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US 12,258,230 B2Granted
Offloading vacuum tank
AssigneeThe Charles Machine Works, Inc.
InventorCody L. Sewell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An offloading vacuum system. The system has a tank to capture debris from an excavation site. The debris is pulled into the tank due to a blower pulling air into an attached hose. An internal conveyor within the tank conveys material to an offloading hub. The offloading hub has a ground-facing door which opens to deposit debris into an external conveyor. The external conveyor, when deployed, can move debris from below the tank to a dump container with a wall greater than a height of the tank.
Claims19
A method comprising:
- excavating a trench with a microtrencher to generate spoils;
- transporting the spoils to a vacuum tank, wherein the vacuum tank is configured to maintain a continuous vacuum pressure;
- conveying the spoils within the vacuum tank from an inlet to a discharge outlet using an internal conveyor;
- transferring the spoils from the discharge outlet to an external conveyor disposed completely outside the vacuum tank, wherein the external conveyor is configured to receive the spoils in a continuous stream;
- and
- depositing the spoils from the external conveyor into a dump container.
3 more elements
A system for handling and transporting spoils from an excavation site, comprising:
- a microtrencher configured to excavate a trench and generate spoils;
- a vacuum tank in fluid communication with the microtrencher, the vacuum tank comprising an inlet and a discharge outlet, wherein the vacuum tank is configured to maintain a continuous vacuum pressure;
- an internal conveyor disposed within the vacuum tank and positioned to convey spoils received in the vacuum tank to the discharge outlet;
- an external conveyor disposed completely outside the vacuum tank and aligned with the discharge outlet, wherein the external conveyor is configured to receive the spoils in a continuous stream from the discharge outlet;
- and
- a dump container positioned to receive the spoils from the external conveyor for deposit.
3 more elements
A system comprising:
- a means for excavating a trench;
- a hose attached to the means for excavating a trench;
- a vacuum tank attached to the hose, the vacuum tank comprising:
- a means for moving air through the hose;
- and
- a means for moving spoils within the tank to a discharge outlet;
- and
- an external conveyor disposed entirely outside the vacuum tank.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.