Fluent material handling – with receiver or receiver coacting mea – With means to move supply means and/or receiver to – from or... – Movably mounted supply
Patent
1995-12-27
1997-12-16
Jacyna, J. Casimer
Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea
With means to move supply means and/or receiver to, from or...
Movably mounted supply
141 96, 141256, 141264, 193 30, 414295, B65G 6918
Patent
active
056974086
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a container filling apparatus and methods for filling containers such as tanks, hoppers, or bins, for example, with damageable particulate materials.
2. The Prior Art
In the normal handling for example of foodstuffs or ingredients for foodstuffs, the material being handled is capable of being easily damaged by pressure, abrasion or concussion taking place in the normal operation of material transporting and filling and emptying of containers. The damage incurred to such materials, for example, shaped cereal products, nuts, etc., give rise to rejection and waste of significant proportion of the product, since, for example, broken and pulverized shaped cereal bubbles are not a saleable product.
One operation which can damage such products is the initial phase of filling a container with the product by gravity, since the product usually initially falls from an inlet in the top of the container, under gravity impact on the floor of the container. As the container fills, the effect is reduced as the fall distance is reduced, and the impact of the material is cushioned by the material already lying on the floor of the container. Nevertheless, this form of product damage is a significant source of loss and waste.
No effective or satisfactory solution to this problem has been devised so far, even though there is a need for some means of avoiding damage to and consequent waste of such food products.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for filling containers which is capable of reducing and minimizing the damage to products of the kind mentioned, in filling containers such as tanks, bins or hoppers by gravity feed.
According to this invention, the container filling apparatus comprises a filling chute which consists of an extensible and retractable tube, means for closing an otherwise open lower end of the tube, means for extending the tube by stages downwardly into a container, and filling means for supplying material to the tube as it is lowered. The invention further comprises means operative to open the closure means when the lower end of the tube is adjacent the floor of a container, to allow egress of material from the tube, and means for gradually thereafter withdrawing the tube while the filling means continues to supply material through the tube to fill the container.
The invention also provides a method of filling a container with damageable fluent material, comprising lowering an extendable tube by stages into the container from above; feeding material into the tube as it is extended to take up additional volume in the tube, sensing when the lower end of the tube is adjacent to or resting on the floor of the container, and opening a closure in the lower end of the tube to allow material to flow from the end of the tube into the container. The method further comprises withdrawing the tube by stages while continuing to supply material through the tube to the container and allowing the container to fill in step with withdrawal of the tube.
Preferably, the tube is in the form of a telescopic tube, comprised of a plurality of relatively slidable sections, the widest and outermost of which sections provide the lowermost section of the tube. The successive sections of the tube thus become narrower towards the top of the extended tube. This arrangement avoids dust and particle traps in the tube.
Alternatively, the tube could be a flexible tube, which is disposed in loops or curves, which are paid out by lowering the end of the tube. The tube could also be a bellows or other foldable construction, in which case care would have to be taken to avoid accumulation of dust and particles in the folds.
The closure at the lower end of the tube is preferable a conical bell, with some form of edge seal to the bottom edge of the tube, but other constructions, such as a slide, or flap valve, or a sleeve surrounding the lower end of the tube which can be raised to expose a plurality
REFERENCES:
patent: 1021757 (1912-04-01), Blaisdell
patent: 3241581 (1966-03-01), Richardson et al.
patent: 3738464 (1973-06-01), Ortlip et al.
patent: 3858733 (1975-01-01), Morioka et al.
patent: 4194615 (1980-03-01), Tell
patent: 5016686 (1991-05-01), Gerstenkorn
patent: 5190132 (1993-03-01), Stanelle et al.
patent: 5372229 (1994-12-01), Leibling
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