Particulate material transfer system
AssigneeKerr-McGee Coal Corporation
InventorWeldon K. Johnson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An improved particulate material loading system for transferring particulate material from a storage assembly to a vehicle having a storage bin wherein the material is protected from the outside environment during the transfer. The storage assembly includes a temporary cover which is operatively engagable with the vehicle to protect the storage bin of the vehicle when a hatch door of the vehicle is moved from a closed position to an open position to enable transfer of the material thereto. The vehicle is constructed to slidably receive the temporary cover of the storage assembly.
Claims19
An apparatus for protecting particulate material from the surrounding outside environment during the transfer of the material from a storage assembly to a vehicle comprising:
- a loading chute having a lower end and a channel extending therethrough, the channel being in communication with the storage assembly for transferring the particulate material from the storage assembly through the channel in the loading chute;
- a temporary cover having an upper surface, a lower surface, a first end, an opposed second end, a first side, an opposed second side, the temporary cover being connected to the lower end of the loading chute with the channel of the loading chute extending through the temporary cover;
- a body forming a portion of the vehicle having a first end, a second end, a first side, a second side, an upper side and a lower side, the body having a storage bin formed therein and the upper side of the body having a material receiving opening therein communicating with the storage bin;
- a first cover assembly, comprising:
- at least one hatch door having a first side, an opposed second side, a first end and an opposed second end, the hatch doors being connected to the body of the vehicle and positioned so that the hatch doors cover the material receiving opening of the body of the vehicle in a closed first position, the hatch doors each being movable from the material receiving opening in the body of the vehicle to an opened second position, a cover receiving opening being formed between the hatch door and the storage bin in the closed position of the hatch door for receiving the temporary cover;
- and
- means for moving the hatch doors from the closed first position to the opened second position and for moving the hatch doors from the opened second position to the closed first position, the hatch door being adapted to be positioned above the storage bin, the temporary cover and the means for moving the hatch doors from the closed first position to the opened second position cooperating to position at least a portion of the temporary cover in the cover receiving opening between the storage bin of the vehicle and the hatch door prior to the hatch door being moved from the closed first position to the opened second position, the temporary cover being positioned over and covering a portion of the storage bin of the vehicle covered by the hatch door in the closed first position of the hatch door thereby covering the storage bin of the vehicle prior to the hatch door being moved to the opened second position, the particulate material being transferrable from the overhead storage bin to the storage bin of the vehicle via the channel in the chute while the temporary cover covers the storage bin of the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.