Conveyors: fluid current – Intake to fluid current conveyor – Load receptacle type
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-30
2001-05-29
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: fluid current
Intake to fluid current conveyor
Load receptacle type
C406S091000, C052S197000, C222S328000, C222S547000, C222S564000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06238145
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to a silo for pulverulent and fine grained bulk such as cement and other loose materials having a conical cover in the center of a circular silo base.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A large volume silo of the inner conical style is known. Such silos are centrally provided with an upwardly extending conical area, along the sloped sides of which the sinking loose material slides into an outer annular area located adjacent to the silo wall. In this outer annular area, which is generally located in the circular silo base between the sides of the central cone and the silo wall, there typically will be particulate outlets through which material will pass to a collection point located outside the silo. Generally, air conveyor chutes will convey the bulk material from such particulate outlets to the outside collection point. Such a collection point is typically a storage tank. Such a design is material intensive, requiring a filter or vent bin in addition to the storage tank.
Typically, the air conveyors utilized in such silos as a means of moving material from within to outside the silo are fluidization conveyors, such as Airslide® fluidization conveyors, which require the fluidization of the bulk material. As a result, the material, which is originally compacted within the silo, must be fluidized and as such will take up more space than when it is in a non-fluidized state, thus requiring large volume, material intensive conveying devices. Obviously, when a fluidization conveying process is utilized the material will have to be separated from the conveying air. Such systems require high air to material ratios, thus placing demands on the system to employ heavy duty filters and the like. Such fluidized conveyors also use a relatively extensive amount of power and incorporate valving, for example, shut-off valves which can be entirely closed or, if desired, opened to a greater or lesser extent, to control material withdrawal.
One object of the invention is to provide a silo in which the material costs are reduced compared to prior art inner cone silos.
A further object of the invention is to provide a silo utilizing internal conveying devices that do not take up as much space or have the same power requirements as the standard fluidizing devices typically utilized in silos.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a silo of the inner cone type in which a significant portion of the stored material can be withdrawn without extensive power requirements.
These and other objects are realized by the silo of the present invention which in the preferred embodiment is of the inner cone type in which, in one embodiment, material is transported from a plurality of particulate outlets arranged in a radial manner on the annular silo base to one or more collection points which, unlike in prior art designs, are located in the interior of the silo body.
The silo design of the present invention eliminates a significant amount of equipment, including the storage tank and any associated filters or vent bin.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a silo for bulk material, such as cement powder, ground raw cement, fly ash, raw flour, coal dust, gypsum and the like. In a preferred embodiment the silo of the present invention belongs to the general type that has an annular silo bottom portion formed by an upwardly extending inner conical dome. In one embodiment of the present invention, material conveyors pass radially inward from particulate material outlets located within the silo's interior, and preferably spaced along the silo's annular perimeter, to at least one collection point located within the body of the silo.
In another embodiment of the invention, a novel type of “dense phase” conveying system is used to transport material from a particulate outlet located within the interior of a silo. Such a dense phase conveying system is preferably used to transport material from a particulate outlet spaced along a silo's annular perimeter to a discharge opening. The novel dense phase conveying system of the present invent greatly reduces equipment and maintenance requirements over prior art fluidization conveying methods.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a silo of the inner conical dome type is provided in which material is withdrawn from an approximately centrally located material withdrawal point through which a significant amount, and preferably, a majority, of the silo's contents can be withdrawn by gravity without a significant power expenditure.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, a silo of the inner conical dome type is provided with an essentially vertically oriented central column which functions as a material conduit through which material will be withdrawn from the silo, which column has one end located approximately at the apex of the inner cone and its other end, which is the discharge point for material, located approximately at the center of the cone's base and, therefore, at the bottom of the silo.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4078703 (1978-03-01), Dressler
patent: 4252478 (1981-02-01), Olle'
patent: 5562366 (1996-10-01), Paulson
patent: 62-235130 (1987-10-01), None
Bartholomew Leslie
Paul Kermit
Dillon, Jr. Joe
Ellis Christopher P.
Fuller Bulk Handling Corp.
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