GB2161090A - An installation for mixing and filling flowable substances - Google Patents

Abstract

Mixing plant for dry mortar comprises a tower-like construction in which a number of tank units 10-14 receiving the necessary items of equipment are disposed one above another; the top unit 16 carries a multichamber silo combined from a number of parts; and all the units and parts are releasably interconnected. The invention provides the considerable advantage that, by abandoning the conventional steel framework as basic structure and by using a modular construction, much of the assembly work can be carried out at the maker's works. A stable tower-like installation is obtained in which all the necessary supply tanks or receptacles and other items of equipment are accommodated in a very reduced space. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION An installation for mixing and filling flowable substances The invention relates to an installation for mixing and filling flowable substances, a supply tank or receptacle being provided for each substance, the tanks being associated with dispensing and mixing means.

Mixing and filling installations, for example, for dry mortar, take the form of a number of silolike receptacles in which various substances are kept, the substances being mixed together, filled and further processed as required.

The known installations have a number of supply tanks or receptacles which have a concentric outlet. This construction makes it necessary to have a feed screw for supplying the substances taken from the various tanks to dispensing or weighing means.

The main disadvantage of such installations is the need for a feed screw-or a number of feed screws in large installations-to convey the various substances to the dispensing and mixing means. Feed screws are expensive items of equipment to acquire and maintain since they wear fairly heavily. Also, they have to be cleaned when there is a change of program affecting the required mixture.

With the aim of providing a simplified installation of the kind specified and fulfilling the same purpose, it has been proposed (German patent application P 34 08 820.2) that the supply tanks or receptacles have a bottom eccentric outlet and that pipes provide a direct communication between, on the one hand, the tanks or receptacles and, on the other hand, the dispensing and mixing means.

The basic structure of all installations of this kind is a steel framework receiving the tanks and, for example, the dispensing and mixing facility. One result of this is long assembly times at the place of use.

It is the object of the invention to provide a compact yet stable construction of an installation for mixing and filling flowable substances without the disadvantages mentioned.

According to the invention, therefore, a tower-like construction is provided in which a number of tank units receiving the necessary items of equipment are disposed one above another; the top unit carries a multi-chamber silo combined from a number of parts; and all the units and parts are releasably interconnected.

According to another feature of the invention, the parts of the multichamber silo are grouped around an inner tubular stairway devised as a prefabricated unit.

The units, and also the multichamber silo, can be in cross-section circular or square or rectangular.

The advantages provided by the invention are more particularly that, thanks to the omission of the conventional steel framework as basic construction and to the choice of a tank type construction, considerable assembly can be carried out at the place where the installation is produced. Also, a stable tower-like installation is provided which receives all the requisite supply tanks or receptacles and other items of equipment in a very reduced space. No feed screw is necessary.

The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a known installation for mixing and filling flowable substances; Figure 2 shows an improved installation of the kind shown in Fig. 1, in accordance with a prior proposal; Figure 3 shows the basic construction of an installation according to the invention; Figure 4 is a section through a unit of Fig. 3, and Figure 5 is a section through the multichamber silo shown in Fig. 3.

A known installation is diagrammatically shown in Fig. 1. It has supply tanks or receptacles 1 which have a concentric output 2. This construction makes it necessary to provide a feed screw for supplying the substances removed from the various receptacles to dispensing or weighing means 4. The substances go therefrom to a mixer 5. The finished mixture can be discharged through a connection 6, for instance, to conveying vehicles associated with the silo.

As already stated, the main disadvantage of such installations is the feed screw, or the number of feed screws in the case of larger installations, required to convey the various substances to the dispensing and mixing means. Also, the receptacles 1 and all the other necessary items of equipment are received in a lattice-like steel structure 9 which must be clad after assembly.

An installation according to the prior proposal previously referred to is shown in Fig. 2. It differs from the known installation of Fig. 1 more particularly by a special construction of the receptacles or tanks 1, which take the form in their bottom part 8 of an eccentric cone, unlike the concentric outlet 2 which the receptacles 1 of Fig. 1 have and which leads to the disadvantages hereinbefore set out. As a result of the eccentric bottom outlet which the receptacles 1 of Fig. 2 have, the substances stored in them can be supplied directly through tubes 7 to the dispensing means 4 or mixer 5. The receptacles 1 can be installed close together so that an installation for mixing and filling flowable substances can be erected in a small space.

Feed screws 3 such as are used in the known installation of Fig. 1 are unnecessary. Even so, however, the installation of Fig. 2 requires a lattice-like steel structure 9, the main disadvantages of which are lengthy and expensive assembly work at the erection site.

On the other hand, and as Fig. 3 shows, the installation according to the invention comprises a number of units 10-14 which are disposed one above another and each of which takes the form of a tank or receptacle-i.e., each unit is embodied, for example, by a tubular part 1 5 (see Fig. 4) in which the items of equipment associated with the particular unit 10-14 concerned are completely assembled at the maker's works. All that then remains to be done at the erection site is to place the units 10-14 one above another, make the necessary between-units connections, for example, for piping, stairs, hoists and the like, and screw the units 10-14 together with one another and to the foundation.

The top unit 14 carries a multichamber silo 16 which is shown in section in Fig. 5. The silo 1 6 is in this case divided into four pre-assembled parts 17-20 which are combined and screwed together on the erection site. After the completion of assembly the various chambers 21-32 can be filled with the substances for the required mixtures, such as gravel of various grades, sand, cement, binders, fillers and so on.

The various substances go through tubes 33 in Fig. 3 to the dispensing and weighing means 4 and therefrom to the mixer 5, which can also be supplied with additives (in small quantities) from receptacles 34. The, for instance, dry mortar prepared can be conveyed by way of a conveyor 35 into silo vehicles.

The units 11-14 perform the functions described by means of the items of equipment disposed in them. The unit 10 receives, for instance, supply facilities for power, air and water.

As Fig. 4 shows, all the units 10-14 need not necessarily be of circular cross-section; they can be of square or rectangular cross-section or of some other convenient shape. Similar considerations apply to the outer shape of the multichamber silo 1 6 which is shown by way of example in Fig. 5 as being of circular cross-section.

An internal tubular stairway 36 leading to the silo 1 6 or a bucket elevator is, conveniently, also preassembled as a unit and forms the central part of the silo 16, the parts 17-20 being arranged around such central part.

The tower-like installation hereinbefore described for mixing and filling flowable substances comprises self-supporting units 10-14 and a multichamber silo 16 comprising a number of parts 17-20. No feed screws are necessary and the conventional lattice-like steel structure 9 (Figs. 1 and 2) can be omitted. The steel structure does not need the conventional cladding since the various units 10-14 are of closed construction anyway.

As an example, some idea of the stability of the construction can be gained from the following dimensions of an installation in accordance with the invention: overall height : approx. 30 metres diameter of units 10-14 6 metres diameter of multichamber silo 16 9 metres.

An installation of this kind is simpler and cheaper to produce than conventional installations, mainly because of the much shorter assembly time at the erection site. Previously the maker of the installation has been responsible for only approximately 30% of the labour required for assembly (at works), 70% of the total being required for assembly on site; however, the invention increases the works labour content to about 80% of total assembly time, only approximately 20% being required for final assembly.

Claims (9)

1. An installation for mixing and filling flowable substances, a supply tank or receptacle being provided for each substance, the tanks being associated with dispensing and mixing means, characterised in that a tower-like construction is provided in which a number of tank units receiving the necessary items of equipment are disposed one above another; the top unit carries a multichamber silo combined from a number of parts; and all the units and parts are releasa bly interconnected.

2. An installation according to claim 1, characterised in that the parts of the multichamber silo are grouped around an inner tubular stairway devised as a prefabricated unit.

3. An installation according to claim 1, characterised in that the units are of circular crosssection.

4. An installation according to claim 1, characterised in that the units are of square crosssection.

5. An installation according to claim 1, characterised in that the units are of rectangular cross-section.

6. An installation according to any preceding claim, characterised in that the multichamber silo is of circular cross-section.

7. An installation according to any of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the multichamber silo is of square cross-section.

8. An installation according to any of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the multichamber silo is of rectangular cross-section.

9. An installation for mixing and filling flowable substances substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.