Patent Application
20140093339
This invention relates to a portable silo for storing particulate material which is portable so that it can be moved to a temporary location and includes solar powered actuators at a discharge chute and silo lid.
In Canadian application Serial No: 2,600,216 of Herman published Mar. 4, 2009 is disclosed a silo or tank which is cylindrical and stands up from a base to a raised upper end at which it can be filled. Such tanks can hold up to 250 tons of a particulate material such as sand. The main point concerning the Herman tank is that it is portable and includes a coupling for attachment to a trailer so that it can be moved to a temporary location.
Often such tanks are mounted on rig mats at a work site or on other unstable base support. As the mounting is temporary, there is no possibility for foundation work to hold the tank stable.
As such tanks contain large amounts of material they apply significant force to the base on which they stand and also the consequences of instability leading to toppling are severe.
In Canadian Application 2,732,170 published Aug. 16, 2012 is disclosed a silo of this type where there is provided a mounting base which better supports the structure.
Another issue is that the silo is often required to be located at remote positions where there are little facilities.
It is one object of the present invention to provide a silo of this type which is modified for improved operation.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a portable storage silo comprising:
a tank having a peripheral wall, a top wall and a bottom wall;
a filling opening at or adjacent a top of the tank;
a discharge opening at or adjacent a bottom of the tank;
a support assembly for holding the tank with the bottom wall raised from the ground such that the discharge opening is raised for discharge into a receptacle at the ground;
the support assembly including a base for resting on the ground;
wherein the discharge opening has an electrically actuated gate arrangement;
wherein the filling opening has an electrically actuated lid;
the actuators at the discharge opening and the filling opening are operated with power from solar panels.
Preferably the solar panels which are mounted on the silo on one side adjacent an upper end of the silo.
Preferably the battery pack charged by the solar panels where the battery pack is located at the base underneath the silo.
Preferably there is provided a manual override lever on the discharge opening.
One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.
The portable storage silo includes a cylindrical tank 10 having a peripheral wall 11, a top wall 12 with a filler opening 12A and a bottom wall 13 with a discharge opening at or adjacent a bottom of the tank.
The tank has a height greater than 30 feet and preferably greater than 40 feet and a diameter less than 15 feet and preferably of the order of thirteen feet which allows it to be portable on a flat bed trailer which is the maximum allowing road transport.
A support assembly 14 is provided for holding the tank with the bottom wall raised from the ground such that the discharge opening is raised for discharge into a receptacle at the ground. Thus when standing it is relatively unstable due to the high weight contained and the great height relative to width.
The support assembly 14 includes a base 15 for resting on the ground. The base defines a ring 15 with an outer peripheral edge 16 with a transverse dimension approximately equal to that of the tank so that is also transportable as part of the same dimension.
The base includes a plurality of upstanding support legs 40 extending from the ring 15 at the ground to the peripheral wall of the tank to support the tank raised from the ring. The support legs are connected to and extend along the peripheral wall of the tank to a position adjacent the top of the tank to provide additional connection to and structural strength for the tank.
The ring carries a plurality, preferably four, of stabilizer arms 17 connected to the base and located at spaced positions around the base. The ring has four diagonal side edges 15B and each stabilizer arm is attached at a respective one of the diagonal side edges so as to be spaced at 90 degrees around the periphery of the tank.
Each stabilizer arms is mounted on a pivot bracket 18 so that it is movable by pivotal movement about a horizontal axis 19 into a first retracted position 20 shown in
Each arm includes a brace 25 extending from the base at a pivot point 26 to a bottom pivot point 17 at the arm 17, the brace being movable from a position lifting the arm to the retracted position shown in
As illustrated in
On a top end of the silo, as illustrated in
Each of the actuators in the chute and top opening are powered by a battery pack 48 located at the base underneath the silo, which is charged by a solar panel arrangement 49 mounted on the side wall of the silo adjacent the top end. The battery pack is charged when solar power is available and this power is arranged to be sufficient to drive the actuators of the silo. The operation of the actuators and the control of the charging system is controlled by a control panel 59 located at the battery pack on the base. The control unit communicates by cables to switches 47 at the actuators.
The silo lid has a circular shaped panel 51 having downwardly extending flanges 53 arranged to enclose on the opening. The opening has upwardly extending flanges 55 arranged to fit within the flanges of the lid.
The lid is pivoted at a pivot point 57 located at an end of the lid. The actuator has a elongated arm 59 extending from a hinged mount 61 directly behind the pivot on the lid such that retraction of a cylinder within the arm pivots the lid up. Extension of the cylinder closes the lid.
Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without department from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.
