The present invention relates to a gully with improved possibility for quick cleaning, consisting of a lower gully body, provided with an exhaust opening, and the top side of which is

-~- formed such, that it is adapted to cooperate with a grate.

Such gullies are known from Dutch patent application 64 00131. Said known gully has a lower gully body with circular cross-section and a somewhat convex bottom, which is quite well adapted to be emptied with the aid of an optionally adapted paddle device, but if, as is usual nowadays, one wishes to empty such gullies by removing the deposit, collected therein, with the aid of a vehicle which is provided with a suction pipe, while simultaneously injecting water under high pressure, then at a certain moment in addition to the earlier added mix water one will also suck-up an excess of, if not only, air, so that the mix water which is sucked up again implies a loss in storage capacity of the vacuum container, present on the vehicle. This will induce delay in work, and when one realizes that because of the above fresh water will have to be taken in regularly elsewhere, and that huge numbers of such gullies will have to be emptied periodically it will be evident that such delays and unnecessary extra use of energy (fuel) should not occur.

The invention tends to provide an improvement for the above

problem both for gullies with a lower gully body with circular cross-section and for gullies with a substantially rectangular or square cross-section. The invention also tends to provide a gully which enables the achievement of" the optimal yield with the expensive suction-emptying devices and the personnel, so that in larger cities one could possibly work with a smaller crew.

According to the present invention all this is achieved in that the inner periphery of the lower gully body passes from a certain level below the exhaust opening -from a rectangular, square or other regular polygonal cross-section to a circular cross-section, respectively from a circular or elliptic cross-section it passes to a circular cross-section, and said circular cross-sections being adapted to receive the outer diameter of the suction pipe of a gully emptier with tolerance.

In order to be. able to always completely empty the gully in a realible way, the circular cross-sections preferably extend as a cylindrical recess in a bottom. ,

The reduced chance, achieved by said configuration, that the dirt, collected in the sand collection room, will be stuck and the cooperation of said configuration with the suctionpipe both have the additional effect that it is possible to almost uninterruptedl suck-out dirt with hardly any suction of free air, and furthermore the injection of mix water has become superfluous.

This property can be used advantageously if, after a dry period, dirt with relatively little water is in the sand collection room as a compact mass. This has as a consequence that the water storag tank on the gully emptier is no longer necessary, so that the vacuum container can have a larger size.

It is remarked that the gully according to the present invention can be made both of concrete or of a synthetic or other material. Concrete, however, has the advantage that it is a relatively cheap and strong material which needs no special provisions in order ^* to prevent "rise" or "freezing-over" of the gully because of its high specific weight and its usually rougher surface when compared to for instance synthetic material, which provides a better "adherance" of the surrounding ground.

The invention will be further elucidated hereinafter on the basis of the drawing in which by way of example an embodiment of the gully according to the invention is illustrated. In the drawing is shown by:

fig. 1 a vertical cross-section through a gully in the configuration of a pavement gully, and

fig. 2 -cross-section according to line II-II of fig. 1.

The gully as illustrated in the drawing consists of a lower gully body 1 with four perpendicularly positioned side walls 2-5 and a bottom wall 6 which are cast for instance, but not necessarily, in one and the same concrete section.

In fig. 1 the side wall 4 is somewhat lower than the side walls.2, 3 and 5, so that some room is left for an intake opening 7, not evident for the invention, other or not provided with bars, which adjoins the (not illustrated) pavement gully.

The top of the gully is formed such that it is suitable for receiving a grate 8, usually by means of a border 14 which is secured to the lower gully body by means of anchors 9, only one of which is visible. In the event of a road gully, the intake is

provided in the horizontal surface in the configuration of variou intake openings in the grate 8, in which event said grate is ofte secured pivotally in the border 14, but that is not evident here and therefore it is not illustrated.

In the side wall 4 an exhaust pipe 11 is provided, equiped with a gully trap 10. It goes without saying that said exhaust pipe may also be provided in one of the other side walls, and it is generally known. The sand collection room 12, below the level of the exhaust pipe 11, serves for collecting and retaining sand and other dirt carried along and coming from the road.

As soon as the dirt, collected here in the course of time, has reached the level of the gully trap, it will prevent the exhaust of rain water and clogg the gully, so that it will have to be emptied. In the event of a well organised, preventive road maintenance one will be sure that the gullies are emptied before they may be clogged.

Emptying is done with the aid of a suction pipe of a certain diameter, for instance mounted on a gully emptier. In order to let the pipe suck-in as little air as possible the inner walls of the lower gully body according to the invention should pass, from a certain level in the sand collection room, from a rectangular, square or other regular polygonal, circular or elliptic cross- section respectively, into a circular cross-section, the diameter of which is somewhat larger than that of the suction pipe.

This is achieved by means of a truncated-conical transition 13. As is already mentioned above, it has most advantageous effects if the bottom of the lower gully body is provided with a recess 15 with a circular cross-section. In the description of the claimed exclusive rights, however, said recess is contained in a sub-clai

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because even when only the said transition 13 is used, considerably better results are achieved than they were reached up till now.

In the event the diameter of the suction pipe is up to the same extent as the smallest inside size of a gully, the circular basic surface will almost contact the side walls of said gully when seen in plane view. The drawing might give the impression that the transition from the square to the circular cross-section consists of flat faces, but it is preferred to let the said transition 13 extend as much as possible along the skirt -surface of a truncated cone.