US3125232A

US3125232A - Transfer device

Info

Publication number: US3125232A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1964-03-17
Anticipated expiration: 1981-03-17

Description

March 174., 1964 H, L. BRmKMAN Emu. 3,125,232

TRANSFER @Ew-QE Fue-a Aug. 1n, 19e; 4 sheets-sheet 2 IIIIIIL l'r'wszvroles. HAROLD [..BRINKMAN BYoLn/Epz J. sAARI j MMMM ATTORNEY.

March 17, 1964 Filed Aug. 10, 1961 H. L. BRINKMANI ETAL TRANSFER DEVICE FIG. .4 f/

POSITION 2 I 26 I l ms oursms.

sh F7" E 7^ '4 s vII 275 27a SV 27a g-/b j I A I 4 B \-\--Pos['r|oN o 45a `-45h y o I\ I/ INNER DOOR CART IB lOUTER DOOR.

SEAL I INNER DOOR OUTER DOOR s sh '5 srs Y DOOR CLOSED -SM 5 FIG. 6

S' 2 INVENTaRs. 5,2 u, HAROLD L BRINKMAN a' OLIVER J'. sAAFu s'l BY DooR OPEN :y ,y

ATTORNEY.

United States Patent C) 3,125,232 TRANSFER DEViCE Harold L. Brinkman, Flushing, and @liver l. Saarl, Brewster, NX., assignors to American Machine di Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Aug. 10, 1961, Ser. No. 130,676 Claims. (Cl. 21d-17) This invention relates to a device enabling the trans-fer of packages and equipment in and out of la closed space such as the cell olf a nuclear reactor.

ln the course of conducting various operations, such as when dealing with nuclear reactors or toxic bacterial substances, it is necessary to isolate the material in a closed cell to protect operators from exposure. During such operations, it is oiten desirable to pass items through, the enclosed cell wall. Heretoiore, because of the lack of .a practical device to safely effect transfer of material through the cell wall, it has generally been customary to use elaborate arrangements such as large polyethylene isolation sacks o-ver openings or to shut down the operation and lwait until a safe condition prevails in the enclosure so that the cell could be opened with safety.

The present invention intends to provide a means for safely passing material through a cell wall by an automatic device which at all times, whether the device is operating or inactive, provides adequate shielding against cross contamina-tion of the atmospheres separated by the Aval-l. The invention is `accomplished by an arrangement comprising a coordinated unit including a transfer cart to carry the material and :a pair of doors which are interl-ocked .to prevent opening of both doors simultaneously.

It 4is the principal object of the present invention to provide a device suitable for transferring articles through a Wall separating a close space wthout exposure of the atmosphere from one side of the wall .to the other.

It is a more particular object of the invention to provide a device permitting transfer of articles through the Wall isolating a nuclear reactor without interrupting the reaction or without the necessity of utilizing auriliary enclosures or other means to isolate a radioactive environment tf1-om a normal environment.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a wall unit of automatic operation with fail-proof safety features which comprise a pair lof doors, interloc'ked to prevent opening of more than one -at any time and a transfer cart movable in through the wall space and door opening.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description and from the drawings in which:

IFIG. l is a side View in cross section of the device of the invention illustrating one of the doors in open position with the transfer cart situated between the doors.

FK?. 2 is a plan View of the device shown in FlG. 1 with tone of the shielding doors in the open position but with the transfer cart omitted.

FIG. 3 is a view facing a wall into which the device of .the invention is situated and taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FG. l.

FIG. 4 is an end view of the transfer cart positioned in the wall opening taken substantially along the line 4--4 of FIG. l.

FIG. 5a is a detailed view of the door camming arrangement.

FiG. 5 b is a vector illustration `of the relative horizontal and vertical motions associated with the door sealing action.

FIG. 6 is la diagrammatic illustration of a wiring diagram demonstrating an appropriate electrical interlock for the doors and cart.

In the detailed description which follows, the device of the invention will he explained in conjunction with a nuclear reactor but it will be apparent that the invention may be applied to any operation whe-rein it is desirable to transfer articles of material through a wall which forms `the separation `of adjacent areas. Thus, in addition to nuclear reactors, the invention may be applied for example to enclosures housing :biological studies, furnaces, jet fuel consumption test facilities, and the like.

Referring .to FIGS. l `and 2 of the drawing, the invention is shown as a uni-t inserted within an opening 11 formed in the Wall 1li. Numeral 12 refers to a wall liner such as steel or other metal for the opening in the Wall. The unit 13 which forms Ithe apparatus of the invention comprises a metal frame 114 with `appropriate filler concrete shielding 15 having the saine density as used in the barrier or wall. Where total shielding thickness inside the unit .is reduced due to cavities, sufficient high density shielding such as lead is added to afford a shield at least comparable to that offered by the wall.

The voids from between the unit i3 and the wall liner are llled with suitable Wall seal-ing compound 2d. Supported on the frame 14 are doors y16 and 17 of a substantially semi-cylindrical con-figuration; an inner doo-r 16 and an outer door 17, suitably mounted so that they are pivoted in their operation to open and closed position. it will be understood that doors of other suitable configuration rnay :also be utilized in conjunction with the concept of the present invention. The door 1o is illustrated in lopen position while door 17 is closed. Each doo-r is supported and guided in ope-ration so that it rotates at a slightly spaced relationship from the door recess formed in the frame 14; this prevents wear. Upon .alignment in the closed position and when fully closed, the door is oammed against the door recess at the trame 14 so as to form a tight seal. This arrangement permits easy movement when uncarnmed from the sealed lit and prevents the loss of Ia .substantially permanent tight seal due to wear which might occur after substantial operation of the door with passage of time as would likely occur if the door were 4p-ivoted in Contact with the frame. Within the `Wall opening between the doors y16 and 17 is a transfer cart 1d employed for movement of the articles to and from the enclosed seal. The transfer cart 1S is arranged to move on a track. The track comprises lthree sections: track section `19 on the dat outer portion of the inner door v1li, the section 2li in the space between the two doors and section 2.1 on the outer `llat face of the door `17. The cart is positively driven by a center rack Z2 (see FlG. 2) positioned between the .tracks Icooperating with .a drive pinion 23 (see FIG. 4) on the transfer cart 1S.

The doo-

rs

16 and 17 are positively driven by the door actuating cable 2c riding over the pulleys 39. lt will be Iappa-rent that in addition to the cab-le 26 other conventional door actuating means such as a chain, or system of levers or gears may be utilized. The cable 26 is attached to a suitable mounting on the door 2S at one end and suitable :reversible drive motor (not shown) at the other end. It will be understood that other means such as a reversible motor can also be arranged to actuate the doors using a gearrnotor and drum located in place of the pulleys, for example. The pulleys 39 are supported by suitable mounts 33 (see FIG. 3). In the arrangement shown, the weight of rthe door is employed to edeot the opening lthrough a reversible drive motor as the tension of lthe cable is gradually released. The doors are mounted so as to pivot at 3d 'while being guided and supported by the pivot arm 29. The other end of the arm 29 is attached to a pivot mount 28. The movement of the door from closed position is: initial unsealing of the door by slight lateral movement effected by a oamming action; then a conjoint pivotal and lateral movemen-t as the door opens to a full stop. The mount 28 is constructed so that when 4the door is in closed position Si the cam action is effected at 3l to :seal land unsea-l the door, using suitable means for example such as pneumatic locking cylinder 4@ or a hydraulic arrangement (not shown). The doors may comprise metal and/or concrete.

The door is further guided by an arrangement of a guide roller 32 positioned in a suitable slot 33 to afford a more stable movement of the door. A pivot arm stop 34 stops the opening of the door beyond the track alignment position by abutting it against the arm 29. The recess 35 in the door permits free movement of the arm 29.

The camming action, described in greater detail by reference to FIGS. 5a and 5b, is obtained through the geometrical relationship of the cable 216, the center of gravity of the door 17, the arm 29 and the roller 32. The initiation of the camming action is effected by the cable 26 when sealing the door 17 to the frame ld and by the door weight when unsealing. The sealing action only will be described as the unsealing utilizes the same principle except by reverse motions.

FIG. 5a illustrates the door i7 in position l, just prior to sealing, and then in position 2, its nal sealed position. As the cable 26 raises the upper end of the door 17, two actions occur. First, the roller 32 raises in its guide and the arm 29 pivots on its pin 2S. The resultant of these actions is to raise and pivot the door 17 approximately 90 without the sealing surface of the door 17 coming into contact with its mating sealing surface on the frame M. During the last 5 of arm 29 rotation, the horizontal motion of the door i7 far exceeds its vertical motion and thereby cams or forces the faces of the two sealing surfaces together. This is accomplished without any sliding action taking place between these surfaces during contact. FIG. 5b illustrates in vector form the relative horizontal and vertical motions associated with sealing action. Sh represents the horizontal component of the resultant motion SR and Sv represents the vertical component. With the door in the open position, the SI1 and Sv vectors are approximately equal. As the cable is raised, the Sv vector decreases at a greater rate relative to the Sh vector. Therefore, during nal cable motion, the instantaneous door motion is horizontal. It is thus seen that the camming action referred to in the specification is the horizontal motion of the door 17, resulting from the combination of vertical cable 26 motion, roller 32 reaction and rotary arm 29 motion.

Illustrated in the wall opening between the doors is a purged line 4l to remove atmospheric gases entering this opening thereby preventing passage thereof to or out of the isolated space. Line 42 is an air source for the pneumatic cylinder 40 which effects the locking of the door against the opening in the frame ld. A flexible electric cable 43 furnishes the power for the cart drive 44 and the

limit switches

27a and 27b. Another cable 49 services the safety switches 45a and 45h. The limit switches 27a and 271: are actuated by contact with a closed door or with the stops 46 positioned near the extreme end of the door in its open position. Shown at 47 and 43 is high density shielding such as lead to provide for the shielding which is reduced due to the openings in the wall occasioned by installing the system of the invention.

It is contemplated that when used in nuclear reactors, units of this type are installed within reach of conventional manipulators so that the manipulator may readily grasp the material passed through the unit into the seal and likewise place material to be removed from the seal onto the open door or the opening preparatory to the removal.

When not in operation, both the

doors

16 and 17 are in closed position. The operation in which the unit is used to pass articles through the wall, if it is desired, may be programmed with a control system so as to automatically produce the proper sequence of movement in the equipment. Thus, when it is desired to introduce an article into a closed cell the proper programming would consist of opening the door l?, this movement is effected by rst releasing the pneumatic seal; camming the door until it is slightly removed from contact with the door recess of the frame 14 and then pivoting to open position by means of the arm 29 so that the hat track carrying portion of the door is rotated to horizontal position. Proper aligning means are effected by the stop 34 and the guide roller 32 and slot 33 to provide a level condition for the track portions Ztl and 2l as well as sections of the rack 22. Upon reaching alignment the transfer cart 1S automatically moves onto the door 7 until it is stopped by the limit switch 27b contacting the stop 46. After the articles have been placed in the transfer cart the cart moves onto the track Ztl until the limit switch 27a contacts the door 16 upon which the movement of the cart is stopped. The cart is now positioned between the doors and the door 17 is actuated to closed position. When the door has been sealed shut, there may be provided a suitable time delay during which the chamber between the doors is evacuated through the purged line 4l. Thereafter the safety switch 4511 which is now in contact with the door 17 and the switch 27 in contact with door 16 provide suitable signals to permit the door 16 to automatically open. When the door 16 is in aligned position, the limit switch 27a is then freed of shut-off condition. The cart is then driven until the limit switch 27a contacts the stop 45 on the door lr6. The manipulator inside the cell thereupon removes the article and upon proper impulse the cart is returned to a position between the doors, and door lo is moved to closed position. The door 17 may be opened after the door 16 has been sealed to remove articles which may have been placed on the transfer cart from the cell.

The interlock relationship between door 16, door 17 and cart 18 is described in conjunction with the electrical diagram of FIG. 6. In FIG. 6, switch 50 is a threeposition selector switch of conventional, commercially available design.

Switches

45h, 45a, 27b and 27a are conventional, commercially available limit switches, each with a single pole, double throw contact. The contacts shown on the electrical diagram of FIG. 6 are actually contacts of conventional relays which are, in turn, actuated by the limit switches listed above.

Switches

4511, 45a, 27b and 27a perform all interlock functions. Switches A and B which are for control only are drive control limit switches comprising conventional components of the drive mechanism for the door cables.

When the transfer device is not in use, switch 5t? is in the storage position. The cart 1S is at rest in the cart storage position, which is located between the inner and outer doors.

When the operator turns switch 50 to the inside position, the cart will move towards the interior of the cell. When it reaches the inner door, limit switch 27a is actuated. Limit switch 27a stops the cart until the inner door is completely open. When the door is completely open, limit switch 27a is deactivated; the cart continues until it hits the inner end stop and the cart motor is then de-energized by limit switch 27a.

If the operator turns switch 50 to the outside position, the above description would be applicable except that the cart would go in the reverse direction and limit switch 27]; would be actuated when the cart moves to the outer door.

If the operator desires to go from the interior of the cell to the outside, he moves switch 5@ to the outside position. The cart 1S would then move towards the storage position. When it reaches the outer door, limit switch 2'7b is actuated. Limit switch 27b stops the cart and also causes the inner door 16 to close. When the inner door is closed, the outer door then opens limit switch through 45a. When the outer door is completely open, limit switch 27b is deactivated and the cart continues on until limit switch 27b stops it at the outer end stop.

When the operator is nished with the cart, he moves the switch to the storage position. The cart will then move to the storage position and stop. The inner or outer door will then close and the cart will be in storage position.

The inner door controls are interlocked so that the inner door cannot open if the outer door is open due to limit switch 45h, and it cannot close unless the cart is in the storage position due to limit switch 27b.

In a like manner, the outer door controls are interlocked so that the outer door cannot open if the inner door is open due to limit switch 45a and it cannot close unless the cart is in the storage position due to limit switch 27a.

Although a limited number of variations and details are presented herein, it will be understood that various additional modifications apparent to one skilled in the art may be incorporated in the concept herein present without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly the invention is not to be limited by such modifications except as necessitated by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for transferring articles into and from an isolated space without exposure of the atmosphere in said space which comprises in combination an article transfer carrier normally positioned in the wall which isolates said space, an outer door and an inner door spaced from said outer door, said doors having a at side upon which said article transfer carrier may be transferred, as the door is horizontally positioned, each door supported and guided for pivotal movement to open and closed position, an interlocking arrangement for said doors preventing the opening of any one of said doors when the other is in open position, means for actuating said doors and means carried by said transfer carrier for movement of said article transfer carrier through said isolated space and onto said doors.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein an article transfer carrier positioned in the space between said doors is coordinated so as to move toward each of the doors after the respective door has attained an open position.

3. An apparatus for transferring articles into and from an isolated space without exposure of the atmosphere in said space, positioned in the wall which isolates said space, which comprises in combination an outer door and an inner door spaced from said outer door, said doors having a flat side upon which said article transfer carrier may be transferred, as the door is horizontally positioned, each door supported and guided for pivotal movement to open and closed position, an interlocking arrangement for said doors preventing the opening of any one of said doors when the other is in open position, an article transfer carrier for transferring articles into and from the isolated space housed between said doors and onto said doors, mechanized means for actuating said doors and separate means coordinated with said door actuating means for transferring said article transfer carrier, said transfer carrier being aranged to move from its housing between said doors and onto either of said doors when in the open position and automatically to be stationed between said doors when both doors are closed.

4. An apparatus for transferring articles into and from an isolated space without exposure of the atmosphere in said space, positioned in the wall which isolates said space, which comprises in combination an outer door and an inner door spaced from said outer door, said doors having a flat side upon which said article transfer carrier may be transferred, as the door is horizontally positioned, each door supported and guided for pivotal movement to open and closed position, an interlocking arrangement for said doors preventing the opening of any one of said doors when the other is in open position, an article transfer carrier for transferring articles into and from the isolated space housed between said doors and onto said doors in coordinated arrangement with said doors, mechanized means for actuating said doors and separate means coordinated with said door actuating means for transferring said article transfer carrier, said transfer carrier being arranged to automatically move from its housing between said doors and onto either of said doors when in the open position and to be stationed between said doors when both doors are closed.

5. An apparatus for transferring articles into and from an isolated space without exposure of the atmosphere in said space, positioned in the Wall which isolates said space, which comprises in combination an outer semicylindrical door and an inner semi-cylindrical door spaced from said outer door, said doors having a lat side upon which said article transfer carrier may be transferred, as the door is horizontally positioned, each door supported and guided for pivotal movement to open and closed position, an interlocking arrangement for said doors preventing the opening of any one of said doors when the other is in open position, an article transfer carrier for transferring articles into and from the isolated space housed between said doors and onto said doors in coordinated arrangement with said doors, mechanized means for actuating said doors, separate means coordinated with said door actuating means for transferring said article transfer carrier, said transfer carrier being arranged to automatically move from its housing between said doors and onto either of said doors when in the open position and to be stationed between said doors when both doors are closed and means for effecting a cammed sealing action on said doors when in the closed position.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

Claims

1. AN APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING ARTICLES INTO AND FROM AN ISOLATED SPACE WITHOUT EXPOSURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE IN SAID SPACE WHICH COMPRISES IN COMBINATION AN ARTICLE TRANSFER CARRIER NORMALLY POSITIONED IN THE WALL WHICH ISOLATES SAID SPACE, AN OUTER DOOR AND AN INNER DOOR SPACED FROM SAID OUTER DOOR, SAID DOORS HAVING A FLAT SIDE UPON WHICH SAID ARTICLE TRANSFER CARRIER MAY BE TRANSFERRED, AS THE DOOR IS HORIZONTALLY POSITIONED, EACH DOOR SUPPORTED AND GUIDED FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT TO OPEN AND CLOSED POSITION, AN INTERLOCKING ARRANGEMENT FOR SAID DOORS PREVENTING THE OPENING OF ANY ONE OF SAID DOORS WHEN THE OTHER IS IN OPEN POSITION, MEANS FOR ACTUATING SAID DOORS AND MEANS CARRIED BY SAID TRANSFER CARRIER FOR MOVEMENT OF SAID ARTICLE TRANSFER CARRIER THROUGH SAID ISOLATED SPACE AND ONTO SAID DOORS.