US2652695A - Material handling machine - Google Patents

Description

sept. 22, 1953 F. o. PAULsoN MATERIAL HANDLING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 4, 1949 A TTOR/VE V Sept. 22, 1953 F. o. PAULsoN 2,652,695

MATERIAL HANDLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 4, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /N VE N TOR FRANK O. PAULl SON www 711. nl(

ATTRNE Y water.

Patented Sept. 22, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MATERIAL HANDLING MACHINE Frank'O. Paulson, RidgewoocLN. J. VApplication August 4, 1949, Serial No. 108,570

v (Cl. 61-63) 13 Claims.

This invention relates to material handling machinery and more particularly to hydraulic levee building machinery'for building levees, lls and stockpiling along waterways and rivers from solid material dredged from the'river or lake It is common practice, where natural conditions permit such Voperations-along waterways and rivers, to build levees, make lland iills and build stockpiles of solid material by hydraulically dredgingthese materials from the bed beneath the waterway or river. The dredge sucks up the solid material with a quantity of water and pumps it to the desired location where it-is deposited. This mixture of solid material and water is called the ffluid mixture and the levee, lill or stockpile is called the lill The fluid mixture varies in density and is approximatelyrlOf/b to 15% solids and 85% to 90% Thefsolids usually comprise sand, gravel, clays, silt or a mixture thereof.

Various methods are currently usedrfor handling the fluid mixture. One of these methods (-1) is to carry the uid mixture in apipeline supported on a trestle. Shuttered openings called bleeders `are located on theunderside of the pipeline. The solid materials, being of greater density than the water, tend to drag along the bottom side of the pipeline and are readily discharged through the bleeders. .When the fill level is built up underthe pipeline to the desired elevation, the bleeders are closed with theY shutters. Additional bleeder pipe sections are added to. the end of the pipeline, thus extending the lill.

Another method (2) is to start the iill with the pipeline raised to the desired elevation so that all the uid mixtureis discharged from theend of the pipeline. When the fill reaches the, desired elevation, the flow is stopped and additional pipe sections are added toA extend the pipeline.V

Both of the above-mentioned methods have undesirable Yfeatures that delay operations and make. unsatisfactory lill.Vv If the trestle and bleeder method is used, the trestle becomes a major expense itemV because it is buried under the fill and cannot, be removed. V Moreover, the construction and placement of the trestle V`consumes considerable time which delays thedredg-H ing operation. These same objectionable features apply to the second method. Also, if the second method is used, the excess water is discharged from the end of the pipeline with considerable force. This usually scours and washes away re-v taining levees. Control ofrtheplacement of the lill is most difficult because of the kinetic energy' stored in this excess water. In the second method the fluid mixture is all discharged from one opening. The solid materials separate from the water and build up a mound' of ll with a huge crater directly in front of the end of the pipe. Occasionally, the excess water breaks'out of the crater in a solid stream, causing a rapidscouring and washing of the lill. If the Y'retaining levees are damaged, the fill process becomes unmanageable and the flow must be stopped to reconstruct the levee so the lill will be shaped to the specified dimensions." Also, the crater makes theV addition ofV pipe, forv extending the pipeline along the fill, diicult because the depth of the crater requires trestle'or shoring under the pipe. Excess Water'is trapped in the crater which not only causes the deposited-material to settle slowly but also delays the drying process ofthe deposited material. i

Various types of spoons have been used at the end of the pipeline inv an endeavor to reduce the dynamic ilowof the fluid mixture and produce a more even distribution of the fill; Although' sorbedY in-the turbulent crater or in the ll.`

The natural tendency of this released energy is to scour and wash away the slopes of the fill.

It is the. object of this invention to overcome the above-described objections by' reducing the particle velocity of the liuid mixture without reducingits volume rate of flow.

The foregoing Objectis achievedby this in-` vention which provides, in combination with a dredge discharge pipeline,.a pluralityoi buckets of the type usedon hydraulic impulse wheels, a means for supporting the buckets to receive the discharge from the pipeline and movethem, and a brake for controlling the speed of the buckets whereby the particle Velocity of the discharged fluid mixture is reduced Without.V reducing the volume rate of ovv.` The nozzle'of the pipeline is made angularly adjustable to control the direction of deposit of the fluid mixture overA selected areas of the ll. Power from the'wheel may be used to slowly advance the rig or machine along the levee as the constructiony Work proceeds'l A telescopic joint in the pipeline. back of the nozzle,

actie-,eee

permits this advance of the wheel over the fill during pumping operations.

The invention may be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevation view of an embodiment of this invention disclosing the relation of the discharge nozzle and the impulse buckets;

Fig. 2 is a section view of the nozzle control apparatus, of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a View illustrating the flow conditions prevailing when the nozzle is in a position to one side of its central position and the peripheral velocity of the wheel is less than one-half the velocity of the fluid mixture as ity leaves the. nozzle; and

Fig. 5 illustrates the apparatus building a typical levee.

In Fig. l, the pipeline I is a conventional discharge line coming from a hydraulic dredge customarily used for this class of work. This line is connected to a telescopic joint 2 comprising an inner section 3 and an outer section 4. The inner section is preferably of substantially the same diameter as the pipeline I. A flexible seal 6 is provided to permit the outer section ll to slide over inner section 3 without leakage. A plurality of guides 1 are attached to thev outside and near the end of the inner section 3. A similar set of guides are attached to the inside and near the end of the outer section These guides center the two pipe sections and remove the Weight from the seal 6. This iiexible joint enables the levee building machine to move along the top ofv the completed Work as the ll progresses. in practice, the, length of this telescopic joint 2 is about fty feet. The rear end is supported by the pipeline I which in turn is supported on top of the levee by conventional means, not shown. The outer section 4 is secured to the deck of the machine by clamps 8. The use of this joint is very important in order to realize the maximum economic advantage of this invention. Its use permits a steady deposit of ll over a fiftyfoot length of levee without the loss of any time for trestle building or moving machinery.

A nozzle 5 is attached to the reduced discharge end of outer section 4 by means of a flexible joint IU, better shown in Figs. 3 and, 4. Joint I is of conventional construction and permits lateral and vertical movement of nozzle by means shown in Fig. 2. This directs the ud mixture angularly from its central position to assist in controlling the deposit of the udmixture in different areas across the surface of the. fill. The modus operandi of this nozzle adjustment will be described inA more detail later in connection with the descriptionk of Figs. 2 and 4. The nath, of the fluid mixture shown in Fig. 1 is the normal path that would be taken if this invention were not used. Ity should` be noted that the mixture would strike the fill at substantially they same particle velocity it had when it left nozzleY 9. This invention eliminates the destructive condition due to this high particle Velocity.y

An impulse wheel II is mounted in line `with the discharge end of the nozzle 9. This Wheel is preferably of the type commonly known as a Pelton Wheel and is usually used to develop power from relatively small, high velocity water jets. This wheel carries a plurality of buckets I2 about its periphery. These may be either of the Pelton or of the Doble type or they may be a modification thereof. Preferably, they are a modified Doble bucket without the splitter commonly used to divide the water jet into two parts. They thus have a smooth concave inner surface throughout. For maintenance reasons, these buckets are mounted to individual spokes I3 by bolts I4. The rest of the wheel construction is conventional and obvious from the drawing and requires no specific detailed description. The spokes radiate from hubs I5, better shown in Fig. 3 which, in turn.. are keyed to a shaft I6. Shaft I6 is supported by bearings I1 at the outer ends of a pair of trusses each comprising struts I8 and I9. Shaft IE is secured against thrust motion by a pair of thrust collars 2G. The trusses are joined with additional truss members 2| and 22 which are. secured to the deck of the machine.

A brake shaft 23 is mounted in bearing blocks near the upper ends of the truss members 22 as shown in both Figs. 1 and 3. A brake drum 24 is secured to one end of this shaft and the sprocket 25 is secured to the opposite end. A Similar sprocket 25 is secured to shaft I6 and a chain 2 connects these two shafts. A suitable brake.V mechanism 2e of conventional design engages brake drum 2li to apply any desired mechanical load to shaft 23. It will be evident that as impulse wheel iI is driven by the impulses received by the discharging fluid mixture from nozzle 8, shaft 23 will be driven through sprockets 25, 26 and chain 2'?. t is equally evident that any other mechanical linkage may be employed in place of the chain and sprocket, for example, bevel gearing and connecting shaft. Also, in practice, itr is preferred that this entire drive be enclosed in a suitable casing to exclude the solid matter of the fluid mixture. This is not shown for the sake of clarity but is quite conventional.

Referring now to both Figs. 1 and 2, it Will be noted that nozzle 9 is supported in yoke 29. The yoke 29 is given a lateral movement by a hand wheel Sil and associated gear and screw mechanism to move nozzle e to either side of its central position shown in Fig. 3. This movement is limited in its travel so that the discharge must always be caught by some portion of the buckets. I2 as illustrated by the fluid flow in Fig. 4. If the center of the stream is directed to the centers of thev buckets, the reverse flow Will divide in sub' stantially equal parts on either side of the center line of the bucket and nozzle as in the vusual practice with Pelton power wheels. It is a well known property of Pelton power wheels that the particle velocity of the return flow relative to the buckets is always approximately equal to the ve* locity of the inflow, also relative to the buckets. This, of course, neglects the effect of friction which disperses the return flow and slightly lowers its return Velocity. The absolute velocity of the return flow is, therefore, approximately equal to the difference between the absolute velocity of the flow from the nozzle and twice the bucket velocity. It is evident from this that if the buckets are moving with a peripheral velocity of onehalf that of the nozzle discharge, the absolute velocity of the reverse flow is zero and the fluid mixture will simply drop to the fill. In practice, the bucket velocity is controlled by the brake mechanism 28 so as to give any desired absolute return flow velocity to aid in depositing the fluid mixture over different areas of the fill. In any case, this invention makes it possible for the absolute particle velocity of the return flow to be very slow compared with the discharge velocity from the nozzle so that washing away of the deposited ll is substantially eliminated. The water easily separates from the solid matter and ilows off freely ,over a large area. Thus,` it is seen that the principle of the` Pelton impulse wheel is uniquely employed to solve a very troublesome problem of long standing in the hydraulic levee building art.

, If the nozzle is moved laterally in one direc.- tion, as seen in Fig. 4,.the.re'turn flow will no longer be equally divided butY will leave the buckets in a direction opposite from the deflection of the nozzle. The yuse of buckets with a continuously smooth curve concave surface renders this control by the nozzle particularly .eiective Itis thus seen thatv the discharge can be controlled in its placement fore and aft by the brake mechanism and laterally by the lateral movement of the nozzle. Some vertical movement of the nozzle will also be providedfor correcting changes in ow velocity. The mechanism for this is conventional with Pelton wheels but a preferred mechanism adapted to lthepractice of this invention is shown in Figs. l and 2. It comprises a clamp 31 secured around nozzle 9, the upper end of which is attached to a screw and hand wheel mechanism 38 installed in the top oi the yoke 29. It is to be understood that by turning the hand wheel, nozzle 9 is raised or lowered as required. 1

. Asthe fill progresses and the desired level is reached, the machinev can be driven forward by power4 derived from the impulse wheel. This is obtained through a clutch and gear mechanism 3| of conventional design. This mechanism is equipped with a clutch controlled by clutch lever 32, a selective gear mechanism controlled by shift lever 33 and a variable speed drive under control of hand wheel 34. Power is taken from shaft 23 which passes through the housing` of mechanism 3|'. Power is delivered by way of drive shaft 35 to the Caterpillar treads 3B, 35. This Caterpillar drive and associated steering mechanism are the same as are customarily used with such drives and hence theirY details are not shown or describedin.,f .urther detail. When the .flow and solid' matter'content' remain approximately constant, the'speed control 34 can befadjusted to causethe machine to slowly creep along at just the right speed torkeep up with the fill. As'tlle machine advances, the telescopic joint 2 extends so as to maintain a continuous flow. When this joint has reached its limit of extension, it is disconnected from pipeline I and additional sections of pipeline are inserted.

The levee illustrated in Fig. 5 is typical of the type of ll made by the machine of this invention. The machine is shown centered on the top of a iillV which may have a width of twentyfour feet. Thus the lateral movement of the nozzle and the braking action jointly control the deposit of approximately twelve feet on either side. Of course, these dimensions are to be considered illustrative only and are in no sense restrictive of the levee dimensions that can be built by the machine of this invention.

From the foregoing description it will be evident that this invention has made a unique use of the Pelton impulse wheel principle quite different from its usual use as a power source. It is also seen that this machine provides means for absorbing substantially all the dynamic energy of the flow which is so destructive of the previously deposited ll and of retaining levees, thereby overcoming a major diflculty with hydraulically operated levee building machines. It disperses the ow of mixture over a wide area, permitting the solids to separate from the water and the excess water to now slowly and evenly over the sides of the iill without destructive washing; By regulating the speed of the machine the desired amount ofthe iill can be deposited irrespective of the condition of the terrain. The telescopic joint permits continuous advance of the machine while pumping operations are under way, thereby eliminating expensive stoppages while advancing the machine. This is an important economic feature. The flexible vnozzle permits an evenrdistribution of the materialin the fill by controlling the direction of the flow to the buckets ofthe impulse wheel. The braking mechanism, which regulates the speed of the wheel, gives fore and aft control of the deposit so that the ll may be placed anywhere from several feetrfore of the wheel to any location between the wheeland the rig of the machine. The machine and operator are protected from the return flow by a baffle plate 39 mounted as indicated in Fig. 1. Y

A variety of modifications can be made to many of the parts of this machine without departing from the inventive concept. For example, the buckets used need have no particularly critical shape. `The onesillustrated are preferred because they provide excellent control over the reverse ovv rfrom the buckets to the fill. Instead of using a Caterpillar drive, the machine can be propelled by a conventional walking beam mechanism or any other suitable conventional propelling mechanism. To move the machine about when the pipeline is disconnected or when there is no new, an auxiliary engine, not shown, is

g mounted on the rig and coupled mechanically tov the gear mechanism 3|.

This auxiliary engine is also used in cases of slow flow insufficient to provide power to drive the machine and also provide the control necessary to manage the deposit of the ll. The brake may be of any type and may include an electric generator and resistive load as is sometimes used for braking purposes. The invention has been illustrated by showing` the buckets mounted on a wheel. This is the preferred arrangement but it is obvious that the buckets could be mounted on a continuous chain traveling over two or more sprockets.

What is claimed is: Y

"1. In a hydraulic levee building machine for constructing a levee from the fluid mixture discharged from a hydraulic dredge pump, the combination of a discharge nozzle including means for connection to the hydraulic dredge pump, an impulse wheel having a plurality of buckets mounted on the periphery thereof, said wheel being rotatably supported opposite said nozzle with the discharge direction of the nozzle substantially tangent to the circular path dened by the buckets, whereby the buckets receive the iiuid mixture and cause rotation of the wheel, and a brake mechanically connected to said wheel for applying a mechanical load to said wheel to control its speed.

2. In a hydraulic levee building machine for constructing a levee from the iiuid mixture discharged from a hydraulic dredge pump, the combination of a discharge nozzle including means for connection to the hydraulic dredge pump, a rotatable impulse wheel having a plurality of buckets mounted on the periphery thereof, a rig for supporting said nozzle and said wheel with the discharge direction of the nozzle substantially tangent to the circular path defined by the buckets, whereby the buckets receive the fluid mixture and cause rotation of said wheel, a propelling mechanism for propelling the rig, a mechanical coupling meansfor coupling the wheel to thepropelling mechanism whereby power from the wheel may be used to propel the rig; as. the iiuid mixture is discharged, and' a brake mechanically coupled to said wheel for applying a mechanical load to the wheel to absorb. suffcientpower to. control theA speedg of the Wheel.

'3. A, levee buildingmachine for constructing a levee from the fluidi mixture discharged from a hydraulic dredge pump, saidy machine comprising a discharge nozzle including means for connect'- ing` it tothe pump, an impulse wheel with a plurality of buckets about the periphery thereof', meansv supporting said' impulse wheel directly in line with said nozzle 'so as to receive the discharge of the fluid. mixture against its buckets whereby the wheel is rotated, and a braking means con nectedto said wheel to apply a mechanical load to the wheel, whereby the particle velocity of the fluid` mixture asit leaves the wheel may be re'- duced without lowering its volume rate of flow. 4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said nozzle is angularly adjustable, whereby the iiuid mixtureis caused to discharge-against said wheel from` diiierent angular directions se that thev mixture may be deposited over selected areas of the levee under construction.

5. The combination of claim l' and a means for advancing the machine. along the levee whilethe uid mixture is being deposited.

6. The combination of claim 2 with means incluclingV a telescopic joint for connecting the nozzlevtora pipeline whereby said rig may advance continuously wh-ile the iiuid mixture is being delivered through the pipeline to the nozzle andv impulse wheel.

'7. The combination of claimY 2 wherein said: propelling mechanism comprisesa Caterpillar tread.

8. The` combination of claim 3 where-in the nozzle is` angularly adjustable to cause the fluidmixture to discharge aga-inst saidk buckets from, different angular directions whereby the mixture may be deposited over selected areasr of the levee surface;

9. A levee buildingmachine comprising; a discharge nozzle for discharging a iiuidV mixture, means including a telescopic joint for connecting the nozzle to a pipeline carrying the uid mixture from a hydraulic dredging machine, an. impulse wheel with a pluralityv or buckets" about the pe riphery thereof', meansincluding a rig for supporting said impulse Wheel tov receive the dise' charge of the uidl mixture from the nozzle and against said buckets whereby the wheel is rotated, a. propelling mechanism for propelling the rig, a mechanical coupling meansv for coupling the wheel to, the propelling mechanism whereby power from the. wheel may be used. to propel the rig, and a braking means. adapted' to applyl an adjustable mechanical load to the wheel.

1:01 The combination of' claim 2. wherein said mechanical coupling means includes. a variable speed control forv adjusting the speed of the propelling mechanism relative to the speed ofthe Wheel.

11. The combination of claim 9l wherein said mechanical coupling means includes a variable speed control for adjustingl the speed of the pro-V pelling mechanism relative to: the speed' of' the` wheel.

12. In a hydraulic material handling machine for handling a fluid mixture of liquid and solid` particlesy the combi-nation of a plurality of movable buckets eachl having a concave surface, a discharge tube for delivering andi discharging the fluid mixture, means supporting the buckets and the tube so. that the discharged Huid mixture is receivedr by the concave surfaces of the bucketswhereby the buckets are moved, and means for applying a mechanical load toA said; buckets to control their velocity, whereby the absolute par-- ticle velocity of the fluid mixture isf substantially reduced as it leaves thebuckets.

13. The combination of claim 112 and a means for angularl-y adjustingthenozzle so that the fluid mixture is received by said buckets from different angular directions across their concave surfaces.

FRANK o. Prozmson.V

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,193,845 Troyanosk g Aug. 8, 1916 2,408,008 Tipton v Sept. 24, 1946

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