Fuel transfer machine

Claim 2

A telescoping nuclear fuel transfer system for transferring fuel bundles from the near side to the far side of a barrier, said transfer system comprising: a. a first path extending from the near side to the far side of the barrier; b. an elongated fuel transfer carriage translatable in the direction of its longitudinal axis along said first path from said near side to said far side, said carriage having near and far ends corresponding to the near and far sides of the barrier and said carriage having means for receiving fuel assemblies and for carrying the fuel assemblies in a position substantially parallel to the direction of said carriage's longitudinal axis; c. a second path substantially parallel to said first path; d. an elongated shuttle translatable along said second path in the direction of said carriage's longitudinal axis, said shuttle having near and far ends corresponding to the near and far sides of the barrier; e. a first sheave fixedly located at the near side of the barrier; f. a second sheave secured to said near end of said shuttle; g. a third sheave secured to said far end of said shuttle; h. a drive cable serially passing over said first, second, and third sheaves, in that order, and thereafter being affixed to said near end of said fuel transfer carriage; and i. means operating on said cable for driving said cable.

Claim 3

The fuel transfer machine as claimed in claim 1 further including releasable means for releasably locking said carriage and said shuttle together.

Claim 4

The fuel transfer machine as recited in claim 1 further including means for fixedly locking said shuttle in an extended position, said extended position being that position in which said shuttle is closest to said far side of the barrier.

Claim 5

The fuel transfer machine as recited in claim 1 wherein said cable comprises a continuous loop passing over said first, second, and third sheaves, and thereafter being affixed to said fuel transfer carriage and returning to said means for driving said cable.

Claim 6

The telescoping fuel transfer system as recited in claim 1 wherein said first path extends through an opening in the barrier and wherein said second path extends at least partially into the opening in the barrier thereby permitting said shuttle to be driven at least part way into the opening in the barrier.

Claim 7

In a fuel transfer system adapted to transfer nuclear fuel from the near side to the far side of a barrier, the fuel transfer system including a first path extending from the near side to the far side of the barrier, a fuel transfer carriage translatable along the first path for carrying nuclear fuel, a second path substantially parallel to the first path, an elongated shuttle translatable along the second path, means operating on the shuttle and between the shuttle and the fuel transfer carriage for driving the fuel transfer carriage and the shuttle back and forth along the first and second paths respectively, the method of transferring the fuel from the near side to the far side of the barrier comprising the steps of: a. coupling said fuel transfer carriage to said shuttle; b. driving the shuttle in a forward direction along the second path from a first shuttle position on the near side of the barrier to the second shuttle position in which one end of the shuttle remains on the near side of the barrier and the other end of the shuttle projects at least partially into an opening in the barrier or all the way through the barrier whereby the fuel transfer carriage is translated from a first carriage position to a position intermediate the first carriage position and a second carriage position; c. uncoupling the fuel transfer carriage from the shuttle; d. driving the fuel transfer carriage in a forward direction along the first path from said intermediate carriage position to the second carriage position in which at least one end of the nuclear fuel projects through the opening in the barrier to the far side of the barrier, said step of driving the nuclear fuel transfer carriage being accomplished by means working between the fuel transfer carriage and the shuttle; and e. driving the fuel transfer carriage from its intermediate position to the second carriage position.

Claim 8

In a fuel transfer system adapted to transfer nuclear fuel from the near side to the far side of a barrier, the fuel transfer system including a first path extending from the near side to the far side of the barrier, a fuel transfer carriage translatable along the first path for carrying nuclear fuel, a second path substantially parallel to the first path, an elongated shuttle translatable along the second path, means operating on the shuttle and between the shuttle and the fuel transfer carriage for driving the fuel transfer carriage and the shuttle back and forth along the first and second paths respectively, the method of transferring the fuel from the near side to the far side of the barrier comprising the steps of: a. coupling said fuel transfer carriage to said shuttle; b. driving the shuttle in a forward direction along the second path from a first shuttle position on the near side of the barrier to the second shuttle position in which one end of the shuttle remains on the near side of the barrier and the other end of the shuttle projects at least partially into an opening in the barrier or all the way through the barrier whereby the fuel transfer carriage is translated from a first carriage position to a position intermediate the first carriage position and a second carriage position; c. uncoupling the fuel transfer carriage from the shuttle; d. driving the fuel transfer carriage in a forward direction along the first path from said intermediate carriage position to the second carriage position in which at least one end of the nuclear fuel projects through the opening in the barrier to the far side of the barrier, said step of driving the nuclear fuel transfer carriage being accomplished by means working between the fuel transfer carriage and the shuttle; and e. driving the fuel transfer carriage from its intermediate position to the second carriage position.

Claim 9

The fuel transfer method as recited in claim 6 further including the steps of: a. locking the shuttle in the second shuttle position; b. repetitively driving the fuel transfer carriage back and forth between the first and second carriage positions from the shuttle in its locked position at the second position to accomplish repetitive fuel transfers.

Claim 10

The fuel transfer method as recited in claim 7 wherein the step of driving the fuel transfer carriage and the shuttle in a reverse direction to return all apparatus to the near side of the barrier when the fuel transfer operation has been completed includes the steps of: a. driving the fuel transfer carriage from the second carriage position to a position adjacent the locked shuttle in its second shuttle position; b. coupling the fuel transfer carriage to the shuttle; c. unlocking the shuttle from the second shuttle position; and d. driving the shuttle from the second shuttle position to the first shuttle position whereby the fuel transfer carriage is translated from the position adjacent the second shuttle position to the first carriage position.