GB2438967A

GB2438967A - Hopper unit

Info

Publication number: GB2438967A
Application number: GB0710895A
Authority: GB
Inventors: George Callaghan; Neil Jack
Original assignee: CITY BUILDING
Current assignee: CITY BUILDING
Priority date: 2006-06-07
Filing date: 2007-06-07
Publication date: 2007-12-12
Anticipated expiration: 2027-06-07
Also published as: GB2438967B; GB0710895D0; GB0611167D0

Abstract

A hopper unit 1 comprises a hopper structure 8 that is moveably attached to a mounting frame 5 to translate between closed and an open configurations and a gasket 17 providing a seal between the hopper structure 8 and the mounting frame 5 when the hopper unit 1 is in this closed configuration. An improved fire, smoke and odour resistance rating of the device is achieved by biasing the hopper unit 1 towards the closed configuration, e.g. by means of a counter weight (15 fig 3) and by the gasket. The gasket 17 also assists in dampening any noise produced when the hopper unit 1 closes. The gasket 17 may be rubber and may be housed in a recess 16. The hopper structure 8 may be mounted to the frame 5 with anti-tamper bolts (9b fig 1). The hopper unit may be fixed to an access aperture of a refuse or laundry chute.

Description

13 Hopper Unit This invention relates to a fire-rated structure for 16

providing access to a facility, this structure being 17 resistant to unauthorjsed interference or abuse of the 18 structure e.g. by vandalism.

There are a number of situations where it is desirable to 21 transfer objects from one environment to another, e.g. :. 22 from a living space to a storage space. This could * **" 23 include the need to transfer laundry in a multi-storey **S.

24 building such as a hospital or hotel, or the need to .., 25 transfer refuse to a container for removal to a disposal 26 site. Such transfer generally has to be effective in one 27 direction i.e. a non-return facility and for this *I..

28 purpose, the structural arrangement usually takes the *: 29 form of a hopper unit adapted to cooperate with an access way or chute, with movable parts mounted upon pivots or 31 sliders so as to be repeatably movable from an open 32 accessible configuration to a closed configuration. The 33 action of opening the hopper unit provides access for 1 inserting objects of a predetermined maximum size, whilst 2 the closing action frequently incorporates a transfer of 3 the object towards the intended destination for the 4 object, such as via a chute or directly into a container.

Re-opening of the hopper unit permits repetition of the 6 transfer function and limits the risk of clogging the 7 transfer path or access way with too many objects.

9 The term "hopper" is widely used in the field to describe structures providing this kind of functionality.

11 Typically, the hopper is counter weighted so as to 12 utilise gravity for assisted closure and emptying.

13 However, the hoppers known in the prior art are

14 susceptible to damage from fires and other forms of vandalism. It is not unknown for fires to be set 16 deliberately in the chutes within which the hopper is 17 located or for the hoppers to be removed from the chute 18 so as to leave the associated aperture exposed. These 19 events have obvious safety implications to persons located within the local environment of the hopper e.g. 21 rubbish chutes for residents of a high rise building. * * * *..

*.. 23 A further disadvantage of many of t.e prior art hoppers **e.

24 is the associated loud noise produced when the hopper is n... 25 closed. This is particularly problematic with hoppers 26 employed within residential buildings as the noise 27 produced by one tenant using the hopper can be disturbing 28 to other residents located nearby. * * * * 29

The present invention will therefore be described in 31 relation to one such use, namely disposal of refuse, 32 without limitation to such use.

1 Suinniary of Invention 2 According to a first aspect of the present invention, 3 there is provided a hopper unit comprising a hopper 4 structure that is moveably attached to a mounting frame, such that movement of the hopper structure relative to 6 the mounting frame acts to translate the hopper unit 7 between a closed and an open configuration, the hopper 8 unit further comprising a gasket arranged so as to 9 provide a seal between the hopper structure and the mounting frame when the hopper unit is in the closed 11 configuration.

13 The incorporation of the gasket provides a hopper unit 14 that exhibits improved fire, smoke and odour resistance and which dampens any noise produced when the hopper unit 16 is translated to the closed configuration.

18 Most preferably the hopper unit comprises a counter 19 weight which acts to bias the hopper unit to the closed configuration. Preferably the counter weight comprises a 21 wa].1 of the hopper structure. *. * a *

*::::. 23 Preferably the mounting frame comprises a recess within 24 which the gasket is housed when the hopper unit is in the :a:.. 25 closed position. *** *

27 Optionally the gasket is also housed within the recess **** 28 when the hopper unit is in the open configuration. * * * 29

Preferably the hopper structure is pivotally attached to 31 the mounting frame by one or more pins. Most preferably 32 one or more first connectors attach the hopper structure 33 to the mounting frame. It is preferable for the one or 1 more first connectors to comprise anti-tamper bolts. The 2 use of anti-tamper bolts reduces the risk of unauthorised 3 removal of the hopper structure from the mounting frame.

Preferably the mounting frame comprises a plate, the 6 plate providing a means for locating one or more second 7 connectors suitable for fixing the hopper unit to a chute 8 such that the hopper structure locates within an access 9 aperture of the chute.

11 The incorporation of the plate provides a hopper unit 12 that can be employed with a range of access apertures.

13 The plate also allows the hopper unit to be installed 14 retrospectively into existing chute systems with only minimal intervention within the existing system.

17 According to a second aspect of the present invention 18 there is provided a chute disposal system comprising a 19 chute within which are located one or more access apertures arid at least one hopper unit associated with at 21 least one of the one or more access apertures wherein the 22 at least one hopper unit comprises a hopper unit in * *e.

*** 23 accordance with the first aspect of the present 24 invention. *1 * *

* *.. 25

26 Brief Description of Drawings

27 Aspects of the present invention will now be described by ** * * 28 way of example only and with reference to the *: 29 accompanying figures, in which: 31 Figure 1 presents a front view of a hopper unit 32 located in situ within an access aperture of a 33 chute, and in a closed configuration; 2 Figure 2 presents a side view of the hopper unit of 3 Figure 1 in n open configuration; Figure 3 presents a schematic front view of the 6 hopper unit of Figure 1; and 8 Figure 4 presents a schematic side view of the 9 hopper unit of Figure 1.

11 Detailed Description

12 An embodiment of the present invention will now be 13 described with reference to Figures 1 to 4. In 14 particular, these Figures and following description relate to a hopper unit 1 for providing controlled access 16 to a refuse disposal chute 2 installed within the walls 17 of a multi-storey building. An access aperture 3 in a 18 chute wall 4 provides a route into the disposal chute 2.

19 The access aperture 3 may be a rectangular opening in the 4 wall.

22 The hopper unit 1 can be seen to comprise a peripheral * **.

*. 23 mounting frame 5 equipped wirh wall engaging parts 6 and 24 a front plate 7. The front plate 7 provides a means for n.., 25 fixing the hopper unit 1 to the chute wall 4 such that a 26 hopper structure 8 is located within the access aperture 27 3. A fire rated mastic layer is located between the S. * 28 peripheral mounting frame 5 and the chute wall 4 so as to * * . * 29 improve the overall fire rating of the hopper unit 1, as discussed in further detail below. The positioning of 31 the front plate 7 when presented to the aperture 3 also 32 conceals the wall engaging parts 6 from view. Four bolts 1 9a are employed to fix the front plate 7 to the chute 2 wall 4.

4 The hopper structure 8 is moveably attached to the mounting frame 5 by a pivot pin 10 and two anti-tamper 6 bolts 9b so that it pivots about a substantially 7 horizontal axis AJ.' . This arrangement allows the hopper 8 unit 1 to simply pivot between a closed configuration, 9 see Figure 1, and an open configuration, see Figure 2.

11 The employment of the bolts 9a, and in particular the 12 anti-tamper bolts 9b, help prevent unauthorised removal 13 of the hopper unit 1 from the chute wall 4. It is known 14 for users to attempt to remove the hopper structure 8 from the peripheral mounting frame 5 so as to allow them 16 to insert objects larger than the maximum specification 17 rating for the associated chute 2. The possibility of a 18 user being able to do this is significantly reduced since 19 removal of the anti-tamper bolts 9b requires the use of a specialised tool.

:. 22 The hopper structure 8 comprises a front wall 11 having a * *.... 23 handle 12 for convenient manual operation of the hopper es * 24 unit 1. Furthermore, two generally sector shaped, spaced 25 and mutually parallel side walls 13 and 14 are attached 26 to the front wall 11. Also connected to the front wall 27 11, and to the sides walls 12 and 13, is a bottom wall 28 15. It can be seen that the bottom wall 15 is angled * 29 relative to the front wall 11. In such an arrangement, and when located within the access aperture 3 the weight 31 of the bottom wall 15 acts as a counter weight such that 32 the hopper unit 1 tends towards the closed configuration 33 of Figure 1.

2 It can be seen from Figure 2 that the front plate 7 3 comprises a recess 16 within which is located a gasket 17 4 made from rubber. The gasket 17 extends around the perimeter of the recess 16. It will be appreciated by 6 those skilled in the art that the gasket 17 can 7 alternatively be located on the inner surface of the 8 front wall 11 so that when the hopper unit is in its 9 closed configuration the gasket 17 locates within the recess the recess 16.

12 In both embodiments, the recess 16 and the gasket 17 are 13 such that when the hopper unit 1 is in the closed 14 configuration the front wall 11 of the hopper structure 8 lies flush with the front plate 7 and so provides a seal 16 between the hopper structure 8 and the support structure 17 5.

19 The above described hopper unit 1 exhibits several advantages over those hoppers known in the prior art. In 21 the first instance the combined effects of the counter n.,. 22 weighting introduced by the bottom wall 15, the seal 23 produced by the gasket 17 and the mastic layer, allows 24 the hopper unit 1 to satisfy the requirements of: * 26 1) British Standard 476 Part 22, Section 6 "One Hour : 27 Fire Rating"; *. : 28 2) British Standard 476 Section 31.1 and British * ** 29 Standard 5588 both of which relate to the ability of a hopper to resist the passage of smoke and 31 odours from an associated chute into the 32 surrounding environment; and 1 3) British Standard 1703 Section 6.3 3.4 which 2 relates to the noise produced by the closing of 3 the hopper unit 1.

To date these requirement are not met by the hoppers 6 described within the prior art. Indeed the present 7 design not only meets the requirement of British Standard 8 476 Part 22, Section 6, but in practice is found to 9 supersede it by actually providing the hopper unit 1 with a two hour fire rating.

12 Furthermore1 due to the incorporation of the anti-tamper 13 bolts 9b the hopper unit 1 has an improved vandal proof 14 rating such that it satisfies the requirements of British Standard 1703 Sections 6.3 3.5 17 In summary, the hopper unit provided by the present 18 invention complies with current British Standard fire 19 ratings since it exhibits a two hour fire rating. It also provides resistance to smoke and odour passage, and 21 superior resistance to vandalism. Furthermore, when 22 installed the hopper is a fully functional yet S...

23 unobtrusive device that is self-closing in a quiet and 24 sate manner in every operation. * I.e

26 The nature of the hopper unit is such that it can be * 27 retro fitted into existing chutes without any requirement *. : 28 to jack hammer concrete openings so avoiding mess and S. 29 intolerable noise levels to tenants. This is achievable by virtue of the provision of the peripheral mounting 31 frame which is easily adapted to fit a range of access 32 apertures.

1 Furthermore, the hopper unit may also satisfy aesthetic 2 criteria by being presented in any colour, e.g. as a 3 powder coating adopting any of the RAL standard colours 4 available or being made from any suitable material e.g. stainless steel.

7 The foregoing description of the invention has been 8 presented for purposes of illustration and description 9 and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. The described 11 embodiments were chosen and described in order to best 12 explain the principles of the invention and its practical 13 application to thereby enable others skilled in the art 14 to best utilise the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the 16 particular use contemplated. Therefore, further 17 modifications or improvements may be incorporated without 18 departing from the scope of the invention as defined by 19 the appended claims. * * * *S.

* ** * * * .*. ** * * * S.. S. S * S..

S *S*. *. . * I * * *.

Claims

1 CLAIMS 3 1) A hopper unit. comprising a hopper structure that is 4

moveably attached to a mounting frame, such that movement of the hopper structure relative to the 6 mounting frame acts to translate the hopper unit 7 between a closed and an open configuration, the 8 hopper unit further comprising a gasket arranged so 9 as to provide a seal between the hopper structure and the mounting frame when the hopper unit is in 11 the closed configuration.

13 2) A hopper unit as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the 14 hopper unit further comprising a counter weight which acts to bias the hopper unit to the closed 16 configuration.

18 3) A hopper unit as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the 19 counter weight comprises a wall of the hopper structure. I.

: .. 22 4) A hopper unit as claimed in any of the preceding * 23 Claims wherein the mounting frame comprises a recess 24 within which the gasket is housed when the hopper unit is in the closed position.

r 27 5) A hopper unit as claimed in any of the preceding *. : 28 Claims wherein the gasket is also housed within the * S. 29 recess when the hopper unit is in the open configuration.

1 6) A hopper unit as claimed in any of the preceding 2 Claims wherein the hopper structure is pivotally 3 attached to the mounting frame by one or more pins.

7) A hopper unit as claimed in any of the preceding 6 Claims wherein one or more first connectors attach 7 the hopper structure to the mounting frame 9 8) A hopper unit as claimed in Claim 7 wherein the one or more first connectors to comprise anti-tamper 11 bolts.

13 9) A hopper unit as claimed in any of the preceding 14 Claims wherein the mounting frame comprises a plate, the plate providing a means for locating one or more 16 second connectors suitable for fixing the hopper 17 unit to a chute such that the hopper structure 18 locates within an access aperture of the chute.

10) A chute disposal system comprising a chute within 21 which are located one or more access apertures and : ... 22 at least one hopper unit associated with at least S...

.... 23 one of the one or more access apertures wherein the 24 at least one hopper unit comprises a hopper unit as * 25 claimed in any of the preceding Claims.

*." 27 11 A hopper unit substantially as herein described and 28 illustrated in the accompanying figures.

12) A chute disposal system substantially as herein 31 described and illustrated in the accompanying 32 figures.