FR2796370A1 - Safety barrier for low level goods reception area containing hopper buffer store comprises temporary floor which covers danger zone during manoeuvres preceding and following unloading but is removed during unloading itself - Google Patents

Abstract

The safety barrier for a low level goods reception area (1) containing a hopper (2), which acts as buffer store and regulates the flow of goods to further treatment, comprises a temporary floor (4). This covers the danger zone during the manoeuvres preceding and following unloading but is removed during unloading itself.

Description

 The invention relates to the field of safety barriers for a reception station in a pit containing a hopper, of specific shape, serving as a buffer tank and at the same time as a flow regulator for supplying by means of a conveyor screw, placed at the bottom, of the processing devices placed downstream.

The problem is to avoid any accident due to an accidental fall in a hopper contained in a receiving station in a pit.

These reception stations are widely used for the reception of loose fruit and more particularly the harvest.

During the harvest period, the receiving docks constitute a dangerous work station both by the depth of the hoppers, by the rotation and the risks of crushing the screw at the bottom of the hopper and because of the contanding nature of the edges of the stainless steel parts.

The people exposed are - the staff of the cooperative who works around this position; - the harvesters when they unload: when unscrewing the butterflies from the tilting rear wall of their bucket or when they climb on the slippery walls of the hopper to recover some bunches; - for non-supervised external visitors.

In the past, before the compliance plans, the regulations were only concerned with the risks of grinding by the screw at the bottom of the hopper and provided for an automatic stop in the event of a fall thanks to a beam from a photoelectric cell. After 1997, regulations focused on the risk of falls which must now be avoided.

The photoelectric cell is therefore no longer sufficient since it does not prevent falling.

The new reception quays will therefore have to be fitted with systems of the automatic barrier type or wide mesh grating covering the quay or wide mesh sieve which only allows the harvest to pass. The invention therefore aims to achieve, to eliminate said drawbacks, a safety barrier which is essentially characterized in that it comprises a floor which covers the dangerous zone located above the hopper during the maneuvers before and after unloading in order to protect people from accidental falls in said area and in that said floor retracts to clear the area in question during the unloading phase.

According to various embodiments of the invention - the floor and a front railing are associated with a deformable double articulated papallelogram; - the floor and a front railing are associated with articulated uprights; - The floor, which covers the entire opening of the hopper, has a central folding zone and an end articulation zone; - photoelectric cells, or any other type, detect any human or animal presence in the access zone to the danger zone.

According to various features of the invention - the specially studied shape of the barrier makes it possible to carry out, without disturbing the operation of the screw, all the pre-unloading maneuvers; - the barrier's operating device only allows it to be opened if the cells do not detect any human or animal presence in the area concerned; - when the tilting is carried out, the barrier can be replaced and authorize the restarting of the conveyor screw without the post-unloading maneuvers being completed; - no person can approach the danger zone during the barrier opening phase without triggering an audible device and instantly blocking the entire mechanical device.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the detailed description which follows of at least one preferred embodiment of the latter given by way of nonlimiting example and shown in the accompanying drawings. In these drawings - Figure 1 is an elevational view of a first embodiment of the invention; - Figure 2 is an elevational view of a second embodiment of the invention; - Figure 3 is an elevational view of a third embodiment of the invention.

The safety barrier shown in the figures is intended for receiving stations in a pit (1) containing a hopper (2), of specific shape, serving as a buffer tank and at the same time as a flow regulator for supplying, by means of a motorized conveyor screw (3), placed at its bottom, processing devices placed downstream.

It generally comprises a floor (4,5,6) which covers the dangerous zone during the maneuvers before and after unloading in order to protect people from accidental falls in said zone and which retracts to clear the zone in question during the unloading phase.

According to a first embodiment of the invention (Figure 1), the floor (4) and a front railing (7) are associated with a double deformable parallelogram (8) articulated around fixed points (9) in order to release the unloading zone by means of a device (10) of the jack type.

Side railings (11), of the thread type, are also associated with the parallelogram (8).

According to a second embodiment of the invention (Figure 2), the floor (5) and a front railing (12) are associated with uprights (13) articulated around fixed points (14) in order to clear the unloading area by means of a device (15) of the jack type.

Lateral railings (16), of the sleeper type, also serving as floor support elements (5), connect the uprights (13) to said floor.

According to a third embodiment of the invention (Figure 3), the floor (6) which covers the entire opening of the hopper (2), comprises a central folding zone (17) and a zone of articulation of end (18) in order to release said opening by means of a device (19) of the jack type. According to various features of the invention - cells (20), arranged in the access zone to the dangerous zone, detect any human or animal presence in said zone; - any detection of human or animal presence in the area concerned prevents the floor from opening (4,5,6); - Any detection of presence in said zone triggers an audible device and instantly blocks any mechanical device, namely the barrier and the screw.

The floor (4,5) can cover the entire width of the hopper (2). In this case, the side railings (11) are not necessary.

The articulation points (9) and (14) are fixed in the upper part of a structure integral with the building.

The articulation point (18) can be fixed at the end of the opening of the hopper (2).

The vehicle (21) having to unload its cargo comprises a tilting skip (22).

Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown for which other variants can be provided, in particular in - the types and dimensions of the pits and hoppers used; - the shapes, dimensions and nature of the floors; - the types of means of movement of the various floors.

Claims (1)

 CLAIMS 1- Safety barrier for receiving station in pit (1) containing a hopper (2), of specific shape, serving as buffer tank and at the same time as flow regulator to feed, by means of a motorized conveyor screw ( 3), placed at its bottom, processing devices placed downstream; characterized in that it comprises a floor (4,5,6) which covers the danger zone during the maneuvers before and after the unloading in order to protect people from accidental falls in said zone and in that said floor retracts to clear the area in question during the unloading phase. 2- Safety barrier according to claim 1, characterized in that the floor (4) and a front railing (7) are associated with a double deformable parallelogram (8) articulated around fixed points (9) in order to release the unloading area by means of a device (10) of the jack type. 3- Safety barrier according to claim 2, characterized in that side railings (11), of the thread type, are also associated with the parallelogram (8). 4- Safety barrier according to claim 1, characterized in that the floor (5) and a front railing (12) are associated with uprights (13) articulated around fixed points (14) in order to clear the area unloading by means of a device (15) of the jack type. 5- Safety barrier, according to claim 4, characterized in that side railings (16), of the sleeper type, also serving as floor support elements (5), connect the uprights (13) to said floor. 6- Safety barrier according to claim 1, characterized in that the floor (6), which covers the entire opening of the hopper (2), comprises a central folding zone (17) and a zone of end joint (18) in order to release said opening by means of a device (19) of the jack type. 7. Security barrier according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that cells (20), disposed in the access zone to the danger zone, detect any human or animal presence in said zone. 8- Safety barrier according to claim 7, characterized in that any detection of human or animal presence in the area concerned prevents the opening of the floor (4,5,6). 9- Security barrier according to claim 7, characterized in that any detection of human or animal presence in the area concerned triggers a sound device and instantly blocks any mechanical device namely the barrier and the screw.