AU2011201315A1 - A method and apparatus for suspending a member from a hoist line for mounting the member to a support - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus 50 for suspending a crusher liner member 10 at a suspension angle that substantially matches the angle of a support surface on which it is mounted is 5 disclosed. The apparatus 50 includes a hoist line attachment 64 for attachment to a hoist line 79, and a load orientating arrangement including an orientating body 66 on which the hoist line attachment 64 is mounted. The load orientating arrangement positions the hoist line attachment 64 so as to cause the member 10 to be suspended at the matching suspension angle. The position is capable of 10 adjustment to enable an operator to alter the suspension angle of the member 10. In particular the position of said hoist line attachment 64 is capable of adjustment by having a plurality of different positions on the load orientating arrangement 66, one of which can be selected in use. The apparatus 10 also includes a mounting arrangement including a load mounting bolt 52 for mounting to the liner member 15 10 to the orientating body 66 that is spaced away from the hoist line attachment Fig 8 for publication

Description

1 A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUSPENDING A MEMBER FROM A HOIST LINE FOR MOUNTING THE MEMBER TO A SUPPORT 5 FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an apparatus for suspending a member at a suspension angle that substantially matches the angle of a support surface on which it is mounted. It also extends to a method for suspending a member at a suspension 10 angle that substantially matches the angle of the support surface. It also extends to a member to be suspended and an apparatus that is suited for suspending the member. This invention relates particularly but not exclusively to an apparatus and method 15 for suspending a member that is a crusher liner member with a certain orientation for mounting the liner member to a crusher face or wall. It will therefore be convenient to hereinafter describe the invention with reference to this example application. However at the same time it is to be clearly understood that the invention is capable of broader application. For example the invention could be 20 applied to other heavy objects, such as structural members or building panels that need to be suspended in a certain way during assembly or construction of the structure. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION 25 A crusher is a well known piece of equipment that is used in a number of industries to reduce the size of particles for further processing or for end use. A jaw crusher comprises a fixed wall and a swing wall, which are broadly arranged so that they are opposed to each other and define a crusher space there between.

2 A particulate material, such as particulate rock or ore is fed into the crusher space between the two walls. The swing wall moves relative to the fixed wall and this progressively crushes the particles as they are displaced downwardly between the two walls. The fixed and swing walls are covered with a crusher liner that 5 undergoes wear as the crusher is used due to the harsh wear conditions under which the crusher operates. An example crusher liner might typically comprise two liner members on each wall. On the fixed wall there is an upper fixed liner member and a lower fixed liner member. Similarly on the swing wall there is an upper swing member and a lower swing member. 10 The progressive wear of the crusher liner during use necessitates its replacement on a regular basis. The removal of an existing worn crusher liner member is a hazardous exercise as the liner member is heavy and bulky to manoeuvre. Further it is difficult to lower a new liner member into position adjacent to the 15 crusher wall and then to manoeuvre it into position up against the crusher wall to enable it to be operatively mounted on the wall. The crusher space is very confined and tapers inwardly towards its lower end. Fig 1 illustrates broadly a jaw crusher of the type which is used to reduce the size of particulate material, e.g. in a stone quarry or in a mining operation. 20 One prior art method which has been used to facilitate lifting and lowering of the liner member is to weld two spaced lifting lugs to the working face of the liner member, towards an operatively upper edge thereof. These lifting lugs each define an aperture and the lugs can then be operatively attached to a hoist attachment 25 point of a hoist line, e.g. a D-shackle or the like. The worn liner member can then be lifted up out of the crusher space and a fresh liner member with lugs that have been welded thereon can be suspended from a hoist line and lowered into position in the crusher space. 30 There are a number of shortcomings with this technique. Firstly the liner member is very heavy and thus the welds that are used to weld the lifting lug onto the 3 working face of the liner member have to be very strong. If the welds fail during handling of the liner member it has the potential to cause major injury to personnel. It also has the potential to cause serious damage to the crusher. 5 Another shortcoming of this technique is that the lugs are welded onto the working surface of a member that has been carefully heat treated to achieve certain desired metallurgical properties to obtain favourable wear properties during use thereof. The act of welding the lugs onto the working surface inevitably alters the metallurgical properties of the working surface to some extent and this often 10 adversely affects the wear properties of the member. A yet further disadvantage of this prior art method is that it takes considerable time and skill to weld the lugs onto the liner member. Yet further after the liner member has been handled the lugs need to be removed from the liner member, e.g. by 15 being cut off with a large oxyacetylene cutting torch. Again this takes time and it also has the potential to influence the wear properties of the liner member. A further disadvantage of the prior art technique described above is that when the crusher liner member is suspended from a hoist line, the liner member adopts an 20 orientation at a certain angle to the vertical that is a function of the position of attachment of the liner member to the hoist line. Specifically it is a function of the spacing between the attachment point and a vertical line passing through the centre of mass of the liner member. The greater the spacing between the attachment point and the line passing through the centre of mass, the greater the 25 angle at which the liner member hangs relative to a vertical axis. Thus the liner member will adopt an orientation that is a function of the position of the lifting lug relative to the centre of mass of that particular liner member. It requires a lot of skill and experience to position the lifting lug on the member so 30 that the member hangs at an angle from the hoist line that substantially matches the angle of the particular crusher face to which it is to be attached.

4 Consequently using this prior art method the angle at which the member hangs is not adjustable and it is difficult to get it to hang at the angle or slope of the crusher face to which it is to be mounted, being either the fixed wall, or the swing wall. 5 Accordingly when the liner member is lowered into the crusher space for mounting to the crusher wall it often hangs at a different angle to that of the crusher wall and needs to be manually moved laterally into position against the crusher wall. This is a difficult job as the crusher space is very confined and the crusher member weighs one to three tons and is not easy to move around. It is the most dangerous 10 task to carry out in a quarry and serious accidents and deaths have resulted from this activity. Further with the fixed and swing walls extending at different angles, the liner members for these walls require the welding lugs to be welded onto them at quite 15 different positions for them to be suspended from a hoist line at angles that approximate the angle at which they are to be mounted onto the crusher wall. Accordingly it would be advantageous if a way of lifting and lowering, and generally handling the liner members, could be devised that avoided the need to 20 weld the lifting lugs onto the working face of the liner member each time it needed to be handled. It would be particularly advantageous if a way could be devised that did not result in the metallurgical condition of the working surface being adversely affected. It would be particularly advantageous if a safe technique could be devised that reduced the risk of workers suffering injuries during the handling 25 of the liner members. It would be particularly useful if a method or contrivance could be devised for orientating a liner member so that it is suspended from a hoist line at an angle that corresponds substantially to that of the wall to which it is to be attached. This 30 would enable a liner member to be moved up close to the wall to which it was to be mounted, using the hoist alone. It would then be a relatively simple matter to 5 mount it to the wall for crusher use and make it easier and safer for workers to install the crusher liners on a crusher. DEFINITIONS 5 In this specification the term bolt is to be interpreted broadly and in particular it includes heavy duty bolts. Further it is contemplated that bolt shanks without heads are within its scope and it shall not be necessary for the bolt to have a bolt head. 10 In the specification the term "comprising " shall be understood to have a broad meaning similar to the term "including" and will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps. This definition 15 also applies to variations on the term "comprising" such as "comprise" and '"comprises". SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 20 According to one aspect of this invention there is provided an apparatus for suspending a member at a suspension angle that substantially matches the angle of a support surface on which the member is to be mounted, the apparatus including: a hoist line attachment for attachment to a hoist line; 25 a load orientating arrangement on which the hoist line attachment is mounted, the load orientating arrangement positioning the hoist line attachment relative to the member being suspended so as to cause the member to be suspended at the suspension angle matching the support surface; and 6 a member mounting arrangement on the load orientating arrangement for mounting to the member to be suspended to the load orientating arrangement, the member mounting arrangement being spaced from the attachment of the hoist line attachment to the load orientating arrangement. 5 The position of said hoist line attachment relative to said member being suspended may be capable of adjustment whereby to alter the suspension angle of the member to match the angle of the support surface. 10 The position of said hoist line may be capable of adjustment by having a plurality of different positions on the load orientating arrangement at which the hoist line can be attached to the load orientating arrangement, and wherein one of the positions can be selected in use to cause the member to be suspended at the suspension angle that matches the angle of the support surface. 15 The member may have a centre of mass and said plurality of different positions at which the hoist line attachment can be attached to the load orientating arrangement may extend in a line laterally away from a vertical axis line passing through the centre of mass of the member when the member is supported in a 20 vertically extending orientation. Increasing the lateral distance from the vertical line to the hoist line attachment increases the suspension angle of the member relative to the vertical axis. The load orientating arrangement may include an orientating body that is 25 mountable to the member to be suspended by means of the member mounting arrangement and which is directly or indirectly attached or attachable to the hoist line attachment. The orientating body may have two legs extending substantially orthogonally to 30 each other, and the member mounting arrangement may be mounted on one leg 7 and the hoist line attachment may be mounted directly or indirectly on the other leg. The load orientating arrangement may include a plurality of suspension bolt 5 mountings in the other leg of the orientating body, and a suspension bolt that is mountable to one suspension bolt mounting that is selected from the plurality of suspension bolt mountings that causes the member to be suspended at the suspension angle that matches the angle of the support surface. 10 Said plurality of suspension bolt mountings may comprise a plurality of suspension bolt passages defined in said other leg of the orientating body, and the suspension bolt may be mountable to the suspension bolt mounting by passing the suspension bolt into one of the suspension bolt passages to releasably fix it to the orientating body whereby to couple it to the orientating body. 15 Each suspension bolt passage may comprise a bore with an internal screw thread formed thereon, and the suspension bolt may include a shank with a complementary external screw thread formed thereon that can be engaged with the screw thread within the bore whereby to fix the suspension bolt to the 20 orientating body. The hoist line attachment may comprise a bolt suspending ring which can be passed over the suspending bolt, and a lifting ring operatively coupled to the suspending bolt for coupling to a shackle at the end of a hoist line. 25 The orientating body may be in the form of a substantially L-shaped body and said one leg may extend with a vertically extending orientation down a face of the member to be suspended when mounted thereto Said other leg may extend substantially horizontally away from said one leg parallel to an operatively upper 30 edge of the member.

8 The orientating body can be orientated in one orientation with the other leg extending along an operatively upper edge of the member to be suspended, and also another orientation where the other leg projects in an opposite direction to 5 said one orientation that is directed away from the member. The member mounting arrangement may comprise a mounting bolt passage defined through said one leg of said orientating body, and a load mounting bolt that is operatively mounted on the member to be suspended and is passed 10 through said mounting bolt passage whereby to mount the member to the orientating body. Instead in another form of the invention the orientating body may bear against the member to be suspended in use, and the apparatus may include at least one 15 spacer interposed between the hoist line attachment and the member mounting arrangement, wherein the spacers influence the angle at which the member is suspended whereby to cause it to hang at a suspension angle matching the support surface. 20 According to another aspect of this invention there is provided a method for suspending a member at a suspension angle that substantially matches the angle of a support surface on which the member is mounted, the method including: providing an apparatus including a load orientating arrangement and a hoist line attachment and a member mounting arrangement on the load orientating 25 arrangement; operatively mounting the member mounting arrangement to the member; positioning the hoist line attachment relative to the relative to the member being suspended so as to cause the member to be suspended at the suspension angle matching the support surface; and 9 operatively mounting the hoist line attachment to a hoist line whereby to suspend the member at the suspension angle from the hoist line. Positioning the hoist line attachment relative to the member being suspended may 5 include selecting one position on the load orientating arrangement from a plurality of positions for the hoist line attachment, whereby to cause the member to be suspended at the suspension angle that matches the support surface. The load orientating arrangement may include an orientating body having a 10 plurality of suspension bolt passages defined therein forming the plurality of positions for the hoist line attachment, and selecting one position on the load orientating arrangement may include passing a suspension bolt into a said suspension bolt passage which will cause the member to be suspended at the suspension angle. 15 Each suspension bolt passage may comprise a bore with an internal screw thread formed thereon, and the suspension bolt may include a shank with a complementary external screw thread formed thereon that can be engaged with the screw thread within the bore. Further selecting one position on the load 20 orientating arrangement may include screwing the suspension bolt into the selected bore from the plurality of bores. According to another aspect of this invention there is provided a member for being suspended from a hoist line for mounting to a support, the member including: 25 a body having a working face and an opposed backing face, the body defining two laterally spaced mounting bolt passages extending there through from the working face to the backing face, and two load mounting bolts for being passed through the mounting bolt passages whereby to suspend the member from the hoist line. 30 10 The member may be a crusher liner member for use on a jaw crusher. The working face may define a series of corrugations extending from one side to the other side, wherein each corrugation comprises a crest with a valley on each 5 side of the crest. Further each mounting bolt passage may have a working face opening that opens onto a said valley on the working face, and a backing face opening that opens onto the backing face. The member may define a retainer receiving formation around each backing face 10 opening on the backing face and a retainer recess defined in the backing surface extending in a substantially linear fashion from an adjacent edge of the member to each retainer receiving formation for providing access to the backing face opening. The retainer may define sufficient space for a retainer for mounting over a free end of the load mounting bolt to be displaced along the recess from the 15 proximate side edge. According to another aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for suspending a member having a working face that faces outwardly and a backing face that is opposed to said working face, the member defining at least one 20 mounting bolt passage extending there through from the working face to the backing face for receiving a load mounting bolt therein, whereby to suspend the member from a hoist line, the apparatus including: at least one load mounting bolt that is receivable in a mounting bolt passage, wherein said one load mounting bolt has a free end that projects out 25 through the backing surface opening of the mounting bolt passage; and at least one load mounting bolt retainer arrangement that is mountable to a said load mounting bolt to resist it from being withdrawn through the load mounting bolt passage and being detached from the member.

11 The apparatus may include two laterally spaced said mounting bolt passages and two load mounting bolts, with one load mounting bolt being received in each mounting bolt passage. Each load mounting bolt may include a bolt head at the opposite end to the free end thereof that is positioned proximate to the working 5 face when the bolt is received within the mounting bolt passage. The apparatus may include a bolt retainer for removably mounting over the free end of each load mounting bolt to operatively fix it to the member, and each bolt may have an external screw thread towards the free end thereof. The bolt retainer 10 may be in the form of a nut having an internal screw thread for engaging the screw thread on the bolt for mounting the mounting bolt on the member. The apparatus may further including a load orientating arrangement that is mountable to the suspending bolts and which is attachable to a hoist line for 15 suspending the member at an angle that matches the angle of a support surface on which it is mounted. This invention also extends to a method of mounting a crusher liner member on a crusher face using the apparatus defined in the first aspect of the invention above 20 ad including the method steps defined in the second aspect of the invention above. The method may include any one or more of the optional or subsidiary method steps defined in the first aspect of the invention above. 25 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An apparatus for suspending a member that is a crusher liner member in a certain orientation for mounting to a support that is a wall of a crusher and a method for 12 doing the same in accordance with this invention may manifest itself in a variety of forms. It will therefore be convenient to hereinafter provide a detailed description of the invention with reference to several example embodiments. The purpose of providing this detailed description is to instruct persons having an interest in the 5 subject matter of the invention how to put the invention into practical effect. It is to be clearly understood however that the specific nature of this detailed description does not supersede the generality of the preceding broad description. In the drawings: Fig. 1A is a three dimensional view of an example jaw crusher in 10 accordance with the prior art; Fig 1 B is a schematic three dimensional view of a crusher liner member for the crusher of Fig 1 having a working face with a pair of lifting lugs welded onto the working face thereof; Fig 2 is a rear view of an upper portion of a crusher liner member in 15 accordance with the invention; Fig 3 is a three dimensional view of a crusher liner member of Fig 2 looking towards the working face thereof; Fig 4 is a cross-sectional view through the crusher liner member shown in Fig 2, section taken through Ill-Ill; 20 Fig 5 is a three dimensional view of an apparatus for suspending the crusher liner member of Fig 3 in a certain orientation for mounting to a wall of a crusher viewed looking towards a working face of the crusher member; Fig 6 is a three dimensional view of the apparatus and crusher liner member of Fig 5 viewed looking towards a backing face thereof; 25 Fig 7 is a schematic three dimensional view of the apparatus of Fig 5 (without a crusher liner member) for suspending a crusher liner member in a certain orientation to facilitate its mounting to a crusher face; Fig 8 is a schematic drawing showing how the apparatus of Fig 5 can be used by a user to adjust the orientation or angle at which the liner member is 30 suspended from a hoist line; 13 Fig 9 is a schematic three dimensional view of an apparatus in accordance with another embodiment of the invention that is used for suspending the crusher liner member of Fig 3 at a different angle to that of the apparatus of Fig 5; Fig 10 is a schematic three dimensional view of an orientating member that 5 forms part of the apparatus shown in Fig 9; Fig 11 is a schematic drawing showing how the apparatus of Figs 9 and 10 is used to adjust the orientation or angle at which the liner member is suspended from the hoist; Fig 12 is a schematic front view showing how the two embodiments of 10 apparatus illustrated in respectively Fig 8 and Fig 11 are used to replace the crusher liner members on both the fixed and swing walls of a jaw crusher; and Fig 13 is a schematic front view showing how an orientating member that is a bracket can be used in one orientation to cause the member to be suspended in a near vertical orientation and also how the same bracket can be reversed or 15 laterally inverted into another orientation in which it causes the member to be suspended at an angle of 11 to 14 degrees to vertical. Figure 1A illustrates the well known construction of a jaw crusher. In Fig 1A reference numeral 1 refers generally to a crusher of this general type. 20 The crusher 1 comprises two vertically extending crusher faces or walls defining a space between them into which a particulate material to be crushed is fed. One crusher wall or face 2 is substantially vertically extending and is referred to as a fixed wall. The other crusher wall 3 is arranged at a greater angle to vertical than 25 the fixed wall 2, e.g. about 12 to 15 degrees, and is referred to as the swing wall. The swing wall 3 is driven by a crusher drive arrangement to cause it to move relative to the fixed wall 2 in a predetermined fashion during operation of the crusher 1. In essence the swing wall or face 3 moves towards and away from the fixed wall 2 exerting a crushing action on particulate material passing between the 30 fixed and swing walls or faces 2, 3 and this movement together with gravity urges 14 the material to move through the crusher space and then be discharged beneath the crusher space. Each of the fixed and swing walls or faces 2, 3 has a replaceable crusher liner 5 mounted thereto. The fixed wall has an upper fixed liner member 4 and a lower fixed liner member 5 mounted thereon. The swing wall 3 has an upper swing liner member 6 and a lower swing liner member 7 mounted thereon. The liner members 4, 5, 6, 7 are broadly similar but the design details of each are different so that they are each custom built for mounting in a specific position on the crusher walls. 10 Each liner member has a working face and an opposed backing face. The working face has a series of corrugations extending across it that come into contact with the particulate material that is passed through the crusher. Each of the crusher liner members 4, 5, 6, 7 is mounted to the wall 2, 3 by means of a 15 plurality of fixing elements (not shown) that pass through openings in the crusher liner and the fixed crusher wall and are then fastened behind the crusher wall. There is an intermediate plate (not shown) that is sandwiched between the liner members 4, 5 and the fixed wall 2 and against which the liner members 4 and 5 bear in use. There is a similar intermediate plate (not shown) on the swing wall 3. 20 During operation of the crusher the working face is progressively worn away by rubbing against the particulate material to be crushed. This causes the corrugations on the working face to wear down so that over time the height of the corrugations, e.g. the distance between the peaks and troughs of the corrugations 25 is reduced. Fig 1 B illustrates one prior art technique of welding a pair of laterally spaced welding lugs 9 onto the crests of two adjacent corrugations onto the working face of a liner member 6. As shown in the drawing the lugs 9 are welded onto adjacent 30 crests of the corrugated working face. This technique is discussed above in the 15 background to the invention and will not be described further in this detailed description. Figures 2 to 6 illustrate an apparatus including a liner member in accordance with 5 one embodiment of the invention. In the drawings reference numeral 10 refers generally to a liner member in accordance with the invention. Each crusher liner member 10 is in the form of a flattened liner body 11 having two major surfaces. One major surface forms a working surface 12 that engages 10 the particulate material to be crushed and the other major surface forms a backing surface 14 that bears against the crusher wall. In the illustrated embodiments each liner body 11 is broadly rectangular shaped. The working face 12 comprises a plurality of corrugations, indicated generally by 15 numeral 16, that extend vertically across the face of the liner member 10. The vertically extending corrugations 16 extend from a point near to one side of the liner member 10 to another point near the other side of the member 10 as shown in the drawings. The corrugations 16 comprising a series of peaks 18, each peak 18 alternating with a trough 20. The distance between adjacent peaks 18 is about 20 150mm. Further the depth of each corrugation, namely distance from each peak 18 to the bottom of its adjacent trough 20 is about 80 to 100mm. The backing face 14 provides an even mounting for mounting the liner member 10 on to a substantially planar crusher wall. The backing face 14 has some recesses 25 or voids 22 defined therein as illustrated in the drawings that reduce the material used to manufacture the liner member 10. The voids also reduce the weight of the liner member 10 which is substantial. The liner body 11 has a plurality of crusher wall mounting apertures 24 defined therein. Liner member fasteners (not shown) are passed through each said crusher wall mounting aperture 24 to mount the 30 liner member 10 to the crusher wall when the liner member 10 is placed in position.

16 The liner body 11 also includes two mounting bolt passages 26 that are defined therein. The mounting bolt passages 26 extend from a working face opening 28 on the working face 12 through to a backing face opening 29 on the backing face 5 14. Each mounting bolt passage 26 is sized to receive a load mounting bolt therein (described in some detail below) with a small amount of clearance. The mounting bolt passages 26 are spaced a short distance inward of an operatively upper edge 32 of the liner member 10. The working face openings 28 of the mounting bolt passages 26 open onto the working face 12 in the troughs 20 of the 10 corrugations 16. In the illustrated embodiment the working face openings 28 of the two mounting bolt passages 26 open onto adjacent troughs 20 on the working face 12. The liner body 11 also defines a shallow elongate recess 36 on the backing face 15 14 corresponding to each mounting bolt passage 26. Each recess 36 extends substantially linearly from an operatively upper edge 35 of the backing face 14 to the passage opening 29 that opens onto the backing surface 14. The recess 36 is shallow and enables a retainer in the form of a nut (indicated by numeral 60 and described in more detail below) to be displaced from the operatively upper edge 20 35 of the member 10 along the recess 36 to the opening 29 of the mounting bolt passage 26 on the backing face 14. A magnet can be used for example to lower the nut 60 into the recess for its engagement with the load mounting bolt 52. A magnet can also be used to retrieve the nut 60 after use. 25 The illustrated embodiment also includes a retainer receiving formation 38 on the backing face 14. The formation 38 is for accessing the retainer which is in the form of a hex nut to cause it to engage the screw thread on the shank of the mounting bolt and then to hold the nut 60 against rotation relative to the shank. 30 This example retainer receiving formation 38 is formed at an inner end of the recess 36 and defines three facets that are configured to receive a part of a hex 17 head of a nut retainer 60 and hold it against rotation. Applicant emphasises that there are many other ways of holding the nut retainer 60 against rotation are available. For example a tool could be inserted into the recess 36 from the upper edge 35 of the member 10 and be used to hold the nut retainer 60 against rotation 5 until it engages with or bites into the thread of the mounting bolt 52. In the illustrated embodiment the liner member 10 includes a subsidiary passage 34 defined therein below each mounting bolt passage 26. The subsidiary passage 34 can receive a subsidiary member (indicated by numeral 73 and described in 10 more detail below) to stabilise the mounting of the liner member 10 when it is being lifted and lowered, as will be described in more detail below. The passage 34 is blind and terminates short of the back face 14 of the member 10. Applicant emphasises that this is a purely optional feature and that the apparatus works quite adequately without this feature. 15 Figs 5 to 7 illustrate generally an apparatus for suspending a crusher liner member like that shown in Figs 2 to 4 in an upright orientation for mounting the liner member 10 to a crusher wall. In the drawings the apparatus is indicated generally by the reference numeral 50. 20 Broadly the apparatus 50 comprises a hoist line attachment 64 for attaching to a hoist line, and a load orientating arrangement on which the hoist line attachment is mounted. The load orientating arrangement positions the hoist line attachment relative to the member being suspended in a way that causes the member to be 25 suspended at the suspension angle matching the support surface. In the illustrated embodiment the position of said hoist line attachment relative to said member being suspended is capable of adjustment to alter the suspension angle of the member. The apparatus also includes a member mounting arrangement on the load orientating arrangement for mounting to the member to be suspended to 30 the load orientating arrangement.

18 Each of these components will now be described in greater detail below. The load orientating arrangement includes an orientating body 66 that is in the form of a substantially L-shaped body or an L-shaped bracket having two legs 68, 5 70 extending substantially orthogonally away each other. The leg 68 has the hoist line attachment mounted thereto and extends substantially horizontally away from said one leg parallel to an operatively upper edge of the member. The leg 70 has the member mounting arrangement mounted thereon on and extends vertically down a vertically extending face of the member to be suspended when mounted 10 thereto. The load orientating arrangement further includes a plurality of suspension bolt mountings in the leg 68 of the orientating body 66. The plurality of suspension bolt mountings are in the form of a plurality of suspension bolt passages or bores 15 78 defined in said other leg 68 of the orientating body 66, each of which has an internal screw thread formed thereon. This arrangement also includes a suspension bolt 76 that is mountable to a selected one of the suspension bolt passages or bores 78. One bore 78 is 20 selected from the plurality of bores 78 that will cause the member to be suspended at the desired suspension angle. The suspension bolt 76 has a shank with a complementary external screw thread formed thereon that can be engaged with the screw thread within the bore. The suspension bolt 76 is mounted to the selected suspension bolt bore 78 by passing the suspension bolt 76 into the 25 selected bolt bore 78 and engaging the complementary screw threads to fix the suspension bolt 76 to the orientating body 66. The member mounting arrangement comprises a mounting bolt passage 72 defined through said one leg 70 of said orientating body 66, and a load mounting 30 bolt 52 that is operatively mounted on the member to be suspended and is passed 19 through said mounting bolt passage 72 whereby to mount the member to the orientating body 66. In the illustrated embodiment there are two load mounting bolts 52, one each 5 being receivable in one of the mounting bolt passages 26 of the liner member 10. Each load mounting bolt 52 has a free end 54 that projects out through the backing surface opening 29 of the mounting bolt passage 26. Each mounting bolt 52 includes a bolt head 56 at the opposite end to the free end 54 that projects through the backing surface opening 29. The bolt head 56 is positioned proximate 10 to the working face 12 when the bolt 52 is in its operative position extending through the mounting bolt passage 26 of the member 10. Each load mounting bolt 52 has an external screw thread 58 towards the free end 54 thereof. The member mounting arrangement also includes a bolt retainer arrangement in 15 the form of a nut 60 for mounting over each load mounting bolt 52 to resist the mounting bolt 52 from being withdrawn from the mounting bolt passage 26 and thereby being detached from the liner member 10. Each nut 60 has an internal screw thread 61 for engaging the external screw thread 58 on the mounting bolt 52. 20 In the illustrated embodiment the member mounting arrangement also includes a subsidiary bolt or pin 73 for passing through the subsidiary bolt aperture 34. The bolt 73 which is shown particularly clearly in Fig 5 is similar to but shorter than the mounting bolt 52. The bolt 73 is received within the blind passage 34 in the 25 member where it helps to stabilize the mounting of the orientating bracket 66 to the member 10. The bolt 73 is spaced from the load mounting bolt 52 in a direction transverse to the spacing between the two load mounting bolts 52 whereby the bolts 52 and 73 together can provide four elements in a form of an array to help stabilise the mounting of the liner member 10 to the bracket 66. 30 However as described above with reference to Figures 2 to 6 this is a purely optional feature and is not included in many embodiments of the invention.

20 The hoist line attachment 64 includes a bolt suspending ring 75 which is mounted over the suspending bolt and a lifting ring 74 for coupling to a shackle or the like at the end of a hoist line. This way the hoist line attachment 64 can be coupled to 5 each of a hoist line and the orientating body 66 as is shown in Figs 7 and 8 of the drawings. In use the apparatus 50 is used for removing worn crusher liner members 10 from a crusher and also for installing new crusher liner members 10 in an operative 10 position mounted on the walls of the crusher. To remove a worn crusher liner member 10 like that shown in Figs 2 to 4, the apparatus 50 described above and illustrated with reference to Figs 5 to 7 is mounted to the liner member 10. This is accomplished by passing the load 15 mounting bolts 52 through the load mounting bolt passages 72 in the L-shaped bracket 66 so that the head 56 of each bolt 52 lies against an outer surface of the leg 70 of the L-shaped bracket 66. Thereafter the load mounting bolts 52 are passed through the mounting bolt passages 26 in the liner member 10 and the mounting nuts or retainers 60 are mounted over the free ends 54 of the load 20 mounting bolts 52. The retaining nuts 60 are slid down the backing face 14 of the liner member 10 from the upper edge thereof through the recesses 36 provided for this purpose. The nuts 60 are then held against rotation by a surrounding formation 38 or by a tool so that the bolt 52 rotates relative to the nut 60 displacing the bolt 52 axially relative to the nut 60. When this is complete the liner member 25 10 is mounted to the orientating body that is the bracket 66 via the load mounting bolts 52. Thereafter the load orientating arrangement and the hoist line attachment 64 are prepared for attachment to a hoist line. To do this the suspending bolt 76 of the 30 load orientating arrangement is screwed into the threaded bore of one of the hoist mounting points 78 provided for this purpose on the horizontally extending leg 68 21 of the L shaped bracket 66. One said hoist mounting point 78 will be selected so as to suspend the liner member 10 from a hoist line at an angle that matches the angle of the crusher face to which it is mounted. 5 This arrangement might typically be used on the fixed wall which is nearly vertical and has an angle that is in the range of 85 to 90 degrees. Thereafter the lifting ring 74 is ready for coupling to a shackle 77 or the like at the end of a hoist line 79 as shown in Figs 7 and 8. The angle at which the member 10 is suspended is increased by attaching the hoist attachment bolt in amounting point that is spaced 10 further away from the vertically extending leg 70 as is shown in Fig 8. The mounting elements (not shown) that operatively mount the liner member 10 to the crusher wall can then be removed at which point the liner member 10 is ready to be lifted off the crusher by the hoist line 79. 15 When the hoist line 79 lifts the liner member 10, the lifting force is a purely vertical vector, and the liner member 10 will hang at an angle that is determined by the apparatus 50, and specifically the spacing of the hoist line attachment 64 from a vertical line passing through the centre of mass of the worn liner member 10. 20 Similarly when a new liner member 10 is lowered into the crusher space between the fixed and swing walls 2 and 3, the suspension angle of the liner member 10 can mimic that of the crusher wall 2 to which it is to be attached. The liner member 10 is lowered into a position where it is adjacent to the crusher wall 2 and be 25 mounted thereto without the workers having to move it or lift it to any appreciable extent. This is shown schematically in Fig 12 where the Fig 7 apparatus is used to suspend the fixed wall liner 10 from the hoist line 79. Fig 8 shows how the apparatus 50 of Figs 5 to 7 is well suited to suspending the 30 liner member in a near vertical orientation that corresponds to the fixed wall of the 22 jaw crusher. Further by mounting the hoist line attachment 64 in the bores of different mounting points 78 the inclination angle can be adjusted. It will be recognised that during use of the liner members they will undergo wear. 5 This will cause their centre of mass to change. The apparatus by having different bores at different mounting points 78 within which the shank 78 can be mounted enables the orientation at which the liner member 10 is suspended to be adjusted to account for this wear. It can still be made to hang at an angle that corresponds to the crusher wall on which it is mounted. 10 Figs 9 to 11 illustrate an apparatus in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention. This embodiment has been found to be useful in lowering a liner member into 15 position against a swing wall of a crusher that is inclined at an angle of about 12 to 15 degrees to the vertical. This embodiment has some similarities to the embodiment described above with reference to Figs 5 to 8. Accordingly unless otherwise indicated the same reference numerals will be used to refer to the same components. Further the following description will focus on the difference 20 between this embodiment and the earlier embodiment. In this embodiment the load orientating arrangement for spacing the hoist line attachment a certain distance from the liner member and in particular the orientating body is different to that in the earlier embodiment. The arrangement is 25 indicated generally in the drawings by the reference numeral 80. The load orientating arrangement 80 comprises an orientating body 82 that is configured to enable it to be at least partly received between two adjacent crests of the corrugated working face 12. The orientating body 82 is configured to be 30 broadly complementary to the portion of the working face within which it is 23 received. The body 82 has inwardly tapering surfaces 84, 86 that are opposed to each other and can fit snugly in the space between adjacent crests on the working face 12 of the liner member 10. It can be loosely described as a wedge body. 5 The orientating body 82 also includes a lug 87 on its upper surface for suspending it when the suspending bolt 52 is removed. This assists in simply holding it when the apparatus is disassembled and then lifting it out of the crusher space once the job has been completed. The lug 87 is a feature that is useful to lower the orientating body 82 into position and also to lift the body 82 out of the crusher 10 space after a liner member has been lowered into position and been operatively mounted to the crusher wall. However it is not intrinsically tied up with the invention and is not an essential feature of this invention. The load orientating arrangement 80 also includes one or more spacers 88 (in 15 addition to orientating body 82) as shown in some of the drawings. The spacers 88 are arranged in series with the orientating body 82 along the length of the suspending bolt 52. By adjusting the size and the number of the spacers 88, the spacing of the hoist line attachment 64 from the member 10 and particularly the centre of mass thereof, can be varied. This enables the angle of inclination of the 20 member 10 suspended from a hoist line to be matched to the crusher wall. In this embodiment the hoist line attachment 64 is mounted to the suspending bolt 52 and not directly to the orientating body 82 as in the earlier embodiment. This is accomplished by a bolt passage 90 in the hoist line attachment 64 through which 25 the suspending bolt 52 (also passing through the liner member 10) is passed. In the illustrated embodiment there is a tab defining the bolt aperture 90 that has the lifting formation pivotal thereto. In use the apparatus 80 described immediately above is used in a similar way to 30 the apparatus 50 shown in Figs 5 to 7 to lift and lower liner members 10 relative to the swing wall 3. The swing wall 3 lies at a different angle to the fixed wall 2 being 24 of the order of 13 to 15 degrees and this embodiment has been found to be useful in getting the liner member 10 to suspend or hang at this angle of inclination from the hoist line attachment. The addition of one or more spacers has the effect of increasing the angle of inclination at which the member 10 is suspended. 5 Fig 11 shows how the apparatus in Figs 9 and 10 is also capable of adjustment to accommodate wear of the liner member and a consequent change in its centre of mass. However it does this by the addition or removal of spacers, that are mounted on the suspending bolt in series with the hoist attachment, whereby to 10 adjust the position of the hoist attachment relative to the centre of mass. Fig 12 shows how two embodiments of apparatus, illustrated in respectively Fig 8 and Fig 11, are used to mount liner members 10 to respectively the fixed and swing walls 2, 3 of a jaw crusher 1. This illustrates how the invention is able to 15 safely and securely hold the liner members suspended from a hoist line without risk of detachment while also suspending the members at an angle corresponding to the crusher wall on which they are mounted. Fig 13 shows how the embodiment illustrated in Figs 5 to 8 can be used to cause 20 the member 10 to be suspended with a substantially vertically extending orientation (for the fixed wall) and also be used to cause the member 10 to be suspended at an angle of 11 to 14 degrees to a vertical orientation (for the swing wall). 25 As shown in Fig 13 this is accomplished by turning the orientating body that is in the form of an L-shaped bracket 66 around so that it is laterally inverted and faces in the opposite direction. The leg 68 of the bracket extends from the leg 70 away from the upper edge of the member. This has the effect of spacing the hoist line attachment of the load suspending arrangement further away from the centre of 30 mass of the member and thereby causes the member to hang at a greater angle of inclination.

25 The plurality of hoist mounting arrangements on the leg 68 of the L-shaped bracket enable the fine positioning of the hoist mounting arrangement to be adjusted to achieve a most desired angle of suspension of the member. The 5 vertically extending leg 70 bears against the face of the member and the two faces that abut each other along a certain length resist any pivoting of the bracket relative to the member. An advantage of the embodiment described above with reference to Figure 13 is 10 that it only requires a single orientating body 66 to achieve both the near vertical (one to four degrees) orientation and also the inclined (11 to 14 degree) orientation. The apparatus is simpler as it has fewer parts. It is also robust in operation and is relatively easy to use. 15 An advantage of the liner member illustrated more generally above with reference to the drawings is that it can be lifted and lowered by a hoist line by passing a suspending bolt through a suspending bolt passage whereby to effect attachment without interfering with the working face thereof by welding lugs onto the surface. This ensures that the metallurgical properties of the working face are not altered in 20 any way which is important for their wear resistance. A further advantage of this liner member is that the lifting and lowering of the liner member is much safer than if lifting lugs were used as there is no significant prospect of the liner member cracking. Applicant is aware of instances where 25 welded lifting lugs have cracked and broken. A further advantage is that the liner members are usually manufactured by a casting operation and the suspending bolt passages can be cast integrally into the liner member when it is manufactured. 30 26 A yet further advantage of the arrangement illustrated in the drawings is that the suspending bolt passages are formed in the liner member so that they open out onto a trough of the working face. During use it is the crests that engage the particulate material and are worn away. By positioning the passages so that they 5 open into the troughs of the working face it is ensured that they cannot influence operational wear of the liner members. An advantage of the apparatus illustrated above with reference to the drawings is that it enables the liner member to be suspended at a certain angle that matches 10 the angle of the crusher wall to which it is mounted. The illustrated apparatus allows an operator to adjust the angle of inclination to mimic the slope of the crusher wall, be it the near vertical angle of the fixed wall and the thirteen to fifteen degree angle of the swing wall. 15 Another advantage of the apparatus described above is that it speeds up the task of replacing worn crusher liners with new liners. Firstly there is no need to spend time welding lifting lugs onto the liner members. Secondly the liner members can be much more easily and quickly manoeuvred into position which reduces the crane time needed to perform this operation. Further if the operation takes less 20 time the labour cost to perform the task will be concomitantly reduced. A further advantage is that this apparatus makes the task of removing members and then fitting new members a lot safer. Applicant also believes that the apparatus will find great appeal with owners of plants and operators of plants in the quarrying and mining industries who are always looking at ways of reducing the risks of 25 workplace injuries. It will of course be realized that the above has been given only by way of illustrative example of the invention and that all such modifications and variations thereto, as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art, are deemed to fall 30 within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as is herein set forth.

Claims (26)

1. An apparatus for suspending a member at a suspension angle that substantially matches the angle of a support surface on which the member 5 is to be mounted, the apparatus including: a hoist line attachment for attachment to a hoist line; a load orientating arrangement on which the hoist line attachment is mounted, the load orientating arrangement positioning the hoist line attachment relative to the member being suspended so as to cause the 10 member to be suspended at the suspension angle matching the support surface; and a member mounting arrangement on the load orientating arrangement for mounting to the member to be suspended to the load orientating arrangement, the member mounting arrangement being spaced 15 from the attachment of the hoist line attachment to the load orientating arrangement.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said position of said hoist line attachment relative to said member being suspended is capable of 20 adjustment whereby to alter the suspension angle of the member to match the angle of the support surface.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said position of said hoist line is capable of adjustment by having a plurality of different positions on the load 25 orientating arrangement at which the hoist line can be attached thereto, and wherein one of the positions can be selected in use to cause the member to be suspended at the suspension angle that matches the angle of the support surface. 28

4. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the member has a centre of mass and wherein said plurality of different positions at which the hoist line attachment can be attached to the load orientating arrangement extend in a line laterally away from a vertical axis line passing through the centre of 5 mass of the member when the member is supported in a vertically extending orientation, and wherein increasing the lateral distance from the vertical line to the hoist line attachment increases the suspension angle of the member relative to the vertical axis. 10

5. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the load orientating arrangement includes an orientating body that is mountable to the member to be suspended by means of the member mounting arrangement and which is directly or indirectly attached or attachable to the hoist line attachment. 15

6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the orientating body has two legs extending substantially orthogonally to each other, and wherein the member mounting arrangement is mounted on one leg and the hoist line attachment is mounted directly or indirectly on the other leg. 20

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the load orientating arrangement includes a plurality of suspension bolt mountings in the other leg of the load orientating body, and a suspension bolt that is mountable to one suspension bolt mounting that is selected from the plurality of 25 suspension bolt mountings that causes the member to be suspended at the suspension angle that matches the angle of the support surface.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said plurality of suspension bolt mountings comprises a plurality of suspension bolt passages defined in 30 said other leg of the orientating body, and wherein the suspension bolt is mountable to the suspension bolt mounting by passing the suspension bolt 29 into one of the suspension bolt passages to releasably fix it to the orientating body whereby to couple it to the orientating body.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein each suspension bolt passage 5 comprises a bore with an internal screw thread formed thereon, and the suspension bolt includes a shank with a complementary external screw thread formed thereon that can be engaged with the screw thread within the bore whereby to couple the releasably fix the suspension bolt to the orientating body. 10

10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the hoist line attachment comprises a bolt suspending ring which can be passed over the suspending bolt, and a lifting ring operatively coupled to the suspending bolt for coupling to a shackle at the end of a hoist line. 15

11. An apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the orientating body is in the form of a substantially L-shaped body and said one leg extends with a vertically extending orientation down a face of the member to be suspended when mounted thereto, and the said other leg 20 extends substantially horizontally away from said one leg parallel to an operatively upper edge of the member.

12. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the orientating body can be orientated in one orientation with the other leg extending along an 25 operatively upper edge of the member to be suspended, and also another orientation where the other leg projects in an opposite direction to said one orientation that is directed away from the member.

13. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the member mounting 30 arrangement comprises a mounting bolt passage defined through said one 30 leg of said orientating body, and a load mounting bolt that is operatively mounted on the member to be suspended and is passed through said mounting bolt passage whereby to mount the member to the orientating body. 5

14. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the orientating body bears against the member to be suspended in use, and the apparatus includes at least one spacer interposed between the hoist line attachment and the member mounting arrangement for suspending the member at the 10 suspension angle matching the support surface.

15. A method for suspending a member at a suspension angle that substantially matches the angle of a support surface on which the member is mounted, the method including: 15 providing an apparatus including a load orientating arrangement and a hoist line attachment and a member mounting arrangement on the load orientating arrangement; operatively mounting the member mounting arrangement to the member; 20 positioning the hoist line attachment relative to the relative to the member being suspended so as to cause the member to be suspended at the suspension angle matching the support surface; and operatively mounting the hoist line attachment to a hoist line whereby to suspend the member at the suspension angle from the hoist 25 line.

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein positioning the hoist line attachment relative to the relative to the member being suspended includes selecting one position on the load orientating arrangement from a plurality 31 of positions for the hoist line attachment, whereby to cause the member to be suspended at the suspension angle that matches the support surface.

17. A method according to claim 16, wherein the load orientating arrangement 5 includes an orientating body having a plurality of suspension bolt passages defined therein forming the plurality of positions for the hoist line attachment, and wherein selecting one position on the load orientating arrangement includes passing a suspension bolt into a said suspension bolt passage which will cause the member to be suspended at the suspension 10 angle.

18. A method according to claim 17, wherein each suspension bolt passage comprises a bore with an internal screw thread formed thereon, and the suspension bolt includes a shank with a complementary external screw 15 thread formed thereon that can be engaged with the screw thread within the bore, and wherein selecting one position on the load orientating arrangement includes screwing the suspension bolt into the bore.

19. A member for being suspended from a hoist line for mounting to a support, 20 the member including: a body having a working face and an opposed backing face, the body defining two laterally spaced mounting bolt passages extending there through from the working face to the backing face, and two load mounting bolts for being passed through the mounting bolt passages whereby to 25 suspend the member from the hoist line.

20. A member according to claim 19, wherein the member is a crusher liner member for use on a jaw crusher and the working face defines a series of corrugations extending from one side to the other side, wherein each 30 corrugation comprises a crest with a valley on each side of the crest, and 32 wherein each mounting bolt passage has a working face opening that opens onto a said valley on the working face, and a backing face opening that opens onto the backing face. 5

21. A member according to claim 20, wherein the member defines a retainer receiving formation around each backing face opening on the backing face and a retainer recess defined in the backing surface extending in a substantially linear fashion from an adjacent edge of the member to each retainer receiving formation for providing access to the backing face 10 opening, wherein the retainer defines sufficient space for a retainer for mounting over a free end of the load mounting bolt to be displaced along the recess from the proximate side edge.

22. An apparatus for suspending a member having a working face that faces 15 outwardly and a backing face that is opposed to said working face, the member defining at least one mounting bolt passage extending there through from the working face to the backing face for receiving a load mounting bolt therein, whereby to suspend the member from a hoist line, the apparatus including: 20 at least one load mounting bolt that is receivable in a mounting bolt passage, wherein said one load mounting bolt has a free end that projects out through the backing surface opening of the mounting bolt passage; and at least one load mounting bolt retainer arrangement that is mountable to a said load mounting bolt to resist it from being withdrawn 25 through the load mounting bolt passage and being detached from the member.

23. An apparatus for suspending a member according to claim 22, including two laterally spaced said mounting bolt passages and two load mounting 30 bolts, with one load mounting bolt being received in each mounting bolt passage and wherein each load mounting bolt includes a bolt head at the 33 opposite end to the free end thereof that is positioned proximate to the working face when the bolt is received within the mounting bolt passage.

24. An apparatus for suspending a member according to claim 23, wherein the 5 apparatus includes a bolt retainer for removably mounting over the free end of each load mounting bolt to operatively fix it to the member, and wherein each bolt has an external screw thread towards the free end thereof and wherein the bolt retainer is in the form of a nut having an internal screw thread for engaging the screw thread on the bolt for mounting the mounting 10 bolt on the member.

25. An apparatus for suspending a member according to claim 24, further including a load suspending arrangement that is mountable to the suspending bolts and which is attachable to a hoist line for suspending the 15 member at an angle that matches the angle of a support surface on which it is mounted.

26. An apparatus for suspending a member at a suspension angle that substantially matches the angle of a support surface on which the member 20 is to be mounted substantially in accordance with any one of the embodiments as herein described in the detailed description with reference to the figures.