IL32988A - Irradiation apparatus - Google Patents

Description

ffi The invention relates to irradiation apparatus having a rotary slide which is disposed in one shielding wall of an irradiation has a recess for receiving material to be irradiated in the form of separate and is adapted to introduce the charges into and discharge them from the irradiation the apparatus having means for loading and unloading the rotary slide when recess faces also having means for unloading and loading the rotary slide when its recess faces the irradiation and further having means driving the rotary slide and for conveying the charges around a radiation source situated inside the irradiation In the known apparatus of this used for irradiating relatively small the rotary slide is driven continuously and passes successively through four positions in order to receive a charge for bring it into the irradiation receive an irradiated charge from the irradiation chamber and bring this charge In order to load and unload the rotary ramps are provided outside the shielding and the charges roll into or away from the rotary slide along these This known apparatus is not suitable for irradiating large which are too heavy to he allowed to move In the case of heavy the rotary slide must be halted for loading and and since are four transfer positions this requires a complicated drive and a complicated control In other known irradiation apparatus with a rotary slide disposed in one shielding wall of an ation the rotary slide has four recesses and has two positions for loading and This known apparatus has the disadvantage that the diameter of the rotary slide is very large and the costs are ingly the means for loading rotary slide are complicated because it is not possible to bring a charge into the corresponding recess merely by shifting the charges one charge width On the this charge must be shifted considerably further than its so that the rotary slide can complicates the loading and conveying means in the object of the invention is to provide tion apparatus of the type initially in which the drive for the rotary slide and the associated control system simple and the rotary slide can be loaded and unloaded by simple A further object is to make the diameter of the rotary slide as small as again reducing the cost of the To according to the drive for the rotary slide is such that loading and loading of the rotary slide when the recess in the latter faces outwards take place in a single first position of the rotary and unloading and loading of the rotary slide when its recess faces the irradiation chamber take place in a single second position of the rotary the means for loading and unloading the rotary slide are at least two devices which are disposed in the same plane and displace the charges in a straight and in the vicinity the rotary slide within the irradiation chamber there is a further device which is disposed at to the plane of the displacing devices when the recess faces the tion on unloading of the rotary slide pushes the charge into the course leading round the radiation source on loading of the rotary slide pushes the charge in front of the Compared with apparatus having positions for its rotary this apparatus has the advantage of a very simple drive for the which need only occupy two positions in order to introduce and discharge this drive merely needs a servo piston which rotates the backwards and forwards through and on reaching its two limit halts the slide precisely i the two transfer Λ further advantage is that the for the slide does not require any complicated control Compared with the apparatus having a rotary slide with four recesses and two transfer this apparatus has the tage since it contains only one the rotary slide can be much smaller i with the apparatus according to the loading and ing of the slide are much simpler because since the slide contains only one recess the devices for displacing the charges can bring a charge into or out of the recess simply by displacing the charges one charge width All these have the effect of making apparatus according to the invention cheaper to produce than known In one embodiment of apparatus according to the with a rectangular course along which the charges to be irradiated are guided within the irradiation the means for conveying the charges are devices for displacing the charges in a straight one such device being provided at each of the four corners of the and the rotary slide is disposed at one corner in such a wa that the displacing device at the adjacent corner is adapted both to load and to unload the rotary slide when recess faces the This arrangement has the advantage of reducing the outlay on the means for transferring the charges out of the irradiation chamber into the rotary According to another embodiment of the the rotary slide has a member which can be extended radially in both its positionsand is driven by one of the devices for displacing the charges in a straight the device driving this member being preferably a piston movable in a fixed the piston rod being such that it is coupled to the said member when the latter is extended and is disconnected from this member when the rotary slide This embodiment reduces the cost of the apparatus by using a single element that the piston of the fixed cylinder both to introduce the charges into the slide when its recess faces outwards and to introduce the charges into the slide when its recess faces the irradiation Another advantage is that this drive is easy to embodiments of the are trated in the following description with reference to the In the 1 is a horizontal section through tion apparatus embodying the 2 is another horizontal section through an embodiment different from that shown in is a horizontal section through a third embodiment and 4 is a vertical section along a line in As 1 a block 1 of for example encloses an irradiation chamber in the middle of which there is a gamma tion source for example of Cobalt The material irradiation is moved in of charges 4 in two rows on both sides of the radiation source 3 over a sliding surface which forms the floor the chamber each charge follows a rectangular At each of the four corners of the let into the shielding block 1 and partly enclosed in there is a jack 5a to 5d by means of which the charges 4 are moved along the rectangular For reasons of the jack is placed below the floor of the chamber A plate 6 mounted on its projects into the irradiation chamber through a groove 7 in the A rotary generally designated is situated in the wall of the shielding block on one of the short s ides of the irradiation chamber slide consists basically of a circular plate with an annular wall of standing on This wall 11 is broken away overits entire height at one of its forming an opening 12 through which a charge 4 can be introduced into the recess so formed in the slide or removed from this The recess contains a jack 13 by means of which the charge 4 is removed from the Below the circular plate of the slide there lies a toothed sector connected to slide and with a rack 80 forming an extension of a piston rod 81 whose piston is part of a This 82 forms the drive fo the rotary slide which can therefore be rotated through Opposite the jack 13 in the irradiation chamber between the two rows of charges there is a jack 14 by means of which a charge 4 may be brought into the slide Another jack situated outside the shielding block 1 and also opposite the jack also serves to bring a charge 4 into the slide but from the The jacks are arranged in substantially the same vertical The charges 4 which are to be irradiated arrive on a supply conveyor 16 on the right of the 15 in On the other side of the jack 15 lies the roller conveyor 18 for removing irradiated The jacks and 17 are conventional systems consisting of a piston and cylinder and operated by a pressure The feed lines and the control mechanism are omitted from the drawings for the sake of The apparatus operates as The charges which are to be irradiated move one after the other along the supply conveyor 16 until in front of the jack which displaces one charge at a time to the left in The slide 10 is meanwhile in a position rotated through relative to the position shown in so that the aperture 12 faces the jack By means of this jack the charge pushed into the slide which is then rotated by the 82 into the position jack 13 pushes the charge 4 out of the slide into the position indicated by in the irradiation chamber The jack 5a then displaces the charge to the right in 1 until it is above the groove In the next the jack moves the row of charges one charge width making room in of the jack for a charge which the jack displaces from the row into the The jack then shifts the row of charges one charge width and the jack shifts the charge immediately in front of it into the position shown by Since this charge has already it is pushed by the jack 14 into the slide which then adjusts the slide by means of the 82 so that the aperture 12 faces the jack The irradiated charge is then pushed out of the slide by the jack and the jack 17 simultaneously moves this charge onto the roller conveyor on which it rolls and brings a new charge in front of the aperture In the apparatus shown in a jack is provided in the vicinity of each corner of the tion chamber and the rotary slide is disposed at one corner in such a way that the jack 5b at the adjacent corner also serves to introduce the charges into the This arrangement has the advantage that the jack 14 provided in 1 can be there is no jack underneath the floor of the chamber and the distance between the two rows of charges is not determined by the width of the jack The rotary slide whose basic construction is the same as that of the rotary slide is smaller in diameter than the Its in is less than the wall thickness of the shielding block This reduction is possible because the jack 13 inside the slide is different in construction from the jack inside the slide The casing length of the jack is shorter than the stroke of its for example due to a conventional telesoopic construction of its The apparatus shown in 2 operates as A charge 4 which is to be irradiated is introduced into the slide 10 and then into the position illustrated in 2 in the same manner as has been described with reference to In the next stage the jack 13 pushes the charge out of the slide and in front of the jack The jack then pushes the charge in front of it in the row across so that it is in ront of the jack on the The jack now pushes the row one charge width upon the jack pushes the charge in front of it into the slide At the end of this cycle the jack pushes the row a half or a whole charge width The irradiated charge pushed into the slide by the jack 5d is then rotation of the slide through transferred to the roller conveyor 18 by means of the jacks 13 and 17 as already described with reference to Apart from the advantages mentioned the apparatus shown in 2 has the further advantage that the irradiation chamber 2 is smaller and the weight of the shielding block is therefore In the apparatus shown in 3 and the rotary slide has a sliding tray 20 displaceable inside the rotary slide in two grooves 21 having triangular That end of the tray 20 to right in 4 bears two eyes each containing a slot and engaged by respective pivots 24 belonging to two levers Each lever 25 is mounted on a pin these pins being mounted in the annular wall of the rotary The upper ends of the two levers 25 are connected together by a crosspiece 27 whichhas a knob 28 in the This knob projects into a guide open at the bottom and at both ends and attached to the end of the piston rod 30 of a jack If the piston of the jack 31 moves to the right in the sliding tray 20 is displaced to the left along the grooves 21 by means the lever so that part of it comes out of the slide and onto grooves which have triangular and form extensions of the grooves 21 in the floor of the irradiation chamber This extended position of the sliding tray and the associated position of the levers 25 are indicated by in In order to permit the guide 29 to move wards and a downwardly open groove 35 is provided in the shielding block Both ends of this groove lead into an annular groove again downwardly which has a rectangular and is arranged concentrically relative to the rotational axis of the slide If the sliding tray 20 is in the position shown by solid the slide can be the knob 28 jecting sideways from the guide in the annular groove This annular groove therefore serves to guide the sliding tray so that no relative motion occurs between the sliding tray and rotary slide when the latter Grooves 38 having triangular and corresponding to the grooves 33 inside the irradiation chamber are provided on the outside of the shielding block so that the sliding tray 20 can still be extended when the slide has turned through The slide rests on a ball thrust bearing 39 and is set into the floor of the shielding to prevent radiation from escaping under the end of the For the same a shoulder 40 provided which projects into the shielding block at the upper end of the rotary The apparatus shown in 3 4 operates as In order to introduce a charge for the rotary slide is brought out of the position shown into a position rotated through and at the same time the piston of the jack 31 is shifted to the the latter beginning its movement somewhat later and ending it somewhat earlier than the rotary As a the knob 28 can leave the guide 29 and then the same guide when the guide has because the latter has already reached its It is therefore unnecessary for the jack 31 to be structed for a double The piston of the jack 31 is then moved to the and the sliding tray 20 comes out of the slide along the grooves A charge for irradiation is pushed by the jack 17 onto the sliding tray which is then withdrawn into the slide by means of the jaek T slide is turned through the piston of the jack 31 again starting later and arriving earlier in its so that the position shown by lines in 4 is By means of the jack whose piston moves to the the tray runs onto the grooves whereupon the jack displaces the charge to be irradiated to the right in 3 so that it joins the row of The jack then shifts the row one charge width so bringing an irradiated charge onto the tray While the jack 5c then the jack are fulfilling their the jack 31 the tray 20 into the rotary slide so that the position shown by solid lines is reached The slide turns through while the piston of the jack 31 moves to right When this piston next moves to the the tray is extended along the grooves and the jack 17 is operated to bring the irradiated charge onto the roller conveyor on which it rolls while at the same time a new charge is pushed onto the tray 20 in order to be In the apparatus shown in 3 there is a further reduction in the diameter of the rotary slide and in the number of the jack 13 or being The driving of the sliding tray 20 by means of the jack like driving of the slide by means of the motor has the advantage because the piston occupies limit the sliding tray is always certain to reach its withdrawn and extended The apparatuses described are the invention may be applied to transportable If the shielding block might be of lead instead of the shielding block might be built of elements light enough to be By this means apparatus might be built which could be broken up when required and on another It is also possible each charge 4 to be composed of a plurality of partial insufficientOCRQuality

Claims (7)

1. Irradiation apparatus having a rotary slide which is disposed in one shielding wall of an irradiation chamber, has a recess for receiving material to be irradiated in the form of separate chairges, and is adapted to introduce the charges into and discharge them f rom the irradiation chamber, the apparatus having means for loading and unloading the rotary slide when its recess faces outwards, also having means for unloading and loading the rotary slide whe its recess faces the irradiation chamber, and further having means for driving the rotary slide and for conveying the charges around a radiation source situated inside the irradiation chamber, characterised in that the drive for the rotary slide is such that loading and unloading of the rotary slide when the recess in the latter faces outwards take place in a single first position of the rotary slide, and unloading and loading of the rotary slide when its recess faces the irradiation chamber takes place in a single second position of the rotary slide, the means for loading and unloading the rotary slide are at least two devices which are disposed in substantially the same plane and displace the charges in a straight line, and in the vicinity of the rotary slide within the irradiation chamber there is a further device which is disposed at right-angles to the plane of the above-mentioned displacing devices and, when the recess faces the irradiation chamber, on unloading of the rotary slide pushes the charge into the course leading round the radiation source and/or on loading of the rotary slide pushes the charge i fiont of the recess.

2. Apparatus as claimed in Claim course along whicii the charges to be irradiated are guided within the irradiation chamber, characterised in that the means for conveying the charges are devices for displacing the charges in a straight line, one such device being provided at each of the four corners of the course, and the rotary slide is disposed at one corner in such a way that the displacing device at the adjacent corner is adapted both to load and to unload the rotary slide when its recess faces the irradiation chamber.

3. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, characterised in that the rotary slide has a charge-receiving member whioh can be extended radially in both its positions and is driven by one of the devices for displacing the charges in a straight line,

4. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 3, characterised in that the device driving the extensible member is a piston movable in a fixed cylinder, the piston rod being such that it is coupled to the said member when the latter is extended and is disconnected from this member when the rotary slide rotates.

5. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, characterised in that the drive for the rotary slide is a piston operated medium and having a piston rod operatively connected by a rack to a toothed sector attached to the rotar slide. ft - 17 -

6. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, characterised in that the further device provided in tie vicinity of the rotary slide within the irradiation chamber is part of the means for conveying the charges around the radiation source disposed within the irradiation chamber*

7. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, characterised in that the devices displacing the charges in a straight line and the means for conveying the charges around the radiation source disposed within the irradiation chamber are pressure-medium-operated pistons* PAMHERS IS/rb