US2184788A - Material handling apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 26, 1939.

e. ARMS ET AL 8 ,788

MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 23, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 GEORGE L. ARMS, AND

FRANCIS E. MGGOVERN,

ATT'Y.

Dec. 26, 1939.

G. L. ARMS E! AL MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 23, 1

957 2 Shets-Sheet 2 .,w .v s T mi A L M E w m mo m EA G m% Patented Dec. 26, 1939 UNITED STATES 'MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS George L. Arms and Francis E. McGovern, Columbus, Ohio, assignors to The Jeifrey Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Ohio Application December 23, 1937, Serial No. 181,385

12 Claims.

lhis invention relates to a method of and apparatus for handling granular material such as coal, gravel, crushed stone and similar material.

An object of the invention is to provide an im proved method of and apparatus for handling material of the above mentioned class,'particularly to classify the material as to size ranges and to convey material which is mixed with water while maintaining at a minimum the over-all height of the necessary equipment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method and system of handling material which is mixed with water by separating the water from the material of relatively large size and employing at least part of the separated water to wash the smaller particles of material down a chute or fiume.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the novel features and combinations being set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. i is a side elevation of an installation incorporating the features of our invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of apparatus incorporating the features of our invention; V

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevational view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. l is a transverse sectional view taken on the line l4 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the construction of a modern .-coal cleaning plant or tipple every effort is made to maintain the height of the building at a minimum, for the building height is a very important ite'm'in the total cost of such a plant. The present invention is designed with this basic principle in mind and it relates particularly to apparatus for treating the coal which is mixed with water after it issues from the coal cleaning unit such as the jig. The apparatus and method are also useful, however, in the treating of other material, such as gravel, crushed stone, etc.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawings there is illustrated, an upper de-watering screen it which,. in the complete installation, is positioned to receive coal mixed with water from .ie coal-cleaning unit, such as the jig. The upper de-watering screen it) is pivotally mounted upon hanger rods l l, 5! supported upon a superstructure l2 for shaking movement andis oscilia-ted by a crank rod 13 driven by a crank shaft it to which is connected a drive pulley l5 driven by an electric motor i E. The bottom plate of'the upper ole-watering screen is provided with rela tively large perforations which, by way of example, may be one and one-quarter inch, thus permitting a range of material below this size to pass therethrough. Larger material received by the screen I!) will be discharged over its discharge end to an upper sizing screen I! pivotally mounted upon superstructure l2 by hangers one of which is seen at I8. The upper sizing screening ll will have a perforated bottom plate to discharge material of a predeter mined size onto a lower sizing screen i 9 also supported from the superstructure l2 by hangers one of which is seen at 20. i

Positioned below the upper de-watering screen lb to receive the size range of material which passes through it is a lower d e-watering screen H which is pivotally mounted upon hangers 22, 22 carried by superstructure l2. Oscillation of the lower de-watering screen 2! is effected by a crank rod 23 also connected to the crank shaft M. The crank rods l3 and 23 are connected 180 degrees out of phase with respect to the crank shaft M thereby counterbalancing the forces on said crank shaft.

It is to be' noted that the upper de-watering' screen it] and the lower tie-watering screen 2! slope dovmwardly from their material receiving ends to their material discharge ends and this slope, particularly in combination with the oscillatory movement which they, receive, will cause any material on them to flow downwardly to their discharge ends. It may be mentioned that instead of having the sloping screens Ill and 2| these screens may be made horizontal and given a conveying action by inclined supportingcantilevers in a manner well understood in the screen art.

Adjacent the lower or discharge end of the dewatering screen 2! we provide a chute 24 whigli conveys the material received. by said screen 2! and incapable of passing through the perforations in the bottom thereof, and delivers it to a mixing conveyor 25. The chute 2G is preferably provided with one-quarter inch perforations along the area 26 whichwill allow the very fine degradation to pass from said chute 24 and into a hopper 21 from which it will be conveyed to a slack car or to equipment for further treating. As was previously pointed out, the upper dewatering screen has perforations in its bottom plate which may be of one and one-quarter inch size and thus the lower die-watering screen 2| will receive material of one and one-quarter inch by zero (l x 0) size range.

The bottom of the lower de-watering screen 2! is in the form of a screen cloth 28 which extends substantially the entire length thereof and, as an example, may be of three-quarter inch mesh. Said screen cloth is sectioned, however, by a plate 29 which is necessary to provide room for the crank shaft M which extends therebelow.

Positioned below the lower de-watering screen 2| is a fiurne or chute 31] which slopes in a direction opposite to that of the screen 25. It will be noted that the slope of the de-watering screen 2| is relatively gradual and is less than the angle of repose of the material, such as coal, which is being treated. However, since this screen is given a reciprooatory motion the coal will pass readily thereover from the receiving end to the discharge end. The flume 3%, however, is stationary as it is supported from the foundation or a main frame of the building 3! by spaced supports 32, 32.

In order to maintain the over-all height of the building at a minimum, thus to keep down the cost of the complete installation, the slope of the flume 3!! is relatively gradual and is appreciably less than the angle of repose of the material being treated. It is, of course, evident that the water and fine material below three-quarter inch mesh which passes through the screen 2! will be received by the flume 3%. Due to the slight incline thereof, as above set forth, there is a definite tendency for the material to pile up on the bottom of said fiume and not flow down it. This is particularly true in view of the fact that the mixture of coal and water which is received by the lower ole-watering screen 2i is received to a large extent adjacent the topmost portion thereof or receiving portion 33 Of course, material will be received by flume 38 through substantially the entire length of the screen 21 as it passes through the openings in the upper dewatering screen 19 but substantially all of the water which is mixed with the coal will flow from the upper tie-watering screen it immediately upon the reaching of the perforations in the bottom thereof and, in turn, will likewise flow through the receiving portion 33 of the lower de-watering screen 2! and into the lower end of flume 30. As a consequence, the material which passes through the intermediate and lower portions of the screen 2! are substantially devoid of water and thus do not flow freely when received by the flrune 30.

In the method and apparatus of our invention we intercept a portion of the water mixed with the coal and convey it to a position adjacent the upper end of the flu-me 3!? where its direction of travel is changed so that it is discharged onto the bottom plate of said flume 30 in a direction which it thereafter flows along said flume bottom. In this manner a free flow of the material on the relatively gradually sloping flume 30 is assured without requiring the addition of any water over and above that which is in the unsized material as it is received from the jig, except possibly for a slight amount of water which is used to wash off the coal, as hereinafter described in full detail.

In order to accomplish the above described results we provide a plurality of longitudinally extending pipes 3 1 between the screen 2i and the flume 3B which slope downwardly with said screen 2| and are supported in said flume 3E. Adjacent their lower ends the pipes 34 terminate in a nozzle 35 which is formed by a transversely extending plate 36 which extends between the side plates 31, 37 of the flurne 3i] and is provided with three apertures through which the three pipes 34 extend and to which said pipes 34 are welded.

Rigidly attached to the top of the plate 36 and to the side walls 37 of the flume 30, we provide a plate 38 which is curved at 39 to change the direction of travel of the water and to discharge it onto the bottom of the fiume 30 in the direction the water will thereafter normally flow down said flume.

The nozzle 35 also includes a bottom plate 46 which is welded at one end to the transversely extending plate 35 and extends between the side plates 31, 31 and is welded thereto. The upper end of the plate 46 is spaced slightly from the curved plate 38 to form an elongated restricted opening or orifice H which extends transversely of the entire width of the flume 30. The orifice 4! preferably has an area which is substantially equal to the combined areas of the three pipes 34 so that the water issuing from said orifice 48 will have substantially the same velocity as the water as it flows through said pipes 34. It is thus to be seen that the water which flows downwardly by gravity through the pipes 3 3 in three separate streams is formed into a sheet which extends substantially the full Width of the flume 30 and is discharged onto the bottom of said flume at a position nearthe top thereof and. in the direction which the water normally fiows along said flume or, in other words, along the direction of incline thereof.

It is also'to be noted that the bottom-most portion of the plate 38 is spaced slightly above the bottom of the fiume 30 to allow material to pass thereunder as hereinafter described. In addition, the curved portion 39 of said plate 38 is provided with a small transversely extending opening or a plurality of drill holes 42 extending transversely thereof to permit a small amount of the fluid which is discharged from the opening Ml to pass to the bottom of the flume 30 at a position above that where the main sheet of water is discharged onto said flume. This is provided because in practice it has been found that there is a tendency for a small amount of Ina-- terial to accumulate in the uppermost portion of the fiume 30 and this small stream or spray of water is sufficient to wash this material down the flume with the main material received thereby. The positioning of the bottom-most portion of the plate 38 above the bottom of the flume 3B, of course, allows this material to flow with the water readily thereunder.

In order to insure the proper distribution of the water which flows from the curved plate 38 onto the bottom. of the flume 30 where the material to be picked up by said water is concentrated on the bottom of said flume 30, we also preferably provide a plurality of spaced upstanding distribution plates 43 which are spaced to form the bottom of said flume 30 into three separate troughs. thereby insuring a complete removal of all of the material which falls on the bottom of said fiume 30.

It may additionally be pointed out that the lower de-watering screen 2| carries a transversely inclined guide plate 44 at its discharge end which slopes downwardly opposite the sloping of said screen 2| and directs any material which is received thereby onto the bottom of the fiume 30 below the nozzle 35. This plate 44 will, of course, clear itself because it reciprocates with the screen 2|.

A guide plate 45 is also provided near the upper or feed end of the screen 2| which plate 45 is part of the stationary flume 30. This plate will,

however, clear itself readily as it has a fairly steep slope and, in addition, there will be a fair amount of water with the coal which discharges onto said plate 45.

It may also be noted that any coal which passes through the receiving portion 33 of the screen 2| is received by the flume near the discharge portion thereof and is guided thereto by a stationary guide plate 46 which not only has'a relatively steep slope but will also receive an appreciable amount of Water.

In order to intercept a portion of the water which discharges largely through the screen 2! at the receiving portion 33, the upper ends of the pipes are slit open, as clearly illustrated in Fig 4 of the drawings, and provided with outwardly extending flanges Q! which provide effective receiving hoppers for the pipes 34. The upper ends of the pipes 34 are preferably closed by plates 48 thus completing the structure of said water receiving hoppers. It is to be noted that the hoppers are laterally spaced apart, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings, as a consequence of which they do-no-t intercept all of the water which passes through the receiving portion 33 of the screen 21, but do intercept a substantial amount of it, sufficient to insure the free flowing of the material along the flume 30.

It is additionally to be noted by reference to Fig. l of the drawings that we have provided sprinkler washing means comprising a spray pipe 49 having a plurality of transversely extending spray nozzles 53 which spray the coal on the upper de-watering screen after it has been denuded of the larger portion of the water which flowed with it from the jig and also a plurality of transversely extending nozzles 5! which spray the coal on the lower de-watering screen 2! after it has been robbed of most of the water with which it was mixed in the jig. This spray means is for the purposeof making the coal clean and bright, as the water with which it is mixed in the jig is often dirty.

In the cperationof the apparatus with the consequent realization of the method comprising our invention, material such as cleaned coal is 'received from a jig by the upper de-watering screen ill which screen is in vibration. The principal portion of the water in the mixture will flow through the screen as soon as the perforations in the bottom thereof are reached and will flow immediately to the lower de-watering screen 21. The wet coal on the screen l6 will then travel down said screen by which it will be separated according to size ranges with the larger particles de-watered by the vibration of screen H3 and discharging over the end thereof to be further treated by the sizing screens I! and 19. The smaller particles of coal, for example, minus one and one-quarter inch. will be shaken relatively free of water and discharged onto the lower dewatering screen 2!. It may also be mentioned that after the discharge of the water which is mixed with the coal by the screen I!) said coal will be washed by the spray means 50 to remove any adhering dirt.

The water which passes first through the screen 90 and onto the screen 2| will, of course, also contain some coal and this water with the relatively fine particles of coal will immediately pass through the receiving portion 33 of the lower ole-watering screen 2! and into the discharge end of the flume 38 except that which is caught or intercepted for further use, as hereinafter described.

The fairly ole-watered material on the immediate and lower portions of the screen 2! will be further de-watered and classified according to size with the smaller particles thereof passing through said screen and into the flume 30, the larger particles passing over the discharge end of the screen 2! and into the conveyor 2'5 by way of the chute 2d- The screen 25 of" the chute 24 will remove any degradation below one-quarter inch and discharge it into hopper 2'! from which it will be taken for further treatment. It will be evident that the oscillatory motion of the screen 2i will not only cause a conveying action on the material but will also aid in freeing it of adhering water particles.

it will thus be seen that the material received by the mixing conveyor 25 and by the upper and lower sizing screens El and i9, will be graded according to size, will have been washed free of dirt particles received in the jigging or cleaning operation and will be delivered relatively free of water, though, of course, the .said particles will be damp.

The smaller size ranges of materials as determined by the size of the screen cloth 28 which, for example, .i be minus three-quarter inch, will be received by the flume 3i and washed downwardly from said fiume by the water which is intercepted by the pipes it as it passes through the receiving portion 33 of the screen 28 and is discharged in a sheet over substantially the entire width of the bottom of the flum e 39 adjacent the upper end thereof and in a direction in which the water normally flows thereafter down said flume 30.

It be mentioned that the discharging of this sheet of Water is preferably in the direction it flows down said flume Iiii, as aforesaid, to insure its direct straight-line motion along said bottom of the iiume 3b which prevents any whirlpools and thereby prevents any accumulation of material on the bottom of the fluine' 30. In other words", this insures a rapid straight-line motion of the water along the bottom of the flurn-e Eli which will insure the carrying away of the coal received thereby.

It should be understood that while the water with the clean coal from the jig may be relied upon to supply the fiurne 38, the amount may be supplemented by the spray water from the nozzles iii and El. Valves for the nozzles 59 and 5! may be supplied so as to secure a regulation of the water flowalcng the fluzne Sid. It is preferred to locate the nozzle 55? directly above the upper open or hopper ends M, 33 of the pipes 34, so that the spraywater may pass through the screens iii and 25' in succession and thence into the hoppers. The spray water from the nozzles 5! passes through screen ili (Fig. 2) directly to the bottom of fiume 5Q.

Obviouslythose skilled in the art may make various changes in the details arrangement of parts without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto app-ended, and we therefore wish not to be restricted to the precise construction herein disclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of our invention, what we'desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: v

1. In material handling apparatus, the combination with a screen having a feed endand a discharge end, of a sloping flume positioned to catch directly material passing through the entire area of said screen, means for catching water which passes through said screen adjacent the feed end thereof and conveying it to a position adjacent the top of said fiume, and means constructed and arranged to cause said water to discharge onto the fiume in the direction of the slope thereof.

2. In material handling apparatus, the combination with a screen and a sloping fiume positioned immediately below it to catch directly material which passes through said screen, of means for feeding granular material and water to said screen, means for intercepting at least part of the water in said material and conveying it separately from said material received by said flume from said screen to a position adjacent the top of said flume, and means for discharging said intercepted water onto the fiume adjacent the top thereof in the general direction of the slope thereof.

3. In material handling apparatus, the combination with a screen, a sloping flume positioned immediately below it to catch directly falling material passing through the entire area of said screen, and means for catching water passing through said screen and conveying it to the top of said fiume comprising a pipe positioned below said screen having an open top and water catching flanges, said open top and flanges being positioned adjacent the material receiving end of said screen.

4. In material handling apparatus, the combination with a screen having a feed end and a discharge end, of a sloping fiume positioned immediately below said screen with the top adjacent the discharge end thereof, means for catching liquid which passes through said screen at its feed end and discharging it onto the top of said flume comprising a plurality of spaced sloping pipes positioned between said screen and fiume and having their upper ends open and positioned to catch fluid passing through the feed end of said screen, said pipes having laterally extending fluid catching flanges along their open sides.

5. In material handling apparatus, the combination with a screen having a feed end and a discharge end, of a sloping fiume positioned immediately below said screen with the top adjacent the discharge end thereof, means for catching liquid which passes through said screen at its feed end and discharging it onto the top of said fiume comprising a plurality of spaced sloping pipes positioned between said screen and fiume and having their upper ends open and positioned to catch fluid passing through the feed end of said screen.

6. In material handling apparatus, the combination with a sloping screen having a material receiving upper end and a material discharging lower end, of means for Vibrating said screen, means for feeding a mixture of granular ma terial and water to the upper end of said screen, a flume positioned immediately below said screen having a bottom sloping oppositely to the slope of said screen and positioned to catch directly material which passes through said screen, and means for catching liquid which passes through the upper end of said screen and conveying it to the upper end of said fiume where it is discharged in a sheet onto said fiume and in the direction of the slope thereof comprising a plurality of pipes having receiving hoppers positioned below the upper end of said screen to receive water passing therethrough and a discharge nozzle fed by all of said pipes having a continuous restricted opening with a width substantially equal to the fiume and having curved plate means to change the direction of flow of water through said pipes to discharge it to said fiume as aforesaid.

'7. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a screen, of a sloping fiume positioned immediately therebelow to receive material directly passing through said screen with its top end adjacent the discharge end of said screen, means for feeding a mixture of granular materials and water to said screen, and means for intercepting some of the water in said feed and directing it to the top of said fiume, said means including a member constructed and arranged to change the direction of travel of said intercepted water and to discharge it onto said fiume in a sheet and in the direction said water flows down said flume.

8. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a screen, of a sloping fiume imme diately therebelow positioned to receive material directly passing through said screen with its top end adjacent the discharge end of said screen, means for feeding a mixture of granular materials and water to said screen, and means for intercepting some of the water in said feed and directing it to the top of said fiume, said means including a member constructed and arranged to change the direction of travel of said intercepted water and to discharge it onto said fiume and in the direction said water flows down said fiume.

9. Screening and conveying apparatus for granular material mixed with water comprising the combination with a screen, of a sloping fiume positioned immediately therebelow and having its top adjacent the discharge end of said screen, means for intercepting part of the fluid mixed with said material and washing the material down said fiume therewith comprising a discharge nozzle having a portion curved to change the direction of travel of the intercepted fluid and having a wide mouthed restricted orifice and so constructed and arranged that said fluid will discharge in a sheet into said flume'in the general direction it thereafter flows down said fiume.

10. In combination with a sloping fiume, of means for feeding water thereto by gravity comprising feed pipe means sloping in a direction other than that of the fiume, and a nozzle constructed and arranged to discharge water from said feed pipe means to said fiume adjacent the top thereof in a sheet and in the direction it flows down said flume, said nozzle comprising a curved plate for changing the direction of flow of the water, and cooperating plate means to form a restricting orifice.

11. In combination with a sloping fiume, of means for feeding water thereto by gravity comprising feed pipe means sloping in a direction other than that of the fiume, and a nozzle constructed and arranged to discharge water from said feed pipe means to said fiume adjacent the top thereof in a sheet and in the direction it flows down said fiume, said nozzle comprising a curved plate for changing the direction of flow of the water, and cooperating plate means tov 12. In combination with a sloping flume, of means for feeding Water thereto by gravity comprising feed pipe means sloping in a direction other than that of the flume, a nozzle constructed and arranged to discharge Water from said feed pipe means to said flame adjacent the top thereof in a sheet and in the direction it flows down said fiume, said nozzle comprising a curved plate for changing the direction of flow of the Water, and cooperating plate means to form a restricting orifice, said nozzle being posi tioned above the bottom of said fiume, and means for supplying additional Water to said flume at a position above said nozzle, which 5 water flows down said flume under said nozzle.

GEORGE L. ARMS. FRANCIS E. MCGOVERN.

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