A funnel bucket apparatus is configured to be mountable to typical loader machinery for depositing flowable material at a deposit site. The apparatus includes a bucket and a funnel cover connected by hinges, a discharge chute attachment, a bucket vibrator, and a hydraulic actuator system. An operator controls the actuator system to move the bucket and funnel cover between open and closed positions such that the bucket retains typical loading functions while the apparatus is in the open position. When the bucket is loaded with material, the operator controls the actuator system to move the apparatus into the closed position and positions the apparatus over the deposit site. Material flows through a discharge opening in the funnel cover, through the discharge chute attachment, and down to the deposit site. Efficient and controllable flow rate of material may be facilitated by the bucket vibrator.

An intermodal container for transporting frac proppant, such as frac sand, and/or other types of granular material is disclosed. The intermodal container is designed to receive frac sand from a quarry or other frac sand supply source. Once the container is filled with material, the container is loaded onto a transportation device and transported to a well site. Once received at the well site, the containers can be stacked and the frac sand stored until needed. Once the frac sand is needed, the containers are placed on a base unit and the container discharges its contents onto a conveying system formed as part of the base unit. The conveying system directs the frac sand to a blending location. The empty intermodal containers can be removed from the base unit and loaded onto a transportation device to be refilled at a mine site.

A bulk material shipping container including a pallet, a compartment mounted on the pallet, a material unloading assembly, and a material loading assembly.

A gate control system that provides repeatable and reliable gate position sensing in a fully open position, a fully closed position, or both. In various embodiments, proximity sensors are maintained in biased contact (continuously or intermittently) with the gate panel throughout the travel range of the gate panel. The system may also include anti-fouling or self-cleaning of the proximity sensor(s), whereby the proximity sensors are cleared of materials that would otherwise interfere with the repeatability of the position sensing.

The present invention relates to a container for holding bulk material, having a closable inlet for the bulk material in the upper closure of the container, a cross-sectional geometry narrowing in the outlet direction for the bulk material, an outlet tube for the bulk material arranged subsequently in the outlet direction, a first reversible mechanical closure device (A), which is arranged in the transition region from the container body to the outlet tube or in the outlet tube itself and, by opening, releases the bulk material from the interior of the container, and a second closure device (B) which reversibly closes the mouth of the outlet tube, the second closure device being a cover which is pressed flush onto the mouth of the outlet tube by means of a closure device, there being a seal which seals the outlet tube in a gas- and liquid-tight fashion from the external environment at least on the contact surface of the cover with the mouth degree of the outlet tube, wherein the cover is screwed onto or is pressed with a clamping ring or a bayonet closure onto the mouth of the outlet tube.

A cargo container is modified to carry a fracing proppant such as sand from a quarry or source to the frac site. Openings are cut in the top and bottom of a cargo container and hydraulically operated sliding doors are placed there under. A hopper module with the walls being inclined to approximately the angle of repose for the proppant is installed inside the cargo container. The hopper module is sealed inside the cargo container so that a proppant enters through the top opening at the quarry and flows out through the bottom opening at the fracing site.

In accordance with presently disclosed embodiments, systems and methods for managing dry bulk material efficiently at a well site or other location are provided. Present embodiments are directed to a rotary clamshell gate actuation system and method, where the gate is separate from the one or more actuators used to open/close the gate. The disclosed system may include a portable bulk material container with a clamshell gate for easily dispensing material from the container. The system also includes a support structure equipped with one or more rotary actuators used to actuate the clamshell gate of the container between a closed and open position when the container is positioned on the support structure. The disclosed clamshell gate actuation system is easy to operate, low cost to manufacture, and reliable even when the portable container is not precisely aligned on the support structure.

A transportable container apparatus includes an elongate container having a central axis and a base attached to a bottom end of the container. The container and base are substantially symmetrical about the central axis and the container is oriented substantially vertically with the base resting on a ground surface when in a working position. The container having an upper container section with upper walls substantially parallel to the central axis and a lower container section with lower walls substantially parallel to the central axis. The upper container section includes a sloping hopper at a bottom thereof to direct granular material into the lower container section. A floor of the container is sloped toward an outlet port defined in a ported wall of the lower container section such that granular material stored in the container slides down the floor to the outlet port.

A container-securing device is provided. A main body of the container-securing device is detachably/attachably supported on a cargo bed yet movement of the main body is restricted in any direction within the horizontal plane. The container-securing device 1 includes a socket 3 which is fixed onto the cargo bed; and a main body 2 which is fixed into the socket 3 to fix a container: The main body 2 has its lower region formed with projections 22b extending horizontally; and the socket 3 has a storage space 31 to store the projections 22b, a first restrictor 32 around the storage space 31 which allows rotation of the projections 22b within a horizontal plane but restricts other movement thereof in any direction within the horizontal plane, an opening 33 which communicates with the storage space 31 and allows the projections 22b to be inserted through, and a second restrictor 34 around the opening 33 which restricts movement of the projections 22b in the vertical direction.

A bulk material shipping container including a pallet, a compartment mounted on the pallet, a material unloading assembly, and a material loading assembly.