IES20040124A2 - A pneumatic carrier system - Google Patents

Abstract

A pneumatic carrier system in which there is a reception station (not shown) mounted below a vertically arranged transport tube (2) which received a carrier tube (not shown) sucked by air from, for example, a cashier's till. A connector (20) is mounted above the reception station and comprises a hollow cylindrical sleeve (21) connected to an orthogonally arranged air draw-off portion (22). Axially spaced-apart and circumferentially arranged air outlet holes (25) are in the transport tube (3). As the carrier tube falls down the transport tube and through the connector (20), air drawn off through the holes (25) imparts a swirling motion to the air and hence rotates the carrier container. This ensures the carrier container does not jam within the transport tube (2). <Figure 4>

Description

The present invention relates to a pneumatic carrier system. Such pneumatic carrier systems generally comprise a transport tube having at least one dispatch station and at least one reception station. Further, they usually have a connector for the delivery and the drawing off of air through the tubes. Usually, such a connector station is mounted adjacent each reception station for drawing air through the tube to draw a carrier container, slidable within the tube, from a dispatch station to a reception station.

These pneumatic carrier systems were used extensively in the past and then fell out of use with the advent of apparently more efficient transport systems. However, now they have come back into use. Such pneumatic carrier systems are commonly used for transmitting documents or the like in the carrier container from one location to another. They are frequently found within hospitals, department stores and the like. Indeed, because of the secure way in which money can be transported to and from tills in department stores, supermarkets and such other retail outlets, they have become in even more frequent use. The carrier container can be delivered directly from a cashier's till to a secure safe. It does not necessitate the carrying of money by personnel within the store. It therefore ensures that the money within a particular store, or indeed within a bank, can be held remote from the general public.

It is known to change the air flow from an axial direction within the transport tube to a transverse direction to slow down the tube. It is also generally the easiest way to draw off the air from the transport tube. The problem is that when the carrier is subjected to a force acting orthogonally to its direction of travel, it tends to jam in the transport tube under the action of this sideways force.

This is one of the problems with such pneumatic carrier systems in that when drawing off air from the transport tube, which is usually drawn off adjacent a reception station, the carrier containers tend to be pulled against the side wall of the transport tube adjacent where the air is being drawn off the tube. This very often causes the carrier ΙΕΟ 4 0 7 2 4 -2container to jam or be blocked within the transport tube.

Typical systems are disclosed in US Patent Specification No 4189,260 (Morano et al), US Patent Specification No. 4084770 (Warmann) and European Patent Specification No. 0088721 (Siemens AG).

US Patent Specification No. 3,976,264 (Ekama et al) discloses a typical construction of such a pneumatic tube system, in particular, it discloses a swing tube terminal system for changing the direction of carrier travel without the use of a 90° bend. It includes a station comprising a chamber enclosing the apertured wall of a transport conduit such that the vacuum or motive pressure created in the tube is greatly reduced so as to slow down the carrier. This is done by changing the direction of the force acting on it from an axial direction to a transverse direction.

The present invention is directed towards overcoming this problem. It is further directed to providing an improved and efficient construction of pneumatic carrier system.

Statements of Invention According to the invention, there is provided a pneumatic carrier system comprising a transport tube having at least one dispatch station and at least one reception station, a connector adjacent each reception station for drawing air through the tube to draw a carrier container slidable within the tube from a dispatch station to a reception station in which; wherein the connector comprises: the transport tube is mounted substantially vertically adjacent the reception station; the connector comprises a hollow cylindrical walled sleeve forming a sealed exhaust chamber surrounding the transport tube and connected to an exhaust fan for drawing air out of the exhaust chamber through an exit hole in the cylindrical wall of the sleeve; and in which 124 -3a plurality of axially spaced-apart sets of circumferentially arranged holes, with portions of each of the holes of one set partially overlapping a portion of another hole of another set, are provided in the transport tubes connecting the exhaust chamber with the tube to cause a swirling air flow within the tube where it is surrounded by the exhaust chamber and thus rotation of a container as it passes through the exhaust chamber to the reception station.

Once a swirling motion is applied to the carrier, it is much less likely to jam in the transport tube, as the action of the air on the carrier is no longer orthogonal thereto. The purpose of the holes is not to reduce the force acting on the carrier, as in some prior art constructions of reception station where it is vital to dissipate the force prior to the carrier coming to rest, the purpose and aim of the invention is to ensure that the air is exhausted efficiently from the transport tube, without stopping the carrier. Indeed, the transport tube is so arranged that the carrier will fall naturally under gravity through the transport tube. Therefore, it is vital not to stop and hold the carrier where the air is drawn off from the transport tube.

In one embodiment of the invention, each carrier container is of frustro-conical shape, tapering outwards from a base forming a leading surface during transport to a removable closure. The frustro-conical shape helps the formation of the swirling motion.

In one embodiment of the invention, the exterior frustro-conical surface mounts fins to facilitate rotation of the carrier container when passing through the exhaust chamber.

In one embodiment of the invention, the hollow tube forming the exhaust chamber is in the form of a cylindrically walled tee piece with portion of the sleeve projecting away from the tube forming an air draw-off duct.

Ideally, the holes are provided above and below where the air draw-off duct is connected to the exhaust chamber. Also, one suitable embodiments provides three sets of circumferentially arranged and partially axially overlapping holes, namely, an IE0 4 0 -4upper, intermediate and lower set, the intermediate set being opposite the draw off duct.

In another embodiment of the invention, each set comprises four circumferentially equi-spaced holes.

In one embodiment of the invention, there is one main transport tube terminating in a reception station and a plurality of feeder transport tubes connected to the main transport tubes, each feeder tube terminating in a dispatch station remote from where it connects with the main tube.

In this latter embodiment of the invention, preferably each dispatch station comprises: a closure mounted in the feeder transport tube to allow access to the feeder transport tube; a valve sited between the closure and the main transport tube; and control means whereby, on inserting a carrier container into the feeder tube, a request signal is sent to the control means and the request signal is queued until the system is available for use when an availability signal is sent to allow the valve to be opened and the carrier container sent.

In this latter embodiment of the invention, an operating switch to open the valve is provided and the availability signal causes an access light to be displayed to allow an operator active the operating switch.

In another embodiment of the invention, the valve is connected to the control means whereby on the availability signal being received, the valve is automatically opened and the carrier container is transported to the receiving station.

In a still further embodiment of the invention, at least portion of the transport tube is mounted within an outer tube for the housing of power and other service lines around ΙΕΟ 4 0 f 2 4 -5the system. This is particularly suitable as it ensures that there are no wires or other pieces of equipment that are likely to catch or cause injury, exposed to the general public.

Detailed Description of the Invention The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which;Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a pneumatic carrier system according to the invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a connector of the invention, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of portion of the connector of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a partially cut-away and schematic view of the connector of Fig. 2, Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a carrier container according to the invention, Fig. 6 is a perspective view of another carrier container according to the invention, Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a more practical layout of a system according to the invention, and Fig. 8 is a perspective view, similar to Fig. 1, of an alternative construction of system according to the invention.

Referring to the drawings, and initially to Figs. 1 to 5 thereof, there is provided a pneumatic carrier system, indicated generally by the reference numeral 1, a transport tube 2 having a dispatch station, indicated generally by the reference numeral 3, and a reception station, indicated generally by the reference numeral 4. The dispatch ΙΕΟ 4 0 12 4 -6station 3 is illustrated beside a cashiers till 5 and has a closable reception door 6 for reception of a carrier container 10 which is illustrated by interrupted lines in Fig. 1 and is illustrated in Fig. 5. The carrier container 10 is of frustro-conical shape and has a base 11 and a closure 12. All of this is conventional. The reception station 4 comprises a safe 15 having a flap door 16 mounted adjacent a connector, indicated generally by the reference numeral 20. The connector 20 comprises a hollow cylindrical wall sleeve 21 and is effectively a tee piece having a further portion 22 orthogonal thereto. The sleeve 21 is secured to the transport tube 2 by end plates 23 and thus houses portion of the transport tube 2 within it, forming a sealed exhaust chamber. There are a plurality of axially spaced-apart air outlet holes 25 in the transport tube connecting the exhaust chamber with the tube 2.

Referring now to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the holes 25 form an upper set, an intermediate set and a lower set, all indicated generally by the reference numerals 26, 27 and 28 respectively. Each set 26, 27 and 28 comprises four holes, equispaced circumferentially and offset axially. It will be noted that the holes of each set slightly overlap the other holes. The portion 22 connects, through a hole in the sleeve 21, with an exhaust fan 30. It will be noted that the intermediate set of holes 27 is opposite the portion 22.

In use, as the carrier container 10 is drawn through the transport tube 2, it will pass down through the connector 20. The action of the fan 30 will cause a swirling motion within the transport tube 2. This swirling flow within the tube will thus cause rotation of the carrier container as it passes through the exhaust chamber to the reception chamber 4. Heretofore, the containers tended to jam within the transport tube and, in some cases, would not drop into the safe. In this way, a smooth transfer between the dispatch station to the reception station is achieved.

Referring to Fig. 6, there is illustrated an alternative construction of carrier container, indicated by the reference numeral 35, in which parts similar to those described with reference to the previous drawings are identified by the same reference numerals. In this embodiment, there is provided fins 36 which insist on imparting a swirling motion to the carrier container 35. ΙΕΟ 4 Ο 1 2 4 -7Referring now to Fig. 7, there is illustrated a more practical arrangement of a pneumatic carrier system, indicated generally by the reference numeral 40, in which parts similar to those described with reference to the previous drawings, are identified by the same reference numerals. In this embodiment, there is illustrated a valve 41 adjacent each dispatch station 3, which valve is in turn connected to a central control computer 42. Each of the transport tubes 2 now effectively provide, what could be said to be individual feeder tubes, to a main transport tube, which is directly connected to the one dispatch station. Adjacent each dispatch station 3, there is provided, in one embodiment, a visual signal and a valve opening switch (not shown). In this embodiment, when a carrier container is inserted into one of the dispatch stations 3, a signal is sent to the central control computer 42 which queues each signal from a dispatch station as a request for availability. As soon as the system is available, a visual indication will be given to the personnel at the specific dispatch station 3, who will then operate the valve 41 to allow the carrier container to be delivered to the reception station. Alternatively, in other embodiment, this can be carried out automatically.

It will be appreciated that instead of one reception station, there could be many and diverter valves and the like, could be used to deliver a carrier container from a dispatch station to an appropriate reception station. This would obviously require more programming for the central controller, but could be readily easily achieved.

Referring to Fig. 8, there is illustrated an alternative construction of pneumatic carrier system, indicated generally by the reference numeral 50, in which parts similar to those described with reference to Fig. 1, are identified by the same reference numerals. In this embodiment, at least portion of the transport tube 2 is mounted within an outer tube 51, which outer tube 51 can be used for housing a power and other control lines, such as an electrical cable 52 which is connected to the another electrical cabie 53 connected to the safe 15.

It has been found that by arranging the holes in the transport tube, slightly offset axially, the desired swirling airflow is provided. If they are not mounted slightly axially offset, while rotational motion is imparted to the carrier container, it is not nearly as effective as if they are offset. /εο 4 Ο 12 4 -8lt will be appreciated that any form of control means may be provided and anybody skilled in the art will ready easily appreciated how such control means may be manufactured.

In the specification the terms “comprise, comprises, comprised and comprising” or any variation thereof and the terms “include, includes, included and including” or any variation thereof are considered to be totally interchangeable and they should all be afforded the widest possible interpretation and vice versa.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment hereinbefore described, but may be varied in both construction and detail within the scope of the claims.

Claims (5)

1. A pneumatic carrier system comprising a transport tube having at least one dispatch station and at least one reception station, a connector adjacent each reception station for drawing air through the tube to draw a carrier container slidable within the tube from a dispatch station to a reception station in which: the transport tube is mounted substantially vertically adjacent the reception station; the connector comprises a hollow cylindrical walled sleeve forming a sealed exhaust chamber surrounding the transport tube and connected to an exhaust fan for drawing air out of the exhaust chamber through an exit hole in the cylindrical wall of the sleeve; and in which a plurality of axially spaced-apart sets of circumferentially arranged holes, with portions of each of the holes of one set partially overlapping a portion of another hole of another set, are provided in the transport tube connecting the exhaust chamber with the tube to cause a swirling air flow within the tube where it is surrounded by the exhaust chamber and thus rotation of a container as it passes through the exhaust chamber to the reception station; and in which each carrier container is of frustro-conical shape, tapering outwards from a base forming a leading surface during transport to a removable closure.

2. A pneumatic carrier as claimed in claim 1, in which the exterior frustro-conical surface of the carrier container mounts fins to facilitate rotation of the carrier container when passing through the exhaust chamber.

3. A pneumatic carrier system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the hollow tube forming the exhaust chamber is in the form of a cylindrically walled tee piece with portion of the sleeve projecting away from the tube forming an air draw-off duct and in which the holes are provided above and below where the IE0 4 0 / 2 4 -10air draw-off duct is connected to the exhaust chamber.

4. A pneumatic carrier system as claimed in any preceding claim, in which each dispatch station comprises: a closure mounted in the feeder transport tube to allow access to the feeder transport tube; a valve sited between the closure and the main transport tube; and control means whereby, on inserting a carrier container into the feeder tube, a request signal is sent to the control means and the request signal is queued until the system is available for use when an availability signal is sent to allow the valve to be opened and the carrier container 15 sent.

5. A carrier system substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.