Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Fluent material hopper or storage container with material port
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-10
2001-11-06
Friedman, Carl D. (Department: 3635)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Fluent material hopper or storage container with material port
C052S063000, C222S199000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06311438
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a silo, in particular a vertical one, designed to store products in powder form, and having a vibrating bottom, in particular one of a frustoconical shape, suitable for favoring the flow of the material.
Although more especially developed in connection with the silo storage of finely ground powder, the invention will also find an application in all sectors of industrial activity in which there is a need to have material kept from spontaneous discharge solely through the effect of gravity transported in containers, hoppers or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
When solid products such as, in particular, flours or talc having a grain size of less than one millimeter are stored in silos, the force of gravity does not spontaneously cause the products to flow.
Such powders, which are subjected to the pressure exerted by their own weight, form, form a vault, in the lower portion of the silo, which is generally frustoconical in shape. The vault blocks the lower orifice of the silo through which the powder ought to flow.
Thus, if it is wished to extract material from the silo, the first thing to be done is to break down the vault formed by the product in powder form.
In this respect, one of the known techniques is to place, in the portion of the cone of the silo in which the vault forms, an element known as a ‘vibrating bottom’.
This element can further be internally equipped with a central deflector absorbing the static loads of the product stored in the silo, in particular the pressure due to its weight.
This being the case, to enable the material to flow by breaking down the vault, the entire bottom of the silo and, more precisely, its outer envelope, are caused to vibrate by means of an unbalanced motor.
This vibration, which diffuses through the stored product, enables the particles to shift in relation to one another and thus transition from the friction state to the sliding state. These changes of state facllitate flow.
With this type of equipment, it is necessary to prevent the vibrations of the frustoconical element at the bottom of the silo equipped with a vibrating bottom from being transmitted to the rest of the silo body.
Over widely diffused vibration in the bottom portion of the stored products can, in fact, lead to the settling, or agglomeration, of the solid products throughout the silo, which would be counter to the object of the exercise.
For this purpose, it is known to use a vibrating bottom comprising a plane, peripheral, upper rim, provided opposite a corresponding lower rim of the silo, with a view to their connection, this being accomplished via a relatively flexible connecting and damping element, cooperating with independent connecting means interposed between said lower and upper rims, in such a way as to ensure a tight connection between the silo and its vibrating bottom while, at the same time, preventing vibrations from being transmitted from one to the other.
In one type of known equipment, the connecting, or joining, element takes the form of a peripheral joint with a U-shaped cross-section, opening outwardly and interposed between the bottom portion of the silo and the vibrating bottom. The joining element, the bottom portion of the silo and the vibrating bottom are connected via two flat flanges, independent of one another, designed to be mounted against the upper and lower horizontal wings of the U-shaped joint to press them against the lower and upper rims.
In this device, once the joint is in position between the respective peripheral rims of the bottom portion of the silo and of the vibrating bottom, it is fixed by means of two series of bolts, placed close together and passing equidistantly through each of the peripheral rims, to cooperate by clamping with each of the flanges after passing through the horizontal wings of the U-shaped joint and thus clasp it in place.
The installation of such a known joint in fact only ensures tightness between the bottom portion of the silo and the vibrating bottom.
More specifically, the vibrating bottom is fixed in relation to the silo, and the vibrations are damped, via four silentblocs, or shock mounts, diametrically opposed two by two, cooperating with four support points provided on the lower rim of the silo, opposite four other support points provided on the upper rim of the vibrating bottom.
In this known device, the entire weight of the vibrating bottom, and of any product that may be contained therein, is thus borne by the four shock mounts.
To provide and implement this technique on the silo adds to the cost of the latter and, what is more, stresses are consequently localized at four points only, which necessitates reinforcement, in particular by means of gusset plates mounted around the lower portion of the silo, and thick metal plating.
Furthermore, with this same device, it is necessary to provide two independent flanges, which represent additional parts, necessitating special Installation, thus leading to increased labor requirements.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to overcome these drawbacks and provides, for this purpose, a silo, in particular a vertical one, designed to store products in powder form, and having a vibrating bottom, suitable for favoring flow, and for equipping the body of the silo by means of a joining element and of fixing damper, provided to ensure a tight connection between the body of the silo and the vibrating bottom, while, at the same time, preventing the transmission of vibrations from one to the other, wherein the joining element takes the form of an elastically deformable, peripheral, self-supporting joint, interposed directly and freely between the body of the silo and the vibrating bottom, cooperating with the fixing damper to perform both a sealing function and a damping function, without discontinuity over its entire bearing periphery.
The advantages procured by the invention are thus the possibility of dispensing with the aforementioned flanges, hence their mounting, uniform distribution of forces, the possibility of using thinner sheet metal, in particular to construct the vibrating bottom, and uniform flexibility of the joint ensuring uniform distribution of vibrations.
The present invention also relates to the characteristics that will emerge in the course of the following description, and which are to be considered either in isolation or in all their possible technical combinations.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3712002 (1973-01-01), Hillinger et al.
patent: 3853247 (1974-12-01), Wahl
patent: 4520952 (1985-06-01), Wahl et al.
Friedman Carl D.
Industries Services et Conseils I.S.E.R.C.O.
Varner Steve
LandOfFree
Silo for the storage of powdery products having a vibrating... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Silo for the storage of powdery products having a vibrating..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Silo for the storage of powdery products having a vibrating... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2607756