A fluid pressure feeding device includes: a follower plate that is inserted into a tank, that applies a pressing force to a fluid, and that has an opening for pumping up the fluid from an inside of the tank; a pump having a primer plate configured to exhibit reciprocating movement to pump up the fluid in the tank into a pump internal space; and a position control unit configured to control a position of the primer plate within a range of the reciprocating movement. An outer shape of the primer plate substantially matches a shape of the opening of the follower plate, and the position control unit is configured such that the primer plate is positioned in the opening of the follower plate when the follower plate is taken out from the tank.

A method for conveying viscous material out of a barrel-like container open towards the top and having a bottom and a circumferential wall extending from bottom to top, uses a device having a follower plate for closing the container. The plate has a circumferential wiper ring having a radially outwardly protruding contact portion for contacting an inner container wall face facing the plate. A variable pressing force can be applied to press the contact portion against the inner face. The plate, following a decreasing material level and resting on the material surface, is moved bottomward, and, after the container is emptied, is moved away from the bottom, and the contact portion is pressed sealingly against the inner face while the plate moves bottomward. The sealing effect between the wiper ring and the container wall is suspended during plate movement away from the bottom by reducing the pressing force.

A follower plate device for sealing and evacuating a container that has a cylindrical inner contour and contains a particularly paste-like liquid. The device comprises a seal arranged on a periphery of the device and designed so as to be able to be inserted into the cylindrical inner contour of the container such that it seals around the periphery, and marking the boundary between an outer side of the device and an inner side of the device, and a line extending through from the inner side to the outer side of the follower plate device, arranged on the outer side for connecting to a line connection leading further to an evacuation pump. The follower plate device further comprises a replaceable open-pored porous component through which the line is guided.

In order to prevent the material (52) from being pressed through the press plate seal between press plate (2) and surrounding barrel (50) by means of a press plate (2) when emptying a barrel (50) in which viscous material (52) is supplied, a two-stage construction is used in accordance with the invention: A press cylinder (22) is connected to the rear side of the press plate (2), in which in turn a conveying piston (24) is guided in a sealing manner, which in turn has a smaller end face than the press plate (2). In addition, non-return valves (19) are arranged in the press plate (2) in the region radially inside the press cylinder (22), which allow the material (52) to flow only in the direction of the conveying piston (24), but not vice versa, when the press plate (2) is pressed in the direction to the bottom (50a) of the barrel (50). After the press plate (2) has come to a standstill, the conveying piston (24) can thus be guided in the direction of the bottom of the press cylinder (22), i.e. in the direction of the press plate (2), and the material (52) can thereby be pressed through the conveying piston (24) into the conveyer line (4) with a pressure, which can also be significantly higher than the maximum pressure with which the press plate seal between the press plate (2) and the inner circumference of the barrel (50) may be pressurised, which, however, does not pose a problem for the much more accurate press cylinder seal between the conveying piston (24) and the press cylinder (22).

The invention relates to a container emptying device (1) for emptying at least one container (6) filled with a liquid, comprising a suction unit (2), a receiving unit (4) and a pipe unit (3) connecting the receiving unit (4) with the suction unit (2). The suction unit (2) comprises at least one suction lance (2a) adapted to be inserted and lowered into the container (6), at least one pump (2c), connecting the suction lance (2a) with the pipe unit (3), for pumping the liquid out of the container (6) and a control device for controlling a suction process. The pipe unit (3) comprises at least one flexible pipe for transporting the liquid out of the container (6).

A method removes a follower plate of a device for transporting viscous material out of a barrel-like container. The device has the follower plate for closing the container, which is open at the top and has a container base and a container casing extending upwards from the base, the follower plate being movable toward and away from the base. A force measuring sensor measures a force exerted by a container onto a placement surface; the controller switches the ventilation mode to the lifting mode if the force exerted by the container onto the placement surface exceeds a first target force value; and the controller switches the lifting mode to the ventilation mode if the force exerted by the container onto the placement surface falls below a second target force value, and/or the at least one sensor measures the position of the container relative to a stationary point.

The invention relates to an apparatus (10, 110) for the conveying of viscous material from a drum-like container (12), which has a container bottom (14) and a circumferential container wall (18) extending from the container bottom (14) to an upper rim (16) of the container, which is open at the upper rim (16) of the container, the apparatus having, for closing of the container (12), a follower plate (26) having a material outlet (28) attached to a conveyor pump (30), wherein the follower plate (26) can be moved up and down in the container (12) while being in sealing contact against an inside face of the container wall (18) turned toward it, and having a lifting device (22) for raising and lowering of the follower plate (26), wherein the lifting device (22) has a drive unit. According to the invention, a protective device (32, 132) having a protective member (34, 134) is provided, which is disposed in such a way with respect to the follower plate (26) and the container (12) that, upon introduction of the follower plate (26) into the container (12), it annularly surrounds on the one hand the follower plate (26) and on the other hand the container (12) in the region of the upper rim (16) of the container. The protective device (32, 132) additionally has at least one switch (52, 152, 154) for switching-off of the drive unit upon an at least partial exposure of the upper rim (16) of the container by the protective member (34, 134) during the introduction of the follower plate (26) into the container (12).

A system for emptying a container containing a fluid is provided. The system includes a pumping unit with at least one pump, a scraping plate arranged at a first end of the pump, and a motor arranged at a second end of the pump. A pneumatic cylinder is operatively active on the pumping unit for moving it inside a container. A supply circuit supplies air to the pumping unit below the scraping plate. A control unit utilizes first and second sensors and is configured at least to activate the pump via the motor, stop the descent of the pumping unit and deactivate the pump, enable or interrupt communication between the pumping unit and the air supply circuit, and force the cylinder to exert a first force on the pumping unit after deactivating the pump and exert a second force on the pumping unit in response to the first sensor.

An apparatus for conveying viscous material from a drum-like container with a container bottom and a circumferential container wall extending from the container bottom to a container upper side and being open at the container upper side has, for closing the container a follower plate having a material outlet attached to a conveyor pump. The follower plate has an annularly circumferential wiper ring that has a radially outwardly extending contacting part for contact against an inside face, turned toward the follower plate, of the container wall. The contacting part can be pressurized with a variable pressing force for pressing against the inside face (36) of the container wall. The follower plate is mounted by moans of at least one vertically extending retaining rod on a horizontally extending crosspiece mounted on or close to a first end on a lifting device for raising and lowering of the crosspiece. Its second end is free. This task is accomplished by an apparatus having the features according to one aspect of the invention as well as by a method having the features according to another aspect of the invention. Advantageous further developments of the invention are subject matter discussed below.

In order to prevent the material (52) from being pressed through the press plate seal between press plate (2) and surrounding barrel (50) by means of a press plate (2) when emptying a barrel (50) in which viscous material (52) is supplied, a two-stage construction is used in accordance with the invention:

A press cylinder (22) is connected to the rear side of the press plate (2), in which in turn a conveying piston (24) is guided in a sealing manner, which in turn has a smaller end face than the press plate (2). In addition, non-return valves (19) are arranged in the press plate (2) in the region radially inside the press cylinder (22), which allow the material (52) to flow only in the direction of the conveying piston (24), but not vice versa, when the press plate (2) is pressed in the direction to the bottom (50a) of the barrel (50).

After the press plate (2) has come to a standstill, the conveying piston (24) can thus be guided in the direction of the bottom of the press cylinder (22), i.e. in the direction of the press plate (2), and the material (52) can thereby be pressed through the conveying piston (24) into the conveyer line (4) with a pressure, which can also be significantly higher than the maximum pressure with which the press plate seal between the press plate (2) and the inner circumference of the barrel (50) may be pressurised, which, however, does not pose a problem for the much more accurate press cylinder seal between the conveying piston (24) and the press cylinder (22).