Fluent material handling – with receiver or receiver coacting mea – Combined
Patent
1984-04-25
1986-11-04
Bell, Jr., Houston S.
Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea
Combined
141327, 141350, 141392, 406111, 406188, B65B 104, B65B 304
Patent
active
046205772
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a shuttle for the transfer of a fluid substance, such as a liquid, granular or pulverous sample, by means of a pressure difference in a tube, between a filling station and an emptying station, the shuttle having at its end an opening which is covered by a closing member which can be opened. In addition, this invention relates to a device intended for the filling and/or emptying of such a shuttle, the device having members for holding the shuttle in place while it is being filled or emptied, and members for opening the closing members and for filling or emptying the shuttle.
There are previously known shuttles used for the transfer of fluid substances, the shuttles having at one end an opening which is provided with a thread and can be closed manually by means of a stopper, also threaded. Previously known is also a shuttle which can be filled and emptied automatically and has at one end an opening which can be closed with a plug which is pressed in. Such a plug can be pulled out, and pushed in mechanically in order to close the shuttle. The filling and the emptying of this shuttle are also fully automated. However, the filling and the emptying require very complicated apparatus at both the filling station and the emptying station. Pulling out the plug and pushing it in, and turning the shuttle upside down in order to empty it are motions which can be automated, but require expensive robots.
Thus there is very great need for a shuttle for transferring, by means of a pressure difference, a fluid substance in a tube between a filling station and an emptying station, and a device by means of which this shuttle can be filled and emptied more simply than previously, using structurally less expensive systems.
The main characteristics of the shuttle according to the invention and the device for filling it are given in accompanying claims 1 and 7.
According to the present invention, the structure of the filling and the emptying devices can be made very simple by fitting in each opening of the shuttle a closing member which opens resiliently towards the inside of the shuttle, in which case the mutual position of the shuttle-holding members and the member opening the closing member at the filling or emptying station is such or can be made such that the end of the opening member pushes through the shuttle opening to a distance beyond the closing member, in order to open the closing member, so that the contents of the shuttle can be emptied or the shuttle can be filled. Since there is an opening at each end of the shuttle, the transfer tube between the filling station and the emptying station can be completely closed.
According to the invention, there is thus an opening at each opposite end of the shuttle, the openings being provided with the above-mentioned closing members which open resiliently towards the inside of the shuttle. The closing member can be a ball or the like moving in the longitudinal direction of the shuttle against the action of a spring member. Also, since there is an opening with a closing member at each end of the shuttle, the shuttle need not be turned between the filling station and the emptying station, a fact which considerably simplifies the automatic system for filling and emptying.
The shuttle-filling device has preferably a substantially downwards oriented filling tube which fits snugly in the opening of the shuttle and either extends so far that, when the shuttle arrives at the filling station, it pushes through the shuttle opening into the shuttle or, when the shuttle has been fixed at the filling station, pushes through the shuttle opening into the shuttle in order to fill the shuttle with a fluid. In the former case the closing member of the shuttle opening is opened by the kinetic energy of the shuttle when the shuttle arrives at the filling station, a fact which further simplifies the structure of the filling device.
At the opposite end of the pneumatic tube there is an emptying station, at which the opening of the closing member of the opposite end of
REFERENCES:
patent: 1161089 (1915-11-01), Waldo
patent: 1214389 (1917-01-01), Toth
patent: 1818608 (1931-08-01), Chafkin
patent: 4240769 (1980-12-01), Diaz
patent: 4316682 (1982-02-01), Evans
Bell, Jr. Houston S.
Oy Partek Ab
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