GB1561008A

GB1561008A - Construction of conveyor booms

Info

Publication number: GB1561008A
Application number: GB1675077A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Fyson & Son Ltd C
Current assignee: Fyson & Son Ltd C
Priority date: 1978-03-29
Filing date: 1978-03-29
Publication date: 1980-02-13

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF CONVEYOR BELTS (71) We, C.JR. FYSON & SON LIMITED.

a British Company of 67 Paddock Street, Soham, Ely, Cambridgeshire, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: Field of invention This invention concerns conveyors and in particular the construction of conveyor booms typically but not exclusively used on free-standing conveyors and portable con- veyors.

Objects of the invention It is an object of the invention to provide an improved form of construction for conveyors and conveyor booms in particular which whilst possessing sufficient strength and rigidity can nevertheless at least before initial assembly be transported and /or stored as a large number of constituent parts which can be bolted together to form the conveyor and in particular the conveyor besom.

In that only bolts and nuts and bolts are used to secure the constituent parts to - gether it is a further object of the invention to provide a conveyor and in particular a conveyor boom which can be dismantled for shipment and/or storage. Unless precautions are taken to protect the nuts and bolts from corrosion etc. the act of dismantling may not be an easy task and it is not therefore a primary object of the invention to provide for dismantling.

The invention According to the present iflventic)n a conveyor boom is constructed from two side panels which are joined together by means of transverse struts which include flanges which are bolted to the side panels and are arranged at intervals along the length of the two side panels, at least some of the transverse struts each serving to support both an upper and a lower idler roller assembly for supporting conveyor belting.

Typically the side panels comprise upper and lower rails which are joined by a plurality of struts in the form of a zigzag pattern and the said transverse struts are bolted to the struts forming the zigzag pattern.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawings accompanying the Provisional Specification.

Description of the drawings acconipanying the Provisional Specification.

Fig. 1 is a side view of a portable conveyor embodying the invention and Fig. 2 is a cross-section view through the boom on the line II--II of Fig. 1.

Detailed description of embodiments As shown in Fig. 1, a portable free-standing conveyor includes a boom generally designated 10 which is supported On a pair of road wheels one of which is shown at 12 in Fig. 1 carried at the end of two swinging aims of which one is shown at 14 in Fig. 1.

Adjustment to the height and inclination of the boom 10 is effected by means of a ram typically a hydraulic ram 16 joining the arm 14 to a pivoting point 18 on the underside of the boom 10. Either a single hydraulic ram may be used or two rams may be used one on each side of the opposite sides of the boom relative to the boom for independently supporting the arms 14 and the other arm not identified.

The boom is constructed from two side panels one of which is shown in Fig. 1.

The side panel comprises an upper rail 20 and a lower rail 22. Where the length of the boom is sufficiently short, a single side panel may be used but as shown in the drawings, the boom length is such that two side panels are required on each side of the boom and these are bolted together using perpendicular laterally extending end flanges 24 (in the case of the upper rail) and 26 (in the case of the lower rail). The expression side panel as used herein thus refers to the panel member which forms one-half of the overall length of one side of the boom 10 as shown in Fig. 1 but it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to any particular boom length and neither is it limited to the use of side panels which are themselves made from two or more side panels bolted end to end as in Fig. 1.

Since the two side panels which together make up the near side of the boom 10 as shown in Fig. 1, are similar in construction and size etc. the same reference numerals have been used to identify similar parts of the second panel making up the near side of the boom but so as to indicate that they relate to the upper section, these reference numerals are distinguished by a suffix. Thus the upper rail of the upper panel is identified by reference numeral 201 and the lower rail by 221.

The upper and lower rails 20 and 22 are joined by a zigzag pattern of struts generally designated 28. The struts are welded top and bottom to the rails 20 and 22 and are drilled at 30 to provide holes through which bolts can be passed for securing to the struts 28 trapezoidal plates or flanges 32 which are carried at the ends of transversely extending struts (not shown in Fig. 1) which serve to space the two side panels making up the boom and also as supports for the idler roller assemblies of the conveyor.

For clarity the idler rollers are not shown in Fig. 1 but tonly the portions of the framework which go to make up the boom and other essential parts of the conveyor.

Fig. 2 shows by way of a cross-section view through the conveyor boom on the line Il-Il how the boom is actually constructed. The same reference numerals have been used in Fig. 2 to denote those parts which are shown in Fig. 1. Thus the right-hand side of the boom comprising the upper rail 20 and lower rail 22 and intermediate struts 28 are identified accordingly.

On the left-hand side of the section shown in Fig. 2, the side of the boom is formed from parts which cannot be seen in Fig. 1 and to avoid confusion the uD- per rail of this side of the boom is denoted by reference numeral 34, tfle lower rail by reference numeral 36 and the intermediate zigzag struts by reference numeral 38.

The two sides of the boom so formed are joined at intervals along the length of the boom by means of transverse struts 40 which are formed at the right-hand end (as shown in Fig. 2) with the trapezoidal flange 32 and at the left-hand end by a similar trapezoidal flange 42. The flanges 32 and 42 are bolted to struts 28 on the one hand and 38 on the other hand.

Each of the transverse struts 40 carries a central mounting generally designated 44 which serves as a mounting for three mutually inclined rollers generally designated 46, 48 and 50. The series of rollers so provided along the length of the boom constitute a bed on which a flexible conveyor belt 52 runs and by inclining the axis of rotation of the rollers 50 and 52 relative to the rollers 48 in each set so the edges of the belt 52 are upturned by a corresponding angle so as to provide an elongate trough rather than a flat surface.

The flanges 32 and 42 also provide end supports for an axle 54 which as shown in Fig. 2 may be formed at opposite ends with a screw thread form and thereby bolted by lock nuts to the flanges 32 and 42. The axle provides a support for bearing assemblies (not shown in detail) on which plain rollers 56 run for supporting on its return path the flexible conveyor belt 52.

Although the axle and roller assemblies 54 and 56 may be provided between each pair of flanges 32 and 42 along the length of the boom, the invention is not limited to this particular arrangement and if desired the axle and roller assemblies 54 and 56 may be located between every other pair of plates 32, 42 or even less frequently depending on the nature of the belt material.

It will be seen that the invention provides a rigid form of construction for a conveyor boom with the minimum of separate parts whereby the boom need not be constructed as a finished assembly prior to shipment but can be shipped as a large number of separate parts and assembled on site.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. A conveyor boom comprising two side panels which are joined together by means of transverse struts which include flanges which are bolted to the side panels and are arranged at intervals along the length of the two side panels, at least some of the transverse struts each serving to support both an upper and a lower idler roller assembly for supporting conveyor belting.

2. A conveyor boom. as claimed in claim 1 in which the side panels comprise upper and lower rails which are joined by

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. side panels are required on each side of the boom and these are bolted together using perpendicular laterally extending end flanges 24 (in the case of the upper rail) and 26 (in the case of the lower rail). The expression side panel as used herein thus refers to the panel member which forms one-half of the overall length of one side of the boom 10 as shown in Fig. 1 but it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to any particular boom length and neither is it limited to the use of side panels which are themselves made from two or more side panels bolted end to end as in Fig. 1. Since the two side panels which together make up the near side of the boom 10 as shown in Fig. 1, are similar in construction and size etc. the same reference numerals have been used to identify similar parts of the second panel making up the near side of the boom but so as to indicate that they relate to the upper section, these reference numerals are distinguished by a suffix. Thus the upper rail of the upper panel is identified by reference numeral 201 and the lower rail by 221. The upper and lower rails 20 and 22 are joined by a zigzag pattern of struts generally designated 28. The struts are welded top and bottom to the rails 20 and 22 and are drilled at 30 to provide holes through which bolts can be passed for securing to the struts 28 trapezoidal plates or flanges 32 which are carried at the ends of transversely extending struts (not shown in Fig. 1) which serve to space the two side panels making up the boom and also as supports for the idler roller assemblies of the conveyor. For clarity the idler rollers are not shown in Fig. 1 but tonly the portions of the framework which go to make up the boom and other essential parts of the conveyor. Fig. 2 shows by way of a cross-section view through the conveyor boom on the line Il-Il how the boom is actually constructed. The same reference numerals have been used in Fig. 2 to denote those parts which are shown in Fig. 1. Thus the right-hand side of the boom comprising the upper rail 20 and lower rail 22 and intermediate struts 28 are identified accordingly. On the left-hand side of the section shown in Fig. 2, the side of the boom is formed from parts which cannot be seen in Fig. 1 and to avoid confusion the uD- per rail of this side of the boom is denoted by reference numeral 34, tfle lower rail by reference numeral 36 and the intermediate zigzag struts by reference numeral 38. The two sides of the boom so formed are joined at intervals along the length of the boom by means of transverse struts 40 which are formed at the right-hand end (as shown in Fig. 2) with the trapezoidal flange 32 and at the left-hand end by a similar trapezoidal flange 42. The flanges 32 and 42 are bolted to struts 28 on the one hand and 38 on the other hand. Each of the transverse struts 40 carries a central mounting generally designated 44 which serves as a mounting for three mutually inclined rollers generally designated 46, 48 and 50. The series of rollers so provided along the length of the boom constitute a bed on which a flexible conveyor belt 52 runs and by inclining the axis of rotation of the rollers 50 and 52 relative to the rollers 48 in each set so the edges of the belt 52 are upturned by a corresponding angle so as to provide an elongate trough rather than a flat surface. The flanges 32 and 42 also provide end supports for an axle 54 which as shown in Fig. 2 may be formed at opposite ends with a screw thread form and thereby bolted by lock nuts to the flanges 32 and 42. The axle provides a support for bearing assemblies (not shown in detail) on which plain rollers 56 run for supporting on its return path the flexible conveyor belt 52. Although the axle and roller assemblies 54 and 56 may be provided between each pair of flanges 32 and 42 along the length of the boom, the invention is not limited to this particular arrangement and if desired the axle and roller assemblies 54 and 56 may be located between every other pair of plates 32, 42 or even less frequently depending on the nature of the belt material. It will be seen that the invention provides a rigid form of construction for a conveyor boom with the minimum of separate parts whereby the boom need not be constructed as a finished assembly prior to shipment but can be shipped as a large number of separate parts and assembled on site. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. A conveyor boom comprising two side panels which are joined together by means of transverse struts which include flanges which are bolted to the side panels and are arranged at intervals along the length of the two side panels, at least some of the transverse struts each serving to support both an upper and a lower idler roller assembly for supporting conveyor belting.

a plurality of struts in the form of a zigzag pattern and the said transverse struts are bolted to the struts forming the zigzag pattern.

3. A conveyor boom constructed and arranged substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the drawing accompanying the Provisional Specification.