Machine for extinguishing fires

Abstract

A machine for extinguishing fires, using materials that are excavated and thrown directly from the ground includes a brush cutting module with knives and lateral panels, an excavating module comprising a cutter with spikes, and a throwing module formed by a flywheel mounted on a rotary shaft and provided with radial blades, allowing the excavated material to be thrown through openings in the throwing module. The position of the openings can be adjusted and the excavated materials can be thrown in one direction or another.

Claims

1. A machine for extinguishing fires, which uses as extinguishing component material ripped from a superficial strip of a ground, and comprising a brush cutting module, an excavating module and a throwing module, said modules removably mounted on a common chassis, wherein: the brush cutting module, for eliminating brush from the ground surface, comprises in turn: a support, at least a cutting knife mounted on the support for cutting the brush, at least two lateral panels, oblique with respect to the cutting knife, to direct the cut brush; the excavating module to excavate a superficial strip of the ground from which brush is eliminated by the brush cutting module, the excavating module comprising in turn: a milling cutter for ripping the superficial strip of the ground, and one or more spikes, attached to the perimetral edge of the milling cutter for crushing the superficial strip of the ground obtaining crushed material; and the throwing module for projecting on a fire the crushed material by the excavating module, comprises in turn: at least one rotatory shaft, at least one inertia flywheel mounted on the rotatory shaft, one or more radial blades attached to the perimetral edge of the inertia flywheel for projecting the crushed material coming from excavating module, a surrounding movable casing having a through opening defined by the casing for allowing the crushed material projected by the radial blades to pass through, and a hydraulic actuator for rotating the casing and directing the projected material.

2. The machine of claim 1, wherein the cutting knife of the brush cutting module has a “swallowtail” shape and comprises replaceable saw teeth.

3. The machine of claim 1, wherein the support of the brush cutting module is adjustable in height.

4. The machine of claim 1, wherein the brush cutting module further comprises a hydraulic motor having a cam for generating vibrations on said brush cutting module.

5. The machine of claim 1, wherein the brush cutting module further comprises concave cutting discs attached to the support for additional cutting of the brush.

6. The machine of claim 1, wherein the spikes of the excavating module are replaceable.

7. The machine of claim 1, wherein the excavating module further comprises one or more pushing paddles, attached to the perimetral edge of the milling cutter in an alternate manner with the spikes, for pushing the material to the throwing module.

8. The machine of claim 1, wherein the spikes of the excavating module consist of hoe-like cutting devices.

9. The machine of claim 1, wherein the casing of the throwing module has a substantially semicircular shape and is coaxial to the rotatory shaft.

10. The machine of claim 1, wherein the throwing module further comprises a lever for selecting the direction of the rotation of the rotatory shaft and the radial blades for varying the throwing direction.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) As a complement to the description that will be provided herein, and for the purpose of helping to make the features of the invention more understandable, according to a preferred practical exemplary embodiment thereof, said description is accompanied by a set of drawings constituting an integral part thereof in which, by way of illustration and not limitation, the following is represented:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a machine for extinguishing fires carried out according to the object of the present invention, which primarily shows the power take-off and hitch means, the front “swallowtail”-shaped knife, the transmission means and the throwing module.

(3) FIG. 2 shows a front view of the machine represented in the preceding figure.

(4) FIG. 3 shows a detailed lateral view of part of the machine which allows seeing the brush cutting module corresponding to the second embodiment, the excavating module and the throwing module with a shaft at 90° with respect to the direction of movement.

(5) FIG. 4 shows a cross section detail of the same machine represented in the preceding figure which shows the brush cutting module, the excavating module and the throwing module.

(6) FIG. 5 shows a cross section detail of one of the embodiments of the throwing module.

(7) FIG. 6 shows a detailed view of one of the flywheels with the spikes placed on its periphery, corresponding to one of the embodiments of the invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

(8) In view of the described figures, it can be seen how the proposed machine for extinguishing fires provided for extinguishing fires is made up of the combination and association, or the lack thereof, of three independent modules which can be mounted and removed separately or together on a common chassis, the modules of which are a brush cutting module (1) placed on the front part in the example of FIG. 1, an excavating module (2) placed in FIG. 3 after the preceding module, and a throwing module (3) for throwing the cut and excavated material, moved by a universal joint of transmission (13) with an intercalated inverter, as can be seen in FIG. 1.

(9) The brush cutting module (1) of FIG. 1 comprises a cutting knife (4) with a saw edge, combined with a pair of panels (5), the “swallowtail” configuration adopted by the knife (4) being shown in FIG. 1.

(10) Said brush cutting module (1) is mounted on a support or arm, the height of which can be adjusted to thus adjust the distance of said module from the ground.

(11) The brush cutting module (1) is complemented with a hydraulic motor (35) with a cam at the end of its shaft as a vibration generating mean in said module.

(12) In correspondence with the output of the transmission, a coupling (6) can be provided between the output shaft of the axle box and the input shaft of the inverter.

(13) A power take-off (7), a hitch point (8) (third point) and lateral hitch points (9) are provided on the chassis on which the assembly of the modules (1), (2) and (3) is mounted, to enable pulling and driving by a tractor vehicle.

(14) The excavating module has been provided after the brush cutting module (1), said excavating module being made up of a milling cutter (10) of FIG. 4 with spikes (11) on its periphery, which are replaceable and may be alternated with pushing paddles.

(15) FIG. 1 furthermore shows the transmission chain (12), as well as other elements such as a pair of pistons (14), a flywheel (15) of the throwing module (3), a pinion (31), a slew ring (24), and other elements which will be explained throughout the present description.

(16) FIG. 5 shows how the throwing module (3) includes the aforementioned flywheel (15) carrying radial blades (17), mounted on a rotary shaft (16), the flywheel (15) being arranged between discs (18), a front disc and a rear disc, attached one to another by a casing (32) where the outlet opening (28) for the materials is provided, such that the disc (18) is welded to a box (19) on which there are arranged bearings (20) of the shaft (16) which, at the other end thereof, is mounted on an enclosure (21) and with the interlocking split pin (22) thereof.

(17) The inlet (23) for the materials excavated by the milling cutter (10), comprising the slew ring (24) for the throwing module (3) itself, the bearings (25), and even the fixing or mounting supports (26) for said throwing module (3), can also be seen in said FIG. 5.

(18) In this throwing module (3) of the first embodiment, a casing (32) is defined in which an opening (28) is established, the circular positioning of which can be adjusted by means of a hydraulic drive (29), as detailed in FIG. 1.

(19) A ring (24) attached to the casing or box (32) in which the flywheel (15) rotates is also included.

(20) The outlet opening (28) for the materials is positioned by means of the hydraulic drive or motor (29).

(21) It also includes a lever (30) for selecting the direction of 360° rotation for driving the material.

(22) It also includes two pistons (14) imparting to it a horizontal movement of 15° on each side.

(23) Several embodiments can be carried out with all the elements described above, pointing out the following four embodiments: The embodiment represented in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5 The embodiment represented in FIGS. 3 and 4 A third version with the throwing module similar to the one represented in FIG. 5, but with the transmission on the part opposite to the one represented in this figure, replacing the universal joint with a pulley, i.e. in this case the transmission is in the rear part of the flywheel and the materials entering by means of a worm screw on the side opposite the transmission. A fourth and final embodiment, mounted on a single drive shaft, in which the milling cutter simultaneously excavates and throws, as can be seen in detail in FIG. 6; in this case its semicircular casing (33) is moved up or down, mechanically or manually guided in the side grooves (34), directing the stream of excavated material according to the operator's criteria at a vertical angle of up to 70°, as indicated by the directional arrows represented in FIG. 6.

(24) In turn, as regards the throwing module, there are four different embodiments: Corresponding to the throwing module represented in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5 Throwing module represented in FIGS. 3 and 4 Throwing module similar to the one represented in FIG. 5, but with the transmission in the rear part of the flywheel and the materials entering by means of a worm screw on the side opposite the transmission Throwing module represented in FIG. 6 similar to the one represented in FIGS. 3 and 4, but with the spikes (11) placed on the periphery of the flywheels (15), in which case the excavation and throwing functions are combined in one module.