Fluent material handling – with receiver or receiver coacting mea – With material treatment
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-17
2001-08-07
Douglas, Steven O. (Department: 3751)
Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea
With material treatment
C141S286000, C239S424000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06269847
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to handling bulk product such as agricultural produce, in particular grain or other similar products, that can also contain a powder component referred to hereinafter as “dust”.
The invention relates more particularly to a device for laying dust contained in a flow of bulk product during transfer thereof.
Transfer can be effected in order to fill or empty a silo, a transportation vehicle such as a railroad wagon, truck or grain bulk-carrier ship or a storage heap. The invention finds one particularly useful application in cells of a silo for storing grain and in ducts for transferring grain to a storage area or transport vehicle.
The presence of dust in bulk product can be a great nuisance because dust that separates from the product during transfer forms a suspension in the air and can then degrade the cleanliness of the storage place or the environment. In the case of grain silos, the dust can even cause risks of fire or explosion, similar to those associated with coal “dust”, for example.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the dust-laying device described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,973,740, a divergent cone is placed in a casing which, as seen in the direction of flow of the product, narrows until the product enters a pipe connected to the dust-laying device. The layer of product formed downstream of the divergent cone is therefore obliged to become narrowed along the inside surface of the casing. This retards the forward movement of the layer, which reduces the flowrate at which the product passes into the dust-laying device. Also, the structure of the above prior art dust-laying device soils readily because as it moves forward the product is confined within an increasingly small space. Finally, the spray device is housed inside the cone and therefore cannot spray directly onto the outside envelope of the layer, but only from the interior of the divergent cone. It is also found that the above prior art device retards the flow of the product downstream of the spray area, which can become completely invaded by the product if the downstream flow is stopped.
The object of the invention is to provide a device for laying dust contained in a bulk product which remedies the drawbacks of the prior art dust-laying device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention therefore consists in a device for laying dust contained in a flow of bulk product during transfer thereof, the device comprising a divergent cone onto whose outside surface the product is directed from a feed pipe to form a tubular layer of product, a mounting device for holding the cone in the flow of product leaving the feed pipe and at least one device fixed to the mounting device for spraying a moistening liquid to moisten the inside envelope of the layer of product, wherein the spray device comprises at least one central nozzle in a spray moistening area downstream of the cone to moisten the part of the inside envelope of the product layer downstream of the cone and the structure of the device is such that the thickness of the tubular layer of the flow of product can form freely at least until the flow leaves the area, the layer thereafter retaining its hollow annular shape.
Thanks to the above features, particularly effective laying of dust is obtained by direct spraying of a moistening liquid onto the tubular layer of bulk product, without forward motion of the layer being retarded. The device can therefore work with a high flowrate and soiling of the device is minimized. Finally, the device makes it possible to spray the moistening liquid onto the outside envelope of the layer of product.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description which is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawing.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2973740 (1961-03-01), Hopkins et al.
patent: 4347876 (1982-09-01), Morgan
patent: 5992529 (1999-11-01), Williams
patent: 3316030A (1984-11-01), None
patent: 2684972A (1993-06-01), None
Douglas Steven O.
Exel Industries
Stevens Davis Miller & Mosher LLP
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