The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 21, 1994
Filed:
Oct. 22, 1992
Applicant:
Inventors:
Assignee:
Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel Co., Tokyo, JP;
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G21C / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
376261 ; 376269 ;
Abstract
The present invention presents an apparatus to facilitate the loading of specific fuel rods into the specific grid cells of the grids of a fuel assembly. The loading apparatus utilizes air-pressure operated loading cylinders to push out the specific fuel rods from a fuel rod magazine into the corresponding grid cells. The loading apparatus operates in conjunction with a series of fuel rod support rollers which provide support to the fuel rods, being charged into the grids, from the underside of the fuel rods to prevent sagging of the tip end, thus avoiding scraping against the straps of the grids when entering the grid cells, and causing potentially harmful surface scratches on the fuel rods.