FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to placement of granular materials. More specifically, the present invention relates to a rotary airlock device used in a system or apparatus that moves and places granulate.

BACKGROUND

Sand, gravel and rock are used in a variety of applications for the construction industry. From aggregate base for concrete slabs, to back fill for retaining walls, granular materials, or granulates, are probably the most widely used substance, outside of concrete, in the construction industry. What has been a common problem has been moving the granulate from place to place when a dump truck and/or cranes and mechanical shovels do not have easy access to the worksite.

Another application, namely the construction of concrete flatwork (slabs on grade and the like) typically require a 2- to 6-inch layer of sand, gravel or other granular material underneath a concrete slab. In these applications, a vapor barrier is often required in order to provide moisture protection. The material of choice for vapor barriers is typically of a size and material that is job-site-specific, and therefore delivered directly from the vendor to a location adjacent to the flatwork in progress. Since the vapor barrier and subsequent granulate installation are the final steps preceding the actual concrete pouring, they are not completed until all other mechanical, electrical lines and footing reinforcement bars have been installed. As such, heavy equipment cannot be driven over the pad (and lines and bars) because the lines and bars (and vapor barrier) would be disturbed. Because of this restriction, the granulate has heretofore been applied manually with wheelbarrows and shovels.

Furthermore, the process of concrete flatwork usually involves the installation of a perimeter forms for the slab (i.e. within which the concrete would be poured). These perimeter forms also interfere with the use of heavy equipment to load the granulate into the pad. What is needed is a device and method that permits the transfer of granulate into a concrete flatwork pad without disturbing the mechanical and electrical lines, the reinforcing bars, the vapor barrier or the perimeter forms.

A number of improvements have been made to mechanisms for the pumping of sand and gravel. U.S. Pat. No. 6,336,774 to Dunlap describes a portable, self-contained apparatus capable of discharging granulate into hard-to-reach areas, as well as providing assistance in covering vast open areas with granulate in a short time. The apparatus comprises a fully functional truck having a substantially flatbed upon which is mounted a high capacity air compressor. An air compressor, feeder/hopper, pumping device and the hose are provided. The feeder/hopper is configured to receive loads of granulate and then feed the granulate in a consistent manner into the attached pumping device for pneumatic compression into the hose. The hose is stored on a hydraulic or air driven reel which dispenses the hose for quick set-up and retracts it for ease of returning to storage on the truck.

As it relates to pumps generally, an ongoing problem experienced by placing flowable material, in particular materials like sand and gravel, is the extreme wear and tear these abrasive materials cause to these systems, and the differing sizes of the particulates. These abrasive materials rapidly break down and even destroy the parts of the handling systems and pumps. Additionally, even with various improvements a significant amount of inefficiencies exists in currently available systems. Leaks caused by the wear and tear of various parts of the system reduce significantly the operational characteristics of these systems. Furthermore, when the worksite is very far from where a truck can go, the pumping mechanism require sufficient power to pump the materials through a hose to the worksite.

Thus, what is needed is an improved pump/rotary airlock device to achieve a significant increase in the efficiencies of the system and reduce occurrence and frequency of equipment wear.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following summary of the invention is provided in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects and features of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention and as such it is not intended to particularly identify key or critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented below.

To achieve the foregoing and other aspects and in accordance with the embodiments, a system, apparatus and method for moving and placing granulate material, is provided.

Accordingly, the disclosure relates to a rotary airlock device or feeder for a portable, self-contained apparatus that is attachable to a motor vehicle (truck) capable of discharging granulate into hard-to-reach areas, as well as providing assistance in covering vast open areas with granulate in a short time.

The rotary airlock feeder and system permits the application of granulate into areas that are normally inaccessible and would require many hours of human labor, and thereby potentially avoiding damage to the site that might be incurred if employing a prior method and device.

The present system provides a rotary airlock mechanism or rotary airlock feeder, and a system mountable to a vehicle or trailer that is a “containerized” “boxed” or “cased” system mountable to a trailer. In this way, the system can be easily shipped and mounted to a trailer. The containerized system comprises operating components for the rotary airlock device and the software, hardware and firmware to operate the granulate moving system. One component of the system, the rotary airlock mechanism, comprises a rotary air lock chamber to move aggregates such as sand, rock, soil, through a hose and discharge at end users point of placement. The rotary airlock mechanism is configured to increase production rates and maximum aggregate size able to be pumped through hose. The device comprises a wear plate assembly, a rotor gasket assembly, a rotor plate assembly and a rotor component.

In embodiments, the rotary airlock feeder comprises a wear plate assembly comprising a bottom wear plate and a top wear plate, wherein the bottom wear plate attached to an upper part of a housing bowl, a rotor plate assembly comprises a first rotor plate and a second rotor plate, wherein the first rotor plate disposed above the bottom wear plate, and a rotor component disposed above the first rotor gasket, wherein the second rotor gasket disposed above the rotor component, wherein the second rotor plate is disposed above the second rotor gasket, wherein the top wear plate is disposed above the second rotor plate, wherein the rotary airlock feeder facilitates application of granulate into predetermined areas.

The first rotor plate and the second rotor plate comprise a plurality of chambers disposed therewith to facilitates the inflow and ejection the aggregate material deposited in chambers. The bottom wear plate is configured to protect the first rotary plate and the housing bowl. The first rotor gasket and the second rotor gasket are provided with a radial and circumferentially arrayed plurality of downwardly projecting flange portions to act as connection members. The gasket assembly and the wear plate assembly arrangement are configured to provide a mechanical and adhesive bond to the rotor component. In one embodiment, the housing bowl is mated to the bottom wear plate.

An upper end of housing comprises notches for fixing the bottom wear plate in place. The top wear plate comprises an air input line connected to a compressor to pump air into the rotary air lock to create pressure to pump the gravel down through the device and out of an output line. The top wear plate comprises a gravel drop to gravel drops and an exhaust to allow airflow of the chamber and release dust and particulate. The rotor component is connected to a hydraulic motor to spin the bowl and move particulate. The rotary airlock feeder is coupled to a feeder to receive granulates for pneumatic compression and discharge granulates into areas that are normally inaccessible. The rotary airlock feeder is configured to increase production rates and increase maximum aggregate size able to be pumped through hose connectable to the containerized system.

In another embodiment, a system for moving aggregate that is attachable to a trailer or truck such as medium duty or heavy-duty truck. The system comprises at least one of the rotatory airlock mechanisms, and multiple electronic and motor components disposed on the trailer in a containerized housing attachable to a truck. The container may comprise a user interface, a network interface module, an HMI module, an input/output module, an actuators/distance sensors module, a hydraulic motor, a safety module, a programmable logic controller (or PLC), and a manual control module. The control components that are mounted to trailer and are operable by a user.

In an embodiment, a system for moving and placing granulate, the system comprises a housing mountable to a trailer; at least one cabinet located on a side of the housing, wherein the at least one cabinet comprises a compressor; at least one back compartment located on the back side of the housing, wherein the at least one back compartment comprises at least one rotary airlock device in communication with the compressor, wherein the compressor feeds air to the rotary airlock device under pressure; an actuatable feeder located on the back side of the housing, wherein the feeder when in an open position receives granulate and feeds the granulate to the at least one rotary airlock device; a hose mount located on the housing and in communication with a bottom portion of the at least one rotary airlock, wherein when the compressor is actuated, the granulate is fed from the feeder, through the at least one rotary airlock and out through the house mount into a hose to place the granulate in a predetermined place.

In an embodiment, a rotary airlock feeder device comprising a wear plate assembly comprises a bottom wear plate and a top wear plate, wherein the bottom wear plate attached to an upper part of a housing bowl, wherein the top wear plat has a granulate input aperture; a rotary component comprising a rotary airlock chamber, wherein the rotary component is coupled to a motor and when actuated, rotates to provide a silo to increase pressure and move the granulate; a housing bowl positioned below the rotary component; an outlet assembly attached to housing bowl, wherein the outlet assembly a granulate outlet, and an air pipe coupled to the outlet assembly to provide an airflow to move granulate out of the outlet assembly.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and the specific examples, while indicating specific embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

