US2719529A

US2719529A - Apparatus for forcing compressed air, water, etc., over belt-fed articles

Info

Publication number: US2719529A
Application number: US350981A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harland D Wells
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1953-04-24
Filing date: 1953-04-24
Publication date: 1955-10-04
Anticipated expiration: 1972-10-04

Description

2,719,529 OVER Oct. 4, 1955 H. D. WELLS APPARATUS FOR FORCING COMPRESSED AIR, WATER, ETC,

BELT-FED ARTICLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 24, 1955 5o 1 INVENTOR.

#AELAND WELLS Oct. 4, 1955 H. D. WELLS 2,719,529

APPARATUS FOR FORCING COMPRESSED AIR, WATER, ETC, OVER BELT-FED ARTICLES Filed April 24, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @L w) a6 86/" i 5 INVENTOR.

A/AELAND WELLS United States Patent APPARATUS FOR FORCING COMPRESSED AIR, WATER, ET C., OVER BELT-FED ARTICLES Harland D. Wells, Del Norte, Colo.

Application April 24, 1953, Serial No. 350,981

2 Claims. (Cl. 134-144) This invention relates to a machine whereby articles fed therethrough upon a conveyor belt or equivalent means will be subjected to a flow of compressed air or the like.

It is proposed that the apparatus be so designed as to permit it to be used to advantage in cleaning and drying vegetables and garden produce, particularly by the use of air only. However, the apparatus, as will be appreciated, has general utility, since the jets of pressure fluid, such as. compressed air, directed upon the belt-fed articles, can be utilized in spray-painting the articles, sand-blasting, washing, and in other conditioning steps.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a generally improved apparatus of the type stated wherein the application of the compressed air, paint, water, blasting sand, or other substance to the belt-fed articles will be effected through the medium of a novelly designed nozzle including a rapidly rotating cross head mounted upon a hollow shaft of an electric motor, which hollow shaft serves as a passage for the pressure fluid.

Another object of importance is to provide a machine as described wherein the surface conditioning of the articles fed through said machine will take place in a completely enclosed space, thereby to eliminate possible injury to nearby workers, while at the same time. confining the material supplied to the articles to an enclosed area, to facilitate reuse of said materials.

Another object of importance is to provide, in the apparatus noted above, an. exhaust means for the compressed air, which exhaust means will be so arranged as to act upon the blast that is directed against the articles, after said blast has been fully exhausted against the surfaces of the articles.

Still another object of importance is to provide apparatus as described which will be relatively inexpensive considering the benefits to be obtained from the use thereof, and which will at the same time be particularly designed to assure the uniform, rapid conditioning of the surfaces of the articles.

Other objects will, appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and: from the annexed drawings, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure l is a view of an apparatus formed in accordance with the present invention, said apparatus being shown partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section;

Figure 2 is atop plan view in which a portion is broken away;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional. view, in which parts remain in elevation and other parts are broken away, through the electrically powered nozzle assembly of the device; and

Figure 5 is. a greatly enlarged transverse sectional view through the cross head of the nozzle assembly, taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4..

'ice

Referring to the drawings in detail, the reference numeral has been applied generally to a box frame of rectangular outline, said box frame being formed throughout of angle iron or other conventional stock.

Thus, the box frame 1'0 is formed with parallel, longitudinally extending base members 12, welded or otherwise made rigid at their ends with transversely disposed end members 14.

Corner posts or standards 16 are fixedly secured, at their lower ends, to the longitudinal and

end members

12, 14, at the corners of the box frame, said posts 16 extending upwardly substantial distances as will be readily apparent from Figure 1.

To brace the frame longitudinally thereof at the upper ends of the posts 16, longitudinal brace members 18 are provided, said brace members being welded or otherwise fixedly secured at their opposite ends to the respective corner posts 16, at each side of the box frame.

The frame is adapted to support a hollow housing for the conveyor and nozzle assemblies, within which housing the articles can be coated, blasted, or otherwise conditioned. To this end, the hollow housing includes a side wall 20, at one side of the frame, said side wall 20 being vertically disposed and being spaced transversely of the frame from a side wall 21 that is disposed at the opposite side of the frame.

Side walls

20, 21 cooperate to define, therebetween, an article-conditioning chamber 22.

It is desirable that the chamber 22, at the lower end thereof, be tapered, for a purpose to be made presently apparent, and to this end, a bottom wall is provided in the housing, said bottom wall being formed of downwardly converging bottom wall portions 24 (Figure 1). The side wall 20, at its lower edge, is integral with a transversely inclined side wall extension 26 (Figure 3). It is tov be noted that the inclination of the bottom wall portions 24, and the inclination of the side wall extension 26, cause the chamber 22 to be progressively reduced in respect to the cross sectional area thereof, in the direction of the lower end of said chamber. At the same time, the lower end of the chamber is caused to be located at one side of the frame, for convenience in exhausting the air' and unused material in. the chamber through a blower 28.

Conveyor means is provided in the housing, and can be of any desired type, as for example, an endless belt or webbing, a, cleated chain, or a series of power-driven rollers. In the illustrated example of the invention, rollers are shown by way of illustration, a series of said rollers being arranged longitudinally of the housing from end to end thereof, withthe rollers 36 of said series extending transversely of the housing. The rollers 30 are adapted to receive articles entering the housing through an inlet chute 32 provided at one end of said housing. The articles, after being carried through the length of the apparatus by the rollers 30, are discharged through an outlet chute 34.

The several rollers 30 are rotatably journaled on the upper longitudinal braces 13 of the frame (Figure 3), bearing brackets 36 being used to provide for the desired rotatable mounting of the rollers. A drive motor 38 is mounted upon the side wall 21 of the housing, and is adapted to drive the blower 28 by means of a belt 40. The belt 40 is trained about a drive pulley carried by the shaft of motor 38, and is also trained about a larger pulley 41 carried by the shaft of the blower 28. The blower is rotated in a direction to exhaust air from within the chamber 22.

A second drive pulley on the motor 33 has a belt 42 trained thereabout, said belt 42 being also trained about a driven pulley 44 mounted upon the shaft of one of the rollers 30. Said roller has a driving connection to the remaining rollers of the series, and to this end, a sprocket 48 is carried by the roller to which rotation is transmitted by means of belt 42 and pulley 44. The sprocket 48 has a chain 46 engaged therewith, said chain being of the endless type and being in mesh with other sprockets 43 carried by the shafts of the remaining rollers 30. At selected locations, idler sprockets 49 are in engagement with the top flight of the chain, to keep the chain firmly connected with the rollers along said top flight.

In this way, when the motor 38 is operated, the exhaust blower or fan 28 is placed into operation, and at the same time, the several rollers will be driven for the purpose of feeding the articles to be conditioned longitudinally of the housing.

Reference should now be had to Figure 4, wherein there is shown the nozzle assembly of the apparatus. As will be noted, the housing is provided with a sheet metal top wall 56, which can be reinforced by crossing angle iron brace members 58, 60 respectively. An inverted cupshaped housing 62 is mounted centrally upon the top wall 56 of the housing, and is flanged at its lower end for facilitating the fixed connection of said housing 62 to the top wall 56.

A conventional electric motor 64 is mounted within the motor housing 62, and secured to the upper end of said motor housing is a shaft housing sleeve 66. Sleeve 66 is formed with a peripheral flange at one end, said peripheral flange being designated by the reference numeral 68 and being welded or otherwise fixedly connected to the adjacent end wall of the motor housing 62.

An axial bore 70 is formed in the sleeve 66, and adjacent one end of said axial bore, there is formed an inwardly directed, circumferential rib 72, said rib providing a stop for a gasket or packing ring 74.

A shaft 76 is journaled in the sleeve 66, and has one end sealably engaged by the packing ring 74. Shaft 76 is hollow from end to end thereof, and as will be noted, said shaft is extended for substantially the full length of the sleeve 66.

The shaft 76 is extended through an opening 78 formed in the motor housing 72 in registration with the axial bore 70 of sleeve 76. Within the motor housing 62, the shaft 76 extends through the motor 64. In this connection, the shaft 76 is the motor shaft, and therefore, when the motor is energized, rotation will be transmitted directly to the shaft 76.

As will be seen from Figure 4, the shaft 76 has an axial bore 80 extending from end to end thereof, said bore opening, at one end of the shaft, into a transversely disposed sleeve or T 82. Connected to the T 82, and extending in opposite directions therefrom, are tubular members 84 which cooperate to define a cross head on the shaft 76.

Spaced apart, from end to end of the cross head, are small spray nozzles 86 (Figure The spray nozzles are so spaced as to keep the concentration or pressure of the air, water, or other fluid constant. I may, in this connection, vary the size of the spray outlets as another means for keeping said concentration constant from end to end of the cross head. Either the spacing variation, or the outlet size variation, may be used individually for this purpose. Or, if desired, both can be used in combination.

The spray nozzles are of the removable type and are threadedly engaged in suitable, complementarily threaded openings formed in the cross head. The openings of the spray nozzles 86 are preferably tapered, thus to cause any material forced under pressure through said nozzles to be broken up into exceedingly fine droplets, thereby to coat the articles passing therebelow in a uniform fashion.

At its opposite ends, the cross head is closed by caps 88 or equivalent means.

Means is embodied in the invention for directing fluid under pressure into that end of the shaft 76 remote from the cross head. To this end, the sleeve 66 has a tapered, threaded opening 90 receiving a complementarily formed connecting fitting 92, to which is attached one end of a flexible hose 94. Hose 94 would extend from a compressor or the like, not shown, for the purpose of causing fluid under pressure to be forced through the hose. Said fluid under pressure might be paint, water, or air, or air charged with particles of sand.

in use of the device, the

motors

38, 64 are placed in operation, and as a result, the exhaust fan will be driven simultaneously with the rotation of the conveyor rollers 30 and rotation of cross head 84.

Compressed air or the like may now be forced through the hose 94, and it will be readily observed that the cross head 84, rotating at high speed, will receive the air under pressure, and will cause said air to be discharged through the nozzles 86. The articles will be uniformly coated, since the cross head is rotating at very high speed, and is effecting the discharge of the article-conditioning material through a circular area throughout which uniform application of the conditioning material is assured.

It is also thought to be of importance that the rate at which compressed air is forced through the shaft 76 need not necessarily bear any relationship to the rate of speed with which the cross head 84 is rotated.

Thus, the user can, if he so desires, reduce the pressure with which air is forced out of the nozzles 86, while at the same time retaining the velocity at which the cross head 84 is being rotated. Or, if the user so desires, the pressure rate might be stepped up, simultaneously with the reduction in the speed of rotation of the cross head. These characteristics are of importance, since it provides for a more accurate control of the conditioning of the articles passing below the nozzle assembly, than has heretofore been possible.

Further, the invention is so designed as to cause the exhaust fan 28 to draw out of the chamber the expanded air, after said air has passed beyond the conveyor-supported articles. The air may, in many instances, be charged with paint, sand, or the like, and said paint or sand is in effect funneled into the exhaust fan by reason of the particular formation of the lower end of the chamber 22. The sand can, accordingly, be reused if desired, and the paint may similarly be adapted for reuse, it being understood that the fan 28 can discharge into a suitable conduit or container.

Additionally, it is believed that the device constituting the present invention is comparatively simple in construction, thereby to permit its manufacture at relatively low cost, considering the benefits to be obtained from the use thereof. The article conditioning means illustrated is of general utility, and thus the same apparatus can be used for painting, sand-blasting, and any of various other operations.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus of the class described comprising: a hollow housing defining an article-conditioning chamber; conveyor means extending within said housing adjacent the top wall of the housing; and a nozzle assembly mounted upon said top wall of the housing above the conveyor means, said nozzle assembly including a motor housing upon the upper end of the first named housing, a motor mounted in said motor housing, a hollow motor shaft carried by said motor and having its opposite end projecting above and below the motor housing, the upper projecting end of said shaft being connectible to a source of fluid under pressure, and a crosshead connected to the 5 lower projecting end of the shaft in communication with said shaft, said cross head being rotated by the shaft and being provided throughout its length with a series of spaced nozzles through which said fluid under pressure is directed against articles passing under the nozzle assembly.

2. Apparatus of the class described comprising a hollow housing defining an article-conditioning chamber; conveyor means extending within said housing adjacent the upper end of the housing; and a nozzle assembly mounted upon said upper end of the housing above the conveyor means, said nozzle assembly including a motor housing mounted upon the upper end of the first-named housing, a motor mounted in said motor housing, a hollow motor shaft carried by said motor and having its opposite ends projecting above and below the motor housing, a sleeve mounted upon the motor housing and in which the upper end of the motor shaft is journaled, said sleeve having means for connecting a pressure hose thereto, in communication with the interior of the motor 6 shaft, and a cross head carried by the lower end of the motor shaft to rotate therewith, said cross head including a longitudinal series of spaced spray nozzles arranged to direct pressure fluid against articles carried by said conveyor means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 457,674 Simmons Aug. 11, 1891 1,130,861 Tinsley Mar. 9, 1915 1,412,979 Sundh Apr. 18, 1922 1,748,224 Hinde Feb. 25, 1930 1,802,587 Tovender Apr. 28, 1931 2,207,002 Doeg July 9, 1940 2,213,489 Durand Sept. 3,1940 2,214,188 Walker Sept. 10, 1940 2,218,686 Showers Oct. 22, 1940 2,369,737 Jackson et a1. Feb. 20, 1945 2,678,845 Fitter May 18, 1954