PLANT FOR COMPRESSING CONTAINERS HOLDING RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS Russian patent published in 2002 - IPC

FIELD: handling radioactive materials. SUBSTANCE: plant has storage container and several charge and discharge holes. Pre-press installed at one of discharge holes functions to receive containers with radioactive materials ejected thereto from storage container over roller conveyer. Gripping mechanism mounted on prepress side opposite to roller conveyer takes pre-pressed container from pre-press and feeds it to briquette press 1. The latter has two vertical guide columns 14 and 14' with crosspiece 15 secured on column top and used to accommodate piston blocks 16, 17. Press 1 has also die 12 mounted on side of bedplate 12 and punch 13 installed on side of crosspiece 15, both displacing independently in vertical direction. Dome shaped central section 150 of crosspiece 15 whose top part protrudes above guide columns 14 and 14' is located between ledges 151 and 152 made in the form of flanges. Blind cylinder hole 153 open towards punch 13 is provided inside dome-shaped section 150. Mounted for vertical displacement in hole 153 is piston 160 of piston block 16 actuating punch 13. Upon compression briquette is extracted from press 1 by means of gripping mechanism and placed on rolling conveyer of charging device. Upon discharge of radioactive materials only punch 160 is contaminated with radioactive materials. EFFECT: provision for protecting piston against radioactive contamination. 8 cl