BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical illustration of the entire bulk bag discharger installation according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a bulk bag equipped with a cross-hanger;
FIG. 3 is a partial side view of the conveyer, trolley and bag suspending hook;
FIG. 4 is an illustration of the bag loading station;
FIG. 5 is a top diagrammatical view of the bag unloading station;
FIG. 6 is a side diagrammatical view thereof;
FIG. 7 is a partial, cross-sectional view of the bag unloading station;
FIG. 8 is a side view of the bag unhooking operation; and
FIG. 9 is a diagrammatical view of the temporary storage facility.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawing there is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 1 a bulk bag discharging installation 1 which comprises an overhead closed loop conveyer (CLC) 2 passing through a bag loading station (BLS) 3, a bag unloading station (BUS) 4 and a bag dumping station (BDS) 5. The CLC operates continuously and automatically picks up loaded bulk bags 6 that are sequentially fed to the conveyer, and transports them to the BUS 4.
The BUS 4 is surrounded by an airtight enclosure 7 into which is maintained a negative pressure in order to prevent escape of dust particles or vapors into the surroundings. In the BUS, the bags are contacted by a bag ripping means (BRM) 8 which cuts a slit in the lower portion of each bag causing its contents to drop into a material gathering facility (MGF) 9. The bags are then dragged by the conveyer against a bag shaking device (BSD) 10 in order to dislodge any material remaining therein. The conveyer then moves the empty bag 11 to the BDS 5 where it is automatically detached from the conveyer and dumped for disposal. The MGF comprises a pit that lies under the BRM and BSD and the material gathered therein is fed to an extractor (EXT), that is a pump, Archimedes screw or other apparatus 12 for moving the material into a storage tank or silo 13 from which it is later packaged in smaller containers or otherwise distributed. The EXT 12, depending upon its construction, may be within or without the enclosure 7.
As shown on FIG. 2, bulk bags are usually provided with a lifting loop 14 at each of the four upper corners or with a stevadoring strap 15 spanning the median portion of two opposite rim sides, and sometimes with both corner loops and strap. In order to facilitate the handling and discharging of the bags, each one is equipped with a cross-hanger 16 having each of its four arms engaging one of the corner loops 14. A ring 17 at the top of the vertical central shank 18 is sized to be engaged by one of the hooks 19 hanging from the overhead conveyer 2 as illustrated in FIG. 3. The hook is rotatively and swivelingly attached to a trolley 20. The trolley is suspended from a pair of roller bearings 21 riding in the conveyer track 22. The trolley is also linked to the conveyer driving chain 23.
At the BLS, the bulk bags 6, filled with material 6a are fed over a roller mat 24 to an hydraulic lift 25 positioned under the conveyer 2 as shown in FIG. 4. For each bag, the lift is adjusted to bring either the hanger loop 17 or the bag spanning strap 15 in the path of the hook 19.
If the stevadoring strap is to be used, it may be advantageous, in some cases, to add a spring clip ring 17a between the strap and the hook 19, as illustrated in FIG. 4A.
The trolleys and hooks dangling from the conveyer are spaced apart every 7 meters (21 feet) approximately. The conveyer speed is preferably between 30 to 60 centimeters (12 to 24 inches) per second. Accordingly, one bag may be loaded every 10 to 20 seconds approximately. The rate of bag pickup can be slowed by skipping one or more trolleys between bag pickups.
It should be noted that the various stations can be spaced at a regular interval along the conveyer 2 that may be momentarily stopped as the bag arrive into a station in order to allow manual loading and unloading.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, each full bag 6 enters the BUS through an airlock 26 defined between two sets of double doors 27, 28. After exiting the entry airlock, the bag proceeds through a dumping area 29 where it is first contacted by a pair of ripping tools 30, 31 more specifically illustrated in FIG. 7. Each ripping tool comprises a rotary saw whose blade 32, 33 is obliquely oriented and positioned to rip into a lower portion of one of the sides of the bag. As the bag progresses through the dumping area 29 the entire widths of its lower side portions are slit by the blades 32, 33 positioned astride the lower part of the bag. Each rotary saw is supported by a vertically movable carriage 34, 35. The vertical position of each blade can thus be adjusted to accommodate various sizes of bulk bags.
As shown in connection with saw 30, the blade can slice the entire lower corner of the bag for a more reliable cut in some applications. Further, the saw 30a,30b may alternately be positioned under the bag as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 7 and provided with similar height adjustment mechanisms as the one shown at 34,35. Stationary blades can be used in lieu of rotating ones in some applications.
At this point, a rod cam 36 projecting laterally from the hook 19 as shown on FIG. 3, contacts a barrier 37 extending from the ceiling of the BUS, causing the hook and bag to rotate 90 degrees, and present what used to be the front of the bag to another ripping tool 38 That third ripping tool is constituted by another obliquely oriented rotary saw whose blade slits the lower portion of what used to be the front of the bag, causing the entire bottom of the bag to flap down and release the contents of the bag into an underlying pit 39. It should be noted that the third ripping tool 38 is positioned in the path of the bag at the same height as the other two side ripping tools 30 and 31. A series of three barriers 40, 41, 42 are positioned at progressively increasing heights in the path of the bags and sized to come in momentary contact with each bag as it moves past the ripping tools. As the bag is driven against each barrier the resulting shaking action dislodges any remaining contents. The empty bag 11 exits the BUS through a second airlock 43 similar to the entry airlock 26, dragging its bottom flap 44.
As more specifically illustrated in FIG. 7, the pit 39 comprises an auger formed by two slanted walls 45, 46 converging toward a trough housing the EXT 12. In this case, the EXT, comprises an Archimedes screw 47 driven by an electrical motor 48, and pushing the dumped material into a pipe 49 leading to a temporary storage tank.
In order to improve the fluidity of certain powder materials such as Portland cement, the walls of the pits are provided with a pair of air slides 50, 51. The air slides comprise an air pump 52, 53 injecting air drawn from the upper ridges of the enclosure 7 surrounding the BUS into a manifold 54, 55 that feeds the pressurized air to an array of small holes 56 in the entire surface of the pit walls 45, 46. These holes have a diameter within a range of about 2 to 5 millimeters (80 to 200 mils).
A negative pressure is maintained within the enclosure according to techniques well-known in the art by a powerful blower 66. The trolley suspension passes through a slot in the ceiling of the enclosure.
The edges of the slot are provided with feathered strips of elastomeric material that minimize leakage of outside air into the enclosure.
At the BDS, the empty bag 11 is released by a withdrawing movement of the suspending hook 19 when the roller cam 57 mounted at the end of the shaft 58 projecting from the back of the hook as shown in FIG. 3, is captured by a pair of rising ramps 59 that force the hook to swing about its universal joint 60 causing the loop 17 of the hanger to slide off the hook. The empty bag and hanger fall off the conveyer into a disposal bin (not shown on the drawing). As the trolley 20 progresses out of the BDS toward the BLS, the shaft 58 of the cam encounters another barrier similar to the first barrier 37 that causes the hook to shift back 90 degrees toward its original position, ready to pick up the next bag at the BLS.
The material moves through the pipe 49 which feeds a silo or other type of temporary storage 13. The material out of the silo can be fed to a bagging plant 61 where it is packaged in smaller bags 62 for the trade or the retail business.
In the case of Portland cement, the material can also be fed to a concrete mixer 63 that also receives aggregate from an adjacent storage 64, and delivers it to concrete trucks 65. The material can also be delivered in bulk through an alternate chute 66.
It should be understood that depending on the type of material being handled, other types of processing equipment can draw material from the temporary storage 13.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, modifications can be made and other embodiments may be devised without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.
Patent Application
20080050211
