US2040022A

US2040022A - Method for building levees

Info

Publication number: US2040022A
Application number: US747620A
Authority: US
Inventors: William E Philips
Original assignee: Link Belt Co
Current assignee: Link Belt Co
Priority date: 1932-11-14
Filing date: 1934-10-09
Publication date: 1936-05-05
Anticipated expiration: 1953-05-05

Description

y 1936. w. E. PHILIPS 2,040,022

METHOD FOR BUILDING LEVEES Original Filed Nov. 14, 1932 4 Sheets-$heet l y 1935- w. E. PHILIPS 2,040,022

METHOD FOR BUILDING LEVEES Original Filed Nv. 14, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 if r y 1936' W. E PHILIPS 2,040,022

METHOD FOR BUILDING LEVEES Original Filed Nov. 14, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet s W. E. PHILIPS METHOD FOR BUILDING LEVEES May 5, 1936. I

Original Filed Nov; 14, .1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented May 5, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD FOR BUILDING LEVEES William E. Philips, Chicago, Ill., assjgnor to Link- Bclt Company, a corporation of Illinois 6 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in methods for building levees and constitutes a division of my Patent No. 1,980,634, of November 13, 1934.

The primary object of the invention is to provide methods for building levees which involve primarily the enlargement of old or existing levees to produce new levees of modern dimensions.

A further object of the invention is to provide methods of the above-mentioned type which will substantially reduce the cost of levee construction.

Other objects relate to the particular features of the methods and the advantages derived therefrom, all of which will be pointed out and fully explained in the following description of the embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings,

Figures 1 to 3 inclusive are perspective views illustrating a corresponding number of different methods, and equipment layouts therefor, for levee construction work.

Figure 4 is a plan view of a feeder unit which may be used in each one of the layouts abovementioned and which is designed to receive material taken from a borrow pit, disintegrate same and feed it onto the main conveyor system by which it is carried in a continuous stream to the levee, and

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Fundamentally, the new methods consist in transporting a relatively continuous stream of material from the point of origin to the'levee site,

3 where it is suitably distributed to form a levee of the desired type. Preferably, the material is distributed in relatively small increments. According to the methods, the excavating machines may be positioned on top of the borrow pit, with a conveyor system serving the several excavators and conveying the material dug thereby to the building portion of the levee. At this point the material is received by a distributing unit which may take the form of a swinging boom conveyor, and this unit controllably distributes the material according to a predetermined plan, for building the levee.

According to the method, and layout of equipment, illustrated in Figure 1, it is designed particularly for the enlargement of existing levees although it may be also used for the construction of levees of relatively small cross-sectional area. In this method there is provided one or more excavators A a corresponding number of feeders B one or a series of conveyor units C and a distributing unit D The conveyor units C may be mounted on skids E while the other units may be mounted on caterpillars as indicated. It will be noted that the distributing unit D is positioned to one side of the levee which is to be 5 enlarged. Thus there is provided a series of units arranged in a straight line extending at right angles to the line of the levee, the final unit D however, being capable of swinging movement and having a considerable radius of action. The 10 borrow pit from which material is taken by the excavators A follows the line of the building levee and the excavating work progresses in step with the construction of the levee. It will be understood, of course, that the borrow pit will be 15 of such width as is required to provide the volume of material required for the particular levee under construction. Thus, by simply providing an appropriate number of excavating units, feeder units and conveyor units, any desired size of 0 levee can be constructed with this equipment and according to the method here involved.

The reference character (3 indicates the old or previously formed levee which is to be enlarged and which in reality forms the core of the new 25 levee construction. The distributing unit D is in the form of a swinging boom conveyor designed to receive prepared material from the series of conveyor units C and distribute the same to form on one side of the levee a toe 1 which is built up and merged into the old levee construction. In some cases, an enlargement on one side of the levee may be sufficient but in others it may be desired to provide a similar enlargement on the opposite side of the levee, in which case the swinging boom distributor may be so positioned as to discharge material throughout a portion of its radius of action onto the opposite side of the levee. Such material may then be recast by means of draglines, or the like, for the purpose of forming an enlargement on this side'of the old levee.

A second levee enlargement method is illustrated in Figure 2 and involves the use of excavators A a corresponding number of feeders 3*, one or a series of conveyor units 0 and a distributing unit D substantially the same as the corresponding units illustrated in Figure 1, although somewhat differently arranged. In this layout of equipment, the distributing unit D consists of a bridge mounted on tracks arranged parallel to the line of the levee, and the swinging boom conveyor operates from various positions lengthwise of this bridge and also is capable of swinging movement. The swinging boom conveyor is sup- 7 the width'of the levee.

plied with material from the final conveyor unit C by means of a tripper H The old levee is indicated at G and the enlargement at F In the practice of this method the excavating units A deposit material into the hoppers of their respective feeders B which in turn disinte grate the material, reduce it to appropriate sizes and feed it onto the main conveyor unit or units C The material thus delivered and prepared is fed into the hopper at the end of the distributing unit D and by means of the tripper mechanism is ultimately delivered to the hopper of the swinging boom conveyor. The swinging boom operates through an are somewhat less than 90 rearwardly from'the position in which it is shown. Thus the material may be variably discharged from the elevated end of the swinging boom to form the toe and gradually build up the body of the levee enlargement to merge it into the old levee construction, When it is desired to enlarge the old levee construction on the side opposite the borrow pit, the distributing boom may be so positioned as to discharge material through a portion of its radius of action onto the opposite side of the levee. Such material may be permitted to slide or slip down the sloping surface of the old levee for building up the second enlargement.

In Figure 3 there is illustrated a further embodiment of the invention, particularly designed for enlarging and rebuilding old levees. For carrying out this method there is employed one or more excavating units A adapted to discharge material into feeder units B positioned on a series of alined conveyor units C which extend at right angles to the levee. The units C, as shown, are provided with supports E although they may be track mounted as shown in the preceding Figure 2.

The last unit C of the series is positioned on one of the lateral inclined surfaces of an old levee, with its discharge end positioned to deliver material onto'a conveyor unit D which extends longitudinally on top of the old levee. A swinging boom distributor H is positioned adjacent the discharge end of unit D and is adapted to receive material therefrom to carry out the desired reconstruction or enlargement work.

The old levee is indicated at F and there is shown as having been constructed, an enlargement G. .In the particular case illustrated, the enlargement is of uniform character, extending It should be understood, however, that any desired reconstruction or enlargement plan may be carried out with the equipment and by the method described. The preferred manner of constructing this levee enlargement is to construct toes on opposite sides of the old levee and build up the material between these toes to form the complete enlargement of uniform character, as illustrated, and to merge the new construction into the old levee structure.

A preferred form of feeder unit is illustrated in Figures 4 and 5. The feeder unit disclosed in these two figures is the type of feeder unit designated by the characters B B and B in Figures 1, 2, and 3. The feeder H, shown in Figures 4 and 5, consists of an endless bar type of conveyor made up of a plurality of bars h This conveyor moves in the direction indicated by the of a conveyor unit and that the feeder H is provided with suitable wheels h supported by these tracks. A motor h is provided which through suitable transmission mechanism is arranged to drive the conveyor of the feeder and also to propel the feeder lengthwise of the conveyor when occasion requires. Positioned in spaced relation to the discharge end of the feeder conveyor isa vertical abutment h and carried by this plate are two knives or cutters n These cutters k are arranged at a substantial angle to the vertical and'in laterally spaced relation. Thus, a large lump of material discharged from the feeder conveyor falls directly onto the knives 71. and is supported thereby until substantially disintegrated by the means now to be described.

Certain ones of the bars h of the conveyor are provided with cutters h These cutters are of elbowform arranged to be freely journaled on the bars h and to engage adjacent bars to main tain them in operative position. Thus, the cutters n extend vertically upward on the load carrying travel of the conveyor and depend downwardly on the return travel of the conveyor, as indicated clearly in Figure 5.

A portion of the material discharged onto the bars h of the conveyor will pass between these bars and fall directly onto the belt of a conveyor positioned therebeneath. The larger material will be retained on the bars, although having been somewhat disintegrated by falling onto the several cutters h and will be conveyed to the point of discharge where this material will fall upon the spaced cutters 71 Large portions of material will remain on the cutters h until such time as the continuous passage of the cutters 11 result in sufliciently disintegrating the material to permit its passage through the discharge space and onto the belt of a conveyor. It will be noted that the cutters h are arranged in staggered relation providing four series of cutters, two series of which operate in the space between the cutters k and the other two of which operate in the space outwardly of the two cutters 72 The result of this arrangement is to provide for adequate disintegration of all material before permitting it to'pass onto the main conveyors.

A further feature of the feeder shown in detail in Figures 4 and 5 is the provision designed particularly for the handling of relatively fine material. For this purpose there is provided a series of plates h" loosely carried by certain of the bars k and designed to rest upon adjacent bars. These plates effectively block off any desired portions of thespaces between the several bars, thus retarding the flow of finely divided loose material therethrough. The object of such an arrangement is to prevent overloading and uneven loading of the belt of the main conveyor. For example, if something of this character were not employed, the dumping of a large bucket of finely divided material into the hopper of the feeder unit would result in substantially the entire quantity of material passing immediately through the feeder conveyor and onto the belt of the main conveyor. This would result in overload on the main conveyor and also in extremely uneven loading of the main conveyor owing to the fact that there would be practically no load on the belt until such time as a second bucket of material were discharged into the hopper of the feeder. Referring to these Figures 4 and 5, it will be observed that the plates h' are carried loosely by the bars h in order that they may freely swing to a depending position on the return travel of the conveyor. By virtue of this arrangement the spaces between the bars are unobstructed on the lower or return run of the conveyor. The plates it may be arranged in any manner desired and may beused in any desired numbers to accomplish the purposes herein set forth. The particular arrangement shown is merely for purposes of illustration.

One of the outstanding objections to levee construction methods heretofore practiced or proposed is that they all contemplate the depositing of large lump-y material into the levee. This invariably results in a levee construction which will eventually slip, slide or settle, owing to the numerous large voids and crevices occasioned by the dumping of one chunk on top of another. Such methods also present a very serious problem of quantities of organic matter being placed into the levee undetected because of being incorporated in the large gobs or chunks of which the levee is built. The inevitable decay of such matter results after a period of time in a defective levee which must be reconstructed.

Hence, the proper preparation of material for levee building is perhaps the most important step in a successful method for this purpose. According to the present invention in its various forms, this is satisfactorily and economically accomplished by passing all material through a disintegrating apparatus which reduces it to appropriate size for introduction into the levee and which also exposes for separation all organic substances which may be embodied in the material taken out of the borrow pit. Thus, in the practice of the various methods according to the present invention, the material taken from the borrow pit is suitably reduced in size for introduction into the levee and in this connection it may be mentioned that the particular sizing of the material may be carried out to meet any desired specifications laid down for the construction of a levee. The invention further contemplates as an important step in the various methods disclosed the systematic removal of all objectional substances from the disintegrated material as it passes in a continuous stream along the series of conveyor units toward the levee. Thus, the various main conveyor units are in effect picking tables at which men are stationed at suitable intervals for the purpose of removing all undesirable matter. This process is readily carried out with a small amount of labor and is facilitated by the normal turning and tumbling of the material as it travels along the conveyor units and as it is discharged from one unit onto the end of an adjacent unit. During the entire course of travel of the material along the main conveyor system, full opportunity is afforded for the complete removal of objectionable matter. Thus the matter as it reaches the levee is an accurately processed material, perfectly suited for the work it is to perform.

A further important feature of the invention in t its various aspects is the continuity of operations. According to each of the several methods described, the material flows in a continuous and a substantially uniform stream from the borrow pit directly into the levee. This is in reality the keystone of the most rapid and efficient levee building method that has yet been devised. Of the many methods heretofore used or suggested, all involve the intermittent handling of large quantites of material from the borrow pit to the levee, either in one or a plurality of stages. Thus,

the method herein disclosed may be aptly described as the first'truly mechanized operation for levee construction. The material flows in-a continuous unbroken stream in relatively small-quantitles at any given point and is continuously discharged into the levee likewise in relatively small increments, but by virtue of the continuity of operation these methods will result in the handling of quantities of material per hour or per day far in excess of anything heretofore accomplished.

In relation to the structural character of the completed levee, a further feature of outstanding importance is the discharge of the processed material from a relatively high point represented by the discharge end of the swinging boom distributor resulting in a natural compacting action as the material falls increment by increment into the levee. The material thus becomes kneaded into a homogeneous mass, eliminating all voids and crevices and forming an extremely solid and durable levee. This feature is of particular importance in construction of the toes of the levee and in relation to the character of material to be handled. Thus, in many cases it is necessary to work with relatively wet material, which, if not processed as herein described, and if not so kneaded into a homogeneous mass, would be entirely unsuitable for levee building purposes.

It will be noted also that the equipment described in relation to the various methods herein disclosed is adapted for the handling of the entire range of materials encountered in levee building work. Thus the feeders may be conditioned for the handling of fine, sandy material or of very coarse material, either Wet or dry. This is of particular advantage in that it permits of continuous operation in a large measure irrespective of weather conditions encountered or of changes from one type of material to another as the work progresses. It is worthy of mention also that the methods of the present invention achieve entirely new standards in the matter of labor costs. The work being so completely mechanized it requires a very small amount of labor as compared to methods heretofore used.

Among the advantageous mechanical features of the present method and apparatus is the substantially constant power requirement. There are no peak loads such as exist in some of the known methods. Another important feature is the large per hour capacity due to the handling of small quantities of material continuously, as distinguished from the discontinuous handling of large quantities and the consequent loss of time in the transmission of empty equipment. The flexibility of the present apparatus is also worthy of note. If an obstruction is found in the normal line of operations, it is a very simple matter to so arrange the conveyor units as to avoid it. These units need not be in alignment. The excavators may also be readily manipulated to avoid obstructions.

It is to be understood that all reference to and representation of particular mechanisms are for purposes of illustration only and that the invention embraces all manner of mechanism which, broadly, is functionally equivalent of that shown and described. For example, the dragline excavators shown may be replaced by shovels, power hoes, trench diggers, or any other form of excavating and loading equipment. Likewise, the conveying equipment may be of the belt, flight,

bucket, or any other suitable type. Also, any desired type of distributing unit may be employed.

I claim:

1. The method of enlarging old levees which comprises excavating material from a borrow pit; uniformly sizing the excavated material by separating fines from lumps, breaking up the lumps and returning the broken up material to the fines, moving all the material to the building levee, and continuously and uniformly distributing the material first on one side of and spaced from the base of the old levee to form a toe portion of less height than the old levee and then to fill in between the toe and the old levee to merge the new construction into the structure of the old levee to form the enlargementdesired.

2. The method of building levees wherein previously formed levees of relatively small cross section are employed as a foundation for the new levee, comprising excavating material from a borrow pit, moving said material in a continuous, uniform flow to the levee site, and distributing said material first on one side of and spaced from the base of the old levee to form a new toe portion of less height than the old levee and then to' fill in between the new toe and the old levee;

3. The method of building levees wherein previously formed levees of relatively small cross section are employed as a foundation for the new levee, comprising excavating material from a borrow pit, moving said material in a continuous, uniform flow to the levee site, distributing said material first on one side of and spaced from the base of the old levee to form a new toe portionof less height than the old levee and then to fill vin between the new toe and the old levee, delivering material to the other side of the old levee, and recasting said last mentioned material to produce the formation desired.

4. The method of building levees wherein previously formed levees of relatively small cross section are employed as a foundation for the new levee, comprising excavating material from a borrow pit, moving said material in a continuous, uniform flow to the levee site, distributin said material first on one side of and spaced from the base of the old levee to form a new toe portion of less height than the old levee and then to fill in between the new toe and the old levee, and delivering material to the other side of the old levee to form a second enlargement by permitting the material to slip and slide down the inclined side of the old levee.

5. The method of enlarging old levees which comprises excavating material from a borrow pit, uniformly sizing the excavated material by separating, fines from lumps, breaking up the lumps and returning the disintegrated material to the fines, moving all of the material to the levee site, and continuously and uniformly distributing the material from a location on top of the old levee and in advance of the working face of the new levee to form the enlargement desired.

6. The method of enlarging old levees which comprises excavating material from a borrow pit, uniformly sizing the excavated material, mov ing all of the material to the top of the old levee embankment and distributing the material from a location on said levee top in advanceof the working face of the new levee first to form a toe on each side of the base of the old levee and then to fill in between said toes and the full height of the old levee to merge the new construction into the old structure to form the enlargement desired.

WILLIAM E. PHILIPS.