FR2693710A1 - Removal system for silo stored bulk material - uses transfer screw mounted on trolley which moves along railway to access whole area of silo floor - Google Patents

Abstract

The system is used with an endless spiral transfer screw (16). This directs material to an outlet chute (3) where it is transported by a conveyor. The transfer screw is mounted on a trolley which can move along a railway. The railway uses at least one rail and is orientated parallel to the conveyor. Discharge of the material towards the chute and conveyor can be achieved at all points along the length of the assembly. The trolley carries a primary motor and gearbox to drive the transfer screw through a bevel gear. The trolley also carries the drive mechanism to move it along the railway. ADVANTAGE - System is positioned for easy maintenance. Permits several different areas in a silo to be served by a single removal system.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for the recovery in the heap and the evacuation of bulk material stored in particular in a silo or a storage area.

More specifically, the invention relates to an extraction device consisting of a recovery member specially formed from an endless screw animated by a rotation movement along its axis to attract the material taken up in the pile to a discharge station. from where it is conveyed by a conveyor, the worm being capable of being otherwise animated by an angular or linear movement by sweeping the surface on the ground corresponding to the storage area so as to serve all of the heap surface.

The invention relates to developments in devices of this kind in which provision has been made according to French patent No. 71 38 336 for a beam in particular in the form of an inverted "V" which runs diametrically through a preferably circular silo and which makes it possible to house in centers the screw drive mechanism in its rotary movement on itself on the one hand and in its sweeping movement on the other hand.

Devices of this type in which the beam is supported on two opposite ends of the walls of the silo limit the possibilities of realization since beyond a certain range the bending of the beam linked to its own weight and to the weight of the mechanism combined with the pressure exerted by the material stored above the beam in the silo, creates constraints and to contain them it would be necessary to produce costly reinforcing assemblies and structures which also add to the weight of all.

We can plan to suspend the beam by tie rods or cables from the top of the silo; which however only postpones the problem of resistance to weight constraints without solving it.

The invention makes it possible to extend the field of applications of extractors sheltered under a beam to silos of any shape, whereas in the previous embodiments the mechanism sheltered under the beam in the central position being fixed required a necessarily circular construction with the limitations of dimensions which are mentioned above.

According to the invention, on the contrary, it is possible to produce an extraction mechanism serving an area of large dimension, of any shape and conformation on the ground, avoiding the constraints mentioned above.

The invention will thus be applicable to pre-existing silos of quadrangular shape, in particular storage warehouses formed by a building of low height and large area on the ground from two parallel walls and defining between them a storage area of great length .

The invention will also make it possible to equip circular silos by considerably increasing the dimensions of the latter without undergoing the constraints and limitations linked to diametrical beams.

Finally, the invention makes it possible to produce an extraction assembly capable of being removed from the storage area for the purposes of maintenance, upkeep and repairs; while also making it possible to bring together several contiguous but possibly independent storage areas served by a single extraction unit.

To this end, the invention relates to a device for the recovery in the heap and the extraction of bulk material stored in particular in a silo and of the type comprising a recovery member such as a worm capable of bringing on the one hand the material from the pile to a discharge chute where it is conveyed by a conveyor and on the other hand to sweep the surface on the ground of the pile, and the device is characterized in that the recovery member is integral with a carriage mounted on guide means defining a raceway and consisting of at least one rail and capable of traversing a linear circuit parallel to said discharge chute, the discharge from the recovery means carried by the carriage thus being able to operate towards the chute and its conveyor at any point of the latter.

According to a first embodiment, the carriage supports a first reduction motor for the operation of the recovery member, in particular the rotation on itself of the worm, the worm receiving its movement from said first motor via of an angle transmission mechanism and the carriage further comprises means for ensuring the displacement of said carriage along said raceway.

Advantageously, the assembly constituted by the carriage and its raceway is sheltered under an inverted "V" beam overhanging the linear circuit likely to be followed by the carriage as well as the discharge chute itself protected against any flow. gravity of the material in heap, the inverted "V" beam protecting the raceway and the path of the carriage carrying the recovery member against the pressure of the stored material.

Advantageously, said raceway consists of two rails and the carriage is mounted mobile along the two lateral rails by means of four pairs of rollers, ie two pairs on each side of the carriage, each pair comprising a lower roller and a upper roller with respect to the supporting rails, the rim of the rollers on the one hand and the profile of the rail on the other being of complementary section.

According to yet another characteristic, the means for moving the carriage consist of a fixed linear support running under the beam parallel to the latter and to the rails constituting the raceway, the fixed support such as a rack or a roller chain receiving the support of a motor pinion meshed on said fixed support, the motor pinion being integral in rotation with the carriage and thus ensuring by its rotation the displacement of the latter along its linear circuit.

According to another characteristic, the recovery member, such as an endless screw, is mounted to rotate relative to the support structure of the carriage, and the recovery member is itself mounted in cantilever from a cylindrical casing containing the angle transmission mechanism receiving the drive movement from said first upper motor, the cylindrical casing being suspended in rotation under the structure of the carriage.

And the carriage further comprises a sweeping motor member capable of ensuring the angular displacement of the recovery member with respect to the carriage by scanning the ground surface occupied by the pile, this from a fixed or mobile position of the carriage, said member motor driving a pinion meshing on a ring gear integral with said cylindrical casing.

Advantageously, the raceway is mounted integral with the beam, the lateral rails being suspended laterally from the walls of the beam or from support uprights coming from said walls.

According to one development, the raceway and the means of movement of the carriage extend outside the storage area, in particular outside the area served by the discharge chute and its conveyor allowing the assembly, consisting of the carriage and the extraction member it comprises, to leave the storage area for the needs of its garage, for its maintenance or repair, the carriage and drive mechanism assembly of the 'extraction member then being directly accessible without the presence of the heap.

According to another development, the extension of the raceway connects a plurality of linear circuits each serving an independent storage area, the same assembly consisting of the carriage and its recovery member being able to move from one storage area to another by serving several enclosures.

Finally, provision can be made for the beam and the raceway that it supports to be taken up by lateral support studs resting on the ground, thus making it possible to produce a beam and a raceway of great length and of any shape, the twin studs and lateral leaving a free passage between them for the carriage and its recovery member brought into collinear position with the raceway.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge from the description which follows and which is given in connection with a particular embodiment as illustrated in the appended drawings in which
Figure 1 shows a plan view of an area dependent on a very long storage area and defined by two parallel walls and comprising in the middle position a beam and a rolling track carrying the carriage and its extraction member according to the invention.

Figure 2 shows a later phase of the work of the extractor in the storage area shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows a longitudinal sectional view of a section of the support beam and the carriage supporting the extraction mechanism.

Figure 4 shows the extraction mechanism mounted on its carriage, itself carried by the assembly of the beam and the raceway overhanging the discharge chute according to a cross-sectional view.

FIG. 5 represents a plan view of a large-range circular storage silo capable of being equipped with the system according to the invention producing a ring concentric with the silo.

FIG. 6 represents a view in vertical and diametral section of the silo of FIG. 5.

According to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 there is shown a storage area which here consists of a linear store or silo between two walls respectively 1 and 1 'and transverse end gears of which only the gable 2 is shown here.

This storage area can be made up of an old area that can be renovated by installing the device of the invention.

In the context of the embodiment of the invention thus illustrated, along a median axis between the two side walls 1 and 1 ′ is disposed in the bottom of the silo an evacuation chute 3 equipped with a conveyor, in particular a conveyor belt mounted on rollers of a type known per se; this conveyor 5 is arranged under the hopper 6 receiving the materials poured from the extraction member described below.

As seen in Figure 4, the chute 3 is overhung by the linear beam 7 in the shape of an inverted "V" which protects the chute and prevents a gravity spill of the pile, the edges of the beam extending above the chute by overflowing so as to prevent this flow according to the natural angle of the heap itself dependent on the material contained.

The beam 7 houses within it a raceway consisting of two side rails 8 and 8 'suspended by side brackets to the two uprights 9, 9' integral with the walls of the beam.

And on the side rails 8 and 8 ′, of circular section and made up of rounds, carry the rollers with hollow rim respectively the upper rollers 10, 10 ′ and lower 11, 11 ′; the rollers 10, 11 and 10 ', 11' each conform a pair of a train of rollers; and these rollers support the carriage 12 thus mounted to slide along the raceway that constitute the rails 8 and 8 '.

The carriage comprises, on each side, two trains formed of a pair of upper and lower rollers thus ensuring perfect stability of the whole of the carriage and its mobility along the raceway defined by the two rails 8 and 8 ' .

The carriage supports, in the lower position, a cylindrical casing or turret 13 pivotally mounted on said carriage by means of a ball ring in a manner known per se; so that the turret 13 is angularly pivotable relative to the carriage.

This cylindrical housing forming a turret houses the angle transmission mechanism 14 which drives the axis 15 of the worm 16.

This worm is driven in a rotational movement on itself along its axis by the bevel gear 14 inside the turret and the upper bevel gear 17 receiving its movement from the motor 18 secured to the carriage 12 and associated with a reduction unit 19.

Thus the drive of the motor 18 via the reduction gear 19 and the two upper 17 and lower 14 bevel gears ensure the rotational movement of the worm screw on itself and consequently the operation of extracting the material taken up. from the pile and pouring along arrow F into the hopper 6 to reach the lower conveyor 5 from which it flows along the chute towards the outside.

In addition and according to the invention, the turret or pivoting cylindrical casing 13 mounted on a ring gear receives its movement from the motor 20 associated with a reduction gear 21 and driving through the bevel gear 22 a pinion 23 which is itself even when engaged on a ring gear secured to the cylindrical casing.

So that the motorization coming from the motor 20 makes it possible to cause, by the mechanism described above, the pivoting of the cylindrical casing 13 from which the endless screw 16 overhangs, and this endless screw can ensure movement angular scan of the interior space of the silo.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the beam and the raceway that it supports can at regular intervals rest on lateral recovery pads 24 and 24 ′, which leave an interval between them allowing the passage of the carriage. on the one hand and of the extraction screw on the other hand brought for this purpose into a collinear position with the raceway and the displacement circuit which it defines, position represented in FIG. 2 under the reference 16a
We understand that the mechanism allows for various operating modes.

According to a simplest form of operation, the worm starts from position 16b (Figure 1) and by linear movement of the carriage along its raceway, the screw while continuing its rotational movement on itself but without angular pivoting moves, remaining parallel to itself, from position 16b to position 16d to position 16c thereby serving, as is understood, the entire lateral storage area.

We see that it then suffices to ensure a pivoting of 1800 of the worm with respect to the carriage from position 16c; the endless screw is then brought into the 16th position and, by a reverse movement from the previous one, the endless screw travels sweeping, remaining parallel to itself, the other part of the silo between the pinion wall 2 and a section of the silo corresponding to the positioning of the recovery pads 24, 24 '.

When the worm has reached position 16f, this section of the silo is thus completely evacuated.

But according to the invention, a different system could be adopted in which the worm, in a first movement, without moving the carriage, would attack the pile by angular scanning from the position 16d and thus serving a circular zone central to the zone previously defined between the pinion wall 2 and the section corresponding to the pads 24, 24 '.

After which, the clearance of the angles can be carried out by displacement of the carriage towards the extreme positions respectively 16c, 16e then 16b and 16f to ensure the final evacuation of the angles.

This evacuation can also be obtained from a semi-circular sweeping movement at each end zone, the beam then traversing the semicircular space between positions 16c and 16e on the one hand and positions 16b and 16f on the other hand.

The section of the silo between the pinion 2 and the crosspiece corresponding to the studs 24, 24 'then being evacuated, it is possible according to the movement which is shown in the
Figure 2, the worm being brought into position 16a, collinear with its raceway, move the carriage towards the neighboring zone which can then be served either by circular sweeping from a central position of the carriage, the arrow being in the position 16g as previously described, either by scanning the beam parallel to itself by moving the carriage.

It is thus possible to produce in a store or silo of low height and elongated successive sections which can moreover be partitioned by allowing storage of differentiated products.

Each section thus being able to be served according to the positioning of the carriage, which can by displacement along its raceway come into position to attack the area of the silo to be evacuated.

It will be noted that the carriage displacement means can be any.

It may be a motor integral with the carriage itself and meshing directly on one or more of the rollers then constituting drive rollers and possibly being provided with an appropriate lining.

According to one embodiment, a linear support is provided running under the beam all along the latter and which could consist of a rack or a roller chain, the roller chain being brought into position on a motor pinion driven in rotation from the carriage, the rotation of this motor pinion resting on the fixed chain causing the carriage to move along the raceway which guides it.

According to FIG. 5, it can be seen that it is possible to produce raceways of multiple conformation and in particular as shown in this Figure, a raceway sheltered under a beam of corresponding shape and constituting a circular beam closed on itself placed in place in a large cylindrical silo.

So that the carriage can attack the pile, the arrow being in the direction of the wall or in the direction of the center.

This considerably widens the possibilities of installing evacuation systems according to the invention in cylindrical silos.

To allow a garage of the worm under the beam, the raceway and the circuit of the corresponding carriage could be polygonal with rounded angles allowing the easy passage of the carriage, each side of the polygon then corresponding to a possibility of linear garage of beam ; and this path, this polygonal conformation of the raceway and the beam can in particular equip a silo also of corresponding polygonal shape.

According to FIGS. 5 and 6, it can be seen that in this more particular embodiment, an annular tunnel 30 consisting of an inverted "V" section beam has been placed within the silo forming a circular area; preferably this tunnel is located so as to cut halfway a radius from the circular base of the silo.

The circular tunnel 30 thus supports, as previously described, a carriage itself in cantilever fashion of the drive mechanism of the worm 31.

The annular tunnel is connected to four radial tunnels preferably arranged at right angles respectively 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36.

The radial tunnels rest in the central part on a support pivot 37 and at the periphery of the silo on support points in correspondence with the wall of the silo.

All the annular 30 and radial 33, 34, 35 and 36 tunnels respectively correspond to one another so as to allow the service personnel to travel under the tunnel, even when the silo is full, to access the drive mechanism, which can be find in any waiting position within the silo.

The drive screw 31 is therefore driven in rotation by the mechanism and directs the product stored inside the silo to return conveyors 39 arranged under the chute 40.

As seen in Figure 5, the worm recovery from a determined point can sweep the bottom of the silo by traversing a circular area and removing this area whose product is taken up by the endless conveyor 39 of circular circuit and arranged vertically above the tunnel beam 30.

In parallel with this movement, the carrier carriage of the drive mechanism can be moved along the annular beam 30 according to the arrow F1 (clockwise) or vice versa according to the arrow F2 (counterclockwise).

The combination of these movements therefore makes it possible to sweep the entire base surface of the silo, thus ensuring the complete evacuation of the products contained.

The annular conveyor 39 cooperates with at least one diametric conveyor on which it pours to ensure the evacuation towards the outside of the products thus displaced.

According to a variant, a plurality of troughs 19 juxtaposed and placed perpendicular to the axis of the tunnel 30 could be provided for directing the sampled product towards several recovery conveyors, which can optionally be placed in a square of which at least one would be used as a conveyor for transferring products to the outside.

According to a variant not shown, the guide rails of the carriage extend outside the enclosure and can serve various areas or silos thus being capable of being traversed by the carriage in the suitable position of the worm.

This embodiment makes it possible to provide a single extraction mechanism capable of serving several silos; this is advantageous when in particular the storage silos are provided for long-term preservation and do not undergo heap recovery operations at distant intervals; the investment linked to the installation of an extractor for each silo is thus limited, a single extraction assembly being able to equip several silos.

Similarly, in the areas outside the storage areas, the extension of the raceway makes it possible to bring the trolley in the unobstructed position out of one of the heaps where it is freely accessible for the purposes of maintenance and repair. .

According to a variant not shown, the carriage could receive a second radial screw opposite the first; in this case, we would obtain a system as shown in Figure 1, the two representations 16b and 16f then no longer corresponding to two successive positions of the same worm, but to two twin worms, symmetrical and opposite; the displacement of this endless screw sweeping the bottom of the silo on each side of the median raceway from position 16b and 16f to position 16c and 16e then ensures at high speed the evacuation of the material taken up from the stock.

Claims (12)

1 - Device for the recovery in the heap and the extraction of bulk material stored in particular in a silo and of the type comprising a recovery member such as a worm (16) capable of bringing on the one hand the material from the pile to a discharge chute (3) where it is conveyed by a conveyor (5) and to sweep on the other hand the surface on the ground of the pile, and the device is characterized in that the recovery member is integral d '' a carriage (12) mounted on guide means defining a raceway (8, 8 ') and consisting of at least one rail and capable of traversing a linear circuit parallel to said discharge chute, the discharge from the recovery means carried by the carriage can thus operate towards the chute and its conveyor at any point of the latter. 2 - Device according to claim 1, and characterized in that the carriage (12) supports a first motor (18) reducer (19) for the operation of the recovery member (16) including the rotation on itself of the screw without end, the worm receiving its movement from said first motor by means of an angle transmission mechanism (14) and the carriage further comprises means for moving said carriage along said raceway. 3 - Device according to claim 1 or claim 2, and characterized in that the assembly constituted by the carriage (12) and its raceway (8, 8 ') is sheltered under a "V" beam (7) inverted overhanging the linear circuit likely to be followed by the carriage (12) as well as the evacuation chute (3) itself protected against any gravity flow of the material in heap, the inverted "V" beam protecting the path of rolling and the course of the carriage carrying the recovery member against the pressure of the stored material. 4 - Device according to one of claims 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that said raceway consists of two rails (8, 8 ') and the carriage (12) is mounted movable along the two side rails ( 8, 8 ') via four pairs of rollers (10, 10', 11, 11 '), i.e. two pairs on each side of the carriage, each pair comprising a lower roller (10, 11) and an upper roller (10, 11) relative to the supporting rails (8, 8 '), the rim of the rollers on the one hand and the profile of the rail on the other hand being of complementary section. 5 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 4, and characterized in that the means for moving the carriage (12) consist of a fixed linear support running under the beam parallel to the latter and to the rails constituting the path bearing, the fixed support such as a rack or a roller chain receiving the support of a motor pinion geared on said fixed support, the motor pinion being integral in rotation with the carriage and thus ensuring by its rotation the movement of this last along its linear circuit. 6 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, and characterized in that the recovery member, such as an endless screw (16), is rotatably mounted relative to the carrier structure of the carriage (12) , and the recovery member is itself mounted cantilevered from a cylindrical casing (13) containing the angle transmission mechanism (14) receiving the drive movement from said first upper motor (18) , the cylindrical casing (13) being suspended in rotation under the structure of the carriage (12). 7 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 6, and characterized in that the carriage (12) further comprises a drive motor member (20) capable of ensuring the angular displacement of the recovery member relative to the carriage by sweeping the surface on the ground occupied by the pile, this from a fixed or mobile position of the carriage (12), said motor member driving a pinion (23) meshing on a ring gear integral with said cylindrical casing. 8 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 7, and characterized in that the raceway is mounted integral with the beam, the side rails (8, 8 ') being suspended laterally from the walls of the beam (7) or to support uprights (9, 9 ') from said walls. 9 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 8, and characterized in that the raceway consisting of rails (8, 8 ') and the means of movement of the carriage extend outside the storage area , in particular outside the area served by the discharge chute (3) and its conveyor (5) by allowing the assembly, constituted by the carriage (12) and the extraction member (16) which it comprises , to leave the storage area for the needs of its garage, for its maintenance or repair, the carriage and drive mechanism assembly of the extraction member then being directly accessible without the presence of the pile. 10 - Device according to claim 9, and characterized in that the extension of the raceway connects a plurality of linear circuits each serving an independent storage area, the same assembly consisting of the carriage and its recovery member can thus move d '' one storage area to another by serving several enclosures. 11 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 9, and characterized in that the beam (7) and the raceway consisting of rails (8, 8 ') which it supports are taken up by studs (27, 27 ') lateral supports resting on the ground thus making it possible to produce a beam and a raceway of great length and any shape, the twin and lateral studs leaving a free passage between them for the carriage and its recovery member brought into position collinear with the raceway. 12 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the rails (8, 8 ') form with the beam (7) and the chute (3) parallel to each other a loop path closed on itself .