AU692848B2 - Loading of bulk particulate material - Google Patents

Description

Regulation 32

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

(ORIGINAL)

Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: Wesley Vale Engineering Pty.Ltd.

DAVIES COLLISON CAVE, Patent Attorneys, 1 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 3000.

"Loading of Bulk Particulate Material" Details of Associated Provisional Application(s): No(s): PM5875/94 filed 25 May, 1994.

The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: -1- -la- LOADING OF BULK PARTICULATE MATERIAL The present invention relates to the loading particulate material into a bulk storage facility and more particularly to the loading particulate material such as wood chips into the hold of a bulk carrier vessel for transportation.

Conventionally wood chips were loaded into the holds of vessels for subsequent shipping by pneumatic conveying systems. However, these systems required high power consumption and also led to degradation of the product and generated high levels of dust through inter-particle abrasion. As a result of this, over recent years there has been a tendency to use conveyor belt systems for loading the wood chips into a hold. In such a system, the discharge conveyor is a high speed conveyor which is located in the centre of the hold at the lower end of a telescopic tube through which the wood chips are delivered from a system of fixed and movable overhead conveyors. On reaching the discharge conveyor, which is sometimes known as a "jet slinger" a stream of wood chips is ejected as a relatively dense high speed stream. Under the control of the operator, the discharge conveyor can be swung through 3600 about a vertical axis (substantially coinciding with the axis of the telescopic tube) to distribute the chips around the hold. Whilst this system eoeoo does achieve advantages over the previous pneumatic system, it is difficult to achieve a 20 uniform and dense distribution of the wood chips. Additional measures such as bulldozers working within the hold to further distribute and compact the chips are not entirely satisfactory as they result in product degradation and excessive dust generation.

We have determined that many of the problems discussed above can be overcome 25 by the expedient of incorporating a deflector system at the discharge end of the high speed discharge conveyor to cause the discharged stream of wood chip particles to "fan out" over a wide area which aids their distribution and compaction.

According to the present invention there is provided a system for loading particulate material into a bulk storage facility, comprising a discharge conveyor for propelling a stream of incoming particles into the facility, said conveyor being movable 98G421,p:\opersrsiaxr.spw1I 111 1 sri in position to facilitate distribution of the material within the facility, deflector means positioned within the path of the discharging stream and shaped to change the configuration of the stream into a wider divergent stream of the particles, said deflector means being mounted for pivotal movement about a generally horizontal axis so as to vary the discharge trajectory of the divergent stream, and remotely controllable drive means for pivoting the deflector means about said axis so as to permit controlled variation of the discharge trajectory throughout loading.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the deflector means is of plate-li form which has an inclination which can be varied to vary the characteristics of the divergent stream. The angle of inclination is remotely controllable to permit instantaneous variation of the inclination within a loading operation. For this purpose the deflector plate is pivotally mounted and the inclination is controlled by means of a fluid cylinder controlled from a remote position by an operator. The plate is preferably convexly curved into a dome-like configuration.

The invention also provides deflector means and drive means as defined above for fitting to an existing loading installation comprising a discharge conveyor tnounted for S"rotation about a substantially vertical axis.

S

ooo1 According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of loading particulate material into a bulk storage facility using a system as defined above, said method comprising discharging the incoming particles from the conveyor into the storage •u facility as a relatively dense stream of particles, swinging the conveyor around a vertical axis to vary the direction of discharge of the stream, deflecting the discharging stream by the deflector means to cause the stream to diverge into a wider, less dense, stream, and using the drive means to vary the position of the deflector means during the loading Soperation to vary the trajectory of the stream.

98D421,p:\oper\rsitLamar.spc,2 .9 An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a side view showing schematically a loading installation for loading wood chips into a hold of a bulk carrier vessel; Figure 2 is a side view to an enlarged scale showing a discharge conveyor of the loading installation and an associated deflector plate; Figure 3 is a front view of the deflector plate; and 980421,p:\oper\rshtamar spe,2 -3- Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, but showing a modified deflector plate arrangement.

As shown in Figure 1 a loading system for wood chips comprises a telescopic gantry assembly 2 comprising a series of belt conveyors for feeding wood chips from an on-shore facility to a position above the hold of a vessel. The outermost arm 4 of the gantry assemoly 2 includes a movable conveyor 6 which can be displaced along the arm 4 to vary the position of the discharge point along the arm 4. A telescopic tube 8 extends downwardly from the discharge end of the conveyor 2 to receive wood chips discharged from that conveyor. The telescopic downtube 8 extends into the hold and wood chips fall through the downtube 8 onto a high speed discharge conveyor 10 at the lower end of the tube 8. The downtube 8 and discharge conveyor are displaceable together with the upper feed conveyor 6 along the gantry arm 4 under the control of an operator within a cabin 12 which is also suspended beneath 15 the gantry arm 4 for movement along the arm 4, the range of movement being .indicated in phantom line in Figure 1. The discharge conveyor 10 is also rotatable through 360 about the axis of the downtube 8 under the instantaneous control of the operator to vary the direction of discharge.

20 The discharge conveyor 10 is illustrated in somewhat greater detail in Figure 2 and comprises an endless conveyor belt 14 shown in dotted lines, the path of the belt 14 being defined by a series of rollers 16, 18, 19 in engagement with the belt 14.

Incoming wood chips drop from the lower end 8a of the downtube 8 onto a portion of the belt 14 having substantial vertical inclination so that the velocity of the incoming wood chips on meeting the belt 14, and which is substantially velocity in a vertical direction, is not significantly diminished on meeting the belt 14. The path of the belt is then quickly transformed as illustrated so that at the discharge end the stream of particles is discharged along a trajectory having an upwards component, the speed of the belt 14 being such that the stream is thrown a significant distance from the conveyor to reach the sides of the hold. By way of example, the belt 14 runs at a speed of around 20 metres per second and develops a dense wood chip stream of relatively high momentum. The assembly to this point is substantially 950523,p:\oper\rsbtaar.spe,3 conventional. However, in accordance with the invention a deflector 20 is attached to the support structure of the discharge belt 14 so as to lie in the path of the stream at a position immediately downstream of the position at which the stream leaves the belt 14. The deflector 20 is of plate-like form and is curved convexly both in the direction of discharge of the stream and also in a direction transversely thereto so that the plate 20 has a part-spherical or domed shape. The plate 20 is mounted for swinging movement about a horizontal axis A-A to the upper ends of supporting legs 22 connected to the underlying supporting structure 26 of the discharge conveyor Preferably, the legs 22 are adjustable to permit the height of the plate 20 to be adjusted relative to the height of the discharge zone of the discharge conveyor belt 14. A hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder 28 extends between the underside of the deflector plate 20 and the underlying supporting structure 26 and is under the control of the operator to swing the plate 20 about its horizontal support axis A-A and hence .to vary the angle of inclination of the plate 20 and therefore the deflection of the stream being discharged from the conveyor belt 14.

In the modified arrangement shown in Figure 4, the deflector plate 20 is composed of two separate segments 20a. The gap 20b between the segments 20a is divergent from a position at the lower end of the plate at which the adjacent edges 20 of the two segments 20a are in contact to a position at the upper or forward end of the plate at which the adjacent edges of the segments 20a are more widely spaced.

This configuration increases laterally the range of deflection of the product and dispenses it more evenly over a larger area.

25 In use, the action of the deflector plate 20 is to cause the relatively dense stream of wood chips discharged from the discharge conveyor 14 to form a fanshaped stream of wide lateral extent which causes not only wider distribution of the wood chips but also enables individual wood chips to fall freely, mostly unimpeded by adjacent wood chips. The general tendency of the wood chips when falling in this way is to fall in a configuration in which the large face of the wood chip is generally horizontal. In other wore; the general tendency is for the chips to fall "flat". In this way, the deflector plate achieves wider distribution of the wood chips and also 950523,p:\oper\rsbtamar.spe4 improved compaction when landing within the hold, thus leading to an increased packing density. The cylinder 28 which controls the inclination of the deflector plate 20 is under the instantaneous control of the operator who can raise and lower the plate 20 which will have the effect of varying the distribution pattern and the distance the wood chips are discharged. Ac cordingly by the combined actions of rotating the discharge conveyor about the axis of the downtube 8 and also varying the inclination of the deflector plate the operator can exert extensive control of the distribution of the wood chips throughout the hold.

A deflector plate as described herein can easily be retro-fitted to existing loading systems incorporating discharge conveyors of the type in question.

Although the embodiment has been described in relation to the loading of wood chips, it is also applicable to the loading of other bulk particulate materials, such as coal or sugar.

Throughout this specification and claims which follow, unless the context requires therwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers or steps but 20 not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.The embodiment has been described by way of example only and modifications are possible within the scope of the invention.

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Claims (8)

1. A system for loading particulate material into a bulk storage facility, comprising a discharge conveyor for propelling a stream of incoming particles into the facility, said conveyor being movable in position to facilitate distribution of the material within the facility, deflector means positioned within the path of the discharging stream and shaped to change the configuration of the stream into a wider divergent stream of the particles, said deflector means being mounted for pivotal movement about a generally horizontal axis so as to vary the discharge trajectory of the divergent stream, and remotely controllable drive means for pivoting the deflector means about said axis so as to permit controlled variation of the discharge trajectory throughout loading.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the deflector means is shaped to provide a convex face contacted by the discharging stream.

3. A system according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the deflector means is of plate- like form. 0

4. A system according to claim 3, wherein the deflector means comprises a plate curved into a dome-like configuration. 0* A system according to claim 3, wherein the deflector means comprises adjacent plate-like segments each convexly curved. 0*: 0*W0

6. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the drive means comprises a fluid cylinder linked to the deflector means and operable to vary the *0 0 inclination of the deflector means by pivotal movement about said axis.

7. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the discharge conveyor is mounted for rotation about a substantially vertical axis to vary the position of discharge, and the deflector means is mounted for movement with the discharge conveyor. 980421,p:\oper\rsb,tamar. spc, 6 I -7-

8. A system according to claim 7, wherein the discharge conveyor comprises a high speed belt conveyor mounted beneath a telescopic down-tube through which particulate material is charged onto the conveyor.

9. A system for loading particulate material, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. A method of loading particulate material into a bulk storage facility using a system according to claim 1, said method comprising discharging the incoming particles fror i 'he conveyor into the storage facility as a relatively dense stream of particles, swinging the conveyor around a vertical axis to vary the direction of discharge of the stream, deflecting the discharging stream by the deflector means to cause the stream to diverge into a wider, less dense, stream, and using the drive means to vary the position of the deflector means during the loading operation to vary the trajectory of the stream. DATED this 21st day of April, 1998. WESLEY VALE ENGINEERING PTY.LTD. By its Patent Attorneys: DAVIES COLLISON CAVE o* *o 980421,p\oper\rsh,tamar.sWe,7 -8- ABSTRACT A system for loading particulate material, such as wood chips, into a storage facility comprises a high speed discharge conveyor for the particles, and a deflector at the end of the conveyor and engageable by the stream of particles discharged from the conveyor to form a divergent stream. The angle of the deflector can be varied during discharge to vary the trajectory of the stream. qt*R *4 F a a. C a. a a a a. a. 9* I. a i.e C a, a a. a a a .aa* a ata~ *0 as a C a a. a a a a a *a 950523,p:\oper\rsht=4nr.spe,8