GB2265321A - A transportable material processing assembly. - Google Patents

Abstract

The assembly, for example a crusher 1 or screen, includes at least one adjustable log 6 lowerable to support a material processing apparatus 2. As shown a crusher 1 has a subframe 8 bearing a hopper 2 and a belt feeder 3 for receiving material to be crushed and passing it to a crushing section 4. The subframe 8 also bears rear legs 5 and forward legs 6 which can be locked into a lowered, working position for supporting the crusher on the ground. The subframe 8 presents a substantially level base surface which can rest on the chassis of a standard self-loading truck 7 for transporting of the crusher. The forward legs 6 can be locked by pins 24 in a raised, transport position when the crusher is resting on the chassis of the truck. As shown crushing section has a moving jaw 15 and fixed jaw 16 and crusher is driven by diesel electric or electric motors. Crusher may be core, gyratory or impact. <IMAGE>

Description

A TRANSPORTABLE MATERIAL PROCESSING ASSEMBLY The present invention relates to a transportable material processing assembly.

Material processing assemblies, for example crushers (for crushing material) and screens (for grading material) are conventionally installed to be fixed in one location.

This is because they must be installed stably and firmly - usually by being fixed rigidly in position - and because they must be provided with suitable power supplies, which are usually difficult to transport from one location to another. A result of this is that any material which is to be processed must be brought to the location where the material processing assembly is sited.

This is inconvenient, particularly in demolition and recycling operations in which a large amount of material at the site of the operation is to be processed.

According to the present invention there is provided a transportable material processing assembly comprising: material processing apparatus having means for receiving material to be processed and means for processing the material to crush and/or screen the material; and support means for supporting the material processing apparatus, comprising at least one adjustable elongate support member having a first, raised position relative to the material processing apparatus and a second, lowered position relative to the material processing apparatus in which second position the support member extends to a level lower than the base of the material processing apparatus.

This material processing assembly has the advantage that it can easily be installed stably and firmly at a location where material is available for processing. In demolition operations this allows, for example, rubble to be crushed at the demolition site. Crushed rubble fills containers in which it is to be removed from the site more densely than un-crushed rubble. Therefore, crushed rubble can be removed from the site in fewer containers than would be needed if un-crushed rubble were to be removed.

The adjustable support member may suitably pass slidably through a sleeve provided on the material processing apparatus, relative to which it may be locked in position when necessary. Preferably, for greater stability, at least two adjustable support members are provided. At least one (and preferably two) non-adjustable support members may also be provided. The or each support member is preferably provided with a horizontally elongate ground engaging member at its base to allow it to make good contact with the ground.

To allow the material processing assembly to be conveniently transported, it may suitably be provided with vehicle engaging means presenting a downward facing surface for engaging a vehicle for movement of the material processing assembly; and the base of the material processing apparatus may suitably present a substantially level base surface for resting on a vehicle. The vehicle engaging means may conveniently comprise a horizontal rod for engaging a hook mounted on the vehicle.

Preferably the means for receiving material to be processed comprises a hopper for receiving the material and a belt feeder for transporting the material from the hopper; and preferably the means for processing the material comprises a crusher (most preferably a jaw crusher) or a screen. These may conveniently be driven by driving means included in the material processing assembly, preferably comprising an electric motor or a diesel engine.

A material processing assembly according to the present invention is particularly suitable for processing stonelike materials such as stone, brick, rock, ore, concrete, cement, rubble and the like.

The present invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a transportable material processing assembly according to the present invention mounted on a truck; Figure 2 shows sectional half views of the material processing assembly on lines "A-A" and "B-B" of Figure 1; and Figure 3 shows sectional half views of the material processing assembly on lines "C-C" and "D-D" of Figure 1; and Figures 4 to 7 illustrate the removal of the material processing assembly from the truck.

The transportable material processing assembly 1 shown in the Figures is a crusher having a material processing apparatus including a hopper 2, a belt feeder 3 positioned at the base of the hopper for receiving material to be crushed and a crushing section 4 for processing the material; and elongate legs 5,6 on each side of the crusher extending downwardly for supporting the material processing apparatus. The crusher may be transported on a truck 7 to the site where it is to be used and then unloaded from the truck on to the legs 5,6 for use. After use the crusher may be loaded on to the truck and transported to another location.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3, the crusher is based on a steel supporting subframe 8 which bears the component members of the crusher. The crusher has a steel hopper 2 for receiving material to be crushed (for example from a loader 9 as shown in Figure 7) and for directing the material on to the belt feeder 3. Greedy boards 10 (shown in Figure 7) may be fitted to the hopper to enlarge its sides and to allow it to be loaded more easily. Material may be loaded into the hopper from the rear of the crusher (as shown in Figure 7) or from either side of the crusher.

The belt feeder 3 is protected where it passes through the base of the hopper by impact bars 11 and is driven by a motor to lift material from the hopper to a head chute 12. The upper section of the belt feeder is surrounded by skirt plates 13 which may be folded down, if necessary, as indicated by dashed lines in Figure 2.

From the head chute the material falls into the crushing section 4 and, having been crushed, out of the crusher through an exit chute 14.

The crushing section comprises a single toggle jaw crusher having a moving jaw 15 and a fixed jaw 16.

Material passing from the head chute 12 is received between the jaws and crushed as it passes downwards towards the exit chute 14. To allow elongate material to be received in the crusher jaws, the crushing section has a relatively wide feed opening; and to reduce the possibility of the crusher jaws becoming blocked by material lying between the jaws the jaw crusher is inclined at 20 to its normal fixing and the crushing section is configured so that incoming material passing from the head chute is presented to the moving jaw 15.

A rear leg 5 and a forward leg 6 are provided at each side of the crusher. Cross-members 17 run between the rear legs 5 and cross-members 18 run between the forward legs 6 and between the forward legs 6 and the subframe 8 to hold the legs rigid. The rear legs 5 are provided with skids 19 at their lower ends and the forward legs with feet 20 at their lower ends to allow good contact with the ground. The forward legs 6 are provided with through bores 21 and pass slidably through sleeves 22 on the subframe 8. The sleeves 22 are also provided with through bores 23 which correspond in diameter and spacing to the through bores 21, to allow the forward legs 6 to be locked relative to the sleeves 22 by removable pins 24 passing through the bores of each sleeve and its corresponding leg.With the pins 24 removed, the legs 6 are released and can be slid with respect to the sleeves to allow the legs 6 to adopt a raised, travelling position, in which the pins 24 pass through the bores of the sleeves and the lower of the bores 21 of the legs 6 (as shown by solid lines in Figure 1) and a number of lowered, working positions, in which the pins 24 pass through the bores of the sleeves and through at least one of the upper bores 21 of the legs (as shown by dashed lines in Figure 1).

The supporting sub frame 8 presents a substantially level base surface 8a which is of a size and configuration to allow it to rest on the chassis of a standard selfloading eight-wheel truck 7 having an articulated loading arm 25 and load rollers 26. The crusher has a truck fixing at its rear for engaging the arm 25 to allow the crusher to be manoeuvred on or off the truck by means of the arm. The truck fixing comprises a horizontal rod 26 which can be received in a hook 27 on the arm 25.

Referring to Figures 4 to 7, to unload the crusher from the truck, the arm 25 is engaged with the truck fixing on the crusher and then the arm is actuated to slide the crusher towards the rear of the truck, over the load rollers 26, to the position illustrated in Figure 4.

Then the forward end of the crusher is lifted by the arm 25 to pivot the crusher over the load rollers 26 and lower the skids 19 of the rear legs 5 of the crusher on to the ground. The truck 7 then travels forwards in coordination with movement of the arm 25 to move the forward end of the crusher free of the rear of the truck.

To allow the crusher to be loaded and unloaded in the manner described above, the rear legs 5 are arranged so as to be capable of supporting a substantial proportion of the weight of the crusher as the crusher is tipped on to the rear legs and the truck is moved free of the rear of the crusher.

When the forward end of the crusher is free of the rear end of the truck the forward legs 6 are each released from their raised, travelling position (illustrated in Figures 4 and 5) and slid and then locked into a suitable one of the lowered, working positions so that the legs 6 meet the ground with the crusher in a suitably stable and firm working position (illustrated in Figures 6 and 7).

The crusher may then be released from the truck and if necessary a stockpile conveyor 27 may be provided to remove crushed material from the exit chute of the crusher to a skip or a stockpile.

The crusher may be reloaded on to the truck by a reverse process to that described above. When the crusher is loaded on the truck it may be transported conveniently between sites.

In the crusher shown in the Figures, the hopper has a capacity of around 2.5m3; the belt feeder is lm wide, passes around end rollers 28 whose centres are 4.8m apart and is driven by a 5.5kw motor. The crushing section is driven by a 55kw motor, and the size of the crusher feed opening is 630 x 440mm. These dimensions could be modified as appropriate to other suitable applications but, depending on the nature of the incoming feed material, this arrangement allows around 50 tonnes per hour of output material of around 75mm in size or around 40 tonnes per hour of output material of around 55mm in size to be produced.

The feeder and the crushing section may be driven by a diesel electric system or by electric motors, which may be fed from a mains power supply or a suitably rated generator, or the crusher may be fitted with a direct diesel drive to the crushing section with a hydraulic take-off to power the feeder system and, if necessary, a stockpile conveyor.

The general arrangement shown in the Figures need not be applied to a jaw crusher. The material processing apparatus could instead include a screen or a different type of crusher, for example, a core, gyratory or impact crusher. In general, the arrangement is particularly suitable for processing relatively hard and tough solid materials, for example, stone-like materials such as stone, brick, rock, ore, concrete, cement, rubble and the like.

It is convenient for the material processing apparatus to be arranged to comply with any relevant legal weight or size requirements so that it can be easily transported by road.

Claims (15)

1. A transportable material processing assembly comprising: material processing apparatus having means for receiving material to be processed and means for processing the material to crush and/or screen the material; and support means for supporting the material processing apparatus, comprising at least one adjustable elongate support member having a first, raised position relative to the material processing apparatus and a second, lowered position relative to the material processing apparatus in which second position the support member extends to a level lower than the base of the material processing apparatus.

2. A transportable material processing assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein one the support means comprises at least two adjustable elongate support members each having a first, raised position relative to the material processing apparatus and a second, lowered position relative to the material processing apparatus in which second position the support member extends to a level lower than the base of the material processing apparatus.

3. A transportable material processing assembly as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the support means comprises at least one non-adjustable elongate support member rigidly fixed to and depending from the material processing apparatus.

4. A transportable material processing assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the or each support member has a horizontally elongate ground engaging member at its base for engaging the ground.

5. A transportable material processing assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising vehicle engaging means presenting a downward facing surface for engaging a vehicle for movement of the material processing assembly.

6. A transportable material processing assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the base of the material processing apparatus presents a substantially level base surface for resting on a vehicle for transport of the material processing assembly.

7. A transportable material processing assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the means for receiving material to be processed comprises a hopper for receiving the material and a belt feeder for transporting the material from the hopper.

8. A transportable material processing assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the means for processing the material comprises a crusher.

9. A transportable material processing assembly as claimed in claim 8, wherein the crusher is a jaw crusher.

10. A transportable material processing assembly as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the means for processing the material comprises a screen.

11. A transportable material processing assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising driving means for driving the means for processing the material.

12. A transportable material processing assembly as claimed in claim 11, wherein the driving means comprises an electric motor.

13. A transportable material processing assembly as claimed in claim 11, wherein the driving means comprises a diesel engine.

14. A transportable material processing assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the material to be processed comprises stone-like material.

15. A transportable material processing assembly substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.