US1918330A

US1918330A - Unloading system

Info

Publication number: US1918330A
Application number: US553595A
Authority: US
Inventors: Green Sherwood
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1931-07-28
Filing date: 1931-07-28
Publication date: 1933-07-18
Anticipated expiration: 1950-07-18

Description

July 18, 1933. V

s. GREIIEYN UNLOADIRG SYSTEM Filed firml 2s,

60.5 (bomber 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYS.

July 18, 1933. s. GREEN 1,918,330

UNLOADING SYSTEM Filed July 28, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTOR.

r t I j'f/[PWOU 'zfiw P ATTORNEYS.

Patented July 18, 1933 UNlTEDgS-TATES PATENT OFFICE Application filed July 28;

, -My invention relates to unloading systems and more particularly it relates to a method and apparatus for unloading cotton, grain or other materials while simultaneously subj ecting the same to the atmosphere of a treatinggas. V

In drying, bleaching and sterilizing cotton, grain, and the like, it has been common to use gases for effecting the desired treatment and pneumatic conveyors have been commonly utilized for unloading and for delivering thematerial to be treated to the treating chamber. 'In such systems it has been the usual practice to provide a conduit through which the material is drawn by air suction to a point near the entrance of the treating chamber, at which point the material and the excess air in the suction conduit are separated, part of the air being expelled into the atmosphere, and the material and the remaining air being introduced 'into the treating chamber together with a stream of the gases to be used forftreating the material. The use of separate conduits for delivering the material to the chamber and for directing the treating gases to the chamber necessitated the use of at least two separate blowers or suction fans and also necessitated the use of as'eparator forseparating thematerial and the air, so that the gases in the treating chamber would not be unduly diluted with the air used to convey the material to be treated. c I g It is oneobject of my invention to devise a treating system utilizing pneumatic conveying means in which less apparatus is used than is required in prior systems for accomplishing similar results.

Another object is to' devisea treating system in which the treating gases are used as a medium for carryingthematerial to be treated to the treating chamber.

Another object is to devise a treating system of the character described in which undesired dilution of the treating gases by air is minimized, any desired. dilution being under accurate control, thereby insuring more uniform results in the treated material. Y

Another object is to simplify the appa- 1931. Serial No. 553,595.

ratus required in-a system of the character described, thereby reducing the cost of in cost of maintenance stallation as well as the and operation.

These andother objectsand advantages are attained in the embodiments of my invention illustrated in the" accompanying drawings, in'which V Fig. 1 is a view of a cotton" treating system utilizing apparatus embodyingcertain principles of my invention, parts of tem being shown diagrammatically. v v

F 1g. 2 18 an elevatlonal view on an enlarged scale, partly in section, showing the the sysportion of the system'illustrated in' Fig. 1

cotton conveyor and in the, gas conduit are versal joints andconcentric telescopic joints. I

In the preferred form of my invention 5 pneumatic conveying means is 'provided'for removing the material to be treated from a bin, from a wagon, or from the holdbf a ship and for conveying the same to a treat-. ing chamber. cessity of separating thematerial from the conveying medium prior to discharging the material into the treating chamber, I. prefer to utilize as the conveying medium the gas which is tobe used, inthe actual treatment of the material, The gas thus used can be heated air or a bleaching or a sterilizing gas or any one or more of the gaseous constituents of a gaseous mixture to be used in the treatment of the material. ent a single suction fan or a single blower can be utilized to conduct both the material and thetreating gases to the treating chamber and it is not necessary, as in prior systems, to utilize two' separate sources 0 power, one forconveying the material and one for directing the treating gases. Also, no separator is required for separating the material from the carrying medium, since, the carrying medium is to be used in the In order to eliminate the ne- 80 By this expeditreatment of the material and can enter the treating chamber with the material. Preferably, the treating gas to be used as the carrying medium for the material enters the pneumatic conveyor at the same point that the material enters and for accomplishing this object means is provided'for surrounding the inlet-end of the conveyor with an atmosphere of the treating gas. It is de sirable that the inlet end of the conveyor be made capable of movements vertically and horizontally so that it can be directed adjacent all parts of the mass of material toLbe conveyed to the treating chamber and in order that the atmosphere of the treating gas can be made to follow the movements of the inlet of the conveyor,'the gas conduit can be made to have corresponding freedom of movement. If desired, the treating chamber can be dispensed with when the treat ment aiforded during the con eying of the material is sufficient. The invention will be described with particularreference to a sys tem for treating cotton, butit is to be understood that the inventioon is equally applica ble to th'e'treatment of various other materials.

Referring now to the drawings and first to Fig, 1 thereof, I have. shown d1agraminat cally a .cotton treating cl1a1'nber;1.6

adapted to subject the cotton to anyone of a number of differentgaseous treatments. For example, heated air may .be employed in the chamber for drying the 'cotton and expelling moisture therefrom or a suitable bleaching gas. or a sterilizing gas or a combination of gases can be employech-asmay bedesired. The chamber 16 can be stationary or rotatable, but since the details of construction of the treating chamber donot form an essential part of the present invening gases.

tion, they will not be described in detail.-

In prior systems the cotton to betreated was elevated to a. point above the. inlet end 17 of the chamber and was allowed to drop into a stream of the treating gas entering the chamber. Different quantities of air were" drawn into the chamber un'derthis method, the quantity of air being determined by the operating conditions at any given instant; Sometimes, there-fore, the treatlng In Fig. l I have shown the end of pneu-. matic conveyor 18 as being dlsposed within a wagon for unloading the cotton therein.

For enabling the end of the conveyor to be lifted above the sides of the wagon and to be lowered. into the mass of cotton, a telescopic joint can be provided formed by an outer sleeve 22 slidably disposed about a relatively fixed tube 23. For precluding complete separation between the members and also for making the joints more nearly air tight an outer band 24 can be mounted on the tube 21 which is adapted to abut against a band 26 secured to the inner side of the sleeve 22 when theparts are in their 7 full extended 'pesition. For enabling lateral or side'movements of the inlet end of the conveyor a universal oint 27, commonly I termed a hell, can be interposed between the tube 23 and the tube 28 leading to the chamber 16. The bell or universal joint 27 Ican be conveniently madeof canvas orother suitable flexible material. H 5 V A gas conduit'29 extending from the fur? nace or gas storage'chamber shown diagrammatically at 31 serves to conduct the hot air.

the pneumatic conveyor. The gas conduit terminates in a jacket 33 which is disposed about the tube 22 and is preferably concentrio therewith. The jacket 33 is open at its lower end, shown, and the gases conducted throughthe conduit 29 aredirected through an annular passage defined by the outside I of tube 22 and the inside of jacket 33 from whence they pass upwardly into the tube 22 and to the treating chamber. If desired,

the lower end of jacket 33 can extend beyond the lower end of the tube 22, so that the gases will pass readily into the tube 22 when p i or other treating gas to the inlet end 32 of theopen end of the jacket is placed adjacent a mass of cotton. 7 V, I

When the device is in operation the gas flows downwardly into contact with the cotton and thenturns upwardly intothe tube 22 carrying with it the cotton which is disposed adjacent the mouth 32 of the pneumatic conveyor. Placing of the. l'ower en-d of the. jacket 33 against a mass. of cotton serves to close the opening suflicie'ntly to complete the suction line between. the con veyor l8 and the gas conduit. 29, so that heatedair or other gas, as the case may be, is forciblydrawn from the furnace orgas chamber 31. The jacket. 33 is provided with an end wall 34-;which closes the upper end of the annular space fromv the atmosphere and suitable brackets 36 can be employed.

for spacing the jacket from the tube 222ml for strengthening the structure.

To. make the jacketv 33 movable together with the. tube 22, a telescopic joint 37 a-nda universalfljoint 38'can be. provided in. the

conduit 29 which permit movements correspending tow the movements afforded by the gas.

the operation of the form shown in treating gas from the source of supply to the treating chamber is. in this manner employed to unload the cotton and convey the same through the treating chamber. If it is desired to separate the treating gas and the cotton'at the fan 19, suitable means, such as those already known in this art, can be provided for this purpose.

If desired, suitable means, such as adamper41 can be provided for admitting air into the-gas conduit to obtain any desired amount of air dilution of the treating In Fig. 3 I- have shown a modification in which a telescopic joint 42 in the pneumatic conveyor is arranged concentrically within a telescopic joint 43 of the gas conduit, thereby forming an annular gas passage between the telescopic sections. In this embodiment the

universal joints

44 and 46 of the pneumatic conveyor and the gas conduit, respectively, can be disposed side by side as in the embodiment shown in Fig. 1.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4, not only the telescopicjoints42 and 43 are concentric, but also the universal joints 47 and 48 of theconveyorand of the gas conduit are arranged concentrically, thus providing an'annular passage which extends from a point above the universal joints to the inlet end of the pneumatic conveyor. The operation of the embodiments illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 is practically identical with igs.

1 and 2.

If desired, the gas chamber and the treating chamber can be transposed so that the treating gas flows downwardly through the e inner-conduit and the material to be treat:

ed flows upwardly through the surrounding annular conduit. I

Reviewing brieflythe operation of the apparatus when used as illustrated in the system of Fig. 1, it will be noticed that the suction fan 19 furnishes the power for unloading the cotton or other material from the wagon 39 or from a storage bin, for conveying the material through the treating chamber 16 and for directing the treating gases from the source of supply to the treating chamber. It will be noticed also that the material is subjected to an atmosphere of the treating gases throughout the entire path of its travel, thus utilizing the time required for the material to passfrom the wagon to the treating chamber "in the actual treatment of the material. "Also, more intimate intermingling of the treating gases with the materialisaiforded than when the materialand the gases are introduced separately into the treating chamber, as in prior systems. F requently, as'when the conveyoris long or when the desired" treatment can be accomplishedquickly, the treating chamber can beieliminated from the system, the pneumatic conveyor by itself affording adequate treatment.

While I have shown and described certain preferred embodiments. of my invention, I

do not wish to be limited thereto, since the invention'as defined in the appended claims can be embodied in a plurality ofv other forms.

I claim:

'1. Apparatus for unloading cotton comprising a pneumatic conveyor, a telescopic.

joint in said conveyor for enabling longitudinal adjustment of the conveyor, .a universal joint in the conveyor for enabling lateral positioning of its inlet end, and a conduit for conducting treating gas to the cotton prior to its travel through the conveyor, a telescopic jointand anniversal duit to follow the movements of the inlet end of said conveyor, the telescopic joint of v said conveyor being concentric with the tel 3 f escopic joint of said conduit.

2. Apparatus for conveying cotton to a treating chamber comprising a pneumatic conveyor, a telescopic joint in said conveyor for enabling longitudinaladjustment of the conveyor, a universal joint inthe conveyor for enabling lateral positioning of its inlet end, and a conduit for conducting treating 7 gas to the cotton prior to its travel through the conveyor, a telescopicjoint and .a universal joint in said conduit for enabling said conduit to follow the movements of the inlet end of said conveyor, the telescopic joint of said conveyor being concentric with the telescopic joint of said conduit and, like- Wire, the universal joint of said'conveyor being concentric with the universal joint of said conduit.

3. Apparatus of the character described comprising a pneumatic conveyor, a tele-- scopic joint in, said conveyor for enabling movement of its inlet end, a conduit for,

conducting a gas into the inlet end of said conveyor, and a telescopic joint in said con duit for enabling the conduit to follow the movements of the inlet end of the conveyor, the telescopic joints in said conveyor and in said conduit being concentric.

4. Apparatus of the character described comprising a pne'umatlc conveyor, a uni-' versal joint in said conveyor for enabling movement of its inlet end, a conduit for conjoint in said conduit for enabling'said con- 9 ductinga gas into the inlet end of said eonveyor, and a universal joint in said conduit for enabling the conduit to follow the movements of the inlet end of the conveyor, the 7 universal joints in said conveyor and in said conduit being concentric.

5; Apparatus of the character described comprising a pneumatic conveyor, a tele- SOOPlCjOlDt and a universal oint in said conveyor for enabling longitudinal and lateral SHERWOOD GREEN.