GB2183612A

GB2183612A - Material supply apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2183612A
Application number: GB08618860A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Keith James Hunter Anderson; Jeremy John Fairfax Robson
Original assignee: Instafoam & Fibre Ltd
Current assignee: Instafoam & Fibre Ltd
Priority date: 1985-12-04
Filing date: 1986-08-01
Publication date: 1987-06-10
Anticipated expiration: 2006-08-01
Also published as: GB2218411A; GB2183612B; GB8911160D0; GB8529879D0; GB8618860D0; GB2218411B

Abstract

Material to be supplied e.g. for cavity wall insulation is loaded into a hopper (14) and enters a supply chamber (12) where it is agitated and advanced by a series of angled blades (40,42,44,46) towards outlet ports (16,18). Conduits may be coupled to the outlet ports to supply the material to pumps (20,22) for delivery under pressure to outlet nozzles (24,26). The blades are preferably such as to advance the material in two opposed directions towards the axially opposed ports (16,18), although they may also move the material in one direction to two adjacent outlet ports at one end of the hopper. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Material supply apparatus This invention relates to apparatus forthe supply of materials such as fibrous and/or particulate material.

It concerns itself more especially but not exclusively with the supply of chopped fibrous material such as chopped glass fibres, cellulose fibres or rock fibres manufactured from a material such as Basaltforexample for use in cavity wall and roof insulation.

The use of fibrous material such as glass or other mineral fibres or cellulose fibres as a cavity or roof insulating material has become widespread. Atypical existing arrangement comprises a supply chamber or hopper into which fibrous material ofa greater or lesser degree of compaction is loaded, there being a rotatable shaft or shafts within the supplychamberto tease and expandthefibres. The apparatus will also be provided with a shaft carrying blades, which may or may not in themselves have an additional agitating function, which blades are arranged to direct the fibrous material towards an outlet port. The outlet port is connected to the input side of an air pump.The outlet side ofthe pump is connected by a flexible hosing to a nozzle through which the fibrous material may be injected e.g. into wall cavities. In some such systems the nozzle is provided with means forthe operatorto control and shutdown the flow of fibrous material by control of the pump. In other arrangements a valve is provided adjacentthe nozzle simply to close offthe discharge, the generated air pressure dissipating through the system as a whole.

Thistype ofapparatus needs to be vehicle borne and for economic and operational reasons the veh iclesizeneedsto be minimised. The existing types of apparatus have as a result had their maximum through put and therefore speed of operation restricted.

It is an object of the present invention to produce apparatus forthe supply of fibrous and/or particulate material, for example for supply of chopped glass or other mineral fibres, which apparatus is ofsubstanti- ally similar size to existing apparatus butwith the facility for considerably increased throughput and therefore operational speed. It is an object to provide apparatus of this type with the greatest degree of compatibility with existing apparatus and the minimum increase of complexity thereby building on the reliability and simplicity ofthe existing systems.

According to one aspect ofthe present invention apparatus forthe supply of e.g. fibrous and/or particulate material comprises a supply chamber having at least two outlet ports and a rotatable shaft, the shaft having radially extending protrusions of pitch and disposition to direct material towards said ports.

In one embodiment, at least one port is provided at each end of said chamber and the shaft has first radially extending protrusions of pitch and disposition to direct material towards one port and second radially extending protrusions of pitch and disposition to direct material towards another port.

In the most preferred form ofthe invention the apparatus isforsupply offibrous material forexample chopped glass fibre material, and the invention will henceforth be described in relation to appar atusforthis purpose. It will be appreciated thatthe various features and facets described or referred to may apply, mutatis mutandis, to apparatus forthe supply of non-fibrous particulate material as may be required forsimilaror related purposes.

The supply chamber is preferably provided at its bottom end with two outlet ports axiallyspacedfrom one another, the axial direction being determined by the axis of rotation ofthe rotatable shaft. The radially extending protrusions or blades arse preferably located rigidly on the shaft for rotation with the shaft.

The shaft may have a plurality of different types of blade some of which act simply as agitators ofthe fibrous material and some ofwhich are provided with a pitch such thatthey will impart axial movementto fibrous material within the chamber. Two sets of blades are required one to impart an axial dir ectiontothefibrous material towards one port and one to the other port. The two sets of blades are preferably of pitch substantially equivalent one to another, the one being of positive pitch and the other being of negative pitch.

The sets of protrusions or blades in the most preferredform ofthe invention are located on opposite halves of the shaft so thatthe overall consequence of rotation of the shaft and its rigidly affixed blades isto move fibrous material from the centre of the shaft towards the two ends of the shaft and thereby into the respective outlet ports.

The respective outlet ports may each be connected to the inlet of an air pump from which thefibrous or particulate material may be delivered through app ropriateflexible hosing to a dispensing nozzle through which the material may be injected into a wall cavity orwhatever is required.

The individual protrusions or blades are preferably located in pairs disposed substantially diametrically opposite one another on the shaft, each paircomprising protrusions or blades of substantially equiva- lent pitch. To achieve substantially equivalent delivery through each ofthe outlet ports ofthefirstand second sets of protrusions or blades preferably each comprise an equivalent number of protrusions or blades. There may be provided at the ends ofthe shaftadjacentthechamberwalls,again rigidly affixed to the shaft, a number of blades rotating in substantially the same plane. That number is preferably greaterthan two or may for example be six.

These blades are arranged to sweep over substantially the entirety of the area ofthe adjacent outlet port ata greaterfrequencythanthe pairs ofblades refer- redto aboveto ensure smoothness and evenness of flowofthefibrous or particulate material into the ports and thereby ensure smooth and even flow of the material to the dispensing nozzle.

The supply chamber may also be provided with a further agitator shaft. In a preferred form ofthein- vention that agitator shaft may be provided with substantially radially extending protrusions of uniform section i.e. they have substantially no pitch or ten dency tojmpart axial movement to the material through which they pass.

According to a further aspect of the invention a method of supply offibrous and/or particulate material comprising: a supply chamber having at least two outlet ports and a rotatable shaft, the shaft having radially extending protrusions of pitch and disposition to direct material towards the ports. In one embodiment, at at least one port is provided at each end ofthe chamber and the shaft has radially extending protrusions of pitch and disposition to direct material towards one port and second radially extending protrusions of pitch and disposition to direct material towards another port.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method forsupplying fibrous and/or particulate material comprising loading the said material into a supply chamber having two outlet ports and a rotatable shaft, the shaft having first radially extending protrusions of pitch and disposition to direct material towards one port and second radially extending protrusions of pitch and disposition through direct material towards the second port, the method further comprising rotation of the shaftto move the material in substantially axially opposed directions towards the two outlet ports.

It will be appreciated that in each aspect of the invention further ports may be provided and indeed if required that the shaft may be separated between the two sets of protrusions or blades e.g. by a flexible connection orappropriateangulargearing. Forthat arrangement the ports will be considered to be axi ally spaced, it being convenient for that to regard to splitorflexibleshaftasifthepartsofitwereindeed ofcommon axis.

Another aspect of the invention provides a material supply system comprising the apparatus of said one aspecttogetherwith at least two pumps coupled to respective outlet ports for delivering said material to respective outlet nozzles, in combination with a drive motorfor rotating the shaft, said motor and one pump being coupled to receive electrical power from a first electrical generator and the other pump being coupled to receive electrical power from a second electrical generator.

The invention may be performed in various ways and one embodiment will now be described, byway of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure lisa simplified side view ofsupply appar- atus according to one embodiment ofthe present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view ofthe interior ofthe supply ohamber of the apparatus as shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a simplified side view ofsupply apparatus according to another embodiment ofthe present invention; and Figure4is a cross-sectional view taken along line X-X of Figure 3.

Referring to Figure 1,there is shown at 10 supply apparatus for fibrous material. The apparatus 10 comprises a supply chamber 12 having an open top 14and outlet ports 16 and 18 at opposite ends ofthe lower part ofthe supply chamber 12. A lid not shown may be provided overthe opening 14 of the supply chamber.

Each ofthe outlet ports 16 and 18 is connected through hosing of a suitable diameterto a respective one oftwo air pumps 20 and 22. The pumps suck air andentrainedfibrousmatterfromthechamber12 through their respective outlets 16/18and then de- liverthatmaterial through furthersuitableconduitto outlet nozzles 24 and 26. Each of the outlet nozzles 24 and 26 is provided with a shut-down valve 28 which may be moved from an open position allowing discharge of the fibrous material and air through therelevant nozzle to a closed position preventing such discharge.

The supply chamber has two shafts 30 and 32 mounted for rotation in bearing assemblies carried on the chamberwalls. The shaft 32 is driven directly by a motor 36, shaft 30 being driven by a belt, chain, gearing or other appropriate expedient 37 from a take-off point at the end of shaft 32. The connection between the shafts 32 and 30 may be such thatthey rotate atthesame ordifferentspeeds.

The shaft 30 is provided with agitator protrusions 38. These are substantially symmetrical rods welded or otherwise affixed to the shaft30 to extend radially from the shaft30. Any suitable number of them may be provided at appropriate intervals along the shaft 30, their length and position being determined by the need for them not to interfere with other parts ofthe apparatus 10 as they rotate. Each ofthe protrusions 38 is preferably substantially symmetrical in section.

The shaft32 is provided with further substantially radially extending protrusions 40 and 42forming blades welded or otherwise rigidly affixed to the shaft 32. The blades 40/42 are arranged such that they have a pitch which may be constant orvary along the length of each blade. The blades 40 are of a pitchsuchthattheyimparttofibrousmaterial in the chamber 12 movementtowardsthe outletport 18.

The blades 42 have a pitch such that they direct material in the reverse direction towards the port 16.

Each set of blades 40 and 42 comprise a pair of blades diametrically opposed to one another aboutthe shaft axis. It will be seen that the central pair of blades 42 and the central pair of blades 40 are fixed to the shaftatsubstantiallythe same point, the blades 40 and 42 in that position being at rightanglesto one another about the shaft axis.

The shaft32 is provided with further blades 44 and 46. Each set of blades 44 and 46 comprises six blades disposed symmetrically aboutthe shaft 32 and located adjacent the opposite end walls ofthe bottom section of the supply chamber 1 2, the blades 44and 46 each sweeping over the respective port namely 16 with respectto blades 46 and 18with respecttoblades 44. The blades 44 and 46 are of like construction to blades 40 and 42 in that they are of substantially rectangular section and have a pitch to direct material to the relevant port. The blades 44 have substantiallythe same pitch asthe blades 40 andthe bla- des 46 have substantially the same pitch as the blades 42.

The blades 40/42 may be ofthe same length or lesser length than the blades 44 and 46.

At Figure 2 will be seen aview ofthe lower part of the supply chamber 12 from substantiallythe direction marked A on Figure 1. As will be seen the lower part of the supply chamber 12 is in theform of a trough having substantially semi-circular section.

The axis of shaft 32 is preferably located ator about the axis ofthe said semi-circle, the length ofthe bla- des 40to 46 being arranged so that they do not inter fere with the wal ls of the chamber 12.

Reference will now be madeto Figure3which shows a second embodiment of material supply apparatus 100. The basic construction ofthis embodiment is similarto that illustrated in Figure 1 and corresponding parts are provided with the same reference numeral. The main difference is in the configuration and arrangement of the outlet ports at the ends ofthe supply chamber 12. Whereas in Figure 1 a single outlet port 16 or 18 is provided at each end of the lowertrough ofthe supply chamber 12, in the embodiment of Figure 3 two ports 18a and 18b are provided at the right hand end ofthe lowertrough of the chamber 12 and a single port 16 at the left hand end. The arrangements of these ports 1 8a and 18b is illustrated more clearly in Figure 4 which shows a sectional view along the line X-X of Figure 3.In Figure 4,the semicircular shape of the lower portion ofthetrough is clearly visible, the circularform being centred art a point P.As illustrated in Figure 4, considered with respect to the centre P, each of the outlet ports 18a and 1 8b is disposed at an angle A of about 67"from the horizontal. Furthermore,the ports 18a and 18b are disposed radially outwardly from the centre Pasfaras possible.

It is also of course possible to provide two similar outlet ports atthe left-hand end of the trough butthe illustrated arrangement with a total of three outlet ports is preferred for reasons which will be explained hereinafter.

In the embodiment of both Figure 1 and Figure 3 the shafts 30 and 32 are driven by an electrical motor 36. Similarly, in Figure 1 the outlet conduits connected to the outlet ports are connected to suction pumps 20 and 22 in Figure 1 and suction pumps 22a and 22b in Figure 3. Naturally port 16 in Figure 3 may also be connected to a suction pump 20 as illustrated in Figure 1. These suction pumps are electrically driven. When the material supply apparatus is used on site, all the electrical pumps and motors are supplied by an electrical generator driven by petrol or propane. Such generators are commercially available which are sufficiently small and compact two be easily transportable and are rated at 5 kVA. Such generators may be obtained from the Kawasaki company, for example.This power output is in practice suf ficientto drive four items such as electrical motors for electrical pumps. Therefore, in the embodiment of Figure3, electrical motor36 and three pumps may be driven by two generators. If only two outlet ports are provided as in Figure 1 and5kVAgeneratorsare employed, two generators are nevertheless required but are not used to theirfull capacity. If two outlet ports were provided at each end ofthetrough,three such generators would be required. Thus, the use of three outlet ports is economically advantageous.

Of course, if the generator is sufficiently powerful, a single generator may supply all pumps and motors.

It is surprisingly been found that the addition of an extra outlet portat one end ofthetrough, as illustrated in Figures3 and 4, does not have any significant effect on the supply of material to the second port at that end of the trough. This point will be explained further with reference to Figure 4, in which arrow Z illustrates the direction of rotation of the shaft 32. It would naturally bethoughtthatthe port 18a, which follows port 18b in the direction of rotation, might be starved of material since port 1 8b would suckthe rotating material from the trough before it could reach port 18a. However, in practice it has surprisingly been found that the supply of material to port 18a is substantially unaffected.Additional ports may thus be added and material may be supplied ef fectivelyto all ports. In particular, four ports may be provided in eitherendwall.

For effective operation, it has been found thatthe blades 44 adjacent the end wall having the two or more ports should be spaced from the end wall buy a distance of about 5mm to ensure optimum supply of material to the ports.

In operation ofthe apparatus a supply offibrous material such as chopped glass fibre is loaded into the supply chamber 12 through the open top 14. With the motor36 and the pumps 20 and 22 or20,22a and 22b activated rotation of the shafts 30 and 32 will simultaneously tease and expand the fibres and de liverthem to the respective outlet ports from which they may be carried to the outlet nozzles.

An important feature of the inventive apparatus is the construction of the shaft 32 with its blade configuration and disposition. Material teased and expanded by the shaft 30 and its protrusions 38 fall by gravity into the area swept by the blades 40 to 46. The fibrous material isfurtherteased and expanded by those blades 40 and is separated so that material delivered to the middle ofthe shaft 32 moves from there in opposite directions to the ports 16 and 18.

This enhances teasing expansion and separation enables greaterthroughputthan has previously been achieved with comparably sized apparatus without the inventive arrangement of the present apparatus.

The hosing between the outlets 16/18 and pumps 20/22 will in practice need to be free of sharp angled turns or kinksforsmooth flow of material.

In the illustrated embodiments, at least one port is provided at each end ofthe supply chamber and the blades are configured to move material to each end of the supply chamber. It is of course also possible within the scope of the invention to provide multiple ports onlyatone end and it is then unnecessaryfor the blades to direct material to both ends, i.e. in both axial directions. The blades may then be configured to direct material only towards that end of the supply chamberwhich is provided with ports.

Claims

1. Apparatus forthe supply offibrous and/or particular material comprising: a supply chamber hav ing at least two outlet ports and a rotatable shaft, the shaft housing radially extending protrusions of pitch and disposition to direct material towards the ports.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein at least one outlet port is provided at each of two locations of the chamber spaced along the axis of rota tion oftheshaft.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein two outlet ports are provided at one of said locations.

4. Apparatus according to claim3whereinsaid two outlet ports are disposed on respective sides of a vertical plane containing said axis.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4wherein said two outlet ports are disposed symmetrically relative to said plane.

6. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein each of said outlet ports is disposed in an end wall of said supply chamber.

7. Apparatus according to any one ofthe preceding claims wherein said protrusions are blades.

8. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the shaft carries agitator members in addition to said protrusions.

9. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said protrusions include first protrusion of pitch and disposition to direct material towards one port and second protrusions of pitch and disposition to direct material towards another port.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said first and second protrusions are respective sets of equivalent but mutually opposite pitch.

11. Apparatus according to claim 9 or 10 wherein thefirst protrusions are disposed in one halfandthe second protrusions are disposed in the other half of said shaft.

12. Apparatus according to anyone ofthe preceding claimswherein afurthershaft is provided in said chamber and carries agitator members.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12 wherein said further shaft is disposed parallel to the first- mentioned shaft.

14. Apparatus according to anyone ofthe preceding claims wherein at leasttwo ports are coupled to inlets of respective pumpsfordelivering said material to respective outlet nozzles.

15. Amethodforsupplyingfibrousand/orpart- icular material comprising: loading the material into a supply chamber having at leasttwo outlet ports and a rotatable shaft having radially extending protrusions; rotating the shaft; and moving some ofthe material towards each outlet port in response to shaft rotation.

16. A method according to claim 14 in which material is moved in two substantially axially opposed directions.

17. A material supply system comprising apparatus according to claim 14 in combinationwith a drive motor for rotating the shaft, said motor and pumps being coupled to receive electrical power from at least one electrical generator.

18. Asystem according to claim 17whereinsaid motorand one pump are coupled to receiveelectri- cal powerfrom a first electrical generator and the other pump being coupled to receive electrical power from a second electrical generator.

19. Asystem according to claim 18whereina third pump is coupled to a third outlet port and is coupled to receive electrical power from said second generator.

20. Apparatusforthe supply offibrousand/or particular material substantially as hereinbefore des cribed with reference to Figures 1 and 2 orto Figures 2,3 and 4 ofthe accompanying drawings.

21. A method for su pplying fibrous and/or particulate material substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 orto Figures 2,3 and 4ofthe accompanying drawings.