Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E04—BUILDING
  • E04H—BUILDINGS OR LIKE STRUCTURES FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSES; SWIMMING OR SPLASH BATHS OR POOLS; MASTS; FENCING; TENTS OR CANOPIES, IN GENERAL
  • E04H7/00—Construction or assembling of bulk storage containers employing civil engineering techniques in situ or off the site
  • E04H7/22—Containers for fluent solids, e.g. silos, bunkers; Supports therefor
  • E04H7/24—Constructions, with or without perforated walls, depending on the use of specified materials
  • E04H7/30—Constructions, with or without perforated walls, depending on the use of specified materials mainly of metal

Definitions

• the present invention concerns a silo comprising an inner and an outer shell between which is provided an insulating material, and where the silo is composed of shell elements.
• the invention furthermore concerns a shell element for use in a silo according to the invention where the silo has insulating material between inner and outer shell.
• Silos and shell elements of the above mentioned kind for storing animal feed exist.
• the silo is built up fi-om the bottom so that a ring of inner shell elements are assembled and upon which a top is built. Then the ring and the top are lifted by means of lifting devices, whereupon an underlying row of inner shell elements are fitted. In this way is proceeded until the whole inner shell has been built up.
• insulation material is fitted at the outer side of the inner shell as the inner shell has structures retaining the insulation material.
• the outer shell is mounted as single elements at the outer side of the inner shell.
• the building method necessitate the use of reinforcing elements which form thermal bridges between the inner and outer shells. Thus the full effect of the insulation material is not achieved.
• the present invention is directed, however, toward other applications in which there are special requirements for hygiene, especially toward the foodstuff industry.
• the foodstuff industry it has been common until now to build silos for production plants in full size before they are mounted in the plant. Many silos have to stand in production halls, and therefore it is often necessary to make openings in roof or walls for placing the silos.
• the costs by this mounting are very great due to the changes in the building, and it is difficult or impossible to have production running in a hall or a room while the taking down and building up of roof and walls occurs.
• the silo has been built up from shell elements in the form of modules that each comprise an outer and an inner shell member fastened on each side of a firm insulation material.
• the shell element consists of an outer shell member and an inner shell member which are fas- tened on each side of a firm insulation material.
• Shell elements for building up the silo may thus be moved through existing gates and doors in a factory, and the silo may be built up "from the bottom" as there is first mounted a ring of shell elements and a top which are then lifted up for subsequent mounting of an underlying row of shell elements until the silo is completely built.
• This imply so significant savings in the total cost of mounting that the increased price by making independent modules more than offsets the costs of building changes and other measures to be performed for mounting a fully mounted silo inside a plant or a production hall.
• the mounting of the modules may be done much more clean and dustless than by the prior art building methods.
• the silo according to the invention has the great advantage that a very stable insulation ability may be achieved between outer and inner shell.
• the shell elements may be joined in such a way that thermal stresses due to climate and sun are not transmitted in an unfavourable way.
• the silo according to the invention is preferred designed so that the shell elements are mutually connected in horizontal direction by the joining of outer shell members and in vertical direction by through-going fastening means arranged in the insulating material.
• each shell element there are resilient seals disposed in such a way that seals between mutually adjoining shell elements form airtight packings.
• the shell elements when joined along the outer shell members, may be squeezed at the inner shell members due to their thickness. This squeezing may be utilised for providing the sealing force.
• the seals are disposed in one or more grooves along the side edges of the inner shell member.
• the shell element according to the invention is preferred made as stated in claim 9, where the element is a sandwich construction where outer and inner shell members adhere to each side of a mechanically stable insulating material.
• This construction is self-supporting, strong and rigid and very suitable as modular element in the silo according to the invention.
• the insulating material may, for example, be hard polyure- thane foam which is very well suited, both mechanically and with regard to insulation.
• the outer shell member along two mutually adjacent side edges has a part projecting out from the insulating material.
• the outer shell member may thus overlap along two side edges that are closest to side edges of adjoining side edges.
• each shell member may be provided with a sealing strip of resilient material along its whole rim. Besides ensuring air tightness up to a certain differential pressure, the use of abutting sealing strips may allow a certain mobility between the shell elements, e.g. caused by thermal stresses in the silo.
• a method for building a silo according to the invention is indicated in claim 13.
• the method comprises a number of steps: a) a ring of shell elements is mounted and assembled; b) a top is mounted upon the first ring; c) the first ring including the top is lifted a height at least corresponding to the height of a shell element; d) step a) is repeated, and the rings are assembled with vertical fastening means; e) the assembled rings are lifted a height at least corresponding to the height of a shell element; f) steps d) and e) are repeated until the silo has attained the desired height; g) a support, possibly with built-in weigh cells, and an discharge cone are mounted between the lowermost ring and a base.
• a silo is built up from the bottom as described above.
• Figs. 1-3 show a silo according to the invention as seen from the side, from the side partly exposed at the base, and from above, respectively,
• Figs. 4-5 show a shell element according to the invention as seen from the side and from above, respectively,
• Figs. 6, 7 and 7a show an inner shell member for a shell element according to the invention, as seen from the side, from above and of an enlarged part section on the line A-A on Fig. 7,
• Fig. 8 shows assembly between two stay bolts for use in a silo according to the in- vention
• Fig. 9 shows a top for a silo according to the invention in an elevated section and two enlarged details of Fig. 9, and
• Fig. 10 show the top on Fig. 9 as seen from above.
• a silo according to the invention may be designed as shown on Figs. 1-3.
• the illustrated silo is built up on a base frame 1 which is supported on a number of weigh cells 1 and carries the weight of the silo via a support 3.
• the support 3 supports a discharge cone 4 and thereby the contents of the silo which may be any kind of fluid or loose material.
• the primary field of application of the silo is materials for the food industry.
• the silo is covered completely down to the ground surface or the base so that the support 3 is not seen from the outside. Therefore, a door 5 is provided in the casing of the silo. In other embodiments, the casing may be finished above the door, and the upper and outer part of the discharge cone meets the casing so that the discharge cone is free.
• the silo is built up from modules in the form of shell elements 6 which are joined into rings 7 and then joined under each other.
• the silo is made as a cylindric container but other geometric shapes are of course possible, for example with polygonal or box-shaped cross- section.
• the shell elements are here shown as part cylindric modules but in other embodiments of the silo, they may of course be plate shaped and have other shape than rectangular, for example hexagonal.
• the silo is finished with a frusto-conical top 8 which is built up from segments 9.
• the segments 9 are fastened to the uppermost ring 7 along the outer rim.
• the top 8 has an opening 10 which in a way not otherwise shown may be provided with filling unit, inspection hatches etc. in a usual way; also, it may be provided in the usual way with a not shown platform and a ladder suspended therefrom.
• a shell element for use in the described embodiment of the silo is shown more closely on Figs. 4 and 5.
• the shell element 6 is built up as a sandwich structure with an outer shell member 11 and an inner shell member 12.
• both shell members 11, 12 are made of stainless steel sheets. Between the sheets
• the 11, 12 is a layer of polyurethane foam 13 as insulating material.
• the polyurethane foam is hard and sticks to both sheets 11 and 12 so that hereby a mechanically stable and very rigid structure is formed.
• As the PU-foam 13 is sufficient for keeping the sheets 11, 12 in position and has sufficient adhering ability to these, further reinforcing elements, which are liable to form thermal bridges between the inner shell member 12 and the outer shell member 11, are not necessary.
• a part of the inner shell member 12 is removed for showing a pipe section 14 for passing through stay bolts by mounting the shell elements 6.
• the pipe section 14 is provided with angle bars 15 which anchors the pipe section 14 in the PU-foam
• the outer shell member 11 projects to the left and downwardly in relation to the insulation 13 and in relation to the inner shell member 12 so that overlap on adjoining shell members can be formed.
• the left, overlapping side edge of the outer shell member 11 is provided with a row of holes for pop rivets by riveting to an adjoining shell member.
• a corresponding row of holes appear at the right side of the outer shell member 11 for use in this joining.
• the inner shell member has been shown by itself on Figs. 6 and 7 as Fig. 6 shows the side facing the insulation 13. Along the four side edges of the shell member there is welded a profile as shown in the enlarged detail, the section on Fig. 7a. The profile thereby forms two recesses or grooves of which the one facing the centre of the sheet engages the foam while the other acts as seat for a seal 16.
• the seal 16 is preferred made of silicon rubber but other types of seals 16 may of course be used, depending on the purpose.
• nuts 20 which are designed in a special way for connecting the ends of the stay bolts.
• a lower end 21a is connected with an upper end 21b with the nut 20.
• the nut 20 is first screwed onto the lower end 21a on an oppositely situated shell element 6, whereafter the shell element below is pushed upwards so that it catches the reduced cone and outer diameter on the lower part of the nut 20.
• the lower part on the nut 20 is designated 22.
• the lower part 22 thus engages the upper part of the pipe section 14.
• the top 8 of the silo is shown in enlarged detail on Figs. 9 and 10.
• the top 8 consists of segments 25 which in principle are constructed as the shell elements 6, i.e. with an outer shell member and an inner shell member at each side of a layer of hard polyurethane foam.
• the segments 25 are fastened to each other at their side edges with pop rivets as the shell elements 6.
• the outer shell member on each segment 25 is provided with an angular flap 26 as shown in the enlarged detail to the right on Fig. 9.
• the flap 6 bypasses the upper edge of the uppermost string of shell elements 6 and thus forms protection for the joint against sun and rain.
• tubular lead-ins 27 which the upper ends of the stay bolts may go through, and whereby the stay bolts may be secured by nuts as outlined in the detail on Fig. 9.
• the segments 25 around the aperture 10 are kept together with a ring 28 at the centre. This is screw bolted to the inner edges of the segments 25 as shown in the detail to the left on Fig. 9.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Architecture (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Civil Engineering (AREA)
• Structural Engineering (AREA)
• Storage Of Harvested Produce (AREA)
• Compounds Of Alkaline-Earth Elements, Aluminum Or Rare-Earth Metals (AREA)
• Filling Or Emptying Of Bunkers, Hoppers, And Tanks (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=8159193

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Family Cites Families (7)

• 2001
  • 2001-02-22 DE DE60142827T patent/DE60142827D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2001-02-22 EP EP01907387A patent/EP1257719B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2001-02-22 AT AT01907387T patent/ATE478218T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2001-02-22 WO PCT/DK2001/000121 patent/WO2001063074A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2001-02-22 AU AU35356/01A patent/AU3535601A/en not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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