Description:[001] The present invention relates to the field of the Trashrack Cleaning Machine (TRCM) with a skip grab assembly for lifting debris & trash, and more specifically to a skip grab assembly to lift debris struck on the surface of the Trash Racks installed inside the intake bays of the water intake system. Further, a trashrack cleaning machine (TRCM) with a self-aligning skip grab assembly for lifting trash from highly misaligned trashracks.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] The following description provides the information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
[003] Further, the approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
[004] Many dams are not designed to pass debris and other trash that floats and deposits in reservoirs as the reservoirs fill with sediment. During low reservoir levels or periods when sediment arrives to an outlet works or hydropower intake, debris can rack on grated intakes, impacting reservoir operations. After the woody debris blocks the intake, sediment then deposits behind the racked members, beginning the process of limiting sediment passage during flushing and sluicing, and increasing the potential for eventual burial of the intake. The most common form of debris management is manual removal or sluicing/flushing. Removal of debris by barge has been reported in many cases; however, this approach is expensive and not sustainable. If the proper infrastructure is in place, debris flushing can be a less expensive and laborious approach.
[005] Trash rack structures are the most common means of debris control at hydraulic structures. It has prolifically been applied to many hydropower and diversion structures, with patents dating back to 1926 (United States Patent No. 1,586,753, 1926). Stationary trash racks are most common, but they require manual cleaning to prevent unnecessary head loss and/or structure overtopping. Since 1983, several patents have been published with self-cleaning mechanisms. These mechanisms often include rakes or bars which collect debris accumulated and deposit it downstream. However, many of the current automated cleaning systems are not economically viable.
[006] Trash Racks (consisting of a rectangular frame with vertical bars fixed at regular intervals) are installed at the water intakes to prevent the natural floating debris and trash (consisting of logs, fishes, dead animal bodies, leaves, branches etc.) and artificial man-made debris (consisting of plastic bottles, clothes, rubber etc.) from entering further into the intake channel along with the water and damaging critical downstream equipment such as hydro-turbines, condensers, heat exchangers, pumps etc. of these industries.
[007] In addition, due to large deforestation of upstream areas, the presence of debris & trash in all types of water bodies has increased to a very large extent. This poses a serious risk for the trashracks which get blocked and choked at very short intervals of time. Hence the smooth flow and passage of water through the trash racks is getting regularly blocked. This leads to unplanned interruptions & shutdowns, huge loses on account of decrease in the working efficiency of the plants and reduced life of downstream equipment.
[008] Further, power Station Turbine water inlet is generally equipped with trashrack, for tackling the dirt in water, in case these dirts jeopardize the safe operation of the hydraulic turbine.Dirt before the dirt attach trashrack grid face and heavy collection trashrack generally should use dirt cleaner to remove, in order to avoid these dirt block trashrack, causes head loss and jeopardizes the safety of trashrack. Slusher of removing contamination be with aforementioned dirt cleaner matching used a kind of remove trashrack before and trashrack grid face is adhered to the sewage disposal apparatus of dirt.
[009] If the trash rack is not cleaned at regular interval, they get blocked and choked, hence the smooth flow of water through the trash racks gets blocked which decreases efficiency. In order to overcome above stated limitations, the present invention pertains to a skip grab assembly to lift debris struck on the surface of the Trash Racks installed inside the intake bays of the water intake system. The invented machine provide a novel skip grab assembly and working method thereof and a self-aligning skip grab assembly for lifting trash from highly misaligned trashracks.
[010] Accordingly, on the basis of aforesaid facts, there remains a need in the prior art to provide a novel skip grab assembly and working method thereof and a self-aligning skip grab assembly for lifting trash from highly misaligned trashracks. Therefore, it would be useful and desirable to have an improved assembly system, method, apparatus and equipment to meet the above-mentioned needs.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
[011] In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of conventional skip grab assembly and operational techniques of a trashrack cleaning machine (TRCM), are now present in the prior art, the present invention discloses a skip grab assembly to lift debris struck on the surface of the Trash Racks installed inside the intake bays of the water intake system. Further, a trashrack cleaning machine (TRCM) with a self-aligning skip grab assembly for lifting trash from highly misaligned trashracks.
[012] In an important aspect of the present invention, a main arm, a telescopic boom; wherein one end of the main arm is connected through a first pin with a bracket at the top of the machine, and the other end is connected to the telescopic boom through a movable pin connected with the skip grab assembly. Further, the skip grab assembly through the movable pin is configured to pick the debris and trash around the trashrack panel by self-adjusting the alignment with the trashrack panel and pick the whole debris and trash.
[013] In another important aspect of the present invention, on a top portion of a Trash Rack Cleaning Machine, and the other end is connected to the telescopic boom through a movable pin provided with the skip grab assembly and working fluid for grab open - close is passed through the hose pipe, which is wound on hose reeling drums.
[014] In another important aspect of the present invention, the hose reeling drum motor is mounted on the main arm and it rotates with grab lowering and grab raising operations.
This equipment's fully hydraulic system is amongst the most efficient, reliable and safe operating systems available in the world today.
[015] In another important aspect of the present invention, the H-TRCM is designed as a multi-purpose invention, which can perform many different functions. It is equipped with a swiveling rotating crane used to lift and service the trash racks. Further, H-TRCM has capability to penetrate deep into thick and condensed debris and remove them from the water. In addition, the H-TRCM can remove the debris and dump it directly into a disposal trolley, thereby saving lot of labour and time.
[016] The present invention has the following many advantages over the conventional prior art, but not limited to: No loss of trash due to gap between Skipgrab and trashracks. In conventional prior art the grab is rigid and thus due to trashrack misalignment, a gap is created between the Skipgrab and trashracks. This creates a huge loss as the trash falls from the gap. This scenario is prevented through this invention in which there is perfect alignment of Skipgrab with trashracks so there is no question of any losses; Efficient Trash Removal: The TRCM machine removes all the maximum amount of trash in a single cycle and so this is a highly efficient system and further, the lowest lead time.
[017] In this respect, before explaining at least one object of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of set of rules and to the arrangements of the various models set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other objects and of being practiced and carried out in various ways, according to the need of that industry. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
[018] These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[019] The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
[020] FIG. 1-3, illustrate various representation of a skip grab assembly to lift debris struck on the surface of the Trash Racks installed inside the intake bays of the water intake system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[021] While the present invention is described herein by way of example using embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments of drawing or drawings described and are not intended to represent the scale of the various components. Further, some components that may form a part of the invention may not be illustrated in certain figures, for ease of illustration, and such omissions do not limit the embodiments outlined in any way. It should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. As used throughout this description, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e. meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense, (i.e. meaning must). Further, the words "a" or "an" mean "at least one” and the word “plurality” means “one or more” unless otherwise mentioned. Furthermore, the terminology and phraseology used herein is solely used for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as limiting in scope. Language such as "including," "comprising," "having," "containing," or "involving," and variations thereof, is intended to be broad and encompass the subject matter listed thereafter, equivalents, and additional subject matter not recited, and is not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps. Likewise, the term "comprising" is considered synonymous with the terms "including" or "containing" for applicable legal purposes. Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles and the like is included in the specification solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not suggested or represented that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention.
[022] In this disclosure, whenever a composition or an element or a group of elements is preceded with the transitional phrase “comprising”, it is understood that we also contemplate the same composition, element or group of elements with transitional phrases “consisting of”, “consisting”, “selected from the group of consisting of, “including”, or “is” preceding the recitation of the composition, element or group of elements and vice versa.
[023] The present invention is described hereinafter by various embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein reference numerals used in the accompanying drawing correspond to the like elements throughout the description. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiment set forth herein. Rather, the embodiment is provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the following detailed description, numeric values and ranges are provided for various aspects of the implementations described. These values and ranges are to be treated as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. In addition, a number of materials are identified as suitable for various facets of the implementations. These materials are to be treated as exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
[024] Referring now to the drawings, these are illustrated in FIG. 1 & 2, the present invention discloses a skip grab assembly to lift debris struck on the surface of the Trash Racks installed inside the intake bays of the water intake system. The assembly is comprised of, but not limited to, a main arm, a telescopic boom; wherein one end of the main arm is connected through a first pin with a bracket at the top of the machine, and the other end is connected to the telescopic boom through a movable pin connected with the skip grab assembly. Further, the skip grab assembly through the movable pin is configured to pick the debris and trash around the trashrack panel by self-adjusting the alignment with the trashrack panel and pick the whole debris and trash.
[025] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, on a top portion of a Trash Rack Cleaning Machine, and the other end is connected to the telescopic boom through a movable pin provided with the skip grab assembly and working fluid for grab open - close is passed through the hose pipe, which is wound on hose reeling drums.
[026] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the hose reeling drum motor is mounted on the main arm and it rotates with grab lowering and grab raising operations.
[027] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the grab is connected at the lower end of the telescopic Boom and further, a plurality of hydraulic cylinder is provided at bottom of main arm, through which the boom in and boom out operations are carried out.
[028] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, on the telescopic boom, the plurality of hydraulic cylinders is mounted through which Grab raising and grab lowering operation is carried out.
[029] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the skip grab is made of a straight plate with teeth at its end and these teeth are engaged with the vertical bars of the trash rack.
[030] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, when the grab is pushed down by telescopic boom, it effectively cleans the Trash Rae bars by combing operation and all the trash and debris is collected inside the skip grab.
[031] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the trash and debris are taken up by closing the skip grab and unloaded inside a debris disposal trolley, which is parked on its parking platform which moves along with the Trash Rack Cleaning Machine.
Best Mode and enablement of the present invention to enable a person ordinarily skilled in the art
[032] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a method of working for a trashrack cleaning machine (TRCM) with a skip grab assembly for lifting debris & trash from highly misaligned trashracks, comprising the steps of:
Step 1: providing, when a boom reaches the bottom, a BOOM IN / OUT Cylinder which connects a Main Arm at top with the Boom, it pushes the boom towards a trashracks;
Step 2: moving, the Skipgrab towards the trashracks and it touches the trashracks, as the trashracks are misaligned and tapered in installation, the Skipgrab is free to move by having a movable pin connection with the boom, enabling it automatically aligns itself with the trashracks at whichever angle the trashracks are installed;
Step 3: placing, the skipgrab is in appropriate position with the trashracks and it comes up as main arm cylinders open and lift the Main Arm, and further, enabling the activity lifts the trash and debris which has clinged on the trashracks out of the water.
[033] The above-mentioned invention is provided with the preciseness in its real-world applications to provide a skip grab assembly to lift debris struck on the surface of the Trash Racks installed inside the intake bays of the water intake system.
[034] The benefits and advantages that the present invention may offer have been discussed above with reference to particular embodiments. These benefits and advantages are not to be interpreted as critical, necessary, or essential features of any or all of the embodiments, nor are they to be read as any elements or constraints that might contribute to their occurring or becoming more evident.
[035] Although specific embodiments have been used to describe the current invention, it should be recognized that these embodiments are merely illustrative and that the invention is not limited to them. The aforementioned embodiments are open to numerous alterations, additions, and improvements. These adaptations, changes, additions, and enhancements are considered to be within the purview of the invention.
, Claims:1. A trashrack cleaning machine (TRCM) with a skip grab assembly for lifting debris & trash from highly misaligned trashracks, comprising:
a main arm, a telescopic boom; wherein one end of the main arm is connected through a first pin with a bracket at the top of the machine, and the other end is connected to the telescopic boom through a movable pin connected with the skip grab assembly;
wherein the skip grab assembly through the movable pin is configured to pick the debris and trash around the trashrack panel by self-adjusting the alignment with the trashrack panel and pick the whole debris and trash.

2. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein on a top portion of a Trash Rack Cleaning Machine, and the other end is connected to the telescopic boom through a movable pin provided with the skip grab assembly and working fluid for grab open - close is passed through the hose pipe, which is wound on hose reeling drums.

3. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hose reeling drum motor is mounted on the main arm and it rotates with grab lowering and grab raising operations.

4. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the grab is connected at the lower end of the telescopic Boom and further, a plurality of hydraulic cylinder is provided at bottom of main arm, through which the boom in and boom out operations are carried out.

5. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein on the telescopic boom, the plurality of hydraulic cylinders is mounted through which Grab raising and grab lowering operation is carried out.

6. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the skip grab is made of a straight plate with teeth at its end and these teeth are engaged with the vertical bars of the trash rack.

7. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the grab is pushed down by telescopic boom, it effectively cleans the Trash Rae bars by combing operation and all the trash and debris is collected inside the skip grab.

8. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the trash and debris are taken up by closing the skip grab and unloaded inside a debris disposal trolley, which is parked on its parking platform which moves along with the Trash Rack Cleaning Machine.

9. A method of working for a trashrack cleaning machine (TRCM) with a skip grab assembly for lifting debris & trash from highly misaligned trashracks, comprising the steps of:
providing, when a boom reaches the bottom, a BOOM IN / OUT Cylinder which connects a Main Arm at top with the Boom, it pushes the boom towards a trashracks;
moving, the Skipgrab towards the trashracks and it touches the trashracks, as the trashracks are misaligned and tapered in installation, the Skipgrab is free to move by having a movable pin connection with the boom, enabling it automatically aligns itself with the trashracks at whichever angle the trashracks are installed;
placing, the skipgrab is in appropriate position with the trashracks and it comes up as main arm cylinders open and lift the Main Arm, and further, enabling the activity lifts the trash and debris which has clinged on the trashracks out of the water.