US1134254A - Earth-handling machine. - Google Patents

Description

W. F. BRUNT.

EARTH HANDLING MACHINE, APPLICATION FILED MAY31, x913.

Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

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THE NORRIS PETERS Ca. PHOTO-LITHOH WASHINGTON, o r

W. F. BRUNT.

EARTH HANDLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 31. 1913.

L1 34,2540 Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

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IHE NORRIS PE rERs 50., PHOTO-Linton WASHINGTON. D C.

W. F. BRUNT.

EARTH HANDLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAYSI, 1913.

1 11, 3%,2549 Patented. Apr. 6, 1915.

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WILSON F. BRUN'T, OF HAMMOND, INDIANA.

EARTH-HANDLING MACHINE.

Application filed May 31, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILSON F. BRUNT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hammond, in the county of Lake and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Earth-Handling Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in earth-handling machines, and has reference more particularly to a new and improved machine for use in connection with the excavation of ditches and trenches for sewers, and the like.

The machine of my present invention is designed to operate above the sewer or trench being dug, and to elevate the spoil and deliver it laterally of the ditch or trench. Themachine is not an excavating machine in the sense that it cuts or scrapes up the earth from the ditch or trench, which forms the principle of operation of many excavating machines; but it simply serves to facilitate the disposition of the spoil from a manually dug ditch by providing a receptacle into which the excavated matter may be readily shoveled by the workmen, and a chain of buckets or scoops passing through said receptacle by which this matter is raised above the surface and delivered at either or both sides.

The machine is characterized, as to its chief structural features, by the provision of a main frame or platform supported on fore and aft trucks which straddle the ditch or trench, and one or more spoil receptacles and endless bucket-carriers so mounted on the frame that they may be bodily raised and lowered to the desired height, according to the depth of the ditch or trench being dug, and may also, when elevated, be swung angularly to a position in which their lower ends are above the surface of the ground, so that the machine may be readily transported from one place of operation to another. In the preferred form of the apparatus, herein shown, two such spoil receiving and removing devices are provided, one adjacent to the forward end and the other adjacent to the rear end of the main carrying frame. The main frame also supports a motor with actuating connections therefrom to the endless bucket-carrier or carriers; this motor, where two such bucketcarrier or carriers are employed, being located between the two. Each endless Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

Serial No. 770,914.

bucket-carrier delivers the spoil to a laterally-extending horizontal carrier that well overhangs one side of the machine frame, so as to deliver the spoil well outwardly of the side of the ditch.

My invention, its construction, mode of operation, and advantages, will all be readily understood when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which I have illustrated one practical embodiment thereof, and in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a top plan View thereof. F 1g. 3 is a rear elevation. Fig. at is a cross section through one of the endless bucketcarriers and its supporting and tilting mechanism. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail, showing the immediate driving mechanism of the endless bucket-carrier.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates the ditch or trench that is served by the machine, the sides thereof, where formed in sand or loose soil, being maintained from caving in by boards 11 spaced by struts 12 (Fig 3). Straddling this ditch and operat ing lengthwise thereof is the earth-handling machine. The main supporting frame of the machine is a skeleton structure composed of a series of cross-beams 13 and longitudinal beams 14: extending above said cross-beams. This main supporting frame is supported by fore and aft trucks comprising yokes 16 secured to the under side of the frame and carrying front and. rear wheels 17 and 18, respectively. The forked members of the front yoke which carry the wheels 17 are swiveled in the main horizontal members of the yoke, as shown in Fig. 1, to permit steering, as hereinafter described.

Adjacent to each end of this main supporting frame are mounted a pair of earthelevating devices which, as to their structural features and mode of operation, are substantially duplicates, so that a description of one will suffice for the other. Upon and crosswise of the two intermediate longitudinal beams 14 is journaled a shaft 19 (Figs. 3 and 4), fast on which are a pair of vertical guide-bars 20. Slidably engaging the guide-bars 20 is the supporting frame of the endless bucket-carrier, said frame, as herein shown, comprising a pair of parallel oppositely positioned T-bars 21 rigidly connected at their upper and lower ends to frames 22 and 23, respectively, in which latter are journaled the upper and lower sheaves 24 and 25, respectively, over and between which is trained an endless belt 26 carrying on its outer face a series of buckets 27. To the lower frame 23 is attached a boot 15 into which the dirt is shoveled by workmen in the ditch and through which the buckets 27 pass continually picking up and'elevating the dirt.

The bars 20 merely support the bucketcarrier laterally, the weight of the bucketcarrier frame and bucket-carrier being supported by a cable 28, one end of which is attached to a collar 29 on the shaft 19, while its other end is wound around a Windlassdrum 30 loosely mounted on the shaft 19, and having fast on one end a spur gear 31 that is'engaged by a pinion 32 on a shaft 33 actuated by a Windlass-arm 34. The cable 28, between its point of attachment 29 and the drum 30 passes over a sheave 35 mounted on the bottom frame 23, and'the Windlass-drum 30 is locked against unwinding by a pawl 31 engaging a ratchet 31 on the face of gear 31.

As shown in Fig. 5, the upper sheave 24 is formed with a centralxsprocket-wheel 36 that drivingly engages a sprocket-chain 37 attached to the innerface of the belt 26'.

On a pair of transverse ways 38' are mounted cross-conveyer frames 39 carrying endless cross-conveyer belts or aprons 40 suitably mounted thereon and projecting laterally of the main machine frame, each of said frames being secured to its support 38 as by bolts 39, and its overhanging end being supported from the main frame by a strut 41.

The bucket-carriers and cross-conveyers are both driven from a motor 42, preferably a gas engine, that is mounted substantially centrally between the ends of the main frame. The engine shaft 43 carries a pair of pulleys 44, each of which drives, through a belt 45, a pulley 46 loose on an intermediate cross-shaft 47 and drivingly connected thereto by a clutch 46. sprocket-wheel 48 that, through a sprocketchain 49, drives a sprocket 50 fast on one endof the upper sheave 24, said sprocketchain=49being guided over idler sprockets 51, 52 and 53. The cross-conveyers 40 are likewise driven from the intermediate crossshaft 47 through mechanism comprising a bevel pinion 54 on one end of shaft 47 engaging and driving a bevel pinion 55 on a way-shaft 56 that is mounted in bearings 57 on the main frame, and carries at its outer end asprocket-wheel 58 engaging and driving an endless sprocket-chain 59 trained over inner and outer sprocket-wheels '60 and 61 fast with the supporting pulleys 62 and 63 of the cross-conveyer belts 40. The latter are herein shown as delivering the spoil to one side of the machine only; but if it is desired to deliver to the opposite side, this- On shaft 47 is a may readily be effected by removing the bolts 39, slidingthe conveyer-frame along the supporting way 38 to overhang the opposite side, and similarly securing it in place. To effect the reversal in the direction of drive of the bolts 40, the bevelpinions 55 may be withdrawn from the shaft 56 and reversed by simply removing the caps of the bearings 57 and raising the inner end of shaft 56 sufiicientlv to clear the pinion 54.

The vertically operating bucket-carriers, after being raised by the Windlass 30, can

be tiltedto the dotted line positions indicated in'Fig. 1 so as to transfer themachine to another place of operation by mechanism comprislng a worm-wheel 67 fast on the a fixed post or stake a suitable distancein advance, the cable being wound up from time to time on the windlassby its operating handle 72. I

On the forward en'd'of the platform'is 'a steering-wheel 73, the steering-post 74 of v which is connected by links 7 5' and 76 to the forks 16 in which the front wheels 17 are mounted after the fashion of theordinary well known automobile steering-gear; and, for convenience in transporting themachine from one place of operation to another, I

provide a yoke 77 attached to the front wheel forks 16 to which a pole 78 may be pivotally hitched, to accommodate a team.

The machine is shown in working position by full lines in'Fig. 1. Workmen operating' with shovels in the ditchor trench 10 shovel the dirt, sand or other spoil into the boot 15 from which the spoil is elevated by the buckets 27 and dumped onto the cross-conveyers 40, by which latter it'is de-' livered off at one side of the machine. Where a pair of hoisting conveyers are employed, as herein shown, the forward conveyer is somewhat shorter than the rear conveyer and is ordinarily set at a'somewhat higher point, so that the forward conveyer elevates and removes thedirt in the upper portion of the ditch or trench being dug, while the rear conveyer similarly elevates and delivers the dirt in the lower portions thereof. Asthe digging of the ditch or trench proceeds, the machine is shifted lengthwise thereof by the Windlass 7 0, to best accommodate the workmen in the ditch.

Whenever it is desired to deliver thespoil to the'oppo'site side of the ditch, this may readily be done by loosening the fastenings 39 of the cross-conveyer frames 39, removing the strut 4C1, shifting the conveyor frames lengthwise of their supporting ways 38 so as to overhang the other side of the machine, and then refasten the conveyor frames by similar bolts inserted through holes 39 at the opposite end of the way 88, and applying the strut 4:1 to the other end of the conveyer frame.

When the machine has completed work upon one ditch or trench, and is to be transported to another place of operation, the bucket-conveyers are bodily raised by the windlass 30 until their lower ends are at or near the top of the ditch, and are then swung to the inclined positions shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1 by the worm 68 and worm-gear 67, until their lower ends are clear of the surface of the ground. The cable 71 is then taken in, a team is hitched to the pole 78, and, by manipulation of the steering-wheel 73, the machine is guided and directed, under the draft of the team, to its new place of operation.

The apparatus of my invention is particularly useful in connection with the excavation of deep sewer trenches, and the like, wherein the relation of the depth to the width of the trench is such that it is very difficult or impossible for the workmen in the trench to manually throw the soil out of the trench by their shovels. As hereinabove stated, the apparatus is not an excavating machine in the sense that it directly cuts or otherwise digs the soil from the ditch or trench, but it is designed as an auxiliary to the manual digging of comparatively deep ditches, trenches, or like excavations. By making the main frame or platform in the skeleton form shown, it is possible to carry thereon and lower therethrough any material or materials such as sheet piling for retaining trenches, and the like that may be used in connection with the ditch or trench being dug. It will be manifest to those skilled in the art that the minor details of the apparatus may be more or less varied without involving any departure from the principles involved or sacrificing any of the benefits and advantages of the invention. Hence, I do not limit the invention to the exact device of the apparatus shown and described except to the extent clearly indicated in specific claims.

I claim 1. In an earth-handling machine of the.

character described, the combination of a main frame, a shaft having its ends journaled in said main frame, a pair of longitudinal guides each embracing, keyed to, spaced apart on, and extending in a direc tion at right-angles to the axis of said shaft intermediate the journal supports on said shaft, a bucket carrier frame including two members T-shaped in cross-section with their center legs placed adjacent and opposite to each other on either side of said shaft and between said guides, and adapted to slide upon and within said guides, a drum rotatably mounted on said shaft between said guides and one of the journal supports for said shaft, a flexible member trained around said drum, secured to it at one of its ends and having its other end secured to the lower end of said bucket carrier frame, and adapted to be rotated independently of said shaft to raise or lower said bucket carrier frame with reference to said main frame, and means for rotating said shaft to adjust the angle of inclination of said T- shaped members.

2. In an earth-handling machine of the character described, the combination of a main frame, a shaft having its ends journaled in said main frame, a pair of channelshaped guides each embracing said shaft and keyed thereto with the legs of said guides adjacent to each other and slightly spaced apart on said shaft, the flanges of said members being located adjacent to each other on each side of said shaft and extend-- ing in a direction at right-angles to the axis thereof, and a bucket carrier frame adapted to slide upon said guide members including a pair of members T-shaped in cross-section, spaced apart on either side of said shaft, with their middle limbs extending toward each other between said channel shaped guide members and having their flanges adapted to slide upon the adjacent flanges of said channelshaped guide members,

means connecting said T-shaped members together, and means for raising and lowermg said bucket carrier frame wlth reference to said shaft.

WILSON F. BRUNT. Witnesses SAMUEL N. POND, MARY M. LEPPO.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

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