US2878922A - Stable cleaning device - Google Patents

Description

March 24, 1959 G. H. BEssETTiz 2,378,922

STABLE CLEANING DEVICE Filed Sept. '20, 195'? 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENWR March 24, 1959 G. H. BESSETTE 2,878,922

STABLE CLEANING DEVICE Filed Sept. 20, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENT 0R Georges H BESSHTE March 1959 I G. H. BESSETTE 2,878,922

STABLE CLEANING DEVICE Filed Sept. 20, 1957 5 Shee tsSheet a,

NYINM Unit id S te P t STABLE CLEANING DEVICE Georges Henri Bessette, Iberville, Quebec, Canada Application September 20, 1957, Serial No. 685,245

5 Claims. (Cl. 198-137) The present invention relates in general to improvement in the art of transporting or conveying bulk material and relates more specifically to various improvements in the construction and operation of stable cleaning devices or the like.

The general object of the present invention is the provision of an improved stable cleaning device which forms a simple and durable installation and which is also highly reliable and efficient in operation.

Stable cleaning devices usually consist of an endless conveyor chain equipped with longitudinally spaced flights extending on one side of the chain and movable in a gutter to collect and convey the refuse and litter in said gutter to a discharge zone usually located at the upper end of an inclined platform or ramp. The-gutter extends at the back of the animals stalls and normally consists of a plurality of straight portions communicating with each other by curved corner portions, some of which make reentrant angles to provide for flexibility of the installation. The endless conveyor chain usually extends along one side of the gutter with the flights extending transversely of said gutter and when the chain travels along a reentrant corner, some means has to be provided to guide the chain on the outside of the corner with respect to the centre of the are joining the two adjacent straight portions of the gutter. In conventional stable cleaning apparatus, said guiding means usually consists of fixed plates in sliding engagement with the conveyor chain. Due to the tension existing in the chain, this sliding engagement usually results in consida erable friction thereby necessitating an increase in the power needed for actuating the system. Idle wheels are also'provided in other conventional stable cleaning devices but said wheels are usually disposed in the gutter, or otherwise, in such a manner as to prevent the free movement of the litter or refuse in the reentrant portion of the gutter.

The drive for the endless conveyor chain of the conventional stable cleaning devices usually consists of an electric motor rotating at high speed and driving the chain at a low speed through the intermediary of a complicated speed reducing mechanism. Also a free starting and overload clutch has to be provided between the electric motor and the sprocket wheel actuating the conveyor chain to allow for no load starting of the electric motor and to prevent damage to the electric motor when the conveyor chain jams. Said clutch mechanism usually consists of a friction disk clutch assembly which has many inconveniences; for example, it is very diflicult to adjust the friction in said clutch assembly to provide for free starting of the electric motor and at the same time for positive drive of the conveyor chain when the motor has attained the desired speed while providing for an overload protection on the motor. If the friction is not enough, slipping will always occur and if the friction is too much the clutch will freeze and no overload protection will be provided.

Moreover, in several types of conventional stable cleaning devices, no means are provided for cleaning the flights of the conveyor chain after the litter and refuse have been discharged therefrom, whereby the refuse and litter clinging to the flights fradually accumulate thereon.

Accordingly, the main object of the present invention is the provision of means in a stable cleaning device of the type referred to hereinabove to obviate the above noted disadvantages. v

A more specific object of the present invention is the provision of means for guiding the conveyor chain along the outside of a reentrant corner in such a manner as to prevent friction between the guiding means and the conveyor chain and at the same time to provide for completely free passage through said reentrant cornerof the litter and refuse carried by the flights of the chain.-

Still another important object of the present invention is the provision of a conveyor chain of special construc-' tion whereby said chain is adjustable in length to smalltolerances and wherein any broken flights may be readily replaced, and also providing positive engagement with the driving sprocket wheel, even when the chain links are cluttered with refuse.

Still another important object of the present invent-ion is the provision of a stable cleaning device of the character described having an improved drive of simple ,and inexpensive pawl and ratchet construction and which will impart a substantially constant force on the conveyor chain.

Another important object of the present invention is the provision of a conveyor chain drive provided with an improved and centrifugally actuated clutch to provide for free starting of the electric motor of the drive and having overload tripping means to automatically declutch the motor from the conveyor chain as soon as an excessive load is applied on the chain. V

Another important object of the present invention is the provision of means for cleaning the flights immediately after they have discharged their load of refuse and litter at a discharge zone.

The foregoing and other important objects of the present invention will become more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a partial plan view of the stable cleaning device in accordance with the invention; j w

Figure 2 is a cross-section along line 2-,-2 of Figurel; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a reentrant corner arrangement;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the drive for the: conveyor chain; t Figure 5 is a partial plan section taken along line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is an enlarged detailed view of the driving sprocket, together with the means for cleaning the flights; Figure 7 is a partial elevation of a modification of the guiding wheels shown in Figure 3;

. Figure 8 is a partial perspective view of the clutching device;

Figure 9 is a longitudinal section of the wheel provided with the clutching device; and

showing its operation.

Figure 10 is a partial plan view of the clutching device Referring now more particularly to the drawingsin which like reference characters indicate like elements.

throughout, reference character A indicates a floor of a (not shown). The trough or gutter B is adapted to receive and collect the litter and refuse from the stalls. An;

3 endless conveyor chain 1 equipped with transverse flights 2 is adapted to move or travel along one side of the gutter B with the flights 2 scraping the bottom of the gutter and conveying the litter and refuse up an inclined platform or ramp 3 at a discharge zone 4 where it is collected as manure.

The ramp 3 normally extends to a point outside of the barn and may have a substantial length. Therefore, the ramp 3 normally incorporates both the go and return paths 5 and 6 of the conveyor chain. In order to suitably locate the various sections of the gutter B inside the barn and also to provide for flexibility of the whole stable cleaning arrangement, the gutter B is usually made of straight sections making right-angles with each other and providing both types of corners, namely reentrant or inside corners, as indicated at 7, and outside corners, as indicated at 8.

There is usually no problem involved in the movement of the conveyor chain 1, flights 2 and litter or refuse carried thereby around the outside corners 8: the chain is guided on'the inside of the corners 8 by means of an idle wheel 9 of conventional construction and mounted for free rotation about a vertical shaft 10.

To move around a reentrant corner 7, the conveyor chain 1 must travel along the outside of said corner 7 and must be retained in this position by means of suitable guiding members. Said guiding members must be such as to minimize friction and also not to hinder the movement of the litter and refuse carried by the flights 2.

In accordance with the present invention, the guiding means comprises three idle wheels 11', 11". Each guiding wheel is freely rotatable on a downwardly inclined shaft 12, which is itself adjustably secured to a bracket 13 anchored in the concrete of the floor A. The three brackets 13 are welded at their lower end to a common anchoring member 14. Each bracket 13 is provided with a longitudinal slot 15 through which extends the shaft 12, which is itself secured to a base plate 16 in contact with the back of the bracket 13 and which is secured in any longitudinally adjusted position by means of bolts 17.

Each bracket 13 is inclined at substantially 45 with respect to the horizontal and overhangs part of the gutter B; therefore, the shaft 12 of each guiding wheel extends downwardly towards the gutter at a substantially 45 angle with the floor surface. The axis of the two outside guiding wheels 11' extend in vertical planes at rightangles to the longitudinal axis of the gutter section with which said guiding wheels are associated, while the intermediate guiding wheel 11" has its axis lying in a plane substantially bisecting the vertical planes containing the axes of the two outside wheels 11'. In the example shown in Figure l, in which the gutter sections B and B" form a right-angle with respect to each other and are joined by the curved corner portion 7, the axes of the two outside wheels 11 make a 90 angle with each other and a 45 angle with the axis of the centre guiding wheel 11".

When the conveyor chain 1 is of conventional construction and consists of a plurality of connected links forming closed loops extending at right-angles to one another, as shown at 1a in Figure 7, each guiding wheel may consist of a disk 11a provided at its periphery with a plurality of spaced, outwardly projecting spacer members 18 having an outwardly directed L-shaped recess 19 engageable with the links of the chain 1a. More particularly, the lowermost spacer member 18, as shown in Figure 7, will have one face of the recess 19 in a vertical plane to engage the vertical link of the chain 1a and space the same from the periphery of the disk 11a so that the adjacenthorizontally extending links will not come in contact with the periphery of the disk 11a.

When the guiding wheels are used in conjunction with the particular chain construction to be described hereinafter, said wheels have a smooth peripheral surface with 4 a concave cross-section, as clearly shown in Figure 2 at 20.

The conveyor chain, in accordance with the present invention, is made of a plurality of connected links 21 which are readily disconnectable one from the other. Each link 21 consists of a straight, middle portion provided with terminal portions 22 extending in planes at right-angles to each other and forming U-shaped open hooks. Thus the hook of one link will engage with the right, angularly disposed hook of the adjacent link and the links may be readily disconnected so as to add or remove links to adjust the overall length of the conveyor chain 1.

It will be noted that with this arrangement, the smooth peripheral portion 20 of the guiding wheels 11', 11" will engage only the transversely disposed hook 22, as clearly shown in Figure 2, while the remaining part of each link will not contact the wheel to thereby provide for smooth engagement of the conveyor chain with each guiding wheel.

The flights 2 simply consist of angle irons having a vertical flange 23 adapted to engage and scrape the bottom of the gutter B, and a horizontal flange 24 which is welded to the bottom of a link 21 in such a manner that the chain 1 extends above the horizontal flange 24 of the flights 2 to provide a rib above said flights engageable by the guiding wheels 11', 11".

From the foregoing arrangement it will be clear that the guiding wheels 11, 11" exert an outwardly directed force on the conveyor chain 1 to thereby maintain the same close to the outside wall of the reentrant corner 7. The guiding wheels rotate together with the forward movement of the chain, whereby no frictional force or resistance is developed between the wheels and the chain. It will be noted that due to the upward inclination of the wheels, the space above the flights 2 is not obstructed and there is free movement of the litter around the reentrant corner.

The outside wall of the gutter B at the reentrant corner 7 is preferably lined with a curved steel plate 25.

At the junction of the horizontal gutter sections with the ramp 3, the conveyor chain 1 is engaged by idle rollers 26 which rotate on horizontal shafts.

At the upper end, or discharge zone of the ramp 3, the conveyor chain 1 is engaged by a driving sprocket wheel 27, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. The teeth 27 of the sprocket 27 are substantially square and are spaced apart at such a distance as to engage the vertical open hook 22 of each successive chain link 21. In this manner any litter or refuse clinging to the links of the conveyor chain does not prevent perfect engagement of the teeth of the sprocket 27 with the said links; more particularly, it will not cause jumping of the links out of the teeth of the sprocket or sticking of the links on said teeth, as often happens in a conventional chain construction in which the ends of the teeth of the sprocket have to enter through the closed loops formed by the links of the chain. With the chain construction in accordance with the present invention, there is no necessity for radial movement of the chain with respect to the sprocket teeth for the latter to engage the chain links. Any litter or refuse clinging inside the hooks 22 will be simply squeezed by engagement with the teeth of the sprocket.

It will be noted that this feature is particularly important when the cleaning device is operating in winter time when the refuse is liable to become frozen and form a solid mass adhering to the links of the chain.

The sprocket 27 is driven by a novel drive arrangement, more particularly shown in Figures 4 and 5, which incorporates an improved clutching device, shown in Fig ures 8 to 10 inclusive.

A metal beam 28 projects outwardly from the inclined ramp 3 and is provided with a bracket 29 for the bearing 30 of the shaft 31 to the lower end of which the sprocket 27 is secured. The upper end of the shaft 31 is fast with a large diameter ratchet wheel 32. A drive shaft 33 is mounted for rotation in blocks 34 secured to the beam 28 by means of the upright member 35. Three cam disks 36 are eccentrically mounted and secured to the driving shaft 33. The cam disks 36 are mutually at 120 out-of-phase. Each disk 36 is surrounded by a circular loop 37 in sliding engagement with the periphery thereof and an arm 38 is secured to each loop 37 and mounts at its outer end a pivoted pawl member 39 which is maintained in engagement with the ratchet teeth of the ratchet wheel 32 under the action of a spring 40 connected to a lateral arm 41, depending from arm 38, and to a stationary bracket member 42 mounted on the beam 28.

The teeth of the ratchet Wheel 32 have a width suflicient to be engaged by the three pawl members 39 which are disposed side by side. It will be understood that due to the phase displacement of the cam disks 36, the duration of the effective strokes of the pawls 39 will be overlapping so that the resulting torque imparted to the ratchet wheel 32 by the shaft 33 will be substantially constant, while the reduction of speed between the driving shaft 33 and driven shaft 31 will be considerable.

The driving shaft 33 is rotated through the intermediary of a large diameter wheel 43 which incorporates a clutching device. The large diameter wheel 43 is freely rotatable on the driving shaft 33 and is connected to the electric motor 44 through belt 45.

The clutching device comprises said wheel 43, on the surface of which is pivotally mounted at 46 a centrifugally operated hook member 47. The hook member 47 comprises a hooking face 48 and a weighted outer end 49 which is urged radially inwardly by means of a calibrated tension spring 50. As shown in Figure 10, radial outward movement of the weighted end 49 of the hook member 47, under the centrifugal force produced upon rotation of the wheel 43, will cause pivotal movement of the hook face 48 from a radially inward position, in full line, to a radial outward position, shown in dotted line. A radially extending arm 52 is rigidly secured to the driving shaft 33 and extends in close proximity to the face of the wheel 43 provided with the hook member 47. A lever 53 is pivoted at 54 to the outer end of the radial arm 52. The lever 53 is urged into a radially inward position, shown in full line in Figure 10, under the action of a calibrated tension spring 55 connected between the arm 52 and the outer end of the lever 53. The lever 53 is provided, near its pivotal connection 54, with a stud 56 directed towards the wheel 43 and disposed at such a radial distance from the center of the wheel 43 that, in the radially inward position of said stud 56 and in the inward position of the hook face 48 of the hook member 47, said studs 56 will just clear said hooking face 48 and will be engaged thereby in the radially outward position of said hooking face 48, thereby providing clutching engagement between the wheel 43 and the driving shaft 33, said clutching engagement taking place only when the wheel, and the electric motor have reached predetermined speeds of rotation. If for any reason, for instance like jamming of the conveyor chain under the weight or condition of the litter and refuse in the gutter, the motor becomes subjected to overloading, the resulting increased pressure exerted by the hooking face 48 on the stud 56 will cause outward pivotal movement of the lever 53 against the action of the calibrated spring 55, whereby the stud will take a radially outward position to clear the outer end of the hook and provide for release of the clutching engagement between the driving shaft 33 and the wheel 43.

The stable cleaning device, in accordance with the present invention, is further provided with means for cleaning the flights 2 just after they have discharged their load of refuse and litter at the discharge zone 4. Said cleaning means are shown in Figures 4 and 6. The beam 28, at the outer end of which the shaft 31 is mounted, is provided with an extension member 57 providing at its outer end a pivot 58 for a scraper rod 59. The pivot 58 is radially inwardly offset with respect to the root end 60 of the oncoming flight 2'. The scraper rod 59 is formed of two mutually inclined portions 61, 61' and the outer end portion 61 of said rod 59 is downwardly directed, as shown at 62 in Figure 4, to engage the vertical flange 23 of the oncoming flight 2'. The portion 62 0f the scraper rod 59, when contacting the oncoming flight 2, will slide radially outwardly of said flight 2, due to the offset position of the pivot 58, until it clears the outer end of said flight. A tension spring 63 returns the scraper rod 59 into its initial position ready to contact and scrape the next flight. This simple arrangement provides for eflicient cleaning of the refuse and litter still clinging to the flights which then move and slide along the support rod 64 which constitutes the return path 6 of the conveyor on the ramp 3.

While a preferred embodiment of the stable cleaning device in accordance with the present invention has been illustrated and described, it is understood that various modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a stable cleaning device including an endless conveyor chain having a portion thereof along an arc joining one rectilinear extent of said chain at an angle to an adjacent rectilinear extent and transverse flights secured at spaced intervals to the underside of said chain and projecting towards the center of said arc; guiding means for said chain comprising at least three idler wheels disposed at said are portion and at the are adjacent ends of said rectilinear extents said Wheels having their periphery engageable with said chain, and being rotatable on axes inclined downwardly towards the center of said are at an angle of the order of 45 to exert on said chain an outwardly directed force and to guide said chain substantially along said arc, and brackets mounting said wheels, extending on the outside of said are.

2. The guiding means of claim 1, the axes of the two outer wheels of said idler wheels lying in vertical planes making a right-angle with the respective arc-adjacent ends of the rectilinear extents of said conveyor chain and the middle one of said idler Wheels having its axis lying in a vertical plane bisecting the angle formed by the planes containing the axes of the two outer wheels.

3. The guiding means of claim 1, wherein the chain engaging periphery of each idler wheel has a concave cross-section.

4. The guiding means of claim 1, wherein each wheel is rotatably mounted on a shaft adjustably mounted on the corresponding bracket in a vertical plane.

5. The guiding means of claim 1, each idler wheel consisting of a disk having at its periphery, spaced outwardly projecting plates perpendicular to said disc, each plate having an outwardly facing L-shaped recess for engaging the chain links.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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