Bag Lifting and Emptying System
A bag lifting and emptying system may include a rupture mechanism for the bag, an attachment mechanism for the bag, and a hoist connectable to the attachment mechanism. The rupture mechanism may be configured to rupture a bottom portion of the bag, when the bag is lowered onto the rupture mechanism, so as to cause the contents of the bag to be transferred from the bag into a receptacle. The attachment mechanism may be configured to releasably attach to the bag. The hoist may be configured to lift the bag and subsequently lower the bag onto the rupture mechanism.
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This application is based upon, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) from, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/807,867, filed on Jul. 20, 2006, entitled “Lifting And Emptying System For Bagged Materials,” attorney docket no. 28080-212. The content of this provisional application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety as though fully set forth.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCHThis work was funded in part by ONR Grant No. N00014-05-1-0850.
BACKGROUNDA number of applications require that bags of heavy material, such as concrete by way of example, be lifted, and their contents emptied into a container such as the hopper of a mixer. Commercially available mixers, produced by different manufacturers, generally require manual lifting and emptying of bags of material.
Systems and methods that can eliminate the laborious task of manually lifting the heavy bags (which usually may be over 50 pounds) would be desirable.
SUMMARYA bag lifting and emptying system may include a rupture mechanism for the bag, an attachment mechanism for the bag, and a hoist connectable to the attachment mechanism. The rupture mechanism may be configured to rupture a bottom portion of the bag, when the bag is lowered onto the rupture mechanism, so as to cause the contents of the bag to be transferred from the bag into a receptacle. The attachment mechanism may be configured to releasably attach to the bag. The hoist may be configured to lift the bag and subsequently lower the bag onto the rupture mechanism.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Systems and methods are described for lifting bags of materials, such as concrete, and emptying them into a container. The systems and methods described below are applicable to a large number of scenarios, including but not limited to building construction.
Alternatively, the hoist 130 may be a manually controlled hoist. Such a manually controlled hoist may include a rope and pulley combination. An operator using such a manually controlled hoist may pull downward, by hand, the rope that is positioned over a pulley on top, the pulley substituting for motorization for the hoist. In a different embodiment, the manually controlled hoist may include a rope, wheel and drum combination. In this combination, the operator may turn the wheel that winds the rope around the drum. In a manually controlled hoist, a ratchet mechanism may be used to prevent reverse motion. The latch of the ratchet mechanism may be released after emptying the lifted bag.
To prevent tearing the bag 205 by a sudden lift action of the hoist, one or more springs may be used, as shown in
In one embodiment, the bag lifting and emptying system described in the present disclosure may include a dust enclosure for substantially preventing or minimizing the escape of dust while the material contained within the bag is being transferred onto the hopper.
While a dust enclosure is not explicitly shown in
In sum, systems and methods have been described that allow the process of lifting and emptying heavy bags of material to be automated. In this way, the laborious task of lifting and lowering the heavy bags may be eliminated, while containing dust generated during the process.
While certain embodiments have been described of systems and methods for lifting, lowering, and emptying a bag, it is to be understood that the concepts implicit in these embodiments may be used in other embodiments as well. The protection of this application is limited solely to the claims that now follow.
In these claims, reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various embodiments described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference, and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. §112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.”
Claims
1. A bag lifting and emptying system, comprising:
- a rupture mechanism configured to rupture a bottom portion of a bag when the bag is lowered onto the rupture mechanism, so as to cause the bag's contents to be transferred from the bag;
- an attachment mechanism configured to releasably attach to the bag; and
- a hoist connectable to the attachment mechanism, the hoist configured to lift the bag and subsequently lower the bag onto the rupture mechanism.
2. The bag lifting and emptying system of claim 1, wherein the rupture mechanism comprises one or more blades, each blade terminating in a pointed vertex; and
- wherein the blades are positioned substantially vertically, so that the pointed vertices of the blades are directed substantially upward so as to rupture the bag when the bag is lowered onto them.
3. The bag lifting and emptying system of claim 2, further comprising a lateral actuator attached to the blades, the lateral actuator configured to move the blades laterally after the blades have pierced the bag so as to increase tear made by the blades in the bag.
4. The bag lifting and emptying system of claim 1,
- wherein the attachment mechanism includes a spear configured to pierce through a top portion of the bag and be inserted therethrough, so as to cause the bag to be lifted when an upward force is applied to the spear and lowered when the upward force is removed; and
- wherein the hoist includes a cable connectable to the spear and configured to transmit to the bag the upward force.
5. The bag lifting and emptying system of claim 4, wherein the attachment mechanism further includes:
- a horizontal rod attachable to the cable of the hoist;
- at least one tension spring extending vertically between the spear and the rod, a first end of the spring attachable to the spear and a second end of the spring attachable to the rod; and
- wherein the spring is configured to absorb at least some of the upward force so as to substantially prevent tearing of the bag by a sudden lift action of the hoist.
6. The bag lifting and emptying system of claim 4,
- wherein the cable comprises an electric cable; and
- wherein the hoist comprises at least one of: a manually operated hoist; and an electrically controlled hoist.
7. The bag lifting and emptying system of claim 1, further comprising a pendent operable to implement a lifting and a lowering operation of the hoist; and
- wherein the pendent includes at least one of:
- an up-down control knob operable to control the lifting and lowering operation of the hoist; and
- a speed control know operable to control a speed of the lifting and lowering operation of the hoist.
8. The bag lifting and emptying system of claim 1, further comprising a dust enclosure configured to seal an area onto which the bag's contents are transferred, thereby substantially preventing dust from escaping while the contents of the bag are being transferred from the bag.
9. The bag lifting and emptying system of claim 8, wherein the dust enclosure includes a sealable opening through which the bag can be inserted into the dust enclosure.
10. The bag lifting and emptying system of claim 2, wherein at least some of the blades are substantially triangular in shape.
11. A bag lifting and lowering system, comprising:
- an attachment mechanism for a bag, the attachment mechanism including a spear configured to pierce through a top portion of the bag and be inserted therethrough, so as to cause the bag to be lifted when an upward force is applied to the spear and lowered when the upward force is removed; and
- a hoist connectable to the spear, the hoist configured to lift and lower the bag as a result of lifting and lowering the spear.
12. The bag lifting and lowering system of claim 11,
- wherein the hoist includes a cable connectable to the attachment mechanism and configured to transmit to the bag the upward force.
13. The bag lifting and lowering system of claim 11, wherein the hoist comprises a manually operated hoist; and
- wherein the manually operated hoist includes at least one of:
- a rope and pulley combination;
- a rope, wheel, and drum combination; and
- a ratchet mechanism.
14. The bag lifting and lowering system of claim 11, wherein the hoist comprises an electrically controlled hoist; and
- wherein the cable comprises an electric cable.
15. The bag lifting and lowering system of claim 11, wherein the attachment mechanism further includes:
- a horizontal rod attachable to the cable of the hoist;
- at least one spring extending between the spear and the rod, a first end of the spring attachable to the spear and a second end of the spring attachable to the rod; and
- wherein the spring is configured to absorb at least some of the upward force so as to substantially prevent tearing of the bag by a sudden lift action of the hoist.
16. The bag lifting and lowering system of claim 11,
- wherein the spear has a first end and a second end, each end having a pointed conical tip that facilitates piercing of the spear through the top portion of the bag; and
- wherein the at least one spring comprises a first spring and a second spring, the first spring connected to the spear near the first end of the spear and a second spring connected near the second end of the spear.
17. A bag emptying system, comprising:
- a bag rupturing mechanism for rupturing a bag so as to cause its contents to spill out of the bag; and
- a dust enclosure configured to substantially prevent dust from escaping while the bag's contents are spilling out of the bag, the dust enclosure including a sealable opening through which the bag can be inserted into the dust enclosure.
18. The bag emptying system of claim 17, wherein the sealable opening of the dust enclosure comprises at least one of:
- a closable shoot; and
- one or more collapsible flaps.
19. A method of lifting and emptying a bag containing a material, the method comprising:
- piercing a portion of the bag with a spear so as to attach the bag to a hoist;
- operating the hoist so as to lift the bag, then to lower the bag onto a rupture mechanism within a container; and
- rupturing the bag so as to allow its contents to be transferred into the container.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 20, 2007
Publication Date: Jan 24, 2008
Applicant:
Inventor: Behrokh Khoshnevis (Marina del Rey, CA)
Application Number: 11/780,978
International Classification: B65B 37/02 (20060101);