James L. Fogg - Columbia SC George E. Vining - West Columbia SC John H. Smith - Columbia SC Cecil A. Howell - Columbia SC
Assignee:
Westinghouse Electric Corp. - Pittsburgh PA
International Classification:
G01G 1900 G01G 2302 B65G 1133
US Classification:
177145
Abstract:
An individual nuclear fuel rod weighing system for rods carried on a tray which moves along a materials handling conveyor. At a first tray position on the conveyor, a lifting device raises the rods off the tray and places them on an overhead ramp. A loading mechanism conveys the rods singly from the overhead ramp onto an overhead scale for individual weighing. When the tray is at a second position on the conveyor, a transfer apparatus transports each weighed rod from the scale back onto the tray.
Theodore E. Raymond - Swansea SC Thomas B. Huggins - Columbia SC George E. Vining - West Columbia SC
Assignee:
Westinghouse Electric Corp. - Pittsburgh PA
International Classification:
B65G 5708 B65G 5710
US Classification:
414 53
Abstract:
A system for loading nuclear fuel pellets into a sintering boat from a pellet press which discharges newly-made pellets. The loading system includes apparatus for receiving the pellets from the press and inserting them into an upward vertically positioned channel, a horizontally positioned rotatable drum with at least one longitudinally aligned circumferential channel, previously mentioned, for holding a row of pellets, a drum rotating mechanism, a device for pushing the pellets out of a below-horizontally positioned channel, an incline to receive the pushed out pellets, a sintering boat/incline positioner to allow the pellets to leave the incline adjacent the position in the sintering boat of the next-to-be-stacked pellet row, and a controller to coordinate system component operation.