GB2136780A - Transferring material, e.g. coal between conveyors - Google Patents

Abstract

A transfer station for conveying equipment for underground operations comprises a transition channel 36 connecting a chute inlet channel 18 with a helically bent discharge chute 42 of semi-tubular form. The transition channel has a flat bottom 19 with converging side edges 50, 51, of different lengths from each other, and curved side walls 55, 56 extending up from these edges, the side walls extending as far as the end 54 of the channel, which registers with the curve of the semitubular chute 42, which is in the form of segments 37-41 of a circle. The planes of the inlet and discharge ends of the channels converge flanges. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Transfer station for conveying equipment for underground operations The invention concerns a transfer station for conveying equipment for underground operations of the kind in which a transition channel flanged at both ends serves to connect a chute inlet channel with a helically bent, semitubular discharge chute, the transition channel comprising, in one structural unit, a flat bottom adjoined to an inlet flange edge, with converging straight lateral edges, and curved side walls adjoined to these edges, the side walls extending as far as a chute discharge flange edge which registers with the curve of the semitubular chute which is in the form of segments of a circle.

The invention relates to the connection of conveyors running at an angle, preferably at a right angle, to one another, e.g. to the transfer from an uppertranverse belt to a longitudinal conveyor belt which is fitted underneath it and which is usually common to several transverse conveyors. Such transfer stations are required above all in mining and serve, in coal mining, to transfer the run-of-mine coal. They must on the one hand afford an uninterrupted transfer even in unfavourable conditions of dampness and/or accumulation of agglomerations of mine waste, coal and fine-grain material, and they should on the other hand make possible a gentle transfer of the material conveyed which thus, inter alia, produces little fine-grain material over the difference in level bridged by the transfer between the discharge from the upper conveyor and the conveying member of the lower conveyor.

The inlet channel traps the material thrown off, for example, by the conveyor belt running back over the discharge pulley of a conveyor belt drive, and is preferably pivotable so that it may deflect if foreign bodies become stuck between the upper channel edge, extending tangentially to the conveyor belt, and the moving conveyor belt. For this reason, as a rule, underthe inlet channel,there is provided a straight chute, inclined in the plane of conveyance of the upper conveyor, which reaches as far as the lower conveyor. This traps fine-grain material conveyed and likewise conveys it to the lower conveyor.

To the inlet channel is joined the transition channel, which brings together on its flat bottom along its converging lateral edges, the conveyor flow which mostly fills the full breadth of the inlet channel, and brings it up against the adjacent curve of the side walls, so that it acquires the semitubular shape of the discharge chute and can fill out the latter wholly or partially. This discharge chute guides the conveyor flow around into the direction of the lower conveyor. Frequently it ends above the conveying member of the lower conveyor and includes at this point a shutter that can be deflected by the conveyed material already brought on to the lower conveyor, and this decreases the extent of free fall which occurs during transfer from the discharge chute on to the conveying member of the lower conveyor.

Such transfer stations must on the one hand adhere to the requisiste chute angles for fine and coarse material, but must on the other hand be installed in the confined circumstances of underground operations and be fully capable of functioning.

The invention starts therefrom from an already known transfer station (German Patent Specification No. 1,800,154) which, through segmentation of the discharge chute and of the slide which works together with the latter as necessary and which serves to receive and transfer the fine grain material, can be adapted, by selection of the number of segments, to the local conditions of operation and affords a gentle transfer of the agglomeration. The transition channel runs mirror-symmetrically to a median plane, which is in alignment with the median plane of the likewise mirror-symmetrically configured chute inlet channel and with the upper conveying device connected ahead of it.

It has been demonstrated in the above, however, that the material conveyed, when the angle of inclination of the transition channel is correctly set, runs turbulantly on the outer side of the discharge chute bend, and frequently parts of the material coveyed lift off during transfer from the transition channel into the discharge chute and jump into the chute. This phenomenon is exceptionally troublesome. On the one hand it leads to increased local abrasion, whose acceptance and removal are associated not only with considerable expense but also with interruptions to conveying which, on account of the mostly central operation of transfer stations of this kind, can effect a plenitude of consequential damage.It has further emerged that these phenomena cannot be, or can only inadequately be, obviated through changing the inclination of the transition channel and/or of the adjacent discharge chute, and that this leads to futher disadvantages inter alia a lengthening of the discharge chute and of the fine-grain slide used in conjunction with it, leading inter alia to a banking-up of the fine grain material.

The basic task of the invention is to take care, in a simple way, in a transfer station of the kind expounded above, of a smooth passage of the material conveyed through the transition channel and the parts conjoined to it, in particular the initial segments of the discharge chute, and therewith to create more favourable conditions for the accomodation of the transfer station in the confined space conditions of underground operations.

According to the invention there is provided a transfer station for conveying equipment for underground operations in which a transition channel flanged at both ends serves to connect a chute inlet channel with a helically bent, semitubular discharge chute, the transition channel comprising, in one structural unit, a flat bottom adjoined to an inlet flange edge, with converging straight lateral edges, and curved side walls adjoined to these edges, the side walls extending as far as a chute discharge flange edge which registers with the curve of the semitubular chute which is in the form of segments of a circle, said lateral edges of the bottom of the transition channel including a longer lateral edge directed obliquely to the outer side of the bend in the discharge chute, and the planes of the inlet and discharge flanges of the transition channel subtending an acute angle on the inner side of the bend in the chute.

By means of the skewed arrangement of the lateral edges of the floor of the transition channel and through the corresponding inclination of the inlet and discharge flange planes, the material conveyed is guided, already when it is being brought together, into the helical bend of the discharge chute. It has been shown that by this means turbulence of the conveyed material in the edge corresponding to the discharge flange is avoided. This is based possibly on the centripetal acceleration of the conveyed material in the transition channel. This configuration has however that the length of the discharge chute, which is given by the arc of the bend round which the conveyed material has to be guided into the conveyor device located underneath, is correspondingly shortened.As this shortening is not contrasted with any lengthening of the transition channel, the invention results in a shortening of the transfer station. That has not only the advantage that in segmentation of the transition channel, and of the chute for refined material that is mostly used together with it, fewer segments are needed. Also obtained is a steeper inclination of the discharge chute, with a correspondingly steeper course for the refined material slide, which has the advantage there that the refined material slides better and becomes banked up less frequently.

For preference, one can achieve a covering of the transition channel in a simple way, by joining two identical transition channels by their flanged edges.

The following is a detailed description of an embodiment of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is an end elevation, partly in section, of a transfer station according to the invention, and Figure 2 is a plan view of the station of Figure 1.

The forward end of a conveyor belt installation is reproduced in chain lines in Figure 1. The conveyor belt 2 goes round a discharge pulley 3, and on the pulley, which can also be a drive pulley, it is flattened from its troughed form on the upper stretch 4 of the belt. The support structure of the conveyor is provided on its forward face with a flange 5 which is bolted to the one flange 6 of an angle section 7/8 fitted on each side, as indicated at 9 and 9a in Figure 2. Brackets 11, 12 are bolted to the other flanges 10 of the plates 7,8 respectively. The bolting is indicated diagrammatically in Figure 1. On several spaced arcs 13, 14 around the transverse axis 15 of the discharge pulley 3, apertures for bolts are provided on the inner flanges of the angle plates 7, 8.

The radial lines, one of which is indicated at 16, signify the longer axes of slotted holes which penetrate through the inner angles 10. Groups of bore holes in the brackets 11, 12 are registrablewith these slots, the boreholes being arranged with each displaced by one step. This arrangement makes possible on the one hand a reliable positive lock between the plates 7,8 and the brackets 11, 12. In the other hand it permits a sufficiently accurate adjust ment of the slide angle.

The two brackets 11, are joined byacross-tie which is U-shaped in section, and the flange of which serves as a mounting for a chute inlet channel 18. The channel 18 has a flat floor 19 right-angled in plan, and side walls 20, 21 fitted orthogonally to the floor 19 which form a structural unit with the floor.

The straight inner boundary edge 22 of the floor is reinforced with a stripper 23. Above the edge 22, in the upper corners of the side walls 20,21 pivot joints 24 are located, which connect the chute inlet channel 18 with the brackets 11, 12. The chute inlet channel 18 is hung by these joints 24 in such a way that it can swing. Beneath the joints 24 each plate 20,21 has a lug 25 projecting forwards to anchorthe piston rod 26 of a shock absorber 27, whose cylinder 28 is joined to a profile section 29 at 30. This profile section is flanged to the upper flange of each bracket 11,12.

If conveyed material becomes jammed in between the stripper 23 and the upper side of the conveyor belt 4, the chute inlet channel 18 can swing away and thereby deflect against the resistance of the shock absorber 27.

The two brackets 11, 12 have flanges 32,33 on their faces. These serve for bolting together with flanges 34,35 of a transition channel, indicated generally at 36, which connects the chute inlet channel 18 to a discharge chute, indicated generally at 42, consisting of several segments 37 - 41. The bottom segment, 41 carries on each side a joint, the axes of the joints, aligned with one another, being indicated at 43 and 44 in Figure 1. The joints serve to suspend in a swinging manner a transfer plate 45, via which the conveyed material is discharged into the troughed belt of a lower conveyor, the belt being indicated in outline at 46. In the example shown, the upper conveyor, i.e. the direction of travel of belt 4, is at right angles to the lower conveyor.At the same time the parts of the transfer station that have been described extend across a height of about 1 metre.

Amongst the parts described, a chute indicated only in outline at 47 is also provided which collects fluid material and likewise guides it into the troughed belt 46.

The transition channel 36 has an inner mounting flange 48a fitted to its inlet edge 48, which bridges the gap between the two brackets 11,12 and reaches as far as the mounting flanges 34,35. On the inlet flange edge 48, limiting and converging lateral edges 50, 51 are applied to the flat bottom 49 of the transition channel (Figure 2), and their vertex 52 is located on an edge 53 which defines the outlet of the transition channel and runs on a flange 54 (Figure 1) adjoined to the outlet. This flange 54 takes its course according to the outline of a half tube and serves to connect the first segment 37 of the discharge chute 42.

To the converging edges 50,51 are adjoined curved walls 55, 56, marked by hatching, which extend from the upper part of the straight side walls 57, 58.

As can be seen from Figure 2, the side edges 50,51 of the transition channel 36, with the longer side edge 50 adjoined to the outer side of the bend in the chute indicated by the line 59, are askew, i.e. the edge 50 is longer than the edge 51. As a result, the vertex 52 is displaced from the median plane 60 of the chute inlet channel 18 inwards in the direction of the bend 59. Furthermore the planes of the flange 54 adjoined to the outlet of the transition channel and of the flange 48a adjoined to the edge 48 subtend an acute angle which is situated in the inner side of the chute bend 59.

As a consequence of this, the conveyed material discharged from the upper side 4 of the belt at the pulley 3 bounces on the chute inlet channel 18 and slides from the latter over the edge 48 onto the flat bottom 49. At the edge 50 the material is diverted in the direction of the band 59 and is brought together with the aid of the curved wall 55, while the curved wall 56 in conjunction with the edge 51 likewise guides the material upwards and thereby accomodates the stream of conveyed material to the semitubular outline followed by the flange 54.

According to the embodiment shown in Figure 1, a hood 64 corresponding to the transition channel 36 is bolted by flanges 61 a to corresponding flanges 61 on the transition channel 36. In this way a covering of the transition channel for the whole of its length is achieved. This covering co-operates with a covering 65 bridging the brackets 11, 12, the covering 65 being for its part bolted to the flanges 63 of a hood 62 covering the discharge head 1. This results in a dustproof shielding, which can be supplemented by means of corresponding hoods on the segments 37 41 of the discharge chute 42.

Claims (4)

1. A transfer station for conveying equipment for underground operations in which a transition channel flanged at both ends serves to connect a chute inlet channel with a helically bent, semitubular discharge chute, the transition channel comprising, in one structural unit, a flat bottom adjoined to an inlet flange edge, with converging straight lateral edges, and curved side walls adjoined to these edges, the side walls extending as far as a chute discharge flange edge which registers with the curve of the semitubular chute which is in the form of segments of a circle, said lateral edges of the bottom of the transition channel including a longer lateral edge directed obliquely to the outer side of the bend in the discharge chute, and the planes of the inlet and discharge flanges of the transition channel subtending an acute angle on the inner side of the bend in the chute.

2. A transfer station according to Claim 1, wherein the upper edges of the side walls of the transition channel are flanged and are connected with corresponding flanges on a mirror-symmeterical additional transition channel which serves as a cover.

3. A transfer station according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the inlet flange of the transition channel serves to connect the channel to a cover hood which is fitted above the chute inlet channel which is suspended in a swinging manner.

4. A transfer station for conveying equipment, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.