tube (58) to stay in engagement with the seat (80). 8. The device of any of the claims 1 to 7, wherein it comprises a deposit of collection of the drain (12b, 98) surrounding said elongated support, it has a concave area facing the barrel when said part extreme is introduced into the barrel, and has a bottom (12b) with a drain pipe (92) that flows out through a discharge opening (94). 9. The device of claim 8, wherein said concave area of the reservoir (12b, 98) is limited by a edge (100) carrying a tubular fitting (104) that is attached forming a tight seal and is able to stay in contact forming hermetic seal against the outer wall of the barrel. 10. The device of any of the claims 8 or 9, wherein at least one surface (98) of the wall of said tank (12b, 98) is of a material transparent.