GB2336398A

GB2336398A - Automatic hoist hook device arrangement for hoisting and lowering of a submersible pump in a pumping station

Info

Publication number: GB2336398A
Application number: GB9901536A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Pekka Mattila; Juha Hellsten
Original assignee: E Sarlin Oy AB
Current assignee: E Sarlin Oy AB
Priority date: 1998-02-16
Filing date: 1999-01-26
Publication date: 1999-10-20
Anticipated expiration: 2019-01-26
Also published as: FI103783B; FI980350A; GB2336398B; FI980350A0; GB9901536D0; FI103783B1

Abstract

The arrangement includes a frame 1 with a hole 2 (Fig.1a) by which the hook can be suspended from a hoist for the hoisting or lowering of a load, for example, a pump, and a pivotal hook 8 which engages a handle 3 of the pump. The hoist hook comprises a lever guide 5 which engages with the handle to cause the hook to turn into a hoisting position automatically (Fig.1f) via locking engagement between the lever and a lug 10 (Fig.1b) of the hook. In a lowering operation (Figs.2a-e), the hook automatically returns to an initial position (Fig.2e), which is different from the hoisting position, to be ready for the next hoisting operation.

Description

1 2336398 HOIST HOOK DEVICE FOR HOISTING AND LOWERING OF A SUBMERSIBLE

PUMP IN A PUMPING STATION The present invention relates to a hoist hook device for hoisting and lowering a submersible pump to the bottom of a pumping plant, such as a sewage pumping station.

A traditional method used to hoist and lower submersible pumps is to use a hoist chain fixedly attached to the lifting handle of the pump. A problem io associated with this method is how to verify the condition of the hoist chain, especially as it is used in a wet environment. Moreover, when a hoist chain is used, generally the pump cannot be hoisted all the way up at once, but instead it is necessary to rest it in difficult and potentially dangerous intermediate positions to allow relocation of the hoist hook.

Another known method is to pass the hoist hook directly to the lifting handle, as if by angling. This method can only be used if the water surface is below the hoist hook so that the hoist hook is visible. This method is not applicable in deep pumping stations where it is impossible to see and control the hook.

US patent specification 3167345 presents an automatic hoist hook apparatus e.g. for hoisting of a concrete bucket, in which a lever-like element pivoted on a frame and provided with a small roller at its lower edge automatically actuates a lifting part from an initial position to a hoisting position by means of the attaching element of the object to be hoisted, said attaching element being movable in a slot in the frame, and in which the lifting part automatically returns to the initial position upon termination of the hoisting, to be ready for the next hoisting operation.

The lifting part in the above-mentioned specification is a latch of a mainly rectangular shape with one corner rounded and one bevelled, which, when in the hoisting position, rests against a bar. This latch is moved to different positions by means of a linkage connected to it and comprising, in addition to the above-mentioned actuating lever, a coupling bar pivotally connected to it and a bifurcated bar pivotally connected to the latch, said coupling bar being fitted into the bifurcation of said bifurcated bar. In addition to these, the apparatus also comprises a separate spring-loaded locking element with a 2 hook which can engage a pin on the actuating lever to lock the actuating lever in position during hoisting.

Such a solution is very complex both in structure and in operation. It requires a large number of movable parts, which means that its operation e.g. in a sewage pumping station is unreliable. Moreover, the locking element is provided with a spring which may become fatigued in use so that the apparatus will stop functioning.

io DE specification 3728429 presents a semiautomatic hoist hook device which comprises a hook-like lifting part that automatically returns to the initial position upon lowering.

The object of the present invention is to achieve a new type of automatic hoist hook device which automatically engages the lifting handle of a pump to allow hoisting and automatically releases the pump upon lowering and which comprises a considerably smaller number of movable parts than prior-art solutions.

-)o The automatic hoist hook device of the invention is characterised in that a locking element, such as a lug, is comprised in the hook part, that the hook of the hook part has an oblique surface for the attaching part, by means of which surface the attaching part causes the hook part to turn and release the locking in a hoisting situation, and that the guide comprises at the end adjacent its pivot axis a lever arm which, when the hook part turns to the initial position and meets it, causes the guide to turn into the initial position.

In the following, the invention will be described in detail by referring to the attached drawing, wherein Figures 1 a -1 f illustrate the process of the automatic hoist hook device of the invention engaging the lifting handle of a submersible pump during a hoisting operation, and Figures 2a -2e illustrate the process of the automatic hoist hook device of the invention releasing the lifting handle of a submersible pump after the pump has been lowered in place.

3 The automatic hoist hook device of the invention comprises a plate-like frame 1. The tapering upper end of the frame 1 is provided with a central hole 2 by which the hoist hook device is engaged by the hook of a hoist (not shown). The hoist hook device is lowered down by means of the hoist, and it descends, controlled by a known method, onto the lifting handle 3 of the submersible pump so that the lifting handle 3 is guided into a slot 4 (Fig. 'I a) in the lower part of the frame 1, said slot being open at its lower end.

io The lifting handle 3 meets the guide lever 5, which is pivotally connected to the frame 1 on a pivot axis 6 beside and above the slot 4 and which in Fig. 'I a is pointing obliquely downward in the slot, and pushes it upward until the lever 5 meets the lower edge 7 of a lug 10 in the hook part 8, which is made of plate-like material and pivoted on another pivot axis 9 (Fig. 'I b) above the slot 4, said lug 10 being located on the opposite side of the hook and pivot axis 6 relative to the second pivot axis 9, and turns the hook part 8 in the clockwise direction in Fig. 1b until the end of the guide lever 5 engages the lug 10, thus locking the hook part 8 in a vertical intermediate hoisting position where the hook 11, which initially was in a position leaving the slot 4 open, now turns so that it closes the lower end of the slot 4 (Fig. 1c). In this situation the centre of gravity of the hook part 8 is located towards the lug 7 from the pivot axis 9.

After this, a hoisting movement is started and the lifting handle 3 moves into the hook 11 (Fig. 'I d) and meets the oblique surface 12 at the end of the hook 11, thus causing the hook part 8 to turn somewhat further in the clockwise direction and letting the guide lever 5 fall down from the lug 10, whereupon the pump is hoisted up (Fig. 1f).

When the pump is being lowered, the situation is as shown in Fig. 2a, which corresponds to Fig. lf. After the pump has reached the bottom of the pumping station and when the automatic hoist hook device is lowered further, the lifting handle 3 moves upward in the slot 4 (Fig. 2b), whereupon the hook part 8 is disengaged from the lifting handle 3 and is turned in the anticlockwise direction by its centre of gravity (Fig. 2c) away from the slot 4, and the guide lever 5 turns upward as the short lever arm 13 at the end of the lever 5, perpendicular to the lever, meets the back surface 14 of the hook 11 4 of the hook part 8. After this, the hoist hook device is raised and the lifting handle 3 comes out from the slot (Fig. 2d) and the hook part 8 and the guide lever 5 are returned by the centre of gravity of the hook part 8 and the lever arm 13 of the guide lever 5 to the initial position shown in Fig. 2e, which corresponds to the situation in Fig. 1 a, i.e. to a readiness position for the next hoisting operation.

To allow the lifting handle 3 to be more easily guided into the slot 4, the lower edges of the frame 1 can be provided with oblique guide surfaces 15 rising io toward the slot 4.

It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that different embodiments of the invention are not restricted to the examples presented above, but that they may be varied within the scope of the claims presented below. Thus, e.g. the frame 1 may consist of one part or two parts disposed on opposite sides of the hook part 8. In addition, the geometric shapes of the various parts may differ from those presented in the example.

Claims

CLAIM

1. Automatic hoist hook device for the hoisting and lowering of a submersible pump to the bottom of a pumping station, such as a sewage pumping station, said device comprising a frame (1) provided with a suspension part, preferably a hole (2), by which the hoist hook device can be suspended from a hoist for the hoisting or lowering of the submersible pump, and a pivotally connected hook part (8) capable of engaging the attaching part (3), such as a jo handle, of the submersible pump, in which the lower part of the frame (1) is provided with a vertical slot (4) open at its lower end, into which the attaching part (3) is guided, said hook part being located at the lower end of said slot when in a hoisting position, which hoist hook device comprises a iever-like guide (5) which by means of the attaching part (3) causes the hook part (8) to automatically turn into the hoisting position in a hoisting situation, the centre of gravity of the hook part (8) being located on the opposite side of the hook (11) with respect to the pivot axis (9) when the hook part is in the hoisting position so that, when released, the hook part will automatically turn back into the initial position, and which device comprises a locking element to which the guide (5) can be fitted to lock the hook part (8) in position in a hoisting situation., c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the locking element (10), such as a lug, is comprised in the hook part (8), that the hook (11) of the hook part (8) comprises an oblique surface (12) by means of which the attaching part causes the hook part to turn and release the locking in a hoisting situation, and that the guide comprises at the end adjacent its pivot axis (6) a lever arm (13) which, when the hook part (8) turns to the initial position and meets it, causes the guide (5) to turn into the initial position.

6

2. A hoist hook constructed and arranged as described herein with reference to the drawings.