Discharging mechanism and a discharging method of solid matter

• US 9,061,330 B2
• Filed: 03/26/2004
• Issued: 06/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Suntory Holdings Limited (Kotobuki Realty Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Suntory Holdings Limited (Kotobuki Realty Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Yamamoto, Seiichiro, Sano, Hiroshi, Kobayashi, Shozo, Shibuya, Katsushi
• Primary Examiner(s): Kornakov, Michael
• Assistant Examiner(s): COLEMAN, RYAN L
• Application Number:
  US10/551,281
• Publication Number:
  US 20070017552A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,106 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2208/00761 Discharging
• CPC Class Codes: B08B 17/02 Preventing deposition of fouling or of dust
• CPC Class Codes: B08B 9/08 Cleaning containers, e.g. tanks

Abstract

The present invention provides a discharging method for discharging solid matter out of a container in which the solid matter is stored. In this discharging method of solid matter, a discharging liquid is supplied into the container 2 and thereby generates a spiral flow to cause the liquid and the solid matter exhibiting the spiral flow to be discharged from a discharge port 20 arranged in the bottom of said container 2. The spiral flow of the liquid and the solid matter can be generated by allowing the discharging liquid to flow tangentially into the container 2 specifically at a location in the vicinity of the bottom of said container 2.

Claims

1. A discharging method of solid matter for discharging solid matter stored in a container from a discharge port of said container, said method comprising the steps of:

storing said solid matter in an intermediate section of said container;

supplying a discharging liquid from a lower section of said container so as to generate an upward spiral flow of said liquid in order to generate an upward spiral flow of said solid matter in said intermediate section by said upward spiral flow of said liquid and to generate a concentration of said solid matter above the discharge port in a central region in said storage container, the discharge port being located on a rotational axis of the spiral flow and formed in a central region of a bottom of said container; and

discharging said liquid and most of said solid matter present in the form of said upward flow from the discharge port formed in the central region of the bottom of said container such that said matter is discharged substantially completely from said container.

2. A discharging method of solid matter in accordance with claim 1, in which said upward spiral flow of said liquid and said solid matter is generated by introducing said discharging liquid tangentially into said container in the vicinity of said bottom of said container.

3. A discharging method of solid matter in accordance with claim 1, wherein said step of discharging said liquid further comprises:

moving a valve body of the discharge port in an upward direction so as to open the discharge port of the container and to move the valve body into a lower section of the container.