US1460466A - Loading and unloading apparatus - Google Patents

Description

July 3, 1923. 1,460,466

J. A. WORSHAM LOADING AND UNLOADING APPARATUS Filed March 6, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 1 l I I l I l 1 1 I E L J W/TNESSES llVl/E/VTOI? WWI/6& c/Tfl. Wham BY Z July 3, 1923.

J. A. WORSHAM LOADING AND UNLOADING APPARATUS Filed March's. 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESSES N/CUZ/U L MW ATTORNEYS July 3, 1923.

J. A. WORSHAM LOADING AND UNLOADING APPARATUS Filed March 6, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented July 3, 1923 NET JAMES AIlVIN WORSHAM, OF MAROA, ILLINOIS;

LOADING vANID UNLOADING APPARATUS.

Application filed March 6, 1920.

To all/whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES A. WORSI-IAM, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Maroa, in the county of Macon and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Loading and Unloading Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,

, This invention relates to improvements in loading and unloading apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus for loading freight cars and the like which is especially designed for handling ear corn, but can, of course, be used forloading various other materials, an object of the invention being to provide a portable device of the character stated which will be automatic in its operation, causing the tilting of a wagon or other body to discharge its contents intoahopper, then'feeding the material to the desired elevation andcausing it to fall into a pneumatic discharge tube through which a blast of air is directed to propel or convey the corn or other material into the car and dis charge the .same with such force that the car can be completely and evenly loaded.

.A further object is to provide an appae ratus of the character stated which will reduce labor to a minimum, whichwill not in jure the material handled, and which will greatly'facilitate the loading and unloading operation.

With these and other objects in view the inrention consists in certain novel features of construction, and combinations and arrangements of parts as will be more fully hereinafter described and pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure lis a viewin side elevation illustratingv my improved apparatus in operative position;

.Figure'2 is a view mainly in longitudinal section through the apparatus. but showing adjacent cooperating parts in elevation;

Figure 3 is a view in elevation showing the wagon elevating apparatus and illustrating in section the hopper into which the wa on body discharges;

igure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation showing the wagon elevating apparatus;

Figure 5 illustrates in plan the adjustable discharge spoutson the ends of the pneumatic conveyor; and

Figure 6 is a view in longitudinal section Serial No. 363,660.

through a portion of the pneumatic conveyor. a

My improved apparatus is supported mainly upon a frame 1, thelatter having wheels 2 supporting the same so that the apparatus can be conveniently moved from place to place. A lower casing 3 is mounted centrally on the frame 1 and contains'a rotary blower 4 of any approved construction which will give the necessary blast from the casing 3 through an outlet spout'5. A conveyor tube 6'communicates with the outlet end of the spout 5 and this conveyor tube 6 is made with a pair of branches 7 for discharging the material into a freight car 8 or other receptacle. Curved outlet spouts9 are pivotally connected to the ends of the branch pipes 7 as shown at 10in Figure 5, so that these outlet spouts can be variously positioned to direct the material to different portions of the car body and allow. the car to be entirely filled without changing the position of the main apparatus.

At the point of juncture between the conveyor tube 6 andthe branches 7, a hinged gate 9 is located and is controlled by a'hand lever 10 outsideof the tube and this gate. can be positioned at any desired angle to direct the material in the desired proportion through the branch pipes 7. It is frequently desirable to adjust this gate because the pneumatic draft may'have a tendency to. force the material through one branch in excess of the materialforced through the other and by moving this gate slightly, the

discharge can be made uniform or can be regulated to suit conditions.

An inclined frame 11 is mounted on the supporting frame 1 and in this frame 11. an endless conveyor 12 is located and is adapted to convey the material to the desired elevation and discharge the same through a chute 13 into the tube 6 at a point removed from the blower 4.- A lip or guide 14: is provided in the tube 6 which extends downwardly and forwardly at the rear wall of the inlet opening 15 so as to direct the mate'- rial downwardly and forwardly away from the blower at so as to prevent any possibility of the material falling into the blower cas ing and also to guide the material into a position to receive the force ofthe draft of air to convey the same into the car and pre vent the air from blowing up through the feed spout.

A hopper l6 ishingedly connected at one end as shown at 17, to the frame 11 so that it can be swung upwardly to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1, when it is desired to move the conveyor from place to place so as to allow a wagon or other receptacle illustrated by the numeral 18 to be moved into or out of rolling position. This hopper 16 is normally in approximately horizontal position supported upon suitable legs 19 and having an endless conveyor 20 mounted therein for receiving and directing the material discharged from the wagon onto the inclined conveyor 12 as indicated by the arrows in Figure 2. A counterbalanced spring 21 connects the hopper 16 with the frame 11 so as to counterbalance the weight of the hopper and facilitate its upward tilting movement as occasion may require.

The wagon 18, above referred to, is caused to elevate at its front end so as to tilt the body of the wagon and discharge the contents thereof through the rear end of the body into the hopper 16 and the apparatus for performing this wagon elevating or tilting means is illustrated most clearly in Fig ures 2, 3 and a, in which it will be noted that a frame 22 is provided with supports at its upper end idle pulleys 23 over which cables 24: are positioned and these cables at at their lower ends have rings 25 or other suitable means for connecting the cables to the hubs 26 of the front wheels 2'i"'of the wagon. Both of the cables 2% at one side of the frame 22 are secured to and wound upon a drum 28 and this drum 28 is driven by a gear train 29 to which power is transmitted by a bevelled pinion 30 on a shaft 31. A clutch 32 on the shaft 31 is operated by means of a lever 33 and this lever 33 may be operated manually or automatically operated when the wagon body reaches a sufficient incline which assures its being emptied, as will now be described.

The lever 33 is of general L-shape and the free end of its lower horizontal portion is connected by a link 341 with an arm 35 which latter is pivotally connected to the frame 22. This arm 35 has an eye 36 at its free end through which one of the cables 2a is guided in its movement onto the drum 28. A button 37 is fixed to the said cable 2% and when this button moves downwardly suffciently far to engage the eye 36 and depress the arm 35, it will. through the medium of the link 34:, cause the operation of the lever 33 to separate the clutch members 32 and stop the elevating action upon the wagon.

A motor 38 may be carried by the frame 1 or any other source of power may be utilized to operate the working parts of the apparatus. it is, however, desirable in many instances to provide a motor on the support 1 and this motor operates all of the workingparts of the apparatus above described.

rascaee While, of course, power may be transmitted to the conveyors and to the shaft 31 in any desired manner without departing from my invention, 1 have illustrated as power transmitting means an arrangement of pulleys, belts. sprocket wheels and sprocket chains, which will now be described.

A belt 39 connects a pulley -l0 operated by the engine with a pulley d1 on a shaft 42 supported on frame 1. A pulley 13 on the shaft 42 is connected by a belt 44 with a pulley 45 on the blower shaft 46. The endless conveyors 12 and 20 are driven by suitably arranged sprocket chains 47 and sprocket wheels 48 to give the desired speed to the conveyors and to allow for the hinged movement of the hopper. The power transmission means is illustrated more or less diagranimatically in the several figures and as it is of the ordinary type, need not be described in detail.

The shaft 31, above referred to, which operates the wagon tilting or elevating means, extends to the frame 11 and is connected to the latter in any desired manner. It is obvious that it is desirable to arrange this shaft so that it could be conveniently disconnected if desired, but I have not attempted to illustrate any particular means for so doing as such means will form no part of the present invention.

The operation is as follows: The apparatus is positioned as shown in Figure 1 with its discharge end projecting into the car 8 and may be supported upon a crossbar 49 secured across the entrance to the car to give the necessary elevation to the discharge end of the convey r.

As above stated, my improved apparatus is especially designed for handling ear corn and this has been a material which has been diflicult to handle with apparatus heretofore known because of the danger of breaking up the ears, although my invention is, of course, not limited to any particular material handled.

The wagon 18 is moved into position and the rings 25 placed over the hubs 26 of the front wheels 27. As the wagon is elevated, the angle or tilt given the body thereof will cause the material to discharge into the hopper 16 and the conveyor 20 therein will carry the material onto the inclined conveyor 12 and the latter will convey the ma terial upwardly and discharge the same through the chute 13 into the pneumatic tube 6 where it comes in contact with the blast of air from the blower 4 and is discharged through the branch pipe 7 and spouts 9 into the car. As the shaft 31, which operates the wagon tilting means, is connected to the operating means of the conveyors, the tilting of the wagon will be automatic and gradual so that the load can be uniformly discharged. hen the load is completely discharged, the wagon will be at a sufficient elevation to permit the button 37 on the cable 24: to engage the arm 35 and, through the medium of link 34; and lever 33, release the clutch 32 and permit the wagon to lower by gravity onto the ground.

Various slight changes might be made in the general form and arrangement of parts described without departing from the invention, and hence I do not limit myself to the precise details set forth, but consider myself at liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

In a portable loading and unloading de- Vice, a movably supported frame, a blower mounted upon the frame, a pneumatic tube through which the blower dischargsQsaidL pneumatic tube being provided with an inlet through the upper side thereof,"a chute extending upwardly from the inlet, an in clined conveyor carried by the frame and communicating at its upper end with the chute, and a hopper 'swingingly'supported at one end upon the frame with the attached end thereof in communication with the inclined conveyor,v said hopper being adapted for movement from a position in whichit is substantially horizontally'disposed and in which the free end thereof is positioned rearwardly of the frame to a position in which the 'free end-thereof is positioned above the frame.

JAMES ALVIN WORSHAM.

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