Within the pulp industry, use is made of temporary containers for pulp chips at various stages of processing. These containers, known as chip bins within the pulp sector, are required to be designed in such a manner that the material does not form bridges or lumps in the container. A large number of chip bins are known for the purpose of counteracting such lump formation. Some are equipped with vibration arrangements, frequently referred to as Vibra Bins, which subject the container to vibrations, which is intended to break up any bridges before these are formed.
In other solutions, steam or air nozzles are arranged inside the container, by means of which nozzles it is possible to act on the chips intermittently with steam/air jets which break up the bridges. Examples of such arrangements are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,635,025, U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,873, U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,083. In these, additional equipment is required for the purpose of breaking up the bridges, which equipment makes the container more expensive and more complex and also increases the requirement for maintenance as a result of wear of component parts.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,741, a basic design of a container is known, in which use is made of alternate round and oval sections of successively smaller cross section. In this case, it is stated that the basic designs themselves are to prevent the occurrence of bridges. However, the solution is relatively complicated to produce and is inadequately optimized from the point of view of strength.
Other basic designs of chip bins are known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,572 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,945. SE C 505498 discloses another variant in which the pulp is imparted a deflection in changing directions.
It is obvious that the problem of trouble-free feed from chip bins is a major problem, and that relatively complicated designs have been proposed, often with expensive additional equipment such as vibration arrangements and nozzles.
The present invention aims to provide a chip bin of simpler design which can be produced at a lower cost. A design according to the invention makes it possible for the container to be produced as a simple construction of plane plates.
A further object is that chip bridge formation inside the container is counteracted by means of the design of the container, in which a positive release can be achieved at all levels in at least one direction horizontally.
As a result, a more reliable discharge of chips can be achieved, and any additional equipment in the form of nozzles or vibration arrangements does not need to be activated as often for the purpose of breaking up any bridges. In most cases, this additional equipment can be dispensed with altogether.
The invention is described in greater detail by means of embodiments and with reference to the figures as below.