Bottom dump pneumatic material handling system
AssigneeQuickthree Technology, LLC
InventorsAlvin Herman, Erin Herman, William John Young
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A material (e.g., proppant) handling system includes a storage container, a mechanical conveyor system, and a pneumatic conveyor system. The mechanical conveyor system is configured to convey material from an unloading station to a conveyor system discharge and into an inlet of the storage container (e.g., at an elevation that is higher than the unloading station). The pneumatic delivery system is configured to deliver material from the storage container to an off-system destination (e.g., a silo or the like), pneumatically. In a typical implementation, the storage container, the mechanical conveyor system, and the pneumatic conveyor system are all on, or connected to, or supported by one common chassis.
Claims36
A material handling system comprising:
- a chassis;
- a storage container supported by the chassis;
- a conveyor system supported by the chassis and configured to convey a material from a material unloading station to a conveyor system discharge that is above an inlet of the storage container at an elevation that is higher than the material unloading station;
- a pneumatic delivery system supported by the chassis and configured to deliver the material from the storage container pneumatically;
- and
- a drive-over ramp assembly supported by the chassis, wherein the drive-over ramp assembly comprises at least a pair of ramp panels that, in a deployed position, are configured to physically support a material delivery vehicle that has a bottom delivery chute while the material delivery vehicle moves into a position where the material delivery vehicle can unload the material into the material unloading station by gravity through the bottom delivery chute.
A material handling system comprising:
- a chassis;
- a storage container supported by the chassis;
- a conveyor system supported by the chassis and configured to convey a material from a material unloading station to a conveyor system discharge that is above an inlet of the storage container at an elevation that is higher than the material unloading station;
- and
- a pneumatic delivery system supported by the chassis and configured to deliver the material from the storage container pneumatically,
- wherein the pneumatic delivery system is configured to deliver the material from the storage container to a silo at a worksite that includes one or more hydraulic fracturing wellheads for accessing liquid petroleum resources.
A method comprising:
- providing a material handling system at a worksite that has one or more material holding containers, wherein the material handling system comprises:
- a chassis;
- a storage container supported by the chassis;
- a conveyor system supported by the chassis and configured to convey a material from a material unloading station to a conveyor system discharge that is above an inlet of the storage container at an elevation that is higher than the material unloading station;
- a pneumatic delivery system supported by the chassis and configured to deliver the material from the storage container pneumatically;
- and
- a drive-over ramp assembly supported by the chassis, wherein the drive-over ramp assembly comprises at least a pair of panels that, in a deployed position, form a ramp, over which a material delivery vehicle having a bottom delivery chute can drive while being physically supported by the ramp panels;
- and
- with the material handling system at the worksite:
- receiving material at the material unloading station of the material handling system;
- conveying, with the conveyor system, the material from the material unloading station to the inlet of the storage container;
- and
- delivering the material from the storage container, pneumatically, with a pneumatic delivery system supported by the chassis.
A material handling system comprising:
- a storage container;
- a conveyor system configured to convey a material from a material unloading station to a conveyor system discharge that is above an inlet of the storage container at an elevation that is higher than the material unloading station;
- a pneumatic delivery system configured to deliver the material from the storage container pneumatically;
- and
- a drive-over ramp assembly, wherein the drive-over ramp assembly comprises at least a pair of ramp panels that, in a deployed position, form a ramp, over which a material delivery vehicle having a bottom delivery chute can drive while being physically supported by the ramp panels,
- wherein the storage container, conveyor system, pneumatic delivery system, and drive-over ramp assembly are supported by one or more chassis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.