US1998249A - Conveyer device - Google Patents

Description

April 16, 1935.

c. G. OHARA QQNVEYER DEVICE Filed March 6, 1933 0. M: G 07-154mm, wg g Patented Apr. 16, 1935 v CONVE-YER DEVICE Charles G. OHara, Norristown, Pa, assignor to Norristcwn Foundry Company, Inc., l lorr s town, Pa; a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March'6, 1933, Serial N0. 659,676

5Claims. (01;. 19 -141) This invention is particularly designed for inclusion in automatic stokers of the general char-. acter described and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 618,148 filed June 20, 19%, for Letters Patent of the United States. 6 In such stokers, the'ashes. are elevated in a casing inclosing an endless chain withbucket conveyers which deliver the ashes to a lateral opening in the casing through which the ashesare discharged into acan orother removable receptacle. It was found-in practice that such receptacles are sometimes left in such relation to the discharge opening from the conveyer casing that the ashes piled up ontop of the receptacle and obstructed said openings Therefore, in the construction shown in said copending application, I provided a Y-fitting in connection with the-discharge opening.

from the conveyer casing adapted to discharge the ashesinto two adjoining cans or receptacles, andprovided that Y-fitting with a safety 'open-, ingand a door for the same so that if andiwhen the normaldischarge opening from the conveyer casing became obstructed by ashes owing to the neglect of the operator to, remove, the can or cans, the pressure of the ashes upon said safety door would open the latter-and discharge the surplus ashes aside from they cans. However, in practical experience with I that construction .and arrangement, I find that incases of neglect to. remove the ash receptacles at the proper time during the continued operation of the stoker, the ashes whichaccumulate in the. Y-fitting partly. fall back into'the conveyer casing, thus. imposing a loss of energy in therepeated uplifting of such surplus ashes, and that if the ashesbecome damp,

as frequently. occurs from wheather conditions,

the force ofgravity of the ashes against said safety door issometimes insufiicient to open the latter because of the coherence of the moist ashes, and the 'oonveyer casing becomes clogged with ashes-from top to bottom.

Therefore, thepurpose and effect, of my present invention is to provide means to prevent the return of ashes into said conveyer casing through the opening from which theyhave beengdischarga ed toward the receptacle and if" surplus ashes accumulate outside of said discharge openingb'etween it an'dthe safety door, to impose 'upon such surplus ashes mechanicallpressure in addition to the gravitative forcethereof to insure the.

opening of .the' safety door. After considerable experimentatioml have'beenableto devise a sin gle movable'element to accomplish both of those 3 purposes, said element consisting 'ofa single casting suspended from a pivot at its top, havinga deflecting plate at its lower end and a lever arm extending from said pivot to said plate of such configuration as to be encounteredby the outer edge of. each of the buckets as the latter successively approach said discharge opening in'the 'conveyer casing with theefiect of oscillating said casting'upon its pivot and imposing pressure from the buckets through 'said lever and deflecting plate upon the ashes outsideof the latter.

:My invention includes the various novel fea-' tures' of construction and arrangement hereinafter more definitely specified. A

In said drawing, Fig. I is a fragmentary elevation of the discharge side of the convieyer casing. Fig. II is a vertical-sectional View taken on the line II, II, in Fig. Ithrough said casing and I its'appurtenances. H

In said figures,-the conveyer casing l is cone veniently inclined upwardly-and; outwardly from the ash elevator base of the stoker'in which the ashes are deposited. Said casingv 'incloses the endless conveyer'chain 2 whichis-conven iently hung upon-sprocket wheels 3 and 4 respectively provided with shafts 5' and 5 at'the bottom andtop of said casing.- Sai'dshaft .5 is

provided with any" suitable .means to turn-it to progress the chain, in thedirection of the arrow indicated in Fig. II. Said shaft 6 is conveniently mounted in the inverted'U-shaped bearing frame 8 which is'mounted for adjustment, in'the direction of length of-the chain, in the slideway ii-"in the elevator casing. I and is continually stressed upwardly by the spring 'HL indi cated in Fig. II, said spring ll encircles the plunger l2, whichiis rigidly connected with said bearing frame 8 and bears at its lower end upon the-removablecover "i 3 of said elevator casing vide said discharge opening with the Y- fitting- 2-2 in connection with said casing l and adapted to discharge the ashes through its pendent branches 23 and 2t into'adjoining cans or receptacles. As indicated in Fig. I, said branches may be provided with respective flexible conduits 25 and 26 for extension to said receptacles. Said Y-fitting 22 has the safety opening 21 above and between said branches with any suitable means, for instance, the studs 29, for supporting a safety door 38 which normally closes said safety opening and which is preferably connected with said Y-fitting by the flexible connector 3| so that said door will not be lost in the discharged ashes, if and when said door is dislodged from its supporting studs to permit the ashes to be discharged through said safety opening aside from the receptacles to which the ashes are normally discharged through said branches.

The lever 32 has its upper end fulcrumed upon the pivot 33 which is conveniently a bolt extending through said casing I, having the head 34 exterior to one side of said casing and r the nut 35 exterior to the other side of said casing. Said lever has the deflecting platen at its lower end extending obliquely adjacent the lower end of said discharge-opening 2|, and the counterbalance Weight 39 on said lever is so proportioned and located as to normally maintain said deflecting plate in the position shown in Fig. II with the inner cam edge M of said lever extending in the path of the outer edges of said buckets 20. In that normal position, said deflecting plate insures that all of the ashes dumped from said buckets shall be deflected outwardly through said discharge opening 2| instead of partly falling back within said casing I. Consequently, said lever is adapted to be encountered by said buckets in succession with the efl'ect of thrusting it outwardly through said discharge opening 21 and against any surplus ashes which may accumulate in said Y-fitting, with the effect of imposing upon such surplus ashes mechanical pressure in addition to the gravitativerforce thereof to insure the opening of said safety door 30 under the abnormal conditions above contemplated.

Although I find it convenient to provide said discharge opening with the. Y-fitting above de scribed. having two branches for discharge of ashes into respectively separate receptacles, the construction and arrangement above described would be eificacious forthe purpose contemplated if said fitting had'but one branch; or, if .there were nofitting exterior to said discharge opening, said lever would be operative to insure the deflection of the conveyed ashes outwardly from said casing I through said discharge opening 2|.

Therefore, I do notdesire to limit myself to the precise details of construction and arrangement herein set forth, as it is obvious that various modifications may be made therein without departing from the essential features of my invention, as defined in the appended claims.

I claim: 1 V

1. In a conveyer device, the combination with a casing having a discharge outlet at one end thereof; of an endless chain conveyer mounted in said casing; means for supporting and driving said chain, including sprocket wheels in the end bights thereof; a series of buckets on said chain for dumping the material conveyed throughsaid discharge opening; a lever having a fulcrum at one.

end and a deflecting plate at the other end; means for supporting said fulcrum in said casing with said deflecting plate adjacent the lower end of said discharge opening; a counterbalance weight on said lever for, normally maintaining said deflecting plate in a predetermined position with respect to said discharge opening and the path of traverse of the buckets on said chain; said lever having a cam surface presented toward said chain and adapted to be encountered by said buckets in succession; a discharge fitting on said casing in registry with said discharge opening and having a safety door in the outer wall thereof; whereby operation of said chain causes the material discharged by said buckets to be duflected from said casing through said opening, and the successive contact of the buckets with said lever cam intermittently thrusts said deflecting plate through said discharge opening and permits it to be returned to normal position by said counterweight; and said safety door is thrust open to discharge exterior to said fitting any surplus conveyed material detained in said fitting.

2. In a conveyer device, the combination with a casing having a discharge opening at one end thereof; of an endless chain conveyer mounted in said'casing; means for supporting and driving said chain; a series of buckets on said chain for dumping the material conveyed through said discharge opening; a lever having a fulcrum at one end and a deflecting plate at the other end; means for supporting said fulcrum in said casing with said deflecting plate adjacent the lower end of said dischargeopening; means on said lever for normally maintaining said deflecting plate in a predetermined position with respect to said discharge opening and the path of traverse of the buckets on said chain; said lever being adapted to be encountered by said buckets in succession; a discharge fitting on said casing in registry with said discharge opening and having a safety door; whereby operation of said chain causes the material dischargedby said buckets to be deflected from said casing through said opening, and the successive contact of the buckets with said lever intermittently thrusts said deflecting plate through said discharge opening and permits it to be returned to normal position by said counterweight; and said safety door is thrust open to discharge exterior to said fitting any surplus conveyed material held in said fitting.

3. In a conveyer device, the combination with a casing having a discharge opening at one end thereof and a safety opening in spaced relation with said dischargeopening; of an endless chain conveyer mounted in said casing; means for supporting and driving said chain; a series of buckets on said chain for dumping the material conveyed through said discharge opening; a lever having a fulcrum at one end and a deflecting plate at the other end; means for supporting said fulcrum in said casing with said deflecting plate adjacent the lower end of said discharge opening and in cooperative relation with said safety opening; means onsaidlever for normally maintaining said deflecting plate in a predetermined position with respect to said discharge opening and the path of traverse of the buckets on said chain; said lever being adapted to be encountered by said buckets in succession; whereby operation of said chain causes the material discharged by said buckets to be deflected from said casing through said opening, and thrusts saiddeflecting plate through said opening to discharge material therefrom, through said safety opening when the material accumulates in the space between said discharge opening and safety opening.

4. In a conveyer device, the combination with a casing having a discharge outlet and a safety opening in spaced relation with said outlet; of an endless chain conveyer mounted in said casing; a series of buckets on said chain for dumping the material conveyed through said outlet; a lever having a fulcrum at one endand a deflecting plate at the other end; means for supporting said fulcrum in said casing with said deflecting plate extending across'said outlet and in cooperative relation with said safety opening; and a counterbalance weight on said lever for normally maintaining said deflecting plate in position to deflect said material through said outlet; said lever having a cam element presented toward'said chain and adapted to be encountered by said buckets in succession; to oscillate said deflecting plate in said outlet, and discharge material therefrom, through said safety opening when the ma terial accumulates in the space between said outlet and safety opening.

5. In a conveyer device, the combination with a casing having a discharge outlet and a safety opening in spaced relation with said outlet; of an endless chain conveyermounted in said casing; a series of buckets on said chain for dumping the material conveyed through said outlet; a lever having a fulcrum at one end and a deflecting plate at the other end; means for supporting said fulcrum in said casing with said deflecting plate extending across said outlet and in cooperative relation with said safety opening; and means on said lever for normally maintaining said deflecting plate in position to deflect said material through said outlet; said lever having a cam element presented toward said chain and adapted to be encountered by said buckets in succession; to oscillate said deflecting plate in said outlet, and discharge material therefrom, through'said safety opening when the material accumulates in the space between said outlet and safety opening.

, CHARLES G. OHARA.

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