Claims
- 1. A method of accumulating a stockpile of flowable solid material comprising the steps of:
- (a) subdividing a feed stream of said material into at least two additional streams each of which has a leader;
- (b) forming a first layer of at least substantially parallel piles of said material, the step of forming said first layer including simultaneously discharging the leaders of said additional streams along substantially parallel first paths located at opposite sides of and substantially equally spaced from a vertical symmetry plane to thus deposit a pair of first elongated piles of said material, and the step of forming said first layer further including changing the distance between said leaders at most by the combined width of said first piles, and thereafter simultaneously discharging said leaders along second paths which are substantially equally spaced from said symmetry plane on opposite sides of the latter and are substantially parallel to said first paths, each of said second paths being disposed adjacent to one of said first paths so that a second elongated pile of said material is deposited next to each of said first piles, and said first and second piles being deposited consecutively; and
- (c) completing said stockpile, the completing step including depositing at least one additional layer of substantially parallel piles of said material on said first layer, and the deposition of said at least one additional layer when the latter has at least four piles being performed using the forming step, the deposition of said at least one additional layer when the latter has two or three piles including simultaneously discharging said leaders along substantially parallel paths located at opposite sides of and substantially equally spaced from said symmetry plane, and the forming and completing steps being performed in such a manner that symmetry about said plane is substantially maintained at all times.
- 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of depleting the stockpile, including removing rows of flowable material substantially at right angles to said symmetry plane.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the completing step is performed in such a manner that each pile of said at least one additional layer partially overlies and is staggered with reference to a pile of said first layer.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the forming and completing steps are performed in such a manner that said stockpile has a substantially triangular cross-sectional outline upon completion thereof.
- 5. Apparatus for depositing flowable solid material to form a stockpile which is substantially symmetrical about a vertical symmetry plane, said apparatus comprising:
- (a) a source of supply of the flowable material;
- (b) means for simultaneously diverting first and second streams of the flowable material from said source, said diverting means including a manifold having first and second outlets for the flowable material, and first and second conveyors which extend substantially transversely of said symmetry plane and receive the flowable material from the respective outlets, and said conveyors having respective first and second material discharging portions for the flowable material, said material discharging portions being located at opposite sides of, and being substantially equally spaced from, said symmetry plane;
- (c) means for moving said diverting means, said moving means including means for translating said material discharging poritons back-and-forth in at least substantial parallelism to said symmetry plane;
- (d) means for shifting said material discharging portions transversely of said symmetry plane between respective first positions in which the distance between said material discharging portions is less than one-half the width of the stockpile, and respective second positions in which said distance exceeds one-half the width of the stockpile, said shifting means including means for displacing said conveyors relative to each other and with reference to said manifold so as to advance said material discharging portions nearer to or further away from one another; and
- (e) duct means disposed below and aligned with said outlets, said conveyors being shiftable to and from positions in which said outlets can discharge flowable material directly into said duct means.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said duct means comprises discrete first and second auxiliary ducts which are in register with the respective outlets.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
3047756 |
Dec 1980 |
DEX |
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Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 328,863, filed Dec. 9, 1981, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
805023 |
Jul 1949 |
DEX |
1001646 |
Jan 1957 |
DEX |
202519 |
Mar 1959 |
DEX |
142342 |
Sep 1953 |
CHX |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
328863 |
Dec 1981 |
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