CA1083771A

CA1083771A - Closure member

Info

Publication number: CA1083771A
Application number: CA317,733A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Alex Hrycyk
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1978-12-11
Filing date: 1978-12-11
Publication date: 1980-08-19

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

The invention relates to a manually actuated device for use in affecting the opening and closing of filling covers and ventilation transoms found in agricultural structures such as grain bins or silos. The invention takes the form of a latch-ing device mounted on the cover in conjunction with a support arrangement, the latching device being operated remotely from the roof of the structure by means of a cable, extending from the latching mechanism, through the support to a point adjacent the base of the structure.

Description

~ - 2 -1~8~37731 The invention relates generally to a manually actuated de-vice, particularly but not exclusively for use in operably af-fecting the opening and closing of filling covers or ventilation transoms found for example in agricultural structures such as grain storage bins, or silos.
As is well known, the storage of grain or animal feed is achieved by the use of large metal bins or silos, where loading is accomplished normally through an inlet in the roof of the structure. The inlet is conventionally provided with a lid or cover which must, during loading be removed or otherwise opened by the operator to facilitate loading. In such structures it is also normally required, subsequent to loading, to periodically open the cover to provide adequate ventilation to the contents.
With conventional structures, the cover or lid has to be opened manually by an operator who has to physically ascend the structure at least twice during a loading operation, and at per-iodic intervals thereafter when it is required to ventilate.
Since these structures are in the order of thirty (30) feet in height, and normally fabricated from steel sheeting, the proce-dure is not conducive to operator safety, particularly duringperiods of inclement weather.
The present invention provides a relatively simple device which permits the operator to open or close such a ventilation or filling cover, without necessitating the often hazardous as-cent to the top of the grain bin or silo.
Accordingly, the invention comprises a collar, located on the roof of the structure having an opening therethrough which registers with an inlet through the roof. A cover is hingably mounted to the collar such that it can be obturated from a closed position where the cover is sealingly engaged with the collar, to ~\
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an operably open position to facilitate ventilation and filling with grain or animal feed. A latch mechanism is mounted on the cover and is adapted to engage a projection on the external sur-face of the collar, which the cover is engaged therewith. Fin-ally, a cable is provided, operably attached at one end to the latch mechanism and extending rearwardly therefrom across the roof to a guide pulley mounted on the periphery thereof, and thereafter downwardly to an attachment point adjacent the base of the structure. The latch mechanism is preferably spring biased to the closed position to ensure engagement of the latch when the cable is released and the cover closed.
The invention will now be described, by way of example only, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a fragmentary schematic view of a typical grain storage bin provided with the device according to the invention;
Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the inventive de-vice of Figure 1, the filling cover being shown in its closed and latched condition;
Figure 2(a) is a sectional schematic detail view of the latching mechanism of Figure 2, and;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the inventive device of Figure 1, the filling cover being shown in its open or load-ing condition.
As can be seen from Figure 1, the inventive device is shown, generally at (10) mounted on a circular cover or lid (11) of a conventional type of grain bin (12). In the embodiment shown the bin (12) comprises a cylindrical body section (13) capped by a substantially conical roof section (14). Such bins normally are provided with an entry door (15) situated adjacent the base thereof and at least one filling opening located in the roof. In Figure 1 only one such opening is shown, that be-ing located at the apex of the roof section, of circular config-uration and adapted to be closed by cover (11).
The opening in the roof section, in conventional grain bins, is generally in the region of 20 inches in diameter and is provid-ed with an upwardly extending circular collar (16) (Figures 2 &
4) upon which cover (11) is secured in an airtight manner. As can be seen in Figure 2, the device according to the present in-vention requires that the cover (11) be secured to the rim ofcollar (16) in a hingeable fashion, and for this purpose, a mech-anical hinge (17) is provided located externally on the periphery of collar (16). As will more particularly be described hereafter, the inventive arrangement comprises a rigid latch supporting structure and a remotely operated latch assembly, adapted to be mounted on the upper surface of the cover (11) to facilitate the opening and closing the same.
The rigid support structure best seen in Figure 2 consists of two components 18 and 19 arranged in a triangular configura-tion. Component l9 being generally L-shaped having a substan-tially vertical first elongate section l9a and a shorter inte-gral second section l9b, the latter section being attached, as by welding to the top surface of cover (11) at a location oppo-site that of hinge (17). Component 18 as can be seen is simply an angular brace extending from an attached point on cover (ll) adjacent hinge (17) to a location on component 19 adjacent the upper end thereof, where interconnection is provided by any suitable means. Immediately above the polnt of interconnection between components 18 and l9, section l9a is provided with a transverse aperture (20) through which the operating cable (21) 8377~

extends, the purpose of which will be explained hereafter in discussing the operation of the inventive structure.
At the lower extremity of component 19, a latching brac-ket (22) is provided, attached as by welding to component 19.
Bracket (22) as seen in more detail in Figure 2(a) is generally U-shaped, and is attached to component 19 so as to extend a dis-tance outwardly thereof and so define a vertically extending channel (23) bounded on three sides by bracket (22) and on the fourth side by the outer surface of component (19).
Looking now to the latching mechanism, and with particu-lar reference to Figures 2 and 2(a) the inventive structure comprises a latching arm (25) adapted to be pivotally arranged for movement in the direction of arrow 'A' (Figure 2) within channel (23) of bracket (22). Pivotal arrangement being pro-vided by a bolt (26) passing through aperture (27) in sides 22(a) of bracket (22) and engaged within spaced apart lugs (28) located on latching arm (25) at a predetermined distance from the lower end 25(a~ thereof. Adjacent end 25(a) of arm (25), a transverse aperture (29) is provided, adapted to receive and engage with a projection (30~ provided in the outer surface of collar (16). As will be appreciated, the location of lugs (28) will vary dependent upon the location of projection (30) in re-spect of the pivot provided by bolt (26).
As can be seen from Figure 2, arm 25 is curved in the longitudinal direction, and is provided at its uppermost extre-mity with a short angled portion 25(b) which acts as a stop when brought into contact with component (19) during operation of the device. Immediately below stop 25(b) a spring (31) is attached to extend between arm (25) and component (19), spring (31) serv-- 6 - ~ ~8377~
., ~ .

ing to bias the latch mechanism to the closed position. In the embodiment disclosed herein, cable (21) is fixedly attached to arm 25 at a point intermediate spring (31) at stop 25(b).
It will be appreciated from the various figures that the device according to the invention is operated by means of cable 21. This cable extending from its fixed position on arm (25), through aperture (20) in component (19) around pulley (32) (Fig- -ure 1~, and downwardly to a location on the side of the bin (13) some 4-5 feet from the ground, where the cable is releasably at-tached to a projection (33).
To manually actuate the device 10 to the open position as shown in Figure 3, the operator firstly releases cable (21) from attached part (33)~ A subsequent downward pull on the cable (21) will cause arm (25) of the locking mechanism to move against the action of spring (31) toward component (19) pivoting about bolt (26). Pivotal movement of arm (25) will subsequently affect the disengagement of arm (25) from projection (30) this opening the latch mechanism. Continual pulling on cable (21) by the operator ~ill bring stop 25(b) of arm 25 into engagement with component 19 of the support structure and thus raise cover (11) in the direction of arrow 'B' (Figure 2) to the open position. When the fully open position is reached (Figure 3), the operator can reattach the cable (21) to projection (33) thus maintaining ca-ble (21) in tension until it is required to close cover (11).
Two additional features of the invention can be seen from Figure 3. The first being a chain or cable (3~) fixedly attached to both collar (16) and cover (11) which is of such a length to prevent the cover (11) being opened further than is required, either by the operator or by the influence of wind Eorces; the second being the provision of a spring (35) again extending be-~` 1~8377:~

tween the collar (16) and cover (11) the purpose o~ which spring is to bias the cover to the closed position, when cable 21 is released. It is to be understood however, that in some circum-stances, it may be desirable to provide more than one spring (35) between cover (11) and collar (16). The actual location of such springs and indeed the chain or cable (34) would be a matter of design choice, it being only necessary to avoid ob-structing entry into the bin.
To close the cover (11) the operator must release the ca-ble (21) from attachment part (33), and lower cover (11) to the closed position under the action of spring or springs (35). Ten-sion being maintained on cable (21) until the cover seats upon collar (16) at which time the cable may be released, thus per-mitting arm (25) to pivot under the influence of spring (31) and as a consequence re-engage with projection (30).
Further modifications and alternative embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description. Accordingly, this description is to be construed as illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the manner of carrying out the invention. It is further understood that the form of the inven-tion herewith shown and described is to be taken as the present-ly preferred embodiment. Various changes may be made in the shape, size and general arrangement of components. For example, equivalent elements may be substituted for those illustrated and described herein, parts may be used independently of the use of other features, all as will be apparent to one skilled in the art after having the benefits of the description of the inven-29 tion.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. In agricultural structures of the type required for the storage of grain and animal feed, a remotely actuated closure arrangement adapted to facilitate the opening and closing of an inlet in the roof thereof, said arrangement comprising:
(a) collar means, located on the roof of said structure having an opening registering with said inlet;
(b) cover means, hingably attached to said collar means and adapted to be obturated from a closed position wherein said cover means sealingly engages with said collar means, to an operably open position;
(c) latch means mounted on said cover means and adapted to engage projection means on said collar means when said cover means is sealingly engaged there-with;
(d) cable means operably attached at one end to said latch means and extending rearwardly therefrom across said roof to guide means located on the periphery of said roof, and thereafter downwardly therefrom, the other end of said cable means being adapted to be secured adjacent the base of said structure until required to operate said latch means; and (e) spring means extending between said cover means and said collar means so as to bias said cover means to the operably closed position.

2. The arrangement according to claim 1 wherein said latch means includes:
(a) elongate support means located on the top surface of said cover means on the periphery of said cover means remote from said hinge, and extending verti-cally therefrom, the upper end thereof being provided with a transverse aperture through which said cable means extends;
(b) bracket means fixedly attached to said support means adjacent said cover means to extend substan-tially outwardly of said cover means normal to said support means;
(c) an elongate, substantially curved latching member pivotally mounted within said bracket means to ex-tend substantially vertically through substantially parallel relative to said support means, the convex side of said member facing said support means, wherein said member adjacent its lower and upper extremities being further provided with transverse apertures, adapted respectively to engage with said projection means on said collar, and to provide a fixed location for the end of said cable means; and (d) spring means operably positioned between said support means and said latching member, to bias the latter to the latching position.

3. The arrangement according to claim 2 wherein cable means are provided extending between said cover means and said collar means to limit the extent to which the cover may be opened.