US1686127A - Apparatus for handling loose material - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 2, 1928. 1,686,127 C. E. DAVIS APPARATUS FOR HANDLING LOOSE" MATERIAL Filed Dec. 30, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 E9222??? Czar/e5 6 D C. E. DAVIS APPARATUS FOR HANDLING LOOSE MATERIAL Filed Dec. 50, 1924 4 sheets-Sheet v Char/as ZJ'Zness m M Oct. 2, 1928. 1,686,127

c. E. DAVIS A APPARATUS FOR HANDLING LOOSE MATERIAL Filed Dec. 30, 1924 4'Sheets-Sheet 4 i 15 T 12 if 17 ,JOO H & I n z V 5 showing. one: form in i atented fist. 2, "1928.

UNITED STATES 1 teet me mwe cir'n trns' E. avis, on" CHICAGO, ILtrNo' s, nssrenon io GOODMAN MANUFACTURING oomrm, or cmcaeo, ir-Lmors, a conrone'rron on ILLINOIS.

V APPARATUSTOR H-Annmne LOOSE MATERIAL.

Application fileeiiecemben 30,. 1924,. Serial no. 758,948. "Renewed; March 5, 192's. 1

loose material while it is-gathering. its load."

Thegprincipal object ofmy invention is to provide an improved apparatus of the class described and more specifically to provide improvements in the construction of the auxiliary power operated means for forcing the scraper into the pile of loose. material to be gathered. f

The present invention presents"v certain inn.-

provements overthe apparatus disclosed; in

my, application bearing. Serial Number 638,232,. filedi'May 11, 1923.9. My invention may be. best understood. by reference to the accompanying drawings which it may be embodied. J

In these drawing-s1" Figure 1- lS.=a.Slde.Vl6W of the mobilexhead f-rame forming apart of the apparatus;

Figure2 is a plan View of the headframe" showing the scraper: in cooperating position therewith and having. my improved formof propelling varm applied thereto;

Figure is anenlarged. section taken on line: of Figure 2;

Figure- 4: is an enlargedisection taken. on line H of Figure3 ;f i Figure 5 is a detailof the ratchet mecha-' 'nism providing; driving connection between the tail rope drum.and the scraper propelling mechanism; and

Figures 6, 7 and Sare diagrams illustrating: the complete installation of-the scraper apparatus in a mine'and showing the parts in: the various positions assumed duringthe operation. thereof. I

My presentinvention contemplates the use of a reciprocable scraper adapted to have cooperative engagement with the head frame arranged in position to providelateral bear ing for said scraper whereby thelatter isdirected into the pile of loosematerial to gather the same. In the form shown herewith this head frame comprises a mobile selfpropelling unit capable ofbeing steered and readily moved" from place to place in the mine under its own power. It also includes draft devices or hoist located at a point remote therefrom 'connected with ahead rope for pulling the scraper forwardly, and in addition auxiliary power devices on the head frame operable to move the. scraper forwardly about the head frame-only during the loading movement, i. e, while being directed .into the loose materialfor gathering a load. Referring, now to the details sho'wn in the drawings, the main elements of. the. apparatus include a head frame 1 and a scraper 15 having a head" rope :16 anda tail rope 17. The scraper-I5 is preferably bottomless as shown herein although a bottom may be provided. The head rope may be connected to the scraper in any suitable manner, as for instance througha bail 16 pivotally connected to cro'ssmembers 16 316 2:

assist in 'the'und'erstanding of the particular improvement forming the subject matter of the present invention. Thev head frame is providedwith-amain frame lOsupported on a pair of'tractor wheels 12, 12, within'the main frame,and a steering wheel. 13, pivotally supported at therear end of the frame :10 to steer the apparatus.- Power devices are mounted on the head frame for positively'moving-the scraper in its digging and loading'movem'ent into the pile of material. Thesepower devices are preferably operable andcontrollable independently of the head rope. In the form shown the scraper moving mechanism in.- cludes an arm 30', extending laterally from the head frame and carried on-anannuljalr driving ring; 33'mounted concentrically with A; briefdescription of the headframe will i I i thecurved forwardiportion'l l of the main 3 vide a bearingshoe a'djacentthe outer end of'the: arm'30 and attachedthereto' a retain ing member 34 extending forwardlyin-to posiftion to engage the outer side of the scraper when the latter is in engagement with the propelling arm 30, as shown in Figure 1?. 3 As shown herein, the'retainingmember 34 and the bearing shoe' 31 are conformed tohfit the outer sideof the scraper thereby forming a pocket into which the scraper is guide d'when pulled rearwardlyv intoits initial loading position. The outer end of said retaining member. also provides a substantial bearing near'the' forward. or cutting edge 22 of the scraper while-it is beingfpropelled forwardly i into the pile of loosematerial. A guideor sheave 32 is mounted adjacent the outer end f of the arm for engaging the tail rope 17.

. the tail rope drum 18 also mounted concentrio with the circularportion 14 of the head frame, the power connections between said drivingring andrope drum being supplied through a ratchet device whereby they are rotated in unison by power applied to the drum. .Thesepower connections will now be --lescr1bed..

' A motor 40 is mounted on the head frame having two driving pinions 42 and 43. The

' driving pinion'42 is meshed with the gear 44 associated with one member 45 of a double clutch mechanism 46. The driving pinion 43 is connected through the idlergear 47 with a gear48 associatedwith another member 49 of the double clutch mechanism. These clutch members45 and 49 are looselymounted on a shaft and arev adapted to be selectively engaged by a pair of oppositely disposed cone clutch members 58, 59, feathered on the shaft 55 and movable in opposite directions to engage one or the other of said clutch members. The clutch member49, being driven through-the idler gear 47 asdescribed, af-

fords reversed movements" of the two clutch members 45 and 49 respective to each other so as to drive't-he shaft 55 inoppo'site directions, as desired. v ,7 7

. The-shaft '55 extends 'rearwardly from this double clutch mechanism and has a worm .77 thereon, .engaginga coacting worm gear 78' onia horizontalgshaft 79. Ai gearis keyed on thelatter shaft andis engaged. with a gearSlon theparal-lel shaft 82.. The gear f8l.is provided with sliding clutch members 84, 84 extending therethrough, and movable bya shifter member into driving-engagement with a beveled pinion 86. Said pinion is meshed 'with'a beveled gear 70 carrying a J spur gear 72 meshedwith a toothed periphery may be of any suitab e construction.

73 of the upperdrum flange. The ratchet device connecting ro e drum 18 with arm 30 For example, a pawl is pivotally mounted on said arm adjacent the lower drum flange 36- and is adapted to engage in a series of notches 91, 91, formed about said'flange. The pawl is under tension of a suitable spring 92. V The arrangement is such'that When the tailrope drum isdri'ven at low speed in a direction to unwind the rope, the pawl 90 engages one as of the notches 91, and the driving ring 33 which carries arm, 30 and retaining member 34 will be rotated in unison with the drum to advance the scraper about 'the head frame.

Simultaneously, the tail rope will be untheloose material during .itsmoyement about the head frame.

'In the form shown a high speed driving connection to the tail rope drum 18 is'a'lso provided from shaft 55 throughthe follow ing mechanism: g V A gear'65 keyed on shaft 55 is meshed with a gear 66keyed on a parallel shaft 67. Sliding clutch 68 is feathered on the latter shaft, and is adapted: in one'position to operatively engage a bevel pinion 69 meshed with the beveled. gear 7 O. This last named gear also comprises a part of the low speed connection be fore described, and from this point on both high and low speed connections to the drum are the same, including the upright shaft 71 and spur gear 72 meshed with toothed flange 73 of the tail rope drum 18. By. means of the high speed gearing just described the drum 18 may be driven in a direction to-wi nd in'the tail rope ata relatively highspeed after the scraper has been unloadedand is being returned empty to loading position at the head. frame.

The power connections for propelling the i head frame need not be described in detail as 7 they form no part of the present invention.

After'a load has been discharged from the scraper at the room entry, the latter :is returned to its initial starting position adjacent thearms 80 and 34-by means of the tail rope 17, at high speed. To counteract the shock resulting to the-entire head frame from this contact it has been foundadvisable to provide an absorbent therefor. .In theform shown this comprises ametal block member 100 preferably bolted to the frame l just beyond the rearmost' possible position'of the arm 80; A recess 101 is provided in said block 100-into whichis fitted a suitable tension spring-102 the forward end of which proj'ects'beyond the front surface "of said block: A finger member103 is suitably fastened ontheuppers-ur: face of the arm 30. This finger is adapted to engage the spring 102 forcingit to contract into its receptacle 101. v 102 and the finger 103are inconstant alignmentwith each other, the latter being suitably secured to the rear of arm 30, thuslimiting the rearward movement of said arm and less- Obviously the spring en the shock to said arm and head frame when the former reaches its initial loading position as shown in Figure 1. i Y The usev and operat1on of the device herein described will be understood by reference: to V the diagrams in Figures 6, 7 and 8, in which a head frame 11s shown operating lilttl'OOIIl 2 of a typical room and pillar mine. The

coal is successively dislodged inportions from the working face 3 at one end of the room I and is loaded out by means of the scraper 15.

The head rope 16 of said scraper extends to the room entrance where it is attached to a suitable mine hoist or similarwinding device adapted to move the scraper at a relatively high speed. The mine hoist is not shown herein as it forms no part of the pres-' ent invention. The tail rope 17 is wound on the tail rope drum 18 carried by the head frame, as has been heretofore described. In its initial loading position the scraper is drawn rearwardly by the tail rope into the position shown in Figure 1, in which position the open end of said scraper faces the pile of loose material. In Figure 6 of the dia grams the scraper is shown while its load is being gathered, having been propelled forwardly about the head frame by means of the low speed power connections on said head frame operating through the propelling arm 30. It will be observed that during this operation the retaining member 34 on the propelling arm is in position to support the outer and front edge 22 of the scraper and retains the scraper in close bearing engagement with the front end of the head frame. This arrangementis found to be an improvement over the device heretofore utilized for this purpose as for instance, in the form disclosed in my prior application a hook or projection WZISPI'OVlClGCl on the drivmg ring to engage the inner slde of the scraper. By reason of the arcuate movement of the scraper under propulsion as described, the scraper has a tendency to swing outwardly and away from the head frame. This tendency is effectively overcome without the use of hooks or other engaging devices on the inner side of the scraper. The improved form: of retaining member 34 is also advantageous in receiving the scraper when it is returned into. engagement with the propelling arm and'the head frame, for example, as shown in Figure .8, n which figure the tail rope 17 is under tension and the scraper 1s guldedv into engagement with said propelling arm 30. by

I claim as my inventioni 1. In an apparatusof the class described, a movable head frame, a draft operated scraper having lateral bearing engagement with said head frame while being moved thereabout, and auxiliary power means on said head frame for moving sald scraper thereabout including a laterally projecting arm extending around the rear end of the scraper to engage the outer side thereof ad jacent the forward end thereof.

2. In an apparatus of the class described,

a movable head frame, a draft operated scraper having lateral bearing engagement with said head frame whlle belng moved thereabout, and auxiliary power means on said head frame for moving said scraper thereabout including a laterally projecting.

arm extending around the rear end ,of the scraper to engage the outer side thereof at a point substantiallyv more than half way I from the rear end of the scraper.

3. In an apparatus of the class described,

a movable, head frame, a draft operated scraper having lateral bearing engagement with the head frame while being loaded, and J auxiliary powermeans on said head frame for propelhng said scraper, includ ng a rotative annular member carrying a laterally projecting arm extending about the rear end of said scraper and engaging the outer side thereof at a point substantially more than 4 half way from the rear end thereof.

4. In an apparatus of the class described,

a movable head frame, a draft operated scraper havinglateral bearing engagement with the head frame while being loaded, and auxiliary power means on said head frame for propelling said scraper including a laterally projecting arm and a detachable member extending forwardly about the outer side of said scraper and en'gaging'the same adjacent the forward end thereof. V p

5. In an apparatus of the class described, a .movable head frame, a draft operated scraper having lateral bearing engagement with said head frame while being moved thereabout, auxiliary power meanson said head frame for moving said scraper 'thereabout including a laterally projecting arm extending around the rear end of the scraper to engage theouter side thereof adjacent the forward end thereof, and resilient bumper means interposed between said head-frame and said arm. Y Signed at Chicago, in the county of Cook I and State of Illinois, this 27th day, of Decemher, A. D. 1924. v

I CHARLES E. DAVIS.

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