Hopper outlet structure for pneumatic unloading

Claim 2

An outlet structure adapted to be secured beneath a hopper comprising: a pair of oppositely facing side walls sloping downwardly toward each other in a generally smooth relation and having spaced lower portions defining a hopper discharge opening; a pair of end walls connecting the sloping side walls; a housing integral with the spaced lower portions of the side walls and extending longitudinally between the end walls for receiving lading therein, said housing having a lower trough-shaped internal periphery; a bearing ring secured to the outer surface of each end wall, the lower inner surface of said ring having an internal periphery at least as great as the internal periphery of said housing; a sleeve rotatably mounted about the outer surface of each bearing ring, said sleeve having a lower internal periphery at least as great as the lower internal periphery of said bearing ring; the lower internal peripheries of said housing, bearing ring and sleeve being essentially free of projections causing lading passing therethrough to be trapped thereby; a valve member having an arcuate cross section extending longitudinally between the sleeves and transversely between the spaced lower portions of the side walls; means on said sleeves securing end portions of the valve member to the sleeves in a suspended relation for rotation with the sleeves; said valve member having at least one first valve opening therein adjacent one longitudinal end portion thereof and at least one second valve opening adjacent the other longitudinal end portion, said first valve opening being offset with respect to said second valve opening; said valve being movable between a fully closed position wherein said valve completely closes off said hopper discharge opening and a plurality of open positions wherein one of said first and second valve openings is in communication with said hopper discharge opening while the other of said first and second valve openings is closed, said arcuate valve cross section comprising an angle sufficiently less than 360* whereby in partly open positions the lower internal periphery of said housing is substantially unobstructed by said valve; whereby the lading may be discharged first from one end of said hopper discharge opening through onE of said first and second valve openings and then from the other end of said hopper discharge opening through the other of said first and second valve openings, the lading passing through a first conduit the lower surface of which is defined by said trough-shaped internal periphery and the upper surface of which is defined by said valve member, and then through a second conduit, the lower surface of which is defined by said bearing ring and the upper surface of which is defined by said valve member and then through a third conduit defined by said sleeves; and whereby a vacuum applied to said third conduit to discharge the lading is applied to the entire longitudinal length of the gap between said valve and said housing with essentially no dead areas whereby lading located in said gap may be removed by the action of said vacuum, and whereby any lading trapped between said valve member and said fixed housing which is not removed by the action of said vacuum can drop into said first conduit as said valve member is rotated back and forth and thus be discharged through said first, second and third conduits; said outlet being sufficiently effective in discharging lading that essentially all of the lading passing into the outlet is removed during discharge, and it is not necessary to disassemble the outlet prior to discharging a lading different than that previously discharged.

Claim 3

An outlet structure adapted to be secured beneath a hopper comprising: a pair of oppositely facing side walls sloping downwardly toward each other in a generally smooth relation and having spaced lower portions defining a hopper discharge opening; a pair of end walls connecting the sloping side walls; a housing integral with the spaced lower portions of the side walls and extending longitudinally between the end walls for receiving lading therein, said housing having a lower trough-shaped internal periphery; a bearing ring secured to the outer surface of each end wall, the lower inner surface of said ring having an internal periphery at least as great and substantially continuous with the internal periphery of said housing; a sleeve rotatably mounted about the outer surface of each bearing ring, said sleeve having a lower internal periphery greater than the lower internal periphery of said bearing ring; the lower internal peripheries of said housing, bearing ring and sleeve being essentially free of projections causing lading passing therethrough to be trapped thereby; a valve member having an arcuate cross section extending longitudinally between the sleeves and transversely between the spaced lower portions of the side walls; means on said sleeves securing end portions of the valve member to the sleeves in a suspended relation for rotation with the sleeves; said valve member having at least one first valve opening therein adjacent one longitudinal end portion and at least one second valve opening adjacent the other longitudinal end portion, said first valve opening being offset with respect to said second valve opening; said valve being movable between a fully closed position wherein said valve completely closes off said hopper discharge opening and a plurality of open positions wherein one of said first and second valve openings is in communication with said hopper discharge opening while the other of said first and second valve openings is closed, said arcuate valve cross section comprising an angle sufficiently less than 360* wyereby in partly open positions the lower internal periphery of said housing is substantially unobstructed by said valve; whereby the lading may be discharged first from one end of said hopper discharge opening through one of said first and second valve openings and then from the other end of said hopper discharge opening through the other of said first and second valve openings, the lading passing through a first conduit the lower surface of which is defined by said trough-shaped internal periphery and the upper surface of which is defined by said valve member, And then through a second conduit, the lower surface of which is defined by said bearing ring and the upper surface of which is defined by said valve member and then through a third conduit defined by said sleeve; and whereby a vacuum applied to said third conduit to discharge the lading is applied to the entire longitudinal length of the gap between said valve and said housing with essentially no dead areas whereby lading located in said gap may be removed by the action of said vacuum, and whereby any lading trapped between said valve member and said fixed housing which is not removed by the action of said vacuum can drop into said first conduit as said valve member is rotated back and forth and thus be discharged through said first, second and third conduit; said outlet being sufficiently effective in discharging lading that essentially all of the lading passing into the outlet is removed during discharge, and it is not necessary to disassemble the outlet prior to discharging a lading different from that previously discharged.

Claim 4

An outlet structure adapted to be secured beneath a hopper comprising: a pair of oppositely facing side walls sloping downwardly toward each other in a generally smooth relation and having spaced lower portions defining a hopper discharge opening; a pair of end walls connecting the sloping side walls; a housing integral with the spaced lower portions of the side walls and extending longitudinally between the end walls for receiving lading therein, said housing having a lower trough-shaped internal periphery; a bearing ring secured to the outer surface of each end wall, the lower inner surface of said ring having an internal periphery at least as great and substantially continuous with the internal periphery of said housing; a sleeve rotatably mounted about the outer surface of each bearing ring, said sleeve having a lower internal periphery greater than the lower internal periphery of said bearing ring; the lower internal peripheries of said housing, bearing ring and sleeve being essentially free of projections causing lading passing therethrough to be trapped thereby; a valve member having an arcuate cross section extending longitudinally between the sleeves and transversely between the spaced lower portions of the side walls; means on said sleeves securing end portions of the valve member to the sleeves in a suspended relation for rotation with the sleeves; said valve member having at least one first valve opening therein adjacent one longitudinal end portion and at least one second valve opening adjacent the other longitudinal end portion, said first valve opening being offset with respect to said second valve opening; said valve being movable between a fully closed position wherein said valve completely closes off said hopper discharge opening and a plurality of open positions wherein one of said first and second valve openings is in communication with said hopper discharge opening while the other of said first and second valve openings is closed, said arcuate valve cross section comprising an angle sufficiently less than 360* wyereby in partly open positions the lower internal periphery of said housing is substantially unobstructed by said valve; whereby the lading may be discharged first from one end of said hopper discharge opening through one of said first and second valve openings and then from the other end of said hopper discharge opening through the other of said first and second valve openings, the lading passing through a first conduit the lower surface of which is defined by said trough-shaped internal periphery and the upper surface of which is defined by said valve member, And then through a second conduit, the lower surface of which is defined by said bearing ring and the upper surface of which is defined by said valve member and then through a third conduit defined by said sleeve; and whereby a vacuum applied to said third conduit to discharge the lading is applied to the entire longitudinal length of the gap between said valve and said housing with essentially no dead areas whereby lading located in said gap may be removed by the action of said vacuum, and whereby any lading trapped between said valve member and said fixed housing which is not removed by the action of said vacuum can drop into said first conduit as said valve member is rotated back and forth and thus be discharged through said first, second and third conduit; said outlet being sufficiently effective in discharging lading that essentially all of the lading passing into the outlet is removed during discharge, and it is not necessary to disassemble the outlet prior to discharging a lading different from that previously discharged.

Claim 5

An outlet according to claim 2 wherein said first and second valve openings comprise first and second oppositely facing dentate portions.

Claim 6

An outlet structure as set forth in claim 3 wherein first and second marginal edge portions are provided adjacent said first and second dentate portions, said first marginal edge portion projecting beyond said second dentate portion a sufficient distance to close a first end of said hopper discharge outlet when said second dentate portion is in communication with a second end of said hopper discharge outlet, and said second marginal edge portion projecting beyond said first dentate portion a sufficient distance to close a second end of said hopper discharge outlet when said first dentate portion is in communication with a first end of said hopper discharge outlet.

Claim 7

An outlet structure according to claim 4 including an end cap removably positioned adjacent each of the sleeves.

Claim 8

An outlet structure adapted to be secured beneath a hopper comprising: a pair of oppositely facing side walls sloping downwardly toward each other in a generally smooth relation and having spaced lower portions defining a hopper discharge opening; a pair of end walls connecting the sloping side walls; a housing integral with the spaced lower portions of the side walls and extending longitudinally between the end walls for receiving lading therein; said housing having a generally trough-shaped internal periphery; a bearing ring secured to the outer surface of each end wall, the lower inner surface of said ring having an internal periphery at least as great and substantially the same as the internal periphery of said housing; a sleeve rotatably mounted about the outer surface of each bearing ring, said sleeve having a lower internal periphery greater than the lower internal periphery of said bearing ring; the lower internal peripheries of said housing, bearing ring and sleeve being essentially free of projections causing lading passing therethrough to be trapped thereby; a valve member having an arcuate cross section extending longitudinally between the sleeves and transversely between the spaced lower portions of the side walls; means on said sleeves securing end portions of the valve member to the sleeves in a suspended relation for rotation with the sleeves; said valve member having at least one first valve opening therein adjacent one longitudinal end portion and at least one second valve opening adjacent the other longitudinal end portion, said first and second valve openings being offset with respect to each other and comprising oppositely facing first and second dentate portions; said valve member further comprising first and second margin portions adjacent said first and second dentate portions, said first margin portion projecting beyond said second dentate portion a sufficient distance to close a first end of said hopper discharge outlet when said second dentate portion is in communication with a second end of saId hopper discharge outlet, and said second margin portion projecting beyond said first dentate portion a sufficient distance to close a second end of said hopper discharge outlet when said first dentate portion is in communication with a first end of said hopper discharge outlet, said valve being movable between a fully closed position wherein said valve completely closes off said hopper discharge opening and a plurality of open positions wherein one of said first and second valve openings is in communication with said hopper discharge opening while the other of said first and second valve openings is closed, said arcute valve cross section comprising an angle sufficiently less than 360* whereby in partly open positions the lower internal periphery of said housing is substantially unobstructed by said valve whereby the lading may be discharged first from one end of said hopper discharge opening through one of said first and second valve openings and then from the other end of said hopper discharge opening through the other of said first and second valve openings, the lading passing through a first conduit the lower surface of which is defined by said trough-Shaped internal periphery and the upper surface of which is defined by said valve member, and then through a second conduit, the lower surface of which is defined by said bearing ring and the upper surface of which is defined by said valve member and then through a third conduit defined by said sleeve; and whereby a vacuum applied to said third conduit to discharge the lading is applied to the entire longitudinal length of the gap between said valve and said housing with essentially no dead areas whereby lading located in said gap may be removed by the action of said vacuum, and whereby any lading trapped between said valve member and said fixed housing which is not removed by the action of said vacuum can drop into said first conduit as said valve member is rotated back and forth and thus be discharged through said first, second and third conduits; said outlet being sufficiently effective in discharging lading that essentially all of the lading passing into the outlet is removed during discharge, and it is not necessary to disassemble the outlet prior to discharging a lading different from that previously discharged.

Claim 9

An outlet structure adapted to be secured beneath a hopper comprising: a pair of oppositely facing side walls sloping downwardly toward each other in a generally smooth relation and having spaced lower portions defining a hopper discharge opening; a pair of end walls connecting the sloping side walls; a housing integral with the spaced lower portions of the side walls and extending longitudinally between the end walls for receiving lading therein; said housing having a generally trough-shaped internal periphery; a bearing ring secured to the outer surface of each end wall, the lower inner surface of said ring having an internal periphery at least as great and substantially the same as the internal periphery of said housing; a sleeve rotatably mounted about the outer surface of each bearing ring, said sleeve having a lower internal periphery greater than the lower internal periphery of said bearing ring; the lower internal peripheries of said housing, bearing ring and sleeve being essentially free of projections causing lading passing therethrough to be trapped thereby; a valve member having an arcuate cross section extending longitudinally between the sleeves and transversely between the spaced lower portions of the side walls; means on said sleeves securing end portions of the valve member to the sleeves in a suspended relation for rotation with the sleeves; said valve member having at least one first valve opening therein adjacent one longitudinal end portion and at least one second valve opening adjacent the other longitudinal end portion, said first and second valve openings being offset with respect to each other and comprising oppositely facing first and second dentate portions; said valve member further comprising first and second margin portions adjacent said first and second dentate portions, said first margin portion projecting beyond said second dentate portion a sufficient distance to close a first end of said hopper discharge outlet when said second dentate portion is in communication with a second end of saId hopper discharge outlet, and said second margin portion projecting beyond said first dentate portion a sufficient distance to close a second end of said hopper discharge outlet when said first dentate portion is in communication with a first end of said hopper discharge outlet, said valve being movable between a fully closed position wherein said valve completely closes off said hopper discharge opening and a plurality of open positions wherein one of said first and second valve openings is in communication with said hopper discharge opening while the other of said first and second valve openings is closed, said arcute valve cross section comprising an angle sufficiently less than 360* whereby in partly open positions the lower internal periphery of said housing is substantially unobstructed by said valve whereby the lading may be discharged first from one end of said hopper discharge opening through one of said first and second valve openings and then from the other end of said hopper discharge opening through the other of said first and second valve openings, the lading passing through a first conduit the lower surface of which is defined by said trough-Shaped internal periphery and the upper surface of which is defined by said valve member, and then through a second conduit, the lower surface of which is defined by said bearing ring and the upper surface of which is defined by said valve member and then through a third conduit defined by said sleeve; and whereby a vacuum applied to said third conduit to discharge the lading is applied to the entire longitudinal length of the gap between said valve and said housing with essentially no dead areas whereby lading located in said gap may be removed by the action of said vacuum, and whereby any lading trapped between said valve member and said fixed housing which is not removed by the action of said vacuum can drop into said first conduit as said valve member is rotated back and forth and thus be discharged through said first, second and third conduits; said outlet being sufficiently effective in discharging lading that essentially all of the lading passing into the outlet is removed during discharge, and it is not necessary to disassemble the outlet prior to discharging a lading different from that previously discharged.