CA2043537A1

CA2043537A1 - Adapter

Info

Publication number: CA2043537A1
Application number: CA002043537A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Marten Burgdorf; Dietmar Przytulla
Original assignee: Mauser Werke GmbH
Current assignee: Mauser Werke GmbH
Priority date: 1990-05-31
Filing date: 1991-05-30
Publication date: 1991-12-01
Also published as: EP0459120A2; DE9006149U1; JPH04253641A; EP0459120A3; NO911351L; NO911351D0

Abstract

ABSTRACT
An adapter for positioning a drum with a bunghole in an inverted position, when draining residue from the drum. The adapter is fastened off-center to the upper end of the drum and holds the inverted drum in tilted position on the drainage support.

Description

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ADAPTE~ .

Background of the Invention The invention relates to an adapter for the tilted positionlng of an inverted drum when draining the residue out of the drum.
The liquid or pumpable content of a drum with a bunghole i5 generally withdrawn by pumping the contents out by means of a drum pump or by means of a suctioning device through the bunghole of a drum when the drum is in its ( normal upright standing position.
After the drum has been emptied in the standard -~
fashion, a residue of its content usually remains in the bottom of the drum. This cannot be removed by pumping -even if the drum is equipped with a lower pump sump.
If the drum is to be used or is to be processed along a recycling route, the drum must be completely drained without any residue, especially if it was previously filled with hazardous fill substances.
This is usually done on an appropriate receiving device for residual liquids. Here the drum that is being drained is set in an inverted or upside-down position, and one tries to drain the residual liquid through the fill or drainage bunghole. During this process, the container must be moved back and forth manually, in order to convey the residual liquid to the b~nghole. When the drum is in its inverted position, however, the operator cannot tell exactly whether the drainage bunghole is always situated at the lowest point of the tilted drum; consequently, such a drainage process for the residual content is very laborious and time consuming, and satisfactory residual drainage generally cannot be achieved thereby.

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Drums equipped with bungholes are already known whose bottoms have an appropriate structural design so that they can be completely drained of residues by themselves when they are in their inverted position. Most drums, especially plastic drums, must be drained of their residue manually, in a slanted inverted position, through the efforts o~ an operator; This may be due to the bunghole housing being constricted towards the inside of the drum or because .
special precautions have been included on the inside of the upper lid of the drum, such as, e.g., funnel shaped aids, for drainage and flow-guidance.
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Summary of the Present Invention ;
It is an object of the present invention to provide a means for drums whose residue must be drained in a slightly inclined inverted position, which makes it possible to drain the residue of the drum almost completely and automatically.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by means of an adapter for holding the drum in a tilted position when -; -it i5 upside down in the course of draining the residue out ;1 ~~
20 of the drum. The adapter includes means for decentrally -~
fastening it to the upper end or lid of the drum and has a -longitudinal length. As a result of this, the drum can be set in a tilted position while it is upside down, with a I -freely selectable and prescribable drum tilt-angle. The ~-¦
25 adapter is attachable to the upper lid of the drum, and the !
drum is then placed in an inverted position, on an appropriate receiving device for the residual liguid. The drum is thus held in a slightly inclined slanted position and the residual contents can completely run out by itself. `-The attachment of the adapter to the upper lid of the drum is made at a position relative to the bunghole to assure that the bunghole is always disposed at the lowest point of the drum, and that the drum can be left completely at rest while its residue is being drained. Swinging the 2~3~37 , drum back and forth manually is obviated thereby, since this merely causes the residual liquid to splash back and forth and unnecessarily extends the flow path of the residual liquid. It is not necessary for an operator to be present all the time, and the time required for adequate drainage of the residue is advantageously shortened.
In one construction of the invention, the means for decentrally fastening the adapter at the upper lid of the drum consists of an outside thread disposed on one end of the adapter. By means of this thread, the adapter can be screwed into the inside thread of a second bunghole that is ( ~ situated in the upper lid diametrically opposite the drainage bunghole of the drum that is being drained. At the present time it is customary to use bunghole drums with two bungholes in the top lid of the drum, eOg. with a larger fill or drainage bunghole and with a smaller degassing or ventilation bunghole which is situated exactly opposite.
With such drums, the second bunghole advantageously provides means for decentrally fastening the drum adapter.
Furthermore, a screwed-out bunghole plug or an open second bunghole i9 a reliable visual indication to the operator that the residue of this drum is already completely drained.
In another construction of the invention, the means for decentralizing the attachment of the adapter at the upper lid of the drum consists of a snap-lock device disposed on one end of the adapter. By means of this snap-lock device, the adapter can be locked and ~astened at the upper hand~ing ring of the drum.
The construction of the adapter with a snap-lock device 3~ is best suited in particular for plastic drums having a handling ring or a carrying- and transport-ring situated at the top of the drum. Such rings typically include a horizontal contact surface and an axial or vertical contact surface for cooperating with the claws of a drum gripper.

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The snap~lock device is also suitable for drums with only one drainage bunghole. In this embodiment the adapter has a cone-shaped cam, fitted to engage within the V-shaped groove between the handling ring and top of the drum. The cam here has a support shoulder that is situated opposite the snap-lock device. For using drums of different sizes, of e.g., 120 liter or 220 liter capacity, or for setting an especially freely selectable and prescribable tilting angle of th drum, provision is suitably made that the adapter is ~esigned 50 as to be variable in its lengthwise extension, eOg., that it can be pulled out in telescoping fashion.
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Brief Description of the Drawinqs Fig. 1 shows a side view of a drum, partly in cross-section, with the adapter of the present invention and positioned on a receiving device for the residual drainage.
Fig. 2 is a side view of the adapter;
Fig. 3 is a side view of a modified embodiment of tne drum adapter of Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is a side view of still another embodiment of the adapter of the present invention;
Fig. 5 is a side view of the adapter of Fig. 5, taken at right angles to Fig. 4; and Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the adapter according to Figs. 4 and 5, shown attached to the rim of a plastic drum.

Detailed Description In Fig. 1, the reference number 10 refers to a plastic drum in an inclined inverted position on an appropriate receiving device for the residual drainage. The receiving device for the residual drainage consists essentially of an upper perforated plate or a grating 12 and a funnel 14 disposed underneath. The funnel has a funnel spout through ~3~

which the residual liquid running out of the draining drum 10 flows for collection in a receiving container or residue tank that is disposed underneath.
On one side of its upper end 16, the drum 10 has a filling and draining bunghole 18 with a large diameter, and on the other diametrically opposite side it has a venting or aerating bunghole 22 with a smaller diameter. An upper carrying- and transport-ring 24 is situated in the vicinity of the upper end 16 o~ the drum, and a corresponding lower carrying- and transport-ring 28 is situated in the vicinity of the lower lid 26 of the drum.
( With the drum 10 in a slightly inclined slant position, the adapter of the present invention is screwed into the smaller bunghole 22. By means of the adapter 20, the drum 10 can be set on the receiving device for the residual drainage, for example, the grating 1?, in a slanted inverted position, at a freely selectable and prescribable drum-tilting angle 30, so that the residual liquid can run out of the drum 10 without further manual handling, and can do so automatically and completely.
Fig. 2 shows the drum adapter 20. Here this drum adapter is constructed as an elongated cylindrical hollow body with an appropriate length of approximately five times its diameter. For decentrally fastening the adapter at the upper end 16 of the drum, an outside thread 32 is, disposed on one end of the adapter. By means of this outside thread, the adapter 20 can be screwed into the inside thread of the second, smaller bunghole 22. The adapter 20 pre~erably is designed as a blow-molded plastic hollow body with ends 34, 36, both of which are rounded or hemispherical. However, the adapter can also be produced, e.g., by injection molding or can be designed solid and fabricated, e.g., from a wooden rod or a metallic pipe piece.

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Fig. 3 shows an embodiment of the adapter 20 whose length is variable so that the desired tilting angle of the drum can be prescribed in a freely selectable fashion. For this purpose, th adapter 20 consists of a tubular lower section 38, closed at one end, and an upper section 40 placed concentrically above this in telescope-like fashion, and correspondingly c~osed at its upper end 34. The upper section 40 has an outside thread 32 for screwiny into the corresponding bunghole of the drum. A strip of spring steel sheet 42 with a detent pin 44 is provided in the lower section 38. This pin 44 can catch in the corresponding ( holes 46 in the upper section 40. Thus the adapter can be drawn out and fixed at preselectable lengths.
However, the longitudinal variability of the adapter could also be implemented between the upper section and the lower section in a different way, for example, by means of an appropriate mutual screw thread or a bayonet juncture.
Figs. 4 and 5 show another embodiment. There, the adapter 50 consists of a snap-lock device 48 disposed on one end of the adapter 50. The snap-lock device of the adapter 50 can be locked to the upper handling ring 24 of the drum 10. Fig. 6 clarifies by way of a section the arrangement and fastening of the adapter 50 at the upper handling ring 24 of the drum 10. The fastening will be at a location diametrically opposite the bunghole through which drainage is to be accomplished.
So that it will be supported reliably at the drum body, the adapter 50 has a cone-shaped cam 52, fi~ed so as to engage the V~shaped groove disposed behind the handling ring 24 and normally used in conjunction with the drum being gripped by a drum gripper. The cam 52 has a support shoulder 54 which is situated opposite the snap-lock device 48. To increase flexibility and lockability, the snap-lock device 48 has a hinge-like notch 56 on its inside.
~5 , On the end of the adapter 50 which is situated opposite the fastening means or the snap-lock device 48 the adapter 50 is constructed with drum keys for insertion into the bunghole covers of the drum 10. More particularly, these are two key-like pins 58, 60 designed to fit into the respective recesses of the fill- and drainage-bunghole cover and the ventilation bunghole cover. This advantageous construction of the adapter 50 makes possible suitable mulkiple use of the adapter.
By means o~ the adapter 20, 50, every drum that needs to be drained can be set and held, for its residual drainage, on the residual-drainage receiving device, in an arbitrary desired tilt position with inclination angles between 5 and 20, preferably about 12. Here it is guaranteed that the drainage bunghole is always disposed at the lowest point, so that the drum can drain completely all by itself.

Claims

1. An adapter for positioning an inverted drum at a tilt, while the residue in the drum is being drained, wherein the adapter (20, 50) includes means (32, 48) for decentrally fastening the adapter to the upper end (16) of the drum (10), said adapter having a longitudinal length whereby the drum (10) can be set in a tilted position, while it is inverted, at a prescribable drum tilt-angle.

2. The adapter of claim 1, wherein the means for decentrally fastening the adapter at the upper end (16) of the drum (10) consists of an outside thread (32) disposed on one end of the adapter (20), by means of which the adapter (20) can be screwed into the inside thread of a second bunghole (22) that is situated in the upper end (16) of the drum diametrically opposite the drainage bunghole (18) of the drum (10) that is being drained.

3. The adapter of claim 1, wherein the means for decentrally fastening the adapter at the upper end (16) of the drum (10) consists of a snap-lock device (48) disposed on one end of the adapter (50), by means of which the adapter (50) can be locked to the upper handling ring (24) of the drum (10).

4. The adapter of claim 3, wherein the adapter has a cone-shaped cam (52) fitted to engage a V-shaped groove disposed radially inwardly of the handling ring (24), said cam having a support shoulder (54) that is situated opposite the snap-lock device (48) for engaging against the one end of the drum.

5. The adapter of claims 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein that end of the adapter (20, 50) which is situated opposite the fastening means (32, 48) includes a drum key for insertion into a bunghole cover of the drum (10).

6. The adapter of claims 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein the longitudinal length of the adapter (20, 50) is variable, so that a desired drum tilt-angle can be prescribed in freely selectable fashion.

7. A method to implement the automatic residual drainage of a drum (10) through a bunghole (18) in the upper end (16) of the drum, wherein the drum (10) is manually disposed upside down with its upper and on an appropriate receiving device for the residual liquid, including the steps of attaching one end of an elongated adapter (20, 50) to the upper end (16) of the drum (10) at a location diametrically opposite said bunghole (18), and placing the drum (10) with the upper end (16), at the bunghole (18), and the other end of the adapter seated on said receiving device whereby the drum is disposed on said receiving device at an inclined slant and thus can be completely drained by itself.