US1633115A - Trenching machine - Google Patents

Description

T. LOKEN TRENCHING mourns June 21 1927, 1 15' Filed Feb. 11. 192 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 11 Ju e 21, 1927 To LOKEN TRENCHING mqamn Filed Feb. 11. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 21, 1927.

UNITED STATES I 1,633,115 PATENT OFFICE.

TRULS LOKEN, OI KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR T AUSTIN MACHINERY COR- POBA'IION, or CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS, A CORPOBATIGN OI ILLINOIS.

TBE'NCHING MACHINE,

Application filed February 11, 1924. Serial no. 691,957.

The invention relates to trenching machines and has particular reference to that class of trenching machines having at the rear end thereof a swinging boom, or bucket support, and in which the excavating is performed by endless series of buckets which are caused to travel'up and down the said boom by means of sprocket chains, or other endless members, whereby the buckets are filled while moving upward against the end wall of the trench and'inwhich each bucket discharges its load when turned upside down at the upper end of its upward path of travel;-each bucket, for this purpose,being provided with an open inner side to permit the dirt to enter the open mouth of the bucket and pass entirely through the latter. This operation. of filling and discharging the bucket takes place continuously through the rotation of the sprocket chains, and the upper end of the boom, or bucketcarrying support, is provided with an adjusting device for tilting the boom about a horizontal axis and in a vertical plane, there- I on'tlie line 3-3'ofFig. 1;

by varying the working depth 7 of said bu kets, depending upon desired.

Generally stated,-the tion resides in the provisionof a novel and highly efficient trenching machine of the foregoing generalcharacter, h H

One of the'objects of the invention is to provide a trenching machine, of the character described, having means for continuously and'eifectually discharging thecontents 'of each bucket as itreaches the uppermost point in its pathof' travel, said bucket discharging means being designed to function withoutpossibility of breakage-due to the passage, of stone,or other foreign matter, through the'buckets, and to further operate efiectively regardless of the consistency, or

- moisture content, of the material being, exava e I t 1 v A still further object of the invenon tails and features of construction and novel machineof this particular'characten,

improvement, the. invention consists in the set forth and claimed. t

the depth of trench object of the invenrear portion of atrenching havmg attached thereto, by means not shown,

resides in the provision'of certain decombinations tend ng to increase the general efiiciency andserviceability oflan excavating I p secured to the shaft 3' by means of the bear- Withsuch objects view, as well as other objects which-are incidentto the use of. the

provided parts, and combinations thereof hereinafter Y I i preferably'hexagonal, orjotherwise polygly understood, there are shown in the accompanying drawings means for carrying the same into practicalefiect, without limiting the improvements, in their. usefulapplication, to a. the particular construction which, for the purpose of explanation, has beenmade the subject of illustration.

In said drawings: v Figure 1' is a detail vertical sectional view of the upper portion of the boom, or'bucket support, which is mounted at the rear end of the machine, and illustrating the sprocket chains on which the buckets are mounted, as well as the construction and operation of the ejector, or bucket cleaner devices, and also illustrating the manner in which the buckets discharge While passing around the sprocket wheels at the upper end of the boom;

Fig. 2. is a detail rear elevation of the .upper portion of the boom and illustrating more particularly; the bucket cleaner mechanism shownin Fig. 1; V

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail section, taken .Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse section taken on the line H of Fig. 2; and i 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the plate which constitutes the ejector and cleaner, and which is of a shape and character to scrape the entire surface of each bucket, whereby the said ejector, or. cleaner, through relative movement, passes entirely through each bucket.

Re erring to the drawings, lindicates the an auxiliary frame portion, or super-structure 2, having atits rear end a bearing portion in which is suitably journaled a trans-.

verse shaft 3.- The boom, or bucket support,

4: is mounted to swing upon the shaft 3 and comprises a lower portion consisting of opposed channel members 5, secured together and in spaced relation, as by the upper and lowerplates 31 bolted or riveted thereto, and adaptedto project or depend downwardly into the trench, and opposed upper portions, orjmembers, 6 secured thereto and rotatably" ing blocks 7 The members 6 are secured together inspaced relation, as by bolts bolted or riveted thereto 'as'at 33, The shaft- 3 ;is

with a'pair of sprocket wheels 8, i

machine frame onal, in shape and suitably spaced from one another, over which are adapted to pass the endless sprocket chains 9. A lower shaft (not shown), similar to the shaft 8 and having sprocket wheels similar to the wheels 8, is mounted at the lower end of the boom, or bucket support t within the ditch over which pass the lower portions of the endless sprocket chains 9. Suitable idler pulleys 10 are provided at intervals along the boom over which the sprocket chains pass on their downward passage toward the trench. The upper shaft 3 is further provided with a preferably larger sprocket wheel 14E over which passes a second sprocket chain by means of which the sprocket wheels 8 and chains 9 are rotated from the machine by any suitable source of power (not shown here).

A suitable or desired number of buckets 11 are secured at intervals to the links of the chains 9, each bucket being preferably rigid with two parallel links of said chains and each bucket being preferably of rounded, or turtle-back formation to provide an opening at each end, the said rounded formation of the bucket providing a receptacle for the material to be excavated when the buckets are in their normal position, traveling up or down with the sprocket chains. Each bucket has its cutting edge, or lip, provided with flared digging teeth 12 and its sides provided with corresponding flared teeth 13, whereby the trench being excavated is wider than the combined width of the sprocket chains to permit freedom and flexibility of operation.

Referring to Fi g. 1, itwill be observed that on their upward journey, the hexagonal shape of the sprocket wheelsS causes the buckets 11 to tilt outwardly away from the sprocket chains in position to have their contents discharged therefrom and that while traveling toward or from' said sprocket wheels 8, the buckets rest tightly against the sprocket chains in position to carry or receive a load of'material from the trench. At their upper extremity of travel, the buckets pass between the upper frame members 6 of the bucket supporting boom 4.

A frame member, or yoke, 16 is secured as by a suitable pivot 17 to the upper portion of the boom, the upper parallel deflected arms of the yoke being offset and between which is pivoted, as at 18, the bucket cleaner 19. The cleaner 19 has secured thereto, at its upper portion.a plate 20 of uliicient'wi'dth to traverse the interior of the bucketswith a slight clearance, in order to effectually eject thecontents of the buckets as they successively'reach the cleaner. The cleaner 19 further comprises a depending arm 21, having a pivot portion 22 to which is secured, [the upper end of a rope, or cable 23. l The latter extends from the arm 21 of the cleaner, I over an idler 24-, suitablysecured to the upper portion of the opposed channelmembers When a bucket containing a load of material reaches the point where it is tilted away from the sprocket wheels 8, as shown in Fig.1, the plate 20 of the cleaning device enters the bucket and impact-s against the material contained therein. The pressure of the material contained within the moving bucket tends to rock the cleaner 19 on its W1 pivot 18, thereby moving the weight, or block 25 upwardly on its runway between the channel beams. Should the material contained in the buckets be of a loose or dry character, the weight alone of the block 25 is sutficient to expel the material from the bucket without rocking the cleaner on its pivot 18. However, should the material be of a heavy or moist character, its tendency would be to resist the pressure of the cleaning plate 26, thereby rocking the cleaner on its pivot and raising the weight an appreciable distance. Consequently, when the tendency of the sticky material to adhere has been overcome by continued travel of the bucket,

the weight 25, together With its rolling contact with the beams, causes it to return suddenly to its normal position, thereby rocking the cleaner 19 on its pivot with-sufficient force to suddenly and completely eject the contents of the bucket from the bucket and into the hopper 28, and thence to the endless belt, or conveyer 29, whereby the ejected material is immediately discharged at a point remote from the trench. i 7

It will be further apparent that, should an obstruction, such as a Wedged stick or stone, or the like, come incontact with the cleaner 19, its manner of mounting described serves to effectually prevent anydanger of breakage of any'part, as the foreign matterlodged in the bucket will overcome the weightof the block 25 suficiently to pass over the cleaner without damaging the same, afterwh'ich the block 25 will return the cleaner to its normal cleaning position. It will be further, apparent that the size or weight ofth'efblock '25 may be varied'to meet existing conditions and to insure an ellicient functioning of the cleaning mechanism in different varieties of soil. "The cleaningplate 25ztravels'in an arc of obviously lesser radius than the arc of the bucket body, which further'serves'as an insurance against the. cleaner 'j'wedging against the bucket bodywhii'e passingthere- 1 various changes may be made in the form,

construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim 1. In a trenching machine, in combination:

longitudinal travel with respect to said boom,

said buckets being adapted when at a determined point of said travel to tilt into dumping position, a cleaner pivot-ally mountt said buckets, and anti-friction means carried by said weight.

2. In a trenching machine the combination of, an endless conveyor, a plurality of buckets carried by said endless conveyor, and

a bucket cleaner, said cleaner being arranged to pass through the buckets of the conveyor during operation and to remove material therefrom by impact therewith and being provided with means for delivering an impact in proportion to the speed of the buckets.

3. In a trenching machine the combination of, an endless conveyor, a: plurality of buckets carried by said endless conveyor, and a bucket cleaner for removing material from said buckets by impact therewith, said cleaner being provided with means for cooperating therewith to exert a progressively decreasing force against the material after the impact;

4. In a trenching machine the combination of, an endless conveyor, buckets carried by said conveyor, and a cleaner associated with said conveyor and arranged to sweep material from said buckets, said cleaner being mounted for swinging movement and provided with means for resisting the swinging movement of the cleaner in at least one direction and by the inertia thereof.

5. In a trenching machine the combination of, an endless conveyor, buckets carried by said conveyor, a boom for supporting said conveyor, a bucket cleaner for removing ma terial from said buckets by a sweeping action, and a gravity device for resisting movement of the cleaner in at least one direction and returning the cleaner to a normal position, said boom being formed to provide a housing and guideway for said gravity member.

TRULS LOKEN.

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