Storage structure with breathing means

June 4, 1963 r. a. o’dell 3,092,010

STORAGE STRUCTURE WITH BREATHING MEANS

Filed June 2, 1961

Sheets-Sheet 1

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INVENTOR.

/F/YAo'tU' /. O'De·/!

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attorney.

June 4, 1963 r. a. o’dell 3,092,010

STORAGE STRUCTURE WITH BREATHING MEANS

Filed June 2, 1961

Sheets-Sheet 2

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attorney:

3-,092,010

Patented June 4, 1963

United States Patent Office

3,092,010

STORAGE STRUCTURE WITH BREATHING MEANS

Richard A. O’Dell, Independence, Mo., assignor to Buffer Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Missouri

Filed June 2, 1961, Ser. No. 114,526

Claims. (CI. 99—235)

This invention relates to the storage of materials and refers more particularly to the storage and protection J from destruction of materials such as corn, silage, sugar, and other materials or crops which, if allowed to remain exposed to contact with the atmosphere, suffer degradation to the extent that their usefulness is seriously impaired, if not completely destroyed.

More particularly, the invention is directed to the provision of an improved arrangement for obtaining a storage container having a breather chamber which permits automatic adjustment of the gas pressure inside the container in response to changes in climatic or atmospheric conditions but without causing any appreciable change in the composition of the gas within the container. The invention, as such, is directed to improvement over the inventions disclosed in the co-pending application of Richard V. Collins and John B. Sutherland, Serial No. 856,536 filed December 1, 1959.

The aforementioned application discloses inventions relating to the provision of a storage structure having means for effectively inhibiting the interchange of gases within the structure with the ambient atmosphere under varying climatic conditions without, however, requiring the storage container to withstand any substantial pressure differentials between the inside of the container and the surrounding atmosphere and without requiring expandable and contractible diaphragms or bags. One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive storage container of the character described, so constructed as to make the inclusion of the breathing chamber a matter of ease and simplicity. Through my invention there is provided a low cost construction which incorporates the breathing chamber at the base of the storage container and which requires no changes in the basic container arrangement above the materials supporting floor thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide an arrangement for incorporating the breathing chamber beneath the floor of the storage zone, and thus, in effect, within the foundation for the container, which eliminates the need for complex concrete forms and which permits construction of the unit with relative speed.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a storage container of the character described which makes possible the use of inexpensive materials to accomplish the end objective sought.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a storage container of the character described which lends itself particularly to the inclusion, with a minimum of installation difficulty, of a materials withdrawing conveyor beneath the materials supporting floor of the container.

A further object of the invention is to provide an arrangement wherein the gas conducting pipes and compartments are fully enclosed by the container and foundation structure, and thus are protected from the elements and from danger of accidental damage.

Other and further objects of the invention together with the features of novelty appurtenant thereto will appear in the course of the following description.

In the accompaying drawings in which like reference numerals indicate like parts in the various views:

FIG. 1 is a combined elevational and partly sectional view of a storage tank embodying the invention, parts being broken away for purposes of illustration, and the sectional part of the view being taken generally along line 1—i _of fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2—2 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows, parts again being broken away for purposes of illustration;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along line 3—3 of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is another enlarged fragmentary section taken along line 4—4 of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 5—5 of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings and initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, the storage structure in its preferred form comprises an upright cylindrical tank 10 which is constructed of metal sections or staves bolted together in the usual fashion. It will be understood that at each joint sealing or caulking materials are utilized in order to render the structure substantially gas-tight. Preferably the entire inner surface of the tank is lined with a suitable corrosion preventing liner which will bond to the metal of which the tank is constructed, the preferred type of liner being one of the metal bonding epoxy resins which are known and used for coating metals.

The tank itself is supported on a footing or platform 11 which is preferably formed of concrete and provided with a flat level top surface 11α. The base ring 10α of the tank is firmly secured to the footing 11 as by bolting it to a footing ring embeded in the footing as it is poured. Since this itself is a usual practice in the construction of metal tanks, the details of the connection have not been shown and will not be further described.

The tank is provided with a sealed top 10Z&gt; provided with a filler neck 10c and removable sealing closure 10d.

Returning now to further description of the base of the structure, it will be noted that resting upon the surface 11α of the platform or footing 11 within the confines of the tank walls are a plurality of side-by-side inverted troughlike tunnel sections 13, 14 and 15, respectively. The central sections 13 are the longest, with the sections 14 and 15, respectively, shorter in length in order to accommodate them within the periphery of the tank. Each tunnel section is closed at its opposite ends, as illustrated at 15α ' in FIG. 3. The lower edges of the tunnel sections rest upon surface 11α of the footing so that each section, in effect, forms an independent compartment.

Surrounding and encasing the tunnel sections above the footing surface 11α is a granular fill 16 which may be gravel or any other like material. Preferably the fill is relatively fine particulate material, particularly adjacent the lines of engagement of the tunnel sections with the surface 11α of the footing. As a matter of fact, it is desirable to use a quite fine sand when starting the fill so that those areas of the fill immediately adjacent the junctures of the tunnel sections with the footing surface will be tightly compacted and relatively nonporous, thus inhibiting any leakage between the adjoining edge surfaces of the sections and the top of the footing.

In order that the tunnel sections can be constructed of relatively light gauge metal and yet will withstand crushing loads imposed by the fill and such material loads as are transmitted thereto, they are preferably substantially semi-elliptical in cross section, as well as corrugated. As best seen in FIG. 3, the corrugations are sinuously continuous along the length of the section with the ridges and valleys running transversely of the longitudinal axis. While FIG. 3 shows only a fragmentary portion of one of the outer tunnel sections 15, nevertheless, it will be understood that this same construction is employed in the longer sections 13 and 14.

3,092,010

The fill 16 is leveled above the upper extremities of the tunnel sections and provides a base for laying a reinforced concrete floor section 17 which defines the bottom surface of the tank.

It will be understood, of course, that the granular fill 16 and floor 17 are incorporated in the structure after the base ring 10α has been bolted in place to the footing 11 as previously described. The floor 17 is formed in the usual fashion, first laying down a reinforcing web 18 of wire mesh, expanded metal or the like, then depositing and smoothing concrete to the desired thickness and surface finish. The rim of the floor will bond to the inside wall of the base ring and additional support is provided by the fill and the hollow tunnel sections 13, 14 and 15.

Centrally of the floor 17 there is provided a discharge or take-out opening 18. This is preferably of elongate rectangular construction and has connected with its lower margin a steeply inclined sump 19 having a trough-like bottom. Extending into the sump is one end of a takeout auger 20 which is contained within an auger tube 21. The auger tube 21 extends toward the edge of the tank structure between the central tunnel sections 13 and terminates in an outlet end 22 disposed outside the tank wall. The auger is driven by a conventional motor 23 which is mounted on and is drivingly connected with the auger shaft Augers of this type are well known and consequently no details other than as mentioned above are believed necessary.

Referring again to FIG. 1, running from near the top of the bin down adjacent the inside wall is a standpipe 24. Preferably pipe 24 is supported by longitudinally spaced pipe guides, such as shown at 25 in FIG. 1, and by a support bracket 26 depending from and connected to the inside of the roof 10α. The upper end 24α of standpipe 24 is in open communication with the upper portion of the tank and should be spaced above the level to which the tank is ordinarily filled with material so that it is in communication with the gas space above the material.

The standpipe 24 extends through the tank floor 17 and into the fill 11. Its lower end is connected through elbow 40 couplings, such as shown at 27, with a lateral run 28 which is embedded in the footing immediately below the surface 11α thereof. The other end of the embedded pipe run 28 terminates in an elbow 29, likewise embedded in the footing and which has connected therewith the short ₄₅extension 30 which extends above surface 11α and is in open communication with the inside of the tunnel section 15 near one end thereof.

As viewed in FIG. 2, the compartments formed by the tunnel sections 13, 14 and 15 are connected in serial fashion from left to right by pipe connections 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35. Each of the pipe connections 31-35, inclusive, is generally similar to pipe 28, having opposed ends which are in communication with the compartment formed by the tunnel sections between which they extend. It will be understood that these, along with pipe 28 and the elbows connected therewith, are embedded in the footing 11 at the time of the pouring of the latter.

For reasons which will be touched on later and which appear in greater detail in the aforementioned application Serial No. 856,536, each of the piping sections 31-35, inclusive, is provided with what may best be termed a high end and a low end. By high end is meant that the inlet to the particular pipe section involved is located in close proximity to the highest portion of the inside of the compartment formed by the tunnel section. This may best be appreciated by referring to FIG. 5 which shows the pipe section 34. It will be noted that the left hand end of this section extends upwardly centrally of the compartment 13, and terminates at the open end 34α. This is the high end of the piping section 34. The low end is represented at reference numeral 34&amp; which lies within the compartment formed by the adjacent tunnel section 14. By legends on FIG. 2 I have indicated the respective high and low ends of the connecting pipe sections and it will be understood that the arrangement is similar to that just described in connection with FIG. 5.

Leading from the final or right-hand tunnel section 15 is the outlet pipe 36 which is likewise embedded in the 5 footing 11. Referring to FIG. 4, the high end of pipe section 36 is indicated at 36α. At the other end the section 36 terminates in an outlet 360 which, in one form of the invention, is open to the atmosphere.

In operation, the storage tank or enclosure as thus far 10 described functions in the following fashion. Initially the tank is filled with the material to be stored through the filler neck 10c, the cover lOrf having been removed. When the tank is filled to the desired level, the cover is replaced. As the gas pressure within the tank rises (as 15 might result from spontaneous generation of such gases or carbon dioxide and the like, or to gaseous expansion caused by high temperatures or might result from a drop in atmospheric pressure) the gases tend to flow from the storage tank 10 into the upper end 24α of the standpipe 20 24 and downwardly through the standpipe into the compartment system at the base of the structure. Gas movement resulting from increase in pressure in the tank, or drop in pressure outside the tank, must follow a serial path through the successive compartments. It will be under25 stood that at some point within the compartments (usually in the last one on the right as viewed in FIG. 2) there will be formed what may best be defined as an interface zone which separates the tank gases and the outside air and tends to move in accordance with the expansion or 30 contraction of the gases within the tank. At times when there is expansion within the tank, this interface will move toward the atmospheric outlet 36b. When contraction takes place or if a rise in atmospheric pressure develops, the interface will move back toward the standpipe 14.

However, because of the tortuous elongate path provided, it will be observed that there is little, if any, likelihood of outside air ever reaching the upper end of standpipe 24 and thus being drawn into the tank proper.

The volume and length to be given the conduit which is formed cooperatively by the connecting pipe sections and tunnel compartments will vary in accordance with the climatic conditions which are to be designed for. However, as pointed out in the co-pending application Serial No. 856,536, the lower limit comprises an enclosed volume of not less than 1 % of the volume of the entire storage zone of the tank, and a length of not less than the value of this enclosed volume. A desirable volume range recommended is between 1 % and 5% of the volume of the tank. Under the most extreme conditions that nor50 rrially can occur in storage of this type, the higher end of the range will provide sufficient volume in relation to length as to avoid appreciable sucking of air into the main storage section.

As will be evident, the structure herein disclosed is a 55 true breathing arrangement, that is, the pressure asserted within the tank is immediately responsive to· pressure changes inside and outside the tank; in other words, at all times the pressure inside the tank will substantially equal that outside the tank. The pressures inside the 50 tunnel sections 13, 14 and 15 are likewise minimal and consequently there is little, if any, leakage past the lower edges of the respective tunnel sections.

In addition, by providing the oppositely disposed low and high inlets or outlets to the respective compartments 05 I have taken advantage of the density of air as opposed to that of carbon dioxide to maintain and assist in proper segregation between the gases within the tank and air. This may be understood by again referrng to FIG. 2. As the gas contained within the tank enters the first 70 compartment 15, it is discharged into the lower portion of the compartment. The first gas to be expelled from that chamber will be that located in the upper portion of the chamber which will be the lighter density gas, if any, that is contained therein. This same sequence is followed 75 throughout the substantially continuous conduit formed

3,092,010 by the compartments and pipe. Conversely, should there be a relative reduction in pressure inside the tank with the consequence that gas flows toward the tank, the initial gas moved from one compartment to the next is that which is located in the lowermost portion of the compart- 5 ment. Thus, upon “in-breathing” the gases initially moved back toward standpipe 24 are the high density gases which collect in the lower portion of the compartments. The consequence is that an even clearer line of segregation is maintained between the carbon dioxide and air than 10 should the pipe openings at the opposite ends of the respective compartments be on the same level.

From the foregoing it will be evident that there is provided a simple and inexpensive method of incorporating in the base of a storage structure a breathing compartment 15 which prevents drawing of outside air into the tank and yet which permits the tank to remain at an internal pressure substantially equal to that of the outside atmosphere. The tunnel sections are incorporated within the structure without requiring any special fasteners or seals and yet 20 serve to efficiently provide a breathing chamber of the volume and length necessary for effective operation. Through my arrangement the piping is connected with the individual compartments without requiring special couplings or the like, and the entire breathing chamber 25 is concealed from view and protected against damage from physical forces or other causes. The arrangement herein disclosed permits the use of low cost materials and presents little difficulty in erection of the storage structure. It is therefore obvious that this invention is one 30 well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the structure.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed with- 35 out reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or ⁴θ shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.