US2754982A - Bulk car unloader - Google Patents

Description

July 17, 1956 J. F. HoFFMElsTER E-r AL 2,754,982

BULK CAR UNLOADER 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. 28, 1955 FIEIE e n Rsx R my fm 3&4 w; f lo. i WWW, DM l Y f .B

`July 17, 1956 J. F. HOFFMEISTER Er AL 2,754,982

BULK CAR UNLoAm-:R

Filed Feb. 28, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l'K m Jm/ E A/aFFME/srsn By DoH/:1.22.51 Kane/IK 4 rrozuxys July 17, 1956 J. F. HOFFMElsTl-:R Er AL 2,754,982

BULK CAR UNLOADER Filed Feb. 28, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. .l5/wv F//aFFME/srk By 13a/wup 51A/aunk @www United States Patent BULK CAR UNLOADER John F. Hoffmeister, Excelsior, Minn., and Donald S. Koncak, Kansas City, Mo., assignors to International Milling Company, Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Delaware Application February 28, 1955, Serial No. 490,966

12 Claims. (Cl. 214-44) This invention relates to a facility for the unloading of bulk cars such as railroad cars, trucks or the like, which are constructed for carrying commodities in bulk. Heretofore, for the shipment of many commodities it has been customary to package the same in bags, packages, barrels or boxes and the shipment of such commodities has therefore entailed the loading of the shipping vehicle, whether it be a boxcar or over-the-road motor transport, with the bags, boxes or barrels of material which it is desired to ship. The shipment of commodities such as flour, sugar, feeds and the like by such methods has therefore required expenditure of considerable sums for non-reusable shipping containers and this has considerably added to the cost of the materials delivered to the customers dock.

To overcome such diculties there has more recently been provided bulk shipping containers, which are the vehicles themselves in which the product is carried. To this end railroads and over-the-road transport trucks have been designed having a large clean tank or body, fully enclosed and suitably equipped to permit the filling of the commodity directly into the body or truck without the necessity of using bags, packages, barrels or the like, for the commodity. Such bulk shipping vehicle, which, for convenience is designated a bulk car is customarily provided with downwardly slanting bottom surfaces, or conveyors, or other appurtenances, by means of which the bulk commodity can be removed from the interior of the car to one or more discharge spouts positioned along the lower surfaces of the car. Thus, in the customary railroad bulk car there are usually provided two downwardly extending spouts near the middle of the car, and centrally located between the trucks thereof. Generally the railroad car has a strong supporting beam along the center thereof, and in order not to interfere with this structural portion of the railroad car the discharge spouts are generally arranged in pairs, one on either side of the central main frame of the car.

As the bulk commodity is shipped, these discharge spouts are covered over rmly with a covering plate adequately sealed and protected against the entrance of moisture, dirt and contaminants. When the car reaches its destination, the cover plates are removed, and connection is made to the users unloading facility for conveying the material from the car into bins at the users establishment.

The users establishment must likewise be of sanitary construction, where the bulk commodity is a foodstuff used by human beings, and since the discharge mechanism is located at or adjacent a railroad track, or at or adjacent a loading platform used by over-the-road transport trucks, such unloading facility must also be so constructed as to be capable of being maintained in sanitary conditions under all weather conditions. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved form of bulk car unloading facility adapted to be used for of over-the-road transport type which are provided rice s with one or more discharge spouts adjacent some portion of the bottom of the car. It is the further object of the invention to provide an improved bulk car unloading facility capable of being readily attached in a convenient and sanitary manner to the discharge spouts of a bulk car. It is a further object of the invention to provide a bulk car unloading facility which is capable of being maintained in a sanitary condition during those times when it is not used for unloading purposes. It is another object of the invention to provide a bulk car unloading facility capable of being attached to the bulk car and detached easily and quickly by inexperienced personnel. It is another object of the invention to provide an improved bulk car unloading facility so constructed so as to permit the complete removal of the material from the bulk car without entrapment of any of the material or lodging of the material therein. It is another object of the invention to provide the bulk car unloading facility wherein air may be vented from the entrained material, where such material is removed by the air slide methods from the bulk car and reaches the loading facility in a fluidal state, composed of solid material and air. It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved bulk car unloading facility capable of being manufactured and installed at low cost at the users installation and maintained over long periods of service without the expenditure of undue sums of money from maintenance. Other and further objects of the invention are those inherent in the apparatus herein described, illustrated and claimed.

Invention is illustrated with reference to the drawings in which Figure l is a side elevational view of one form of bulk car, which for example may be of the railroad type. Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line and in the direction of arrows 2 2 of Figure l. Figure 3 is an enlarged transferred sectional View taken along the line and in the direction of arrows 3--3 of Figure 4. Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along the line and in the direction of arrows 4 4 of Figure 3. Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary verti-V cal sectional view of the hopper portion of the bulk un loading device of the present invention showing the cover plate thereon.

Referring to the drawings, the bulk cars with which the invention is adapted to be used is herein illustrated generally at 1t) in Figure 1, but it will be understood that the particular form of bulk car thus illustrated is not to be considered as a limitation upon the invention. Thus any bulk car of the railroad or over-the-road transport types provided with suitably located downwardly extending spouts of appropriate design all are adapted to be unloaded by the facility herein illustrated, described and claimed.

The bulk car shown in Figure l consists of railroad trucks generally designated 11 and 12 which support a fully enclosed car body 13. The car body has a roof 14, which is usually provided with loading openings at 15-15. As usually constructed, the bulk car has a smooth and sanitary interior surface, and may be provided with internal bracing as at 16-17, suitable for the stresses encountered. Normally, the bulk car is provided with a floor or bottom surface 2li which may be downwardly slanted as illustrated in Figure 1. In a standard form of railroad bulk car, the weight of the car itself is generally carried by a central girder 21, see Figures l and 2 extending along the length of the car at the middle thereof, and attached to the trucks 11 and 12. When thus designed, the discharge spouts for the bulk material are usually arranged, one at each side of the girder 21, as shown at 22 and 23. These downwardly extending openings are provided with slanting sides whichy conform in some areas to the slope of the bottom 20 and at other portions to the upper slope towards the sides or towards the middle of the car. The car shown is of one specific design and is therefore to be considered as merely illustrative.

Inthe normal form of bulk car the downwardly opening hoppers 22 and 23 terminate as cylindrical sponts 24-24 which are provided with a bottom flange at 25-25 upon which a bottom cover plate is arranged to be clamped with gasket 26-26 interposed between the cover plate of the flange so as to effect a complete sealing of the spout during transport of the car from one place to another. At the destination, the cover plate may be removed and at this time the material within the car is discharged.

For discharging the material, according to the present invention, there is provided a hopper generally designated 30, see Figures 3 and 4, which in the illustration herein is shown as located between railroad rails 31-31 of the customers siding. The rails 31 3.1 are supported over a pit generally designated 32, which is usually composed of a reinforced concrete wall 33 and reinforced concrete ceiling 34, with such structural reinforcement 35` as may be required to carry the Weight of the railroad rails and the heavy vehicle. The hopper 3f) is of a generally rectangular horizontal plan and in transverse section converges in a downward direction. The hopper 30 has a width W extending nearly from rail-to-rail, slightly less than the distance between the rails 31-31, and has a length L in the direction of the railroad rails which may be any size suitable to the capacity desired. ln the form illustrated, the hopper 30 is composed of vertical walls 36 and 37 which form the walls defining the length for the hopper opening in the direction of the railroad rails. The walls defining the width of the hopper openings are at 3839 in Figure 3 and these walls converge in a downward direction. All of the walls 3639 terminate level at the top, at a horizontal rectangular opening defined by outwardly extending flanges 40-40 around the upper edge. The top of these flanges is a little below the railroad rails. The walls forming the hopper likewise extend down as shown in Figures 3 and 4 and terminate at a smaller rectangular opening defined by bottom flanges 41-41, which are to be bolted or otherwise firmly attached to the flange 42-42 which defines an upper opening in the screw conveyor housing 44. The conveyor housing 44 is provided with a bottom at 45 held in place by the edge clamps 46-46 and the bottom 45 may thus be removed so as to facilitate cleaning of the screw conveyor. The mode of attachment of the flanges 41 and 42 is not illustrated but it will be understood that it may be by bolts, rivets or by welding.

The opening from the hopper 30 into the screw conveyor thus has a width W-O and a length L-O and is made sufficient so as easily to permit the passage of the bulk material therethrough and into the conveyor itself.

The conveyor is provided with an end wall at 45 having a sturdy sealed self-aligning bearing of customary design at 46 upon which the shaft 47 of a conveyor screw 48 is journaled. The conveyor housing extends at 49 to any distance desired, as may be needed to move the bulk material to tanks at the customers premises, and power means, not illustrated as provided, for rotating the screw at a sufficient rate so as to move the bulk material to the customers bulk tanks, as the material enters the hopper 30.

At the junction of the hopper 30 and the opening LO-WO of the hopper, there is provided a coarse grill generally designated 50 composed of round rods welded together to form an open mesh. These are polished and sanitary, as is all of the interior of the equipment. These rods are fastened to the walls 36-39 of the hopper by welding or other suitable mode of fastening.

It will be noted that adjacent to flange 40 of the hopper and immediately below it, the walls of the hopper arevertical on all sides, for a short distance and to such vertical portion of the walls there is attached a flexible fabric connector element, generally designated 50. This flexible fabric device may be considered as generally of the shape of a pair of pants (upside down) and has as many legs 51 and 52 as there are Spouts to be served, and a body portion 53. The body portion has an edge 54 which is firmly clamped against the interior vertical surface of the hopper 30 at the upper edge, the attachment being by means of a metallic ring 55 which is fastened in place by bolt, as shown in Figure 5 or screws or rivets or other suitable fastening devices. The tubular fabric waist section of flexible element 50 then extends up around and then over and down inside the metallic clamp ring 50 and then extends downwardly at 56 and through a loose or folded section at 57, which represents slack in the attachment. At the lower portion (after extending downwardly through the loose or folded section at 57) the fabric bends, and this tubular fabric portion then turns inwardly and upwardly at 58 and continues in an upward direction until slightly above the level of the flange 40, whereupon the waist section divides into as many legs" or branch tubes as needed to serve the maximum number of spouts on the bulk car. Here, there are illustrated two such legs 51 and 52. The two tubular leg portions 51 and 52 terminate at sleeves 59 and 60 which are provided with flanges 61 and 62 of the same size as the flanges 25-25 of the bulk car. When it is desired to attach the bulk unloading facility to the car, these flanges 61 and 62 are brought upwardly against the flanges 25-25 with the gasket 26-26 interposed therebetween. One or more C clamps are then arranged around the aligned pairs of flanges 25--61 and 25-62' so as to hold the flanges firmly together with the gaskets 26-26 likewise compressed into tight relationship.

On the inside of each of the legs 51 and 52 there are provided flat boardlike elements 64 and 65 which may conveniently be made of metal or hardboard which is fastened in place by flush rivets, cementing or any suit able fastening. The hardboard elements 64--65 in the legs 51' and 52 respectively, assist in forming a smooth slide surface down which the solid material may chute into the hopper 30.

The entire pantleg element 50 is preferably composed of a fabric having a moderate degree of permeability so as to allow the outflow of air therethrough. The reason for this is as follows:

For the discharge of many bulk cars there is provided as a part of the bulk car a device known as an airslide. In the operation of this device, air under pressure is injected into the solid material in the bulk car and after a certain amount of air is thus introduced into the solid material there is formed a fluidal mass or airsolid fluid which has the property of flowing in much the same manner as water or other liquids. Without the introduction of air the solid material has a tendency to pack and can only be removed by mechanical elements such as augers but the air-slide permits the ready removal of bulk material almost in the manner of a liquid, after the injection of relatively small amounts of compressed air into the particles of solid. However, as the solid-air fluid moves it reaches a point at which the air componentV must be removed. In many instances the entrained air will become released when mechanical work is done on the mass, as in a screw conveyor and such released air must be vented. By constructing the pantleg element 50 of cloth having a moderate degree of permeability, such as canvas, the air which is released from the air-solid fluid discharging down the spout 24 and into the pants element 50, is at least to some degree immediately vented through the pants structure 50. The air is thus permitted to breathe out through the pores of the cloth of which the pants element 50 is constructed. As a result, asthe coalesced solid material moves downwardly into the hopper 50 it has already released much of the air entrained during the air-slide mode of discharge from the hopper car, and can thus be handled expeditiously and without disadvantage to the user.

For the unloading of bulk cars where air-slide facility is not utilized, or where other venting means provided it is of little consequence whether the pantleg structure 50 is made of pervious or of impervious exible sheet.

After the bulk car has been completely emptied, and the auger 48 has removed all of the solid material from the hopper 44-49, the llanges 61 and 62 are disconnected from the anges 25-25 and when this is done each of the pantlegs S1 and 52 may be folded down to the position shown in dotted lines on Figure 3 and in this position each will be below the level of the flange 40. At this time a cover plate may be put on to the ange 40. The cover plate 68 is shown in place in Figure 5 and is desirably provided with a gasket at k69. Any suitable device may be used for clamping the coverplate down so as to compress the gasket and seal the coverplate 68 tightly against the flange 4i). In this manner the entire bulk unloading facility may be protected from the entrance of water, dust, grit or other contaminants, during those periods when it is not being used. When the pantlegs 51 and 52 are in the thus folded-down condition, they are prevented from lodging upon the spiral of the conveyor 48 by the coarse grid 50. Since the spiral ights become worn in use, and may have sharp edges, it is entirely possible that they might abrasively deteriorate the cloth material of the pants element 50 if the latter were permitted to come into contact with the spiral ights of the conveyor 48 during periods of nonuse, particularly if the conveyor 48 should inadvertently be started at such times.

While the unloading facility of the present invention has been illustrated with reference to the unloading of a railroad type bulk car, it will be understood that the invention is equally applicable to the unloading of overthe-road transport trucks. Likewise, while two such leg elements 51 and 52 are illustrated herein on the ilexible member 50, it will be understood that more than two may be utilized or only one may be utilized, so as to be correlated with and easily fitted to the particular form spout appurtenances of the bulk car utilized for shipment of the bulk material.

The form of the invention shown and described must be considered only as illustrative. Many variations within the scope of the invention illustrated, described and claimed will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the invention is therefore not to be limited except as stated in the appended claims.

What we claim is:

l. A bulk unloading facility comprising an upwardly opening box having a conveyor attached thereto for conveying from the box bulk material introduced into the box, said box being situated in a roadstead with the upper edge thereof around said opening raised slightly above the surface of the roadstead, a llexible coupling tube attached to the inner wall of the box near the upper edge and having the other end thereof provided with a coupling for attachment to the discharge spout of a bulk car, said box having a space therein to receive the tube and coupling therein, in folded-down condition below the upper edge thereof and above said conveyor.

2. The apparatus of claim l further characterized in 6 that said flexible coupling tube has a iiat board therein on a portion thereof forming the lower part of the tube when it is slanted upwardly and at an angle and coupled to the discharge spout of a bulk car.

3. The apparatus of claim l further characterized in that the conveyor extends into the box and a coarse grill is provided immediately above it for protecting the tube when it is folded down.

4. The apparatus of claim 'l further characterized in that the tube is made of gas permeable fabric.

5. The apparatus of claim l further characterized in that the upwardly opening box is provided with a top llange and a cover plate is provided for closing said box when the tube is in folded-down condition therein.

6. The apparatus of claim l further characterized in that said box is in the form of a hopper which gradually increases in cross-sectional area in the upward direction.

7. A bulk unloading facility comprising an upwardly opening hopper having conveyor means connected to the bottom thereof for removing from the hopper solid material discharged into the hopper and an upper edge at uniform elevation forming an opening into the hopper, a exible coupling by means of which the upper portion of the hopper can be connected to the discharge spouts of a bulk car, said ilexible coupling having a tubular portion a major cross-section which is attached iirmly to the inner wall of the hopper adjacent said upper edge, said tubular portion thence extending upwardly to form more than one outwardly slanted tubular branch, each branch having a lesser cross-sectional area than said major portion and each branch having an attachment nipple on the free end thereof by means of which such branch may be joined tightly to a discharge spout of `a bulk car, the size of said hopper being such that the entire flexible coupling including all branches thereof and the nipples on said branches may be folded down into the hopper in the space above said conveyor means and below the upper edge of said hopper.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 further characterized in that a coarse grill separation is provided in the hopper over the conveyor means.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 further characterized n that stilfening panels are provided on the inner walls of those portions of each brand of the flexible coupling which are lowermost when such branch is extended in an upwardly slanted direction.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 further characterized in that the hopper is set between railroad rails and the exible coupling is oriented so that the branches can be extended upwardly and outwardly to positions over the rails for connection to discharge spouts of a railroad bulk car.

11. The apparatus of claim l0 further characterized in that the conveyor connected to the hopper extends under one of the rails to a position alongside said rail.

l2. The apparatus of claim 7 further characterized in that the flexible coupling is made of gas permeable fabric.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,349,480 Wilsmore Aug. l0, 1920 1,822,530 Kind Sept. 3, 1931 2,222,083 Lintz Nov. 19, 1940

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