AU2015100540A4

AU2015100540A4 - A support system and a method of operating a support system for a belt of a conveyor

Info

Publication number: AU2015100540A4
Application number: AU2015100540A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Maxwell Olgun Arif
Original assignee: Ezifix Mining Solutions Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Ezifix Mining Solutions Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2015-03-26
Filing date: 2015-04-21
Publication date: 2015-05-21
Anticipated expiration: 2023-04-21
Also published as: WO2016149770A1

Abstract

A support system (100) for a belt (50) of a conveyor (200) including a first support (10) having a first set of one or more rotary supporting elements (11,12,13) for supporting the belt (50), and a second support (20) having a second set of one or more rotary supporting elements (21,22,23) for supporting the belt (50), wherein said supports (10,20) are moveable to interchangeably support the belt (50) at a section of the conveyor (200). F2-5 20

Description

1 A SUPPORT SYSTEM AND A METHOD OF OPERATING A SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR A BELT OF A CONVEYOR FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to a support system and a method of operating a support system for a belt of a conveyor, and particularly but not exclusively in relation to a conveyor for transporting particulate materials. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION [0002] Belt conveyors are used for materials handling and transport. A particular application of belt conveyors is for transport of particulate materials in, for example, mining and grain-handling applications. [0003] Typically, a belt conveyor comprises an endless belt adapted to pass around head and tail rollers to define an upper load-carrying run and a lower return run. The upper and lower runs are supported at intervals along their respective lengths by a series of supports. The supports are fixedly mounted to the conveyor frame. Each support comprises a set of idler rollers. Each roller set usually includes one or more idler rollers positioned to engage the underside of the respective run. Where the load carrying run is of trough configuration, as is a common occurrence, the idler rollers set each typically comprise a horizontal central roller and two inclined side rollers on opposed sides of the central roller. [0004] Idler roller life is determined by many factors such as bearings, seals, shell thickness, belt speed, lump size/material density, operating temperature, maintenance, and environment. Generally, idler rollers last as long as long as the bearings last. Idler rollers also fail due to abrasion, corrosion, seal effectiveness and end design failure. Regular surface wear or abrasion from belt contact can also limit the roller life. Idler roller failure is common.

2 [0005] When an idler roller fails or shows signs of imminent failure, during operations, the conveyor is stopped and breakdown maintenance is carried out to replace or service the failed/failing idler roller. It is imperative to stop the conveyor in order to prevent damage to the belt, and for safety of the maintenance personnel carrying out breakdown maintenance. [0006] Breakdown maintenance is unscheduled. It causes loss of production. Loss of production hinders profitability because profitability of sites producing material to be transported by the conveyor depends directly on the material shipped to the customer. Any breakdown in the conveyor reduces the quantity of material shipped to the customer over a period of time. [0007] The applicant previous patent application, published as WO 2013067604 Al, discloses a conveyor roller assembly which reduces the difficulties in roller change-out and time required for roller change-out. In this conveyor roller assembly, a support which has failing/failed roller(s) is dropped down and subsequently pulled out from the conveyor in order to service/repair/replace the failing/failed roller(s). The contents of WO 2013067604 Al are incorporated in this specification by reference. [0008] Although by using the system of WO 2013067604 Al breakdown maintenance time is reduced, the number of times breakdown maintenance needs to be carried out is not reduced. [0009] It is desirable to reduce or eliminate the number of times breakdown maintenance is required to service/repair/replace roller(s) of support of a conveyor. [0010] It is further desirable to have to attend to roller maintenance issues only during scheduled shut down maintenance.

3 [0011] It is further desirable to increase profitability of a site producing material to be transported by a conveyor. [0012] It is further desirable to provide a system which can be implemented in green field conveyor projects as well as retrofitted to existing conveyors. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0013] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a support system for a belt of a conveyor including: a first support having a first set of one or more rotary supporting elements for supporting the belt, and a second support having a second set of one or more rotary supporting elements for supporting the belt, wherein said supports are moveable to interchangeably support the belt at a section of the conveyor. [0014] By providing two supports which can interchangeably support a section of the conveyor, wherein in one of the two supports actively supports the belt and the other remains as a stand-by, the roller 'change out' can be carried out without dismounting the support from the conveyor. [0015] When one of said supports is moved to a supporting position, the other of said supports is preferably moved to a non-supporting position. Preferably, the other of said supports is moved to a non-supporting position automatically. [0016] The support in the non-operating position may be detachable from the conveyor. [0017] The support system may include a pivot on which said supports are fixedly mounted, and wherein said supports are angularly spaced from each 4 other. Preferably, the pivot is rotated to move said supports to interchangeably support a section of the belt. [0018] The supports may be interchanged when a problem is detected in the support which is supporting the belt. Preferably, the problem could be detected by monitoring one or more of temperature, vibrations and sound level of the first supporting member. [0019] The support system may support load carrying run of the belt or return run of the belt. [0020] The support system may include an actuator to move said supports. Preferably, the actuator is an electrical actuator. Further preferably, the actuator is activated remotely. [0021] A second aspect of the present invention provides a conveyor including a support system according to the first aspect. [0022] Optionally, the conveyor may include a belt lifting means proximate to the support system for lifting the belt such that it is not supported by said support system to enable movement of said supports when the belt is running. [0023] The conveyor may include a plurality of support systems of the first aspect, wherein the plurality of support systems are spaced apart from each other for supporting the belt at multiple locations. [0024] A third aspect of the present invention provides a method of operating a support system for a belt of a conveyor including the steps of: positioning a first support having a first set of one or more rotary supporting elements and a second support having a second set of one or more rotary supporting elements, proximate to each other; 5 moving the first support and the second support to interchangeably support the belt at a section of the conveyor, at a level. [0025] The method may include the step of: moving one of said supports from a supporting position to a non-supporting position, and other of said supports from a non-supporting position to a supporting position. [0026] Preferably, the method includes the step of: pivoting said supports. [0027] The method may include the step of: lifting a portion of the belt such that said supports do not support the belt, prior to interchanging of said supports. Preferably, the method includes the step of: lowering the belt such that the belt is supported by one of said supports, after interchanging of said supports. [0028] In the support system of the first aspect, or the conveyor of the second aspect, or the method of operating the support system of the third aspect, movement of said supports may be remote controlled. Preferably, remote controlling of said supports is by means of wired controller or wireless controller such as a handheld remote device. Further preferably, remote controlling of said supports is through a computer network such as the internet, local area network or wide area network. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0029] The invention will be described in greater detail in the following, with reference to the embodiments that are shown in the attached drawings, in which: [0030] Figure 1 is a side view of a support system for a belt of a conveyor, and a sectional side view of a conveyor, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

6 [0031] Figure 2 is a front view of the embodiment seen in figure 1. [0032] Figure 3 is a top view of the embodiment seen in figure 1. The belt is not shown in this figure. [0033] Figure 4 is an isometric view of the embodiment seen in figure 1. DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT [0034] A conveyor 200 in its entirety (not shown) has a plurality of supports spaced from each other which support a belt 50 during the load-carrying run and the return run of the belt 50. The supports are on the underside of the belt 50. Each support for the load-carrying run of belt 50 has three idler rollers generally forming a truncated V-shape in order to flex the belt 50 to form a trough to carry material 150. Each support for the return run of belt 50 has a single roller to keep the belt 50 flat during the return run. [0035] Figures 1 to 4 show a section of the conveyor 200. [0036] The support system 100, seen in figures 1 to 4, is installed in place of a support of the load-carrying run. Preferably, a plurality of support systems 100, spaced from each other, are installed in place of the plurality of supports of the load-carrying run. [0037] The support system 100 has a first support 10 and a second support 20. The first support 10 and the second support 20 are identical in construction. The first support 10 and the second support 20 both have identical load capacity that is they are rated for the same duration for carrying equivalent loads. [0038] The first support 10 has a first set of three rotary supporting elements or idler rollers 11, 12, 13 mounted on a first support frame 15. The idler rollers 7 11, 12, 13, are able to rotate freely. The center idler roller 12 is horizontal. The two inclined side rollers 11, 13 are on opposed sides of the central roller 12. The three idlers 11, 12, 13 of the first support 10 form a truncated V-shape. [0039] The second support 20 has a second set of three rotary supporting elements or idler rollers 21, 22, 23 mounted to a second support frame 25. The idler rollers 21, 22, 23 are able to rotate freely. The center idler roller 22 is horizontal. The two inclined side rollers 21, 23 are on opposed sides of the central roller 22. The three idlers 21, 22, 23 of the first second support 20 form a truncated V-shape. [0040] The first support 10, seen in figures 1 to 4, is in a supporting position. In the supporting position, the first support 10 is able to support the belt 50 and carry the load of the belt 50. The belt 50 is supported by the top surfaces of the idler rollers 11, 12, 13 of the first support 10. In the supporting position, the first support 10 is perpendicular to the conveyor frame 60. [0041] The second support 20, seen in figures 1 to 4, is in a non-supporting or a stand-by position. In the stand-by position, the second support 20 is not supporting the belt 50 or carrying load of the belt 50. In the stand-by position, the second support 20 is at an acute angle to the first support 10. [0042] In the stand-by position, the second support 20 is positioned above the conveyor frame 60. Therefore, when the second support 20 is detached from the conveyor 200 for maintenance, as described in WO 2013067604 Al, the conveyor frame 60 does not obstruct the lateral movement of the second support 20. [0043] The first support 10 and the second support 20 can be moved to interchangeably support the belt 50 at a section of the conveyor 200. In other words, the first support 10 and the second support 20 can be swapped for each 8 other. The interchange can be conducted manually or using power such as electric, hydraulic or pneumatic power. [0044] The support provided to the belt 50 by the first support 10 in the supporting position is the same as that by the second support 20 in the supporting position. [0045] The second support 20 in the supporting position is located at the same location where the first support 10 in the supporting position was located. The same location means the same longitudinal, lateral and vertical location relative to the conveyor 200 as well as the same angular location relative to the conveyor frame 60 (in this embodiment angular location being perpendicular to the conveyor frame 60). Therefore, the belt 50 is supported at the same level by whichever support 10, 20 that is in the supporting position. The belt 50 is neither elevated not lowered because of the interchanging of the supports 10, 20. After the interchange, the belt continues to be supported by the other supports (not shown) spaced from the supporting system 100. [0046] Even if the location of the first support 10 in the supporting position and that of the second support 20 in the supporting position are not exactly the same, the concept will still work as long as the belt 50 is supported at the same section of the conveyor 200. A section of the conveyor 200 is defined as the portion between two supports (not shown) located on opposite sides of and spaced from the support 10 (in the supporting position) of the supporting system 100. In other words, a section of the conveyor 200 would be the span of the conveyor 200 captured between three consecutive spaced apart supports. [0047] The first support 10 in the stand-by position is located on a side of the pivotal member 30 opposite to where the second support 20 was located in the standby-by position.

9 [0048] The first support 10 and the second support 20 are fixedly mounted to the pivot member 30 attached to the conveyor frame 60 by fasteners 62. The pivot member 30 is rotatable. The angular spacing between the first support 10 and the second support 20 is fixed. [0049] Rotation of the pivotal member 30 moves, specifically radially displaces, the first support 10 and the second support 20. When the pivotal member 30 is rotated in the direction of arrow 90, the first support 10 and the second support 20 are radially displaced in the direction of arrow 90. The first support 10 is moved from the supporting position to the stand-by position. The second support 20 is moved from the stand-by position to the supporting position. [0050] An actuator 70 is provided to rotate the pivotal member 30 in the direction of the arrows 90. The actuator 70 can also rotate the pivotal member 30 in the direction opposite to the direction of the arrows 90. The actuator 70 is an electrically operated actuator. A counter balance spring 75 is provided. The mechanism is engineered such that it will work for at least a few years, taking into account the load to be transported and other conditions, with out needing servicing. [0051] The actuator 70 is fitted with a transponder which can send/receive signals through a wired connection or a wireless connection. The signals are communicated with a computer system. [0052] A lifting support (not shown) is provided in the proximity of the support system 100. A lifting support is a support system which can extend vertically relative to the conveyor frame 60 in order to lift the belt 50 off the supports in the proximity of the lifting support. The lifting support can be lowered to lower the belt 50 such that the belt 50 is once again supported by the supports. The lifting support maintains the trough of the belt 50 during lifting, when the belt 50 is lifted above the supports proximate the lifting supports, and during lowering. The lifting support is operated by an actuator such as a hydraulic cylinder.

10 [0053] Construction of the supporting portion of the lifting support is similar to the other supports of the same run (carry or return) of the conveyor 200. In the present embodiment each spaced apart support of the conveyor 200 has three idler rollers forming a truncated V-shape. Therefore, the lifting support also has three idler rollers forming a truncated V-shape support. [0054] Such lifting support can lift the belt 50 when the belt 50 is moving whilst maintaining the required shape of the belt 50. In the present embodiment, the required shape is trough shape in which material 150 can be carried. The belt 50 does not need to be stopped to lift or lower the belt 50 using the lifting support, or when the belt 50 is lifted by the lifting support. [0055] To avoid the belt 50 from flexing to an undesirable shape (in which material 150 on the belt 50 falls off), when interchanging the first support 10 for the second support 20, the lifting support proximate to the support system 100 elevates the belt 50 before the interchange, and lowers the belt 50 after the interchange is completed. [0056] The idler rollers 11, 12, 13 of the first support 10 and/or the idler rollers 21, 22, 23 of the second support 20 are fitted with sensors to sense conditions of the respective idler rollers and surrounding conditions. The conditions to be sensed are those which indicate that there could be a problem with the respective support 10, 20. The conditions to be sensed may include temperature, vibrations, sound levels, humidity to detect leakage in seals etc. [0057] There is a normal range of measurement provided for each condition. If the sensed condition of a support 10, 20 exceeds beyond this normal range, then a signal is provided to the operator that the support 10, 20 is showing signs of failing. [0058] Generally, the support 10 which is in the supporting position is more likely to show signs of failing than the support 20 in the stand-by position. This is 11 because there is no load on the support 20 in the stand-by position. The support 20 in the stand-by position is unlikely to register any signal of failing as it is not under load. The support 20 in the stand-by position is kept in the stand-by position until support 10 in the supporting position shows signs of failing. In the stand-by position of the support 20, there is no load on the support 20. [0059] When the operator receives a signal that the first support 10, in the supporting position, is showing signs of failing, the operator takes the following steps: 1. Remotely activates actuator of the lifting support, in the proximity of the support system 100 whose first support 10 is showing signs of failing, in order to elevate the belt 50. The belt 50 is lifted by the lifting support such that there is no load on the first support 10. The belt 50 may be fully loaded and running at full speed when being lifted and in the lifted position. 2. Remotely activates the actuator 70 of the pivotal member 30 to move the first support 10 from the supporting position to the stand-by position, and simultaneously move the second support 20 from the stand-by position to the supporting position. 3. Remotely activates actuator of the lifting support to lower the belt 50 such that the second support 20 takes the load of the belt 50. The belt 50 may be fully loaded and running at full speed when being lowered and in the lowered position, of course. [0060] The actuators of the lifting support and the pivotal member 30 can be operated by a single hand held controller from within about 20 meters from their location. Therefore, the operator will be able to do the interchange while being at a very safe distance from the conveyor 200 and visually inspecting the interchange. Also, this eliminates the need for stopping production to manually change the idler rollers which show signs of failing or fail.

12 [0061] The handheld device controller can provide wired or wireless signals to the actuators of the lifting support and the pivotal member 30. The handheld device may also receive feedback from the actuators of the lifting support and the pivotal member 30 in order to indicate whether the requested task is completed, otherwise indicate what the difficulty in performing the requested task is. [0062] The signals to and from the actuators are communicated to a computer system via a gateway node and ethernet cable. The signals may be sent via a remote satellite dish or fibre optic cables. The signals may be sent to a central control centre from where they can be sent anywhere using a computer network such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or the internet. [0063] Instead of a hand held device which is operated on site, the actuators may be operated from a control room. Cameras may be provided for visual inspection. [0064] The functions of the operator may be automated by use of a suitable computer program which intelligently recognises signs of failing of a first support 10, in the supporting position, and interchanges it for the second support 20. [0065] The computer system will register that first support 10 was interchanged with the second support 20 because the first support 10 was showing signs of failing. During the next scheduled maintenance, the maintenance crew will be informed of the interchange and service/repair/replace the first support 10 or the idlers 11, 12, 13 of the first support 10. This way, breakdown maintenance is avoided and thus profitability of operating the site, depending on material 150 shipped out, is increased. [0066] In order to easily carry out scheduled maintenance on the first support 10, it may be designed using the concepts disclosed in WO 2013067604 Al (drop down idler).

13 ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENTS [0067] In an alternative embodiment, there may be provided more than two support members to further reduce breakdown time. When a conveyor supporting support is fails or shows signs of failing, it is interchanged for the subsequent available support. For example, a five supports may be mounted on the pivotal member 30 being angularly spaced from each other. When the first support shows signs of failing it is replaced by the second support, when the second support shows signs of failing it is replaced by the third support, when the third support shows signs of failing it is replaced by the fourth support, and when the fourth support shows signs of failing it is replaced by the fifth support. [0068] The actuator of the pivotal member or the lifting support may be mechanical, electric, hydraulic or pneumatic. The function of the actuator is important, the size and type of actuator depends on the load that it needs to displace. The load can be calculated or estimated by the person skilled in the art to select the best suited actuator. [0069] The first support 10 and the second support 20 may have different load ratings. For example the second support 20 which is planned to be used predominantly as a stand-by support, may be of a lower load rating to conserve costs. [0070] The system can be adapted for supports provided for the return run of the belt 50, by providing two supports which can interchangeably support the belt at the same level. Return idlers have longer life than carry idlers as they do not carry load of material. The decision to provide interchangeable supports for return run will need to be made on a return on investment (ROI) analysis subsequent to affordable ROI analysis of support systems for carry run.

14 [0071] The invention is not to be regarded as being limited to the embodiments described above, a number of additional variants and modifications being possible within the scope of the subsequent patent claims.

15 REFERENCE NUMBER TABLE No. Feature 10 First support 11 First idler of the first support 12 Second idler of the first support 13 Third idler of the first support 15KFirt support frame 20 Second support 21 First idler of the second support 22 Second idler of the second support 23 Third idler of the second support 25 Second support frame 30 Pivot member 50 Belt 60 Conveyor frame 62 Fasteners 70 Actuator 75 Counter balance spring 90 Direction of initial rotation 100 Support System 150 Particulate or bulk mate rial 200 Conveyor

Claims

1. A support system for a belt of a conveyor including: a first support having a first set of one or more rotary supporting elements for supporting the belt, and a second support having a second set of one or more rotary supporting elements for supporting the belt, wherein said supports are moveable to interchangeably support the belt at a section of the conveyor.

2. The support system of claim 1, wherein, when one of said supports is moved to a supporting position, the other of said supports is moved to a non supporting position.

3. The support system of claim 2, wherein the other of said supports is moved to a non-supporting position automatically.

4. The support system of any one of the preceding claims, including a pivot on which said supports are fixedly mounted, and wherein said supports are angularly spaced from each other.

5. The support system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said supports are interchanged when a problem is detected in the support which is supporting the belt, wherein the problem could be detected by monitoring one or more of temperature, vibrations and sound level of the first supporting member. EZIFIX MINING SOLUTIONS PTY LTD WATERMARK PATENT AND TRADE MARKS ATTORNEYS P39966AUP1