Cleaning system for a washer

• US 20010027800A1
• Filed: 04/24/2001
• Published: 10/11/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Daniel Rochette, Ghislain Parent, Mario Duchaine, Michel Emond, Michel Lemay, Nathalie Thibault, Yves-Andre Theriault
• Original Assignee: Daniel Rochette, Ghislain Parent, Mario Duchaine, Michel Emond, Michel Lemay, Nathalie Thibault, Yves-Andre Theriault
• Inventors: Parent, Ghislain, Thibault, Nathalie, Emond, Michel, Theriault, Yves-Andre, Rochette, Daniel, Duchaine, Mario, Lemay, Michel
• Granted Patent: US 6,439,248 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 134/18
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 1/031 Cages for laboratory animals; Cages for measuring metabolism of animals
• CPC Class Codes: B08B 3/02 Cleaning by the force of jets or sprays

Abstract

A high pressure pump (14) supplies cleaning fluid from a reservoir (12) to spray nozzles (20) inside a washing chamber (10). The spray nozzles (20) spray the cleaning fluid over a load to be cleaned. Used cleaning fluid is collected in a sump (30). A sump pump (32) drains the sump. The combination of the high pressure pump and sump pump provides more efficient cleaning of the load and eliminates the requirement for a deep sump beneath the washer. A vertical traveler (22), having a pair of counterbalanced spray arms (24), raises and lowers the spray nozzles counter cyclically; a detergent injection system (50) accurately meters a correct amount of detergent is added to the cleaning fluid; and a filtration device (34) filters suspended material from the used cleaning fluid and uses a portion of the cleaning fluid to clean itself.

Claims

1. A washer, the washer comprising:

a washing chamber;

spray nozzles disposed in the washing chamber to spray a cleaning fluid over a load to be cleaned;

a sump at the bottom of the washing chamber which collects the cleaning fluid sprayed over the load;

a sump pump which pumps cleaning fluid from the sump;

a cleaning fluid reservoir;

a high pressure pump for pumping cleaning fluid from the cleaning fluid reservoir to the spray nozzles.

2. The washer of

claim 1

wherein the high pressure pump delivers cleaning fluid to the spray nozzles at a pressure of about 5 to 15 bar.

3. The washer of

claim 1

, wherein the high pressure pump delivers cleaning fluid to the spray nozzles at a pressure of 7-9 bar.

4. The washer of

claim 2

wherein the cleaning fluid has a flow rate of about 250 l/min.

5. The washer of

claim 1

wherein the sump is a shallow sump, of about 10 cm depth or less.

6. The washer of

claim 1

wherein the sump pump is a self-priming pump that operates at a low head of fluid.

7. The washer of

claim 1

wherein the sump pump pumps cleaning fluid to the cleaning fluid reservoir.

8. The washer of

claim 1

wherein the sump includes:

a sloping floor which directs the cleaning fluid collected in the sump to the sump pump.

9. The washer of

claim 1

further including:

an in-line temperature booster which raises the temperature of the cleaning fluid from the cleaning fluid reservoir to a preselected wash temperature shortly before the cleaning fluid is delivered to the spray nozzles.

10. The washer of

claim 1

further including:

a filtration device which selectively filters cleaning fluid drawn from the sump and uses a portion of the cleaning fluid to clean the filtration device of suspended material removed from the cleaning fluid by the filter.

11. The washer of

claim 10

wherein the filtration device further includes:

a fluid inlet which receives cleaning fluid drawn from the sump;

a first fluid outlet which directs unfiltered cleaning fluid from the filtration device to a drain;

a valve which selectively closes to prevent cleaning fluid from exiting the filtration device through the first fluid outlet;

a filtration screen which filters suspended material from the cleaning fluid; and

a second fluid outlet which directs cleaning fluid, filtered of suspended material by the screen, to the cleaning fluid reservoir.

12. The washer of

claim 1

further including:

a detergent injection system which injects detergent into the cleaning fluid reservoir, the detergent injection system including a supply of detergent and a metering pump.

13. The washer of

claim 12

, wherein the detergent injection system further includes:

a flow meter, the flow meter detecting detergent flow in the detergent injection system; and

an alarm which indicates when detergent flow through the flow meter drops below a preselected level.

14. The washer of

claim 12

further including:

a water flow meter for metering water added to the cleaning fluid reservoir; and

a control circuit to cause the metering pump to meter an amount of detergent into the reservoir in proportion to the water added.

15. The washer of

claim 14

wherein the amount of detergent added is a function of a predetermined factor from a group including:

detergent concentration, level of soil on the load, type of detergent, proportion of cleaning fluid reused, and type of cycle.

16. The washer of

claim 12

wherein the metering pump delivers a number of pulses of detergent to the cleaning fluid tank, the number of pulses determined by an amount of detergent to be added.

17. The washer of

claim 1

, further including a vertical traveler including:

a pair of counterbalanced spray arms, disposed adjacent opposite sides of the washing chamber, the spray nozzles disposed on the spray arms;

a mechanism which supports the spray arms for vertical travel of the spray arms; and

a drive system which alternately raises and lowers the spray arms.

18. The washer of

claim 17

wherein the drive system further includes:

a drive cable; and

a drive means engaging the drive cable and sequentially moving the cable alternately a preselected distance in a first direction and an equivalent distance in a second direction, the second direction being the reverse of the first direction;

the drive cable connected to the mechanism, the cable defining a path from the drive means to each of the pair of spray arms in turn and then to the drive means;

whereby the alternating movement of the cable causes first and second spray arms to travel vertically in opposite directions.

19. The washer of

claim 18

further including:

a break-away connection between the drive cable and the mechanism for disconnecting the cable from the mechanism; and

a safety cable connected to the mechanism which prevents the pair of spray arms from simultaneously moving in a downward direction.

29. The washer of

claim 5

further including an in-line temperature booster which raises the temperature of the cleaning fluid from the cleaning fluid reservoir to a preselected wash temperature shortly before the cleaning fluid is delivered to the spray nozzles,

whereby heating the cleaning fluid in the sump is avoided.

20. A washer comprising:

spray nozzles disposed within the chamber for spraying a cleaning fluid into the chamber;

a pump which pumps cleaning fluid to the spray nozzles;

a cleaning fluid reservoir which supplies the pump with cleaning fluid; and

a vertical traveler including;

first and second counterbalanced spray arms, disposed adjacent opposite sides of the washing chamber, the spray nozzles disposed on the spray arms;

a mechanism which supports the spray arms for vertical travel; and

a drive system which alternately raises and lowers the spray arms, the first spray arm traveling in an opposite vertical direction to the second spray arm.

21. A washer comprising:

a washing chamber;

spray nozzles disposed within the chamber for spraying a cleaning fluid into the chamber;

a pump which pumps cleaning fluid to the spray nozzles;

a cleaning fluid reservoir which supplies the pump with cleaning fluid; and

a vertical traveler for alternately raising and lowering the spray nozzles, the vertical traveler including;

a drive system that sequentially raises and lowers countercyclically a first set of spray jets and a second set of spray jets.

22. The washer of

claim 21

wherein the vertical traveler further includes first and second spray arms disposed within the washing chamber, the first spray arm disposed in facing opposition to the second spray arm, the first set of spray nozzles disposed on the first spray arm and the second set of spray nozzles disposed on the second arm, the drive system alternatively raising and lowering the spray arms.

23. The washer of

claim 21

wherein the drive system includes:

a drive cable; and

a drive means, the drive means engaging the drive cable and alternatively moving the cable a preselected distance in first and second directions, the first direction being opposite to the second direction;

the drive cable forming a closed loop which passes from the drive means to the first set of spray nozzles and then to the second set of spray nozzles before returning to the drive means;

whereby the alternative movement of the cable causes first and second set of spray nozzles to travel vertically in opposite directions.

24. The washer of

claim 23

wherein the drive means includes a rodless pneumatic pump.

25. A washer comprising:

a washing chamber;

spray nozzles disposed in the washing chamber to spray a cleaning fluid over a load to be cleaned;

a cleaning fluid reservoir;

a pump which pumps cleaning fluid from the cleaning fluid reservoir to the spray nozzles;

a filtration device which removes suspended material from the cleaning fluid, the device including;

a fluid inlet which receives cleaning fluid;

a first fluid outlet which directs unfiltered cleaning fluid from the filtration device to a drain;

a valve which selectively closes to prevent cleaning fluid from exiting the filtration device through the first fluid outlet;

a filtration screen which filters suspended material from the cleaning fluid; and

a second fluid outlet through which filtered cleaning fluid leaves the device.

26. The washer of

claim 25

, wherein the screen defines a cylinder and is disposed in the filtration chamber with open ends of the cylinder surrounding the first inlet and the outlet respectively, the filtration device further including:

first and second gaskets disposed around the open ends to seal the screen to the filtration chamber.

27. A fluid injection system for insuring accurate delivery of a preselected quantity of a fluid, the fluid injection system including:

a peristaltic pump, the preselected quantity of fluid measured in terms of a number of pulses of fluid delivered by the pump;

a flow meter which indicates whether fluid is flowing through the pump, the flow meter detecting a flow of fluid in the fluid injection system.

28. The fluid injection system of

claim 27

, the injection system further including an alarm, the alarm indicating when the flow meter detects a fluid flow below a preselected level.

30. A method for cleaning cages and racks, the method comprising:

a) supplying spray nozzles with a cleaning fluid at a high pressure;

b) spraying the cleaning fluid from the spray nozzles over a load of cages and racks;

c) collecting sprayed cleaning fluid in a sump;

d) draining the cleaning fluid from the sump with a sump pump.

31. The method of

claim 30

further including before step a):

heating the cleaning fluid just before the cleaning fluid is supplied to the nozzles.

32. The method of

claim 30

, step a) including:

adding water to a cleaning fluid reservoir;

metering an amount of a detergent into the cleaning fluid reservoir with a peristaltic pump; and

pumping the cleaning fluid at high pressure to the nozzles.

33. The method of

claim 31

, step a) further including:

detecting a flow of detergent with a flow meter, the flow meter indicating whether detergent is flowing through the peristaltic pump.

34. The method of

claim 31

, step a) further including:

controlling the peristaltic pump with a control circuit, the control circuit determining the amount of detergent to be added.

35. A cleaning system, the system comprising:

supplying spray nozzles with a cleaning fluid;

spraying the cleaning fluid from the spray nozzles over a load to be cleaned;

sequentially raising and lowering the spray nozzles with a vertical traveler, the sequence including;

raising a first set of the spray nozzles at the same time as lowering a second set of the spray nozzles;

lowering the first set of the spray nozzles at the same time as raising the second set of the spray nozzles.

36. A cleaning system, the system comprising:

supplying spray nozzles with a cleaning fluid at a high pressure;

spraying the cleaning fluid from the spray nozzles over a load to be cleaned;

collecting sprayed cleaning fluid;

closing a filtration valve, the valve connected to a first outlet on a filtration device;

passing the sprayed cleaning fluid into the filtration device;

filtering suspended material from the sprayed cleaning fluid;

passing the filtered cleaning fluid from the filtration device through a second outlet;

selectively opening the filtration valve;

allowing a portion of the sprayed fluid to pass through the first outlet and through the open filtration valve to remove suspended material trapped within the filtration device.