GB1570690A - Removal of flowable material from storage bins - Google Patents

Removal of flowable material from storage bins Download PDF

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Publication number
GB1570690A
GB1570690A GB4737076A GB4737076A GB1570690A GB 1570690 A GB1570690 A GB 1570690A GB 4737076 A GB4737076 A GB 4737076A GB 4737076 A GB4737076 A GB 4737076A GB 1570690 A GB1570690 A GB 1570690A
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United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
auger
floor
over
silo
discharge opening
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Expired
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GB4737076A
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Individual
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Individual
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Priority to GB4737076A priority Critical patent/GB1570690A/en
Publication of GB1570690A publication Critical patent/GB1570690A/en
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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G65/00—Loading or unloading
    • B65G65/30—Methods or devices for filling or emptying bunkers, hoppers, tanks, or like containers, of interest apart from their use in particular chemical or physical processes or their application in particular machines, e.g. not covered by a single other subclass
    • B65G65/34—Emptying devices
    • B65G65/40—Devices for emptying otherwise than from the top
    • B65G65/46—Devices for emptying otherwise than from the top using screw conveyors
    • B65G65/466—Devices for emptying otherwise than from the top using screw conveyors arranged to be movable

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Filling Or Emptying Of Bunkers, Hoppers, And Tanks (AREA)

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO THE REMOVAL OF FLOWABLE MATERIAL FROM STORAGE BINS (71) I, HARRY WHITE, a British Subject of St. Govans House, Wilton Road, llkley, Yorkshire, do hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a Patent may be granted to me and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for removing from a storage bin flowable material such as grain, cereals, kilned malt, sand, gravel, and small coal.
The term "flowable" is used to indicate that the material in a stack thereof will flow down its side surface by gravity until the inclination of this surface reaches an angle of repose characteristic of that material.
Apparatus of the known type to which this invention particularly relates, comprises an auger mounted at the bottom of a circular silo for feeding stored material radially inwardly to a central discharge hopper having an underfloor discharge conveyor which may be for example an endless belt or chain conveyor. The auger has its radially inner end supported on a vertical pivot at the centre of the silo, whilst its radially outer end is supported by a traverse drive assembly which is driven by a geared electric motor to traverse the auger slowly round the silo about the vertical pivot. As it rotates about the vertical axis, the auger is also rotatingly driven about its longitudinal and substantially horizontal axis, by means of a main electric motor.
A shroud of inverted U-shape is mounted above the full length of the auger to pro tect it from the Weight of material above it in the silo. At the leading edge of the auger in relation to the direction of its movement over the floor of the silo, the shroud terminates at an edge at approximately the level of the axis of the auger so that as the auger swing slowly round it takes in the material through the gap between the edge and the floor of the silo.
Behind the auger is a collector plate which extends to near the silo floor, and of which the object is to prevent as much of the material as possible being left behind the advancing auger.
In spite of the operation of a collector plate, a significant quantity of material is normally left behind the auger, and moreover the auger can not extend to the cir- cumferential wall of the silo because of the presence of the traverse drive assembly, and residual material is always left adjacent the wall. An objective of the invention is more completely to clear the floor of the storage bin or silo, and other advantages will be made clear as the description proceeds.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method of removing flowable material from a storage bin having a discharge opening and an auger ek- tending over and adjacent to the floor of the bin from the vicinity of the discharge opening and being rotatable about its longitudinal axis, the method comprising rotating the auger about its longitudinal axis in such a direction in relation to the hand of its thread as to draw said material towards said opening for discharge there- through, and traversing the auger over the floor, by means in driving contact with the floor, in a direction transverse to said longi tudinal axis contrary to the direction in Which the auger would move by reason of said rotation if the auger were in contact with the floor.
Preferably the auger is mounted at one end about a vertical axis for rotary inove- anent over the floor, and the rotation about the longitudinal axis is in such a direction ae to draw the material towards the vertical axis. If the thread of the auger is right-handed, the rotation about the vertical axis will be anti-clockwise as viewed from above, whereas if the thread of the auger is lefthanded, the rotation about the vertical axis will be clockwise as viewed from above.
According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for removing flowable material from a storage bin having a discharge opening, the apparatus comprising an auger for location in the bin so as to extend over and adjacent to the floor of the bin from the vicinity of the discharge opening, means tor rotating the auger about its longitudinal axis in such a direction in relation to the hand of its thread as, when so located, to draw material towards said discharge opening for discharge of the material therethrough, and means for driving contact with the floor for traversing the auger over the floor in a direction transverse to said longitudinal axis contrary to the direction in, which the auger would move by reason of said rotation if the auger were in contact with the floor.
Preferably the auger is mounted or for mounting at one end for rotation over the floor of the bin about a vertical axis in the vicinity of the discharge opening, and said traverse means are arranged so as to rotate the auger about the said vertical axis. If the thread of the auger is right-handed, the means for effecting rotation about the vertical axis will be adapted so that the rotation is anticlockwise as viewed from above, whereas if the thread of the auger is left-handed the means for effecting rotary movement about the vertical axis will be adapted to effect clockwise motion as viewed from above.
Preferably the traverse means comprises a wheel or the like located behind the auger in relation to the intended direction of traverse over the floor.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention there is provided a storage system for flowable material comprising a storage bin having a discharge opening and apparatus as aforesaid for removing said flowable material therefrom.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings of which Figure 1 shows in plan view of apparatus according to the invention mounted in a circular silo: Figure 2 is a vertical section along lines II to II of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a vertical section on lines III - III of Figure 2.
In the figures auger 1 is mounted for rotation about vertical pivot 2 which is set in the centre of the floor 3 of a circular silo. The auger extends outwardly towards silo wall 4 and is rotated about its longitudinal axis by drive means 5. The thread of the auger is left-handed and as shown by arrow 6 in Figure 3 it is rotated clockwise as viewed from the radially outer end so that material engaged by the auger is drawn by the rotation towards the centre of the silo where there are discharge openings 7. The openings lead to a pit 8 in which is located a conveyor belt 9 for leading the material away as required. In another embodiment material is led from pit 8 by a further auger. Also supported by pivot 2 is a frame 10 of which part only is shown in Figure 1 for sake of clarity.The frame supports a driving wheel 11 and its driving means 12 as well as a shroud 13 which is not shown in Figure 1 and shown only in part in Figure 2 for the sake of clarity.
The driving wheel 11 is driven in a conventional manner by the driving means 12 so that it rotates in the direction shown by arrow 14. The wheel 11 is in contact with the floor 3 of the silo and its rotation has the effect of pushing the frame and auger assembly around the pivot 2 in the direction shown by arrow 15, which is clockwise when viewed from above as in Figure 1. It is to be noted that the direction of rotation of wheel 11 is contrary to that of the auger 1 which is arranged to move just clear of the floor.
The lower edge of the leading portion 16 of the shroud is approximately at the level of longitudinal axis of the auger 1, and as the auger is transversed across the floor of the silo by means of the wheel 11 it is driven against the stack of material 17. The rotation of the auger about its longitudinal axis thus draws portions of the material towards the centre of the silo whence it is discharged through the openings 7. The drive to wheel 11 is controlled so that at any one time there is an opti mum loading of the auger by the material 17.
The shroud 13 has a vertical member 19 located behind the auger in relation to its traverse over the floor of the silo, and this member 19 is flexible and adjustable so as to reach the floor. If any of the stack of material 17 is left behind after the passage of the auger 1, the member 19 sweeps this away and leaves the floor subsequently clear so that wheel 14, which is preferably provided with a tyre, can get a good grip on the floor.
In conventional arrangements where an auger is rotated in a clockwise direction over the floor of a circular silo, as viewed from above the auger thread is righthanded, and its rotation about the longitudinal axis is clockwise as viewed from the centre. This mode of rotation of the auger means that inasmuch as there is any ground reaction to the rotation, it augments the traversing action of the auger over the floor of the silo. However, the mode of rotation is disadvantageous in that the auger tends to ride up the stack of material 17 and leaves behind in its wake a significant quantity of material with which a collector plate such as the shroud portion 19 in Figure 3 cannot deal.In contrast with this, in my arrangement, the mode of rotation of the auger about its longitudinal axis is found to result in material being cleared from the floor of the silo down to the level of the lowest portion of the auger. The portion 19 of the shroud is will able to clear this small residue from the floor of the silo. Moreover, the auger bites into the stack of material 17 without any tendency to ride up it; indeed where the floor of the silo is uneven the auger will tend to follow any depression in the surface, the mounting of auger 1 on pivot 2 being such as to allow some movement in the vertical plane, i.e. it comprises a gimbal-like device.A significant advantage of driving the auger over the floor of the silo by means of the wheel 11 lies in the fact that the flight of the auger can extend closely to the wall 4 of the silo, which arrangement is not possible, where the drive means is located as in some conventional arrangements at the radially outward end of the auger. Moreover the outward end of the auger can be shaped as shown in Figure 2 to accommodate a plinth 18 at the foot of the wall. Since the drive wheel 11 contacts a floor which has been substantially cleared of material, there is little damage to the material by, and the little slippage of, the drive means as have been observed in conventional arrangements.
In operation, a circular silo with a discharge opening at the centre is self-emptying until a situation is reached where, according to the natural angle of repose of the material in question, a residue is left having a conical surface sloping downwards towards the central discharge opening. It will be understood that the auger is substantially submerged beneath this residue. When this situation has been reached the rotation of the auger about its longitudinal axis is started, and this effects a further movement of material towards and through the discharge opening for removal by the conveyor belt 9. Under the action of the rotation of the auger about its longitudinal axis, a valley is produced in the stack of material along the length of the auger, which at this stage is not rotated about its vertical axis 2.When the auger has cleared as much material as possible at that location, the drive 12 to the wheel 11 is started up so as to traverse the auger into the remaining stack of material. The motor 12 and particularly the wheel 11 are themselves shrouded by shroud 20 shown only in Figure 1 so that the floor of the silo in the vicinity of the wheel is kept clear of material during the filling of the silo and is therefore clear when the wheel is called upon to traverse the auger over the floor. Control means are provided automatically to urge the auger into the stack of material 17 to such a degree that the loading of the auger is kept at its optimum value. The auger thus traverses slowly around the floor of the silo, eventually returning approximately to where it started.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention of the invention the auger is righthanded and rotated about its longitudinal axis in a clockwise direction as viewed from the centre. In this embodiment the traversing of the auger over the floor of the silo is in an anti-clockwise direction about its pivot 2 as viewed from above. In a further embodiment the auger is located in a rectangular bin and traversed rectilinearly over and adjacent to the floor, drawing material towards a discharge opening at one edge of the bin.
In a further embodiment not shown, a track-laying mechanism is substituted for wheel 11 in the figures for the traversing of the auger over the silo floor. The control means for ensuring optimum leading of the auger comprise, in different embodiments, electrical devices such as pressure of proximity switches or mechanical devices for determining the level of material in front of the auger.
WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A method of removing flowable material from a storage bin having a discharge opening and an auger extending over and adjacent to the floor of the bin from the vicinity of the discharge opening and being rotatable about its longitudinal axis, the method comprising rotating the auger about its longitudinal axis in such a direction in relation to the hand of its thread as to draw said material towards said opening for discharge therethrough, and traversing the auger over the floor, by means in driving contact with the floor, in a direction transverse to said longitudinal axis contrary to the direction in which the auger would move by reason of said rotation if the auger were in contact with the floor.
2. A method as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the auger is mounted at one end about a vertical axis for rotary movement over the floor, and the rotation about the longitudinal axis is in such a direction as to draw the material towards the vertical axis.
**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (14)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. auger means that inasmuch as there is any ground reaction to the rotation, it augments the traversing action of the auger over the floor of the silo. However, the mode of rotation is disadvantageous in that the auger tends to ride up the stack of material 17 and leaves behind in its wake a significant quantity of material with which a collector plate such as the shroud portion 19 in Figure 3 cannot deal. In contrast with this, in my arrangement, the mode of rotation of the auger about its longitudinal axis is found to result in material being cleared from the floor of the silo down to the level of the lowest portion of the auger. The portion 19 of the shroud is will able to clear this small residue from the floor of the silo.Moreover, the auger bites into the stack of material 17 without any tendency to ride up it; indeed where the floor of the silo is uneven the auger will tend to follow any depression in the surface, the mounting of auger 1 on pivot 2 being such as to allow some movement in the vertical plane, i.e. it comprises a gimbal-like device. A significant advantage of driving the auger over the floor of the silo by means of the wheel 11 lies in the fact that the flight of the auger can extend closely to the wall 4 of the silo, which arrangement is not possible, where the drive means is located as in some conventional arrangements at the radially outward end of the auger. Moreover the outward end of the auger can be shaped as shown in Figure 2 to accommodate a plinth 18 at the foot of the wall.Since the drive wheel 11 contacts a floor which has been substantially cleared of material, there is little damage to the material by, and the little slippage of, the drive means as have been observed in conventional arrangements. In operation, a circular silo with a discharge opening at the centre is self-emptying until a situation is reached where, according to the natural angle of repose of the material in question, a residue is left having a conical surface sloping downwards towards the central discharge opening. It will be understood that the auger is substantially submerged beneath this residue. When this situation has been reached the rotation of the auger about its longitudinal axis is started, and this effects a further movement of material towards and through the discharge opening for removal by the conveyor belt 9. Under the action of the rotation of the auger about its longitudinal axis, a valley is produced in the stack of material along the length of the auger, which at this stage is not rotated about its vertical axis 2.When the auger has cleared as much material as possible at that location, the drive 12 to the wheel 11 is started up so as to traverse the auger into the remaining stack of material. The motor 12 and particularly the wheel 11 are themselves shrouded by shroud 20 shown only in Figure 1 so that the floor of the silo in the vicinity of the wheel is kept clear of material during the filling of the silo and is therefore clear when the wheel is called upon to traverse the auger over the floor. Control means are provided automatically to urge the auger into the stack of material 17 to such a degree that the loading of the auger is kept at its optimum value. The auger thus traverses slowly around the floor of the silo, eventually returning approximately to where it started. In an alternative embodiment of the invention of the invention the auger is righthanded and rotated about its longitudinal axis in a clockwise direction as viewed from the centre. In this embodiment the traversing of the auger over the floor of the silo is in an anti-clockwise direction about its pivot 2 as viewed from above. In a further embodiment the auger is located in a rectangular bin and traversed rectilinearly over and adjacent to the floor, drawing material towards a discharge opening at one edge of the bin. In a further embodiment not shown, a track-laying mechanism is substituted for wheel 11 in the figures for the traversing of the auger over the silo floor. The control means for ensuring optimum leading of the auger comprise, in different embodiments, electrical devices such as pressure of proximity switches or mechanical devices for determining the level of material in front of the auger. WHAT I CLAIM IS:
1. A method of removing flowable material from a storage bin having a discharge opening and an auger extending over and adjacent to the floor of the bin from the vicinity of the discharge opening and being rotatable about its longitudinal axis, the method comprising rotating the auger about its longitudinal axis in such a direction in relation to the hand of its thread as to draw said material towards said opening for discharge therethrough, and traversing the auger over the floor, by means in driving contact with the floor, in a direction transverse to said longitudinal axis contrary to the direction in which the auger would move by reason of said rotation if the auger were in contact with the floor.
2. A method as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the auger is mounted at one end about a vertical axis for rotary movement over the floor, and the rotation about the longitudinal axis is in such a direction as to draw the material towards the vertical axis.
3. A method according to Claim 2
wherein the rotary movement over the floor is controlled to keep the loading of the auger at its optimum value.
4. Apparatus for removing flowable material from a storage bin having a discharge opening, the apparatus comprising an auger for location in the bin so as to extend over and adjacent to the floor of the bin from the vicinity of the discharge opening, means for rotating the auger about its longitudinal axis in such a direction in relation to the hand of its thread as, when so located, to draw material towards said discharge opening for discharge of the material therethrough and means for driving contact with the floor for traversing the auger over the floor in a direction transverse to said longitudinal axis contrary to the direction in which the auger would move by reason of said rotation if the auger were in contact with the floor.
5. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the auger is mounted or for mounting at one end for rotation over the floor of the bin about a vertical axis in the vicinity of the discharge opening and said traverse means are arranged so as to rotate the auger about the said vertical axis.
6. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 5 wherein the mounting about the vertical axis allows some vertical movement of the auger.
7. Apparatus according to Claim 5 or Claim 6 wherein the traverse means comprises a wheel or the like located behind the auger in relation to the intended direction of traverse over the floor.
8. Apparatus according to any one of Claims 5 to 7 further comprising means for controlling the traverse of the auger over the floor so as to keep the loading of the auger at its optimum value.
9. Apparatus according to any one of Claims 4 to 8 further comprising shroud means above the full length of the auger, said shroud means extending downwardly in front and behind the auger in relation to its intended traverse over the floor so that, when the auger is located, the front and rear extensions approach the floor respectively less and more nearly.
10. Apparatus according to Claim 9 wherein the downward extension of the shroud behind the auger is variable.
11. Apparatus for removing flowable material from a storage bin having a discharge opening substantially as described with reference to the drawings.
12. A storage system for flowable material comprising a storage bin having a discharge opening and apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 4 to 11.
13. A method according to Claim 2 or Claim 3 wherein the auger pivots at said one end in such a way as also to move vertically as required by any unlevelness of the floor.
14. A method of removing flowable material from a storage bin having a discharge opening and an auger extending over and adjacent the floor of the bin from the vicinity of the discharge opening and being rotatable about its longitudinal axis, substantially as described.
GB4737076A 1977-11-02 1977-11-02 Removal of flowable material from storage bins Expired GB1570690A (en)

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Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB4737076A GB1570690A (en) 1977-11-02 1977-11-02 Removal of flowable material from storage bins

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Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB4737076A GB1570690A (en) 1977-11-02 1977-11-02 Removal of flowable material from storage bins

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Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0060782A1 (en) * 1981-03-12 1982-09-22 Laurence Cantenot Apparatus for carrying off finely divided solid bulk materials from the floor of a silo
US5203802A (en) * 1990-08-03 1993-04-20 Etablissements Denis Device forming an emptying screw for residual product stored in a silo
US11591163B1 (en) * 2021-09-01 2023-02-28 Larry Parsell Sweep auger shield assembly

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0060782A1 (en) * 1981-03-12 1982-09-22 Laurence Cantenot Apparatus for carrying off finely divided solid bulk materials from the floor of a silo
US4516898A (en) * 1981-03-12 1985-05-14 Laurence Cantenot Devices for extracting solid materials in bulk in the finely divided state, from the bottom of a silo
US5203802A (en) * 1990-08-03 1993-04-20 Etablissements Denis Device forming an emptying screw for residual product stored in a silo
US11591163B1 (en) * 2021-09-01 2023-02-28 Larry Parsell Sweep auger shield assembly
US20230067087A1 (en) * 2021-09-01 2023-03-02 Larry Parsell Sweep Auger Shield Assembly

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PS Patent sealed
732 Registration of transactions, instruments or events in the register (sect. 32/1977)
PCNP Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee