Nuclear fuel pellet transfer escalator

A nuclear fuel pellet escalator for loading nuclear fuel pellets into a sintering boat, comprising:

• (a) an upright stationary support structure;
• (b) an elongated conveyor for moving pellets in single file fashion from a receiving end to a discharge end thereof, said conveyor being mounted at its receiving end to said support structure for pivotal movement relative thereto to vertically move its discharge end toward and away from a sintering boat when placed below said discharge end of said conveyor;
• (c) said conveyor including an elongated arm swingable vertically about said axis and having an elongated channel recessed below an upper side of said arm and extending between said receiving and discharge ends of said conveyor, and an endless flexible pellet supporting and conveying belt with a continuous outer surface movably mounted to said arm and having an upper run disposed along said channel for receiving pellets at said receiving end of said conveyor and carrying the pellets in said single file fashion to said discharge end thereof;
• (d) a chute mounted to said arm of said conveyor at said discharge end thereof and extending therebelow such that said chute is carried by said arm at said discharge end of said conveyor for generally vertical movement therewith toward and away from the sintering boat, said chute having an upper end disposed for receiving pellets from said conveyor belt at said discharge end of said conveyor and a lower end disposable within the sintering boat, by pivoting of said conveyor, for depositing pellets in the boat;
• (e) a stop element mounted to said arm at said discharge end of said conveyor and being actuatable between blocking and unblocking positions in which it respectively stops and permits the discharge of pellets from said upper run of said belt in said channel of said arm at said discharge end of said conveyor;
• and
• (f) deflectable pellet handling and guiding means attached to said chute for defining a gravity feed flow path of a non-linear configuration through said chute from said conveyor discharge end that permits pellets to move downwardly along said path through said chute to the sintering boat without accumulating such momentum as would produce impact damage upon reaching the boat;
• (g) said deflectable pellet handling and guiding means including a plurality of resilient-flexible, deflectable bristled brushes and a pair of spaced brush holder structures for supporting said brushes in a pair of opposing vertical rows thereof which define said flow path therebetween with said brushes in each one row being spaced vertically out of contact with one another and having their inner ends substantially aligned vertically, said brushes in each one row also being oppositely inclined downwardly toward said brushes in the other row and vertically offset from said brushes in the other row for defining said flow path between adjacent inner ends of said brushes in said pair of opposing rows for transferring pellets at a drop rate controlled by brush deflections.

A method of transferring nuclear fuel pellets from a rotary pellet press and loading the pellets into a sintering boat, comprising the steps of:

• (a) transferring nuclear fuel pellets in single file path from a rotary pellet press to a location above a sintering boat by moving an endless belt of a conveyor while the pellets rest on a continuous outer surface of the belt;
• (b) dispensing the pellets downwardly from a discharge end of the belt along a gravity feed flow path of a non-linear configuration through a chute at the discharge end of the conveyor to the sintering boat without the pellets accumulating such momentum as would produce impact damage upon reaching the boat;
• and
• (c) selectively blocking the single file path of the pellets at the discharge end of the belt causing the pellets to slip on the outer surface of the belt as the belt continuous to move in order to temporarily interrupt pellet loading into the sintering boat;
• (d) said dispensing includes dropping the pellets from the discharge end of the moving belt between a pair of opposing rows of resilient-flexible, deflectable bristled brushes which define at their inner ends the non-linear flow path therebetween with said brushes in each one row being spaced vertically out of contact with each other and having their inner ends substantially aligned vertically, said brushes in each one row also being oppositely inclined downwardly toward said brushes in the other row and vertically offset from said brushes in the other row to cause descent of the pellets at a drop rate controlled by brush bristle deflections.