Patent Application
20240002144
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The disclosure relates to sand loading systems and more particularly pertains to a new sand loading system for evenly dispensing wet sand in a safe and evenly distributed manner.
The prior art relates to sand loading systems which have difficulty in consistent loading of wet sand. They are subject to uneven weight distribution, inconsistent volume within containers, and other issues leading to shipping of sand dry instead of wet. For applications calling for wet sand this results in time and expense to wet the dry sand prior to use.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a material conveyor configured for carrying wet sand from a hopper to an elevated position over a loading platform. A funnel assembly is coupled to the material conveyor. The funnel assembly has a lower end movable relative to the material conveyor to direct wet sand into the hopper in a selectable direction.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A shroud 44 may be coupled to the upper funnel portion 22. The shroud 44 extends from a top 34 of the upper funnel portion 22 and around the dispensing end 24 of the material conveyor 12. The shroud 44 is configured to direct the wet sand 14 vertically downward from the material conveyor 12 into the upper funnel portion 22. The shroud 44 has a middle panel 46 extending between a pair of outer panels 48. The middle panel 46 is coextensive with and coupled to a top edge 50 of the upper funnel portion 22. Each of the outer panels 48 is coupled to and extends from opposite ends of the middle panel 46. The middle panel 46 has a planar lower portion 52 and a curved upper portion 54 extending up and around the dispensing end 24 of the material conveyor 12.
The upper funnel portion 22 has a rectangular shape perpendicular to a central longitudinal axis of the upper funnel portion 22. The lower funnel portion 26 is rectangular shaped perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the lower funnel portion 26. Each of the lines 32 extends between a respective corner edge 22A of the upper funnel portion 22 and an adjacent corner 26A of the top end 30 of the lower funnel portion 26.
A rail 60 may be coupled to the loading platform 18. The rail 60 extends around the opening 42 for safety so a person is inhibited from falling into the opening 42. The lower funnel portion 26 is positioned adjacent to the rail 60 wherein the lower funnel portion 26 is configured for being manipulated by a person standing on the loading platform 18 adjacent to the rail 60. At a position along the rail 60, the person can look down into the vessel 36 and manipulate the lower funnel portion 26 to direct wet sand 14 into the vessel 36. The loading platform 18 may also be positioned over a scale 62. The scale 62 can be zeroed or a pre-fill weight can be determined so that the scale 62 can be used to accurately determine how much wet sand 14 is deposited into the vessel 36.
The above describes a single delivery mechanism from the first hopper 16 to the vessel 36. However, the wet sand loading system 10 may provide for dual mechanisms as described below. Generally, except where noted, the structures below are similar or identical to the structures described above and variations in the structures above may be equally incorporated into the structures described below.
A loading platform 80 has a first opening 82 and a second opening 84. A first material conveyor 86 is configured for carrying wet sand 14 from a first hopper 88 to an elevated position over the first opening 82 in the loading platform 80. A first funnel assembly 90 is coupled to the first material conveyor 86. A second material conveyor 92 is configured for carrying wet sand 14 from a second hopper 94 adjacent to the first hopper 88 to the elevated position over the second opening 84 in the loading platform 80. A second funnel assembly 96 is coupled to the second material conveyor 92.
Similar to the above, the first funnel assembly 90 includes a first funnel assembly upper funnel portion 98 adjacent to a dispensing end 100 of the first material conveyor 86 wherein the first funnel assembly upper funnel portion 98 is configured to receive the wet sand 14 from the first material conveyor 86. The first funnel assembly upper funnel portion 98 is in a fixed position relative to the first material conveyor 86 or the loading platform 80. A first funnel assembly lower funnel portion 102 is movably coupled to the first funnel assembly upper funnel portion 98. A bottom 104 of the first funnel assembly upper funnel portion 98 extends into a top 106 of the first funnel assembly lower funnel portion 98. Each of a plurality of first funnel assembly lines 108 extends between the first funnel assembly upper funnel portion 98 and the first funnel assembly lower funnel portion 102. The top 106 of the first funnel assembly lower funnel portion 102 is spaced from an outer surface 110 of the first funnel assembly upper funnel portion 98 wherein the first funnel assembly lower funnel portion 102 is hung from the first funnel assembly upper funnel portion 98 and movable relative to the first funnel assembly upper funnel portion 98.
The second funnel assembly 96 includes a second funnel assembly upper funnel portion 112 adjacent to a dispensing end 114 of the second material conveyor 92 wherein the second funnel assembly upper funnel portion 112 is configured to receive the wet sand 14 from the second material conveyor 92. The second funnel assembly upper funnel portion 112 is in a fixed position relative to the second material conveyor 92 of the loading platform 80. A second funnel assembly lower funnel portion 116 is movably coupled to the second funnel assembly upper funnel portion 112. A bottom 118 of the second funnel assembly upper funnel portion 112 extends into a top 120 of the second funnel assembly lower funnel portion 116. Each of a plurality of second funnel assembly lines 122 extends between the second funnel assembly upper funnel portion 112 and the second funnel assembly lower funnel portion 116. The top 120 of the second funnel assembly lower funnel portion 116 is spaced from an outer surface 124 of the second funnel assembly upper funnel portion 112 wherein the second funnel assembly lower funnel portion 116 is hung from the second funnel assembly upper funnel portion 112 and is movable relative to the second funnel assembly upper funnel portion 112.
The dual mechanism for wet sand delivery as shown in
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
