US2541557A - Dirt moving and throwing machine - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 13, 1951 J. s. TANNER 2,541,557

DIRT MOVING AND THROWING MACHINE Filed June 16, 1947 3 SheetsS heet 1 55 F5 Jhn 5f Tarmer INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Feb. 13, 1951 J. s. TANNER 2,541,557

. DIRT MOVING AND THROWING MACHINE Filed June 16, 1947 a Sheets-Sheet 2 John 5. Tanner INVENTOR ATTORNEY Feb. 13, 1951 J. 5. TANNER 2,541,557

DIRT MOVING AND THROWING MACHINE Filed June 16, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 /Z 54 /2 John 5. Tanner I N V EN TOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 13, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to earth moving equipment and more particularly to portable apparatus for excavating and throwing or conveying dirt in such operations as ditching, terracing, loading and the like.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a machine of the kind set forth, consisting of a wheeled frame carrying on one end suitable excavating means and capable of being raised and lowered to predetermined depth of penetration of the excavating means, said frame further supporting an inclined, endless conveyor for moving dirt from the excavating means to the rear of the frame for discharge onto a traveling belt type thrower whose direction of travel is transverse to that of said inclined conveyor and which discharges the material at high speed at one side or the other of said frame.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dirt throwing apparatus which, by virtue of a novel form of reversing mechanism including a material directing baffle, is especially useful in constructing the channel type or one-way terrace, permitting the machine to travel in both directions along the terrace, yet depositing the dirt on but one side thereof.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a soil excavating and throwing machine consisting of a frame, either drawn or self-propelled, equipped with soil excavating and soil conveying means for continuously moving the soil displaced by the excavating means to a point of final disposition, during which the soil is given impetus in a lateral direction in one of a variety of angles in a vertical plane, which determines the distance the material is to be thrown.

With the foregoing objects in View, the invention has further reference to certain features of accomplishment which will become apparent as the description proceeds, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational View of a machine constructed according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the reversing mechanism for the dirt throwing means.

Figure 4 is a front perspective view of the machine.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view of the dirt throwing means in vertical section, taken on line 55 on Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the raising and lowering clutch, and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary perspective View of the dirt throwing means in one position thereof.

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 7 but showing the dirt throwing means in a reverse position.

Figure 9 is a sectional view similar to Figure 5 but showing the dirt throwing means in the reverse position, and

Figure 10 is a detail view of the means for reversing the direction of travel of the belt of the dirt throwing means.

Continuing with a more detailed description of the drawing, reference numeral ill denotes a pair of parallel channel iron frame members which form the bed of the main frame, the latter being supported upon wheels H, mounted on a crank axle If for raising and lowering the frame. Further reference to this operation and the mannor of accomplishment will be made presently.

Mounted on the forward end of the frame are parallel and inclined plates I3 serving as the side rails of an endless conveyor belt M, the latter operating over rollers 5 at its top and bottom, each being mounted on a shaft it whose ends are journaled in bearings I! set in the side plates !3 at the top and bottom.

The lower ends of the side plates i 3 extend below the forward ends of the frame members l8 and to the confronting faces of the plates are affixed mounting members 98 (Fig. 2) which carry shafts !9 (Fig. 4) on which are mounted discs 20. The mounting members [3 are further designed to support a shovel point 2! intermediate the discs 29, as shown. While the drawing shows a double disc and shovel arrangement as the excavating means herein referred to, it is understood that any well known earth turning means may be employed which may be suitable for the purpose, that of excavating and lifting the soil onto the bottom end of the conveyor belt M.

The rear or highest end of the endless conveyor M and its side plates is are supported at the top of the vertical frame of the dirt throwing apparatus, the said frame consisting uprights 2?, at four corners of the frame, the foremost of which are mounted on the rear ends of the parallel main frame members if). The vertical frame is suitably cross-braced by members 23 and its four sides, except for an area adiacent the bottom thereof, are covered by metal sheathing 24.

Referring now particularly to the dirt throwing mechanism; a pair of spaced apart mounting plates 25 are suspended for oscillating movement on a common shaft 25, the ends of the latter being iournaled in bearings 21 in the cross-members 23 of the vertical frame. Transverse rollers 28, 29 and 30 are mounted between the plates 25 on shafts 3|, 32 and 33 respectively, whose ends are journaled in the opposed plates 25. Surrounding the rollers 28, 29 and 30 is an endless belt 34 whose upper lead is concaved and the entire belt held under tension by a pair of idler wheels 35, mounted on the shaft 26 which also serves as the rotative axis and suspension means for the oscillating mounting plates 25.

The webs of the idlers 35 are solid in order that material deposited onto the belt at by the conveyor i l will find no outlet except at either end of the dirt thrower, below the lower edges of the side sheathing 24 of the vertical frame. It is apparent that the belt 34, when traveling at a high rate of speed, will impart to the material falling thereon a speed equal to that of the belt almost instantly and that centrifugal force will have a tendency to cause the material to cling thereto until its discharge from the belt. The material will be thrown a considerable distance in an arcuate course.

To drive the'belt 34, a drive shaft 36 extends alongside the main frame It, entering-a transmission housing 37 mounted on the frame near its rear end. Telescopically receiving the drive shaft 35 at its forward end is an extension 33, which connects the shaft with the power takeoff of the tractor, pulling the machine by means of the hitches 39 affixed to the front of the frame. Emerging from the transmission housing 3'! is a shaft 48 which is connected to the end of the shaft 33 of belt roller 30 through two universal joints di and a hollow extension 62 (Fig. 1). The transmission gearing in housing .31 may be conventional but in any case, it is designed to materially increase the speed of the dirt thrower over that of the driving shaft 36 as well as to reverse the direction of travel of the dirt thrower and to provide a driving means for the inclined conveyor M, the latter being accomplished through a shaft E3, extending upwardly towards the rear or upper end of the conveyor it and imparting rotation to its roller l through cooperating bevel gears in a housing 44, affixed to a conveyor side plate I3.

InFigure 5 is shown a view from the rear of the machine looking towards the front thereof and illustrating the position of the dirt thrower when discharging material on the left side of the machine. In order to discharge material on the opposite side, it is necessary to oscillate the dirt thrower about its axis 25 bringing the level of roller 38 above that of roller 28. At the same time, the direction of travel of the belt 34 must be reversed.

To accomplish the foregoing, a rod 45 is mounted above and parallel with the drive shaft 35 and on its forward end is mounted a crank 46 which is accessible to the operator of the pulling tractor. The rear end of the rod 55 is connected to the end of an extension 52 having a threaded portion 45a (Fig. on which travels an interiorly threaded block M above the transmission 3?. A vertically disposed shift lever 48 is pivoted at its upper end to the block 4? while its lower end enters the transmission 37. Accordingly, when the crank 46 is rotated the threaded extension 52 will be rotated in the block 41, causing the same to move to shift the position of lever 48 and actuate the transmission, thereby reversing the direction of rotation of shaft 40 which drives the dirt thrower.

The position of the dirt thrower is changed by means of a screw rod 49, (Figure 5), the upper end of which carries a bevel gear 51? which is engaged by a similar gear 5! on the end of the extension 52 (Fig. 1) of the rod 45 on the opposite side of the gear housing ll. The lower end of the screw rod 49, as borne out in Figure 5 enters an internally threaded boss 53, affixed to the outer face of one of the mounting plates 25 of the dirt thrower. A bearing 53a embraces the screw rod 49 adjacent its upper end and has a slotted extension 531) attached to a frame upright 22 to permit rotation of rod 49 radially about shaft 45. It is apparent therefore that when the rod 45 is rotated by the crank 46, the screw rod 49 will be rotated, causing the boss 53 to travel longitudinally thereon and either raising or lowering the end of the mounting plate 25 to which the boss is aifixed.

Simultaneous with the above operation, the belt 34 will change its direction of travel by virtue of the connection between rod 45 and the transmission gearing through reversing gears in housing 41 actuated by shaft lever 48, as described.

Inasmuch as it is necessary that the material deposited onto the belt 34 strike the same at its highest point for optimum results, a bafile 55 is oscillatably disposed above the belt 33 on a transverse shaft 55 whose ends are journaled bearings mounted in opposite walls of the vertical frame. The innermost of the thrower mounting plates 25 carries an integral arm 56 which extends upwardly from its midsection and radially with respect to its oscillating axis. Secured rigidly to the edge of the bafiie 5d and extending outwardly through an arcuate slot 5'! in a wall of the vertical frame is a rod 58, to the outer end of which is attached the upper end of the arm 56. A longitudinal slot 59 (Fig. 3) in the end of the arm 55 provides for relative displacement of the arm 55 and rod 58 due to the radii differential between the rotative axes of the mounting plates 25 and the baflie 54, such axes being shafts 2G and 55 respectively.

It is apparent therefore that as the position of the thrower mounting is changed, simultaneously with a reversal of the direction of travel of the belt 34, as described, the baffle plate 54 is appropriately positioned at the same time by the thrust exerted thereon by the arm 56 through the connecting rod 58.

The bafile plate 5d is preferably formed of two flush metal sheets, the outer edges thereof being turned in opposite directions to define side flanges 53 for each face of the baffle in order that material deposited thereon by the inclined conveyor M will be constrained thereby to fall towards the center of the belt 3 3. It is further pointed out that the upper ends of the side flanges 59 are deflected at 50 (Fig. 5) so that the upper end of the bafiie proper will rest flush against the side walls 24 of the vertical frame in each extreme position to preclude passage of material downward therebetween.

In Figure 5 also is shown a belt tightener 6| of conventional construction whose purpose is to maintain proper tension on the thrower belt 35 to prevent sagging thereof since the effectiveness of this belt depends largely on the tautness thereof.

Figure 6 illustrates a form of clutch by which the frame it is raised and lowered to predetermine the depth of penetration of the excavating means at the forward end thereof. No claim is made as to novelty in this clutch, the same being of conventional and well known construction and, being of standard design, a description of construction and operation is deemed unnecessary. Suffice it to say that a trip rope 62 is connected to the clutch lever 63 and extends forwardly of the frame H] to the operators position on the pulling tractor. The action releases the clutch for oscillation of the axle 12 in raising or lowering the frame ill, the extent of movement in either case being determined by presetting the hand lever 64.

In the foregoin the various elements were described with great particularity as well as their joint function in the combination and it is considered that the operation of the machine as a whole has been made clear without the necessity of further explanation.

Manifestly, the construction as shown and described is capable of some modification and such modification as may be construed to fall within the scope and meaning of the appended claims is also considered to be within the spirit and intent of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A soil moving and throwing apparatus including a wheeled frame, spaced apart rollers parallel to each other and with the longitudinal axis of said frame, oscillatably suspended mounting plates supporting the ends Of said rollers, a thrower belt surrounding said rollers, idler wheels having an axis common to that of said mounting plates and bearing on the edges of the upper lead of said belt to define a concave surface for receiving soil, a baffle oscillatably mounted above said belt, means for driving said thrower belt, and separate means operating in simultaneity for oscillating said mounting plates and baflie and for reversing the direction of travel of said belt.

2. A soil moving and throwing means including a wheeled frame having a vertical frame at the rear thereof, a plurality of spaced apart rollers in said vertical frame, a mounting for said rollers suspended for oscillative displacement in an are perpendicular to th longitudinal axis of said wheeled frame, an endless belt surrounding said rollers, idler wheels engaging the edges of said belt to form a concave soil receiving surface between said wheels, a baffle oscillatably mounted above said belt for directing material deposited onto said belt, means for driving said belt and means for changing th positions of said roller mounting and baflie in simultaneity with the reversal in the direction of travel of said belt.

3. A soil loading machine including a wheeled frame having a vertical frame on one end thereof,

a plurality of spaced apart rollers journaled in a mounting oscillatably suspended in said vertical frame, idler wheels bearing upon said belt and forming thereof a concave soil receiving surface, means for driving said belt at high speed to discharge the soil therefrom, a baffle adjustably mounted above said belt, means for reversing the direction of travel of said belt and cooperating means operable from the forward end of said machine for changing the position of said roller mounting and for reversing the direction of discharge of said belt, and means effective upon change in the position of said roller mounting to reverse the position of said baiiie.

4. A soil loading machine including a wheeled frame having a vertical frame at one end thereof, an endless belt operable on rollers in said vertical frame and in transverse relation to the longitudinal axis of said wheeled frame, a mounting for said rollers suspended in said vertical frame for arcuate displacement in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said wheeled frame, idler rollers bearing on the edge of said belt to define a concave soil receiving surface, means for driving said belt at high speed, a baffle oscillatable above said belt for directing the soil deposited thereon, means for reversin the direction of travel of said belt and for simultaneously chang-' ing the position of said roller mounting, and means for shifting the position of said bafiie to correspond with the direction of thrust of said belt.

5. A machine as set forth in claim 4, further defined in that the baffle shifting means consists of an arm carried by the roller mounting and extending upwardly and whose upper end is displaceably connected to the bafiie above the pivotal point thereof and a screw rod for oscillating said roller mounting.

JOHN S. TANNER.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,077,777 Wilson Nov. 4, 1913 1,273,206 Waterhouse July 23, 1918 1,533,847 Freedenburg Apr. 14, 1925 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 20,938 Great Britain Sept. 15, 1913

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