IES63280B2 - A storing and dispensing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A storing and dispensing apparatus (10) for particulate material affected by humid conditions comprises a hopper (12) for storing the material, an agitator (15) disposed within the hopper, a metering means (30), an outlet chute (35) and a drive handle (20). The agitator and metering means cooprate to dispense predetermines quantities of dry particulate material from the outlet chute. A second apparatus (100) for storing and dispensing liquid is associated with the first apparatus through the drive handle which is also adapted to operate a pump means (110) of the second apparatus.

Description

q _ APPLICATION N(U A STORING AND DISPENSING APPARATUS The present invention relates to a storing and dispensing apparatus and more particularly relates to storing and dispensing material which is affected by humid conditions.

Sodium hydroxide, NaOH, (also known as caustic soda) is susceptible to clumping or coagulating in damp or humid conditions. Caustic soda in conjunction with other chemicals, for example, sodium hypochlorite, Ν3βΟΟ1 is used for cleaning and sterilising milking machine pipeline systems. The chemicals are mixed with water and are forced through the pipelines. If the caustic soda is exposed to damp or humid conditions prior to being admixed with water it forms clumps of semi-solid material which is difficult to dissolve in water. Additionally, accurate measurement of clumped material can cause difficulty.

It is an object of the present invention to seek to alleviate the above disadvantages and to provide a storing and dispensing apparatus for materials which have a tendency to clump under adverse humid conditions and to provide an apparatus having an accurate metering means.

Accordingly the present invention provides a storing, dispensing and metering apparatus comprising a sealable hopper for storing particulate material to be dispensed, an agitator disposed within the hopper, a metering means and an outlet chute, in which the agitator and the metering means cooperate so that dry particulate material in predetermined quantities is dispensed from the outlet chute.

Conveniently, the agitator and metering means are actuable by rotating a drive shaft. 280 Γ' < ) *3' Advantageously, the agitator and metering means are driven via gearing.

In a preferred arrangement, the agitator is mounted on the drive shaft which is rotated by a drive handle connected to the shaft. A sprocket and chain drive connects the drive shaft with an axially disposed shaft adapted to drive the metering means. The agitator comprises a plurality of axial blades secured to the shaft by lateral support arms which cooperate to agitate the material in the hopper and to force the material downwardly towards the metering means .

Preferably, the blades are set at an angle, to provide improved agitation and to urge the material towards the metering means. Most preferably, the blades are set at an angle of between 25°and 40°.

The metering means comprises a drive shaft having a sprocket at one end which is driven by the sprocket and chain drive of the agitator drive shaft. The metering means additionally comprises a plurality of laterally disposed blades to form metering compartments.

The volume of each of the metering compartments of the metering means is variable by providing metering plates which fit into the metering compartments and are held therein by threaded support bolts. The capacity of the metering means is determined by the adjusted capacity of each of the metering compartments thus allowing relatively accurate quantities of stored material to be dispensed into » the outlet chute.

The threaded support bolts are adapted to engage the undersides of the metering plates at one end and at the other end are adapted to engage the drive shaft of the metering means.

Conveniently, the agitator and metering means are arranged so that a single full revolution of the drive handle will agitate and dispense accurately a predetermined volume of stored material.

The outlet chute is provided with a gate or flap which may be opened by actuating a lever which is disposed adjacent the drive handle and is connected to the flap by a cable.

The flap is biased to return to a closed position by a spring biasing means .

The apparatus is constructed so that the material contained therein is kept dry in humid conditions and is sufficiently secure so that the exterior surfaces may be power or steam washed without adversely affecting said contained material.

The invention further provides a second dispensing apparatus interconnectable with the first dispensing apparatus.

Advantageously, the second dispensing apparatus comprises means for pumping liquid from an inlet port, connected to a liquid storage container, to an outlet port.

The first and second apparatus are interconnectable by means of the drive handle of the first apparatus which is adaptable to actuate the pump of the second apparatus. Conveniently, the drive handle is substantially U-shaped having a coupling means at each end, one coupled to the drive shaft of the first apparatus and the other coupled to a drive shaft of the second apparatus. The drive shaft of the second apparatus is provided with an adjustable pump disc at the other end of the shaft. The disc is provided with a plurality of apertures adapted to engage a connecting rod to a piston which drives the pump of the second apparatus.

Conveniently, the drive handle has three operating modes; in the first mode the coupling means engage the drive shafts of both the first and second apparatus, in the second mode where the handle is biased towards the first apparatus one coupling means engages the drive shaft of the first apparatus only and in the third mode where the handle is biased towards the second apparatus the other coupling means engages the drive shaft of the second apparatus only.

Conveniently, a biasing means is provided on the handle to retain the handle in its first operational mode position.

Preferably, the drive shaft of each apparatus has an unsplined portion and a splined portion which engages spline receptors in the drive handle which portions being arranged so that in the first operating mode the splines of both drives engage the spline receptors in the handle and when the handle is biased towards the first apparatus the splined portion of the drive shaft of the first apparatus is engaged by the spline receptors but the spline receptors do not engage the splines of the second apparatus drive shaft such that the handle freely rotates about the unsplined portion of said drive.

Preferably, the first and second apparatus are manufactured from good grade stainless steel. The invention will now be described more particularly with reference to the accompanying drawings which show by way of example only, * one embodiment of the dispensing apparatus according to the invention.

* In the drawings: Figure 1 is an exposed front elevation of a first and second dispensing apparatus according to the invention; and Figure 2 is an exposed side elevation of the first dispensing apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, a first dispensing apparatus 10 and a second dispensing apparatus 100 are shown. The first apparatus 10 comprises a hopper 12 suitable for storing particulate material, having a sealable lid 13. In the base of the hopper there is mounted an agitator 15. The agitator is mounted on a drive shaft 17 which is driven via a splined coupling 19 by a drive handle 20. The shaft 17 also has a sprocket 22 mounted thereon for driving a chain drive 23. The chain drive 23 drives a second sprocket 25 mounted on a drive shaft 27 which is a component of a metering unit 30. The metering unit 30 is disposed between the hopper 12 and an outlet chute 35. The outlet chute 35 has an outlet port 36 on which there is pivotally mounted a gate or flap 37. The flap 37 is biased by a spring 39 to remain in a closed position. The flap 37 may be opened by actuating a lever 40 which is disposed adjacent to the drive handle 20 and is interconnected therewith by a cable 41 .

The agitator 15 comprises four blades 45 parallel to and axially displaced from the drive shaft 17 by laterally extending support arms 46. The blades 45 are angled to provide improved agitation and to urge agitated material towards the metering unit 30. The metering unit 30 comprises a central axial shaft 27 having a sprocket 25 at one end, which is driven by the sprocket 22 and chain drive 23 of the agitator drive shaft 17, and at the other end having four laterally extending blades 50 which form metering compartments 52. The volume of each of these compartments 52 is variable by providing metering plates 54 which fit into the compartments and are secured therein by support bolts 55. The support bolts 55 are threaded and engage correspondingly threaded apertures in the metering unit drive shaft 27. The capacity of the metering unit 30 is determined by the adjusted volume of each compartment 52. If a relatively small quantity of material is to be dispensed, one or more of the compartments may be blocked off entirely. Conversely, if maximum capacity is required, no metering plates 54 are installed. Consequently, by adjusting the capacity of the metering unit 30, the quantity of material dispensed into the outlet chute 35 is predetermined accurately.

The second dispensing apparatus 100 comprises a pump 110, having a piston 112 and a connecting rod 113, a drive shaft 117 which is driven via a splined coupling 119 by the drive handle 20, and an adjustable pump disc 120. The disc 120 is vertically disposed and is rotatable by the drive shaft 117. The disc 120 has a plurality of axially disposed apertures 121 through which a linkage pin 123 is inserted to retain the connecting rod 113 in pivotally fixed relationship with the disc 120. When the pump 110 is operated or amount of liquid is drawn into the pump 110 through an inlet pipe 125, which is connected to a supply (not shown), to be expelled through an outlet pipe 127. By virtue of the plurality of apertures 121, the stroke of the piston 112 in the pump 110 is preset so that the required volume of liquid may be drawn from the supply and pumped out through the outlet pipe 127. The pump 110 is pivotally mounted at its upper end by a pivot pin 128 which allows the pump to move in relation to the piston 112 and connecting rod 113 which approach to and withdraw from the pump at changing angles.

The first dispensing apparatus 10 and second dispensing apparatus 100 are interconnected by the drive handle 20 which operates the dispensing mechanisms of each apparatus via splined couplings 19, 119. The handle 20 which is substantially U-shaped has spline receptors in each end to receive the splined ends of the drive shafts 17,117. The ends of the drive shafts 17, 117 also have unsplined portion over which the handle spline receptors are free to rotate. The handle 20 has three operating modes whereby: in the first mode the handle is centrally disposed between the splined couplings 19, 119 and the spline receptors in the handle ends engage the splines on both drive shafts 17, 117; in the second mode the handle 20 is biased towards 2θ the first apparatus 10 (arrow A) and engages the drive shaft 17 of said first apparatus 10 but does not engage the drive shaft 117 of the second apparatus 100; and in the third mode the handle 20 is biased towards the second apparatus 100 (arrow B) and engages the drive shaft 117 of that apparatus 100 but does not engage the drive shaft 17 of the first apparatus 10. When the handle 20 is biased away from one apparatus 10, 100, the corresponding coupling 19, 119 disengages so that the spline receptors in the handle 20 rotate over the unsplined portion of the corresponding drive shaft 17, 117.

In use, the first and second apparatus 10, 100 are arranged as shown to store material suitable for cleaning milking machine pipeline systems. The hopper 12 contains sodium hydroxide, NaOH (referred to hereinafter as caustic soda) which is particularly susceptible to humid conditions in which it coagulates or 'clumps'. The second apparatus 100 pumps sodium hypochlorite from a storage vessel to the outlet pipe 127. Predetermined amounts of one or both chemicals is added to a volume of water to be circulated within the pipeline system to be cleaned. The water to which the or each chemical is to be added is held in a tank below the outlet port 36 of the chute 35. A user specifies what proportion of caustic soda is to be added to a tank of water and adjusts the metering plates 50 accordingly so that with one revolution of the handle 20 the required amount of caustic soda is agitated and dispensed.

Similarly, the user specifies the volume of sodium hypochlorite to be dispensed by adjusting the stroke of the piston 112. The piston stroke is adjusted by extracting the linkage pin 123 and positioning the end of the connecting rod 113 adjacent an aperture in the pump disc 120 corresponding to the volume required and refixing the linkage pin 123.

The flow of liquid from the outlet pipe 127 is directable by operating a valve 129 to prevent or permit flow to the pipe outlets 131,132. The valve 129 is located close to the outlet chute 35 and is operated to select whether the sodium hypochlorite is to flow from the first pipe outlet 131, which is the main outlet where the sodium hypochlorite will mix with the caustic soda (sodium hydroxide NaOH), or to an alternative pipe outlet 132 for collection.

It will of course be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details described herein which are given by way of example only and that various modifications and alterations are possible within the scope of the invention.

MACLACHLAN & DONALDSON Applicants' Agents 47 Merrion Square DUBLIN 2.

Claims (5)

1. A storing, dispensing and metering apparatus comprising (a) a sealable hopper for storing particulate material to be dispensed, (b) an agitator disposed within the hopper, (c) a metering means cooperating with the agitator, (d) an outlet chute and (e) a drive handle connected to a drive shaft communicating with the agitator or metering means whereby the agitator and metering means may be activated by rotating the handle so that dry particulate material in predetermined quantities is dispensed from the outlet chute.

2. A storing, dispensing and metering apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the metering means comprises a plurality of laterally disposed blades to form metering compartments, the volume of each metering compartment being variable by movable metering plates, so that the total capacity of the metering means is determined by the adjusted capacity of each of the metering compartments whereby relatively accurate quantities of stored material are dispensed into the outlet chute.

3. A storing, dispensing and metering apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, which includes an associated second storing, dispensing and metering apparatus for liquid comprising means for pumping the liquid from an inlet port, connected to a liquid storage container, to an outlet port, in which the first and second apparatus are operable by the drive handle of the first apparatus which is also adapted to operate the pump means of the second apparatus via a » second drive shaft, the drive handle having a coupling means at each end engagable with the first and second drive ) shafts, respectively.

4. A storing, dispensing and metering apparatus as claimed in claim 3, in which the drive handle has three operating modes, namely: a first mode in which the first and second coupling means engage the drive shafts of the first and second apparatus respectively; a second mode in which the handle is biased towards the first apparatus, the first coupling means engaging the drive shaft of the first apparatus only; and a third mode in which the handle is biased towards the second apparatus, the second coupling means engaging the drive shaft of the second apparatus only, said drive shafts having an unsplined portion and a splined portion which engage spline receptors in the coupling means of the drive handle, the splined and unsplined portions being arranged so that in the first operating mode the splines of both drive shafts engage the spline receptors in the handle and, when the handle is biased towards the first apparatus, the splined portion of the first drive shaft is engaged by the spline receptors but the spline receptors do not engage the splines of the second drive shaft so that the handle freely rotates about the unsplined portion of said drive, and in which a biasing means is provided on the drive handle to retain the handle in its first mode position. ί

5. A storing and dispensing and metering apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to and a shown in the accompanying drawings.