GB2202507A - Cable handling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

In underground mining, a cable bogey (14) is arranged to run on rails located above and to the side of an elongate conveyor belt (12) so as to lay cable (26b, c, d) on a tray located between the rails and above the belt. The cable extends from a fixed source, around a pulley on the bogey to a movable bridge conveyor (2) located above the conveyor belt (12). The bridge conveyor has a trolley (6) and discharges into a hopper (8) leading to the conveyor belt (12). <IMAGE>

Description

Cable handing apparatus The invention relates to apparatus for handling elongate, flexible supply conduits, such as electric cables and water pipes, between ends respectively fixed and attached to a unit movable to and fro over a conveyor.

It is known in the mining industry to provide an elongate, so-called bridge conveyor, which can be advanced and retracted over a conveyor belt whilst supported at its discharge end by means of a support trolley. The bridge conveyor is required to be supplied at its discharge end with electric power and with water from appropriate sources, but because of the advancement of the conveyor the direct distance between the discharge end and the sources of supply vary considerably, and means have to be found whereby the necessary lengths of cable and pipe may be provided when rewires and accommodated when not required.

Similar requirements may arise in other industries and circumstances, and indeed in relation to services other than electricity and water. In the remainder of the description and in any claims, supply conduits will, for the sake of simplicity, generally be referred to as cables, which term is, however, to be understood as including, in this context, not only electric cables but also water pipes and any other flexible elongate supply conduit. Again, for simplicity, reference will generally be made to a single cable though it will be understood that there may be many such.

Conventionally the stated requirements are met by arranging for the fixed end of the cable to be beyond the bridge conveyor in its direction of advancement, and for the cable to run alongside the conveyor belt, pass under the bridge conveyor, loop back through 1800 so as to approach and be connected to the discharge end of the bridge conveyor from the opposite direction. The location of the loop is defined by a cable bogey which is arranged, by conventional means, to move in the direction of the bridge conveyor, but at half the linear distance thereof.

The arrangements employed hitherto have suffered the disadvantage of requiring a site of excessive width which is particularly inconvenient in underground working, and it is an object of the invention to provide apparatus which is both more compact and less expensive to produce.

According to the invention there is provided apparatus for handling a cable for connection to a bridge conveyor having a discharge end arranged or for arranging for advancement and retraction over an elongate conveyor, said apparatus comprising rail means arranged to each side of and at greater elevation than the elongate conveyor, at least one cable tray between the rail means, a cable bogey arranged to run on the rail means and to lay cable on the said tray.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a stage loader comprising a bridge conveyor over a conveyor belt, Fig. 2 a detailed side elevation of the cable bogey of Fig.

1 Fig. 3 a detailed end elevation of the cable bogey of Fig.

1 Fig. 4 is a plan view of the cable bogey of Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is a plan view of part of the loader of Fig. 1, showing the bogey drive system.

As shown in Figs. 1,3, a bridge conveyor 2 terminates in a discharge unit 4 which is supported on a support trolley 6, which runs on rails 10 over an endless conveyor belt 12.

The belt 12, of which the load-bearing upper reach 12a is supported by a bed, not show, which will be described later, turns about drum 80 at one end. The support trolley 6 is coupled to a hopper trolley 8 which also overlies the belt 12 and receives material discharged by the unit 4. Hopper trolley 8 has inwardly inclined sides leading to a central opening so that it deposits the received material onto the upper reach 12a of belt 12.

The bridge conveyor 2 is arranged, by conventional means not shown, to advance (to the right as shown in Fig. 1) and retract, supported by trolley 6, so as to deposit material at different points along the conveyor belt 12. By a system of ropes and pulleys, to be more.particularly described below and with reference to Fig. 5, a cable bogey 14 is hauled along the rails 10 behind the discharge unit 4, that is to the left of unit 4 as shown in Figure 1. The arrangement is such that any linear movement of the discharge unit 4 results in a movement of cable bogey 14 through half the distance in the same direction.

As shown most clearly in Fig. 3, the rails 10 are supported by I-girders 16 which are elevated from floor level by means of further I-girders 18. A wedge-shaped plate 20 is welded to each of the girders 16 and these plates support a troughed bed 22 which carries the belt 12 in use.

The rails 10 are defined by the outer edges of elongate and upwardly flanged plates 24 of which the inner portions, overlying the bed 22, define trays for the support of cables 26. Plates 30 are secured to the flanges of the plates 24, and these in turn carry belt covers 32.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the bogey 14 comprises a chassis in which are mounted wheels 34 by which the bogey runs over rails 10, guided by plates 36 which depend exteriorly of the girders 16 and have inwardly turned flanges 38 which underlie the upper flanges of the girder sections. Midway between fore and aft wheels and at each side of the bogey is a rotatably mounted cable drum 40 having sheaves 42 of which the circumferential surfaces are provided with halfround grooves for the reception of the cables 26.

A bridge structure 44 is arranged transversely of the bogey, and this supports an upper pulley 46 and a lower pulley 28, both mounted on a vertical axis, for engagement with bogey haulage rope 50 as will be described hereafter. The bridge structure also supports split blocks 48 each of which has a channel therein, running horizontally, fore and aft, together with guide tubes 60, each for the free running of another portion of rope 50 therethrough.

The haulage system, to which brief reference has been made above, will now be described in greater detail and with reference, particularly, to Fig. 5, which shows the support trolley 6 and the cable bogey 4 in approximately the same relative positions as in Figure 1, but with the cables 26 and other devices omitted for the sake of clarity. A pulley 62 is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis at the tail end 64 of the conveyor belt 12 whilst a transversely spaced pair of pulleys 66 are similarly mounted at outbye end 68 thereof. End 50a of rope 50 is secured by a clamp 70 at the tail end 64 adjacent to the pulley 62, and the rope is then taken towards the bogey 14 where it is passed around the upper horizontal pulley 46 (Fig. 3). It then returns to the tail end where it passes around the pulley 62 from which it passes under the bridge 44 of the bogey 14, guided by guide tube 60, and continues towards the outbye end 68.

Passing the support trolley 6 the rope is diverted laterally by pulleys 78 mounted on the trolley for free rotation about vertical axes, and it is then taken over the pulleys 66 at the outbye end. Returning thence towards the bogey 14 the rope is diverted inwardly by guides 72 as it again crosses the trolley 6 and it is clamped to the trolley by rope clamp 82 mounted on the trolley . The rope continues towards the bogey where it is passed around pulley 28 and passes through the guide channels in the blocks 48. Finally the rope returns towards the outbye end, is diverted by pulleys 74 mounted on trolley 6 by the same axes as pulleys 78, and terminates in a rope clamp 76 securing it to the outbye end.

Reverting now to Figure 1, it will be observed that a cable 26 is shown of which length element 26a emanates from a source, not shown, to the right of the figure. In the vicinity of the conveyor 12, the cable 26 is carried on the plate 24, acting as a cable tray and passing thereon under the hopper trolley 8 and the bridge support trolley 6 and reaches the bogey 14. Element 26b of the cable passes under the bogey, still resting on the tray 24, but the cable is then draped over one of the bheaves 42 of cable drum 40 in a clockwise direction as shown in Fig. 1 so that element 26c of the cable leaves the bogey in the direction of the support trolley 6.

Whilst reference has been made above to only one cable, in practice there may be two or more cables at each side of the conveyor, as seen in Fig. 3, which also shows cables of different diameter. The return element 26c of the cable may therefore rest directly on the tray 24 or may rest, as shown in Fig. 1, upon other elements of the same cable, or on adjacent cables which in turn rest on the tray 24.

Finally, element 26d of cable 26 is raised from the tray 24 towards the front of the trolley 6 (that is, to the right in Fig. 1) and, curving anticlockwise (in the Figure) enters the end unit 4.

It can be seen from the above that when the bridge conveyor moves to the right in Figure 1 by one unit of length, followed by bogey 14 moving half a length unit, half a length unit of cable element 26b is transferred over the drum 40 to element 26c which compensates for the advance of the unit 4 relative to the bogey 14, so that cable element 26d still reaches the unit 4. Conversely, when the bridge conveyor 2 retracts by a unit distance, excess cable is taken up by disposal of two layers of cable, each of half a unit distance, by the retreat of the bogey 14.

By providing the cable-supporting tray on the level of the rails 10, and laying the cables between the wheels of the bogey and trolleys and over the conveyor belt, the whole apparatus can be accommodated in a narrower roadway or, conversely, a conveyor belt of greater width and therefore of greater carrying capacity than hitherto considered possible can be accommodated in a roadway of given width.

As has already been mentioned, the invention described above extends also to the supply to the conveyor discharge unit of water or other service by a flexible conduit, or a plurality of such conduits, from a supply position beyond the bridge conveyor, instead of or as well as electricity, and where reference is made above to "cable" it is to be understood that the term is to be read, where appropriate, as equivalent to "pipe" or the name of an alternative conduit.

Claims (5)

1 . Apparatus for handling a cable or the like connected at one end to means movable over an elongate conveyor comprises means defining at least one elongate cable receiving surface, rail means parallel to the receiving surface, a bogey arranged for movement along the rail means and adapted to lay the cable or the like on the receiving surface, and means for supporting the conveyor at a lower elevation than the r e c e iv i n g surface.

2. Apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein the means defining the receiving surface or surfaces are arranged between spaced rails.

3. Apparatus according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the or each receiving surface overlies the conveyor.

4. Apparatus according to Claim 3 wherein the or each receiving surface overlies an edge of the conveyor.

5. Apparatus for handling a cable or the like connected at one end to means movable over an elongate conveyor substantially as described in relation to the drawings.