A SHUTTLE FOR THE TRANSFER OF A FLUID SUBSTANCE BY MEANS OF A PRESSURE DIFFERENCE IN A TUBE, BETWEEN A FILLING STATION AND AN EMPTYING STATION, AND A DEVICE FOR FILLING AND/OR EMPTYING THE SHUTTLE

Abstract: A fluid substance is transferred in a shuttle (1) by means of a pressure difference in a tube, between a filling station and an emptying station, the end of the shuttle having an opening (8) covered by a closing member (9) which can be opened resiliently (11) towards the inside of the shuttle (1). The device for filling and/or emptying the shuttle has members for holding the shuttle (1) in place while it is being filled or emptied, and members for opening the closing member (9) and for filling and emptying the shuttle (1), the mutual position of the members for holding the shuttle (1) and the member for opening the closing member (9) at the filling and the emptying station being such or capable of being made such that the end of the opening member pushes through the opening (8) of the shuttle (1) into the shuttle to a distance beyond the closing member (9).

Description: A shuttle for the transfer of a fluid substance by means of a pressure difference in a tube, between a filling station and an emptying station, and a device for filling and/or emptying the shuttle The present invention relates to a shuttle for the transfe of a fluid substance, such as a liquid, granular or pulverous sample, by means of a pressure difference in a tube, between a filling station and an emptying station, the shuttle having at its end an opening which is covered by a closing member which can be opened. In addition, this invention relates to a device intended for the filling and or emptying of such a shuttle, the device having members for holding the shuttle in place while it is being filled or emptied, and members for opening the closing members and for filling or emptying the shuttle. There are previously known shuttles used for the transfer of fluid substances, the shuttles having at one end an opening which is provided with a thread and can be closed manually by means of a stopper, also threaded. Previously known is also a shuttle which can be filled and emptied automatically and has at one end an opening which can be closed with a plug which is pressed in. Such a plug can be pulled out, and pushed in mechanically in order to close the shuttle. The filling and the emptying of this shuttle are also fully automated. However, tne filling and the emptying require very complicated apparatus at both the filling station and the emptying station. Pulling out the plug and pushing it in, and turning tne shuttle upside down in order to empty it are motions which can be automate but require expensive robots. Thus there is very great need for a shuttle for transferrin OMPI by means of a pressure difference, a fluid substance in a tube between a filling station and an emptying station, and a device by means of which this shuttle can be filled and emptied more simply than previously, using structurally less expensive systems. The main characteristics of the shuttle according to the invention and the device for filling it are given in accompanying Claims 1 and 7. According to the present invention, the structure of the filling and the emptying devices can be made very simple by fitting in each opening of the shuttle a closing member which opens resiliently towards the inside of the shuttle, in which case the mutual position of the shuttle-holding members and the member opening the closing member at the filling or emptying station is such or can be made such that the end of the opening member pushes through the shuttle opening to a distance beyond the closing member, in order to open the closing member, so that the contents of the shuttle can be emptied or the shuttle can be filled. Since there is an opening at each end of the snuttle, the transfer tube between the filling station and the emptying station can be completely closed. According to the invention, there is thus an opening at each opposite end of the snuttle, the openings being provid with the above-mentioned closing members which open resiliently towards the inside of the shuttle. The closing member can be a ball or the like moving in the longitudinal direction of the shuttle against the action of a spring member. Also, since there is an opening with a closing member at each end of the shuttle, the shuttle need not be turned between the filling station and the,emptying station, a fact which considerably simplifies the automatic W system for filling and emptying. The shuttle-filling device has preferably a substantially downwards oriented filling tube which fits snugly in the opening of the shuttle and either extends so far that, whe the shuttle arrives at the filling station, it pushes thro the shuttle opening into the shuttle or, when the shuttle has been fixed at the filling station, pushes through the shuttle opening into the shuttle in order to fill the shuttle with a fluid. In the former case the closing membe of the shuttle opening is opened by the kinetic energy of the shuttle when the shuttle arrives at the filling station, a fact which further simplifies the structure of the filling device. At the opposite end of the pneumatic tube there is an emptying station, at which the opening of the closing membe of the opposite end of the shuttle has been arranged by means of a spindle which pushes from below through the shuttle opening into the shuttle, the thickness of the spindle being substantially smaller than the diameter of the opening, so that the fluid substance can, after the closing member has been opened, flow freely through the annular opening formed by the spindle and the opening into an outlet pipe below, inside which the spindle is fitted axially. The holder members in the filling and the emptying devices are preferably identical and may consist of two or several two-arm levers turning to substantially opposite sides of the opening members for the shuttle-closing member, about a shaft substantially transverse to the opening member, their first lever arm being shaped as a hook oriented towards the opening member, -the second lever arm being in operational contact with a slide ring member, which pusnes OMPI resiliently along the opening member and towards the second lever arm, in order to force the first lever arms to turn resiliently towards each other. In order to stop the shuttle which arrives at a speed at the filling or emptying station, there is between the first, hook-like lever arms and the opening members a resiliently compressible ring-lik gasketing stop. By means of the present invention there has been created a simpler and operationally more reliable filling and emptying device for a shuttle, and with the exception of th filling tubes and the emptying spindle, more or less simila parts can be used for both devices. In addition, both ends of the shuttle can be made from similar parts, a fact which considerably simplifies the manufacture of the shuttle. The invention is described below in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 depicts a cross sectional overall representation of a pneumatic-tube system according to the invention, connected to a process, Figure 2a depicts a cross section of one embodiment of tne filling device according to the invention during the fillin stage and Figure 2b depicts a side view of the same filling device, Figure 3a depicts a cross section of one emptying device according to the invention at the opening stage and the emptying stage (dotted line) of the shuttle-closing member and Figure 3b depicts a side view of the same device. Figure 4a depicts a cross sectional vertical representation of one shuttle according to the invention and Figure 4b depicts a side view of the same shuttle. In Figure 1, the shuttle is indicated by numeral 1, and it moves in tube 2 between the filling station 3 and the emptying station 4 by means of a pressure difference produced in the tube 2 in a manner known as such. The sample to be transferred is taken from the process flow 6 by means of a sample-taking device 5, which may be of the type described in Finnish Patent No. (Patent Application No. 81 0109) . The sample taken by means of the sample-taking device 5 is thereafter directed to the filling station 3, at which the sample is fed into the shuttle 1 after the shuttle has arrived at the filling station 3. When the shuttle .1 is full,it detaches from the filling station 3 and moves along the tube 2 to the emptyin station 4, at which the sample is removed from the shuttle 1 through the opening in its opposite end. The pneumatic-tube system according to the present inventio is used advantageously when the distance between the sample taking place and the analysis place is relatively long, for example 200 meters - 2 kilometers, or the transfer route is complicated or branches out to many points. The system according to the invention is suitable for small mass flows, for example 10 - 100 kg/hour. The transport system according to the invention can be used for the . transfer of a fluid substance, such as a liquid, granular or pulverous sample, for example for the transfer of a raw powder sample or cement sample in a cement factory, and especially advantageously it can be used for the automatic transfer of explosive substances, far from people and in such small batches that a possible explosion will not cause great damage. The shuttle shown in Figures 4a and 4b comprises a sleeve¬ like mantle 7 having at its opposite ends a conically converging section 12, its central opening 8 continuing as a tubular part 13 coaxially with the shuttle 1, the opening of the section 13 being encircled by a protruding collar 14, in which at least that surface which faces the shuttle 1 is beveled. Each opening 8 of the shuttle 1 is closed on the inside by means of a flap 9 pressing against the inner surface of the conical part 12, the flap being turnable, against the action of a spring 11 fitted between the flap 9 and the mantle 1, to move away from the opening about a shaft 10 attached to the inner wall of the mantle 7 on one side of the flap and being substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis of the shuttle 1. In Figure 4a, the open position of one flap is shown by dotted lines, and it shows that the flap opens advantageously about 90 . On the circumference of the shuttle 1 there are, furthermore, conventional encircling gasketing rings 16, which press against the inner wall of the tube 2 in order to guide the shuttle 1 and to maintain a sufficient pressure between its two ends. As can be seen in greater detail in Figure 2a, the shuttle 1 is filled by means of a filling tube 28 at the filling station 3, the tube 28 being oriented downwards and fitting snugly in the shuttle 1 opening, and extending so far beyo the holding members 17 and 22-24 fitted aroud it that the closing flap 9 fitted at the upper end of the shuttle is opened completely. The shuttle 1 is held in place during the filling by means of two-arm levers 17 wnich grip the collar 14 encircling the shuttle opening 3, the levers 17 having been fitted to turn to the opposite sides of the filling tube 28 and about a shaft 20 transverse to its longitudinal direction. The first and downward-oriented arm 18 of the two-arm lever 17 OMPt < O WIPO has a hook-like lower end and is fitted to snap over the collar 14 encircling the shuttle 1 opening in order to press the opening tightly against the resiliently compressible gasket 27, situated between the levers 17 and the filling tube 28 at the bottom of the cup-like stop 31 annularly encircling the filling tube 28. That surface 25 of the hook-like end of the first arm 18 of the lever 17 which faces the shuttle 1 is beveled in such a way that the collar 14 at the upper end of the shuttle 1 arriving at speed at the filling station forces the arms 18 away from each other in such a way that the collar 14 at the upper end of the shuttle 1 impinges against the resiliently compressible gasket 27 in the cup-like stop 31, whereby the hook-like ends of the first arms 18 of the levers 17 are snapped over the collar 14 in such a way that their surface 26, also beveled, facing the gasket 27 holds the shuttle 1 in place and presses its opening tightly against the gasket 27. The downwards oriented, hook-like arms 18 of the levers 17 have been fitted to be pressed resiliently towards each other by means of a spring member 23 fitted around the filling tube 28, the spring member 23 forcing a slide ring 22 situated around the same feeding member 28 down¬ wards towards the levers 17. From the slide ring 22 there protrude two arms 24, the lower ends of which press against the perpendicularly outwards oriented second lever arms 19 of the levers 17. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the hook-like arms 18 are in the open position when the shuttle 1 arrives at the filling or emptying station, and close immediately when the shuttle 1 stops. The closing and opening of the hook-like levers 13 is achieved by means of a specific actuator (not shown) , which acts on the second lever arm 19 of the levers 17 in order to force it against the action of the spring member 23 and the slide ring 22 with its arms 24, i.e. upwards in the case depicted in Figures 2a and 2b. Alternatively, although not as advantageously, the force of the spring member 23 can be adjusted to a sufficient level to hold the shuttle 1 in place when the shuttle 1 is full, but preferably weak enough for the shuttle 1 to detach from the grip of the hook-like arms 18 when suction is created in the tube 2 to detach the shuttle 1 and to transfer it to the emptying station 4. Furthermore, it is evident that the filling tube 23 can be a vertically moving tube which, after the attachment of the shuttle 1, can be pushed vertically downwards into the shuttle 1 in order to open the closing flap 9 and to fill the shuttle, and can thereafter be withdrawn from the shuttle 1. The emptying device depicted in Figures 3a and 3b is completely identical with the filling device depicted in Figures 2a and 2b, except that the emptying device has been inverted and in it the filling tube 28 has been replaced by a vertically moving spindle 29, which has a diameter substantially less than the diameter of the lower opening of the shuttle 1, so that the substance in the shuttle 1 can flow through the annular opening left between the spindle 29 and the shuttle 1 opening 8 into an outlet tube 30 below the gasketing stop 27, 31, the spindle 29 bei fitted inside the outlet pipe 30. The upper end of the spindle 29 has a convex knob 32 which fits snugly in the shuttle 1 opening 8 and guiαes the spindle 29 into the opening 3 of the shuttle and facilitates the opening of the flap 9. The emptying device 4 can, furthermore, be provided with a OMPI vibrator device (not shown) , which ensures that the shuttle is completely empitied when the flap 9 is open, OMPI

Claims: Claims 1. A shuttle for transferring a fluid substance by means of a pressure difference in a tube (2) , between a filling station and an emptying station (3 and 4) , the end of the shuttle (1) having an opening (8) covered by a closing member (9) which can be opened resiliently (11) towards the inside of the shuttle (1), c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the opposite end of the shuttle (1) also has an openin (3) covered by a closing member (9) which can be opened resiliently towards the inside of the shuttle, thus enablin the shuttle (1) to be filled and emptied without opening the tube (2) . 2. A shuttle according to Claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z i n that the openings (8) at the opposite ends of the shuttle (1) are, in a manner known as such, smaller than the cross sectional area of the shuttle. 3. A shuttle according to Claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that at least one of the closing members (9) is a flap (9) which, advantageously, turns substantially completely away from the respective opening (8) towards the inside of the shuttle (1) against the action of the spring member (11) , about a shaft (10) which is attached to the side wall of the shuttle (1) and is transverse to the longitudinal direction of the shuttle. 4. A shuttle according to any of tne above claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that at least one end of the cylindrical shuttle (1) is fitted, in a manner known as such, to converge (12) conically towards its opening (3) the respective closing member (9) being shaped so that it settles tightly against the said conical surface (12) . 5. A shuttle according to any of the above claims. U £4 WIPO c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that on its outer circumference, in the vicinity of the opening or openings (8) , there have been formed several depressions or one ring-like depression, known as such, encircling it. 6. A shuttle according to Claim 5, c h a r a c t e r i z i n that at least one of the openings (8) consists of a tubular neck * section (13) the opening of which is encircled by a protruding collar (14) . 7. A device for filling, transferring and emptying the shuttle according to any of the above claims, having member for holding the shuttle (1) in place while it is being filled and emptied, members for opening the closing member (9) and for filling and emptying the shuttle (1) , and a tube (2) for transferring the shuttle (1) between the filling station and the emptying station (3 and 4) , the mutual position of the shuttle (1) holding members (17, 22-24) and the member (28 or 29) for opening the closing member (9) at the filling station and the emptying station (3 and 4) being such or capable of being made such- that the end of the opening member (28 or 29) pushes through the shuttle (1) opening (8) into the shuttle to a distance beyond the closing member (9) , and preferably past the turning shaft (10) of the closing member (9) of the shuttle (1) according to Claim 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the tube (2) between the filling station and the emptying station (3 and 4) is completely closed. 8. A device according to Claim 7 for filling the shuttle, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the member for opening the closing member (9) and for filling the shuttle (1) is a substantially downwards oriented filling tube (23) which fits snugly in the opening of the shuttle in a closed tube (2) . f OMPI W1PO 9. A device according to Claim 7 for emptying the shuttle, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the member for opening the closing member (9) and for emptying the shuttle (1) ' is a spindle (29) which can be pushed substantially upwards into the shuttle in a closed tube (2) through its opening (8) , the spindle being substantially thinner than the opening (8) and being advantageously fitted to push from the tube (30) which receives the substance flowing from the shuttle (1) . 10. A device according to Claim 7, 8 or 9, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the shuttle-holding members (17, 22-24) consist of at least two two-arm levers (17) which turn to substantially opposite sides of the member (28 or 29) opening the closing member (9) of the shuttle (1) and turn about a shaft (20) substantially transverse to the opening member, the first lever arm (13) of the levers (17) having the shape of a hook oriented towards the opening member (23 or 29) , the second lever arm (19) being in operational contact with a slide ring member (22, 24) sliding resiliently (23) along the opening member (28 or 29) and towards the second lever arm (19) in order to force the first lever arms (18) to turn resiliently towards each other, and between the first, hook-like lever arms (18) and the opening member (28 or 29) there is a resiliently compressible, ring-like gasketin stop (27, 31) . 11. A device according to Claim 10, c h a r a c t e r i z i n that that surface (25) of the hook-like ends of the first lever arms (18) which faces the shuttle (1) is bevele towards the opening member (28 or 29) in the shuttle arrival direction. 12. A device according to Claim 10 or 11, c h a r a c t e OMPI iPo i z e d i n that that surface (26) of the hook-like ends of the first lever arms (18) which faces the gasketing stop (27) is beveled in such a way that the firs lever arms (18) , when pressing resiliently (23) towards each other, at the same time press the opening (14) of the shuttle (1) against the gasket (27) of the gasketing stop (27, 31). OMPI

Inventors: NORDENSWAN ERIK TORSTEN, NORDENSWAN, ERIK, TORSTEN
Applicants: PARTEK AB, OY PARTEK AB
Application year: 1982
Main classification: B65G51
IPC codes: B65G51