GB2334504A

GB2334504A - A vehicle and delivery apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2334504A
Application number: GB9909282A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Geoff Jarvis; Gregory Price; Kevin Buckley; Ian Butterworth
Original assignee: TARMAC UK Ltd; Tarmac Heavy Building Materials UK Ltd
Current assignee: TARMAC UK Ltd; Tarmac Heavy Building Materials UK Ltd
Priority date: 1999-04-23
Filing date: 1999-04-23
Publication date: 1999-08-25
Also published as: GB2349133A; GB9919672D0; GB9909282D0

Abstract

A vehicle 1 and delivery apparatus includes a vehicle with a load carrying space 2, and delivery apparatus 3 that includes a collection conveyor 5 adapted to collect load material from the load carrying space, and transport it to a discharge point 11. A discharge conveyor 12 is adapted to transport the load material from the discharge point to a delivery position. Two movable separators, eg plates 18, 19, may be mounted close to an opening 24 in the rear side of the load carrying space. When the load carrying space is inclined, eg by an actuator 26, and the separators are in an open position, load material may pass through the opening and onto the collection conveyor. The collection conveyor may include two screw conveyor parts 9, 10 having right and left hand flights, arranged to move material towards a generally central discharge point, or may be in the form of a bucket conveyor. The discharge conveyor may be mounted beneath the discharge point, and may be a belt conveyor, with a rubber belt 15 driven by a motor 25. A chute 16 may be arranged at the other end of the discharge conveyor, so that material may fall off the belt, and slide down the chute towards the delivery point on the surface below. Weighing means may be incorporated onto the chassis of the vehicle to measure the amount of load discharged. The load carrying space may be cylindrical or ellipsoidal, and the vehicle may be used with granular materials such as asphalt, sand, gravel, and cement. The vehicle may be a lorry, or a railway wagon.

Description

Title: Vehicle and Delivery Apparatus Combination Description of Invention The invention relates to a vehicle and delivery apparatus combination, more particularly, but not exclusively a vehicle and delivery apparatus combination for delivering a granular material such as asphalt.

When a load of granular material such as asphalt is delivered to a delivery site, it may be delivered in a truck with a tipping body. The asphalt is loaded into a load carrying space of the truck body, and when the truck reaches the delivery site, the truck body is tipped so that the asphalt slides out. This method is effective for unloading a full load of asphalt in one go, but it is difficult to unload only a small proportion of the total load as the asphalt tends to stick together and move as a single mass. Also, the asphalt tends to spread over a large area when it is tipped out, and it is difficult to control the location of the asphalt deposit or to concentrate it into a smaller area.

According to one aspect of the invention, we provide a vehicle and delivery apparatus combination, the vehicle having a load carrying space, and the delivery apparatus having a collection conveyor adapted to collect load material from the load carrying space and transport the load material to a discharge point, and the delivery apparatus further having a discharge conveyor adapted to transport load material from the discharge point to a delivery point.

By virtue of the delivery apparatus, a small proportion of the total load may be more easily discharged from the vehicle.

There may be an opening between the load carrying space and the delivery apparatus, and the delivery apparatus may include a separator positioned in the opening, the separator being movable between a first position which closes the opening and prevents load material passing from the load carrying space to the delivery apparatus and a second position which allows load material to pass through the opening from the load carrying space to the delivery apparatus.

The collection conveyor may be a screw conveyor and may include a first and second screw conveyor part, the first screw conveyor part having a right handed flight and the second screw conveyor part having a left handed flight, the two screw conveyor parts being arranged with one end of the first conveyor part end to end with or at least closely adjacent to the end of the second conveyor part and being rotatable in a common sense of rotation so that the two conveyor parts convey the load material towards the discharge point where the two conveyor parts meet.

The discharge conveyor may have a first end positioned at the discharge point where load material is received, and a second end at or closer to (e.g. above) the delivery point.

The discharge conveyor may be movable up and down at least, e.g. about an axis which passes close to the discharge point preferably at or adjacent to the first end, and thus the location of the delivery point, i.e. where the discharged material lands, may be controlled by moving the discharge conveyor about the axis.

The load carrying space may have a base which is movable relative to the vehicle, between a first position in which the base lies on a generally horizontal plane and a second position in which the base lies on a plane inclined towards the delivery apparatus. When the base is in the second position, the load may slide down the load carrying space and onto the collection conveyor.

The vehicle may include a weighing system which measures the weight of the load material in the load carrying space. By monitoring the weight loss as load material is discharged, the weight of material discharged may be measured and hence a desired weight of load material may be delivered to a particular delivery site.

According to a second aspect of the invention, we provide a delivery apparatus adapted to fit onto a vehicle to form a vehicle and delivery combination according to the first aspect of the invention.

According to a third aspect of the invention, we provide a method of delivering load material using a vehicle and delivery apparatus combination according to the first aspect of the invention, the method including operating the collection conveyor to collect load material from the load carrying space and transport load material to a discharge point, and operating the discharge conveyor to transport load material from the discharge point to the delivery point.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, we provide a method of adapting a vehicle including a load carrying space to deliver load material, the method including attaching a delivery apparatus to the vehicle, the delivery apparatus having the features of the delivery apparatus of the combination of the first aspect of the invention.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is an illustrative side view of a vehicle and delivery apparatus in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a more detailed illustrative perspective view of the rear of the vehicle and delivery apparatus, with parts omitted for clarity.

Referring to the figures, there is shown a vehicle 1 having a load carrying space 2, mounted on a chassis 8 of the vehicle 1, the load carrying space 2 having a base 7 and four sides 20, 21, 22, 23 and there being an opening 24 in a rear side 20. There is a delivery apparatus 3 attached via an attachment means 4 to the rear side 20 of the load carrying space 2. The attachment means 4 is attached to the rear side 20 of the load carrying space 2 by a joint 27 at the top of the attachment means 4 and at least one releasable fastener (not seen) which retains the attachment means 4 adjacent to the rear side 20 of the load carrying space 2. The attachment means 4 is pivotal about the joint 27, and on releasing the at least one releasable fastener, the delivery apparatus 3 may be lifted to allow load material to pass out of the load carrying space 2 through the opening 24 without using the delivery apparatus 3 when required.

The base 7 of the load carrying space 2 may be tipped relative to the chassis 8 of the vehicle 1 by means of at least one actuator 26 connected between the chassis 8 and the base 7 of the load carrying space 2, the actuator 26 being positioned remote from the rear edge 6 of the base 7. The actuator 26 can be operated to move the load carrying space 2 from a travelling position in which the base 7 of the load carrying space 2 is generally horizontal as shown in Figure 1, to an inclined position in which the base 7 of the load carrying space 2 is inclined at an angle to the chassis 8 as shown in Figure 2. The base 7 of the load carrying space 2 may be inclined up to an angle of 80" to the horizontal.

The delivery apparatus has a collection conveyor 5 positioned towards a lower end of the attachment means 4 adjacent to the opening 24 in the rear side 20 of the load carrying space 2. The collection conveyor 5 includes two screw conveyor parts 9, 10, having right and left hand flights respectively, mounted with the end of the first screw conveyor 9 being at least closely adjacent to the end of the second screw conveyor 10. The longitudinal axes A of the two screw conveyor parts 9, 10 are in this arrangement, coincident and generally parallel to the edge 6 of the base 7 of the load carrying space 2. The two screw conveyor parts 9, 10 are rotated in the same direction about the longitudinal axis A, and load material collected by each screw conveyor 9, 10 is transported along each screw conveyor 9, 10 to a generally central discharge point 11 between the two ends of the screw conveyors 9, 10.

Two movable separators 18, 19 are mounted side by side to open or close the opening 24 in the rear side 20 of the load carrying space 2. The two separators 18, 19 in this example are plates and an actuator (not seen) is connected to each. By operating each actuator the separators 18, 19 may be moved vertically, separately or together, relative to the attachment means 4, from a closed position in which the separators 18, 19 each partly, or together completely, close the opening 24 and prevent load material passing through the opening 24 from the load carrying space 2, to an open position which allows load material to pass through the opening 24.

The collection conveyor 5 is positioned close to the base 7 of the load carrying space 2, so that at least when the load carrying space 2 is tipped to the inclined position, and the separator 18 is in an open position, load material passes from the load carrying space 2 through the opening 24 onto the first screw conveyor part 9 of collection conveyor 5. Similarly, at least when the load carrying space 2 is tipped to the inclined position, and the separator 19 is in an open position, load material may pass from the load carrying space 2 through the opening 24 onto the second screw conveyor part 10 of collection conveyor 5. It is possible to move the separators 18, 19 a small amount from the closed position to provide a small opening through which load material may pass, or a large amount from the closed position to provide a large opening through which load material may pass. Thus the rate at which load material falls on the collection conveyor 5 may be controlled by varying the amount moved by the separators 18, 19 and hence varying the size of the opening.

It may be the case that, particularly when the load carrying space 2 is full and/or the load material is able to flow, no or minimal tipping of the load carrying space is required to cause the load material to move towards the delivery apparatus 3 for collection by the collection conveyor 5.

The delivery apparatus 3 also includes a discharge conveyor 12 extending from a first end 13, which is mounted beneath the discharge point 11, to a second end 14, which is adjacent to a delivery point. The discharge conveyor 12 in this example is a belt conveyor having a belt 15. The belt 15 of the discharge conveyor 12 is driven by a motor 25 and a top run of the conveyor belt 15 moves towards the second end 14. Load material falls under gravity from the discharge point 11 onto the top run of the conveyor belt 15 at the first end 13 of the discharge conveyor 12 and is transported to the second end 14. The conveyor belt 15 may be made from flexible, durable rubber.

A chute 16 is attached to the second end 14 of the discharge conveyor 12, and the load material falls off the belt 15 at the second end 14 of the discharge conveyor 12, slides down the chute 16 under gravity and lands at the delivery point on the surface below. A scraping bar (not seen) may be positioned across the lower run of the belt 15 so as to scrape off any material sticking to the belt 15 of the discharge conveyor 12.

The discharge conveyor 12 is movable about an axis B, generally parallel to the axis A, the axis B being positioned at or near the first end 13 of the discharge conveyor 12. An actuator 17 is located between a mounting e.g. at the top of the attachment means 4, and a mounting at approximately the centre of the discharge conveyor 12. By extending the actuator 17, the angle between the discharge conveyor 12 and rear side 20 of load carrying space 2 may be increased from 0 (when travelling for example) to 90 . Preferably the discharge conveyor is held between the horizontal and up to a maximum angle of 40 to the horizontal when delivering load material.

A weighing means is provided to measure the weight of the load carrying space 2 in order to calculate the weight of discharged load material.

Four load cells (not seen) are positioned between the load carrying space 2 and the chassis 8. The readings from the load cells are processed in a processing unit to provide a value of the weight of the load material in the load carrying space 2 and the weight is displayed on a display unit normally located in a driver's cab. The display unit may or may not be incorporated in the processing unit, but in any event the display unit may be connected by a lead, which is sufficiently long for the processing and display unit to be movable from inside the cab of the vehicle 1 to, for example, near the delivery apparatus 3 at the rear ofthe vehicle 1.

The actuator 26 for tipping the load carrying space 2, the actuator 17 for tipping the discharge conveyor 12, and the means for moving the separators 18, 19, and the drive means for driving the conveyors 5, 12 may be driven by hydraulic, pneumatic or electrical means. The power to run these systems may be supplied from the vehicle 1, e.g. by a gearbox mounted power take off, driving a hydraulic pump, although if desired, an external power supply may be used.

This invention is particularly useful where asphalt is the load material, but may also be used with other granular materials such as sand, gravel, and cement.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the load carrying space 2 may have sides enclosing a generally cylindrical or ellipsoidal space and may be tipped using means external to the vehicle, for example using a crane, or the load carrying space 2 may be immovable relative to the vehicle chassis 8.

The attachment means 4 may be permanently attached to the load carrying space 2 , for example by welding or using permanent fasteners such as bolts, instead of being connected by a joint as described above.

The two screw conveyor parts 9, 10 of the collection conveyor 5 may be arranged with their longitudinal axes non-coincident and non-parallel.

Alternatively, the collection conveyor 5 may include only one screw conveyor part, the discharge point 11 being at one end of the screw conveyor part.

The delivery apparatus may be attached to, other than the rear side 20, side 22 or 23 of the load carrying space 2.

The invention may be applied where the vehicle is a lorry, as illustrated, or is a railway wagon.

The discharge conveyor 12 may be a bucket conveyor or a screw conveyor instead of the belt conveyor described. Means may be provided to vary the speed at which the discharge conveyor 12 discharges load material.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A vehicle and delivery apparatus combination in which the vehicle includes a load carrying space, and the delivery apparatus includes a collection conveyor adapted to collect load material from the load carrying space and transport it to a discharge point and a discharge conveyor adapted to transport load material from the discharge point to a delivery position.
2. A combination as claimed in claim 1 including a separator which is positioned in an opening between the load carrying space and the delivery apparatus, the separator being movable between a first position which closes the opening and prevents load material passing from the load carrying space to the delivery apparatus and a second position which allows load material to pass through the opening from the load carrying space to the delivery apparatus.
3. A combination as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the collection conveyor is a screw conveyor.
4. A combination as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the collection conveyor includes first and second screw conveyor parts, the first screw conveyor part having a right handed flight and the second screw conveyor part having a left handed flight, the two screw conveyor parts being arranged with one end of the first conveyor part end to end with or at least closely adjacent to the end of the second conveyor part and being rotatable in a common sense of rotation so that the two conveyor parts convey the load material towards the discharge point where the two conveyor parts meet.
5. A combination as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the discharge conveyor has a first end positioned at the discharge point where load material is received, and a second end at or closer to the delivery point.
6. A combination as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the delivery conveyor is movable about an axis which passes close to the discharge point.
7. A combination as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the load carrying space has a base which is movable between a first position in which the base lies on a generally horizontal plane and a second position in which the base lies on a plane inclined towards the delivery apparatus.
8. A combination as claimed in any preceding claim, including a weighing system which measures the weight of the load material in the load carrying space.
9. A combination substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.
10. A delivery apparatus which is adapted to fit onto a vehicle to form a vehicle and delivery apparatus combination as claimed in any preceding claim.
11. A delivery apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.
12. A method of delivering load material using a vehicle and delivery apparatus combination as claimed in any preceding claim, the method including operating the collection conveyor to collect load material from the load carrying space and transport load material to a discharge point, and operating the discharge conveyor to transport load material from the discharge point to the delivery point.
13. A method of delivering material using a vehicle and delivery apparatus combination substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
14. A method of adapting a vehicle including a load carrying space, to deliver load material, the method including attaching a delivery apparatus to the vehicle, the delivery apparatus having the features of the delivery apparatus of the combination claimed in claims 1-11.
15. Any novel feature or novel combination of features as herein described and/or shown in the accompanying drawings.