Conveyors: fluid current – Having means for maintaining load in suspension along flow path – Including permeable member
Patent
1994-03-07
1996-10-08
Pike, Andrew C.
Conveyors: fluid current
Having means for maintaining load in suspension along flow path
Including permeable member
B65G 5320
Patent
active
055623697
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to shipping containers used for the transport of materials in fine particulate form that readily compact, in particular, to a floor mat and a container liner incorporating the floor mat, for such containers to facilitate the discharge of these materials. The invention further relates to a method which uses either of the floor mat or the container liner to facilitate the discharge of such materials.
BACKGROUND ART
There are many dry materials in fine particulate form which may have a strongly compacting nature, or are strongly binding, or are characterised by a steep angle of repose. These characteristics either singly or combined cause considerable difficulty in discharging these materials from a shipping container as they will not flow easily even when the container is tipped to an angle of say 45.degree..
As used in this specification the term "shipping container" and "container" refer to containers that are primarily used for road, rail, and sea transport and are generally rectangular prismatic in shape.
Examples of fine particulate compactible materials include titanium dioxide, pigments, starch, flour, and many chemicals.
Due to the number of materials falling into this category, the prior art is replete with proposals to facilitate the discharge of these materials from shipping and other forms of storage containers. The following U.S. Patents are relevant:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,943,891 (Paton),
U.S. Pat. No. 3,061,379 (Lusted),
U.S. Pat. No. 2,545,766 (Cline),
U.S. Pat. No. 2,919,955 (Paton),
U.S. Pat. No. 2,968,425 (Paton),
U.S. Pat. No. 3,231,312 (Paton),
U.S. Pat. No. 2,915,337 (Loomis),
U.S. Pat. No. 3,024,072 (Hermanns), and
U.S. Pat. No. 3,375,042 (Ostberg et al.).
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,943,891 (Paton) there is disclosed a fluidizing or unloading floor mat to be placed on the bottom of a storage compartment in order to fluidize materials in small particulate form that are held in the storage compartment and thereby assist the flow of material out of the compartment. The floor mat comprises a bottom layer of gas--impervious material and an upper layer of gas--pervious material with the layers secured together at their periphery to form between them a distributing chamber. Means are provided to introduce gas into the chamber whereby the gas under pressure flows through the gas--pervious layer to fluidize the material stored above the mat. Fluidization of the material assists its discharge.
In order to prevent the upper layer from billowing away from the lower layer, one or more substantially vertical webs may be used to connect the layers together to thereby form a number of compartments within the chamber. In place of webs, the layers may be sewn or glued together along spaced lines.
If all of the webs are provided with holes, a single source of gas may be used. It is, however, taught that when webs without holes are used, they form a series of independent chambers that may be separately supplied with gas. This is said to be desirable as it allows gas to be directed to selected portions thereby allowing for the selective fluidization of material over that portion. It is further disclosed that whilst gas may be directly supplied to the distributing chamber, a preferred means is to provide each of the compartments with a pipe that extends the length of the compartment. The pipe has a series of holes along its length so that gas entering a compartment is evenly distributed. The pipe also serves to keep at least a part of the upper layer apart from the lower layer at all times thereby providing an opening that allows some gas to enter the compartment when gas is first directed thereto.
Similar proposals to U.S. Pat. No. 2,943,891 are made by the same inventor in U.S. Pat. No. 2,919,955, U.S. Pat. No. 2,968,425 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,231,312.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,061,379 (Lusted) there is disclosed an aerator pad for use in facilitating the discharge of pulverulent materials such as cement from bulk storage. The aerator pad is similar in constructions to the floor mat dis
REFERENCES:
patent: 2545766 (1951-03-01), Cline
patent: 2915337 (1959-12-01), Loomis
patent: 2919955 (1960-01-01), Paton
patent: 2943891 (1960-07-01), Paton
patent: 2968425 (1961-01-01), Paton
patent: 2975915 (1961-03-01), Lindley
patent: 3024072 (1962-03-01), Hermanns
patent: 3061379 (1962-10-01), Lusted
patent: 3231312 (1966-01-01), Paton
patent: 3232673 (1966-02-01), Selig et al.
patent: 3241725 (1966-03-01), Carmichael
patent: 3375042 (1968-03-01), Ostberg et al.
patent: 4172618 (1979-10-01), Lambert
Mulawa Trading Co Pty Limited
Pike Andrew C.
LandOfFree
Container liner does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Container liner, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Container liner will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-52371