GB2084532A - Improvements in scraper-chain conveyor pan sections - Google Patents

Abstract

A scraper-chain conveyor has channel-sections or pans arranged end-to-end along which a scraper- chain assembly is circulated. Each pan is composed of a pair of sigma-shaped side walls or members 10 adjoined by a welded-in floor plate 11. At least one of the side members 10 has reinforcing bars 16, 17 welded thereto. The bars 16, 17 are hollow with a U-shaped cross-section. The parallel side walls 19 of each bar 16, 17 abut the exterior of the side member 10 to create a continuous internal cavity 28 facing the exterior of the side member 10. The cavities 28 are adapted to receive the heads of bolts introduced via a shaped aperture 27 in the upstanding web 18 of the or each bar 16, 17. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in scraper-chain conveyor pan sections The present invention relates, in general, to scraper-chain conveyors as used, for example, in mineral, e.g. coal, mining.

It is well known to construct scraper-chain conveyors from a series of channel sections or pans arranged end-to-end and along which a scraper-chain assembly is driven. Each pan is usually composed of two shaped side walls or side members with a floor plate therebetween. It is also known to reinforce one or both side members by welding components, such as bars to the exterior. These reinforcement bars usually extend the entire length of the side member. Supports or holders are often welded between the bars in order to secure attachments such as spill plates or guides to the reinforced pans with the aid of bolts.

An example of a known construction is described in German patent specification 2 51 6 082. The conventional reinforcement bars are solid and of rectangular cross-section. It is known also to provide shaped apertures in the bars to receive the heads of further bolts. This involves considerable production cost. The known constructions also suffer from other disadvantages.

A general object of the present invention is to provide an improved design for a channel-section or pan.

A channel section or pan constructed in accordance with the invention has a pair of side members interconnected by a floor plate. The side members each have an upper and a lower flange as is known and elongate reinforcement bars are welded to the exterior of at least one of the side members. in accordance with the invention the bars are substantially continuously hollow. To achieve this the bars preferably have a channellike more or less continuous cross-section. Each bar can have, for example, a substantially U-shaped cross-section over predominantly its entire length with the ends of its parallel laterally extending walls abutting the exterior side of the associated side member. When fitted to the side member, the hollow bars thus each define an internal cavity extending over its entire length.By appropriate shaping and dimensioning this cavity, it can be made to locate snugly with the head of a bolt to hold this head captive against rotation. The or each bar can then have shaped apertures in its external upstanding web adjoining its parallel walls permitting access to the internal cavity. In many cases such apertures need only be provided in the upper bar. These apertures can however positioned at will and conveniently the apertures have a key-hole like profile with a narrow and an enlarged region. The head of a bolt can then be introduced through the enlarged region and the bolt displaced laterally to bring its shank into the narrower region. In this latter position the head than becomes locked-in so that attachments can be mounted to the reinforced side member. The bolt can be easily detached by reversing its assembly sequence.

The hollow bars can be fabricated quite easily at favourable cost as rolled or extruded products providing the necessary dimensional tolerances as described. The more difficult machining operations performed on the solid bars are totally avoided and the shaped apertures for receiving the bolt heads and permitting access to the internal cavity of the hollow bar can be more easily produced. To facilitate this, it is desirable to make the material thickness of the parallel side walls of each bar greater than that of the interconnecting web in which the shaped-apertures are to be produced.

Naturally by making the reinforcing bars hollow in accordance with the invention a considerable saving in material costs is achieved inherently and the overall weight of the pan is reduced.

To facilitate welding of the bars to the associated channel section side member it is desirable to provide bevelled or chamfered edges at the free ends of either or both side walls of the bars.

The side members of the pan would normally have conventional V-shaped external grooves therein and spaced-apart holders or supports can be welded between the reinforcement bars. The supports may have projections for locating in the V-shaped groove of the associated side member.

The supports may be quite conventional with further shaped apertures for locating the heads of bolts used to secure attachments to the pan.

Conveniently, the bars lie flush with the upper and lower flanges of the associated side member.

The bars are preferably welded to these upper and lower flanges via continuous or substantially upper and lower continuous weld seams or fillets.

In contrast, the adjacent walls of the bars remote from these flanges are preferably only welded locaily to the spaced-apart supports or holders.

This considerably reduces the cost of the welding operation.

The invention may be understood more readily, and other features of the invention may become more apparent, from consideration of the following description.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein: Figure 1 is a sectional end view of part of a scraper-chain conveyor pan constructed in accordance with the invention; and Figure 2 is a perspective view of the part of the conveyor pan shown in Figure 1.

The conveyor pan constructed in accordance with the invention is composed of two sigmashaped side members connected as by welding to a floor plate as is well known in the art. Only one of the side members, designated 10, is shown in the accompanying drawing. The floor plate welded between central inwardly projecting flanges 14 of the side members 10 is designated 11. Each side member 10 has an upper and lower flanges 12, 13 and an external V-shaped central groove 1 5.

As is also known a series of such pans are connected end-to-end with a scraper-chain assembly circulating along the pans in upper and lower runs above and below the floor plates 11.

At least one of the side members 10 of the conveyor pan is reinforced by means of lateral fittings or attachments in the form of hollow bars 1 6, 1 7. These bars 1 6, 1 7 are fitted to the exterior side of the side member 10. Each bar 1 6, 17 has a continuous U-shaped cross-section and extends over substantially the entire length of the conveyor pan. The bars 1 6, 1 7 are conveniently identical with the same shape and dimensions. Each bar 16, 17 has two lateral parallel walls 19 abutting the exterior side of the side member 10 and an adjoining upstanding web 18 which has a considerably thinner material thickness than that of the walls 19.The bars 1 6, 17 are fixed to the side member 10 by welding the walls 19 and to facilitate welding, the walls 1 9 are bevelled at their free edges as at 20. The upper and lower walls 19 of the bars 1 6, 1 7 have upper and lower surfaces co-planar with the upper and lower flanges 12, 13 of the side member 10.

Conveniently, the flanges 12, 13 are also bevelled adjacent the walls 1 9 of the bars 16, 17 so that continuous weld fillets or seams 21,22 can be laid into the overall upper and lower surfaces. The closest walls 1 9 of the bars 1 6, 1 7 are not welded to the side member 10 with continuous seams but instead are only welded locally in the region of holders or supports 23. As is known, several supports 23 which serve to fix attachments such as spill plates to the conveyor pan are distributed over the length of the conveyor pan and are welded between the bars 16, 17. The supports 23 extend partly into the V-shaped groove 15 with projections 25 which assist in locating the supports 23.The supports 23 are also bevelled adjacent the walls 19 of the bars 16, 17 and the welded joints between the supports 23, the bars 1 6, 1 7 and the side member 10 are designated 24. The supports 23 are provided with shaped recesses 26 as is known to receive bolts used to detachably secure the spill plate or other attachment to the conveyor pan. The supports 23 have pockets which receive the heads of the bolts.

The upper bar 16 is provided with shaped apertures 27 in the web 1 8 thereof. These apertures 27 are distributed along the length of the bar 1 6 and have enlarged and narrower end regions resembling key-holes. The heads of bolts can be introduced through these enlarged regions into the interior cavity 28 of the bar 1 6 and the shank moved laterally into the narrow regions of the apertures 27 thereby to hold the bolt heads captive. The bolts can be easily detached by moving their heads back into the enlarged regions of the apertures 27. The lower bar 17 can also have similar apertures 27 in its web 18. The internal cavity 28 of each of the bars 16, 17 is shaped and dimensioned to snugly receive the bolt heads thereby to lock the bolts anywhere along the length of the bars 1 6, 17 and prevent rotation.

Bolts fitted to the bar 1 6 enable the or other attachments to be secured to the conveyor pan.

Because the cavities 28 run along the entire length of the bars 16, 1 7 the apertures 27 can be provided in any position and the bolt heads will always be reliably held against rotation wherever the apertures are located.

The bars 16, 17 themselves can be simple rolled or extruded products and by making the webs 1 8 comparatively thin, the provision of the apertures 27 in a subsequent operation presents no difficulty. The apertures 27 can be produced by machining or stamping or in other ways. The supports or holders 23 can be cast or forged products as is known per se.

Because the bars 1 6, 1 7 are hollow with a U-shaped or channel-like profile, there is a considerable reduction in both weight and material in relation to solid reinforcements.

Moreover, since the bars 1 6, 1 7 are only welded with continuous joints to the upper and lower flanges 12, 13 and to the supports 23 locally the welding operation is simpler and cheaper.

Claims (14)

1. A conveyor channel section or pan comprising a pair of side members adjoined by a floor plate, each side member having an upper and a lower flange and reinforcement bars welded to the exterior of at least one of the side members adjacent the upper and lower flanges thereof, wherein the bars are substantially continuously hollow.

2. A conveyor channel section or pan comprising a pair of side members adjoined by a floor plate, each side member having an upper and a lower flange and reinforcement bars welded to the exterior of at least one of the side members adjacent the upper and lower flanges thereof, wherein the bars have a channel-like continuous cross-section.

3. A conveyor channel section or pan according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each bar has a U-shaped cross-section with the ends of its parallel lateral walls abutting the exterior side of the side member.

4. A conveyor channel section or pan according to claim 3, wherein the material thickness of the parallel walls of each bar is greater than that of an upstanding web interconnecting these walls.

5. A conveyor channel section or pan according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the ends of the parallel walls are bevelled.

6. A conveyor channel section or pan according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each bar has an internal cavity extending over its length which is shaped and dimensioned to locate the head of a bolt and to hold said head captive against rotation.

7. A conveyor channel section or pan according to claim 6, wherein either or both bars have at least one shaped aperture therein permitting the introduction of the head of said bolt in said cavity.

8. A conveyor channel section or pan according to claim 7, wherein said shaped aperture has a narrow and an enlarged region whereby the head of the bolt can be located through the enlarged region and displaced laterally to bring its shank into the narrow region.

9. A conveyor channel section or pan according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein spaced-apart supports are welded between the bars.

10. A conveyor channel section or pan according to claim 9, wherein the side members have V-shaped grooves in their exteriors and the supports project partly into the V-shaped groove of the associated side member.

11. A conveyor channel section or pan according to claim 10, wherein the bars are welded to the upper and lower flanges of the associated side member with substantially continuous weld seams or fillets and only iocally to the supports.

12. A conveyor channel section or pan according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the bars are substantially flush with the upper and lower flanges of the associated side member.

13. A conveyor channel section or pan substantially as described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawing.

14. A scraper-chain conveyor including channel sections or pans according to any one of the preceding claims.