GB2106954A

GB2106954A - Conveyors

Info

Publication number: GB2106954A
Application number: GB08130354A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Geoffrey William Dennis; John Tout
Original assignee: Dowty Meco Ltd
Current assignee: Dowty Meco Ltd
Priority date: 1981-10-07
Filing date: 1981-10-07
Publication date: 1983-04-20

Abstract

A conveyor 13 suitable for use in mines comprises a plurality of pans 11, each having a generally horizontal deck plate 17, which are arranged in end-to-end relation, which are secured together at adjacent end portions thereof by connectors 31 placed in receiving means 32 provided in or mounted on the pans, and which have upwardly-facing surfaces on or adjacent each side thereof which together effectively form two parallel tracks 23, 28 running lengthwise of the pans for supporting a machine required to run along the conveyor. The track 28 on one side of the conveyor is substantially lower than the track 23 on the other side of the conveyor and the receiving means 32 on the one side of the conveyor is so arranged that the horizontal median plane 37 thereof is disposed substantially below the horizontal median plane 18 of the respective deck plates. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Conveyors This invention relates to conveyors, suitable for use in mines and such for example as those of scraper-chain type, comprising a plurality of pans connected in end-to-end relation by suitable connectors and adapted to support a mineralcutting machine required to travel along the conveyor.

Hitherto in certain constructions the mineralcutting machine has been supported on tracks formed by the flat uppermost surfaces of the side members of the conveyor pans. In other constructions the machine has been so designed as to require the track on one side of the conveyor to be set at a substantially lower level than the track on the other side of the conveyor. In this case difficulty has been experienced in providing a track on said one side which is sufficiently low as not to interfere with the receiving means for the connectors because portions of the receiving means have been disposed in the plane of the lower track. To avoid this difficulty certain proposals have included special inserts in association with the receiving means designed to form part of the lower track at the junction between adjacent pans.However such proposals have not been acceptable due to mechanical complexity and the susceptibility of such inserts to sustain damage as the mineral-cutting machine passes over them.

The invention as claimed is intended to provide a remedy. It solves the problem of how to design a conveyor with one of its said tracks set at a lower level than the other and yet which avoids the need to provide such special inserts in association with the receiving means.

According to the invention a conveyor suitable for use in mines comprises a plurality of pans, each having a generally horizontal deck plate, which are arranged in end-to-end relation, which are secured together at adjacent end portions thereof by connectors placed in receiving means provided in or mounted on the pans, and which have upwardly-facing surfaces on or adjacent each side thereof which together effectively form two parallel tracks running lengthwise of the pans for supporting a machine required to run along the conveyor, the track on one side of the conveyor being substantially lower than that on the other side of the conveyor and the receiving means on said one side of the conveyor being each so arranged that the horizontal median plane thereof is disposed substantially below the horizontal median plane of the respective deck plates.

The said lower track may be formed by the uppermost surfaces of ramp-plate structure secured to said pans on said one side thereof. In this case the connectors on said one side of the pans may be held in their receiving means by said ramp-plate structure.

The connectors may each have enlarged end portions which are so co-operable with the respective receiving means that the connections formed between adjacent end portions of the pans of the conveyor are such as to permit a degree of snaking of the conveyor during its operation.

The advantages offered by the invention are mainly that the receiving means are so disposed that no special inserts forming part of the lower track need to be provided in association with the receiving means, and thus the lower track affords relatively smooth passage of a mineral-cutting machine from one pan to the adjacent pan.

One way of carrying out the invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate only one specific embodiment, in which, Figure 1 is a side elevation of adjacent parts of two pans of a scraper-chain conveyor, and Figure 2 is a cross-section taken along the line 11-Il in Figure 1,with ramp-plate structure secured to one side member of the pan shown.

In the drawings the two pans 11, 12 partly shown form part of a scraper-chain conveyor 1 3 intended to be positioned along a mineral face in a mine to receive mineral cut from that face by a suitable cutting machine, part of which is shown at 14 in Figure 2. This machine is required to run along the length of the conveyor during its cutting operation. In practice the conveyor comprises a relatively large number of pans and the mineral received by the conveyor is moved along it by a plurality of spaced flight bars which are carried by an endless chain suitably mounted on sprocket units provided at the ends of the conveyor. One of the sprocket units is suitably driven by a prime mover.

Each conveyor pan includes two side members 1 5, 1 6 of sigma cross-section, with a generally horizontally-disposed deck plate 17, the horizontal median plane of which is shown at 1 8 in Figure 2, welded to them. Each deck plate is so formed as to project somewhat beyond one end of its pan thereby to overlap the deck plate of the adjacent pan, both being suitably recessed for this purpose.

A base plate 19 is welded to the flanges 20, 21 at the bottom of the members 1 5, 1 6. The flight bars connected to the endless chain slide along the upper surfaces of the deck plates of the pans during operation of the conveyor.

The upwardly-facing surface of the upper flange 22 of the side member 1 5 and those surfaces of all the other pans of the conveyor together form a machine track 23 with which rollers, as at 24 and carried on the underside of the mineral-cutting machine 14, engage as the machine runs along the conveyor. The machine is provided with downwardly-projecting legs, one of which is shown at 25, which each carry a respective roller 26. The rollers 26 engage the upwardly-facing horizontal surface of ramp-plate structure 27, that structure comprising suitably-shaped plates welded together as shown and being suitably secured to the outer wall of the side member 1 6.

The other pans of the conveyor each have similar ramp-plate structure secured to their side members 1 6 and the upwardly-facing horizontal surfaces of all the ramp-plate structures together form a further machine track 28. This track lies in a plane 29 which is substantially lower than the plane 30 of the track 23. The two tracks 23, 28 are parallel and run for the length of the conveyor, or substantially so, the machine 14 being caused to run along the tracks by haulage means (not shown), which may for example be of rack-andpinion type powered by an electric or an hydraulic motor.

As shown one side of the conveyor, that is the side having its machine track 28 substantially lower than the other side, is provided with connectors, as at 31, which are each held in place in respective receiving means 32 by the rampplate structures, as at 27, of adjacent pans when secured to the respective side members 1 6 of those pans. The receiving means 32 associated with each connector 31 comprises portions 33, 34 projecting from the outer walls of the adjacent end portions of the side members 1 6 and respectively formed with channels 35, 36 which are of rectangular cross-section. The construction is such that the horizontal median plane 37 of the receiving means 32 is disposed substantially below the horizontal median plane 18 of the adjacent deck plates 1 7 and thus well below the plane 29 of the lower machine track 28.

A projection 38 extends from one of each pair of adjacent side members 1 6 and cooperates with a recess 39 in the other of those side members to maintain the side members and thus the pans generally in alignment. Although not shown a similar projection and recess are provided for each pair of adjacent end portions of the side members 1 5 on the other side of the conveyor. Since the channels 35, 36 are then also generally in alignment the respective connector 31, which comprises a stem 40 of rectangular cross-section and enlarged end portions 41,42 also of rectangular cross-section, can be introduced from the outer side of the members 1 6 of the pans 11, 12 into the receiving means 32.

The enlarged end portions 41, 42 of the connector are thus disposed respectively to the left and to the right of the projecting portions 33, 34 as viewed in Figure 1, and the stem of the connector is accommodated in the aligned channels 35, 36. The ramp-plate structures 27 for the pans 11, 12 are then secured to the respective side members 1 6 and the webs, as at 43, of those structures are so placed as then to prevent the connectors 31 from moving out from their receiving means 32.

The end portions 41, 42 of the connectors 31 are sufficiently spaced apart as to afford the required degree of snaking of the pans, such snaking being limited by engagement of the faces 44, 45 of those portions with the end faces 46, 47 of the projecting portions 33, 34.

Although not shown in the drawings suitable connectors may be provided on the other side of the pans for connecting adjacent side members 1 5. These connectors may each be introduced to receiving means (not shown) the horizontal median plane of which is coincident with the plane 37, in which case the side members 1 5, 1 6 of the pans can be identical. Alternatively, since the track 23 is set substantially higher than the track 28, the horizontal median plane of the receiving means for these connectors may be higher than that of the receiving means 32, for example it may be coincident with the plane 1 8 or even higher.

By the invention the receiving means 32 for the connectors 31 on the said one side of the conveyor having the lower machine 28 are all disposed wholly below that track and thus in no way interfere with the surface or structure of the track. As a result no special inserts to form part of the track are needed to be introduced in association with the receiving means 32 and thus where adjacent pans abut, or substantially abut, only one pair of joint faces exist in the track 28 at each adjacent pair of pan ends.

Also, since the machine track on said one side of the pans is set substantially lower than the machine track on said other side of the pans desired stability of the mineral-cutting machine 1 4 during its operation is assured.

Although in the embodiment above-described with reference to the drawings, the machine track on said other side of the conveyor pans is formed by the uppermost upwardly-facing surfaces of the side members on that side of the pans, in alternative embodiments of the invention the machine track on that other side of the pans may be formed by furniture secured to those side members. In this case the plane containing the machine track on that other side of the pans may be coincident with the plane of said upwardlyfacing surfaces of those side members, or alternatively may be suitably higher than the plane of those surfaces.

Further, although in the embodiment abovedescribed with reference to the drawings the lower machine track on said one side of the conveyor pans is formed on the upwardly-facing surfaces of ramp-plate structure, in alternative embodiments of the invention the track may be formed on furniture other than ramp-plate structure, suitably secured to the side members on said one side of the conveyor pans, or, alternatively, that lower machine track may be formed integrally with the side members themselves, taking the form of projections extending outwardly from the outer wall thereof.

Alternatively, the side members on said one side of the conveyor may be so shaped that the upwardly-facing surfaces of the upper flanges thereof are so disposed as themselves to provide a machine track which is substantially lower than the machine track on said other side of the pans.

Claims

1. A conveyor suitable for use in mines comprising a plurality of pans, each having a generally horizontal deck plate, which are arranged in end-to-end relation, which are secured together at adjacent end portions thereof by connectors placed in receiving means provided in or mounted on the pans, and which have upwardly-facing surfaces on or adjacent each side thereof which together effectively form two parallel tracks running lengthwise of the pans for supporting a machine required to run along the conveyor, the track on one side of the conveyor being substantially lower than that on the other side of the conveyor and the receiving means on said one side of the conveyor being each so arranged that the horizontal median plane thereof is disposed substantially below the horizontal median plane of the respective deck plates.

2. A conveyor as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lower track is formed by the uppermost surfaces of ramp-plate structure secured to said pans on said one side thereof.

3. A conveyor as claimed in claim 2, wherein the connectors on said one side of the pans are held in their receiving means by said ramp-plate structure.

4. A conveyor as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said connectors each have enlarged end portions which are so Co- operable with the respective receiving means that the connections formed between adjacent end portions of the pans of the conveyor are such as to permit a degree of snaking of the conveyor during its operation.

5. A conveyor as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lower track is formed by upwardly-facing surfaces of side members of said pans on said one side of the conveyor.

6. A conveyor as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the track on said other side of the conveyor is formed by the uppermost upwardly-facing surfaces of side members of said pans on said other side thereof.

7. A conveyor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the track on said other side of the conveyor is formed by furniture secured to side members of the pans on said other side thereof.

8. A conveyor as claimed in claim 7, wherein the plane containing said track on said other side of the conveyor is coincident with the plane of upwardly-facing surfaces of said side members.

9. A conveyor substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.