GB2212089A

GB2212089A - Device for trimming the edges of conveyor belting

Info

Publication number: GB2212089A
Application number: GB8726352A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jan C Wozniak
Original assignee: Serni Ltd
Current assignee: Serni Ltd
Priority date: 1987-11-11
Filing date: 1987-11-11
Publication date: 1989-07-19
Anticipated expiration: 2007-11-11
Also published as: GB8726352D0; GB2212089B

Abstract

When the longitudinal edges of conveyor belting become worn and damaged, there is an economical advantage in trimming off these edges so rendering the belting suitable for use in a narrow conveyor system. The belting to be trimmed is drawn through the device by an external motive force, control of the ingoing belting being provided by means of horizontal rollers 2, 6 and vertical rollers 10. A rotatable cutter bar 13 supports slidable blade holders 16, which can be secured at the correct cutter locations by means of fixing bolts (18, Fig 3), and inserted double-edged cutting blades 20 are located to cut into the belting when the cutter bar is rotated by means of handle 25 which is locked in place by locking pin 26. The issuing trimmed belting is controlled by further adjustable horizontal and vertical rollers 28, 29 and 33, while the strips of trimmed belting are deflected to a 'safe' area beneath the device, by means of curved deflector plates 37. <IMAGE>

Description

DEVICES FOR TRIMMING THE WIDTHS OF CONVEYOR BELTING Where conveyor belts are used to transport materials, the edges of the rubber or neoprene belting often come into frictional contact with the conveyor structure or when passing through the conveyor drive rollers, such contact causes the outer edges of the belting to wear away so exposing the plys of rubber and cording which comprise the belting, this can lead to delamination with consequent tearing and flaking such that the belting needs to be replaced. If there are no means of salvaging the inner widths of the belting which may be undamaged, the whole process will be very uneconomic.

If the conveyor installation forms a part of a transport system where several widths of belting are being used, it makes economic sense to trim away the worn edges of the belting and so making the remaining portion available for use at another location. In such a way, a 48 inch width belt can bs reduced to 42 inch width by trimming 3 inches off each side, or if only one edge of the belting is damaged, to trim 6 inches from that particular side and allowing the belting to be used on a 42 inch conveyor This process can continue over a period of time with increments of belting being trimmed off until a minimum width is reached and the belting is discarded, thus the working life of the belting may be extended four or five-fold.

The value of trimming worn edges from conveyor belting and using the resultant, reduced width at other locations, has been appreciated and practiced for some time but the manner in which the trimming is carried out - two men with sharp knives, each manually cutting strips from each side, is a slow and expensive operation and one in which the finished width is not accurate and consistant.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device which will trim one or both sides of a length of conveyor belting with a minimum of manual labour, at speeds much greater than those presently attained and with a greater degree of accuracy in relatlon to the finished width.

Such a device can be a attched to and used in conjunction with the conveyor belt reeling device as described and illustrated by our previous Patent Application No. 2,179,325; the belt trimmer will be attached to the end frame of the reeler, this being the end from which the incoming belt enters the reeler and is designated as tie member 2A in the embodiment of the invention. The leading end of the belting which is to be trimmed, will be inserted into the slot of the composite axle which comprises the U sectional beams V and 8, this axle is rotated via gearing 15 driven by motor 16, the belting is wound onto the axle thus drawing the following length of belting through the pre-set cutter blades which trim the belting to the required, reduced size.

Alternatively, the trimming device could be mounted upon or adjacent to the actual conveyor structure from which the belting is to be salvaged, the belting would be cut across its width and the leading edge fed into the trimmer, then by utilising the drive mechanism of the conveyor as the motive force, the belting can be drawn through the trimming device.

In another alternative arrangement, the trimming device could be secured to the ground or to a suitable frame, the leading edge of the belt could be entered into the trimmer and then attached to an independent mobile tractive force which would draw the belting through the trimming device.

The present invention relates to devices which will be used to trim off one or both sides of a conveyor belt and will comprise a pair of horizontal rollers which are capable of being adjusted to accept the insertion of different thicknesses of belting and prevent ossiliation of the belting as it is drawn into the device at high speed, likewise, a pair of vertical rollers are adjustable to accept varying widths of belting and also control any lateral movement of the belting, a cutter blade or blades are secured in holders which are slidable along a rotatable cutter bar having a longitudinal keyway provided along its length, the said cutter bar being graduated along its length with incremental markings to ensure accurate width settings of the blades, once the correct blade settings have been selected, the blade holders are secured in that position by means of fixing bolts, the blades themselves are provided with cutting edges at each end so that they can be reversed when one end becomes blunt.

The cutter bar can be revolved through a limited angular distance by means of a lever attached to one end of the bar, that end being convenient for manipulation by the operator, rotational movement of the lever in one direction allows the cutter blades to be raised while the leading end of the belting is being fed into the trimmer device, movement of the lever in the opposite direction brings the blades into contact with the surface of the belting, while application of further pressure causes the blades to cut through the thickness of the belting, during the actual cutting operation, the blades are held in that position by means of a locking pin engaging with the lever.

In order to provide vertical stability of the belting during the cutting operation, the belting passes over a base plate having slots provided immediately below the cutting edges of the protruding blades; as it is important to ensure an accurate width of the emerging trimmed belting, it passes through a pair of adjustable vertical rollers whose function is prevent oscillation and then through a pair of vertical rollers which are capable of adjustment such that they come into contact with the edges of the reduced width of belting.

As it is an object of the invention to trim the edges of the belting at high speed, it is essential to lead away the strips which have been cut from the edges of the original belting, before it becomes entangled with driving mechanism or the finished belting that is being reeled, this is acieved by integral curving plates situated on the belting exit side of the cutter blades, thereby deflecting the trimmed edges to a safe collecti n area beneath the trimmer.

In order that the invention may be fully understood and readily carried into effect, a preferred embodiment thereof will now be described by way of example only, in which FIG. 1. Is an Elevational View of the belt trimming device, showing the cutting blades and control handle in the cutting and non-cutting settings.

FIG. 2. Is a Plan View of the belt trimming device.

FIG. 3. Is an Elevational View of the cutter arrangement which has been enlarged to show greater detail.

The incoming belting 1 which is to be trimmed along its length on one or both sides, passes through a pair of opposing horizontal rollers, the lower roller 2 is housed on a shaft 3 located within an open-ended slot 4 thereby permitting the roller to be easily assembled, block 5 retains the roller shaft in its correct pperational position, the upper roller 6 is capable of being adjusted vertically by having its shaft 7 attached to threaded bolt 8, by turning the winged nut 9, the degree of adjustment can be regulated to cater for different thicknesses of belting and also ensure that oscillation of the high speed incoming belting will be eliminated without squeezing and

d 2 torting the belt as this could result in excessive sideways tracting movement. Further stability and guidance to the moving belting is provided by means of a pair of vertical rollers 10, these rollers have their spindles located within slots 11 which allow the rollers to be adjusted horizontally until each roller is brought into contact with the edges of the belting, when the exact location of these rollers has been determined, they are secured in place by tightening nuts 12.

A rotatable cutter bar 13, extends across the full width of the device with its end bearings being located on the side frame members 14 and 15; embracing blade holders 16 are in slidable contact along the cutter bar while incremental markings 17 allow the cutter blades to be correctly set to suit the proposed standard belt width or any intermediate widths that may be desired, once the blade holders are in their settings, they are held in place by fixing bolts 18, the leading edges of these bolts engage with keyway 19 which extends longitudinally along the cutter bar, the actual cutting blades 20 have cutting edges 21 at each end so that the blade can be reversed when one end becomes blunt, the blades are inserted through slots in the blade holder, the amount by which the blade extends beyond the holder is independent of the thickness of the belting tc be trimmed as the blade length is designed such that when the noncutting edge will be located level with the blade holder, the protruding, cutting edge will be set at its optimum depth in relation to the deck plate, once this blade depth has been established, the blade is held by means of fixing screws 22. The incoming belting passes over the deck plate 23 within which are slots 24 located immediately below the blades. Prior to trimming the belting, the blades are raised to allow the belting to be fed in, this is achieved by rotating the cutter bar by means of handle 25, once the belting is in place, the handle is swung through an arc which causes the blades to cut through the belting, during the cutting operation, the handle is held in place by a locking pin 26.

After the required amount of belting has been trimmed from one or both sides of the original belt, the newly, reduced belting 27 passes between a pair of horizontal rollers 28 and 29, roller 28 is capable of vertical adjustment by means of threaded bolt 30 which is rotatable via winged nuts 31, the lower roller, 29 has its shaft located within horizontal slot 32 to ensure control of the belting when it is issuing at high speed from the cutter, further control of the belting is provided by a pair of vertical rollers 33 which are free to be moved in a horizontal plane along slots 34 until they abutt either side of the newly trimmed belting, once located in position, the roller are secured by tightening nuts 35.

The strips of belting 36 that have been cut from the original belt, are deflected into a safe position beneath the device by means of downwardly curved plates 37, where the device is attached to a belt reeling machine this is achieved by connecting bracket 38 to the reeler member 39.

Claims

WHAT WE CLAIM IS ;

1. A device for trimming the widths of conveyor belting when it is drawn through the device by an independent motive force, comprising a rotatable cutter bar having a longitudinal key-way, in slidable contact with the bar are at least two blade holders eontaining a protruding blade, rotational movement of the bar by means of a lockable lever causes the said blades to pierce or be retracted from the belting.

2. A device for trimming the widths of conveyor belting as claimed in Claim 1 in which the rotatable cutter bar has graduated distance marks along its length to ensure the correct location of the cutter blades.

3. A device for trimming the widths of conveyor belting in which the cutter blades are provided. with cutting edges at both ends and are held in the blade holder by fixing bolts.

4. A device for trimming the widths of conveyor belting, as claimed in any preceding claims, in which the vertical stability of the entering belting is provided by a pair of horizontal rollers, such rollers being vertically adjustable.

5. A device for trimming the widths of conveyor belting, as claimed in claim 4 in which the horizontal stability of the entering belting is provided by a pair of vertical rollers which are capable of horizontal adjustment.

6. A device for trimming the widths of conveyor belting as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the trimmed edges are deflected by means of integral downward curving plates.

7. A device for trimming the edges of conveyor belting as claimed in claims 4 and 5 in which similar pairs of horizontal and vertical rollers ensure the stability of the issuing, trimmed belting.

8. A device for trimming the edges of conveyor belting, constructed and arranged substantially as herein described by the drawings which accompany this specification.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 6e device for trimming the widths of conveyor belting when it is drawn through the device by an independent motive force, comprising a rotatable cutter bar having a longitiudinal key-way, in slidable contact with the bar are at least two blade holders containing a protruding blade, rotational movement of the bar by means of a lockable lever causes the said blades to pierce or be retracted from the belting.

2. A device for trimming the widths of conveyor belting as claimed in Claim 1 in which the rotatable cutter bar has graduated distance marks. along its length to ensure the correct location of the cutter blades.

3. A device for trimming the widths of conveyor belting as claimed in Claim 1 in which the cutter blades are provided with cutting edges at both ends and are heldin the blade holder by fixing bolts.

5. A device for trimming the widths of conveyor belting, as claimed in Claim 4, in which the horizontal stability of the entering belting is provided by a pair of vertical rollers which are capable of horizontal adjustment.

7. A device for trimming the edges of conveyor belting as claimed in Claims 4 and 5, in which similar pairs of horizontal and vertical rollers ensure the stability of the issuing, trimmed belting.