Drum conditioner

A drum conditioner which is capable of providing an external force on a drum so as to crack and loosen powdered or other finely divided material therein which has solidified and hardened is disclosed. The drum conditioner includes two pairs of pressure rollers which provide pressure to the drum and help rotate the drum as it sits on a conveyer bed of rollers. The pair of pressure rollers in the rear are adjustable so as to accommodate different size drums. The front pair of pressure rollers are provided with a hydraulic cylinder to assist in providing and maintaining pressure between the pressure rollers and the object drum, regardless of the regularity of shape of the drum.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to drums or containers, and more particularly 
to a drum conditioner which is capable of providing an external force on a 
container so as to crack and loosen powdered products or other material in 
a finely divided state which has solidified and hardened within the 
container. 
It is well known in the industrial world that powdered material held in 
storage containers that have been sitting for long periods of time tends 
to solidify and harden and thus becomes difficult to remove and 
manipulate. Past solutions range from striking the outside of the 
container with a heavy object to shaking or stirring the contents of the 
container. Such efforts are often time consuming and do not generally 
prove effective in loosening the entire mass of material. 
It is thus one object of the present invention to provide a drum 
conditioner which quickly and effectively loosens a powdered or other 
finely divided product contained in the drum. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a drum conditioner 
which is capable of rotating the container or drum while pressure is 
applied on the outer surface of the drum so as to loosen the product 
around the perimeter of the product core, thus facilitating removal of the 
product from the drum. 
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a drum 
conditioner in which outside pressure is applied in a stepped profile 
along the length of the drum through the use of pressure rollers and in 
which opposing pressure points are staggered relative to each other so as 
to create cross-cracking in the product core as well as longitudinal 
cracking. 
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a drum 
conditioner which can accommodate different diameter drums. 
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a drum conditioner 
which can accommodate drums which are not perfectly circular in cross 
section while maintaining such a drum in working position. 
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a drum 
conditioner with a roller conveyer bed to facilitate the entry and exit of 
the drums. 
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a support 
surface for support of the drum during operation of the drum conditioner 
which is separate from the roller conveyer bed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to FIGS. 1 through 5, by the present invention there is provided 
a drum conditioner 10 having a base 12 and a main frame 14. The main frame 
14 has front 16, back 18, and top 20 portions and is provided with a 
central frame support 22 mounted to the top portion 20. The front portion 
16 of the main frame 14 is provided with a left 24 and right 26 gate 
assembly to facilitate manual entry and exit of the drums. The left 24 and 
right 26 gate assemblies each have a frame tube portion 28, 29 pivotally 
mounted on respective pivot rods 23, 25 connected to the central frame 
support 22 and the base 12. Also, a front pressure roller mounting 
weldment 32, 33 is mounted to the frame tube portion 28, 29 of both gate 
assemblies 24, 26. 
Each front pressure roller mounting weldment 32, 33 extends towards the 
center of the drum conditioner 10 and has a front pressure roller 34, 35 
rotatably mounted at its inner end. A hydraulic motor 36 is mounted on top 
of the left front pressure roller mounting weldment 32 with hydraulic 
pressure from unit 37 for providing power to the left front pressure 
roller 34 when the drum conditioner 10 is in operation. 
Each front pressure roller 34, 35 is provided with a series of pressure 
roller sleeves 38 which are slidably adjustable along the length of the 
respective roller 34, 35 to accommodate different drum heights and to 
avoid the top and bottom rims of the drum. The sleeves 38 on the left 
front pressure roller 34 are provided with knurled edges 40 and also with 
grooves 41 for the placement of O-rings 42. The knurled edges 40 and the 
O-rings 42 assist in providing extra traction on the object drum during 
rotation. Front pressure roller guards 44 are mounted to the frame tube 
portion 28, 29 of both gate assemblies 24, 26 for safety reasons. 
The front gate assemblies 24, 26 are equipped with a horizontally extending 
hydraulic cylinder 46 which is used to apply the pressure on the object 
drum. The left gate assembly 24 includes a hydraulic cylinder mounting 
assembly 48 which houses the hydraulic cylinder 46 and piston rod 47. The 
right gate assembly 26 is provided with a rod-end clevis attachment 50 
which engages the piston rod 47 during operation. The clevis attachment 50 
also is provided with a compression spring 52 to permit constant contact 
of the pressure roller sleeves 38 with the object drum during rotation in 
the event an out-of-round drum is used. The sleeves 38 are adjustable 
along the height of the front pressure rollers 34, 35 but are fixedly 
mounted during operation by means such as a cap screw 51 extending through 
a sleeve 38 to releasably attach the sleeve 38 to the roller, as shown in 
FIG. 3. 
The back portion 18 of the main frame 14 of the drum conditioner 10 is 
provided with back pressure roller mounting assemblies 54, 56 movably 
mounted to the central frame support 22 and the base 12. The back pressure 
roller mounting assemblies 54, 56 are fixedly secured to the central frame 
support 22 and the base 12 during operation. Back pressure rollers 58, 60 
are rotatably mounted to the mounting assemblies 54, 56 and are provided 
with sleeves 38. As with the front pressure rollers, the position of the 
sleeves 38 is adjustable by sliding the sleeves 38 along the back pressure 
rollers 58, 60. The sleeves 38 are fixedly mounted during operation. Back 
pressure roller guards 62 are also mounted to the mounting assemblies 54, 
56 for safety reasons. 
In one embodiment, the sleeves 38 on the back pressure rollers are 
positioned at different heights than the sleeves 38 on the front pressure 
rollers to provide horizontal pressure at different levels along the 
length of the drum 27. Thus, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, the back 
pressure roller 60 has seven sleeves 38 while the front pressure roller 35 
has six sleeves 38. The sleeves 38 are mutually aligned with the gaps 
between sleeves in the opposite pressure roller. The same condition is 
true for front pressure roller 34 and corresponding back pressure roller 
58. Such alignment thus provides pressure at different levels from 
diagonally opposed rollers 34, 60 and 35, 58 and assists in obtaining the 
desired cross-cracking in the core of the powdered product. 
As shown in FIG. 2, the back pressure roller mounting assemblies 54, 56 
include guides 55, guide rollers 57 and quick-pins 59 or similar 
releasable securing means to permit relocating these assemblies 54, 56 
radially inward or outward from the center of drum rotation so as to 
accommodate drums of different diameters. In FIGS. 5a and 5b, there are 
shown the respective positions of the various assemblies for use with a 
large sized drum and a small sized drum. 
The base 12 of the drum conditioner 10 is provided with a bed of rollers 64 
on which the object drum is moved in and out of the drum conditioner 10, 
as shown in FIGS. 1 through 3. Additionally, a raised set of three rollers 
66 is provided on the base 12 at a height slightly higher than the 
remaining roller bed 64 so as to allow the object drum to rotate during 
operation without dragging it across the bed of rollers 64. The raised 
rollers 66 are set at 90 degrees apart and radially outward from the 
center of drum rotation. This construction provides a support surface for 
the drum during operation which is somewhat forgiving to the exact center 
of the drum relative to the support surface. 
In operation, an object drum to be conditioned is placed on the bed of 
rollers 64, as shown in FIG. 4a, where it is then rolled to the center of 
the drum conditioner 10 to rest on the raised set of rollers 66. The back 
pressure roller mounting assemblies 54, 56 are set in place according to 
the diameter of the object drum such that the sleeves 38 on the back 
pressure rollers 58, 60 are in contact with the object drum. 
The front gate assemblies 24, 26 are then shut and connected by the clevis 
pin attachment 50 to the piston rod 47. The hydraulic cylinder 46 is 
retracted slightly by operating control levers 68 to compress the 
compression spring 52 enough to permit the sleeves 38 to float on the 
surface of the object drum to accommodate out-of-round drums. Hydraulic 
power is then supplied by the hydraulic motor 36 connected directly to the 
left front pressure roller 34, as shown in FIG. 4b, so as to rotate the 
object drum on the raised set of rollers 66 through the action of the 
O-rings 42 mounted in the grooves 41 of the pressure roller sleeves 38 on 
the left front pressure roller 34. This loosens the perimeter of the 
product core within the object drum. 
Next, the rotation phase is stopped, and the hydraulic cylinder 46 is 
retracted until the product core cracks. This is caused by the pressure 
created by the sleeves 38 on the front pressure rollers 34, 35. The 
hydraulic cylinder 46 is then extended to relieve pressure on the object 
drum. The object drum is then rotated manually on the raised set of 
rollers 66, as shown in FIG. 4c, and the hydraulic cylinder 46 is again 
retracted to crack the product core within the object drum. 
This process is repeated with manual rotation at increments of about 30 
degrees, for example, until the entire product core is loosened. The 
action of the four pressure rollers 34, 35, 58, 60 during operation 
creates vertical cracking of the product core within the object drum. This 
is combined with the horizontal cracking of the product core caused by the 
staggering of the sleeves 38 at alternating levels on diagonally opposite 
pressure rollers 34, 60 and 35, 58. The creation of both horizontal and 
vertical cracking of the product core within the object drum uniquely 
allows the entire product core to be loosened and easily removed from the 
object drum. 
The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing 
from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present 
embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative 
and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the 
appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes 
which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are 
therefore intended to be embraced therein.