US1548497A - Portable conveyer - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 4, 1925.

F. H. WEEKS PORTABLE CONVE-YER Filed March 30, 1922 INTOR BY g A TTORNE Y Patented Aug. 4, 1925.

UNITED, STATES FRANCIS H. WEEKS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PORTABLE GONVEYER.

Application filed March 30, 1922. Serial No. 547,944.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS I'I. lVEnKs, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, county of Bronx, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Portable Conveyers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements 1n portable conveyers, and more particularly to conveyers of the type intended to handle loose materials in bulk, such as coal, broken stone, phosphate rock, sand, and other things of a similar nature. The object of my invention is to produce a simple, strong, and convenient apparatus which can be easily moved about and applied to a quantity of loose ma terial, so as to convey the material to an elevator or other means of handling it, or to any particular point where it may be desired to convey the material. It is intended for short hauls, however, and is auxiliarly to other means of disposing of the material. It is particularly adapted for use in the holds of vessels, and in other places where a comparatively large bulk of loose materials are stored, so as to save handling the material by shovels or hand labor, but so as to rapidly convey the material to a desired point.

Portable conveyers are not new, but as a general thing cofiveyers, whether portable or otherwise, for handling loose materials, require that the material be delivered upon the conveyer, and they work from the bottom instead of the top of a pile of loose material. Where such co-nveyers have been open at the bottom so as to have a raking effect, they have usually been connected with some large relatively immobile object, such as a car, wagon, or the like. My invention, however, comprises a structure embodying a chain of flights forming a conveyer which is open on the under side so that the structure can be dropped upon or placed in engagement with a pile of loose material, and will act like a continuous rake, eating its way into the pile, and raking or hauling the material forward to a point where it can be conveniently reached by grab-buckets, elevators, or other devices for its removal. It will be seen that by this arrangement the material does not have to be handled to get it to the conveyer, but the oonveyer draws the material forward, and by engaging the pile, hauls itself constantly into engagement therewith, and the flights engaging the material, tend to draw the whole structure nearer to the pile. In carrying out this idea, I preferably mount the conveyer on a portable frame which can conveniently be of triangular form with its apex down so that the frame can be tilted and the chain of flights easily applied to the pile. I preferably mount this frame on two wheels located substantially at the apex of the triangular frame, and thus the frame can be easily tilted up and down, and as the two wheels can be easily turned, the structure amounts to a pivoted frame because the wheels can be so easily turned to the right or left, and the raking end of the flights dropped on a pile as desired. As the structure is narrow, and is so mobile because of its two wheel mount, it can be pushed into narrow spaces and easily adapted to haul the material to the desired point. It will be seen that this makes a very nice means of practically pivoting the frame, and it is far less cumbersome than it would be to pivot the frame on a truck which cannot be easily swiveled. I can also use in connection with the conveyer, a chute at the discharge end of the machine, and the flights will draw the material up through the chute and discharge it.

Another object of my invention is to provide means at the discharge end of the conveyer to throw the material forward clear of the machine, so that I can gain additional distance, and place the material discharged in such a position that it can be operated on by buckets or the like without interfering with the machine. Other objects and advantages of the apparatus will appear from the description which follows.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the apparatus embodying my invention, and

Figure 2 is a broken side elevation with parts in section.

The drawings show by way of example, a preferred form of the structure which I have used, but from the following description it will be understood that many of the details shown can be changed or modified quite materially, without affecting the invention, which lies partly in the details, but also in the general design and arrangement of the operating parts of the apparatus. I prefer to have a generally triangular frame with the apex down, and with the frame pivoted at the apex, because this lends itself to ready adjustment, as will be presently seen.

In consonance with this idea, I have shown a frame comprising parallel'side bars 10 which near the center have depending side braces 11, and these connect with the sides of an inclined chute 12 at one end. of the machine. The chute really forms a part of the frame. erably cut off at an inclination as shown at 13 in Figure 2, so that these parts shall be substantially parallel with the rear and lower member of the carrier or conveyer proper hereinafter referred to, but this is simply a matter of convenience. The bottom of the chute is also cut away as shown at 14 in Figure 2, near the lower end of the chute, to prevent choking, as will be more particularly described hereafter. The frame is mounted on wheels'or trucks 15, which can be of any suitable kind, and these are located near the apex of the frame, as shown.

The machine frame is also provided with a suitable supporting bracket 16 on which is mounted a motor 17, which can be of any ap proved type, and which is shown as an electricmotor, the shaft of which carries a sprocket wheel 18, moving the chain 19 connecting with the sprocket wheel 20' on the shaft 21, this being suitably supported on the top of the frame, preferably near the center. The shaft also carries a sprocket wheel 22, from which extends a chain 23, this running to one end of the machine near the top of the chute 12, and connecting with a sprocket wheel 24 on the transverse shaft 25, which is suitably supported as shown'at 26 on the end of the machine'frame.

The shaft 25 carries a central and smaller sprocket 27 which drives the chain 28, and this can be of any suitable or preferred construction. The chain 28 is an endless chain, and extends over an idler 29 on the top and near the middle portion ofthe frame, the idler being suitably journaled as shown at 30, thence the chain extends over an idler 31 journaled as shown at '32 at one end of the machine frame, and from here the chain runs over the idler 33 which is journaled at the bottom and near the middle part of the machine, preferably at a point at the foot of the chute 12. The chain 28- carries suitable fligl'its'or blades 34L forming an endless carrier, and by reference to Figure 2, it will be seen that at one end of the machine the carrier is entirely open, while at theopposite end the lower member of the carrier runs through the inclined chute 12. Thus the open end of the machine, which for convenience we will call the rear end, can be dropped upon a pile of coal or other loose material, and it will drag the material from the pile The sides of the chute are prefmeats? forward, and the material will collect in a little pile at the foot of the chute 12, and from this will be carried upward through the chute. Such material is apt to have large lumps in it. The flights will cut their way through the collected material, forming a path, and the lumps which may be out of ,the line of flights, will strike the sides of the chute, will have a yielding backing, and

will mostly Work their way into the line of" flights and up through the chute.

At the discharge end of the machine and preferably at the top of the chute 12, I provide means for throwing the material free of the machine to get additional distance and to leave the machine out of the way of any buckets or other things which may receive the discharged material. To this end I arrange means at the upper end of the chute 12 for throwing the material which is being handled free of the machine. Any suitable means can be employed, but I find a paddle wheel rotating in the opposite direction to the travel of the conveyer or carrier 283 i-, desirable. To this end I arrange on the shaft 22 a drive pulley 35 carrying a cross belt 36, and this connects with a pulley 37 on a transverse shaft 38 which is arranged at the upper end of the chute 12, and which has a paddle wheel fixed thereon, the blades 39 of which receive the material discharged from the chute, and as the direction of the rotation of the paddle wheel is opposite to that of the carrier above referred to, the material is thrown clear, thus gaining distance and leaving the material where it can be readily taken by buckets'or otherwise without interfering with the machine.

It will be evident from the description which I have given that the construction of the frame of the machine, the arrangement for driving the various parts, and the form of motor and other details, canbe'departed from without affecting the invention. Also it will be understood that any suitable carrier having any preferred form of flights or blades, can be used. The important thing is to have a portable frame with a line of movable flights carried thereby, means for operating the flights, and to have them arranged so that they can be dropped upon or placed in engagement with a pile, and they will haul the material forward as stated. Moreover, the flights willserve to draw the machine into the pile instead of forcing it away, and the apparatus therefore works very nicely, and it will be understood that the apparatus can have a different form of frame, and can be used either with or without a chute, according to circumstances.

It will be seen from the foregoing descripiii) tion that the apparatus which I have shown can be wheeled up to the pile of material, or placed adjacent to such material, the under 1,54aee7 part dropped upon or in engagement ,with the pile, and the machine started, after which the material will be drawn forward and upward through the chute, if a chute is used, and that as the machine is supported on a pivotal point, it will automatically eat its way into the pile, and when it has removed the material in its path, the machine may be tilted and turned so as to start in on a new path, until all the material to be handled is removed. The extreme portability of the machine, the easy turning of it, and its automatic adjustment to piles of various sizes and purposes, render it very easy to operate, and it will handle a great deal of material in a comparatively short time so as to draw the material from the pile and deliver it to an elevator or other means of dis-- posal.

I claim:

1. A manually movable conveyer complete in itself comprising a rigid tilting frame, a quick turning truck supporting the frame near the center and to which the frame is pivoted, an inclined chute at one end of the frame, and a conveyer extending longitudinally of the frame with its flights projecting downward on the under part of the conveyer, said flights being open at one end of the machine and passing through the aforesaid chute at the opposite end.

2. A manually movable conveyer complete in itself comprising a frame of generally triangular shape mounted near the apex of its triangle on a two-wheeled truck to which it is pivoted, a chute extending from adjacent to the pivoted part of the frame to one end portion thereof, and a bladed conveyer extending longitudinally of the frame with its blades projecting downward on the under part of the structure and left open at the rear part thereof, said blades travelling longitudinally through the aforesaid chute.

3. A manually movable conveye'r complete in itself comprising a tilted frame mounted near its middle portion on an easily turned support to which it is pivoted, a chute extending from a point near the pivot of the frame to the end portion thereof, said chute having its bottom cut away leaving a clearance space, and an endless bladed conveyer extending longitudinally of the frame and substantially the full length thereof, said conveyer having its blades projecting clownward on the under part and left open at one end portion of the frame and arranged to move longitudinally through the aforesaid chute.

4-. A manually movable oonveyer comprising a tilting frame mounted near its middle portion on a track to which it is pivoted, a chute extending from a point near the pivot to the upper end portion of the frame, said .chute having its bottom cut away providing a clearance space, a motor supported by the frame and provided with a driving shaft, a driven shaft carried by the frame, a chain connecting the driving and driven shafts for driving the latter, an endless conveyer extending around said frame and provided with blades, said conveyer having its blades extending downwardly on the end portion of the frame and arranged to move longitudinally through the chute, an idler secured to the frame on the upper portion thereof, a second idler secured to said frame adjacent the pivotal connection, means connected to said driven shaft for operating said endless conveyor, a discharge wheel secured to said frame adjacent the upper end of said chute for receiving material from said chute and throwing such material away from the machine, and means connected to said driven shaft and to said discharge wheel for rotating the latter.

FRANCIS H. XVEEKS.

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