Apparatus for supplying wood fiber material to a pulp paper plant through a single off-loading station

• US 4,221,520 A
• Filed: 06/19/1978
• Issued: 09/09/1980
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/1978
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Paper Company
• Original Assignee: International Paper Company
• Inventors: Bartley, Thomas S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheridan, Robert G.
• Application Number:
  US05/916,882
• Time in Patent Office: 813 Days
• Field of Search: 414/340, 414/343, 414/345, 414/346, 414/349-353, 414/354-356, 414/359, 414/366, 198/366, 198/370, 198/371, 198/436
• US Class Current: 414/355
• CPC Class Codes: B27L 11/002 Transporting devices for wood or chips
• CPC Class Codes: D21B 1/00 Fibrous raw materials or their mechanical treatment pretreatment of the finely-divided materials before digesting D21C1/00; methods of beating or refining pulp D21D1/00; purification of the pulp suspension by mechanical means D21D5/00

Abstract

Method and apparatus for supplying wood fiber material in both roundwood and chip form to a pulp paper plant through a single off-loading station having a rotary railroad car dumper for unloading fiber material to a receiver box including a platform for receiving the fiber material transferred at an elevated position from the receiver box, a wall for guiding material being transferred onto the platform, and a plurality of plows for segregating the wood fiber material and for moving the roundwood and chip materials along the deck in separate directions toward separate conveying systems.

Claims

1. Apparatus for receiving, segregating, and temporarily storing material transferred at an elevated position from a receiver box of a rotary railroad car dumper, the material being one of at least two forms, the material also being expelled from the dumper along an unloading axis, the apparatus comprising:

(a) stationary platform means including

(i) a horizontally disposed planar deck member for supporting simultaneously the at least two different forms of material expelled,

(ii) means for supporting said deck member substantially at the elevation of the receiver box;

(b) means for coupling the receiver box to said platform means for guiding material being expelled onto said deck member;

(c) means cooperating with said platform means and said coupling means for plowing the expelled material along said deck member in a selectable one of a plurality of directions, the dimensions of the deck member in each of said plurality of directions being sufficient to store temporarily the segregated material.

2. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the at least two forms of material expelled from the rotary dumper is wood fiber material in wood chip form and roundwood form, the roundwood being either tree-length or pulp wood-length logs, the wood fiber material being intended for use in a pulp paper manufacturing operation, wherein the deck member is rectangular and has a dimension of at least about 65 feet along the unloading axis and wherein the temporary material storage capacity of the platform is about two times the capacity of the receiver box in each plowing direction.

3. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the unloading axis is parallel to the axis of rotation of the dumper and the material is expelled through an opening at one end of the receiver box, and wherein said coupling means includes a vertical planar wall member fixedly attached, and perpendicular, to said deck member, the end of the receiver box through which the material is expelled being parallel to and in sliding engagement with said wall member, said wall member also having an aperture for alignment with the receiver box opening when the receiver box is in its coupled position.

4. The apparatus as in claim 3 wherein said plowing means moves the expelled material in the selected direction along an axis perpendicular to the unloading axis, and wherein the plowing means further includes:

(a) a plurality of vertically disposed plowing members each having a planar face oriented perpendicular to the plowing axis, a bottom edge parallel to the upper surface of said deck member, and a pair of opposite ends, the one of said ends proximate said wall member having a vertical edge;

(b) tracking means cooperating with both of said ends of each of said plowing members for guiding each plow member in translating motion along said plowing axis and for supporting said bottom edge above said deck member and for spacing said vertical edge of each of said gate members from said wall member distances sufficient to allow relative motion therebetween; and

(c) means for translating each of said plurality of plowing members along said plowing axis, said deck member and said wall member acting to channel the material being moved by action of said plowing member.

5. The apparatus as in claim 4 wherein said plowing means includes two plowing members, each of said two plow members operative to move material in a different direction along said plowing axis.

6. The apparatus as in claim 4 wherein said translating means includes cable drive means connected to both of said ends of each of said plurality of plowing members, and wherein each of said plowing member includes hinge means connecting the one of said ends proximate said wall member with said track means for accommodating canting of the plowing member during uneven loading thereof.

7. Apparatus for unloading, segregating and distributing material carried by open-topped railroad cars, the material being in at least two separate forms, the apparatus comprising, in combination:

(a) a rotary railroad car dumper, said rotary dumper including a receiver box elevated in a rest position;

(b) a platform for segregating and temporarily storing the segregated material, said platform being at substantially the same elevation as the rotary dumper receiver box in rest position;

(c) piston means cooperating with said rotary dumper and said platform for transferring material from said receiver box in rest position to said platform, said material having been unloaded into said receiver box during rotation of a railroad car by said dumper;

(d) distributing means for transporting sorted material away from said platform, said distributing means including at least two seperate conveying systems each for carrying a particular one of the material forms;

(e) plowing means cooperating with said platform for segregating the transferred material and for clearing the segregated material from said platform and onto said conveying means, the platform temporary storage capacity allowing substantially continuous operation of the respective one of said conveying systems for transporting away material of one form during the unloading, segregating and conveying material of the other form.

8. The apparatus as in claim 7 wherein said platform includes a generally horizontal planar deck member and wherein said plowing means includes a plurality of vertical plowing members, each of said vertical members having a planar face, a bottom edge in sliding conformity with the upper surface of said deck and a pair of opposite ends, and wherein said apparatus further includes means for translating said vertical members along said deck member.

9. The apparatus as in claim 8 wherein said translating means includes (i) tracking means for supporting and guiding said translating plowing members and (ii) cable drive means for applying driving force to both of said pair of opposite ends of each of said vertical members, each of said vertical members also including hinge means cooperating with said track means for accommodating canting of said vertical member about a vertical axis during application of uneven driving forces at said opposite ends.