US3085327A - Devices for opening and handling from a distance a container, and in particular an irradiated tube - Google Patents

Description

Aprll 1963 M. DOUIS ETAL 85,327

DEVICES FOR OPENING AND HANDLING FROM A DISTANCE A CONTAINER, AND IN PARTICULAR AN IRRADIATED TUBE Filed July 30, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aprll 16, 1963 M. DOUIS ETAL 8 ,32

DEVICES FOR OPENING AND HANDLING FROM A DISTANCE A CONTAINER, AND IN PARTICULAR AN IRRADIATED TUBE Flled July 50, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 p 16, 1963 M. DOUIS ETAL 85,327

DEVICES FOR OPENING AND HANDLING FROM A DISTANCE A CONTAINER, AND IN PARTICULAR AN IRRADIATED TUBE Filed July 30, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 llllllllllllllllllllllll lllllll'lllllllllllllllll III United States Patent Oflice 3,85,327 Patented Apr. 16, 1963 DEVICE Fifth. QPENING AND HANDLENG FRGM A DISTANCE A (IGNTAENER, AND EN RAR'HCU- LAR AN HRRADIATED TUBE Michel Douis, Maisons-Alfort, Jean Godart, (Ilichy,

Jacques .l'ouin, Chaville, Henri Laurent, Fontenay-aux- Roses, and Michel Sougi, Paris, France, assignors to Commissariat a lEnergie Atornique, Paris, France, a State administration Filed July 30, 1958, Ser- No. 752,039 Ciaims priority, application France Aug. 2, E57 2 Claims. (til. Bil-11) The present invention relates to devices for opening a container from a distance, and it is more especially but not exclusively concerned with such devices which enable an operator to open an irradiated tubular container, whatever be the mean-s of closing thereof, said operator being separated from said container by a protecting shield such as a lead wall.

The chief object of our invention is to provide a device of this kind which is better adapted to meet the requirements of practice than those existing at the present time, and in particular which permits a clean opening of the container, that is to say without producing dust and shavings and projecting them into the container.

The device according to our invention includes means for controlling from a distance the positioning of the container and the movements of the working tool, and it is characterized in that said tool is an edge tool capable of cleanly cutting the matter of the container without chasing it, the means for controlling from a distance the displacements of the tool being arranged so that said tool penetrates in a gradual and continuous manner into the material of said container kept in fixed position, the tool first sliding around the surface of the container, then enering more and more into said surface.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, given merely by way of example and in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 of these drawings show, respectively in axial vertical section on the line II of FIG. 2 and in plan view with parts cut away, a device made according to the invention for opening irradiated tubes.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the main elements of a device made according to the invention for opening and emptying irradiated tubes.

In what follows it will be supposed that the above mentioned container is a tube 1 in the form of a surface of revolution, this tube having thin metallic walls and being capable of emitting noxious radiations. It is desired to open this tube by cutting off one of the ends thereof.

It should be recalled that products subjected to irradiation in a nuclear reactor are generally disposed in an envelope which is most often closed.

If the closing of the envelope does not involve any difiiculty since all the materials are at this time free from any noxious radiations, the same is not true when it is desired to open it after irradiation, and for this operation the operator makes use of a protecting screen interposed between the irradiated envelope and himself. It is desired to open the envelope from a distance.

It has already been proposed to make use of millingtcols, saws or knurling wheels, but these tools work by metal abrasion or tearing oil, which produces metallic dust generally projected into the protecting casing from which it is diificult to eliminate. Some of this dust may even penetrate to the inside of the tube and soil the irradiated products present therein. Furthermore these instruments chase the metal and tend to project shavings onto said products.

These drawbacks are obviated, according to our invention, by making use of an edge tool 2 (FIG. 1) having good cutting properties so as cleanly to cut the metal of the envelope by penetrating thereinto.

For example we make use:

To Work on aluminum envelopes, of a flat and bevelled tool which cuts the metal without chasing it and without forming shavings or dust;

And to work on iron or steel envelopes, of a cuttingoff tool the operation of which forms only big shavings which can easily be removed.

The means for producing the desired displacements of tool 2 with respect to envelope 1 are arranged in such manner that said tool attacks in a very gradual and continuous manner the metal of the envelope, which is then kept stationary, this tool first sliding along the surface of the envelope, then penetrating more and more thereinto so as to exert the desired cutting action.

We will now describe a first embodiment of the device according to our invention.

By means of tongues operable from a distance, such as are well known in this field of work, we dispose tube 1 vertically on a horizontal platform 3 adapted to be displaced vertically in the following manner: a horizontal rack 4, adapted to be moved longitudinally from a distance by the operator, meshes with a double pinion 5 having a horizontal axis which is also in mesh with a vertical rack 6 rigid with platform 3, whereby the reciprocating horizontal displacements of horizontal rack 4 produce the desired vertical displacements of tube d.

Once this tube has been set to the suitable height, it is fixed and centered by being caught between two jaws 7. This operation is effected by radial sliding in slideways 8 of the supports 9 of these jaws 7. In order to obtain this radial sliding, teeth it) rigid with supports 9 are driven by means of horizontal ribs 11 of helical shape carried by a conical ring gear 12 the vertical axis of which coincides with that of the machine. Rotation of this ring gear 12 is controlled by that, effected from a distance, of a conical pinion 13 (FIG. 2) having a horizontal axis.

laws 7 are easily removable from their supports 9 in which they are simply engaged vertically, guiding means 14 being provided to ensure their accurate positioning with respect to said supports 9.

The means for displacing tool 2 with respect to tube 1 fixed in correct position are supported by the upper part of the frame '15 of the machine, which upper part essentially includes vertical columns 15 and a bracing plate 15 The above mentioned means essentially include the following elements:

A worm 16 driven [From a distance;

A worm wheel 17 in mesh with said worm l6 and pivoted, through the intermediate of a bearing 18, about a fixed spindle 19 extending along the vertical axis of the machine and carried by plate 15 A planetary gear train comprising gears 20, 21, 22., Q3, 24, 25 and 26 all journalled about vertical axes in worm wheel l7, forming three pairs, respectively, 2il21, 2223, 24-25, the two gears of each pair being coaxial and fixed with respect to each other, gear 20 meshing with a pinion 27 fixed on spindle 19, gear 21 meshing with gear 22, gear 23 with gear 24 and gear 25 with gear 26;

And an eccentric cam 28 having a closed outline and turning together with gear 26.

The tool carrier 29 is supported by worm wheel 17 so as to be slidable along a radius of this wheel. It is constantly applied against cam 28 by elastic means such as a leaf spring 30, or helical springs, interposed between the tool carrier and the worm wheel.

According to a satisfactory embodiment given merely by way of example, the dimensions of the various transmission clernents have been chosen so that:

Worm wheel 17 makes one revolution for 5.4 revolutions of worm 16;

The complete feed of the tool, that is to say its complete movement toward the axis of the machine, is 2.5 mm, this feed being effected in a regular manner at the rate of 0.05 mm. for every revolution of the worm wheel and the total backward movement of the tool being subsequently obtained very quickly for some revolutions of the worm Wheel, still in the same direction.

The initial radial position of tool 2 may be adjusted by making use of a nut 31 slidable radially with respect to the tool carrier 29 under the effect of a screw $2 engaged in this nut 31.

'The operations to be effected are as follows:

Tube 1 is placed on platform 3 by means of tongues operated from a distance;

The ventical position of said tube is obtained by sliding horizontal rack 4;

The tube is centered and tightly held by rotating bevel pin-ion 13;

The tool 2 is set in position by rotating screw 32;

And the opening of tube 1 is obtained .by rotating worm When tube 1 contains a radioactive substance in the powdery or liquid state or even in the state of a finished or semifinished article or in any other state, it may be advantageous to arrange the device so that this tube, once opened, can easily be emptied by gravity.

For this purpose, the whole of the tube and of its holding means is mounted pivotably about a horizontal axis, which permits of giving the axis of this tube a plurality of different inclinations, that is to say, on the one hand to open this tube without the opening operation being made diflicult by the substance present in the tube, the part to be opened being then disposed at the top while said substance is at the bottom, and on the other hand to overturn this tube so as to evacuate said substance therefrom by gravity through the opened end of the tube.

In order to permit these variations of inclination, it is advantageous to use, for controlling jaws 7, electrical means rather than the mechanical telecontrol means above disclosed.

For instance we provide at least one electro-rnagne-t 33 capable of attracting, when it is excited with direct current, against the action of a return force developed by a spring 34, a lever 35 pivoted at one of its ends on the frame of the eleotro-magnet and at the other end on one of the jaws 7.

The framework 36 which supports the means for positioning and cutting tube 1 is mounted pivotably about the horizontal axis of two journals 37 mounted in bearings 38 rigid with the fixed frame 39 of the machine.

The movements of rotation of this framework 36 and of the parts it supports about said axis are controlled by means of a motor 4% through suitable gears 41 to 44, the last of these gears, 44, being a worm wheel turning together with said framework 36.

A counterweight 45 rigid with framework 36 balances the weight thereof.

To place tube 1 in position, there is provided a passage 46 along the axis of the space left free between the jaws.

For the evacuation of the heads 47 of tubes 1, detached from said tubes, we provide on the movable framework 36 and the fixed frame 39 a plurality of successive inclined planes 4%, 49 capable of leading by gravity said heads 47 to a tank 50 in which they are collected.

In order to enable the substance contained in tube 1 to be poured out therefrom, we dispose along the axis of this tube, opposite the head thereof, an outlet nozzle 51. This nozzle, which extends axially through the central portion of worm wheel 17, is slidable axially, against the return force of a spring 52, by means of a lever 53 actuated by an electro-magnet 54 when said electro-magnet is excited. The axial sliding movements of this nozzle permit of bringing it into either of two positions, a retracted one in which it is at a distance from tube 1, so that it does not interfere with the work of tool 2, and a projecting position in which its outer edge is applied along the open end of tube 1, against the jaws 7 which surround this tube. In this position, the nozzle is so to speak connected with the tube and permits the outflow of its contents into a receiving tank 55.

Micro-switches, not shown by the drawings, serve to limit the amplitude of the oscillations of the framework to Well determined values.

The drive of endless screw or worm 16, and therefore that of tool 2,, is ensured by a variable speed motor, the speed being for instance chosen, in accordance with the thickness of the wall of the tube, so that the total time necessary for cutting the end thereof is always substantially the same.

The operation of this device is as follows:

Initially, the axis of passage 46 and of nozzle 51 is horizontal (position shown on the drawing), nozzle 51 being in its retracted position and tool 2 being disengaged.

An irradiated tube 1 is introduced through passage 46 by means of tongues operated from a distance, and this tube 1 is brought opposite jaws 7.

Electro-magnet 33 is excited, which causes jaws 7 to be tightened about tube 1 and therefore makes this tube rigid with framework 36.

Then framework 36 is pivoted, for instance through 30, so as to bring passage 46 into the position shown in dot-and-dash lines at 46 The substance contained in tube 1 is then caused by gravity to move away from the head 47 of the tube, so that the cutting tool 2 can act upon said head 47 without risk of coming into contact with said substance.

Worm 16 is then driven so as to actuate tool 2, which performs its cutting operation by rotating about tube 1 and gradually penetrating into the surface thereof. The head 47 of the tube drops down as soon as it is cut and it is guided by planes 48 and 49 to tank 50.

Electro-magnet 54 is then excited, Which causes nozzle 51 to slide into contact with the opening of tube 1.

Framework 36 is rotated in a direction opposed to that above mentioned so that the axis of nozzle 51 makes with the horizontal an angle of 45 (as shown at 51 on the drawing). The substance contained in tube 1 is thus poured out, through this nozzle 51, into tank 55.

The framework 36 is then returned into its horizontal position, nozzle 51 being returned to its retracted position by cutting off the energizing of electro-magnet 54 and jaws 7 are moved into their position of rest by cutting off the energizing of electro-magnet 33.

Tube .1, which is now opened and empty, is ejected through passage 46 by tele-operated means.

Safety systems are provided so as automatically to prevent any operation from being performed out of its turn.

As a rule, the devices according to this invention are adjusted for the treatment of tubes of revolution of a well determined diameter and thickness.

However they may be used for tubes of different dimensions by replacing for instance the holding jaws or the electro-magnets which displace them, by modifying the displacement of the tool, the speed of rotation of the motor which drives Worm 16, etc.

In a general manner, while we have, in the above description, disclosed what we deem to be preferred embodiments of our invention, we do not wish to be limited thereto as there might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition and form of the parts, without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. A device for cutting one end of a cylindrical container, which comprises, in combination, a frame, a plate mounted in said frame for supporting said container, means for holding said container on said plate, a wheel journalled in said frame about an axis in coincidence With that of said container, means for rotating said Wheel from a distanw, a planetary gear train supported by said wheel, the respective axes of the gears of said train being all parallel .to the axis of said Wheel, a gear wheel fixed in said frame coaxially with said wheel, the first gear of said gear train being in mesh with said gear wheel, a cam having its closed outline in a plane perpen- 10 dicular to said axis, this cam being fixed to the last gear of said gear train coaxially with respect thereto, a tool holder guided radially with respect to said Wheel about a radial plane thereof intersecting said cam outline, said tool holder having a Wall transverse to said radial plane adapted to cooperate with said cam to receive therefrom a radial movement in addition to the circular movement imparted thereto by said Wheel, means for resiliently urging said tool holder wall against said cam and a tool having its cutting edge in a plane perpendicular to said axis, said tool being carried by said tool holder and extending from said tool holder toward said axis, said tool and said cam being so dimensionad and positioned that, as said Wheel is rotating, said tool cutting edge is caused first to slide along the wall of said cylindrical container, then to cut more and more thereinto in a gradual and continuous manner, and finally to move away therefrom after cutting of said wall.

2. -A device according to claim 1 in which the outline of said cam is in the form of a spiral wound about a point located on the axis of said last gear.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 479,593 Gregory July 26, 1892 1,100,747 Krauss June 23, 1914 2,459,075 Hibbard Jan. 11, 1949 2,463,276 Hrabarchuk Mar. 1, 1949 2,516,817 Wernli July 25, 1950 2,661,855 Jorgenson Dec. 8, 1953 2,765,005 Wellekens Oct. 2, 1956 2,824,745 Ruth et al Feb. 25, 1958

Claims (1)

1. A DEVICE FOR CUTTING ONE END OF A CYLINDRICAL CONTAINER, WHICH COMPRISES, IN COMBINATION, A FRAME, A PLATE MOUNTED IN SAID FRAME FOR SUPPORTING SAID CONTAINER, MEANS FOR HOLDING SAID CONTAINER ON SAID PLATE, A WHEEL JOURNALLED IN SAID FRAME ABOUT AN AXIS IN COINCIDENCE WITH THAT OF SAID CONTAINER, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID WHEEL FROM A DISTANCE, A PLANETARY GEAR TRAIN SUPPORTED BY SAID WHEEL, THE RESPECTIVE AXES OF THE GEARS OF SAID TRAIN BEING ALL PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF SAID WHEEL, A GEAR WHEEL FIXED IN SAID FRAME COAXIALLY WITH SAID WHEEL, THE FIRST GEAR OF SAID GEAR TRAIN BEING IN MESH WITH SAID GEAR WHEEL, A CAM HAVING ITS CLOSED OUTLINE IN A PLANE PERPENDICULAR TO SAID AXIS, THIS CAM BEING FIXED TO THE LAST GEAR OF SAID GEAR TRAIN COAXIALLY WITH RESPECT THERETO, A TOOL HOLDER GUIDED RADIALLY WITH RESPECT TO SAID WHEEL ABOUT A RADIAL PLANE THEREOF INTERSECTING SAID CAM OUTLINE, SAID TOOL HOLDER HAVING A WALL TRANSVERSE TO SAID RADIAL PLANE ADAPTED TO COOPERATE WITH SAID CAM TO RECEIVE THEREFROM A RADIAL MOVEMENT IN ADDITION TO THE CIRCULAR MOVEMENT IMPARTED THERETO BY SAID WHEEL, MEANS FOR RESILIENTLY URGING SAID TOOL HOLDER WALL AGAINST SAID CAM AND A TOOL HAVING ITS CUTTING EDGE IN A PLANE PERPENDICULAR TO SAID AXIS, SAID TOOL BEING CARRIED BY SAID TOOL HOLDER AND EXTENDING FROM SAID TOOL HOLDER TOWARD SAID AXIS, SAID TOOL AND SAID CAM BEING SO DIMENSIONED AND POSITIONED THAT, AS SAID WHEEL IS ROTATIN, SAID TOOL CUTTING EDGE IS CAUSED FIRST TO SLIDE ALONG THE WALL OF SAID CYLINDRICAL CONTAINER, THEN TO CUT MORE AND MORE THEREINTO IN A GRADUAL AND CONTINUOUS MANNER, AND FINALLY TO MOVE AWAY THEREFROM AFTER CUTTING OF SAID WALL.

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