US2262412A

US2262412A - Rotary driving mechanism

Info

Publication number: US2262412A
Application number: US218621A
Authority: US
Inventors: Arthur J Weinig
Original assignee: MORSE BROS MACHINERY Co
Current assignee: MORSE BROS MACHINERY Co
Priority date: 1938-07-11
Filing date: 1938-07-11
Publication date: 1941-11-11
Anticipated expiration: 1958-11-11

Description

Nov. 11, 1941. A; J. WEINIG ROTARY DRIVING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet l Flled July l1, 1958 l O ARTHUR QZ Wem/1%* NT P ATTO EY.

Nov. 11, 1941. A. J. WEINIG 2,262,412

- RO'll-xRxr` DRIVING MECHANISM Filed July-11, 1938 5 sheets-shet 2 l INVENTOR. 4R THU/' J WE//v/G Nov. 11, 1941. A. 1 WEINIG 2,262,412l

f/ f f ,',f//w/ 4 l" AT ORNEY.

Patented Nov. 11, 1941 'N UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROTARY DRIVINGMECHANTSM t Arthur J. Weinig,. Golden, Colo., assgnor to i Morse Bros.` Machinery Company, a corporation of Colorado Denver, Colo.,

" minimum-July 11, 193s, Vserial No. 218,621

` 13 claims.; (clase-108) This invention relates i to improvements in mechanism for rotary stirring, raking, agitatmg,

materials, either dry orwet.

Its field of usefulness includes such `devices as` thickeners,feeders, roasters, excavators, washers,

agitators and the like, `and any other machine or' operation where divided material is to be acted upon by a rotary element and where re-v sistance to such rotary movement is a` variable factor; i

As is well knownlto those skilled` in the art,1` the rotary plows ina thickener, for instance, are` subject to lvariable` resistance by thematerial acted upon,`and the mechanism` involved may be twisted, damagedor broken if the resistance becomes toogreat without relief. Furthermore, after a shut-down `of operation in such a device,` solids may settle around and on the plows ,andl other rotary `partsof the mechanism, so that` `conveyingor otherwise moving normally loose fully disclosed in the following description and `in` thedrawings wherein like parts have been similarly designated` and in which: i "Figure 1 is a` sideelevation, partly in section,

. illustrating a thickener built to embody a preferred-form- `of the present invention and in `which the novel features of the mechanism have been `.drawn to a largervscale than other parts,

such parts must be` raised, dug `out Yor votherwise Y cleared before again starting. In such opera-` tions, a `sudden load increase may alsolresult by the addition cfa quantity of path of therotary element.

`Therefore, it is an object of this invention to forth thatwill automatically raise theirotary material into the lprovide a novel mechanism for the purposes set element to relieve or avoid resistance to itsvnormal forward rotarymovement when such resist#r ance builds up to a predetermined degree.

Another object is the provision of such'a mech- Y anismthatcan be selectively raised 'byfpowen i Afurther object is Vto provide a mechanismJ of this kind that can be raised with reverse" rotation by manual means, when the power is off.

Still another `object/is `to provide, in such a device means for automatically stopping power input thereto by raising or axial displacement ofthe rotary element, to alpredetermined point. `A still further object is the provision of shearing means for predetermining thedegree of ref as soon as the resistance to` for `purposes `of `clearness and a full understanding` of `the invention; i

Figures 2 and 3 are fragmentary sectional spectively of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectionalk View illustratinga modified form of the invention.A

Referring to the details of the drawings which are herewith included merely as illustrations of typical examples of numerous possible embodiments oftheinvention, reference character I5 denotes a tank,such `as that of a thickener, in

views taken along the lines 2-2 and 3-3 reywhich isnorm'ally loose or divided material I6, that is beingmoved toward a central outlet I1 byta rotary element liinclusive of plows I9, carried and rotated byan upright shaft 20.

l'I'he shaft 20 `is journalledfor both rotary and axialvfmovement 1in" a steady bearing 2| on an A-frame 22, above the tank, and it is providedk with a screw thread 23 having a relatively large or fast lead angle and another screw thread of line` or relatively lessllead angle, as at two'threads `may be the same or opposite hand. Alrotarydriveelement, such as a worm gear 25,1throughwhich the shaft 20 extends, is in l threaded-engagement `withthe fast lead screw `:11231; and it is journalled onits extended hub, in

bearing 26 and-is further held against axial dis- Y placement `by a thrust collar 21 on said hub.

\ of .design and construction which will be more lifl `A driveshaft 28`xdelivers power to drive the mechanism from any suitable prime-mover, such as ane-electric motor, not shown, through a jaw clutch 29` anda worm 30 in mesh with the worm gear 25 onthe shaft 20. A yoke 3| is mounted for` conjoint rotation with the gear 25 and clears the shaft at 32.

Hand wheels

33 and 34 engage n the fine screw thread 24 of the. shaft, the lower wheel 33 being adapted against the operator. v

A shear-pin 35 may-be placed in a cross hole by its hub 33a tothrust yoke 3|, when desired by the inthe shaft to rotate therewith and engage against` the yoke 3| and normally stationary swivelclamps or collars 36 and 31,.are positioned around the shaft 20 to bear against and move vertically along stationary guide-tracks `38 and `33 respectively, `when the clamps are tightened onto the shaft by means of their respective hand set-screws 40 and 4I. Each clamp is provided with a radially extending arm 42 and a roller 43 that bears for rolling engagement against and along the respective tracks as illustrated.

The clutch 29 is operable to disconnect the power shaft 23 from the mechanism by means of an arm 44 journalled at 45, and forked at 46 to engage the clutch and at 41 to be engaged and moved upwardly by a set collar 48 on the shaft 26. An electrical circuit breaker may be installed as at 49 to beoperated by the upward or axial displacement of the shaft 26, to control or to stop power input to the transmission mechanism described.

Operation The operation of this example of reduction to practice of the present invention is readily understood. The worm gear 25 transmits driving torque to the shaft 20 but if resistance builds up to a predetermined degree, some or all of the energy will be converted into a liftingforce by the fast lead screw 23, on the shaft, so that the plows I9 will pass over the obstacle or will be raised toa point where the resistance to their'forward rotary movement is reduced. If the shaft is raised to a point where the collar 48 moves the clutcharm 44, the power input will be cut olf to prevent damage to the mechanism. The electrical circuit-breaker 49 serves a similarfunction when it is acted upon by arm 42a.. Both the clutcharm and the circuit-breakerV may be vused or either optionally omitted.

All parts of the transmission mechanism are accessible to an operator in actual practice, by walks and platforms not shown because they would obscure some ofthe important features of the machine. When an operator optionally desires to raise the rotary element under power,

he may do so by tightening the hand set screw` in either clamp collar 36 or 31 which will convert the power energy input from rotary movement to lifting force.

This means of power lifting is designed to greatly reduce the manual labor involved when` an operator is required to lift a plurality of thickener rakesin a plant prior to a-shut-down` for abbreviated weekly operations or for any other causes. Thickeners built accordingl to the present invention may be cared for `bythe usual,

operators who merely walk along a-r platforrrn` not shown in the drawings, from one thickenerto the next. The operators only have to tighten swivel i.

clamp 31 by means of its hand set screwj4l ,on each thickener mechanism, whereupon the Y,rotary elements will be automatically raised to shut olf the power or disengage the clutches. During the period of the shut-down, the respective mechanisms will be held in theirA elevated positions since they are held from rotation with reference to their respective drive mechanisms by the` tightened clamps.

Upon starting of the operations again, the attendant has only to release the hand set screws 4l and their associated clamps 31, whereupon the mechanisms then rotate downwardly into their operating positi-ons, and their clutches and/or controlling circuit breakers are put into operative positions quickly and automatically. It will readily be seen that these features of the present invention are highly important in reducing the manual labor of the usual operators yin,

Other modes of selectively elevating the rotary mechanism are as follows; the two

hand wheels

33 and 34, can be locked together and held manually to effect the same result. Or the hand wheels can be locked and the shaft manually rotated differentially from the rotation of the gear 25. Obviously, any relative rotation between the gear 25 and the shaft 26 will eect longitudinal or axial movement or displacement of the shaft since the gear is held against such movement.

The shaft 26 can also be raised manually by using the hand wheel 33 as a thrust nut against the top of yoke 3|, either with or without the gear turning under power. When the power is off and the hand Wheel is thus used, the shaft and its rotary mechanism will be raised and rotated reversely toits normal forward movement, which is an excellent method of freeing the plows from cause of the screw-thread 23.

the operation of any device or anybattery of devices built according to this disclosure.

a settled superposed load of material. Any lifting of the shaft by any manual means while the gear 25 remains stationary, will rotate the shaft and its associated mechanism reversely be- The threads 23 and 24 are preferably of opposite hand to facilitate some of the functions of the hand wheels rotary movement between the gear and the V'shaftV is possible. In the drawings, Figure 1, the pin 35 is shown positioned in the shaft for purposes of illustration. During use, a relatively small increase in resistance by material I6, to rotation of the driven rotary element, will slow and raise the latter and bring the yoke to bear indrivingvv relation against the pin to impart greater torque to the shaft 20, until the pin fails. Thus the improved mechanism that is the subject of Vthe present invention, is under bothautomatic and manual control to effect the objectives set forth.

Figure 4 illustrates an embodiment of a modied form of the invention and is merely illustrative of another typical use for which it is wlell adapted. for the rabbles of an ore roaster, reference character 66 denotes a hearth, 6I the rotary rabbles that are carried on and rotated b'y'a hollow airconducting driven shaft 62, that is journalled at 63 for both axial and rotary movement.

The driving or power transmission mechanism comprises a power shaft 64, journalled on supy porting frame 65, at 66. A bevelpinion 61, on shaft 64, drives bevel gear 68' to rotate shaft 69 `iournalled on a thrust bearing 10 on foundation 1|, and in a steady bearing 10a.

The shaft 69 has a fine screw thread 12, an annular recess 13, and an upper end portion 69a,

that has a coarse or fast lead screw' thread'14H that engages in the lower portion of driven rabble shaft 62 as shown. Shaft 69 is hollow'as at` 6917.

A hand wheel 15 engages the said vfine thread 12 to thrust against and lock a similarly threaded capstan collar 16 on the shaft 69, when desired.

An upper capstan collar 11 is keyed to the driven rabble shaft 62 by key 11a held by set screw 118;

Washers

19 and 86 provide a bearing for the up- 'l' per capstan on the lower one,` and: shearpins 8| connectthe two for the transmission of limited In this embodiment which is a drive' ahplurality offradial -holes :8l-into which abar or the" like maybe manually inserted to rot-ate i them orto resist rotation thereof as desired.

` i rIhe lower capstanhas a swivel ring clamp 83, thathas` a` hand set screw 84 that is provided with a roller 85 which bears against the frame at 65a, Theupper capstan has a similar clamp ring 86,r set screw 81 and roller88 that rolls vertically between fra-me parts at 65h. Thecapstan 11 is provided with an inwardly projecting annular flange 89m that projects into the annular recess 13 of the drive shaft 69. The preferred screw thread angle or lead angle i for the fast lead screw threads,` in all formsof the invention, is tangent function equals 1 over 3.1416 or a lead of one diameter per turn; This angle may be variedto suit conditions. i

.The operation ofthe roaster drive is generic to the thickener drive and is obvious. Resistance to rotation of shaft 62,;Ietherfrom material being moved on the hearth, or` mechanical or manual resistance, will raise the rabble assembly carried on said shaft 62. Shear pins 8l function as hereinabove set forth, and are optionallyxused. The lower capstan collar` 83 and hand Wheel `I5 are used to raisethe rotarj7 driven assembly for-a semi-permanent setting, or downward limit, while the` inwardly projecting flange 89 of the upper capstan 'H limits the upward axial movement of driven shaft 62 with its rotated members.

The stopping 0f rotation of the lower capstan 83 by any of the disclosed means While the shaft 691s rotated will lift the entire assembly .to a minimum elevation at which it may be set by locking with the hand wheel 15. Likewise, the same result may be effected by turning the capstan 16 while the power drive is stopped.

The upper capstan 11, the driven shaftBZ and the rabbles 6|, function as an integral unit and are under both automatic and optional selective control as to elevation within the limits above set forth to` accomplish` the desired objectives. Holding the capstan 'l1 from rotation by manual means or by the ring clamp 86 will convert rotary power motion into lifting or axial motion.`

Likewise, lifting the rotated assembly by any means for any purpose, while the power drive is stopped, will rotate the rabb-les in a direction that is the reverse from normal. Air for the roaster is taken in through air hood 90 at 9|. The capstansfring clamps and other annular members may be made split or in halvesto facilitate assembly.

These examples illustrate the advantages gained and the wide field of practical utility of thi-s invention, and its many applications to industry.

While this specification discloses preferred means for reducing the present invention to practice and a preferred embodiment of the invention, changes may occur to those skilled in the art and may be made within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent i-s: i

1. The combination with a rotary element o-f the character described, of a power transmission mechanism therefor comprising a rotary driveand-lifting member, a rotary driven element in concentric threaded engagement therewith journalled for both rotary and axial movement, and means for optionally resisting the rotary movement of the driven element effecting relative romember andthe driven` element` whereby the latter is moved axially by said member.

`2. The .combinationY with a thickener tank or fthe like `of a `rotary stirring element of the character described, and a power transmission mechanism therefor compri-sing a rotary drive-andliftingmember, a rotary driven element in concentric threaded engagement therewith` journalled for both rotary and axialmovement, and a normally stationary cl-amp on the driven element forresisting the rotary movement of the driven element effective relative rotary movement between the drive-and-lifting `member and the driven `element whereby the latter is moved axially.V i

3. The combination with a thickener tank or the like of a rotaryfstirring element of the character described, and a power transmission mechanism therefor comprising a rotary drive-andlifting member, a rotary driven element in concentric threaded engagement therewith journalled forboth rotary and axial movement by said member, a normally stationary clamp on the driven element for selectively resisting the rotary movement of said driven element to axially move the same, and a stationary guide-track for the clamp. l

4. The combination with a thickener tank or the like of a rotary stirring element` of the charv acter described,` and a power transmission mech-V anism therefore comprising a rotary drive-andlifting member, a rotary driven element in concentric threaded engagement therewith journalled for both rotary and axial movement by said member, a normally stationary clamp on the driven element for selectively resisting the rotary movement of said driven element to axially move the same, a stationary guide-track for the clamp, and a roller on the clamp adapted to follow along said guide-track during said axial movement.

5. The combination with a rotary element of the character described, of a power transmission mechanism therefor comprising a rotary driveand-lifting member, a rotary driven element in concentric threaded engagement therewith, adapted for axial displacement thereby when its rotary movement is resisted to a predetermined degree, and means mechanically to resist the rotary movement of the driven element.

6. The combination with a rotary element of the` character described, of a power transmis- -sion mechanism therefor comprising a threaded able shaft supporting the rakes for rotary and elevating movement, a shaft-driving-and-lifting member in threaded engagement with the shaft, for normally rotating the same and adapted to elevate the shaft and the rakes when the material being acted upon by the latter resists their normal rotary movement to a predetermined degrec, and means for selectively resisting said rotary movement to divert driving force of the member into lifting force.

8. A thickener comprising a tank, materialmoving rakes therein, a threaded axially movable shaft supporting the rakes for rotary and tary.` movement` between the drive-and-lifting elevating movement, a shaft-driving-and-lifting member in threaded engagement with the shaft, for normally rotating the same and adapted to elevate the shaft and the rakes when the material being acted upon by the latter resists their normal rotary movement to a predetermined degree, and a shear-pin connecting the member with the shaft for resisting relative movement therebetween to a predetermined degree.

9. A thickener comprising a tank, materialmoving rakes therein, a threaded axially movable shaft supporting the rakes for rotary and elevating movement, a shaft-driving-and-lifting member in threaded engagement with the shaft, for normally rotating the same and adapted to elevate the shaft and the rakes when the material being acted upon by the latter resists their normal rotary movement to a predetermined degree, and a clamp for selectively resisting said rotary movement to divert driving force of the member into lifting force.

V10. Power transmission mechanism for a thickener or the like, comprising a threaded rotary drive member, a substantially vertical rotary driven element concentrically positioned through said drive member in threaded association therewith and journalled for both rotary and axial movement, and a shear pin connecting the drive member with the driven element.

11. Power transmission mechanism for a thickener or the like, comprising a threaded rotary drive member, a substantially vertical rotary driven element oncentrically positioned through said drive member and having a thread of relatively large lead angle in engagement with the drive member and another thread of relatively less lead angle and journalled for both rotary movement and axial movement, means selectively to resist rotary movement of the driven element, and a manually operable axial thrust member in engagement with the thread having the lesser lead angle.

12. In a device of the character disclosed, the improvement which comprises a power driven rotary stirring element journalled for both rotary and axial movement, and means manually to effect axial displacement of said element with rotation thereof in a direction reverse to that of its normal power driven direction of rotation.

13` Power transmission mechanism for a thickener or the like, comprising a threaded rotary drive member, a rotary driven element con centrically positioned through said drive memberl and having a thread of relatively large lead angle in engagement with the drive member and another thread of relatively less lead angle and journalled for both rotary movement and axial movement, means selectively to resist rotary movement of the driven element, and a manually operable axial thrust member in engagement with the thread having the lesser lead angle.

ARTHUR J. WEINIG.