Abstract:
A drumming unit that utilizes a computer controlled drum filling and drum handling system. Drum handling and filling is fully automated, the drums being introduced onto the apparatus on an inlet conveyor, loaded from the inlet conveyor onto a frame at which a plurality of work stations are provided for removing the bung from the drum, filling the drum, and replacing the bung in the drum, and then unloading the drum from the frame onto an outlet conveyor. A hose from the chemical plant, warehouse, or other facility is utilized for filling operations that stays in the facility, thereby preventing reactive chemical and quality concerns. A vapor tight wall is provided to isolate the operator from the filling operations, thereby eliminating the need for a slicker suit, respirator, or other safety equipment. The drumming unit is preferably mounted to a base which is sized to fit onto the bed of a truck or trailer so that the unit can be moved from one location to another for drumming operations.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for filling drums and other containers which is conveniently transported from one location to another for on-site filling. In more detail, the present invention relates to a mobile drum filling apparatus, and a method of filling multiple drums in continuous, automated fashion using an apparatus, which is entirely self-contained such that the drums are conveniently filled at any location. 
     Low volume products which can be handled like a fluid, e.g., liquids and small pellets or the like which can be pumped, are typically loaded into containers such as 55 gallon drums using a flexible hose with a manual on-off valve that is held by an operator over a four drum platform scale for filling four drums on a pallet. The facility may be provided with an inlet and/or outlet conveyor and sometimes a tarp or other makeshift containment structure may be utilized, but as a rule, such operations are poorly equipped and labor intensive, and therefore costly. Further, because of the lack of vapor and liquid containment facilities, such operations are potentially dangerous to the immediate operator(s) and to the environment in general. 
     There is, therefore, a need for a drum filling apparatus which overcomes these limitations of cost and danger, and specifically, an apparatus that can be utilized for quickly and reliably filling such drums, and it is an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus. 
     It is also an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that is conveniently moved from one location to another to conduct drum filling operations at various sites as needed. 
     It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method of filling containers such as drums utilizing such an apparatus. 
     Other objects, and the advantages, of the method and apparatus of the present invention will be made clear to those skilled in the art by the following description of a presently preferred embodiment thereof. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     These objects are achieved by providing an apparatus for filling a container with a flowable material comprising a base with inlet and outlet conveyors mounted on the base. An elongate frame is mounted to the base and the frame includes means for performing the operations of (1) positioning the opening of a container for introducing a flowable material into the container, (2) introducing the flowable material into the container through the opening, and (3) closing the container having the flowable material therein, and each of these three operations is performed at a different station on the frame. The frame is also provided with means for moving the container from one station on the frame to another and means for moving the container to be filled onto and off of the frame. In a preferred embodiment described herein, the base is mounted to a vehicle so that it is conveniently moved from one location to another. To facilitate the mobility of the filling apparatus of the present invention, in a particularly preferred embodiment, the inlet and outlet conveyors are positioned at angles to the frame and the angles are approximately right angles. The positioning of the inlet and outlet conveyors at right angles to the frame allows the base of the filling apparatus to be mounted to a vehicle of relatively small size and, therefore, increased mobility. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective, partially schematic view of a preferred embodiment of a filling apparatus constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic, top plan view of the filling apparatus of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of inlet and outlet conveyors of the filling apparatus of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the frame and carrier of the filling apparatus of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of the frame and carrier of the filling apparatus of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the frame and carrier of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the frame and carrier of the filling apparatus of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the outlet conveyor of the filling apparatus of FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of an apparatus for filling a container with a flowable material constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention is indicated generally at reference numeral  10 . Filling apparatus  10  is comprised of a base  12  having inlet and outlet conveyors  14 ,  16  mounted thereto. An elongate frame  18  is mounted to base  12  and is provided with means, indicated generally at reference numeral  20  in FIGS. 4 and 5, for moving a container to be filled from one station on the frame to another and means, indicated generally at reference numeral  22  in FIGS. 4 and 6, for moving the container onto and off of frame  18 . As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, inlet and outlet conveyors  14  and  16  are mounted to base  12  at an angle which is approximately a right angle to frame  18  such that base  12 , having conveyors  14 ,  16  and frame  18  mounted thereto, is compact and is therefore adapted to fit a relatively short wheelbase truck (not shown), trailer, or similar vehicle to facilitate moving filling apparatus  10  from one location to another. In a second preferred embodiment (not shown), base  12  comprises a skid for mounting to a trailer, railroad car, the deck of a boat or ship, or any other suitable surface for movement of base  12  from one location to another. 
     Also mounted to base  12  is a work area for the operator of filling apparatus  10 , indicated generally at reference numeral  24 . Work area  24  is provided with a vapor tight wall  26  between the drum filling area, indicated generally at  28  in FIG. 1, including three sets of gloves  30 A,  30 B, and  30 C at each of three stations along frame  18  for a purpose to be described below. A sump  32  is provided on base  12  for secondary material containment and an explosion proof vent blower (not shown) is mounted in the roof of the drum filling area  28  for additional personnel safety and environmental protection. Also included in work area  24  is the control panel and electronics, indicated generally at reference numeral  34 , for controlling the operation of drum filling apparatus  10 . Those skilled in the art will recognize that the method and apparatus described herein are suitable for use in filling almost any type of container. However, so far as is known, the containers most likely to be filled using the method and apparatus of the present invention are 55 gallon drums. For that reason, the invention is described herein by referring to such drums. 
     Referring now to FIG. 2, the operation of the filling apparatus  10  will now be described. Empty drums  36  are loaded onto inlet conveyor  14 , which is inclined as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, and roll down the incline on rollers  38  and onto frame  18 . As a drum rolls onto frame  18 , and as will be described in more detail below, it is positioned at a first station in which it is rotated so that the bung can be removed by automated machinery for that purpose and it is then purged with an inert gas such as nitrogen. The frame  18  is provided with means for moving the drum from this first station to second and third stations, and a scale is located under the second station. It is this second station at which the drum is filled with the flowable product and the bung is then replaced on the drum. At the third station, the bung is tightened and checked and a cap is added, and the drum is then moved onto the outlet conveyor  16 . In the preferred embodiment shown, outlet conveyor  16  is comprised of side-by-side “A” and “B” conveyors and filled drums are moved from the “A” conveyor to the “B” conveyor as needed so as to provide a “four pack” of drums at the end of outlet conveyor  16  for off-loading by a fork lift truck equipped with a conventional four head drum picker. 
     The inlet and outlet conveyors  14  and  16  are shown in more detail in FIG.  3 . Inlet conveyor  14  is provided with primary and secondary drum stops  40  and  42 , each comprised of a hydraulic piston, which work in alternating fashion to index and separate a single drum  36  from the group of drums which roll down inlet conveyor  14  (see FIG.  2 ). When the stops  42  are lowered, the weight of the drums  36  on inlet conveyor  14  tends to force the drum closest to frame  18  toward frame  18 , and when stops  40  are lowered, the drum closest to frame  18  rolls down onto a set of powered rollers  44  (see FIG. 4) mounted to frame  18 , the rollers  44  comprising a portion of the above-described means  22  for moving a container onto and off of frame  18 . Stops  40  raise up when cleared by that drum to prevent more than one drum  36  from rolling down onto the powered rollers  44 . The set of powered rollers  44  position the drum at the above-described first station, forward motion stopping when the drum contacts the drum rotator  46  (the drum  36   1  shown in FIG. 2 is positioned at this so-called first station). Pivot piston  48  is then actuated to lower the compression arm  50  from a first, raised position allowing the drum to pass to a second, lowered position behind the drum, compression arm  50  pivoting on the axis of compression piston  52 , which is journaled in the uprights  53 A and  53 B as shown in FIG.  4 . Compression piston  52  pushes compression arm  50 , having a pair of compression rollers  55  mounted thereto, against the drum to hold the empty drum against the rotator  46 . Drum rotator  46  is powered by a gearbox and motor, indicated generally at reference numeral  54 , and spins the empty drum against compression rollers  55  until it is positioned so that a conventional hydraulically- or air-activated bung remover (not shown) can access, unscrew, and lift the bung from the drum at the above-described first station. Activation of compression piston  52  causes the entire drum compression assembly (comprised of pivot piston  48 , compression arm  50 , and the reaction arm  57  against which pivot piston  48  bears to pivot the compression arm  50 ) to travel back and forth along the track formed by bars  59 A and  59 B mounted to uprights  53 A and  53 B. 
     In a particularly preferred embodiment, this operation is fully automated, the bung remover being lowered by hydraulics or compressed air when signaled by appropriate position sensing equipment (not shown) under control of a programmable logic controller. As shown at reference numeral  34 , the preferred embodiment of the drum filling apparatus of the present invention includes a control panel and that control panel is provided with suitable controls for operating a programmable microprocessor for sequencing this operation. Note also that, as shown in FIG. 1, the vapor-tight wall  26  is provided with a set of gloves  30 A at this first station such that the drum can be rotated and de-bunged manually. Indeed, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, all of the above-described handling of drums  36  is accomplished under the control of an operator utilizing suitable valves and switches. Regardless of whether drum positioning, rotating, and debunging is automated or accomplished manually, after the bung has been removed from the drum at this first station, the compression arm  50  retracts from the second, lowered position to the original, raised position. 
     Under operator control of the control of the programmable microprocessor operably connected to control panel  34 , the lifting balloons  56  (best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6) are inflated to the height of the balloon stops  58 , thereby lifting the drum clear of the powered rollers  44 . Carrier piston  60  is then retracted so that the drum carrier  62  is pulled under the drum on the bearings  64  running on the rails  66  mounted to frame  18 . The lifting balloons  56  then deflate to lower the drum onto drum carrier  62  and carrier piston  60  is extended to position the drum on the second of the three stations on frame  18 , the load cell, which is indicated generally at reference numeral  68 , the drum being lowered onto the scale plate  70 . Again, automated or manually-controlled filling operations are conducted at this second station on frame  18 , specifically, the filling of the drum  36   2  at the second position as shown in FIG.  2 . The scales (not shown) to which scale plate  70  are connected provide an output signal to the programmable logic controller connected to control panel  34  (or to a visual output display for reading by an operator) indicating that the drum  36   2  has been filled to the desired level. As shown schematically in FIG. 1, the filling equipment comprises an inlet hose  72  which extends through an access port  74  in the walls of the drum filling area  28 , on-off valve  76 , and retractable nozzle  78 , all of a type known in the art. While the drum  36   2  is filled, a new drum  36   2  is introduced at the first, rotator station. 
     After the drum is filled, a bung (not shown) is inserted into the drum and then the station-to-station moving means  20  repeats the above-described cycle, moving the filled drum  36   2  to the third station on frame  18  (the third station is represented by the drum  36   3  in FIG. 2) and moving an empty drum from which the bung has been removed from the first station to the second, filling station. As noted above, it is preferred that these operations occur under control of the programmable controller to which control panel  34  is operably connected, but all of these operations are also conducted by manually monitoring the increase in the weight of the drum and then closing the valve  76  and retracting the filling nozzle  78  from the drum  36   2  and so on. 
     At the third station, the bung is tightened, the filled, sealed drum is checked for a tight seal, and the bung is capped, all using conventional air or hydraulic-powered equipment such as is available in the art, or manually in the same manner as described above for each of the first two stations on frame  18 . As the lifting balloons  56  comprising a portion of station-to-station mover  22  deflate, the filled drum  36   3  at the third station is lowered onto a second set of powered rollers  80  located at the third station. When the motor  81  which powers rollers  80  is activated, the drum  36   3  rolls onto the outlet conveyor  16 , and by reference to FIGS. 1 and 3, it can be seen that the outlet conveyor  16  is inclined downwardly from frame  18 . The drum  36   3  exiting the third station on frame  18  therefore rolls down the “A” conveyor of outlet conveyor  16 . When a sufficient number of filled, capped drums accumulates on outlet conveyor  16 A as sensed by a photo eye (not shown) or as observed by the operator, a second lifting balloon  82  is inflated and the drum is raised on lifting plates  84  above the rollers  38  of outlet conveyor  16 A to the height of the lift stops  86 . Lifting plates  84  are mounted to a trolley  88  which moves back and forth from outlet conveyor  16 A to outlet conveyor  16 B under control of a lane change piston  90 . When piston  90  is retracted, trolley  88  carries the filled drum from outlet conveyor  16 A to the inboard outlet conveyor  16 B, and when the lift balloon  82  deflates, the drum is deposited on the rollers  38  comprising outlet conveyor  16 B and subsequently rolls down conveyor  16 B. 
     From the foregoing description, it can be seen that the filling apparatus of the present invention includes inlet and outlet conveyors mounted to a base, a frame likewise mounted to the base, means for moving a container onto and off of the frame, and means mounted to the frame for moving a container from station-to-station on the frame for performing the operations of (1) positioning the opening of a container for introducing a flowable material into the container, (2) introducing the flowable material into the container through the opening, and (3) closing the container having the flowable material therein, and that each of these three operations is performed at a different station on the frame. Those skilled in the art will recognize, however, that the description set out herein is a description of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention and that other embodiments can be constructed in accordance with the teachings set out herein which, for instance, may not conduct these specific operations at each specific station. It is envisioned, for instance, that the purging of the drums before filling can be conducted at the second station (indeed, it may not be necessary to purge at all depending upon the particular flowable material with which the drum is being filled) or that the bung may be inserted and tightened in the opening into the drum at the third station instead of inserted at the second station and tightened at the third as contemplated herein. 
     Similarly, those skilled in the art who have the benefit of this disclosure will recognize that certain changes can be made to the component parts of the apparatus of the present invention without changing the manner in which those parts function to achieve their intended result. For instance, the specific construction of the conveyors  14  and  16  and the means that is provided for moving the drums onto and off of the frame  18  may be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The powered rollers  44  can, for instance, be located on the frame  18  for moving the container being filled from one station to another and a pair of carriers such as the carrier  62  described herein can be used as the means described herein for moving the container onto and off of frame  18 . Indeed, automated conveying and handling equipment for conducting any one of the operations described herein is likely known in the industry; the focus of the present invention being on the combination of the automated conveying and handling equipment described herein. For that reason, any combination of belts, roller, pistons, trolleys, and/or similar such equipment which accomplishes the purpose described herein is intended to fall within the scope of the present invention, regardless of whether power is supplied by electricity, hydraulics, pneumatics, or any other source. For this same reason, as noted above, operation of the various drum handling and filling equipment may be accomplished manually rather than under the control of the programmable logic controller described herein, and such a change does not depart from the scope of the present invention. All such changes, and others which will be made clear to those skilled in the art by this description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, are intended to fall within the scope of the following, non-limiting claims.