US3747986A - Pneumatic bulky material collector system - Google Patents

Abstract

Unique laundry and bulky material, collector assembly and method in which the bulky material being air conveyed, is removed from the system utilizing in combination a plurality of inner arrangement of doors, intraactuated, so as to secure full closure of the sealing doors on every cycle and thus secure a constant vacuum or pressure in the pneumatic conveying system.

Description

United States Patent 1191 Boon July 24, 1973 i 1 PNEUMATlC BULKY MATERIAL 2,193,738 3 1940 Perrin 302/62 COLLECTOR SYSTEM FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS lnvemorl Bruce B00, Wayne, 280,005 11/1927 Great Britain 302/62 [73] Assignee: Eastern Cyclone Industries, Inc'., 206649 Great Fairfield, NJ. Primary ExaminerR1chard E. Aegerter [22] Flled: 1 1971 Assistant Examiner-41. S. Lane [2 App]. No 1 93 Attorney.lames M. Heilman [52] [1.8. CL... 302/62, 222/442, 222/450 [57] ABSTRACT 51 im. (:1. B65g 53/40 Uniqwa laundry and bulky material, collector assembly 58 Field of Search 302/52, 53, 62; and method in which the bulky material being air 222/425, 450, 442 veyed, is removed from the system utilizing in combination a plurality of inner arrangement of doors, intraac- [56] R f renc Ci tuated, so as to secure full closure of the sealing doors UNITED STATES PATENTS on every cycle and thussecure a constant vacuum or 3 667 814 6/1972 Krivda pressure in the pneumatic conveying system. 2,708,040 5/1955 7 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure Somogyi 302/62 ux Patented July 24, 1973 INVENTOR BRUCE T.E. BOON ATTORNEY.

PNEUMATIC BULKY MATERIAL COLLECTOR SYSTEM The present invention is concerned with a unique bulky material collector system, and method in which the bulky material being conveyed by a pneumatic system, is removed from the system through a plurality of doors which are so inter-related in action that jamming ofthe sealing doors is prevented, and thus the vacuum or pressure in the system is maintained. The present invention is concerned generally with a bulky material conveying system in which the conveying medium comprises a vacuum (negative pressure) or a positive pressure air system.

The present invention is an improvement on the invention described in Boon U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,681, issued Aug. 18, 1970, entitled Laundry and Fabric Collector and Method Having a Constant Vacuum, and related and similar systems. The overall collector may be somewhat similar to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,681, except that a third set of doors is utilized, and the doors are positively actuated by timing means as will be hereinafter described.

It is known in the art to use two sets of sealing doors to prevent loss of vacuum, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,681. However, when removing materials, such as bulky trash, linens and the like, or other similar bulky materials of varying densities and volumes, these materials at times tend to position themselves between the closing sealing doors, jamming the sealing doors and thus preventing their full closing. Under these conditions, air pressure or vacuum pressure is lost within the system, thus greatly decreasing the efficiency of the overall system. The present invention prevents this and may be used with any type of air conveying system such as described in assignees patents U.S. Pat. No. 2,556,058, issued June 5, 1951; U.S. Pat. No. 3,208,800, issued Sept. 28, 1965, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,301,603, issued Jan. 31, 1967.

The material may be any bulky material; such as laundry, fabrics, all types of textile as well as bulky trash, i.e., paper, garbage, solid industrial waste and the like. The invention is more specifically concerned with a novel collector system or collection system for the removal of bulky material conveyed by the pneumatic conveying system without losing pressure within the system. In accordance with a specific adaptation of the present invention, a second or inner set of release sealing doors is utilized in conjunction with a first or outer set of release sealing doors operated under conditions so that one set of the sealing doors is always closed which thereby prevents open communication from without or outside the system to within or inside the system thus preventing loss of vacuum or air pressure from within the'system. Positive closing of the second or inner set of sealing doors is assured on each cycle by the utilization of a unique third set of guard doors upstream of or above the second set of doors.

It is known in the art to use two sets of closures to prevent loss of vacuum. However, when removing materials, such as bulky trash, linens and the like, or other similar bulky materials of varying densities and volumes, these materials at times tend to position themselves between the sealing doors as they are closing, jamming the sealing doors, and thus preventing their full closing and sealing. Under these conditions, air pressure or vacuum pressure is lost within the system,

thus greatly decreasing the'efficiency of the overall system and possibly making it inoperative. The present invention prevents this and may be used with any type of air conveying system.

The apparatus and technique of the present invention may be fully understood by reference to the drawing illustrating one embodiment of the same. The overall collector utilizes three sets of doors, which doors are' positively actuated by timing means as will be hereinafter described. w a

Referring specifically to the FIGUREFthe collector assembly comprises an outer housing 10 having an inlet conduit 1 through which the bulky material and'the conveying air is introduced into the collector assembly. The pneumatic system is of the conventional closed type which may have a plurality of bulky material pick-" up stations and a plurality of collector assembly stations for the removal of the bulky materials from the pneumatic conveying stream. The housing may be of any geometric configuration but preferably is of a square or rectangular configuration. An exhaust conduit 2 is positioned at any suitable area in the housing for the removal of the conveying air from thecollector assembly. The housing 10 has a lower open end which 1 may be sealed off from theatmosphere by means of solid lower sealing doors 3 and 4 which open and close as they oscillate on axes 5 and 6.

An inner perforated housing 20, having number A of perforations, is preferably concentrically or centrally disposed within the outerhousing 10, providing air passageways ll and 12 between the respective housings. It is obvious that the nuirnber and sizeof the perforations should be suchas to permit the ready flow of air therethrough and to retain the bulky materials within housing 20. Thus, the material being conveyed and the air will enter inner housing 20; the air will separate from the material and flow through the perforations in housing 20 into passageways 11 and 12, and will be removed through conduit 2.

A set of solid intermediate sealing doors 7 and 8 are positioned below inner housing 20 and when closed prevent any communication from a lower area 16 below these doors to an upper area 17 above these doors. These doors 7'and 8 open and close by oscillating about axes 14 and '15. Doors 7 and 8 are preferably mounted on the inner wall of outer housing 10.

In accordance with a specific adaptation of the invention a pair of upper doors l8 and 19'are positioned within perforated inner housing 20. These doors define an area 17A above area 17 and are designed to open and close by oscillating about axes 21 and 22. These doors preferably contain perforations 9.

A further preferred adaptation of the present invention is the utilization of a conduit-valve assembly by which communication between areas 16 and 17 can be established, or cut off, so that communication between area 16 and the atmosphere may be established while maintaining areas 17 and 17A at the system pressure. This conduit-valve assembly comprises a conduit or valve housing 30 connecting area 17 with area 16. Port 31 from housing 30 leads into area 17 while port 32 leads into area 16.

Housing 30 has a lower port 33 communicating with the atmosphere. A valve 35 actuated by air cylinder 36 or equivalent means isdesigned to open and close port 33, and designed to seat on seat 37 closing port 38 preventing communication between areas 17 and 16, and

between area 17 and the atmosphere. Thus when areas 16 and 17 are in open communication by means of housing 30 and ports 31 and 32, no communication exists to the atmosphere since valve 35 closes port 33. When area 16 is in communication with the atrnosphere by means of ports 32 and 33, no communication exists between area 17 and either area 16 or the atmosphere since valve 35 seats on seat 37 closing off port 38.

Thus, a cycle of the operation is as follows: starting at a zero point where doors 3 and 4 are closed, doors 7 and 8 are closed, and doors 18 and 19 are open, areas 16 and 17 are in open communication and at system pressure since valve 35 closes port 33 leaving port 38 open. Bulky material has accumulated in area 16 and is about to be removed from the system while bulky material is accumulating in area 17. At point zero +a valve 35 opens port 33 and closes port 38 placing area 16 at atmospheric pressure. At zero +b doors 3-4 open, discharging the bulky material from the system, with material still accumulating in area 17.

At zero +c doors 3-4 close and at zero +d valve 35 closes port 33 and opens port 38 closing off the atmosphere and placing area 16in communication with area 17 and thus placing area 16 at the system pressure.

At zero +e doors 7-8 open permitting the accumulated bulky material to drop from area 17 into area 16. Then at zero +f doors 18-19 close preventing material from passing thereby. Even if these doors are prevented from closing fully by material jamming them, the efficiency of the system will not be impaired since these doors are not sealing doors. At zero +g doors 7-8 close and at zero +h doors 18-19 open, thus completing the may be a single door an plurality of door segments so as to comprise a single door.

The interaction of closing and opening of the doors and of the valves may be secured by any type of conventional time relay control mechanisms. Air cylinders suitably timed may be used to actuate the doors, as well as the valves. The use of a single valve as described is preferred to pressure balance the systern during the cycle. V The present apparatus and technique separates mixed bulky material from a negative air stream without interrupting the negative pressure inthe conveying system. Thus it allows continuous feeding of material at an inlet point, and secures separation of the mixed.

bulky material on a continuing basis. Negative pressure is maintained at all times by the unique use of separating doors and the pressure relief valve assembly.

The continuous discharge collector is made up oftwo basic compartments, shown as compartment or area 17 and compartment or area 16 on the drawing. Material enters the collector through the air and material inlet which is attached to an air-material line. This line comes from one or more inlet points in the pneumatic system. As the air and material mixture enters the collector, a perforated screen 39 deflects material downard into the upper area 17A of compartment 17 and allows the air to pass through and continue out through the air outlet 2. Basically the collector assembly comprises an outer housing of airtight material, an inner baffle screen of perforated material, three sets of doors separating the inside of the collector into two separate compartments and one temporary holding area, and a cycle which is tabulated in the following table.

pressure relief valve or pressure neutralizing valve; 7

Communication Doors Ports between areas Time 8-4 7-8 18-19 88 33 16-17 lb-Atm 17-Atm C osed.. Opens... No.... Closed" 0pm.... N ...do........do..... No.... Opens... Closes... Yes...

Thus it is essentialthat doors 18 1 9525 araaasnasa during the closing cycle of doors 7-8 in order to prevent jamming and incomplete closing of these doors by down falling bulky material. It is very desirable that these guard doors 18-19 contain perforations so as to permit the passage of air therethrough which will secure smoother air separation from the bulky material, and will secure more uniform air flow which will minimize the blockage of the air ports by the bulky material.

The time of the respective steps in the cycle may be varied depending upon operating conditions, such as size of equipment, rate of flow of bulky material, type of bulky material and other operating functions. For instance, satisfactory times for the respective steps of the cycle may be as follows:

b 2-6 see. c l -2 sec. d I see.

e 2-6 see. a f

" g l-2 sec. h 1-2 see.

The doors, while shown as a abu's'le'aso'r; may be of any number, design or configuration. Thus the doors Departing on the quantity of'mate rial being fed in terms of weight and/or volume, a timing cycle is incorporated to activate doors 3-4, 7-8, 18-19 at a predetermined time. A point in time is thereby picked so that before compartment 17 becomes filled and shuts off the air flow, the material is discharged from compartment 17 and deposited in compartment 16. At that moment, doors 7-8 are opened thereby discharging the material from compartment 17 into compartment 16. The time cycle for this is approximately 3-6 seconds.

Upon the the discharging of the material from compartment 17 to compartment 16, doors 7-8 should then be reclosed but at this point, if doors 7-8 were closed and material was continually being fed into compartment 17 they would squeeze against some large bulky material and not seal. Therefore, just before doors 7-8 close, doors 18-19 are energized and closed thereby restricting the flow of material beyond that point. After 1 to 2 seconds of energizing doors 18-19, doors 7-8 are then energized for closing. Once doors 7-8 are closed, doors 18-19 are reopened allowing compartment 17 to be maintained at its full capacity for further feeding.

Compartment 16, at this point, now has a charge within it and must be discharged. Therefore, as soon as doors 7-8 are closed, which is a matter of about 3-6 seconds after its initial opening, doors 3-4 are opened to discharge the load in compartment 16 into some type of receiving hopper, receptacles, etc.

The opening and closing of doors 3-4 and 7-8 would require much greater force than could be supplied by air cylinders if it were not for the addition of the action of the pressure relief or pressure neutralizing valve. When doors 7-8 are activated to be opened, compartment 17 at that time is under negative pressure and compartment 16 is under atmospheric pressure. Therefore, in order to balance the pressure on both sides of the door, the pressure neutralizing valve is activated to put both compartment 17 and compartment 16 at equal negative pressure allowing the doors to havea neutral reactive force upon them thereby eliminating any restraining forces on the doors. The same follows for the opening of compartment doors 3-4 for compartment 16. The doors 7-8 of compartment 17 have closed, the chamber of compartment 16 had been under negative pressure, therefore unless this pressure is relieved,-the negative pressure in compartment 16 is opposed by the atmospheric pressure on the outside of compartment 16 on doors 34.

The pressure neutralizing valve returns to a position so that compartment 16 is open to the atmosphere. At that point, the air cylinders for doors 3-4 are energized and deposit their load. The unit is now completely cycled and is at its starting point and will recycle again.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A material collector system adapted for the efficient removal of material from a material air conveying system which comprises in combination: (1) an outer housing having (2) an inlet conduit near the top thereof for the admittance of said material and air, (3) an outlet conduit in said outer housing for the removal of air therefrom, (4) an inner perforated housing positioned within and near the top of said outer housing and in communication with said inlet conduit, whereby conveying air will separate from said material and will flow through said perforations into passageways between the respective housings and be removed through said outlet conduit, (5) an upper set of non-sealing doors positioned within said inner housing designed to prevent the passage of material thereby, when closed, (6) an intermediate set of doors positioned below said inner housing and designed to prevent any communication thereby, when closed, from a first area above said intermediate doors to a second area below said intermediate doors, (7) a lower set of doors positioned at the lower end of said outer housing and designed to prevent any communication thereby, when closed,

vfrom without said outer housing to within said outer housing, and (8) conventional door control means for actuating said doors in an interrelated cyclic manner, so that said intermediate set of doors and said lower set of doors are never open simultaneously, and said upper set of doors are closed at least during the closing cycle of said intermediate set of doors.

2. System as defined by claim 1 wherein said inner housing is of such construction to change the direction of flow of said material and said air from the direction of flow in said inlet conduit.

.3. System as defined by claim 1 wherein said first area and said second area are interconnected by (9) external conduit means and (10) external valve means without said outer housing.

4. System as defined by claim 3 wherein (11) valve control means secures communication through said external conduit means between said first area and said second area upon the closing of said lower set of doors and prior to the opening of said intermediate set of doors and no communication exists to the atmosphere through said external conduits. I

5. System as defined by claim 3 wherein (12) valve control means secures communication through said external conduit means between said second area and the atmosphere upon the closing of said intermediate set of doors and prior to the opening of said lower setof doors and no communication exists to said first area through said external conduit means.

6. A material collector system adapted for the efficient removal of material from a material-air conveying system which comprises in combination: (1) an outer housing having (2) an inlet conduit near the top thereof for the admittance of said material and air, (3) an outlet conduit in said outer housing for the removal of air therefrom, (4) an inner perforated housing positioned within and near the top of said outer housing and in communication with said inlet conduit whereby conveying air will separate from said material and will flow through said perforations into passageways between the respective housings'and be removed through said outlet conduit, (5) an upper set of doors positioned within said innerperforated housing designed to pre- .vent the passage of material thereby,when closed, said upper set of doors characterized by having perforations therethrough, (6) an intermediate set of doors positioned below said inner perforated housing and designed to prevent any communication thereby, when closed, from a first area above said intermediate doors to a second area below said intermediate doors, (7) a lower set of doors positioned at the lower end of said outer housing and designed to prevent any'communication thereby, when closed, from without said outer housing to within said outer housing, and (8) conventional door control means for actuating said doors in an interrelated cyclic manner, so that said intermediate set of doors and said lower set of doors are never open simultaneously, and said upper set of doors are closed at least during the closing cycle of said intermediate set of doors.

7. System as defined by claim 3 wherein said external conduit means and said external value means consists essentially of an external housing assembly having an upper area and a lower area, a first port in said upper area communicating with said first area, a second port in said lower area communicating with said second area, a third port providing communication between said upper area and said lower area, a fourth port providing communication between said lower area and the atmosphere, a movable valve adapted to close said third port or said fourth port, whereby when said third port is closed no communication exists between said first area and said second area but communication exists between said second area and the atmosphere, and whereby when said fourth port is closed communication exists between said first area and said second area but no communication exists to the atmosphere.

Claims (7)

1. A material collector system adapted for the efficient removal of material from a material - air conveying system which comprises in combination: (1) an outer housing having (2) an inlet conduit near the top thereof for the admittance of said material and air, (3) an outlet conduit in said outer housing for the removal of air therefrom, (4) an inner Perforated housing positioned within and near the top of said outer housing and in communication with said inlet conduit, whereby conveying air will separate from said material and will flow through said perforations into passageways between the respective housings and be removed through said outlet conduit, (5) an upper set of nonsealing doors positioned within said inner housing designed to prevent the passage of material thereby, when closed, (6) an intermediate set of doors positioned below said inner housing and designed to prevent any communication thereby, when closed, from a first area above said intermediate doors to a second area below said intermediate doors, (7) a lower set of doors positioned at the lower end of said outer housing and designed to prevent any communication thereby, when closed, from without said outer housing to within said outer housing, and (8) conventional door control means for actuating said doors in an interrelated cyclic manner, so that said intermediate set of doors and said lower set of doors are never open simultaneously, and said upper set of doors are closed at least during the closing cycle of said intermediate set of doors.

2. System as defined by claim 1 wherein said inner housing is of such construction to change the direction of flow of said material and said air from the direction of flow in said inlet conduit.

3. System as defined by claim 1 wherein said first area and said second area are interconnected by (9) external conduit means and (10) external valve means without said outer housing.

4. System as defined by claim 3 wherein (11) valve control means secures communication through said external conduit means between said first area and said second area upon the closing of said lower set of doors and prior to the opening of said intermediate set of doors and no communication exists to the atmosphere through said external conduits.

5. System as defined by claim 3 wherein (12) valve control means secures communication through said external conduit means between said second area and the atmosphere upon the closing of said intermediate set of doors and prior to the opening of said lower set of doors and no communication exists to said first area through said external conduit means.

6. A material collector system adapted for the efficient removal of material from a material-air conveying system which comprises in combination: (1) an outer housing having (2) an inlet conduit near the top thereof for the admittance of said material and air, (3) an outlet conduit in said outer housing for the removal of air therefrom, (4) an inner perforated housing positioned within and near the top of said outer housing and in communication with said inlet conduit whereby conveying air will separate from said material and will flow through said perforations into passageways between the respective housings and be removed through said outlet conduit, (5) an upper set of doors positioned within said inner perforated housing designed to prevent the passage of material thereby, when closed, said upper set of doors characterized by having perforations therethrough, (6) an intermediate set of doors positioned below said inner perforated housing and designed to prevent any communication thereby, when closed, from a first area above said intermediate doors to a second area below said intermediate doors, (7) a lower set of doors positioned at the lower end of said outer housing and designed to prevent any communication thereby, when closed, from without said outer housing to within said outer housing, and (8) conventional door control means for actuating said doors in an interrelated cyclic manner, so that said intermediate set of doors and said lower set of doors are never open simultaneously, and said upper set of doors are closed at least during the closing cycle of said intermediate set of doors.

7. System as defined by claim 3 wherein said external conduit means And said external value means consists essentially of an external housing assembly having an upper area and a lower area, a first port in said upper area communicating with said first area, a second port in said lower area communicating with said second area, a third port providing communication between said upper area and said lower area, a fourth port providing communication between said lower area and the atmosphere, a movable valve adapted to close said third port or said fourth port, whereby when said third port is closed no communication exists between said first area and said second area but communication exists between said second area and the atmosphere, and whereby when said fourth port is closed communication exists between said first area and said second area but no communication exists to the atmosphere.

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