US2955476A

US2955476A - Vibrators

Info

Publication number: US2955476A
Application number: US579788A
Authority: US
Inventors: Geil Walter; Munk Friederich
Original assignee: JUNKERATHER GEWERKSCHAFT
Current assignee: JUNKERATHER GEWERKSCHAFT
Priority date: 1955-04-22
Filing date: 1956-04-23
Publication date: 1960-10-11
Anticipated expiration: 1977-10-11
Also published as: BE547107A; FR1147400A; GB823954A; DE1101828B

Description

W. GEIL ET AL Oct. 1l, 1960 VIBRATORS 5 Sheets-Sheet, 1

Filed April 23, 1956 ,www

Oct. 11, 1960 w. GEII. ETAL VIBRATORS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 23, 1956 Q im :Humm-- Oct. 11, 1960 w. GEH. ErAL 2,955,476

VIBRAToRs v Filed April 23, 1956 3 SheelS-Sheet 3 Sites Pali l 2,955,476 Vlatenten oca r1, ieee Filed Apr. z3, 1955, ser. No. 579,788 Claims priority, application Germany Apr. 2 2, 1955 7 claims. (C1 74s7) The present-*invention -relates to vibrators. i

Vibrators havev many uses such as vibrating elongated chutes or conveyors for causing a granular material or` the like to move `downwardly along such chutes or conveyors, the vibrators being fixed Ito the latter. With conventional vibrators, .unbalanced weights are adjustably carriedby the vibrators soy as to produce the desired vibrations, and if it is desired to change the vibrations then it is necessary to shift the weights.

Very often it is` desirable to be able to change the vibrations of a vibrator while it is operating, as when a plurailty of chutes or. the like are supplying different materials which are being mixed together -in a chemical process or the like and it is desired to increase or decrease the material supplied by one of thechutes without stopping the operation. With conventional vibrators, it would be necessary to stop the operation because the conventional vibrator could not be adjusted` to change the vibrations'without stopping the operation of the vibrator in order to shift the weight thereof.

One of the objects" of the present invention is to provide a vibrator capable of vhaving its vibrations changed during its operation. A

Another object of the present invention is to provide a vibrator which is capable of increasing or decreasing its Vibrationsduring operation ofthe vibratorin an ex? tremely convenient` manner.

Y A further object of the present inventioniis toprovideA l a vibrator which' is capable of `having its" vibrations changed in a measured manner soV that the operator can knowrwithout trial and error how` the .vibrations `are being influenced.

An additional object of the present invention is tov very reliablein operation and whichprovide a compact assembly.Y Y

With the above objects in View lthe present `invention mainly consists of a vibrator which includes a rotatable means rotatable about a predetermined axis and having a hollow container spaced from this axis. A means communicates with Vthis lhollow container for causing'a mate-` rial which is capable of flowing yto ow to or: from the containervso as `to regulate the vibrations of the vibrator.

Thelnovel features lwhich'lare considered ascharacteristic forthe inventionnare set forth in particular inthe appended claims. The invention itself, however, both asto its construction and its method of opera-tion, together with additional objects and` advantages thereof, .will be best understoodfrom theV following description of specific panyinadrawnga.iawhjch':

2 Fig. l is a longitudinal sectional elevational view of a vibrator according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the vibrator of Fig. l as seen from the left end thereof, Fig. 2 showing in dotted lines another position of one of the parts thereof which is shown in solid lines in Fig. 2; and v Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevational view of a portion of the vibration shown in Fig. l and drawn to an enlarged scale. Y Y

Referring now to the drawings and to Fig.V l in particular, it will be seen that the vibrator of the invention includes a support means in the form of a stationary elongated hollow member 1 which may be of cylindrical configuration.l The hollow member 1 lixedly carries a` plurality of angle members 2 at its outer surface which are adapted to be removably fixed to a chute or the like which carries the material to be conveyed by vibrations of the chute. The members 2 are formed with opening through which screw members are adapted to extend for fixing the vibrator to the chute or the like. The support means 1 carries at its opposite ends, respectively, a pair of ball bearings which are clearly shown in Fig. l and which are maintained against axial displacement in any suitable manner. The right ball bearing of Fig. l turnably carries a rotatable member 4 for rotation about an axis coincident with .the axis of lthe tubular support l, and this member 4 has a pulley 3 aixed Vthereto and ,adapted -to be connected to any suitable belt drive which causes elements 3 and 4 to rotate. The left ball bearing of Fig. l turnably carries a second rotatable member 5 which is hollow for a purpose described below.

The ball bearings described above and the rotatable members 4 and 5 have a common axis of rotation, and a pair of elongated members 6 and 7 Vare fixed-to and extend between the rotatable members 4 and 5 to rotate with therlatter, these elongated members 6 and 7 extending parallel to and being spaced from the axis of rotation. The elongated member 7 is hollow and at its hollow interior 7b forms a container for a material capable of liowing such as mercury or the like. This hollow container 7 is also formed with an opening 7a through which the material capable of flowing enters into the hollow interior 7b of the hollow member 7.

As is evident from Figures l and 3, the hollow intey rior of the rotatable member S is closed at its right end by a wall carried by the member 5 and defining part of a hollow chamber 11 formed in the interior of the hollow member 5. This chamber 11 is also defined by a circular'disc pressed into the hollow portion of the member 5 and engaging one end of a coil spring 13v for a purpose described below. This latter disc is formed with a central bore through which an elongated hollow tube 10 extends, this tube 10 extending. along the axisof rotation of member 5 and the disc which surrounds the member 10 carries a bearing which engages the member 10 in a fluid-tight manner during rotation of the member h a cylinder which surrounds the left end portion of theV member 1 and which hasrits right end, 'as viewed in Fig.V l, in engagement with the outer surface'of the mem ber 1in a Vfluid-tight manner.. This end wall turnably carried'by'the left end ofthe member 1 carries the tube 10 and positions the-latter along the axis of rotation.V

' i The cylinder which `engages the end Wall of the member 1 has xed thereto in a fluid-tight manner an elongated container 8 for the material to be supplied to the container 7, so that the container 8 forms a supply means. This container 8 has a front wall 8a which is transparent and which may be made of glass or the like, 'and' this front wall `8a is provided with a scale 8b, as shown in Fig. 2, for a purpose described below. The container 8 is joined to an elongated member extending radially along the front face of the end wall of member 1 Vbeyond the axis of rotation where this elongated member threadedly ca-rries a screw member 17 which extends through an opening formed in the rotatable left wall of the member 1. This screw 17 is located at its right end, as viewed in Fig. 1, adjacent a sleeve 18 having a left outwardly extending flange, as viewed in Fig. l, which is located at the same distance from Vthe axis of rotation as the screw 17, and this sleeve 18 carries a bearing 19 which may be a ball bearing or a roller bearing and which is provided with an outer freely turnable race ring 19a.

The opening a of the rotatable member 5 is closed by a closure means which includes a closure member 12 iixedly carried by an elongated lever 15 which is pivotally carried at 14 by the rotatable member 5, this lever 15 being formed with an opening through which the tube 10,

extends with clearance, as indicated in Figs. l and 3. The rotatable member 5 is formed with an enlarged opening through which the lever 15 extends and in which the pivot pin 14 is located so that the lever 15 can freely turn to the desired extent. The upper end of the lever 15, `as viewed in Fig. l, engages the left end of the coil spring 13 whose right end engages the disc which defines part of the chamber 11, as described above, and furthermore this upper end of the lever 15 is provided with a projection which extends to the left, as viewed in Fig. l, and which is located at the same radial distance from the axis of rotation as the race ring 19a.

The supply means B communicates with the interior a of the tube 10 through bores 9, and as is evident from Fig. l, a bore 9 extends from the interior of the supply means 8 along the member which extends from the container 8 along the front face of the end wall of the member 1 and which carries the screw member `17.

Furthermore, the support 1 is formed with a bore 2.1.

for a purpose described below, and thisbore 21 communicates with the chamber 20 formed between the support 1 `and the rotatable member 5, as indicated in -Fig. l. The cylinder which surrounds the left end of the member 1 and which turns together with the end wall of the latter as well as with the supply container 8 is formed, as shown at the lower portion of the cylinder in Fig. l, with a cutout communicating with the opening 21 and with the interior of the container 8, so that in this Way the container 8 communicates with the chamber 2i] which in turn communicates with the interior of the hollow member 5. This hollow member 5 furthermore communicates with a bore 10c formed in the tube 10 and communicating with an elongated groove 10b formed in the inner surface of the tube 10.

The above described apparatus operates as follows:

During the operation of the vibrator, the support means 1 remains stationary, and when no adjustments `are made the supply means 8 also remains stationary, and the screw member 17 and crank 16 connected thereto as well as the tube .10 also remain stationary. The rotatable members y4 and 5 rotate together with the elongated members 6 and 7, and the mercury located in the interior of the latter gives an unbalance `to the rotatable means 4-7 which produces the vibration. The rotating member 5 carries with it the closure means 15 which'simply rotates around the tube 10. Furthermore, it will be noted that the left end wall of the hollow member 5 is formed with an opening through which tube 10 and screw member 17 pass with clearance, so that

elements

10 and 17 do not in any way interfere with ,the rotation of the member 5, and the sleeve 18\ andbearingr19` simply remains stationary with the member 10 in the interior of the hollow member 5.

It will be noted that at this time the container 8 simply hangs downwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, and the scale 8b indicates the level of the material such as mercury or the like which is located therein.

If it is now desired to increase the vibrations produced by the vibrator, then the container 8 is turned from the solid line position or rest position indicated in Fig. 2 to the dotted line position or discharge position indicated in lFig. 2. When this supply means 8 is thus turned, the mercury therein ows along the bore 9 to the interior 10a of the tube 10 and along the tube 10 to the chamber 11. When it is remembered that the rotatable means 4-7 is still rotating, then it will be evident that by centrifugal force this mercury will move through the opening 7a into the hollow interior 7b of the container 7 so as to increase the vibrations. While the supply means 8 is in the dotted lines position shown in Fig. 2, the scale 8b indicates how much material has owed out of the supply means 8, so that the operator knows how much weight has been added to the container 7 and therefore knows how greatly the vibrations have been increased. When the vibrations have been increased to the desired extent, the operator simply turns the supply means 8 back to the solid line position of Fig. 2, and the vibrator continues to operate. It will be noted that with this arrangement there has not been any interruption in the operation of the vibrator, so that its vibrations may be increased very quickly and easily without interrupting its operation. The air which is displaced from the interior of the member 7 by the mercury which has moved into the same ows along the groove .10b and out through the opening 10c into the hollow interior of the member 5 from which this air may move through the opening of member 5 into the chamber 20 and through the opening Z1 and the cutout of the cylinder surrounding the left end of support means 1 into the chamber 8. Thus, the air displaced from the hollow container 7 returns to the supply means 8 to replace the mercury which has flowed from the latter into the container 7.

If it is desired to reduce the vibrations of the vibrator, then the operator need only turn the crank 16 so as to move the screw member 17 to the right, as viewed in Fig. l. This will cause the sleeve 18 to shift to the right along the outer surface of the tube 10, and this will place the race ring 19a in engagement with the projection at the upper end of the rotating lever 15, as viewed in Fig. l. Upon engaging this projection and upon continued turning of the manually operable means 16, 17, the lever 15 will be turned in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. l, about the pivot pin 14 against the influence of the spring 13, so that the closure member 12 opens the opening 5a, `and now by centrifugal force the quicksilver in the container 7 will iow through the opening 5a into the chamber 20 and from the latter through the opening 21 back into the supply means 8. In this way the vibrations may be reduced, and it will be noted that the increase of mercury in the supply means 8 may :be read on the scale 8b so that the operator knows when to turn the screw 17 so that it shifts to the left, as viewed in Fig. l, so that the spring 13 may again close the opening 5a when the vibrations have been reduced to the desired extent.

Of course, instead of using mercury, a finely particulated material such as sand or the like may be used, or metal balls may be used.

. It will be understood that each ofthe elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of vibrators diiering from the types described above'. l

While the invention has been illustrated land described as embodied in adjustable vibrators, it is not intended to be limitedv to the details shown, since various modications and structural changes may be made'without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

t Without further analysis, thefor'egoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention "that others canby applying current knowledge readily 'adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint ofpriorart, fairly, constitute .essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning andrange of equivalence ofthe following claims. l

What is claimed as new and desired to be securedby Letters Patent is:

l. A vibrator comprising, in combination, stationary support means; rotatable means turnably carried by said support means for rotation about a predetermined axis and Ihaving spaced from said axis a hollow containerl and also having a hollow chamber located between said container and axis and communicating with 4said container; an elongated tube carried by said support means, extending along said axis, and communicatingwith said hollow chamber;

supply means communicating with said tube for supplyingv to the latter a material capable of flowing through said tube into said hollow chamber to move from the latter into said container by centrifugal force during rotation of said rotatable means, said container having at a part thereof directed away from said axis of rotation a wall portion formed with an opening communicating with said supply means through which opening said material is adapted to iiow out of said container and into said supplymeans by centrifugal force during rotation of said rotatable means, said container being closed except for its communication with said supply means by way of said chamber and said tube and by w-ay of said opening, said supply means including closure means for closing said opening to prevent.

said material from owing therethrough.

2. A vibrator comprising, in combination, stationary support means; rotatable means turnably carried by said support means for rotation about a predetermined axis and having spaced from said axis a hollow container and also having a hollow chamber located between said container and axis and communicating with said container; an elongated tube carried by said support means, extending along said axis, and communicating with said hollow chamber; supply means communicating with said tube for supplying to the latter a material capable of owing through said tube into said hollow chamber to move from the latter into said container by centrifugal force during rotation of said rotatable means, said container having at a part thereof directed away from said axis of rotation a Wall portion Vformed with an opening communicating with said supply means through which opening said material is adapted to tlow out of said container and into said supply means by centrifugal force during rotation of said rot-atable means, said container being closed except for its communication with said supply means by way of said cham- -berv and said tube and -by way of said opening, said supply means including closure means `for closing said opening to prevent said material from flowing therethrough and moving means for moving said closure means to an inoperative position thereby opening said container at said opening thereof -so that material can iow from said container Iby said centrifugal force.

3. A vibrator comprising, in combination, stationary support means; rotatable means carried by said support means for rotation about a predetermined substantially horizontal axis and having a container spaced from said axis, said container having a part directed away from said axis provided with a wall portion yfor-med at its bottom with an opening so that a material in said container which is capable of flowing may ow through said opening; a closure member carried by said rotatable means for rotavtion therewith and for movement to `and from a closing position closing said opening; a guide member carried by said support means and extending along said axis; a sleeve shiftable axially along said guide member; la bearing carried by said sleeve and having a freely turnable race ring for engagingisaid closure member to move the latter from said closing-position thereof when said sleeve is shifted together with -said bearing toward said closure member; and .manually` operable means carried by`said support means for shifting fsaid sleeve toward said closure 'member to move theV latter from said closing position thereof when itis desired to 'permit the movement of material from said container by centrifugal force during rotation of said rotatablemeans or by of said rotatableme'ansL l" 4. A vibrator comprising, in combination,stationary support means; rot'tablenieaiis rotatably carried by said support means for rotation about a given axis of rotation and having a hollow container spaced from said axis of rotation; passage means communicating with said container and including an elongated tube carried by said support means and extending along said axis; and supply means including a supply container adapted to contain a owable material carried by said support means for turning movement about said axis between a rest position in which said supply container is below said axis and a discharge position in which said supply container is above said axis and communicating with said tube for supplying by gravity to the latter and through said tube to said hollow container a iiowable material-when said supply container is in said discharge position thereof.

5. A vibrator comprising, in combination, stationary support means; rotatable means rotatably carried by said support means for rotation about a given axis of rotation and having a hollow container spaced from said axis of rotation; passage means communicating with said container and including an elongated tube carried by said support means and extending along said axis; and supply means carried by said support means for turning movement about said axis and communicating with said tube for supplying the latter with a material capable of owing through said tube to said hollow container, said supply means having a transparent wall portion provided with a scale which shows the amount of material in said supply means both when the latter is in a rest position and when the latter is in an emptying position supplying material to said tube.

6. In a vibrator, in combination, support means; a hollow member carried 'by said support means for rota- 'tion about a predetermined axis; an elongated tube carried by said support means and extending along said axis and communicating with said hollow member, said hollow member being formed at a portion thereof spaced from said axis with an opening; closure means carried by said hollow member for rotation therewith and releasably closing said opening; a sleeve shiftable along said tube; a bearing carried by said sleeve and having a freely turnable race ring adapted to engage said closure means for operating the latter to open said opening; and manually operable means carried by said support means for shifting said sleeve to a position where said race engages said closure means to open said opening.

7. In a vibrator, in combination, support means; a hollow member turnably carried by said support means for rotation about a predetermined axis and having at a part thereof most distant from said axis a portion formed with an opening passing therethrough and communicating with the interior of said hollow member; an elongated closure member pivotally carried by said hollow member intermediate its ends VVand having one end closing said openingY and an opposite end distant 4from said opening; spring means engaging said opposite end of said closure member for urging the same to its closing position, said closure member having adjacent said opposite end thereof an elongated projection; an elongated tube extending along said axis, carried by said support means, and communicating with the interior of said hollow member for supplying the latter with a material capable of owing into said hollow member; a sleeve shiftable along said tube; a bearing having a freely turnable race ring located gravity during standstill v at the same distance from said axis as said projection of said closure member and carried by said sleeve for shifting movement therewith along said tube; and manually operable means for shiftingfsaid sleeve along said tube to place said race ring of said bearing in engagement with said projection for moving said closure member to an open position against the action of said spring means.

References Cited in the ile of vthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,243,345 Rodgers oct. 16, 1917 8 Mac Farland Sept. 15, 1925 Kahn et al. Dec. 19, 1950 OBrien May 13, 1952 Br'ueggeman et al. Y I 2.. Mar. 8, 1955 Kececioglu Nov. 8, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Oct. 19, 1955