Patent Number: 050135201
Section: description

Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly, to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, there is seen an apparatus having two guide rails 2 for a base plate 3. The guide rails 2 are stationary with respect to a frame 4 on which a support plate 5 is secured. The base plate 3 has an opening or duct 6 formed therein, through which an elongated can 7 of square cross section extends, so as to form a holder for the can. The longitudinal axis of the can 7 is at right angles to the base plate 3 and to the guide rails 2, which are parallel to one another. A cylinder 8 that can be acted upon by compressed air is mounted on the base plate 3 and contains a piston that can be displaced at right angles to the base plate 3. A lever 9 is articulated on the piston and secured to an elongated, rotatable eccentric shaft 10. The eccentric shaft 10 has an axis of rotation parallel to the base plate 3 and to one side wall 7a of the can 7, and the eccentric shaft is rotatably supported on the base plate 3 about the axis of rotation thereof. A bevel gear 11 is also mounted on one end of the eccentric shaft 10, concentrically with the axis of rotation of the eccentric shaft 10. The bevel gear 11 meshes with a further bevel gear 12. The bevel gear 12 is mounted on a shaft 13, which is likewise rotatably supported on the base plate 3 with an axis of rotation parallel to the base plate 3. The axes of rotation of the eccentric shaft 10 and of the shaft 13 are at right angles to one another. An eccentric 15 guided in a connecting link 14 is mounted on the shaft 13. A hollow rod 16 with a support element 17 is located at the connecting link 14. A non-illustrated die rod is guided inside the hollow rod 16 and secured on the rod 16 by a pin 18. A retaining die 19 is mounted outside the hollow rod 16, on one end of the die rod, and the retaining die is capable of resting flat on a side wall 7b of the can 7 adjacent the side wall 7a. Between the support element 17 and the retaining die 19 on the die rod is a spring assembly being formed of plate springs 20. Two blocks 25 and 26 are disposed on the support plate 5. A rail 27 is attached to the block 25, and a rail 28 is attached to the block 26. The rails 27 and 28 are at right angles to the support plate 5 and thus to the base plate 3 as well, and they are parallel to the longitudinal direction of the can 7. A carriage 31 or 32, provided with respective guide rollers 29 or 30, is displaceably guided on each rail 27 or 28, respectively, parallel to the longitudinal direction of the can 7. A respective fuel rod positioning arm 33 or 34 is attached to each carriage 31 and 32. The fuel rod positioning arms 33 and 34 are parallel to the support plate 5 and the base plate 3 and are at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the can 7. Each fuel rod positioning arm 33 and 34 forms an insertion end for insertion into the can 7, through a crosswise slit 7c in the side wall 7d opposite the side wall 7a of the can 7. A support structure 35 for fuel rods 36 to be inserted into the can 7 is attached to the two insertion ends of the fuel rod positioning arms 33 and 34. The support structure 35 is pivotable back and forth about a pivot axis of a shaft 37, which is at right angles to the insertion direction of the fuel rod positioning arms 33 and 34 into the can 7 and at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the can 7. The pivot axis 37 is also parallel to the side walls 7a and 7d of the can 7. A shaft 38 is supported in both carriages 31 and 32 and is parallel to the pivot axis 37 of the support structure 35. Mounted on the shaft 38 are two levers 39 and 40, each of which has two lever arms. A rod is pivotably connected to each lever arm of the two levers 39 and 40. Of the four rods connected to the lever arms, rods 42 and 44 on the lever 40 and a rod 41 on the lever 39 are seen in FIG. 1. The other ends of the four rods are pivotably connected to holders 45 and 46, which are secured to the side of the support structure 35. As can be seen particularly from FIG. 3, the support structure 35 is a tubular half-shell. Within a pivot angle sigma as measured from the pivot axis 37, the support structure 35 has a plurality of fuel rod support surfaces 47 and 48 on its jacket surface which are offset from and alongside one another in the direction of the pivot axis 37. One fuel rod support surface 47 changes from a segment in which it has a shorter radial spacing 49 from the pivot shaft 37 than the two fuel rod support surfaces 48 adjacent thereto, into a different segment in which it has a greater radial spacing 49 from the pivot axis 37 than the adjacent support surfaces 48. The radial spacings 49 and 50 of the two adjacent support surfaces 47 and 48 from the pivot axis 37 also increases in an infinitely graduated manner in opposite directions within the pivot angle sigma. A plate 49' is secured to the blocks 25 and 26 and a cylinder 50' that can be subjected to compressed air is located on the underside of the plate 49'. Inside the cylinder 50' is a piston, which is displaceable at right angles to the support plate 5 and has a piston rod 51 that is secured to a transverse plate 52. The transverse plate 52 is in turn secured to the fuel rod positioning arms 33 and 34. Finally, a gear wheel 53 that meshes with a rack 54 is mounted on the shaft 38. The rack 54 is mounted on a plate 55, which stands vertically on the support plate 5 and is secured to the support plate 5 and to the plate 49. Thus the rack 54 is likewise at right angles to the support plate 5. The eccentric shaft 10 is a counterpart structure to the support structure 35. Accordingly, the eccentric shaft 10 has grooves 56 formed therein in the circumferential direction thereof, which form an external toothing on the jacket surface. By rotation of the eccentric shaft 10, these grooves 56 forming the toothing can be inserted into the can 7 through a transverse slit 7e in the side 7a of the can 7. The transverse slit 7e is located at the same height as the transverse slit 7c in the opposite side wall 7d of the can 7. When the grooves 56 of the eccentric shaft 7 forming the toothing are inserted into the transverse slit 7e, a support surface 57 on the jacket surface of the eccentric shaft 10 for holding the can simultaneously presses against the edge of the side wall 7b in the transverse slit 7e. After the insertion of the can 7 into the opening 6, the cylinder 8 is subjected to compressed air. This rotates the eccentric shaft 10 so that the grooves 56 forming the toothing are inserted into the transverse slit 7e of the can 7. At the same time, the retaining die 19 is pressed externally against the side wall 7b of the can 7, so that the can 7 is firmly retained in a holder formed by the base plate 3, with its longitudinal axis at right angles to the base plate 3. A spindle 60 is driven by switching on a non-illustrated electric motor. The spindle 60 has a spindle nut 61 associated therewith, which is secured on a tube 62. A stop element 63 is secured to the tube 62. A slide block 64 is displaceably disposed on the tube 62 between the spindle nut 61 and the stop element 63, and secured to the underside of the base plate 3. Mounted on the tube between the spindle nut 61 and the sliding block 64 is a compression spring acting as a resilient restoring element 65, which is braced in a direction toward both the spindle nut 61 and the sliding block 64. The base plate 3 is therefore displaced on the guide rails 2 toward the support plate 5, so that the fuel rod positioning arms 33 and 34 with the support structure 35 pass through the transverse slit 7c of the can 7 into the can 7 until the support structure 35 comes to a stop at the eccentric shaft 10. The support surfaces 47 of the support structure 35 and the grooves 56 of the toothing of the eccentric shaft 10 then form guide conduits 59 in the longitudinal direction of the can 7 on the inner surface of the side wall 7a of the can 7. The fuel rods 36 are then introduced into these guide channels 59 from the top end of the can 7. The cylinder 50' is then subjected to compressed air, and the piston rod 51 is moved into another of two terminal positions. In this waY the carriages 31 and 32 are displaced on the plate 49'. At the same time, the gear wheel 53 rolls along the rack 54 and pivots the levers 39 and 40. As a result, the support structure 35 is pivoted through the rods 41-44 about the pivot shaft 37 by the pivot angle sigma. The support structure 35 rolls along the fuel rods 36, and with the fuel rods 36 located on the inside of the side wall 7a of the can 7, forms new guide channels in the longitudinal direction of the can 7. Each new guide channel is located between two fuel rods 36 resting on the inside of the side wall 7a. During this pivoting process, the base plate 3, which is the holder for the can 7, is thrust away from the support plate 5 on the guide rails 2 counter to the compression spring acting as the resilient restoring element 65. Further fuel rods are thereupon inserted into the new channels. Next, after the electric motor is switch on, the compression spring is relieved by moving the base plate 3 toward the guide rails 2, away from the base plate 5. Thereupon the cylinder 50' is subjected to compressed air in such a way that the piston rod 51 moves to its opposite terminal position. As a result the support structure 35 pivots back again by the pivot angle sigma and rolls along the fuel rods located in the can 7 into the position shown in FIG. 1. As a result, guide channels are again formed in the longitudinal direction of the can 7, between the most recently inserted fuel rods, for the insertion of new fuel rods. By repeating this alternation and gradually increasing the distance of the base plate 3 from the support plate 5, the can 7 can finally be completely filled with fuel rods in a close-packed structure. The foregoing is a description corresponding in substance to European Application 88 11 3815.0, dated Aug. 24, 1988, the International priority of which is being claimed for the instant application, and which is hereby made part of this application. Any material discrepancies between the foregoing specification and the aforementioned corresponding German application are to be resolved in favor of the latter.