GB2224254A

GB2224254A - Rope assembly for a conveyor or elevator and method of producing same

Info

Publication number: GB2224254A
Application number: GB8824754A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Graham Walker
Original assignee: PRODUCTION MACHINERY CO Pty LI
Current assignee: PRODUCTION MACHINERY CO Pty LI
Priority date: 1988-10-21
Filing date: 1988-10-21
Publication date: 1990-05-02
Also published as: GB8824754D0

Abstract

In a conveyor or elevator for conveying granular or particulate material through a tube and comprising a rope assembly having spaced transverse plate-like members (2) attached to an endless member (1), stop means (13) are provided at spaced positions on the member (1) and a plate-like member is moulded as an integral unit around each said stop means (13). In a preferred embodiment the plate-like members (2) each have tubular portions (2a, 2b) formed integrally therewith and the adjacent tubular portions (2b, 2a) of adjacent plate-like members (2) overlap to totally enclose the endless flexible member (1). <IMAGE>

Description

ROPE ASSEMBLY FOR A CONVEYOR OR ELEVATOR AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME This invention relates to a rope assembly for a conveyor or elevator and to a method of producing same.

A known conveyor or elevator for discreet materials, e.g., granular or powder materials, comprises a rope assembly in the form of an endless flexible member having a plurality of plate-like members mounted substantially centrally thereon at spaced intervals and extending transversely to the longitudinal axis of the flexible member, the endless flexible member extending around a pair of spaced pulleys or sprockets at least one of which is driven, a casing surrounding one of the pulleys or sprockets, a housing surrounding the other of the pulleys or sprockets, and at least one tube extending between the casing and the housing through which the endless flexible member and the plate-like members pass, the material to be conveyed or elevated being fed to the spaces between successive plate-like members as the plate-like members pass around said one pulley or sprocket and the material being discharged from between the plate-like members by centrifugal action as the plate-like members pass around said other pulley or sprocket. Generally, in such a conveyor or elevator, the endless flexible member is driven at a speed of from 300 to 1200 feet per minute (91.4 to 365.8 metres per minute), preferably 600 to 1200 feet per minute (182.9 to 365.8 metres per minute), and the plate-like members are a clearance fit within the or each said tube. Such a conveyor or elevator is hereinafter and in the claims hereof referred to as "a conveyor or elevator of the kind described".

Hitherto, the rope assembly for a conveyor or elevator of the kind described has been fabricated by taking a flexible member, usually a length of wire rope, swaging metal sleeves thereon at spaced intervals therealong to form stops, forming the plate-like members, which are usually in the form of circular discs, in two parts1 assembling the two parts of each plate-like member around a said stop and rivetting or otherwise securing the two parts of the plate-like member together so that the plate-like member is located by the stop. This method of forming the rope assembly is both timeconsuming and expensive and there is a need for a quicker and less expensive method of producing such rope assemblies.

The present invention provides a rope assembly for a conveyor or elevator of the kind described, the rope assembly comprising an endless flexible member, stop means on said flexible member at spaced positions therearound and a plate-like member moulded as an integral unit around each said stop means and extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the flexible member.

The present invention also provides a method of producing a rope assembly for a conveyor or elevator of the kind described, the method comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining a flexible member, (b) providing stop means on said flexible member at spaced positions therealong, (c) moulding a plate-like member as an integral unit around each said stop means.

The flexible member may be a wire rope and said stop means may each comprise a metal sleeve swaged onto the flexible member.

Said plate-like members may each be in the form of a circular disc concentric with the flexible member.

Each said plate-like member may comprise a tubular portion extending on one or both sides thereof and surrounding the flexible member. The tubular portion or portions of each plate-like member may cooperate with an adjacent plate-like member or tubular portion thereof, whereby to totally enclose the flexible member. Thus, for example, each plate-like member may have a said tubular portion extending outwardly on either side thereof and the adjacent tubular portions of adjacent plate-like members may lap one over the other. Said tubular portions are preferably a close fit around the endless flexible member so as to provide a coating thereon.The enclosing of the flexible member by the tubular portions of the plate-like members is particularly desirable where the conveyor or elevator is to be used in the food or drug industries where it is frequently required that the rope assembly have no crevices therein, such as are normal on the surface of a wire rope, in which material can become trapped and which are difficult to clean.

The plate-like members may be moulded from any suitable plastics material such as polyurethane, polycarbonate or polypropylene plastics material.

The method of the invention may comprise obtaining a flexible member in the form of a wire rope of a required thickness and length and connecting the ends of the flexible member together to form an endless flexible member, e.g., as by connecting the ends of the flexible member by swaging a metal sleeve therearound.

The method of the invention may further comprise injection moulding each plate-like member around a said stop means, as by locating a portion of the flexible member having a said stop means thereon in a mould having a cavity in the form of the required plate-like member and injecting plastics material into the mould to form said plate-like member around the stop means. Those portions of the flexible member having said stop means thereon may be located in turn in said mould and plastics material injected into the mould to form said plate-like members one at a time.

The present invention will be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a known mobile elevator of the kind described, Figure 2 is a side elevation on a larger scale of the sprockets and endless flexible member of the elevator of Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a fragmentary side elevation on a still larger scale of an embodiment of a rope assembly according to the present invention.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the mobile elevator illustrated comprises a rope assembly consisting of an endless flexible member in the form of a wire rope 1 on which a series of discs 2, which form plate-like members, are mounted at equally spaced intervals. The discs 2 are formed from a synthetic plastics material such 5 polyurethane, polycarbonate or polypropylene.

The rope 1 extends around a head sprocket 3 and a tail sprocket 4 which are respectively mounted in a housing 5 and a casing 6. Housing 5 and casing 6 are connected together by two metal tubes 7 and 8, each tube enclosing one run of the endless wire rope. Housing 5, casing 6 and tubes 7, 8 are adapted to receive the discs 2 with clearance as the discs are carried around the sprockets 3 and 4. A series of evenly spaced apertures 9 are provided in the sprockets 3 and 4 for the reception of the disc 2. A hopper 10 is associated with the casing 6 for feeding material to be elevated to the spaces between the discs 2. A discharge tube (not shown) may be fitted to the housing 5 in alignment with a discharge outlet the access of which is substantially tangential to the head sprocket 3.

The conveyor assembly described above is mounted on a wheeled frame 11 comprising known means 12 for adjusting the angle of inclination of the conveyor assembly relative to the frame 11.

When such an elevator is in use, the rope 1 is driven at a speed of from 300 to 1200 feet per minute (91.4 to 365.8 metres per minute), preferably 600 to 1200 feet per minute (182.9 to 365.8 metres per minute), and the material to be elevated is fed into the hopper 10 as required. The material passes from the hopper 10 into the casing 6 where it is fed into the spaces between adjacent pairs of discs 2. The material between the discs 2 is carried upwardly through the tube 8 and ultimately discharged from the housing 5 through centrifugal action. As the discs 2 pass around the sprocket 3 the material moves under centrifugal action to the outer portion of the housing 5 and into said tangential discharge outlet.

Referring now to Figure 3, it will be seen that the rope assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises an endless flexible member 1, preferably in the form of a wire rope, on which metal sleeves have been swaged at equally spaced intervals to provide stop means 13. A plate-like member in the form of a disc 2 is moulded as an integral unit around each of the stop means 13. Each of the discs 2 comprises tubular portions 2a, 2b which are formed integrally therewith and which extend outwardly on either side thereof. The tubular portion 2b of each disc 2 laps over the adjacent tubular portion 2a of the adjacent disc 2 as shown at 2c to totally enclose the flexible member 1.

The discs 2 with their integral tubular portions 2a, 2b are formed one at a time by locating that part of the flexible member 1 having a stop means 13 thereon in a mould diagramatically illustrated at 14 and having a mould cavity in the shape of the disc 2 to be formed and then injecting synthetic plastics material into the mould 14 in known manner.

The endless flexible member 1 may be formed from a length of wire rope or other suitable material the ends of which have been connected together by swaging a sleeve 13 therearound and a disc 2 may then be moulded around this connecting sleeve 13.

It will readily be appreciated that the present invention provides not only a quick and inexpensive method of producing a rope assembly for a conveyor or elevator of the kind described, but also enables a rope assembly to be produced wherein the endless flexible member 1, usually a wire rope, can be completely covered in plastics material to provide a rope assembly which does not have the usual crevices in which material can collect, which is easily cleaned and which is therefore suitable for use in, for example, the food or drug industries where it is essential that the rope assembly be easily cleanable.

Claims

I. A rope assembly for a conveyor or elevator of the kind described, the rope assembly comprising an endless flexible member, stop means on said flexible member at spaced positions therearound and a plate-like member moulded as an integral unit around each said stop means and extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the flexible member.
2. A rope assembly according to claim 1 wherein the flexible member is a wire rope.
3. A rope assembly according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said stop means each comprise a metal sleeve swaged onto the flexible member.
4. A rope assembly according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said plate-like members are each in the form of a circular disc concentric with the flexible member.
5. A rope assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein each said plate-like member comprises a tubular portion extending on one or both sides thereof and surrounding the flexible member.
6. A rope assembly according to claim 5, wherein the tubular portion or portions of each plate-like member cooperates with an adjacent plate-like member or tubular portion thereof, whereby to totally enclose the flexible member.
7. A rope assembly according to claim 6, wherein each plate-like member has a said tubular portion extending outwardly on either side thereof and wherein the adjacent tubular portions of adjacent plate-like members lap one over the other.
8. A rope assembly according to claim , 6 or 7, wherein said tubular portions are a close fit around the endless flexible member.
9. A rope assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the plate-like members are moulded from polyurethane, polycarbonate or polypropylene plastics material.
10. A method of producing a rope assembly for a conveyor or elevator of the kind described, the method comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining a flexible member1 (b) providing stop means on said flexible member at spaced positions therealong, and (c) moulding a plate-like member as an integral unit around each said stop means.
11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the flexible member is a wire rope of a required thickness and length.
12. A method according to claim 10 or 11, which comprises swaging metal sleeves onto the flexible member to form said stop means.
13. A method according to claims 11 and 12, which comprises connecting the ends of the flexible member together to form an endless flexible member.
14. A method according to claim 13, which comprises connecting the ends of the flexible member by swaging a metal sleeve therearound.
15. A method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein each plate-like member is injection moulded around a said stop means.
16. A method according to claim 15, wherein a portion of the flexible member having a said stop means thereon is located in a mould having a cavity in the form of the required plate-like member and plastics material is injected into the mould to form a said plate-like member around the stop means.
17. A method according to claim 16, wherein those portions of the flexible member having said stop means thereon are located in turn in said mould and plastics material is injected to form said plate-like members one at a time.
18. A method according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the plastics material is polyurethane1 polycarbonate or polypropylene.
19. A method according to any one of claims 10 to 18, wherein each plate-like member is formed with a tubular portion extending on one or both sides thereof and surrounding the flexible member.
20. A method according to claim 19, wherein the tubular portion or portions of each plate-like member cooperates with an adjacent plate-like member or tubular portion thereof, whereby to totally enclose the flexible member.
21. A method according to claim 19 or 20, wherein each plate-like member is formed with a said tubular portion extending outwardly on either side thereof and wherein the adjacent tubular portions of adjacent platelike members are caused to lap one over the other.
2-2. A method according to claim 19, 20 or 21, wherein said tubular portions are moulded closely around the endless flexible member.
23. A rope assembly for a conveyor or elevator of the kind described, the rope assembly being substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
24. A method of producing a rope assembly for a conveyor or elevator of the kind described, the method being substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
25. A conveyor or elevator of the kind described when provided with a rope assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 9 and 23.