WO1999055602A1

WO1999055602A1 - Rotary drum store device

Info

Publication number: WO1999055602A1
Application number: PCT/GB1999/001113
Authority: WO
Inventors: Martyn Ryder
Original assignee: Extract Technology Limited
Priority date: 1998-04-28
Filing date: 1999-04-27
Publication date: 1999-11-04
Also published as: AU3613199A; GB9808964D0

Abstract

A rotary drum store device comprising: one or more substantially tubular housings (2) capable of carrying a drum (1), the or each substantially tubular housing (2) being mounted on a carrier system which permits the or each substantially tubular housing (2) to perform a substantially vertical revolution about a common axis, wherein the or each substantially tubular housing is arranged to be tiltable about a transverse axis.

Description

ROTARY DRUM STORE DEVICE

The present invention relates to a novel rotary drum store device which may be incorporated in a contained material handling apparatus.

It is common practice for raw materials such as drug compounds or pharmaceuticals to be stored in large drums and to be transported in pallet loads to dispensing and weighing rooms. Access into the weighing room generally requires large doors and space for pallet manoeuvring. Due to the size and weight of the drums, lifting devices are frequently needed to allow the operator to access the lower portions of the drum. With higher potency materials the operator would normally have to handle the materials within contained surroundings (eg in a glove box) adding to the problems of drum handling. The manipulation of heavy drums is hindered since the possibility of using lifting gear is effectively ruled out by the lack of space and cleaning problems. Thus known techniques for drum handling and storage are generally cumbersome and inefficient.

Furthermore in order to prevent the outer surfaces of a drum becoming contaminated during glove box manipulation, means must be provided either to seal off the outer surface of the drum from the material inside or to ensure cleaning down of the outside of the drum prior to its withdrawal from the glove box. The known methods for dealing with drum contamination and disposal are not satisfactory.

The present invention seeks to overcome the disadvantages of devices and methods known for manipulating large drums by providing a rotary drum storage system. It also seeks to provide a safe, contamination free apparatus for manipulating drums containing for example drug compounds and pharmaceutical raw materials. -2-

Thus viewed from one aspect the present invention provides 'a rotary drum store device comprising: one or more substantially tubular housings capable of carrying a drum, the or each substantially tubular housing being mounted on a carrier system which permits the or each substantially tubular housing to perform a substantially vertical revolution about a common axis wherein the or each substantially tubular housing is arranged to be tiltable about a transverse axis.

The device of the invention acts as a material staging area between the warehouse and dispensing/weighing rooms and therefore advantageously avoids the need for pallets to be moved into the powder weighing room. The device advantageously may be arranged to carry up to about 12 drums but might typically carry about 8 drums within the apparatus.

The vertical carrier system is preferably a chain carrier system. Alternatively a belt system might be used. The carrier system may be such that the longitudinal axis of the or each substantially tubular housing is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the vertical revolution. Preferably however the carrier system is such that the longitudinal axis of the or each substantially tubular housing is substantially within the plane of the vertical revolution.

The device of the invention may ^■ conveniently form part of any material handling apparatus eg containment means such as a powder weighing station or glove box system.

Thus viewed from a further aspect the present invention provides a material handling apparatus comprising a rotary drum store device as hereinbefore defined located within containment means providing contained surroundings and an operator port arranged in said containment means to be communicable with an open end of a substantially tubular housing within said device. - 3-

The material handling apparatus of the invention has the advantage that the housing in which the drum is located may be tilted to aid material manipulation through the operator port. In one embodiment of the invention, the drum may be located in a "torpedo tube" that is conveniently tilted so that the operator may reach into the drum carried therein. This makes material handling less cumbersome and more efficient than in known techniques. Access to the material in the drum through the operator port may be by conventional containment means such as gloves. The operator port may be provided at a convenient height for the user, typically between 1000mm and 1300mm from floor level.

The drums may be provided with an inner (eg polythene) liner. The torpedo tube position at the operator port may preferably permit the drums outer polythene liner to be folded back to minimize entry of drug material from the contained surroundings .

Preferably, the material handling apparatus of the invention comprises at least one inlet and at least one outlet port arranged to be communicable with a substantially tubular housing within said device. The inlet port may be used to load a drum into the material handling apparatus (for example a drug containing drum) . For example, if a substantially tubular housing is appropriately tilted when in communication with a suitably angled inlet port, the drum will move under gravity between the inlet port and the housing. Alternatively, movement of a drum between the inlet port and the housing may be assisted by appropriate urging means. The drum is preferably "over bagged" and bagged into the tubular housing in order to advantageously limit direct operator contact (see for example GB-A-2306376) . The inlet port typically comprises a loading ramp and vertical sliding door and bag attachment (2 groove) spigot. This allows the next drum loaded to push the overbag of the first drum into the torpedo tube by attachment of the next bag to the vacant groove. After a full drum has been loaded into the store, the dispensing or weighing procedures may progress through the operator port typically on the opposite side.

Similarly an outlet port may be used to receive a drum from the material handling apparatus (eg an empty drum). For example, if a substantially tubular housing is appropriately tilted when in communication with an angled outlet port, the material drum will move under gravity between the housing and the outlet port. Urging means may be provided to assist movement if appropriate. The outlet port typically comprises a . vertical sliding door and bag spigot which permits the drum to be bagged out with no operator contact.

In a preferred embodiment, the device according to the invention may be provided with a plurality of substantially tubular housings (eg torpedo tubes) in order to accommodate a plurality of drums. By carrying the torpedo tubes on a vertical carrier system the drums may be preferably indexed around, allowing any one drum to be brought into communication with the operator port or other port at any time.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the angle of tilt of the substantially tubular housings may be reversed as the drums move from the rising side of the carrier to the descending side of the carrier. For contained systems (eg glove boxes), this has the benefit of allowing a continuous feed of drums in and out of the inlet and outlet ports respectively.

Preferably the drum store inventory may be computer controlled with all drums being bar coded prior to loading. A matching bar code may be fitted to the lid of the drum. The bar code reader may conveniently be a static unit let into the wall of -5- the dispensing and weighing booth wall having a drum lid holding bracket in front of it. This will confirm that the right drum has stopped at the dispensing port.

The invention will now be described in a non-limitative sense by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1: A front elevation of a glove box apparatus in accordance with the invention

Figure 2: A plan view of user operation of a glove box in accordance with the invention

Figure 3: A side view of the loading and unloading of drums and of the use of a glove box according to the invention

Figure 1 shows a material handling apparatus (1) in which is housed a rotary drum device. This device consists of a plurality of torpedo tubes (2) mounted on a vertical chain carrier system. Figure 2 shows a drum (1) loaded into a torpedo tube (2) allowing access by the user (3) via the operator port (4) . Figure 3 illustrates the loading and unloading of drums and of the use of a glove box. Thus full drum (1) is loaded through angled inlet port (3) which communicates with a tilted torpedo tube (4) in the glove box

(5) . The drum is transferred by the over-bagging (2) technique to limit user contact. The torpedo tube suitably charged with a full drum may then be rotated" to the operator port (6) where the user (7) may carry out dispensing or weighing, etc. In a final stage, the empty drum (8) is removed from the tilted torpedo tube through the angled outlet port (10) using an overbag (9) .

Claims

- 6 -CLAIMS :

1. A rotary drum store device comprising: one or more substantially tubular housings capable of carrying a drum, the or each substantially tubular housing being mounted on a carrier system which permits the or each substantially tubular housing to perform a substantially vertical revolution about a common axis, wherein the or each substantially tubular housing is arranged to be tiltable about a transverse axis.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 capable of carrying up to twelve drums.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the vertical carrier system is a chain carrier system or a belt system.

4. A device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the longitudinal axis of the or each substantially tubular housing is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the vertical revolution.

5. A device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the or each substantially tubular housing is a torpedo tube.

6. A device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the angle of tilt of the or each substantially tubular housing may be reversed as the drum moves from the rising side of the carrier to the descending side of the carrier.

7. A material handling apparatus comprising a rotary drum store device as claimed in any preceding claim located within a containment means providing contained surroundings, wherein said containment means comprises an operator port adapted to communicate with an open end of a substantially tubular housing within said device.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7 comprising at least one inlet port and at least one outlet port adapted to communicate with a substantially tubular housing.

9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein said inlet port is angled.

10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8 or 9 wherein said outlet port is angled.

11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 9 or 10 wherein in use a substantially tubular housing is tilted upwards in order to communicate with a downwardly angled inlet port.

12. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10 or 11 wherein in use a substantially tubular housing is tilted downwards in order to communicate with an upwardly angled outlet port.