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Title:
AN IMPROVED GULLY, AN IMPROVED VALVE SYSTEM AND A SENSOR FOR GUARDING A LEVEL OF DIRT IN SAID GULLY
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/2018/135939
Kind Code:
A1
Abstract:
The invention relates to a gully (1) for the discharge of water from a street in a sewer, comprising an access opening at a relatively high level for receiving said water and a bottom at a relatively lower level, further comprising a discharge opening (13) to discharge said water into a sewer at a level below said first level, wherein the gully comprises a sensor (6) for determining a level of dirt in the gully, above a lowest part of the discharge opening (13).

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Inventors:
DE VRIES DUCO SANDER (NL)
Application Number:
PCT/NL2017/050042
Publication Date:
July 26, 2018
Filing Date:
January 23, 2017
Export Citation:
Click for automatic bibliography generation   Help
Assignee:
SJORS TECHNIEK B V (NL)
International Classes:
E03F5/04; G01F23/00
Foreign References:
US20040232057A12004-11-25
US20040099586A12004-05-27
DE19933391A12001-01-25
CN205776655U2016-12-07
US20070103324A12007-05-10
Other References:
None
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
PLAGGENBORG, Menko Bernard (NL)
Download PDF:
Claims:
C L A I M S

1. A gully for the discharge of water from a street in a sewer, comprising an access opening at a relatively high level for re¬ ceiving said water and a bottom at a relatively lower level, fur¬ ther comprising a discharge opening to discharge said water into a sewer at a level below said access opening, characterized in that the gully comprises a sensor for determining a level of dirt in the gully, above a lowest part of the discharge opening.

2. A gully according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is chosen from a sonar sensor and an infra-red sensor.

3. A gully according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sensor is coupled to a valve system for closing off the discharge opening to the sewer.

4. A gully according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sensor is coupled to a wall of the gully.

5. A gully according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the sensor is a sensor for incorporation in a mesh net.

6. A gully according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the sensor is battery operated. 7. A gully according to claim 3, wherein the sensor is coupled to a connection element for connecting the valve system to a wall of the gully.

8. A gully according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is directed to a wall of the gully; preferably wherein the sensor is positioned near a wall of the gully and is directed towards another wall of the gully, for example an opposite wall.

9. A series of gullies according to any of the preceding claims, each provided with a sensor for determining a level of dirt in said gully, said sensors being mutually connected through a mesh net, at least one of said sensors at least occasionally being con¬ nected with a monitoring unit, said mesh net being embodied for sending data obtained by said sensors to said monitoring unit .

10. A series of gullies according to claim 9, wherein said sensors are mutually wirelessly connected. 11. A valve system for use in a gully according to any of the pre¬ ceding claims, the valve system comprising the sensor coupled to an element of the valve system.

12. A valve system according to claim 11, the valve system com- prising a valve and a connection element for hingedly holding said valve and being embodied for connecting the valve system to a wall of the gully.

13. A sensor for use in a gully according to any of claims 1 to 8, in a series of gullies according to claims 9 to 10 or in a valve system according to any of claims 11 to 12, chosen from a sonar sensor and an infra-red sensor.

14. A method for determining a level of dirt in a gully comprising the step of placing a sensor in a gully according to any of claims

1 to 8 or placing sensors in each of a series of gullies according to claims 9 to 10, or the step of installing a valve system ac¬ cording to any of claims 11 to 12 in a gully.

Description:
AN IMPROVED GULLY, AN IMPROVED VALVE SYSTEM AND A SENSOR FOR GUARDING A LEVEL OF DIRT IN SAID GULLY

The present invention relates to a gully with a guarding sys ¬ tem for determining the level of dirt in said gully comprising the features in the preamble of claim 1. The invention also relates to a valve system for use in the improved gully according to claim 8. The invention furthermore relates to a sensor for use in the gully or the valve system according to claim 11 and to a method for determining the level of dirt in a gully according to claim 12.

It is known in the art that gullies become filled with dirt that has to be removed from time to time so as to prevent clogging of the gully and, more in particular, the entrance to the sewer. Depending on the amount of dirt en debris entering the gully, cleaning takes place from two to four times a year. Since cleaning intervals not only depend on the amount of dirt but on the kind of dirt as well, like leaves, branches and human litter, cleaning sometimes must be commenced even more often.

Currently, the interval for cleaning gullies is based on ex ¬ perience with the degree of contamination. Herewith, the most heavily contaminated gully in a road is used as a starting point for cleaning all gullies in said road. As a consequence, all gul ¬ lies are cleaned, whereas for example only one out of 10 gullies actually has to be cleaned.

A disadvantage of this known working method is that much en ¬ ergy is wasted. However, since inspecting all gullies is not re ¬ garded an improvement, cleaning gullies has been performed this known way for decades .

The invention aims at providing an improved gully of the kind mentioned in the preamble.

The invention further aims at providing an improved method for cleaning gullies in which these known drawbacks no longer occur .

So as to obtain at least one of the above mentioned aims, the invention provides a gully as mentioned in claim 1. This gully has the advantage that inspection of the gully is no longer required but that the state of contamination of each individual gully can be known at all times. As a consequence, the cleaning crew only has to visit and clean gullies that have reached a certain degree of contamination. Such saves a considerable amount of time and money .

An additional advantage of the gully according to the present invention resides in the fact that parts of the gully are less in ¬ clined to damage. For, when cleaning the gully, the suction nozzle may contact the gully's wall or the valve system such that parts thereof are damaged. Since most of the gullies have to be cleaned less often, the chance of damages is declined as well. Also, the lifetime of the sewer is increased, since the risk of clogging due to dirt entering the sewer from the gully has been eliminated in an early stage. Such synergistic effects are a surprising and ad ¬ vantageous effect.

According to a first embodiment, the invention therefore re ¬ lates to a gully for the discharge of water from a street in a sewer, comprising an access opening at a relatively high level for receiving said water and a bottom at a relatively lower level, further comprising a discharge opening to discharge said water into a sewer at a level below said access opening. The gully is characterized in that the gully comprises a sensor for determining a level of dirt in the gully, above a lowest part of the discharge opening. This gully provides the advantages as mentioned above.

The sensor may be set at a standard value when installed in an empty gully. After a layer of dirt has grown, such that it in ¬ tersects with the sensor's sonar or IR beam, the sensor detects this change and will send a signal to a receiving unit. The sensor may send signals at regular intervals so as to be able to maintain a good impression of the status of dirt level in the gully.

The intervals may be different throughout the year. For exam ¬ ple, in autumn the sensor may send his readings once a day, where ¬ as in spring the sensor may send his readings only once a week or even once a month, since in spring less leaves will accumulate in the gully.

Preferably, the sensor communicates wirelessly so as to be able to communicate with a remote receiver. The sensor may use any suitable wireless protocol or network enabling the sensor to send its data. A mesh net of many sensors may be used, each of such sensor being installed in another gully so as to enable all sen- sors to communicate with each other and to communicate with a re ¬ ceiver, for example a monitoring unit. The monitoring unit may, for example, be a computer as such or a control room where data of all sensors can be read and processed. A measurement may be made once a day, so as to enable a cleaning crew to visit only those gullies that actually need to be cleaned. However, another scheme is possible, for example every second, every minute or every hour, allowing a substantially constant update of the current state of all gullies.

An advantage of a mesh net is that a constant communication with all gullies is provided. Even when one or a few sensors are broken, the intact sensors keep mutually connected. Such also pro ¬ vides the advantage that broken sensors can be readily recognized and replaced.

Preferably, the sensor is provided with an option of updating its software wirelessly. Such update may be sent through the mesh net such that all sensors are updated. Such software update may comprise a modification of the interval in which measurements are performed or readings are communicated to the receiving unit.

Preferably, the sensor is chosen from any of a sonar sensor and an infra-red sensor. Such sensor provides an accurate reading of the situation inside the gully.

A simple installation is obtained when the sensor is coupled to a valve system for closing off the discharge opening to the sewer. For then, installation can be performed easily when updat- ing the gully by placing a new valve system. Also, this position ensures that the level of dirt is measured when the valve is about to be obstructed by the dirt.

Alternatively, the sensor may be coupled to a wall of the gully, also providing a good control of the level of dirt in the gully.

As mentioned above, the sensor may be incorporated in a mesh net, enabling a constant update of the state of contamination of the gully. It therefore is preferred that the sensor is a sensor for incorporation in a mesh net.

So as to ensure a long lifetime without risk of damage of power supply lines, it is preferred that the sensor is battery op- erated.

A simple and reliable operation of the sensor is gained, when the sensor is coupled to a connection element for connecting the valve system to a wall of the gully. Such coupling element has a constant position inside the gully. Every change in the read data of the sensor therefore is an indication of dirt reaching the measuring range of the sensor indicating that the gully must be cleaned .

So as to have a clear distance reading, it is preferred that the sensor is directed to a wall of the gully; preferably wherein the sensor is positioned near a wall of the gully and is directed towards another wall of the gully, for example an opposite wall. More in particular preference is given to an embodiment where the sensor is positioned at a solid, non-motile part and wherein the sensor is directed towards another solid, non-motile part of the gully. Preferably said solid, non-motile parts are comprised of opposite walls, respectively, of the gully; for example opposite walls .

According to another embodiment, the present invention re ¬ lates to a series of gullies as mentioned hereinbefore, each pro- vided with a sensor for determining a level of dirt in said gully, said sensors being mutually connected through a mesh net, at least one of said sensors at least occasionally being connected with a monitoring unit, said mesh net being embodied for sending data obtained by said sensors to said monitoring unit.

Preferably, in said series of gullies, the sensors are mutu ¬ ally wirelessly connected. The sensors may communicate at a suita ¬ ble frequency range, like ultra BLE which has a range of from 3 m to 150 m. Alternatively, sub lGHz active RF may be used which has a range of from 500 m to 1 km through walls and which is very suitable for the present application. However, the invention is not limited to any of these frequencies. Any suitable protocol may be used, like Zigbee. However, the invention is not limited to this protocol.

According to a still further embodiment, the invention re ¬ lates to a valve system for use in a gully as mentioned hereinbe ¬ fore, the valve system comprising the sensor coupled to an element of the valve system.

Said valve system preferably comprises a valve and a connec ¬ tion element for hingedly holding said valve and being embodied for connecting the valve system to a wall of the gully.

The invention also relates to a sensor for use in a gully as mentioned hereinbefore, in a series of gullies according to claims 9 to 10 or in a valve system according to any of claims 11 to 12, chosen from a sonar sensor and an infra-red sensor.

Finally, the present invention relates to a method for deter ¬ mining a level of dirt in a gully comprising the step of placing a sensor in a gully as mentioned hereinbefore or placing sensors in each of a series of gullies as mentioned hereinbefore, or compris ¬ ing the step of installing a valve system as mentioned above in a gully . Hereafter, the invention will be further described by means of a drawing. The drawing shows in:

Fig. 1 a schematic representation of a gully with a sensor according to the invention, and

Fig. 2 a schematic representation of a valve system with a sensor according to the invention.

The same and similar parts and features have been denoted by the same reference numerals in the figures. However, for ease of understanding the figures, not all parts that are required for a practical embodiment have been shown in the figures.

Fig. 1 shows a gully 1 according to the invention. The gully

1 comprises a valve system 2 closing off an entrance to a sewer. The valve system 2 comprises a valve 3 and a connection member 4 for connecting the valve system 2 to a wall 5 of the gully 1. A sensor 6 is positioned at the valve system 2, more in particular at the connection member 4. Since the gully is free of debris, an uninterrupted view towards a wall that is opposite to the valve system is provided. When debris, dirt and/or litter accumulates inside the gully 1, entered through openings 7 in a top plate 8, the view will be interrupted, such that the sensor 6 detects objects closer to the sensor 6 than the opposite wall. The top plate 8 may be removed so as to be able to clean the gully, i.e. to remove the debris, dirt and/or litter.

Fig. 2 shows another embodiment of the valve system 2. The connection member comprises holes 9 for receiving bolts or the like with which the valve system 2 can be connected to a wall of the gully 1. The valve system comprises a hinge 10 along which the valve 3 can rotate with respect to the connection member 4. The sensor 6 is connected to the connection member 4.

As a matter of fact, the sensor 6 may be connected to the valve 3 as well, but since the valve 3 is coupled freely pivot- ably, no constant data are obtained when the valve moves. There ¬ fore, no clear view of the degree of contamination of the gully is obtained. However, such embodiment may be used if no other posi ¬ tion is available and such movement is taken into account.

Finally, according to the invention the sensor may be con- nected directly to a wall of the gully as well. As an alternative embodiment, the valve system 1 may be provided with a backplate 11 as shown in Fig. 2. The backplate 11 may be placed against a wall of the gully. In this embodiment, a sensor 6' is connected to the backplate 11. The sensor 6' may be positioned at a level just above a lowest portion 13 of a discharge opening 12 to discharge said water into a sewer. Fig. 2 shows three different positions for the sensor 6' where the lowest position about equals the low ¬ est portion 13, the middle position of sensor 6' equals a central portion of the discharge opening 13 and the highest position of sensor 6' equals a position above the discharge opening 13.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments as mentioned above and as shown in the drawings. The invention is limited by the claims only.

The invention also relates to all combinations of features described here independently of each other.