Patent GB-885909-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to gas purification apparatus
Inventor: INGHAM CLEMENT
IPC: C10K1/22
Filed: 1957-11-08
Abstract: 885,909. Gas purifying plants. HOLMES & CO. Ltd., W. C. Nov. 10, 1958 [Nov. 8, 1957], No. 34821/57. Class 55 (2). In apparatus for removing purification material from containers used in a gas purification process, a cutter is adapted to project downwardly into an open-topped container, a conveyer or elevator is adapted to have its receiving end projecting into the container and means are provided for imparting relative movement between the container and both the cutter and the conveyer or elevator. As shown, containers 12 have spent purification material removed from them at station 11 and are replenished with fresh or revivified material at station 13. A power-driven turntable 18 is provided at station 11 to support a container 12 adjacent to a building 19 which houses apparatus for treating purification material removed from a container. Two sets of vertical bearings 20, 21 are secured on the wall of the building 19 adjacent to the turntable 18, digging apparatus being mounted on one set 20 of the bearings and an elevator being mounted on the other set 21. The digging apparatus comprises a horizontal arm 22 having one end rotatable and slidable on vertical bearings 20, and a series of rotary cutters 23 carried by and projecting downwardly from the arm. An electric motor 24 mounted on arm 22 is operatively connected through reduction gearing 25 to the rotary cutters 23 which are interconnected by gearing (not shown) for simultaneous rotation. The arm 22 can be swung about the vertical bearings 20 from a position clear of the turntable 18 (as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5) to its operative position disposed radially above the turntable. Arm 22 can be raised and lowered on the vertical bearings to carry the cutters clear of the top of a container on the turntable and to feed the cutters into the container. Cutters 23 are so disposed along arm 22 that, when lowered into a container, they will extend along a radial path between inner and outer walls 15, 14 of the container. A motor-driven screw-jack mechanism is provided for raising and lowering the digging apparatus. Elevator 30 is of the bucket-type enclosed in a duct 31 which is supported in an inclined position by brackets 32 which are rotatable and slidable on the set of vertical bearings 21. The lower end of the duct is open and the elevator buckets project through the open end as the elevator is driven. The upper end of the duct 31 is closed but leads into a downwardly directed cylindrical tube 33, telescopically slidable in tube 34 on top of building 19. Screw jack 35 serves to raise and lower the elevator and its duet, the arrangement being such that, when the duet is raised to bring its lower end above the top of a container on the turntable, the downwardly directed tube 33 or its upper end will be withdrawn from the fixed tube 34, and the elevator and duct can then be swung about the vertical bearings clear of the container and turntable. Arm 22 carrying cutters 23 has blades 36 disposed adjacent and adapted to engage with material loosened by the cutters 23 when the turntable is rotating, and direct the material into a path on the same radius as the lower end of the elevator 30. The lower end of the elevator duct 31 also has blades 38 which will cause the loosened material to pass directly beneath the elevator. The fixed tube 34 on top of building 19 leads downwardly into a circular open-topped tank 40 above which a diametrically disposed beam 41 is rotatable about the vertical axis of the tank. The beam is carried by a vertical shaft 42 driven by an electric motor 43, and it carries a series of blades 44 which depend into the tank 40 for engagement with material therein. The blades 44 are arranged to agitate the material whilst water is sprayed thereon, and gradually to impel the material towards an outlet opening (not shown) in the bottom of the tank. A belt conveyer 45 is disposed immediately beneath the outlet opening to carry the treated material away for further use. A bypass 46 communicates with tube 34 leading to tank 40, and a deflector plate (not shown) is provided for causing material falling down tube 34 to pass via by-pass 46 to a conveyer 47. The deflector plate can be positioned so as to deliver all or part only of the material to by-pass 46, or to permit all the material to fall into tank 40. An auxiliary cutter may be mounted on a spring loaded arm pivoted about the axis of the outermost cutter 23 from which the auxiliary cutter is driven, a wheel on the jockey arm riding on the inner side of the container wall. Since this auxiliary cutter will follow the contour of the container, material adhering to the corners of octagonal containers will be dislodged. An extractor fan 48 is connected by a duct 49 to the agitating tank 40 so as to withdraw dust-laden air from the tank, vertical tubes 33, 34, and elevator duct 31.