US2400246A - Conveyer - Google Patents

Description

M y 14, 19 .6. s. M. MERCER CONVEYER Original Filed Sept. '1, 1943 INVENTOR; 5TANLEY M. MERGER, BY

Patented May 14, 1946 T 2,400,246 I "co'NvEYER 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a conveyor or elevator, and an object of the invention is to provide such a device with an auxiliary pivotally mounted discharge chute to insure a very efficient discharge of material, while preventing damage to the conveyor or elevator in case the conveyor mechanism strikes the chute.

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

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of an elevator or conveyor incorporating the feature of my invention; and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing particularly an auxiliary discharge chute for guiding material from the conveyor buckets to the main discharge chute.

This application is a division of my application, Seria1 No. 500,799, filed September 1, 1943, for an Elevator.

The elevator or conveyor comprises a vertical or upwardly extending tower or main frame 20 which, as viewed incross-section, is rectangular in shape and each of the four corners includes a vertical or upright structural member such as channel 2|. Each of the channels 2| in the finally assembled condition of the main frame 20 constitutes a continuous upright member which extends from the foot or bottom of the main frame 20 to the top thereof.

At their bottoms the channels 2| are provided with feet 22 preferably rigidly attached to base members which may, for example, be mounted on a poured concrete base sunk sufficiently in the ground to provide a firm foundation. At their tops the channel members 2| are rigidly connected together by side I-beams 23 and cross channels 24, all of said structural members 2|, 23 and 24 being rigidly connected together. Along the sides, each of the two front and rear channel members 2| is connected by one or more diagonal braces 25 as well as by horizontal angle braces 26.

The main frame or tower of the conveyor is an independent self-supporting structural unit and in fact it acts as a support for a sectional housing or casing 40 which is built up by a head section 4|, a foot section 4'! and an intermediat section which includes a plurality of removable panels or sections, a described in detail in my parent applicationabove identified.

Mounted upon the I-beams 23 at the top of the main frame 20 is a pair of spaced bearing boxes, one of which is seen at 29, the two bearing boxes 29 supporting a horizontally extending head shaft 30 which supports a pair of head sprockets, one of which is seen at 32, which co-operate with and drive a pair of spaced endless chains, one

of which is seen at 33, of a bucket elevator or conveyor mechanism 34. Extending between the two chains 33 and carried thereby is a plurality of buckets 35, said buckets 35 being rigidly attached adjacent their sides to the inner side bars of the chains 33 by appropriate brackets or attachments 36.

The head section or part 4| comprises a totally enclosing hood made up of top, front, back and side plates, all rigidly connected together and reinforced by appropriate angle members and in which the interior thereof is lined with a plastic insulating material, the insulating material being attached to the metal casing forming this section or part by appropriate studs, the heads of which are molded into the insulating material.

The head section or part Of casing 4| also includes a main discharge chute or spout 42, It is desirable to prevent as little carry over of material as possible or, in other words, to effect as nearly as possible a complete discharge of the material onto the chute 42 as the buckets go over the head sprockets 32.

If this were attempted to be done by placing the upper edge of the discharge chute 42 quite close to the path of travel of the lower edge of each bucket 35, it is possible that during operation the said bucket edges might deviate with the chains from their normal paths of travel and hit the chute edge and cause damage to one or both. To produce the desired result, yet to overcome the possibility of any damage, I provide an auxiliary chute 43 which extends the full width of the main chute 42 and is pivotally attached thereto on a horizontal axis at a point such that the bottom of said auxiliary chute will normally rest on the main chute 42 while the top edge thereof is closely adjacent the path of travel of the foremost edge of each bucket 35.

As a consequence of this structure, there is a minimum carry over of material from the working run to the return run of the conveyor mechanism 34, and should the forward edge of any bucket 35 strike the upper edge of the auxiliary chute 43, said chute 43 is free to pivot about its horizontal axis provided by pivot bolts 44 so as to prevent any damage to either the bucket or the auxiliary chute 43. Since the pivotal axis of chute 43 is to the right of its center of gravity, as viewed in Fig. 2, it is evident that the left-hand end thereof will automatically move downwardly and restore the auxiliary chute 43 to its normal position, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing, as soon as it is released by the passing of any bucket which has contacted it.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claim hereto appended, and I therefore wish not to be restricted to the precise construction herein disclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

In a conveyor, the combination with a casing having a main discharge chute, of a conveyor mechanism therein including an endless chain having buckets carried thereby for elevating material, said buckets discharging said material into said chute as the buckets approach the chute, and an auxiliary chute pivotally mounted within said main discharge chute and having its upper inner end edge closer to said buckets than said main discharge .chuta'said upper inner end edge of the auxiliary "chute being spaced outwardly from the outermost edges of said buckets passing adjacent it when said conveyor chain travels in its normal path and said auxiliary chute being freely swingable and pivoted with its center of gravity out-

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