Grain silo with sidewall panels having offset edges

Abstract

A storage silo has a cylindrical wall formed with a plurality of ring structures stacked one upon another. Each ring structure is formed with a plurality of sidewall panels connected end to end with a vertical joint between horizontally adjacent sidewall panels. The plurality of ring structures have at least one upper ring structure and at least one lower ring structure positioned below the upper ring structure, with a portion of the upper ring structure overlapping the lower ring structure to form a horizontal joint. The upper lower ring structure are formed with sidewall panels in a layered arrangement. Each sidewall panel has a middle portion, an offset upper portion and an offset lower portion. The offset upper portion and the offset lower portion of the sidewall panel are offset from the middle portion.

1 . A storage silo having a cylindrical wall formed with a plurality of ring structures stacked one upon another, with each ring structure being formed with a plurality of sidewall panels connected end to end with a vertical joint between horizontally adjacent sidewall panels of said plurality of sidewall panels, wherein the plurality of ring structures comprises at least one upper ring structure and at least one lower ring structure positioned below the upper ring structure, with a portion of the upper ring structure overlapping the lower ring structure to form a horizontal joint, wherein the upper ring structure is formed with sidewall panels of said plurality of sidewall panels in a layered arrangement, and the lower ring structure is formed with sidewall panels of said plurality of sidewall panels in a layered arrangement, wherein each sidewall panel comprises:
 a middle portion;   an offset upper portion; and   an offset lower portion, wherein the offset upper portion and the offset lower portion of the sidewall panel are offset from the middle portion.   
     
     
         2 . The storage silo of  claim 1  wherein the layered sidewall panels in the lower ring structure comprises an inner sidewall panel, a middle sidewall panel, and an outer sidewall panel and the layered sidewall panels in the upper ring structure comprise an inner sidewall panel, a middle sidewall panel, and an outer sidewall panel. 
     
     
         3 . The storage silo of  claim 1  wherein the middle portion is formed with a corrugation pattern. 
     
     
         4 . The storage silo of  claim 3  wherein the corrugation pattern has a repeating shape comprising a plurality of ridges alternating with a plurality of troughs. 
     
     
         5 . The storage silo of  claim 4  wherein the corrugation pattern of the middle portion comprises a sine wave pattern. 
     
     
         6 . The storage silo of  claim 4  wherein the corrugation pattern of the middle portion comprises a trapezoidal pattern. 
     
     
         7 . The storage silo of  claim 4  wherein the corrugation pattern of the middle portion comprises a repeating pattern. 
     
     
         8 . The storage silo of  claim 1  wherein middle portion comprises a flat profile. 
     
     
         9 . The storage silo of  claim 4  wherein the offset upper portion and the offset lower portion are formed with a shape other than the shape of the corrugation pattern of the middle portion. 
     
     
         10 . The storage silo of  claim 4  wherein the offset upper portion has a length of between about 1.00 inches (2.54 cm) and about 3.00 inches. 
     
     
         11 . The storage silo of  claim 4  wherein the offset upper portion has a flat section and a transition section that transitions into the corrugated middle section in a trough of the middle section. 
     
     
         12 . The storage silo of  claim 11  wherein the offset upper portion is offset from a deepest portion of the plurality of troughs by an upper offset distance such that the offset upper portion lies in a plane that extends downward through the plurality of troughs of the middle portion. 
     
     
         13 . The storage silo of  claim 12  wherein upper offset distance is between about 0.040 inches (1.016 mm) and about 0.225 inches (5.715 mm). 
     
     
         14 . The storage silo of  claim 4  wherein the offset lower portion has a flat section and a transition section that transitions into the middle portion in a ridge of the middle portion. 
     
     
         15 . The storage silo of  claim 14  wherein the offset lower portion has a length of between about 1.00 inches (2.54 cm) and about 3.00 inches. 
     
     
         16 . The storage silo of  claim 14  wherein the offset lower portion is offset from a peak point of the plurality of ridges by a lower offset distance such that the offset lower portion lies in a plane that extends upward through the plurality of ridges of the middle portion. 
     
     
         17 . The storage silo of  claim 16  wherein the lower offset distance is between about 0.400 inches (1.016 cm) and about 0.800 inches (2.032 cm).