Bag-out material handling system

Abstract

A bagging device for transferring material from a first chamber through an pening in a wall to a second chamber includes an outer housing communicating with the opening and having proximal and distal ends relative to the wall. An inner housing having proximal and distal ends corresponding to those of the outer housing is mounted in a concentrically spaced, sealed manner with respect to the distal end of the outer housing. The inner and outer housings and mounting means therebetween define an annular chamber, closed at its distal end and open at its proximal end, in which a pliable tube is slidably positioned in sealed engagement with the housings. The pliable tube includes a sealed end positioned adjacent the proximal end of the inner housing so as to maintain isolation between the first and second chambers. Displacement of the material to be bagged from the first chamber along the inner housing so as to contact the sealed portion of the pliable bag allows the material to be positioned within the pliable bag in the second chamber. The bag is then sealed and severed between where the material is positioned therein and the wall in providing a sealed container for handling the material. The pliable tube when substantially depleted slides onto a narrow portion of the inner housing to allow a new pliable tube to be positioned over the old pliable tube. Remnants of the old pliable tube are then discharged into the new pliable tube with the bagging and removal of additional material.