CN111908030B

CN111908030B - Bucket type conveying device

Info

Publication number: CN111908030B
Application number: CN202010351872.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 河原匡寿
Original assignee: Tsubakimoto Bulk Systems Corp
Current assignee: Tsubakimoto Bulk Systems Corp
Priority date: 2019-05-10
Filing date: 2020-04-28
Publication date: 2022-05-10
Anticipated expiration: 2040-04-28
Also published as: CN111908030A; JP6881499B2; JP2020186069A

Abstract

A bucket conveyor is provided, in which a scraping member (62) is moved in and out of a storage recess (34) of a bucket (23) passing through a plurality of buckets (23) supported by a circulating chain that moves in a circulating manner in a reversing passage position in which the buckets pass through the bucket (23) in a reversing posture in which an opening (38) of the storage recess (34) faces downward, and scrapes conveyed objects adhering to the inside of the storage recess (34) out of the bucket (23). In this case, the scraping member (62) performs the following in-and-out operation with respect to the storage recess (34): the leading end of the scraping member (62) enters the storage recess (34) from the rear side to the front side in the passing direction of the bucket (23) so as to draw a convex curve-shaped trajectory (CT) that is convex toward the depth side of the storage recess (34), and then exits from the storage recess (34).

Description

Bucket type conveying device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a bucket conveyor which conveys an object to be conveyed by using a bucket capable of storing the object to be conveyed.

Background

Conventionally, as a bucket conveyor for storing and conveying objects to be conveyed, such as powder or granular material, in a bucket supported by an endless chain, for example, a bucket conveyor provided with a sand scraping device as described in patent document 1 is known. The soil scraping device of the bucket conveyor is provided with a scraping plate in the vicinity of an overturning part, the overturning part overturns in a posture with an opening facing downwards in the middle of the movement of the bucket around a path, and the scraping plate swings with a base end part as a fulcrum and a top end part describing an arc-shaped track. The tip end portion of the scraping plate reciprocates between the outside and the inside of the bucket while tracing a predetermined circular arc trajectory with respect to the bucket that moves through the turning portion while turning, and thereby the soil and sand are scraped out of the bucket from the inside of the bucket by the tip end portion of the scraping plate.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese Kokai publication Sho-60-145109

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

However, in the sand scraping device of patent document 1, when the bucket moves while turning over and passes through the turning portion, the scraping plate is swung so that the tip end portion thereof enters the bucket from the outside of the bucket while drawing an arc-shaped trajectory from the front side to the rear side in the passing direction of the bucket. Therefore, in the sand scraping device, the scraping plate that causes the tip end portion to enter the bucket through the turning portion from the direction opposite to the passing direction of the bucket may cause resistance to the movement of the bucket, and may prevent the bucket from moving smoothly.

In other words, in this sand scraping device, when the tip end portions of the scraping plates enter the bucket from the outside of the bucket while tracing an arc-shaped trajectory from the front side to the rear side in the passage direction of the bucket, the sand attached to the inner surface of the bucket is pressed toward the inner surface of the bucket by the tip end portions of the scraping plates that have entered. Therefore, in this sand scraping device, the sand attached to the inner surface of the bucket that moves while turning is pressed against the inner surface of the bucket by the distal end portion of the scraping plate, and there is a possibility that the sand cannot be scraped out from the inside of the bucket to the outside of the bucket as desired.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a bucket conveyor: the object to be conveyed attached to the inside of the bucket can be easily scraped to the outside of the bucket by the scraping member without interfering with smooth movement of the bucket.

Means for solving the problems

The means for solving the above problems and the operational effects thereof will be described below.

The bucket conveyor for solving the above problems includes: an endless chain provided to be movable in a loop-like endless path; a plurality of buckets each having a storage recess capable of storing an object to be conveyed and supported by the endless chain; and a scraping member that is disposed at an inversion passing position where the bucket passes through the circulation path while being moved around the circulation path in an inversion posture in which an opening of the storage concave portion faces downward in accordance with the circulating movement of the circulation chain, and scrapes the conveyed object attached to the inside of the storage concave portion to the outside of the bucket by an operation of moving a part of the scraping member in and out of the storage concave portion of the bucket that passes through the inversion passing position, the scraping member moving the conveyed object attached to the inside of the storage concave portion in and out of the storage concave portion in the following manner when scraping the conveyed object attached to the inside of the storage concave portion to the outside of the bucket: the part of the scraping member enters the housing recess from the rear side to the front side in the passing direction of the bucket so as to draw a convex curve-shaped locus that is convex toward the depth side of the housing recess, and then exits from the housing recess.

According to this configuration, when the bucket passes through the turning passage position located in the middle of the circulation path in a turning posture in which the opening of the storage recess is directed downward, the object to be conveyed adhering to the inside of the storage recess of the bucket is scraped out of the bucket by the scraping member disposed at the turning passage position. At this time, the scraping member moves in and out of the housing recess of the bucket so that a part of the scraping member enters the housing recess while drawing a convex curved trajectory that is convex toward the depth side of the housing recess from the rear side toward the front side in the passing direction of the bucket, and then exits from the housing recess. Therefore, when the object to be conveyed attached to the inside of the storage recess of the bucket is scraped out of the bucket, the scraping member does not interfere with the bucket moving in the inverted posture, resistance to the movement of the bucket is not generated, and the object to be conveyed is not compacted toward the inner surface of the storage recess.

In the bucket conveyor, it is preferable that a lever crank mechanism is disposed at the turning passage position, the lever crank mechanism including: a rotary connecting rod as a crank for performing rotary motion; a rocking link as a lever for rocking motion; and an intermediate link that transmits and converts the motion between the rotation link and the swing link, wherein the scraping member is attached to the lever-crank mechanism so that the part follows the motion of the connecting portion between the swing link and the intermediate link and moves in and out of the storage recess of the bucket.

According to this configuration, a part of the scraping member moves in and out of the storage recess of the bucket following the movement of the connecting portion between the intermediate link and the swing link of the lever crank mechanism. Therefore, the scraping member can smoothly perform the movement of the bucket without interfering with the movement of the bucket while drawing a ring-shaped trajectory including a convex curve-shaped trajectory that is convex toward the depth side of the storage recess in accordance with the operation of the lever crank mechanism with respect to the storage recess of the bucket that passes through the turning passage position in the turning posture.

In the bucket conveyor, it is preferable that the scraping member is a member having a predetermined length and a base end portion attached to the lever crank mechanism, and a tip end portion of the scraping member in a longitudinal direction thereof is in contact with a bottom portion in the storage recess when the bucket moves in and out of the storage recess.

According to this configuration, the leading end portion of the scraping member as the plate-like member comes into contact with the bottom portion during the movement from the entrance into the storage recess of the bucket to the exit, and therefore the object to be conveyed attached to the storage recess can be scraped off the bucket so as to be scraped off the bottom portion of the storage recess.

In the bucket conveyor, it is preferable that the scraping member is configured to vibrate by an impact from the outside while the part of the scraping member enters the storage recess of the one bucket passing through the turning passage position so as to draw the convex curve-like locus, then exits, and then enters the storage recess of the other bucket subsequent to the one bucket.

According to this configuration, even when the object to be conveyed attached to the inside of the storage recess is scraped out of the bucket, the object to be conveyed is attached to a part of the scraping member, since the part of the scraping member vibrates until the object to be conveyed enters the storage recess of the other bucket, the object to be conveyed can be easily vibrated down from the part of the scraping member by the vibration.

In the bucket conveyor, the scraping member is preferably capable of flexural deformation.

According to this configuration, when a part of the scraping member that moves in and out of the storage recess of the bucket touches another member having rigidity and is hit during the movement, the scraping member flexes and deforms, and moves so as to be misaligned with the other member. Therefore, the operation of the scraping member can be prevented from being hindered by other members and the like located in the periphery.

Effects of the invention

According to the present invention, the object to be conveyed attached to the inside of the bucket can be easily scraped out of the bucket by the scraping member without interfering with smooth movement of the bucket.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a partially cut-away side view schematically showing the overall structure of an embodiment of a bucket conveyor.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which a plurality of buckets are assembled to the endless chain.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a side view showing a state in which the tip end portion of the scraping member approaches the bucket.

Fig. 6 is a side view showing a state just before the tip end portion of the scraping member enters the bucket.

Fig. 7 is a side view showing a state where the tip end portion of the scraping member has entered the bottom portion inside the bucket.

Fig. 8 is a side view showing a state where the tip end portion of the scraping member slides on the bottom portion in the bucket.

Fig. 9 is a side view showing a state where the scraping member scrapes the conveyed object from the inside of the bucket.

Fig. 10 is a side view showing a state before the tip end portion of the scraping member is about to be withdrawn out of the bucket.

Fig. 11 is a side view illustrating a moving trajectory of the distal end portion of the scraping member in time series.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a bucket conveyor as an example of a bucket conveyor will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the front-back direction, the left-right direction, and the up-down direction are based on the directions shown in fig. 1 and the like.

As shown in fig. 1, the bucket conveyor 11 of the present embodiment includes a so-called crank-shaped conveyor housing 12, and the overall shape of the conveyor housing 12 in side view is bent at two points in the longitudinal direction. The conveyor housing 12 includes: a rectangular cylindrical lower case 13 along the front-rear direction; a rectangular upper case 14 located above and behind the lower case 13 along the front-rear direction; and a rectangular cylindrical intermediate case 15 between the lower case 13 and the upper case 14 in the up-down direction. The rear end of the lower case 13 and the lower end of the intermediate case 15 are connected to each other in a curved manner by a lower connection case 16, and the front end of the upper case 14 and the upper end of the intermediate case 15 are connected to each other in a curved manner by an upper connection case 17.

A driving sprocket 18 is supported at a rear end portion in the upper case 14, the driving sprocket 18 is rotatable about a driving shaft 18a extending in the left-right direction, a driven sprocket 19 is supported at a front end portion in the lower case 13, and the driven sprocket 19 is rotatable about a driven shaft 19a extending in the left-right direction. In the conveyor housing 12, an endless circulating chain 20 is hung between the driving-side sprocket 18 and the driven-side sprocket 19. Further, a pair of lower intermediate sprockets 21 for forward travel and return travel are supported in the lower coupling housing 16, the lower intermediate sprockets 21 being rotatable about a shaft 21a extending in the left-right direction, a pair of upper intermediate sprockets 22 are similarly supported in the upper coupling housing 17, and the upper intermediate sprockets 22 are rotatable about a shaft 22a extending in the left-right direction. An endless circulation path is formed in the conveyor housing 12 by the endless chain 20 being hooked to the

intermediate sprockets

21 and 22 in a bent manner.

Further, a plurality of buckets 23 capable of storing the objects W to be conveyed such as powder and granular material are supported by the endless chain 20 so as to be adjacent to each other in the front-rear direction. Further, in the conveyor housing 12, an inlet 24 for the object W to be conveyed is formed at a position closer to the front end of the upper wall portion 13a of the lower housing 13. On the other hand, a discharge port casing 25 whose side is viewed as an inverted trapezoid is attached to the upper casing 14 at a position below the drive-side sprocket 18, an internal space of the discharge port casing 25 communicates with the inside of the upper casing 14, and a discharge port 26 of the object W to be conveyed is formed by an opening at a lower end of the discharge port casing 25. That is, each bucket 23 can store the object W to be conveyed, which is input from above, inside when passing below the input port 24 of the lower casing 13 in accordance with the circulating movement of the endless chain 20. Then, when the position of the drive-side sprocket 18 in the upper case 14 is reversed thereafter, the bucket 23 in which the object W is stored can discharge the object W stored therein downward from the discharge port 26 (see fig. 4).

As shown in fig. 2, the endless chain 20 is composed of a pair of left and right chain members arranged in parallel at a constant interval in the left-right direction, and a plurality of buckets 23 are assembled between the pair of left and right endless chains 20. That is, each endless chain 20 is configured such that a link 28 is formed by a pair of right and left link plates 27 facing each other, and the link plates 27 of the links 28 and the link plates 27 of the other links 28 adjacent in the serial direction (front-rear direction) are rotatably connected to each other at the end portions by a connecting pin 29. The bucket 23 is supported by the endless chain 20 via a support piece 30 (see fig. 3) provided to protrude in the horizontal direction from the link plate 27.

Further, a cylindrical sleeve (not shown) is assembled between the pair of right and left link plates 27 in the endless chain 20 so as to maintain a distance between the right and left opposed link plates 27 and in a state in which the coupling pin 29 is inserted, and the roller 31 is rotatably attached to the sleeve. The rollers 31 adjacent in the front-rear direction mesh with each other with tooth portions (not shown) of the

sprockets

18, 19, 21, 22. Therefore, in this state, the driving-side sprocket 18 rotates and drives the endless chain 20 to move around the endless circulation path formed in the conveyor housing 12.

Incidentally, the bucket 23 in the present embodiment includes: a pair of left and right side plates 33 whose inner side surfaces 32 face each other; a recess forming member 35 that cooperates with the pair of side plates 33 in a state of being assembled to the pair of side plates 33 to form a housing recess 34 having an opening on one surface side (upper surface side in fig. 2); and a fixing piece 36 for fixing the side plate 33 to the support piece 30 of the endless chain 20. That is, the fixing piece portion 36 of the bucket 23 is fixed to the support piece portion 30 of the endless chain 20 by a fastening member (not shown) such as a bolt or a nut, and the fixing piece portion 36 is attached to the side plate 33 so as to protrude in the horizontal direction from the outer side surface 37 of the side plate 33.

The concave portion forming member 35 is formed in a substantially U-shape in cross section by bending a single substantially rectangular metal plate at a plurality of positions in the longitudinal direction, i.e., the front-rear direction. That is, the concave portion forming member 35 is folded so that one end (front end in the figure) and the other end (rear end in the figure) of the belt-like portion located halfway in the longitudinal direction thereof are inwardly folded toward the housing concave portion 34. The belt-like portion is a portion that becomes a bottom portion 39 of the depth of the storage recess 34 when the bucket 23 moves in the transportation posture in which the opening 38 of the storage recess 34 is upward, and the bottom portion 39 is located above the opening 38 when the bucket 23 moves in the inverted posture in which the opening 38 of the storage recess 34 is downward.

As shown in fig. 1 and 3, a horizontal bracket 40 having a flat plate shape is provided so as to extend a predetermined length to one side (the right side in the present embodiment) in the left-right direction from a position corresponding to the driving-side sprocket 18 in the front-rear direction in the upper wall portion 14a of the upper case 14. A vertical bracket 41 having a trapezoidal shape in side view is attached to a distal end portion of the horizontal bracket 40 so as to hang downward by a predetermined length. The vertical bracket 41 has a length in the vertical direction shorter than the vertical distance between the upper wall portion 14a of the upper case 14 and the drive shaft 18a of the drive-side sprocket 18. A motor case (motor case)42 having a box shape is fixed to a lower end portion of the vertical bracket 41 by welding or the like so that a drive shaft 18a of the drive-side sprocket 18 overlaps a part of the motor case 42 when viewed from the left-right direction. A motor (not shown) serving as a drive source of the bucket conveyor 11 is disposed inside the motor housing 42.

On the other hand, the drive shaft 18a of the drive-side sprocket 18 extends so that both end portions thereof penetrate the left and

right side walls

14b and 14c of the upper case 14 and protrude to the outside of the upper case 14. In the present embodiment, the right end portion, which is one end portion of the drive shaft 18a, extends into the motor case 42, and is connected to the motor via a power transmission mechanism such as a worm gear mechanism or a bevel gear mechanism in the motor case 42. Therefore, when the motor in the motor housing 42 is driven, the driving-side sprocket 18 is driven to rotate together with the driving shaft 18a coupled to the motor, and the endless chain 20 supporting the plurality of buckets 23 moves around the endless circulating path in the conveyor housing 12.

As shown in fig. 3, an upper transmission sprocket 43 having a diameter smaller than that of the drive-side sprocket 18 in the upper case 14 is fixed to a portion of the drive shaft 18a of the drive-side sprocket 18 that is closer to the upper case 14 than the motor case 42, the portion protruding from the left side wall 14b and the portion protruding from the right side wall 14c of the upper case 14. On the other hand, a support bracket 44 having an inverted L shape as viewed from the front-rear direction is fixed to each of the outer surfaces of the left side wall 25b and the right side wall 25c of the discharge port case 25 at a position diagonally forward and downward from the drive shaft 18a of the drive side sprocket 18. Each of the support brackets 44 is provided with a bearing 45, a link shaft 46 is rotatably supported by each bearing 45, and the link shaft 46 penetrates each of the left and

right side walls

25b and 25c of the discharge port casing 25 in the left-right direction.

A lower transmission sprocket 47 having a diameter smaller than that of the upper transmission sprocket 43 is fixed to a portion of each of the left and right link shafts 46 projecting from the discharge port housing 25, the portion being located directly below the upper transmission sprocket 43 as viewed from the front-rear direction. Further, a support bracket 48 having an inverted U shape as viewed from the front-rear direction is fixed to each of the outer surfaces of the left side wall 25b and the right side wall 25c of the discharge port case 25 at a position between the drive shaft 18a and the link shaft 46 in both the vertical direction and the front-rear direction. A small sprocket 49 having a diameter smaller than that of the lower transmission sprocket 47 is rotatably supported at a distal end portion of each support bracket 48 bent downward. An endless power transmission chain 50 is hung between the upper transmission sprocket 43 and the lower transmission sprocket 47 in a state where tension is applied to the power transmission chain by a small sprocket 49.

As shown in fig. 3 and 4, a pair of lever crank mechanisms 51 are provided in the discharge port housing 25 in a pair on the left and right. The lever crank mechanism 51 is a kind of four-bar linkage, and includes a rotating link 52 that rotates as a crank, a rocking link 53 that rocks as a lever, and an intermediate link 54 that converts and transmits the motion form between the rotating link 52 and the rocking link 53. Since the two lever crank mechanisms 51 in the pair are configured by the same member, the configuration of the lever crank mechanism 51 on the right side of the near side in fig. 4 will be described in detail below.

The rotation link 52 is fixed to an end 46a of the link shaft 46 that protrudes into the discharge port housing 25 so as to rotate integrally with the link shaft 46. The rotation link 52 includes an arm portion 55 and a weight portion 56, the arm portion 55 has a shape in which a portion fixed to the link shaft 46 serves as a base end portion and a tip end portion side extends in a rod-like shape in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the link shaft 46, and the weight portion 56 is located on the opposite side to the extending side of the arm portion 55 with respect to the portion fixed to the link shaft 46. Incidentally, the weight portion 56 is formed in a so-called fan shape having a substantially semicircular shape about a portion fixed to the link shaft 46 as a center when viewed from the axial direction of the link shaft 46, and is configured to be heavier than the arm portion 55.

The swing link 53 is disposed at a position diagonally above and behind the rotation link 52 in the discharge port housing 25. That is, the pivot link 53 is formed in an arm shape having a predetermined length, and a base end portion thereof is rotatably supported by the fixed bracket 57, and the fixed bracket 57 is fixed to a position slightly behind and above the link shaft 46 in the discharge port housing 25. The fixed bracket 57 is provided so that the distal end portion side thereof extends obliquely rearward and upward, and the pivot link 53 is configured to be pivotally supported by the distal end portion of the fixed bracket 57 via a shaft 58, so that the distal end portion side performs a pivot motion with the shaft 58 as a fulcrum.

The intermediate link 54 is a long plate-like member, and a base end portion thereof is rotatably coupled to a tip end portion of the arm portion 55 of the rotating link 52 via a shaft 59, and a portion of the intermediate link 54 on the tip end portion side of an intermediate position in the longitudinal direction thereof is rotatably coupled to a tip end portion of the rocking link 53 via a shaft 60. A shaft 61 is provided between the distal ends of the pair of right and left intermediate links 54, and a rectangular plate-shaped scraping member 62 is attached to an intermediate position in the longitudinal direction of the shaft 61 via an attachment member 63.

The scraping member 62 is a plate member formed in a predetermined length having a size such that a tip portion thereof can be inserted into and removed from the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23, and is formed to be flexible and deformable by an elastic material such as a synthetic resin. The scraping member 62 is fixed to an intermediate position in the longitudinal direction of the shaft 61 via the mounting member 63 such that the scraping member 62 extends in a radial direction about the shaft 61 in an inclined posture in which a tip end portion thereof is positioned closer to the pivot link 53 than an extension line in the longitudinal direction of the intermediate link 54, as viewed from the axial direction of the shaft 61.

As shown in fig. 1 and 4, when the bucket 23 moves on the circulation path in the conveyor case 12 from the position of the driven-side sprocket 19 in the lower case 13 to the position of the driving-side sprocket 18 in the upper case 14, the bucket moves in a conveyance posture in which the opening 38 of the storage recess 34 is directed upward, so that the object W to be conveyed can be stored in the storage recess 34 and conveyed. On the other hand, when the bucket 23 moves on the circulation path in the conveyor housing 12 from the position of the drive-side sprocket 18 in the upper housing 14 to the position of the driven-side sprocket 19 in the lower housing 13, it moves in an inverted posture in which the opening 38 of the housing recess 34 is directed downward and the bottom 39 is positioned above the opening 38.

That is, when the bucket 23 moves around the drive-side sprocket 18 while moving around the circulation path along with the circulating movement of the circulation chain 20, the posture thereof is reversed so that the opening 38 of the storage recess 34 is turned from upward to downward. Then, the bucket 23 discharges the object W from the inside of the storage recess 34 downward during the turning operation, and then passes through a position below the driving-side sprocket 18 in an inverted posture in which the opening 38 of the storage recess 34 is downward. In this regard, in the present embodiment, the position below the driving-side sprocket 18 corresponds to the turning passage position at which the bucket 23 passes in the middle of the turning movement on the circulating path in the state where the opening 38 of the storage recess 34 is turned downward in accordance with the turning movement of the circulating chain 20.

As shown in fig. 4, the scraping member 62 having a base end portion attached to the lever crank mechanism 51 can scrape the object W adhered to the inside of the storage recess 34 out of the bucket 23 by the movement of the tip end portion into and out of the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23 passing through the upside-down passage position in the upside-down posture. The scraping member 62 has a tip end portion that contacts the bottom 39 of the storage recess 34 when the scraping member moves in and out of the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23, and thus scrapes the object W to be conveyed out of the bucket 23 from the bottom 39 inside the storage recess 34.

In the lever crank mechanism 51 to which the scraping member 62 is attached, the positions of the link shaft 46 that rotatably supports the rotating link 52 and the shaft 58 that rotatably supports the base end portion of the swing link 53 are not displaced in the direction intersecting the axial direction when the lever crank mechanism 51 is operated. On the other hand, the positions of the shaft 59 that rotatably connects the base end portion of the intermediate link 54 to the tip end portion of the arm portion 55 of the rotating link 52 and the shaft 60 that rotatably connects a portion on the tip end portion side of the intermediate link 54 to the tip end portion of the rocking link 53 are displaced in the direction intersecting the shaft direction when the lever crank mechanism 51 operates. That is, the lever crank mechanism 51 as a four-bar linkage is configured to: the rotating link 52 functions as a driving member, the swing link 53 functions as a driven member, the intermediate link 54 functions as an intermediate member, and a gap between the link shaft 46 and the shaft 58 functions as a fixed member.

Therefore, next, the operation of the bucket conveyor 11 configured as described above will be described with a view to scraping the conveyed object W attached to the inside of the bucket 23 passing through the reverse passing position below the drive-side sprocket 18 in the reverse posture out of the bucket 23 by the scraping means 62.

Then, when the drive shaft 18a is driven to rotate by the driving force of the motor in the motor case 42, the drive-side sprocket 18 rotates integrally with the drive shaft 18a, and the endless chain 20 moves around the endless path in the conveyor case 12. Then, the bucket 23 supported by the endless chain 20 also moves around the endless path in the same manner, and when moving around the drive-side sprocket 18 from above to below during the movement, the bucket is inverted in posture so that the opening 38 of the storage recess 34 is turned from above to below.

That is, the bucket 23 is turned from a conveyance posture in which the opening 38 of the storage recess 34 in which the object W is stored is directed upward to a turning posture in which the opening 38 of the storage recess 34 is directed downward. Then, the bucket 23 discharges the conveyed object W downward from the inside of the storage recess 34 with the inversion thereof, and then passes through the inverted passage position below the driving side sprocket 18 in an inverted posture in which the opening 38 of the storage recess 34 is downward. Incidentally, in the present embodiment, the direction in which the bucket 23 passes in the inverted posture at the inverted passing position is the forward side in the direction of separating from the driving side sprocket 18 after moving around the driving side sprocket 18.

As shown in fig. 5, when the bucket 23 passes forward at the turning passage position below the drive-side sprocket 18 in the turning posture in which the opening 38 of the storage recess 34 is directed downward, the lever crank mechanism 51 operates to move the scraping member 62 into and out of the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23 below the turning passage position. In this case, in the lever crank mechanism 51, since the driving rotation of the drive shaft 18a is transmitted to the link shaft 46 via the power transmission chain 50 hung between the upper transmission sprocket 43 and the lower transmission sprocket 47, the rotating link 52 rotates at a constant speed in the counterclockwise direction indicated by the arrow in fig. 5.

That is, in the lever crank mechanism 51, when the bucket 23 passes through the turning passage position in the turning posture in which the opening 38 of the storage recess 34 is directed downward in accordance with the circulating movement of the endless chain 20, the rotating link 52 performs the rotating motion as the driving member in accordance with the passage timing. Then, the rotational motion of the rotational link 52 is transmitted to the pivot link 53 through the intermediate link 54 functioning as an intermediate member in a motion conversion manner, and the pivot link 53 functioning as a follower performs the pivot motion. The scraping member 62 moves so as to draw a predetermined movement locus together with the shaft 61 of the distal end portion of the intermediate link 54 following the movement of the shaft 60 functioning as a connecting portion connecting the distal end portion of the pivot link 53 and a part of the distal end portion side of the intermediate link 54. Incidentally, the state shown in fig. 5 is a state in which the leading end portion of the scraping member 62 approaches the bucket 23 which has inverted its posture in association with the counterclockwise rotation of the driving sprocket 18 to discharge the object W from the inside of the storage recess 34, while drawing a curved trajectory from below.

As shown in fig. 6, when the rotating link 52 of the lever crank mechanism 51 rotates counterclockwise from the state shown in fig. 5, the respective positions of the shaft 59 at the base end portion and the shaft 60 at the tip end portion of the intermediate link 54 are displaced from the state shown in fig. 5. That is, the shaft 59 at the base end portion of the intermediate link 54 is displaced in the counterclockwise direction so as to trace an arc-shaped locus about the link shaft 46, while the shaft 60 at the tip end portion side is displaced in the clockwise direction so as to trace an arc-shaped locus about the shaft 58. Then, the shaft 61 at the distal end portion of the intermediate link 54 moves along a curved trajectory at the rear upper side than that in the state shown in fig. 5 in accordance with the movement of the shaft 60.

As a result, the scraping member 62 fixed to the shaft 61 also moves while tilting its tip end portion forward and drawing a curved trajectory obliquely rearward and upward, and the tip end portion thereof enters the housing recess 34 of the bucket 23 passing forward at the reverse passing position below the drive side sprocket 18 in the reverse posture. At this time, the tip end portion of the scraping member 62 enters the opening 38 of the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23 that has passed forward in the reversed passage position in the reversed posture, from the vicinity of the opening edge on the rear side in the passage direction of the bucket 23 into the storage recess 34.

As shown in fig. 7, when the rotating link 52 of the lever crank mechanism 51 is further rotated counterclockwise from the state shown in fig. 6, the shaft 61 at the distal end portion of the intermediate link 54 moves upward in accordance with the movement of the shaft 60 than in the state shown in fig. 6. Then, the leading end portion of the scraping member 62 enters the bottom portion 39 in the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23 which is further moved forward in the inverted posture from the state shown in fig. 6, and comes into contact with the inner surface of the bottom portion 39. At this time, the tip end portion of the scraping member 62 enters the housing recess 34 of the bucket 23 that passes forward at the reverse passing position below the drive side sprocket 18 in the reverse posture, from the rear side to the front side in the passing direction of the bucket 23, so as to draw a part of a convex curve-like locus that becomes convex toward the depth side of the housing recess 34 (see fig. 11).

Therefore, even when the leading end portion of the scraping member 62 enters the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23 which moves forward in the inverted posture, the leading end portion of the scraping member 62 does not interfere with the bucket 23 and does not become a resistance to the movement. As shown in fig. 6 and 7, when the leading end portion of the scraping member 62 enters the bottom portion 39 of the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23, the leading end portion does not press the object W to be conveyed toward the inner surface of the storage recess 34, and therefore the object W to be conveyed is not compacted to the inner surface of the storage recess 34.

As shown in fig. 8, when the rotating link 52 of the lever crank mechanism 51 is further rotated counterclockwise from the state shown in fig. 7, the shaft 61 at the distal end portion of the intermediate link 54 moves forward than in the state shown in fig. 7 in accordance with the movement of the shaft 60. Therefore, the scraping member 62 fixed to the shaft 61 also has its distal end portion slid forward with respect to the bottom portion 39 of the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23 that moves forward in the same manner in the inverted posture. At this time, the distal end portion of the scraping member 62 moves forward at a moving speed slightly higher than the moving speed of the bucket 23. As a result, as shown in fig. 8, the conveyed object W adhering to the bottom 39 of the inner surface of the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23 is scraped off by the tip end portion of the scraping member 62.

As shown in fig. 9, when the rotating link 52 of the lever crank mechanism 51 is further rotated counterclockwise from the state shown in fig. 8, the shaft 61 at the distal end portion of the intermediate link 54 follows the movement of the shaft 60 and moves along a curved trajectory diagonally forward and downward from the state shown in fig. 8. Then, the scraping member 62 fixed to the shaft 61 also moves with its tip end portion drawing a curved trajectory obliquely forward and downward from the state shown in fig. 8, and moves away from the bottom portion 39 of the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23. Then, as shown by the two-dot chain line in fig. 9, the conveyed object W scraped off from the bottom 39 of the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23 by the tip end portion of the scraped member 62 is scraped off from the storage recess 34 to the outside of the bucket 23 and falls. However, in this case, a part of the object W may remain attached to the distal end of the scraping member 62 without falling downward.

As shown in fig. 10, when the rotating link 52 of the lever crank mechanism 51 is further rotated counterclockwise from the state shown in fig. 9, the shaft 61 at the distal end portion of the intermediate link 54 moves downward than in the state shown in fig. 9 in accordance with the movement of the shaft 60. Then, the leading end portion of the scraping member 62 is retracted downward from the inside of the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23, which is further moved forward in the upside-down posture in the state shown in fig. 9. Further, since the lever crank mechanism 51 continues to operate below the turning passage position at which the bucket 23 passes forward in the turning posture, the scraping member 62 moves such that the tip end portion thereof draws a curved trajectory outside the bucket 23, and changes from the state shown in fig. 10 to the state shown in fig. 5. Then, the leading end portion of the scraping member 62 approaches the storage recess portion 34 of the other bucket 23 subsequent to (the last three, for example) the bucket 23 from which the leading end portion has been withdrawn, and the leading end portion is moved in and out of the storage recess portion 34 of such subsequent other bucket 23.

As shown in fig. 11, the leading end portion of the scraping member 62 moves in and out along a circular trajectory ET shown by a one-dot chain line in fig. 11 in accordance with the movement of the shaft 60 of the lever crank mechanism 51 with respect to the housing recess 34 of the bucket 23 passing through the flip passing position on the lower side of the drive side sprocket 18 in the flip posture in which the opening 38 of the housing recess 34 is directed downward. That is, the leading end portion of the scraping member 62 enters the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23 passing in the hollow arrow direction at the reverse passing position so as to draw a convex curve-shaped trajectory CT that becomes convex toward the depth side of the storage recess 34 from the rear side toward the front side in the passing direction of the bucket 23, comes into contact with the bottom portion 39, and then retreats from the storage recess 34.

Then, the distal end portion of the scraping member 62 moves rearward while tracing a curved return trajectory RT that slightly projects downward, excluding a convex curved trajectory CT that projects toward the depth side of the housing recess 34, out of an annular trajectory ET shown by a one-dot chain line in fig. 11. When the scraper member 62 starts moving backward along the return trajectory RT, the front end of the scraper member collides with the opening edge on the rear side of the opening 38 of the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23 before the scraper member retreats from the front side on the opposite side to the moving direction of the bucket 23.

Further, since the scraping member 62 is formed of an elastic material such as a synthetic resin so as to be capable of flexural deformation, even when the scraping member collides with the bucket 23, the scraping member 62 moves rearward so as to be offset from the opening edge of the opening 38 of the bucket 23 while being flexural deformed. The tip end portion of the scraping member 62 vibrates due to an impact from the outside received by such a collision with the bucket 23. Therefore, even when the object W remains attached to the distal end portion of the scraping member 62, the object W is vibrated down from the distal end portion of the vibrating scraping member 62.

According to the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) When the conveyed object W adhering to the inside of the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23 is scraped out of the bucket 23 by the scraping member 62, the scraping member 62 does not interfere with the bucket 23 and does not become resistance to the movement thereof, and the conveyed object W is not compacted toward the inner surface of the storage recess 34. Therefore, the object W adhering to the inside of the bucket 23 can be easily scraped out of the bucket 23 by the scraping member 62 without interfering with smooth movement of the bucket 23.

(2) The scraping member 62 moves in and out of the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23 moving in the inverted posture in accordance with the movement of the shaft 60 of the lever crank mechanism 51. Therefore, while drawing the annular trajectory ET including the convex curve-shaped trajectory CT which becomes convex toward the depth side of the storage recess 34, the movement of the bucket 23 with respect to the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23 can be smoothly performed without being hindered.

(3) The scraping member 62, which is a plate-like member, has a distal end portion that contacts the bottom portion 39 during the movement from the entrance into the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23 to the exit, and therefore can scrape the object W adhering to the storage recess 34 out of the bucket 23 so as to be scraped off the bottom portion 39 in the storage recess 34.

(4) Even when the object W to be conveyed attached to the distal end portion of the scraping member 62 is scraped out of the bucket 23 when the object W to be conveyed attached to the inside of the storage recess 34 is scraped out of the bucket 23, the distal end portion of the scraping member 62 is vibrated by an impact from the outside while entering the storage recess 34 of another bucket 23, and therefore can be easily vibrated off the distal end portion of the scraping member 62.

(5) Even if the scraping member 62 comes into contact with another rigid member such as the bucket 23 during its movement, the distal end portion is bent and deformed to move in a wrong manner with the other member, and therefore, the operation of the scraping member 62 can be prevented from being hindered by such other member.

The present embodiment can be modified and implemented as follows. The present embodiment and the following modifications can be combined and implemented within a range not technically contradictory to each other.

The scraping member 62 may be configured to be capable of bending and deforming when colliding with another member, or may be configured to be assembled with a distal end side member having elasticity in a rigid base end side member or assembled with a rigid distal end side member in an elastic base end side member.

The scraping member 62 may not necessarily be capable of bending deformation.

The scraping member 62 may be a rod-like member or a scoop-like member at the tip portion, instead of the plate-like member.

The scraping member 62 may be configured to vibrate itself without colliding with another member during the movement.

The scraping member 62 does not need to vibrate in the middle of the movement.

The scraping member 62 may be configured as follows: when the tip end portion is inserted into the storage recess portion 34 of the bucket 23 that moves in the inverted posture, the tip end portion does not contact the bottom portion 39 even if it is inserted into the vicinity of the bottom portion 39 of the storage recess portion 34 of the bucket 23.

The scraping member 62 may be configured as follows: the lever crank mechanism 51 is not attached, but is incorporated into, for example, a cam mechanism, and moves while drawing an annular trajectory ET including a convex curve-shaped trajectory CT that becomes convex toward the depth side of the housing recess 34.

The convex curved trajectory CT drawn when the tip end portion of the scraping member 62 moves in and out of the storage recess 34 of the bucket 23 may be a trajectory different from the convex curved trajectory CT shown by the one-dot chain line in fig. 11 as long as the trajectory is convex toward the depth side of the storage recess 34.

The turning passage position of the bucket 23 may be a position on the downstream side in the moving direction of the bucket 23 from the position directly below the driving-side sprocket 18, as long as the bucket 23 passes in a turning posture in which the opening 38 of the storage recess 34 is directed downward, and the scraping member 62 may be operated to trace the circular trajectory ET by the lever crank mechanism 51 or the like below such a position on the downstream side.

The bucket conveyor may be a so-called bucket elevator having a conveying direction in a vertical direction and an inclined direction of 60 degrees or more, a so-called gravity bucket conveyor having a structure in which a bucket is supported in a horizontal state from the beginning with respect to a circulating chain that moves around, or a so-called plate conveyor or a disc conveyor having a conveying direction in a horizontal direction and a gentle inclined direction.

Description of the reference numerals

11: a bucket conveyor (bucket conveyor); 20: a circulating chain; 23: a hopper; 34: a receiving recess; 38: an opening; 39: a bottom; 51: a lever crank mechanism; 52: rotating the connecting rod; 53: rocking the connecting rod; 54: a middle connecting rod; 60: a shaft (coupling portion); 62: a scraping member; CT: a convex curve-like trajectory; w: the object to be conveyed.

Claims

1. A bucket conveyor is characterized by comprising:

an endless chain provided to be movable in a loop-like endless path;

a plurality of buckets each having a storage recess capable of storing an object to be conveyed and supported by the endless chain; and

a scraping member disposed at an inversion passing position where the bucket passes through the circulation path in an inversion posture in which the opening of the storage recess is directed downward in the middle of the circulating movement of the bucket along with the circulating movement of the circulation chain, and scraping the transported object attached to the inside of the storage recess to the outside of the bucket by moving a part of the scraping member in and out of the storage recess of the bucket passing through the inversion passing position,

the scraping member performs an in-out operation with respect to the storage recess as follows when scraping the conveyed object attached to the inside of the storage recess to the outside of the bucket: the part of the scraping member enters the housing recess so as to draw a convex curve-shaped locus that is convex toward the depth side of the housing recess from the rear side to the front side in the passing direction of the bucket and then exits from the housing recess,

the scraping member is configured to collide with an opening edge on the rear side in the passage direction of the opening of the storage recess of the one bucket immediately before the scraping member is retreated after the part of the scraping member enters the storage recess of the one bucket passing through the reverse passage position so as to describe the convex curve-shaped trajectory, and then vibrates until the part of the scraping member enters the storage recess of the other bucket succeeding the one bucket.

2. The bucket conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the bucket conveyor further comprises a conveyor belt for conveying the molten metal,

a lever crank mechanism is arranged at the overturning passing position,

the lever crank mechanism is constituted to include: a rotary connecting rod as a crank for performing rotary motion; a rocking link as a lever for rocking motion; and an intermediate link for transmitting the motion mode between the rotation link and the swing link by conversion,

the scraping member is attached to the lever crank mechanism so that the part follows the movement of the connecting portion between the swing link and the intermediate link and moves in and out of the storage recess of the bucket.

3. The bucket conveyor according to claim 2, wherein the bucket conveyor further comprises a conveyor belt for conveying the molten metal,

the scraping member is a member having a predetermined length and a base end portion attached to the lever crank mechanism, and a distal end portion of the scraping member in a longitudinal direction thereof is in contact with a bottom portion of the housing recess when the bucket moves in and out of the housing recess.

4. The bucket conveyor device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the scraping member is capable of flexural deformation.