JP7525986B2 - Silo feeding device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a silo dosing device.

For example, in cold regions, silos are installed outdoors to store wood pellets that are used as a heat source for heating devices. One method for feeding pellets into such silos is the air conveying method. In this air conveying method, for example, a blower pipe extending from an air conveying device installed on the ground side is connected to an inlet provided at the top end of the silo by a conveying pipe or the like, and the pellets fed into the air conveying device are fed into the silo from the inlet via the conveying pipe or the like by air conveyance (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-12937

The present applicant has already proposed a silo inlet device that can be installed at the top end of a silo to inject pellets into the silo using an air conveying method (Patent Application No. 2018-208397). This silo inlet device includes a cylinder that is attached near the inlet at the top end of the silo, an inlet pipe that can inject pellets into the silo by air conveyance, an exhaust pipe fixed to the cylinder for discharging the conveying air that has been introduced into the silo together with the pellets to the outside, a blower installed on the ground, and an exhaust hose that connects the exhaust pipe and the blower. By driving the blower, the conveying air that has been introduced into the silo together with the pellets can be forcibly discharged outside the silo via the exhaust pipe and exhaust hose.

When installing such a silo inlet device on a silo, a worker must attach the cylinder to the top of the silo, then connect one end of the discharge hose to a blower installed on the ground, and then climb to the top of the silo and connect the other end of the discharge hose to the discharge pipe fixed to the cylinder. This requires a lot of labor and is tedious.

The present invention was made in consideration of these circumstances, and aims to reduce the amount of work required to install a silo-side charging device that can charge stored materials into a silo using an air conveying method.

(1) The present invention is a silo charging device that is installed on the side of a silo that has an inlet formed at the upper end thereof through which stored material is charged, the silo charging device comprising: an attachment body that is attached to the upper end side of the silo; an input path section that is provided on the attachment body so as to communicate between the inside and outside of the silo via the inlet, and a conveying pipe that conveys the stored material by air conveyance is connected to an open end that is located outside the silo; a discharge path section that is provided on the attachment body so as to communicate between the inside and outside of the silo via the inlet; and a blower that is provided on the discharge path section and forcibly discharges, to the outside of the silo, the conveying air that has been charged into the silo together with the stored material.

According to the present invention, the mounting body is attached to the upper end side of the silo, and a conveying pipe for conveying the stored material by air conveyance is connected to the open end outside the silo in the feed path section provided on the mounting body, so that the stored material conveyed by air conveyance can be fed into the silo from the feed path section. In addition, a blower for forcibly discharging the conveying air fed into the silo together with the stored material to the outside of the silo is provided in the discharge path section on the mounting body side. As a result, the silo feeding device can be installed on the silo side simply by attaching the mounting body provided with the blower and discharge path section to the upper end side of the silo, so that the work of connecting the blower and the discharge path section with a discharge hose as in the past is not necessary. Therefore, the number of work steps required to install the silo feeding device on the silo side, which feeds the stored material into the silo by the air conveying method, can be reduced.

(2) It is preferable that the blower is disposed outside the silo, and an intake port of the blower is connected to an open end of the discharge passage portion disposed outside the silo.
In this case, since the blower is disposed outside the silo with the mounting body attached to the upper end side of the silo, it is possible to prevent the transported materials fed into the silo from entering the blower. Also, the transport air fed into the silo together with the stored materials is sucked into the intake port of the blower disposed outside the silo via the exhaust path portion and is exhausted outside the silo from the exhaust port of the blower, so the exhaust function of the blower for transporting air is not impaired.

(3) The blower may be disposed within the silo, and an exhaust port of the blower may be connected to an open end of the discharge path portion disposed within the silo.
In this case, the blower is placed inside the silo with the mounting body attached to the top end side of the silo, so the center of gravity of the silo charging device can be lowered. This allows the silo charging device to be installed on the silo side in a stable state. In addition, the conveying air that is charged into the silo together with the stored material is sucked into the intake port of the blower placed inside the silo, passes through the exhaust port of the blower and is discharged outside the silo, so the discharge function of the blower to discharge the conveying air is not impaired.

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the amount of work required to install a silo charging device on the silo side, which can charge stored materials into the silo using an air conveying method.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a silo feeding system according to a first embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a state in which pellets are being fed into a silo by a drop feeding method. FIG. 2 is a side view of the silo feeding system, showing pellets being fed into the silo by an air conveying method. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the silo charging device as seen from above. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II in FIG. 3. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the silo charging device as seen from below. FIG. 11 is a side view showing a first modified example of the restricting means. FIG. 11 is a side view showing a second modified example of the restricting means. FIG. 11 is a side view showing a third modified example of the restricting means. 13A and 13B show a fourth modified example of the restricting means, in which FIG. FIG. 5 is a side view showing a silo charging device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a view taken along the line III in FIG. 11 . FIG. 12 is a plan view of the silo charging device of FIG. 11 as seen from below.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that at least some of the embodiments (including modified examples) described below may be combined in any combination.
[First embodiment]
<Silo feeding system>
Fig. 1 is a side view showing a silo charging system including a silo charging device 1 and an air conveying device 2 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In Fig. 1, the silo charging system of this embodiment is used to charge and store wood pellets (storage material) to be used as a heat source for a heating device (not shown) in a silo 3 installed outdoors in a cold region.

The silo 3 is formed in a vertically long cylindrical shape, and is supported at a predetermined height from the ground by a lattice-shaped stand 4 installed on the ground. The silo 3 has a cylindrical section 3a at its upper end. An inlet 3b for dropping pellets is formed at the upper end of the cylindrical section 3a. In other words, pellets are dropped into the silo 3 by the dropping method.

The lower part of the silo 3 is formed in a conical cylindrical shape, and an openable and closable outlet 3c is formed at the bottom end of the silo 3. This allows the silo 3 to store pellets fed into it through the feed opening 3b, and by opening the outlet 3c, the pellets stored inside can be taken out.

The pellets fed into the silo 3 are stored in a predetermined amount in multiple flexible container bags 5. The flexible container bag 5 has a container bag body 5a in which the pellets are stored, and a hook portion 5b fixed to the container bag body 5a. The container bag body 5a is formed in a roughly rectangular parallelepiped shape, and an openable and closable discharge port 5c is provided on the bottom surface of the container bag body 5a to discharge the pellets stored inside.

The multiple flexible container bags 5 are loaded onto the bed 6a of a truck 6 and transported to the installation site of the silo 3. The truck 6 is equipped with a crane 7 equipped with a multi-stage boom 7a and a hanging hook 7b attached to the tip of the boom 7a. The crane 7 is capable of lifting the flexible container bag 5 by hooking the hook portion 5b of the flexible container bag 5 onto the hanging hook 7b.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 1, the flexible container bag 5 is lifted by the crane 7 of the truck 6 to just above the inlet 3b of the silo 3, and in that state the discharge outlet 5c of the flexible container bag 5 is opened, and the pellets in the flexible container bag 5 are dropped into the silo 3 through the inlet 3b.

<Silo feeding device>
Fig. 2 is a side view showing the silo feeding system, illustrating the use of the silo feeding device 1. In Fig. 2, the silo feeding device 1 is detachably installed on the cylindrical portion 3a of the silo 3, and enables pellets to be fed into the silo 3 by an air conveying method.

In the air transport method using the silo loading device 1, for example, the silo loading device 1 is lifted by the crane 7 of the truck 6 and placed on the cylindrical portion 3a of the silo 3, and the connection hose (transport pipe) 8 extending from the air duct (not shown) of the air transport device 2 mounted on the bed 6a of the truck 6 is connected to the loading pipe 12 (described later) of the silo loading device 1.

The silo feeding device 1 has a function of holding the input end of the air conveying path at the input port 3b in order to prevent the connection hose 8 from becoming unruly and coming off the input port 3b, making it impossible to feed the pellets into the silo 3. The air conveying path is composed of the connection hose 8 and an input path section (described later). The input end of the air conveying path is the other end opposite to the end to which the connection hose 8 is connected in the input path section. The input end of the air conveying path being "positioned at the input port" also means that the input end of the air conveying path is located in the area above or below the input port 3b of the silo 3. In addition, "holding" the input end of the air conveying path at the input port 3b means that the input end of the air conveying path is kept in a state where it is positioned at the input port 3b of the silo 3, regardless of the fixed location of the air conveying path.

Next, the flexible container bag 5 is lifted by the crane 7 and moved directly above the hopper (not shown) of the air conveying device 2, and the discharge port 5c of the flexible container bag 5 is opened. As a result, by driving the air conveying device 2, the pellets in the flexible container bag 5 are fed into the air conveying device 2, and then fed into the silo 3 via the connecting hose 8 and the silo feeding device 1 by air conveyance.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the silo feeding device 1 as seen from above. Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I in Figure 3. In Figures 3 and 4, the silo feeding device 1 comprises an attachment body 11, a feeding pipe (feeding path section) 12, a discharge pipe (discharge path section) 13, a blower 14, and a regulating means 15. Note that the discharge pipe 13 and the blower 14 are not shown in Figure 4.

<Mounting body>
The mounting body 11 holds the input passage portion (in this embodiment, the input pipe 12) in a state where it is positioned on the upper end side of the silo 3. The mounting body 11 has a mounting body 111 formed in a disk shape and a rectangular support base 112 fixed to the upper surface of the mounting body 111. The outer diameter of the mounting body 111 is formed to be larger than the outer diameter of the cylindrical portion 3a of the silo 3. As a result, the mounting body 111 is placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a (the edge of the input port 3b) to block the input port 3b. As described above, the mounting body 11 is placed on the upper end side of the silo 3.

Here, the "upper end side" of the silo 3 refers not only to the upper end of the silo 3 (the part above the vertical center of the silo) but also to other members on the silo 3 side, such as the stand 4, which are arranged around the upper end of the silo 3. In addition, "placing" on the upper end side of the silo 3 means that at least a portion of the load of the mounting body 11 is placed on the upper end side of the silo 3, and includes direct placement and indirect placement.

The "directly" in "directly placed" means that the mounting body 11 contacts the upper end side of the silo 3 (the upper end of the silo 3 or another member on the silo 3 side) without any other members. The "indirectly" in "indirectly placed" means that at least a part of the mounting body 11 contacts the upper end side of the silo 3 via another member, and also includes the case where one part of the mounting body 11 contacts the upper end side of the silo 3 and another part of the mounting body 11 contacts the upper end side of the silo 3 via another member.
In this embodiment, the mounting body 111 is directly placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a without being fixed to the cylindrical portion 3a, and is thus detachably attached to the cylindrical portion 3a. As a result, the mounting body 11 is placed directly on the upper end of the silo 3 with its entire load placed on the upper end of the silo 3.

The mounting body 111 has multiple intake holes 115 formed to penetrate in the vertical direction. These intake holes 115 have the function of drawing air from the atmosphere into the silo 3 when the transport air that has been introduced into the silo 3 together with the pellets is forcibly discharged outside the silo 3 by the blower 14, as described below. This makes it possible to prevent excessive negative pressure from building up inside the silo 3.

<Inlet pipe>
The input pipe 12 is connected to the connection hose 8 and guides the pellets pneumatically conveyed by the connection hose 8 into the silo 3. The input pipe 12 includes a vertical pipe section 12a extending in the vertical direction, an elbow pipe 12b having one end connected to the upper end of the vertical pipe section 12a and bent, and a horizontal pipe section 12c connected to the other end of the elbow pipe 12b and extending in the horizontal direction. In this embodiment, the vertical pipe section 12a, the elbow pipe 12b, and the horizontal pipe section 12c are all formed of circular pipe members.

The upper end of the vertical pipe section 12a is fixed to the mounting body 111 by passing through a first mounting hole 113 formed in the mounting body 111. As a result, when the mounting body 111 is placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical section 3a, the part of the vertical pipe section 12a that protrudes downward from the mounting body 111 is arranged to extend in the vertical direction within the silo 3, and the elbow pipe 12b and horizontal pipe section 12c located above the mounting body 111 are arranged outside the silo 3. Therefore, the input pipe 12 is provided on the mounting body 111 so as to communicate between the inside and outside of the silo 3 via the input port 3b.

The open end 12c1 of the horizontal pipe section 12c is a connection port to which the above-mentioned connection hose 8 is connected. As a result, the pellets conveyed by air through the connection hose 8 pass through the horizontal pipe section 12c, elbow pipe 12b, and vertical pipe section 12a and are fed into the silo 3. At that time, the pellets are separated from the conveying air by inertial force (gravity). Therefore, the silo feeding device 1 also functions as a separation device that separates the pellets from the conveying air.

The vertical pipe section 12a in this embodiment is a metal steel pipe, and its longitudinal middle section is fixed to the mounting body 111. As a result, the relative position of the portion of the vertical pipe section 12a that protrudes downward from the mounting body 11 does not move relative to the mounting body 11. Therefore, the input end of the air conveying path (the lower end of the vertical pipe section 12a) is held in a position within the silo 3. Note that even if the vertical pipe section 12a is a flexible pipe, the input port 3b of the silo 3 is covered by the mounting body 11, so even if the lower end of the vertical pipe section 12a bends and moves, the input end of the air conveying path is held in a position within the silo 3.

<Exhaust pipe>
Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of Fig. 3. In Fig. 3 and Fig. 5, the discharge pipe 13 includes a vertical pipe portion 13a extending in the up-down direction and a horizontal pipe portion 13b protruding in the horizontal direction from the upper end portion of the vertical pipe portion 13a. The vertical pipe portion 13a in this embodiment is formed in a box shape and is fixed in a state in which it is placed on the upper surface of the mounting body 111.

A communication port 13a1 that communicates with the horizontal tube section 13b is formed at the upper end of one side of the vertical tube section 13a (the side facing the center of the mounting body 111). An open end 13a2 is formed at the lower end of the vertical tube section 13a, and a second mounting hole 114 is formed in the mounting body 111 directly below the open end 13a2.

As a result, when the mounting body 111 is placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a, the open end 13a2 of the vertical pipe portion 13a communicates with the inlet 3b of the cylindrical portion 3a through the second mounting hole 114 of the mounting body 111, and the open end 13b1 of the horizontal pipe portion 13b is positioned outside the silo 3. Therefore, the discharge pipe 13 is provided on the mounting body 111 so as to communicate between the inside and outside of the silo 3 through the inlet 3b.

<Blower>
The blower 14 forcibly discharges the conveying air, which has been fed into the silo 3 together with the pellets from the feed pipe 12 and separated as described above, to the outside of the silo 3 via the discharge pipe 13. The blower 14 in this embodiment is fixed in a state in which it is placed on the upper surface of the support base 112 of the mounting body 11, and is disposed outside the silo 3 with the mounting body 111 placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a.

The blower 14 has an intake port 14a for sucking in the conveying air and an exhaust port 14b for exhausting the conveying air to the outside. The intake port 14a of the blower 14 is connected to the open end (one end) 13b1 of the horizontal pipe section 13b of the exhaust pipe 13, for example, via a pipe joint 17. Note that the pipe joint 17 is not shown in FIG. 3.

A bag filter (not shown) is connected to the exhaust port 14b of the blower 14 to remove dust particles and the like contained in the conveying air exhausted from the exhaust port 14b. As a result, the conveying air that is introduced into the silo 3 together with the pellets from the input pipe 12 and separated is sucked in by the blower 14 through the exhaust pipe 13 and pipe joint 17, and is forcibly discharged outside the silo 3 through the bag filter.

In the above configuration, in a silo 3 in which an inlet 3b through which pellets can be dropped into the interior is formed at the upper end (tubular portion 3a), the attachment body 11 (attachment main body 111) is placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a, and the connecting hose 8 for conveying pellets by air conveyance is connected to the open end 12c1 of the input pipe 12 provided on the attachment body 11, which is located outside the silo 3, so that the pellets conveyed by air conveyance can be fed into the silo 3 from the input pipe 12. In addition, by removing the attachment body 11 from the silo 3, the pellets can be returned to a state in which they can be dropped into the silo 3 from the inlet 3b. As a result, even in a silo 3 in which pellets are fed by the drop-feed method, pellets can be temporarily fed into the silo 3 by the air conveyance method.

Furthermore, since the mounting body 11 is placed directly on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a, the mounting body 11 can be attached to the silo 3 more easily than when the mounting body 11 is indirectly placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a.
Furthermore, since the mounting body 11 is placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a without being fixed thereto, the mounting body 11 can be attached to the silo 3 even more easily.

For example, when one worker uses the drop-loading method to load pellets from multiple flexible container bags 5 into the silo 3, the worker operates the crane 7 on the ground to hoist each flexible container bag 5 directly above the loading port 3b of the silo 3, and then climbs up to the top of the silo 3 to open the discharge port 5c of the flexible container bag 5 (see FIG. 1). The worker then descends from the silo 3 to the ground and operates the crane 7 again to lower the flexible container bag 5 from which the pellets have been discharged to the ground. Therefore, the number of times the worker climbs up and down the silo 3 in the drop-loading method is the same as the number of flexible container bags 5.

In contrast, when the air transport method using the silo feeding device 1 of this embodiment is used, the number of times that the silo 3 needs to be climbed up and down is only two times: when the silo feeding device 1 is first installed at the top end of the silo 3, and when the silo feeding device 1 is removed from the top end of the silo 3 after the pellets in all the flexible container bags 5 have been air transported to the silo 3. Therefore, when one worker is feeding pellets in three or more flexible container bags 5 into the silo 3, the air transport method using the silo feeding device 1 can be used to reduce the number of times the worker climbs up and down the silo 3 compared to when the drop feeding method is used, thereby reducing the burden on the worker.

The blower 14, which forcibly discharges the conveying air that was fed into the silo 3 together with the pellets out of the silo 3, is fixed to the mounting body 11 and is connected to one end (open end 13b1) of the discharge pipe 13 provided on the mounting body 11. This allows the silo feeding device 1 to be installed in the silo 3 simply by attaching the mounting body 11, on which the blower 14 and discharge pipe 13 are provided, to the upper end of the silo 3, eliminating the need for the conventional task of connecting the blower and the discharge pipe with a discharge hose. This reduces the amount of work required to install the silo feeding device 1 in the silo 3.

In addition, the blower 14 exhausts the conveying air in the silo 3 to the outside of the silo 3 through the exhaust pipe 13, creating a negative pressure inside the silo 3, which causes the attachment body 11 to be attracted to the upper end of the silo 3 (the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a). This makes it possible to prevent the attachment body 11 from falling off the upper end of the silo 3.

In other words, if the blower 14 does not create a negative pressure inside the silo 3, the mounting body 11 placed without being fixed to the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a may tilt and roll off the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a due to the upward air blowing force (positive pressure) inside the silo 3, but by creating a negative pressure inside the silo 3, the falling of the mounting body 11 can be prevented. Also, if the mounting body 11 is fixed to the upper end of the silo 3 by a fixing means, the upward air blowing force may pull the components of the fixing means and cause them to come off or break, causing the mounting body 11 to roll off. In such cases, too, the falling of the mounting body 11 can be prevented by creating a negative pressure inside the silo 3.

In addition, when the mounting body 11 is attached to the upper end of the silo 3, the blower 14 is positioned outside the silo 3, so that the pellets fed into the silo 3 can be prevented from entering the blower 14. In addition, the conveying air fed into the silo 3 together with the pellets is sucked into the intake port 14a of the blower 14 positioned outside the silo 3 via the exhaust pipe 13, and is exhausted outside the silo 3 from the exhaust port 14b of the blower 14, so that the discharge function of the conveying air by the blower 14 is not impaired.

<Control measures>
6 is a plan view of the silo feeding device 1 as seen from below. In FIGS. 4 and 6, the regulating means 15 has a function of regulating the horizontal movement of the mounting body 111 placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a. The regulating means 15 of this embodiment is composed of three protrusions 151, 152, and 153 protruding downward from the lower surface of the mounting body 111, and one of the protrusions 153 serves as a portion of the vertical pipe portion 12a of the feeding pipe 12 that is lower than the lower surface of the mounting body 111. The remaining two protrusions 151 and 152 are made of cylindrical members having a smaller diameter than the vertical pipe portion 12a, and the upper ends of the protrusions 151 and 152 are fixed to the lower surface of the mounting body 111.

All three protrusions 151-153 are formed to extend straight in the vertical direction, and the vertical length of each of the protrusions 151-153 is the same length L1. Each of the protrusions 151-153 is disposed on the outer periphery of the lower surface of the mounting body 111 so that, when the mounting body 111 is placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a, the protrusions 151-153 are disposed adjacent to the inner surface of the insertion port 3b within the cylindrical portion 3a. In addition, the three protrusions 151-153 are disposed in a triangular shape with each of the protrusions 151, 152, and 153 as vertices in a plan view.

The lower ends of the protrusions 151 and 152 are connected and reinforced by horizontally extending reinforcing members 154A. Similarly, the lower ends of the protrusions 152 and 153, and the lower ends of the protrusions 153 and 151 are connected and reinforced by horizontally extending reinforcing members 154B and 154C, respectively.

With the above configuration, when the mounting body 111 placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a attempts to move horizontally, any of the protrusions 151-153 of the regulating means 15 abuts against the inner surface of the inlet 3b, thereby regulating the horizontal movement of the mounting body 111. Furthermore, even if the weight of the connection hose 8 connected to the inlet pipe 12 causes the mounting body 111 to tilt relative to the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a, any of the protrusions 151-153 abuts against the inner surface of the inlet 3b, thereby regulating the mounting body 111 from tilting. This makes it possible to prevent the mounting body 11 from falling off the upper end of the silo 3.

In addition, since the vertical pipe portion 12a of the feeding pipe 12 also serves as the protrusion 153, the number of parts is reduced, making it possible to configure a silo feeding device 1 at low cost.
In addition, when the silo feeding device 1 is not in use, the lower ends of the three protrusions 151 to 153 arranged in a triangular shape when viewed in a plane as described above are grounded, and the mounting body 11 is placed on the ground or the like, thereby allowing the silo feeding device 1 to be stored in a stable condition.

<Modifications of the restriction means>
Fig. 7 is a side view showing a first modified example of the restricting means 15. In Fig. 7, the restricting means 15 of this modified example is composed of a plurality of protrusions 155 extending in the vertical direction. Each protrusion 155 is the same member as the protrusions 151, 152 of the above embodiment, but is provided on the mounting body 111 in a form that allows it to be easily inserted into the insertion port 3b of the tubular portion 3a.

In this invention, the "easily insertable shape" of the protrusion means that when the protrusion is inserted through the inlet, the side surface of the protrusion closest to the inner periphery of the inlet moves away from the inner periphery toward the center of the inlet, either continuously or stepwise, as the protrusion moves from an arbitrary position above the lower end toward the lower end.

In this modified example, each protrusion 155 is fixed to the mounting body 111 in a state in which its side surface is inclined so as to move continuously away from the inner periphery of the inlet 3b toward the center line C of the inlet 3b as it moves from the upper end to the lower end. This allows the multiple protrusions 155 to be easily inserted into the inlet 3b when the mounting body 111 is placed on the upper end surface of the tubular portion 3a.

Figure 8 is a side view showing a second modified example of the restricting means 15. In Figure 8, the restricting means 15 of this modified example is composed of a single flat protrusion 156 that extends vertically and horizontally. This protrusion 156 is also provided on the mounting body 111 in a form that allows it to be easily inserted into the insertion port 3b of the tubular portion 3a.

Specifically, the upper surface 156a of the protrusion 156 is fixed to the lower surface of the mounting body 111, and the side surfaces 156b on both horizontal sides of the protrusion 156 (the side surfaces closest to and facing the inner periphery of the insertion port 3b) are formed to be inclined so as to continuously move away from the inner periphery of the insertion port 3b toward the center line C as they move from the upper end to the lower end. As a result, even in this modified example, the protrusion 156 can be easily inserted into the insertion port 3b when the mounting body 111 is placed on the upper end surface of the tubular portion 3a.

Figure 9 is a side view showing a third modified example of the restricting means 15. In Figure 9, the restricting means 15 of this modified example is composed of a plurality of restricting members 157 protruding downward from the lower surface of the mounting body 111. Each restricting member 157 is the same member as the protrusions 151, 152 of the above embodiment, but is fixed to the outer periphery of the lower surface of the mounting body 111 so that it is positioned outside the cylindrical portion 3a and close to the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 3a when the mounting body 111 is placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a. As a result, when the mounting body 111 placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a tries to move in the horizontal direction, one of the plurality of restricting members 157 abuts against the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 3a, restricting the horizontal movement of the mounting body 111.

Figure 10 shows a fourth modified example of the restricting means 15, where (a) is a side view and (b) is a plan view seen from below. In Figures 10(a) and (b), the restricting means 15 of this modified example has the function of restricting the vertical and horizontal movement of the mounting body 111 placed on the upper end surface of the tubular portion 3a. The restricting means 15 is composed of multiple abutting members 158 (two in the illustrated example) fixed to the outer periphery of the lower surface of the mounting body 111, and abutted members 159 fixed to the outer periphery of the tubular portion 3a.

The two abutment members 158 are arranged circumferentially at an interval of 180° on the underside of the mounting body 111. Each abutment member 158 is L-shaped in side view and has a vertical plate portion 158a whose upper end is fixed to the underside of the mounting body 111, and a horizontal plate portion 158b that extends horizontally from the lower end of the vertical plate portion 158a toward the center of the mounting body 111.

The abutment member 159 has an annular band portion 159a that is fastened and fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the tubular portion 3a, and multiple (two in the illustrated example) flat protrusions 159b that are fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the band portion 159a and protrude horizontally. The two protrusions 159b are arranged 180° apart in the circumferential direction of the band portion 159a. The abutment member 159 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the tubular portion 3a such that the protrusions 159b are positioned above the horizontal plate portion 158b of the abutment member 158 when the mounting body 111 is placed on the upper end surface of the tubular portion 3a.

With the above configuration, the mounting body 111 is placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a with the contact member 159 fixed to the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion 3a. At that time, the mounting body 111 is placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a with the contact member 158 shifted circumferentially relative to the protrusion 159b, and then rotated horizontally to achieve the state shown in Figures 10(a) and (b).

In the state shown in Figures 10(a) and (b), when the mounting body 111 tries to move in the horizontal direction (left and right direction in Figure 10(a)), the vertical plate portion 158a of the abutting member 158 abuts against the tip of the protruding portion 159b of the abutted member 159, restricting the horizontal movement of the mounting body 111. Also, when the mounting body 111 tries to move in the vertical direction, the horizontal plate portion 158b of the abutting member 158 abuts against the underside of the protruding portion 159b of the abutted member 159, restricting the vertical movement of the mounting body 111.

[Second embodiment]
Fig. 11 is a side view showing a silo feeding device 1 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 12 is a view taken along the line III in Fig. 11. In Figs. 11 and 12, the silo feeding device 1 of this embodiment differs from the first embodiment mainly in the arrangement of the blower 14.

In this embodiment, the mounting body 11 is composed only of a mounting body 111 formed in a disk shape. The exhaust pipe 13 has a pipe body 13c formed of a circular pipe member and an annular flange portion 13d protruding radially outward from the lower end of the pipe body 13c. The pipe body 13c is inserted through the second mounting hole 114 of the mounting body 111 from below, and the upper surface of the flange portion 13d abuts against the lower surface of the mounting body 111. In this state, the flange portion 13d is fixed to the mounting body 111 by bolts or the like together with a flange portion 14c of the blower 14, which will be described later.

As a result, when the mounting body 111 is placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a, the upper open end 13c1 of the pipe body 13c is positioned outside the silo 3, and the lower open end 13c2 of the pipe body 13c is positioned inside the silo 3. Therefore, the discharge pipe 13 is provided on the mounting body 111 so as to communicate between the inside and outside of the silo 3 via the inlet 3b. A bag filter (not shown) positioned above the mounting body 111 is connected to the upper open end 13c1 of the pipe body 13c.

The blower 14 is disposed below the mounting body 111. An annular flange portion 14c is formed on the edge of the exhaust port 14b of the blower 14, and the flange portion 14c is fixed to the mounting body 111 together with the flange portion 13d of the discharge pipe 13 as described above. As a result, the exhaust port 14b of the blower 14 is connected to the open end 13c2 (one end) of the discharge pipe 13 that is disposed inside the silo 3.

The outer diameter of the blower 14 is smaller than the inner diameter of the cylindrical portion 3a, and is positioned below the mounting body 111 so that it can be inserted into the cylindrical portion 3a from the inlet 3b (see also FIG. 13). Thus, the blower 14 is placed in the silo 3 by placing the mounting body 111 on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a.

The intake port 14a of the blower 14 is formed in a position facing the inner surface of the input port 3b when the mounting body 111 is placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a. A mesh screen (not shown) is provided at the intake port 14a of the blower 14 to prevent the pellets in the silo 3 from being sucked into the blower 14.

With the above configuration, the blower 14 is placed inside the silo 3 with the mounting body 11 attached to the upper end of the silo 3, so the center of gravity of the silo feeding device 1 can be lowered. This allows the silo feeding device 1 to be installed in the silo 3 in a stable state. In addition, the conveying air fed into the silo 3 together with the pellets from the feeding pipe 12 is sucked into the intake port 14a of the blower 14 placed inside the silo 3, and is discharged from the exhaust port 14b of the blower 14 through the exhaust pipe 13 and a bag filter to the outside of the silo 3, so the discharge function of the conveying air by the blower 14 is not impaired.

The regulating means 15 is composed of three protrusions 161, 162, and 163 that protrude downward from the bottom surface of the mounting body 111, and one of the protrusions 163 also serves as the portion of the vertical tube section 12a of the input tube 12 that is lower than the bottom surface of the mounting body 111. The remaining two protrusions 161 and 162 are formed by bending a cylindrical member with a smaller diameter than the vertical tube section 12a into a U-shape in side view.

That is, the protrusion 161 has a pair of abutment portions 161a extending in the vertical direction, and a mounting portion 161b extending horizontally between these abutment portions 161a. Similarly, the protrusion 162 has a pair of abutment portions 162a extending in the vertical direction, and a mounting portion 162b extending horizontally between these abutment portions 162a. The upper ends of the abutment portions 161a of the protrusion 161 and the upper ends of the abutment portions 162a of the protrusion 162 are fixed to the lower surface of the mounting body 111.

The vertical length L2 of each of the protrusions 161, 162 is longer than the vertical length L3 of the protrusion 163 and the length L4 from the bottom surface of the mounting body 111 to the bottom end of the blower 14. In the side view of FIG. 12, the abutment portion 161a of the protrusion 161 is formed in a straight line, and the abutment portion 162a of the protrusion 162 is formed by bending it into an L-shape.

Figure 13 is a plan view of the silo feeding device 1 of Figure 11, seen from below. As shown in Figure 13, the mounting portion 161b of the protrusion 161 is disposed on one end side of the blower 14 (the upper end side in the figure), and is formed in a straight line in plan view. The mounting portion 162b of the protrusion 162 is disposed on the other end side of the blower 14 (the lower end side in the figure), and is formed by bending it into a bow shape in plan view, so that it has bent portions 162b1 at two points in the longitudinal direction.

When the mounting body 111 is placed on the upper end surface of the tube portion 3a, the abutment portion 161a on one side of the protrusion 161 (left side in the figure), the pair of abutment portions 161a and the bent portions 162b1 of the placement portion 162a of the protrusion 162, and the protrusion 163 are disposed close to the inner surface of the insertion port 3b within the tube portion 3a. The other configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, so a description thereof will be omitted.

With the above configuration, when the mounting body 111 placed on the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a tries to move in the horizontal direction, the abutment portions 161a, 162a of the protrusions 161, 162 and the protrusion 163 come into contact with the inner surface of the inlet 3b, thereby restricting the horizontal movement of the mounting body 111. Even if the mounting body 111 tries to tilt against the upper end surface of the cylindrical portion 3a due to the weight of the connection hose 8 connected to the inlet pipe 12, the abutment portions 161a, 162a of the protrusions 161, 162 and the protrusion 163 come into contact with the inner surface of the inlet 3b, thereby restricting the mounting body 111 from tilting. This makes it possible to prevent the mounting body 11 from falling off the upper end of the silo 3.

In addition, since the vertical pipe portion 12a of the feeding pipe 12 also serves as the protrusion 163, the number of parts is reduced, making it possible to configure a silo feeding device 1 at low cost.
When the silo feeding device 1 is not in use, the mounting body 11 can be placed on the ground or the like with the mounting parts 161b, 162b of the two protrusions 161, 162 grounded, thereby allowing the silo feeding device 1 to be stored in a stable state. In addition, since the mounting parts 161b, 162b protrude downwards beyond the respective lower ends of the feeding pipe 12 and the blower 14, it is possible to prevent the feeding pipe 12 and the blower 14 from coming into contact with the ground or the like and being damaged when the mounting body 11 is placed on the ground or the like.

[others]
In the above embodiment, wood pellets are described as the stored material in the silo 3, but pellets other than wood, livestock feed, etc. may be stored in the silo 3. In addition, the silo charging device 1 in the above embodiment separates the pellets from the conveying air by inertial force, but the pellets and the conveying air may be separated by a cyclone.

In the above embodiment of the mounting body 11, the lower surface of the mounting body 111 is placed directly on the upper end of the silo 3, but other members constituting the mounting body 11 may be placed directly on the upper end of the silo 3. For example, if the mounting body 11 has a sealing member that seals between the mounting body 11 and the inlet 3b of the silo 3, the sealing member may be fixed to the lower surface of the mounting body 111 and the sealing member may be placed directly on the upper end of the silo 3. Also, if the mounting body 11 has a cylindrical member fixed to the lower surface of the mounting body 111, the inner diameter of the cylindrical member may be formed larger than the outer diameter of the tubular portion 3a of the silo 3, and the lower end of the cylindrical member may be placed directly on the shoulder portion of the silo 3 extending radially outward from the lower end of the tubular portion 3a with the cylindrical member covering the outer periphery of the tubular portion 3a.

The mounting body 11 may be composed of multiple members. For example, the mounting body 11 may be composed of a first member placed on the shoulder portion of the silo 3 and a second member placed on the edge of the inlet 3b of the silo 3, and the inlet path may be formed by connecting the inlet pipe 12 fixed to the first member and a flexible hose fixed to the second member.

In the above embodiment, the mounting body 11 is attached to the upper end of the silo 3, but as described above, it may be attached to a separate member on the silo 3 side that is arranged around the upper end of the silo 3. Examples of the separate member include the stand 4, a frame that reinforces the silo 3 other than the stand 4, a ladder, a crane device installed to hoist the flexible container bag 5 and drop the pellets into it, and a building in which these ladders and crane devices are installed.

In the above embodiment, the mounting body 11 is placed directly on the upper end side of the silo 3, but it may also be placed indirectly on the upper end side of the silo 3. For example, an annular base may be fastened and fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 3a of the silo 3, and the mounting body 11 may be placed on the base. For example, a seal member separate from the mounting body 11 and the silo 3 may be placed on the upper end of the silo 3, and the mounting body 11 may be placed on the seal member.

In the above embodiment, the attachment body 11 closes the inlet 3b while being placed on the upper end side of the silo 3, but it is not necessary to close the inlet 3b. In this case, when the attachment body 11 is spaced upward from the inlet 3b and the lower end of the flexible inlet pipe 12 is spaced upward from the inlet 3b, the inlet pipe 12 only needs to be attached to the attachment body 11 so that the maximum deflection position of its lower end is located within the region above the inlet 3b.
Furthermore, when the mounting body 11 is to close the inlet 3b, the mounting body 11 may be placed on the upper end side of the silo 3 and detachably fixed to the upper end side by a fixing means. In this case, the mounting body 11 may be fixed to the upper end side of the silo 3 in a state in which the space between the mounting body 11 and the inlet 3b is hermetically closed with a sealing member or the like, or the mounting body 11 may be fixed to the upper end side of the silo 3 in a state in which the space between the mounting body 11 and the inlet 3b is not hermetically closed.

The specific configurations of the mounting body 11, the input path section, and the discharge path section are not limited to those in the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the input pipe 12 is used as the input path section, but the first mounting hole 113 formed in the mounting body 111 may be used as the input path section without using the input pipe 12. In this case, by fixing one end of the connection hose 8 to the first mounting hole 113, the relative positions of the first mounting hole 113 and one end of the connection hose 8 to the mounting body 11 do not move. Therefore, the input end of the air conveying path (the lower end of the first mounting hole 113 or one end of the connection hose 8) is held in a position above the input port 3b of the silo 3.

Further, in the above embodiment, the exhaust pipe 13 is used as the exhaust path portion, but the exhaust pipe 13 may not be used and the second mounting hole 114 formed in the mounting body 111 may serve as the exhaust path portion.
In the above embodiment, the connection hose 8 is used as a conveying pipe connected to the input path portion (input pipe 12), but this is not limited to this, and piping or the like may be used.

Although the blower 14 in the above embodiment is connected to one end of the exhaust pipe 13 , it may be provided inside the exhaust pipe 13 .
The mounting body 11 in the above embodiment is detachably attached to the upper end side of the silo 3, but the silo feeding device 1 may be fixed by welding or the like so that it cannot be detached from the upper end side of the silo 3. In that case, when the mounting body 11 is initially fixed (installed) to the upper end side of the silo 3, the work of connecting the blower and the discharge pipe with a discharge hose is not required, so that the number of work steps can be reduced.

The number of protrusions constituting the regulating means 15 in the above embodiment is not limited to three, but may be two or less, or may be four or more. In the above embodiment, the vertical tube portion 12a of the input tube 12 also serves as the protrusion, but a dedicated protrusion may be provided separately from the vertical tube portion 12a. In addition, the specific configuration of the protrusion is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the protrusion may be fixed to the center of the lower surface of the mounting body 111.

In the first modified example (see FIG. 7), the side surface of the protrusion 155 is formed so as to continuously move away from the inner periphery of the inlet 3b toward the center, but may be formed so as to move away in stages. Also, the entire circumferential direction of the side surface of the protrusion 155 is inclined so as to continuously move away, but only the side surface portion of the protrusion 155 that faces the inner periphery of the inlet 3b closest to the inner periphery may be inclined.
In the first modified example, the entire side surface of the protruding body 155 is inclined in the vertical direction, but only a part of the side surface of the protruding body 155 in the vertical direction including the lower end may be inclined. In this case, the other part of the side surface of the protruding body 155 may be formed farther away from the inner peripheral edge of the insertion port 3b than the part.

In the second modified example (see FIG. 8), the side surface 156b of the protrusion 156 is formed so as to move continuously away from the inner periphery of the inlet 3b toward the center, but it may be formed so as to move away in stages. In this case, the side surface 156b may be formed in a stepped shape with alternating horizontal and vertical surfaces, or some of these horizontal surfaces or some of the vertical surfaces may be inclined so as to move continuously away from the inner periphery of the inlet 3b toward the center.

The silo feeding device 1 of the above embodiment is provided with a regulating means 15, but for example, when the mounting body 11 is placed in a stable state on the upper end of the silo 3, it is not necessary to provide the regulating means 15.
The regulating means 15 of the above-mentioned fourth modified example (see Figure 10) regulates the vertical and horizontal movement of the mounting body 11 placed on the upper end of the silo 3, but it may also regulate only the vertical movement of the mounting body 11.

The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered to be illustrative and not restrictive in all respects. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims, not by the meaning described above, and is intended to include all modifications within the scope of the claims and meanings equivalent thereto.

1 Silo feeding device 3 Silo 3b Feeding port 8 Connecting hose (transport pipe)
11 Mounting body 12 Input pipe (input path section)
12c1 Open end 13 Discharge pipe (discharge path)
13b1 Open end (one end)
13c2 Open end (one end)
14 Blower 14a Intake port 14b Exhaust port

Claims (3)

A silo charging device that is installed on a silo side having an inlet at an upper end thereof through which stored material is charged,
An input path section that communicates the inside and outside of the silo through the input port and has an open end portion arranged outside the silo, and a conveying pipe that conveys the stored material by air conveyance is connected to the open end portion;
A discharge passage portion that communicates the inside and outside of the silo through the inlet;
a blower provided in the discharge path portion for forcibly discharging the conveying air introduced into the silo together with the stored material to the outside of the silo;
A silo charging device comprising: a single mounting body in which the charging path section and the discharge path section are respectively provided and which is detachably attached to the upper end side of the silo. The blower is disposed outside the silo;
2. The silo charging device according to claim 1, wherein the air intake of the blower is connected to an open end of the discharge passage portion disposed outside the silo. The blower is disposed within the silo;
2. The silo charging device according to claim 1, wherein an exhaust port of the blower is connected to an open end of the discharge passage section disposed within the silo.

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