George Earl Vining

US Patent:

45222762, Jun 11, 1985

Filed:

Jun 20, 1983

Appl. No.:

6/505669

Inventors:

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.

US Patent:

45668353, Jan 28, 1986

Filed:

Sep 28, 1983

Appl. No.:

6/536934

Inventors:

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.