Portable agitator for fluidizing bottom solids in tanks
AssigneesCadence Environmental Energy, Inc., Ash Grove Cement Company
InventorRalph A. Supelak
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A portable agitator is provided for fluidizing contents of a tank car that has settled during shipment. The agitator includes a column that can extend into a tank car through a manway, a wedging assembly for holding the column in place in the tank between the manway and the bottom wall of the tank, and a pivotable impeller platform appended to a distal end of the column. A pair of impellers are mounted on opposite ends of the impeller platform and are operable to stir and fluidize the contents of the tank car.
Claims24
A portable agitator for extending into an interior region of a tank through a manway tube mounted on the tank to fluidize material contained in the tank, the manway tube including an axially inner end lying adjacent to the tank and an axially outer end extending away from the tank, the agitator comprising
- a frame,
- means for mixing solid and liquid material contained in the interior region of the tank to produce a pumpable slurry while the frame is in the tank, the mixing means being mounted on the frame,
- means for wedging only against the axially inner end of the manway tube to anchor the frame and position the mixing means in the interior region of the tank while the frame is in the tank, the wedging means being mounted on the frame, and
- means for moving the wedging means relative to the frame.
A portable agitator for extending into an interior region of a tank through a manway tube mounted on the tank to fluidize material contained in the tank, the manway tube including an axially inner end lying adjacent to the tank and an axially outer end extending away from the tank, the agitator comprising
- a frame,
- means for mixing solid and liquid material contained in the interior region of the tank to produce a pumpable slurry while the frame is in the tank, the mixing means being mounted on the frame, and
- means for anchoring the frame to position the mixing means in the interior region of the tank while the frame is in the tank, the anchoring means being mounted on the frame, the tank including a bottom wall, the anchoring means including a locking arm and means for moving the locking arm relative to the frame to wedge the locking arm against the axially inner end of the manway tube while the frame is in the tank to press the frame downwardly against the bottom wall of the tank, and the moving means being positioned to lie inside the tank while the frame is in the tank.
A portable agitator for extending into an interior region of a tank through a manway tube mounted on the tank to fluidize material contained in the tank, the manway tube including an axially inner end lying within the tank and an axially outer end extending away from the tank, the agitator comprising
- a frame,
- means for mixing solid and liquid material contained in the interior region of the tank to produce a pumpable slurry, the mixing means being mounted on the frame, and
- means for anchoring the frame to position the mixing means in the interior region of the tank while the frame is in the tank, the anchoring means being mounted on the frame, the anchoring means including a sleeve mounted for sliding movement on the frame and a locking arm pivotably coupled to the sleeve for pivotable movement about a horizontal pivot axis between an engaged position engaging the axially inner end of the manway tube and a disengaged position disengaging the axially inner end of the manway tube and the locking arm includes means for wedging against the axially inner end of the manway tube upon movement of the locking arm to its engaged position.
A portable agitator for extending into an interior region of a tank through a manway tube mounted on the tank to fluidize material contained in the tank, the manway tube including an axially inner end lying adjacent to the tank and an axially outer end extending away from the tank, the agitator comprising
- a frame,
- means for mixing solid and liquid material contained in the interior region of the tank to produce a pumpable slurry, the mixing means being mounted on the frame, and
- means for anchoring the frame to position the mixing means in the interior region of the tank while the frame is in the tank, the anchoring means including a wedge assembly and means for moving the wedge assembly relative to the frame and inside the interior region of the tank between a locked position engaging only the axially inner end of the manway tube and an unlocked position disengaging the manway tube, and the moving means being mounted on the frame to lie between the mixing means and the wedge assembly.
A portable agitator for extending into an interior region of a tank through a manway tube mounted on the tank to fluidize material contained in the tank, the manway tube including an axially inner end lying adjacent to the tank and an axially outer end extending away from the tank, the agitator comprising
- a frame,
- means for mixing solid and liquid material contained in the interior region of the tank to produce a pumpable slurry, the mixing means being mounted on the frame, and
- means for anchoring the frame to position the mixing means in the interior region of the tank while the frame is in the tank, the anchoring means being mounted on the frame, the tank includes a bottom wall, the frame includes foot means for engaging the bottom wall to stabilize the frame in the interior region of the tank, and the anchoring means includes a locking arm and means for moving the locking arm relative to the frame into wedging engagement with the axially inner end of the manway tube to urge the foot means downwardly relative to the locking arm and against the bottom wall of the tank so that the frame is wedged between the manway tube and the bottom wall in a stable upright position within the interior region of the tank during operation of the mixing means.
A portable agitator for extending into an interior region of a tank through a manway tube mounted on the tank to fluidize material contained in the tank, the manway tube including an axially inner end lying adjacent to the tank and an axially outer end extending away from the tank, the agitator comprising
- a frame,
- means for mixing solid and liquid material contained in the interior region of the tank to produce a pumpable slurry, the mixing means being mounted on the frame, and
- means for wedging against the axially inner end of the manway tube to anchor the frame and position the mixing means in the interior region of the tank, the wedging means being mounted on the frame, the tank includes a bottom wall, the frame includes foot means for engaging the bottom wall to stabilize the frame in the interior region of the tank, and the wedging means includes a locking arm and means for moving the locking arm relative to the frame into wedging engagement with the axially inner end of the manway tube to urge the foot means downwardly relative to the locking arm and against the bottom wall of the tank so that the frame is wedged between the manway tube and the bottom wall in a stable upright position within the interior region of the tank during operation of the mixing means,
- the locking arm is mounted for pivotable movement relative to the frame and the moving means includes an extensible member having one end coupled to the frame and another end pivotably coupled to the locking arm, and
- the moving means further includes a sleeve mounted on the frame for sliding movement relative to the frame between a lowered position away from the manway tube and a raised position adjacent to the manway tube, means for pivotably coupling the locking arm to the sleeve for pivotable movement between a vertical position parallel to the sleeve and a horizontal position perpendicular to the sleeve to facilitate insertion of the locking arm into the interior region through the manway tube, and actuator means for moving the extensible member between a retracted position arranging the sleeve in its lowered position and the locking arm in its vertical position and a projected position arranging the sleeve in its raised position and the locking arm in its horizontal position so that the extensible member operates by remote control to raise the sleeve and locking arm and then pivot the locking arm relative to the sleeve to establish wedging engagement between the locking arm and the axially inner end of the manway tube upon movement of the extensible member to its projected position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.