US3587935A - Material container with end discharge port - Google Patents

Abstract

IN A HORIZONTALLY ELONGATED CONTAINER A CUP-SHAPED MEMBRANE HAS ITS MARGIN SECURED IN THE CENTRAL UPRIGHT PLANE OF THE CONTAINER ENABLING THE MEMBRANE TO MOVE FROM A POSITION LINING ONE END OF THE CONTAINER TO AN INSIDE OUT POSITION SUBSTANTIALLY LINING THE OPPOSITE END OF THE CONTAINER. A POROUS FLOOR TO WHICH FLUIDIZING AIR IS SUPPLIED EXTENDS FROM THE LOCATION AT WHICH THE CUP MARGIN IS ATTACHED TO THE CONTAINER TO ONE END OF THE CONTAINER AND THAT CONTAINER END HAS IN IT A DISCHARGE PORT LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CONTAINER.

Description

United States Patent Inventor Hamilton Neil King Paton Bellevue, Wash.

Appl. No. 789,704

Filed Jan. 8, 1969 Patented June 28, 1971 Assignee Dynabulk Corporation Bellevue, Wash.

MATERIAL CONTAINER WITH END DISCHARGE PORT 2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 222/195, 222/386.5 Int. Cl 865g 3/12 Field of Search 222/195, 386.5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 272L006 10/1955 Knutsen 222/195 2,956,839 10/1960 Hermanns v. ZZZ/386.5 3,l84 l l3 5/1965 Curtis 222/3865 3,421,663 1/1969 Paton 222/386.Sx

Primary Examiner-Stanley l-l. Tollberg Altorney- Robert W. Beach ABSTRACT: ln a horizontally elongated container a cupshaped membrane has its margin secured in the central upright plane of the container enabling the membrane to move from a position lining one end of the container to an inside out position substantially lining the opposite end of the container. A porous floor to which fluidizing air is supplied extends from the location at which the cup margin is attached to the container to one end of the container and that container end has in it a discharge port located at the bottom of the contamer.

MATERIAL CONTAINER WITII END DISCHARGE PORT The container of the present invention is quite similar to that shown in FIGS. 27 to 30 of my copending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 611,366, filed Jan. 24, 1967, for Material Discharging Device For Containers, issued Jan. 14, I969, as U.S. Pat. No. 3,421,663.

A principal object of the present invention is to simplify and to expedite the loading and unloading of granular material such as cement or flour.

More particularly, it is an object to expedite the unloading of such material by the combined action of exciting the material, such as by aerating or vibrating it, to loosen it and applying a positive pressure to the body of such material toward an outlet.

A further object is to enable the entire load of granular material, or at least nearly all of such load, to be removed from a horizontally elongated container in a single continuous operation.

An incidental object is to provide a horizontally elongated container which canbe used alternatively for transporting granular material and liquid.

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a container in the form of an automotive trailer, having parts broken away, and 1 FIG. 2 is a transverse section through such container taken on line 2-2 ofFIG. I.

While the tank I is shown as installed in a trailer, it will be understood that this type of tank structure could, if desired, be used in a railway tank car or in a stationary installation. The structure is intended primarily for transporting granular material, such as cement or flour, when the membrane 3n is in the position shownin FIG. 1. The attaching means 14 for the cup-shaped membrane 3n is located substantially centrally between the ends of the elongated tank, however, so that, when the membrane is turned inside out, it will be substantially in lining relationship to the left end of the tank instead of, as shown in FIG. I, being in lining relationship to the right end portion of the tank. The tank is intended to transport liquid when the membrane is in such reversed position lining the left end portion of the tank.

In the lower portion of the tank at the left of the membraneattaching means are fluidizing floor panels 207 of porous or foam polyethylene or porous wood particle board sheet, for example. At the end of the container 100 in which such fluidizing floor panels are located is a discharge port 201 located adjacent to the bottom of the container. Because this outlet port is in the end wall, however, it cannot be obstructed by the membrane 3n overlying it, but will be covered only when the membrane has been completely reversed. The upper portion of the tank adjacent to the membrane-attaching means 14 has a loading port 109 through which granular material can be loaded. With the loading port thus disposed substantially in the center of the tank the loading operation can be accomplished most uniformly and the tank can be filled to its greatest capacity.

In the right end of the tank 100 at the side of the membrane 3n opposite the discharge port 201' is a connection 108 which can be connected to a suction source or to a source of air under pressure. The purpose of applying suction to such connection or of supplying air under pressure to it is to subject the membrane 3n to a differential gas pressure on its opposite sides. When suction is applied to the port 108 and either the loading port 109 or the discharge port 201' or both are open, air supplied through such loading port or such discharge port or both will press the membrane 3n into the position shown in FIG. 1 in which it lines the right end of the tank. Alternatively, if gas under pressure is supplied to the port I08 and again either the loading port 10? or the discharge port 201' or both are open, the pressure on the right side of the membrane 3n will be greater than that on the left so that the membrane will be turned inside out from the position shown in FIG. I so as to line the left end portion ofthe container.

Exciting means in the container bottom to the left of the attaching means 14 will excite the granular material to loosen it so that it will flow more readily toward the discharge port 201' as the membrane 3n is inverted. Such exciting means may be a vibrating floor or a porous fluidizing floor. Connection 252 is provided in the bottom of the tank through which air under pressure can be supplied to the porous fluidizing panels 207 to be discharged slowly from them into granular material above them for the purpose of fluidizing such granular material to expedite its movement lengthwise of the container. The connection 252 constitutes a discharge port for liquid from the right end of the container.

The fluidizing floor panels 207 and movement of the membrance 3n can cooperate to unload discrete particle material from the tank in the most expeditious manner. The discharge port 201' would, of course, be suitably closed while granular material is being loaded into the tank and stored in it. The granular material is loaded into the central portion of the tank through the open loading port 109, Prior to initiation of the loading operation or during the initial stages of such loading operation, suction is applied to the port 108 to move the cup-shaped membrane 3n into the position shown in FIG. 1, lining the right end portion of the tank. Such suction is maintained to hold the membrane in this wall-lining position until as much granular material as possible has been loaded into the tank. The loading port 109 will then be closed.

To unload the tank 100 the discharge port 201' is opened and gas under pressure is applied simultaneously to the port 108 at the right end of the container and to the connection 252 supplying gas to the fluidizing floor panels 207. The gas supplied to the connection 108 should be at a pressure higher than that supplied to the connection 252. The gas emanating from the fluidizing floor panels 207 will fluidize granular material to expedite its lateral flow for leveling mounded material. Consequently, fluidizing of granular material in the left end portion of container 100 will expedite the flow of such material through the'discharge port 201'.

At the same time, movement of the membrane 3n toward inverted position from the position shown in FIG. I effected by the higher gas pressure on the right side of the membrane caused by the supply of gas under pressure through the connection 108 will tend to prevent reduction in depth of the granular material because the horizontal extent of the load will be decreased by movement of the closed right end of membrane 3n to the left. Maintenance of maximum depth of the body of granular material in this fashion will also increase the rate of discharge of such material through the discharge port 201. Consequently, the fluidizing action of the gas emanating from the fluidizing floor panels 207 and the continued pressure of the membrane 3n horizontally on the body ofgranular material will cooperate to move such material continuously and expeditiously to the left end of the tank and out through the discharge port 201'.

By locating the discharge port 201' in the end of the container, no portion of the membrane 3n can overlie it to obstruct it. Moreover, because the closed end of the membrane 3n is always moving toward the discharge port 201, it is never necessary for the granular material to flow in a direction at all counter to the direction of movement of the inverting membrane during an unloading operation. Also, since the fluidizing floor panels always tend to level the fluidized granular material, such material will flow along the panels toward the discharge port 201' instead of at any time flowing to the right opposite to the direction in which the inverting membrane is moving so as to become trapped by any portion of the membrane. Consequently, all of the granular material in the container will be unloaded during a single inverting operation of the membrane 3n in the manner described.

Where a container of the type described is used for transportation purposes and granular material has been unloaded from the tank in the manner described, such tank can be used for transporting liquid on a return trip with the membrane remaining in its position lining the left end portion of the tank, which is assumes at completion of the operation of unloading the granular material. Liquid can be loaded into the tank through the port 108 at which time the discharge port 252' will be closed. At the end of the trip such liquid can be drained from the tank through the discharge port 252'. Unloading of the liquid can be expedited by applying a differential pressure to the membrane 3n in which the higher pressure is at the side of the membrane at the left of FIG. I. For producing such differential pressure, suction can be applied to the port 108 and the discharge port 201' can be opened at least to some extent. When the membrane again has been reversed completely to the position lining the right end of the tank 100, as shown in FIG. 1, the liquid will have been discharged completely through the discharge port 252 and the membrane will be in the position for the container again being filled with granular material through the loading port 109.

lclaim:

1. A container for granular material comprising a horizontally elongated body, a flexible cup-shaped membrane adapted to be disposed in container-lining relationship with an end wall of said body and with portions of the top, bottom and sidewalls of said body and having an end wall in upright position when in such container-lining relationship and top and bottom walls extending from said membrane end wall in generally horizontal position when in such container-lining relationship, attaching means disposed substantially centrally between the opposite ends of said body and securing the rim of said membrane to the walls of said body substantially in an upright plane, and discharge means including a discharge port located in the lower portion of one body end wall, exciting means in the lower portion of said body between said discharge port and said attaching means operable to loosen granular material in the body to facilitate its movement toward said discharge port, and means for applying differential fluid pressure to said membrane for moving its end wall away from lining relationship to a container end wall and toward said discharge port for pressing granular material from the interior of said membrane toward said discharge port while it is being loosened by said exciting means.

2 The container defined in claim 1, in which the exciting means are porous gas-discharge floor means.

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