US2534211A - Material distributing receptacle - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 12, 1950 G. K. VIALL ETAL MATERIAL DISTRIBUTING RECEPTACLE Filed Maren i4. 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 G. K. vlALl. R..F. LINDow mms/Tons BY ATToRN Dec. 12, 1950 G. K. v|AL.| ET AL 2,534,211

MATERIAL DISTRIBUTING RECEPTACLE Filed March 14, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 G. K. VIALL R. F. LINDOW INVENTORS BY ATTORN Dec. 12, 1950 G. K. v|A| ETAL 2,534,211

MATERIAL DISTRIBUTING RECEPTACLE Filed March 14, 1947 s sheets-sheet s G. K. VIALL R.F. LINDOW INVENTUM` BY ATToRN Patented Dec. 12, 1950 UNITED STATES P'iENT OFFICE dow, Wauwatosa, Wis., assignors to Chain Belt Company,. Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application March 14, i947, Serial No. 734,653

(Cl. 21e- 59) 3 Claims. 1

The invention relates to mechanism for controlling the discharge doors of traveling material handling receptacles, of which the buckets of the Well known boom and bucket" distributing apparatus widely employed in conjunction with paving concrete mixers for the placement of concrete in road building vand street paving operations may furnish a typical example.

The invention has for its principal object the provision of an improved remote control mechanism for such receptacle doors whereby the operator, from a fixed control station, may cause opening and closing of the doors at will, to any desired degree within their limits of movement, and/or may maintain them for any desired time in any position within such limits, all without regard to the position of the receptacle on the boom or other trackway, or of its rate and/or direction of travel thereon.

For purposes of disclosure an application of the principles of the invention to this particular species of material distributing apparatus has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, but it will be clear from the following description that such Iprinciples may be readily7 incorporated into analogous types of apparatus without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the said drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partly broken away, of the discharge end portion of a conventional paving concrete mixer and its associated boom and bucket distributing apparatus, equipped with one form of bucket door control mechanism. constructed and arranged in accordance with the invention, the parts being shown in the positions they occupy when the door is closed;

Fig. 2 is a similar view, on a slightly larger scaleyillustrating the positions assumed by the parts when the door is fully open;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view;

- Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional-elevational view on the plane indicated by the line A-fi of Fig. l, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional-plan view on the plane dicated by the line 5 5 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the said drawings more in detail, the frame IIJ of the concrete mixer I I has a subn stantially horizontal boom I2 mounted upon it for swinging movements, which boom comprises a pair of oppositely facing transversely spaced channel beams I3 and Hi, the lower flanges of which provide trackways for the wheels or rollers bucket is open at its top for the reception of the concrete from the mixer I l, and `is provided with a bottom discharge opening I8 controlled by a swinging door E9 which may be swung between the closed position shown in Fig. 1 and the open position shown in Fig. 2 by suitable linkage 20 terminating in a bell-crank lever 2i pivotally mounted at 22 on an upper portion of the bucket. The carriage iii and bucket I1 are drawn outwardly along the boom i2, i. e. from right to left as viewed in Figs. l and 2, by traction means comprising an outward-traverse cable 23, anchored to the bucket carriage at 2@ and passing around idler sheaves 25, 25 an-d 2l' to a winding drum 28 mounted on an upper portion of the4 mixer frame I0 and arranged to be driven in either direction at will from the mixer power plant, through a chain drive 29. The carriage and bucket are drawn inwardly along the boom by an inwardtraverse cable 3! which is also attached to the carriage by the anchor 24 and extends therefrom around an idler sheave 32, adjacent the sheave 21, t0 the winding drum 2B, upon which it is Wound in a direction opposite to that in which the cable 23 is wound.

The parts thus far described are more or less conventional in this type of apparatus, as are also the controls (not shown) whereby the operator, from his station on the mixing machine, may hold the winding drum stationary and/or cause rotation of it in either direction at will.

The mechanism for enabling the operator to have full control at all times over the movements and position of the bucket door iS comprises a door-control cable separate from the buckettraverse cables 23 and 3i, which door-control cable has portions and 35 extending in opposite directions from the upper end of the bellcrank lever 2i, to which the said cable is secured as by clips 3l. From this anchorage the cable portion 35 passes around idler sheaves 58, 39 and Ml, journalled on the saine shafts as the idlers 25, 26 and 2'! respectively, so that at least this part of the door-control cable substantially parallels the corresponding portion of the outwardtraverse cable 123. From the sheave Il@ the cable portion 35 extends upwardly to and partially around idlers 4I and 42, and thence to a winding drum 43 mounted on the mixer frame I0 adjacent the drum 28. The other door-control cable portion 3S extends from the anchorage 3'! to the sheave 45 (Fig. 4) journalled on the same shaft as the sheaves 2l, 32 and 40, thence upwardly to and partly around idlers 56 and 4l and to the drum 43, about which it is wound in a direction opposite to that in which cable 35 is wound. A chain and sprocket drive 48 drives the winding drum 43 from the drum 28, in the same directions and at the same speeds as the latter, and thus the several cables 23, 3|, 35 and 36 will all be caused to vtravelat the same speeds.

The idlers 4I and* 465 are floatingly journalledy on a shaft 5!) mounted in a yoke 5E carried by the piston rod 52 of a double acting reciprocating hydraulic or other fluid-pressure motor 53 mounted n the mixer frame i6. Fluid mayfbe alternately admitted to andexhausted. from the opposite ends of the cylinder of. such. motorv through appropriate conduits. t` which. extend to the operators station on the mixing machine, where they are connected` with any suitable control valve whereby iluid'pressure sup'- ply and relief to and from the motor. may be eiected as desired.

It will be. noted that the portion 35. of the door-control' cable is. trained about; the right hand portion of its idler 4l', while thecompanion cable. portion 35 vis trained. about' the. left hand portion* of its id1'er'46`. With the parts in" the positions shown in Fig. l, and with the winding drums vZlland Sheld aganst'rotati'onA whereby the bucket isstationary on the boom, if fluid be admitted toV the lefth'and'endof motorcylim der-`53" and exhausted Vfrom the right" hand. end thereof, whereby to.cause-movemen't`ot th'episton' rod 521. yoke 5'! and idlers 4i and 45' from the Fg. l. position toward' thev Fig: 2' position; the idler' 412 will' increase thetension on door;- control cable 35While the idler '45'\vill;te'nd to relieve .tension on cable. Since the drum i3 in effect servesas an anchor for. those vportions ofitherespective cables between such drumand the idlers 4|' and et, ,the pull thus imposedon thek cable 35i, in conjunction with` the slackem ingof the tensionLon cable' 3%, produces move;

menti of the portions.- of such' cables` extending fromv saidl idlers tothe bucket. l1, which cable movement shifts the bell-crank lever 2l.` from its'Fig: 1 position toward or to its. `Fig..2' posittion and through linkage Zpartially or'fully opens the do'or I9. The parts'. are.` soproportioned that! a full" stroke" of. the piston of the motor53 willprodu'ce full opening of the said door, and obviously` if such piston. be m'oved through less. than its full stroke the, door. will be but correspondinglypartially opened. When the` piston stops movement. oijthe cables 35 and 36,' lever 21,. linkage. 2G' and. door ielikewise ceases, .and the door will be retained'. in the'posi.-

tion to which it has been moveduntil the motor 53 is again actuatedl If .such actuation be in a direction opposite to thatfabove-rei'erredlto, the idler 46 willi increase the tension. on cable 35 while the idler 4"! willAV slacken tension on cable 35,'. with consequent. reverse movement ofthe lower cable portions which. will return the lever 2.1. toward or toits Fig. 1 position,4 with correspendingclosing movement ofjthe bucketdoorlg.

Obviously, the door controlfjust. describedl may take placewith the bucket positioned at any p'oint along` ther boom. within. the. limitsot. its travel. thereon;l and the door movements may also be eiected while the bucket is traveling in eitle'r.- direction on the boom. 'lhus if with.. the do'or" closed' as in Fig. 1, the Winding drum 28 be operatedv in` such direction as to cause. the outward-traverse cable 23' to propel. the bucket outwardly'onv the' boom,- the synchronously operated windillg.- drum 43 will be. moving, the door-con trol' cable' 35'i'n" the same direction and at' the Cir same speed as the said cable 23, and while the two cables are moving relative to the boom there is no relative movement between them, or between the cable 35 and the bucket, which would shift the lever 2l and produce opening of the door. However, if during such bucket traverse the motor 53 be actuatedi to retract the yoke 5i and its idlers 4I and 5, the result will be an acceleration of the speed of the lower portion of the door-control cable and a corresponding retardation of the lower portion of the cable 36, producing relative longitudinal movement between suchcable portions and the corresponding. portions of the traverse cables 23 and 3|, which willshift the bell-crank 2i and open the door. Reverse actuation of the motor S3, with the'buckettraveling in the same outward direction,.will cause acceleration of the cable 3S and retardation of cable 35, with consequent reverse motion of bell-crank lever 2l and closing of the door.

With the bucket traveling inwardly along the boom, actuation of the motor will produce the same results as regards opening and closing ofthe door.y In this case however, retraction of theyoke 5l and its idlers will produce retardation of cable 35'relative to traverse cable 23, and acceleration of cable 3S relative to traverse cable 3i, to producedoor opening, and of course a reverse action'wh'en the yoke is moved outwardly; tosecure door closing.

So long as the pistonof motor 53' is stationany, Whatever its position in its cylinder may be, the door will be maintained in a corresponding position relative to its limits of travel, regardless of whether the bucket be stationary on the boom; or traveling in either direction' thereon; On the other hand, actuation of the motor in either direction at any timewillproduce ay corresponding opening or closing movement of" the door,` in-like degree; and'thus the operator may have full control'over the door atl all times and under all operating conditions;

Whilethe traverse Icables 23 and 3l have been referred to'as separate. cables, obviously; like'the door-control cable, they maybe diierent' portions of a single cable which isattached'to the carriage by the anchor24.

What is claimed is:

l. In apparatus' for distributing. concrete and the like, the combination 'of a trackway; a receptacle reciprocatably mounted on saidv trackway" and having a discharge-controlling door movable to and from a closedlposition; a receptacle-traversing cable extending along the trackway and connected to theY receptacle.; means for. moving. said cable in. either. direction along the trackway at will, tov traverse the receptacle thereon;Y a Separate door-control cable having a portion extending alongv the trackway; connections. between the receptacle door. and saidv portion of. the. door-control cable, operable through relative movements between the two cables to move said door from and to its closed position; means for moving saidl door-control cable in synchronism. with. the receptacle-traversing cable, whereby to. normally prevent actuation of said door operating means and thus maintain the door in a determined4 position;. and mechanism movable to Volitionally variable extents and actingv upon the door-control' cable while so moving to differentiate the rates of movement of the two-cables regardless of the direction and rate of movement of the traversing cable, whereby to actuat'e said' door operating connections and move the door to an extent corresponding to the extent of operation of said mechanism.

2. In apparatus for distributing concrete and the like, the combination of a trackway; a receptacle mounted on said trackway for reciprocation thereon, said receptacle having a door for controlling discharge of material therefrom; a receptacle traversing cable having outwardtraverse and inward-traverse portions connected to the receptacle and extending along the trackway; a winding drum for driving said cable; a separate door-control cable substantially paralleling said traversing cable along said trackway; connections between said door-control cable and the receptacle door, operable through relative movement between the two cables to move said door; a winding drum for said door-control cable; means for operating the two winding drums in synchronism whereby to move corresponding portions of the two cables in like directions at equal speeds and thus normally prevent actuation of said door operating connections and maintain the door in a given position; and means engageable with said door-control cable and operable at will to temporarily accelerate and decelerate portions of such cable adjacent the door operating connections, with resultant actuation of the latter and shifting of the door to a different position.

3. In concrete distributing apparatus for a mixing machine having a frame, the combination of a boom carried by said mixer frame; a receptacle mounted for reciprocation on the boom and having a discharge controlling door; a pair of winding drums mounted on said mixer frame; a traversing cable connected to the receptacle and having outward-traverse and inward-traverse portions extending along the boom and to one of said winding drums; a separate door-control cable substantially paralleling said traversing cable along the boom and extending to the other of winding drums; door operating mechanism connected to said control cable, operable through differential movement or the two cables; means for operating said winding drums in unison whereby to move complementary portions of the two cables in like directions at equal speeds, thus normally preserving a determined relationship between them which prevents actuation of said door operating mechanism and maintains the door in a given position; and a reversible motor on the mixer frame having means engaging the door-control cable, said motor being operable at the volition of the operator to temporarily increase or decrease the speed of portions of said door-control cable adjacent the door operating mechanism, with resultant actuation of the latter and shifting of the door to a different position.

GEORGE K. VIALL. RUDOLPH F. LINDOW.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Faber et al July 28, 1942 Schiro Dec. 28, 1948 Number

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