US835567A - Clam-shell bucket. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED NOV. 13 1906.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Mrwsmss;

THE name's FEYEFS co, WASHINGTON u. c.

No. 835,567. PATENTED NOV. 13, 1906.

W. SKINKLE. GLAM SHELL BUCKET.

APPLICATION FILED MAB-19,1906.

s sumsenin z.

THE "cums PETERS co., \vasmucrou, :4 c.

W. B. SKINKLE.

PATENTED NOV. 13, 1906.

GLAM SHELL BUCKET.

APPLICATION FILED MAB. 19,1906.

HHH IHfHHH I I 1" M TNESSES" fi magm 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Unrrnn STATES PATENT oFFIoa WVILLIAM B. SKIN KLE, OF S'IEUBENVILLE, OHIO.

CL'AM-SH ELL BUCKET.

Application filed March 19, 1

Toall whom. it may concern: I

Be it known that I, W'ILLIAM BALDWIN SKINKLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Steubenville, J eiferson county, Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Im provements in Clam-Shell Buckets, of which the following is a specification, that will enable those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to that class of device commonly known as clam-shell buckets or "grab-buckets, adapted to drop and scoop or dig into masses of materialsuch as coal, ore, earth, &c.and to detach and remove large bodies of such material from the original masses; and this description and the accompanying drawings show the at present preferred form of embodying the principles of my invention in a working device that will be cheap to make, easy to repair, and economical to operate.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a clam-shell or grab bucket embodying the principles of my invention, the scoop members being shown by full lines in their open position and the connected parts in corresponding positions, while by dotted lines the scoop members and their connected parts are shown in their closed positions. Fig. 2 represents a vertical longitudinal section of the same, taken on the lines 2 2 of Figs. 3, 4, and 5, the scoops being closed. Fig. 3 represents a vertical transverse section on the line 3 3 of 2. Fig. 4 is a general plan or top view, and Fig. 5 a horizontal section on the lines 5 5 of Figs. 2 and 3.

In a general way my device consists of a pair of swinging buckets or scoops A and A, suspended from a frame or head B by links O O and D D, and the whole is suspended from suitable overhead supports by flexible chains, cables, or ropes E E and F F.

For the purpose of closing the buckets with f power and lifting the entire load I prefer to use chains E E, while for the purpose of opening the buckets and lowering the device I prefer to use lighter ropes or cables F F, as will hereinafter be explained.

The scoops A A are preferably made from single steel sheets bent to the shape shown, and they are provided with round cross-bars Specification of Letters Patent.

. on the shafts a of the scoops.

Patented Nov. 13, 1906. 906. Serial No. 306,774-

or shafts a a, mounted at their ends in blocks a and a which reinforce the shell of the buckets at the bearing-points of the shafts.

The head or frame B is preferably made with a top plate I) and side plates 6, suitably joined at their meeting edges, the top plate having a square central aperture 1) for the passage of the lifting-chains. The side plates are reinforced by flat bars 6 which form bearings for round bars or shafts G and D which extend across within the frame.

At each side of the frame are secured platelugs 6 which form bearings for the ends of round bars or shafts G which extend across the frame above its top.

Mounted on the top of the frame near each of its corners are brackets H, which carry guide-sheaves h, and near each side at the center of the frame aresecured other double brackets H, carrying guide-rollers it. There is also on top of the frame at its center a double bracket I, which supports chainsheaves i i in proper relation to the chainaperture 6 and it also carries a pair of idle chain-sheaves i and "L which oppose the sheaves 'i and i, respectively.

The abutting ends of the scoops are supported from the frame by the links O and O, which are pivoted at their upper ends on the shafts C of the frame and at their lower ends The lower ends of the links are provided with outside forks c, which are riveted to the main bodies of the links and straddling the upper edges of the scoop give them double hearings on the shafts a.

The outer ends of the scoops are from the frame by links D D, pivoted at their upper ends on the shafts 2 of the frame and at their lower ends on the shafts a of the scoops.

The relative location of the shaft-axes O and D on the frame and of the shaft-axes a and a in the scoops, together with the lengths of the links O and D, are calculated to impart to the scoops the most desirable path of movement to perform their functions.

To open the scoops when they are being lowered, four cables or ropes F F and F are employed, one at each side of each scoop. The lower ends of these cables are secured to the scoop-shafts a, from whence they pass to the guide-sheaves h at the outer corners of supported the frame and thence to the guide-sheaves h of the double brackets at the center of the frame. It will be observed that when the chains are slackened and the entire weight of the device is thrown upon these cables F and F they pull the scoops apart to the positions shown in Fig. 1.

In order to close the scoops and bring them together with a powerful bite without the use of special levers, gears, differential pulleys, or other such forms of power mechanism, I arrange and utilize the lifting-chains themselves to perform this function by passing them around series of sheaves on the shafts a of the scoops and on the shafts G of the frames after the manner of the wellknown block and tackle.

The lower end of each chain E is secured by a link 6 to the shaft G of the frame, from whence it passes around a series of chainsheaves e on the shaft a of the scoop and a series of chain-sheaves e on the shaft G of the frame alternately, and thence from the last of the sheaves e to guide-sheavest' on the top of the frame, and thence to the windingdrum or power mechanism. (Not shown in the drawings, but well understood in the art.) Thus by the addition of a few rotatable chainsheaves independently mounted on the crossshafts a and G and the employment of the lifting chains or cables directly upon these sheaves I am enabled to dispense with special forms of power mechanisms and with my block-and-tackle arrangement to produce a powerful closure of the scoops.

The simplicity of this device, the cheapness of its construction, and the readiness with which it may be repaired are the special features of commercial value claimed for it.

In practical construction as now designed for large and heavy work these scoops are each about six feet wide and five and onehalf feet long, or, say, eleven feet long over both scoops when closed, as shown in Fig. 2. The other parts are proportionately large, the head or frame being ten feet long by five feet wide and five feet deep. Such a clamshell bucket is capable of taking up many tons of earth, ore, coal, or other such material at each operation.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained herein and illustrated by the drawings, which is the preferred form at this time, such changes being made as regards the mechanism herein disclosed, provided the means stated by any one of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a clam-shell bucket, the combination of a frame, a pair of scoop members link-supported beneath the frame and adapted to oscillate through suitable arcs, shafts on the frame carrying a series of sheaves and shafts in each scoop member also provided with a series of sheaves opposed to those on the frame-shafts, with a pair of lifting-chains each secured at its lower end and passing alternately around the sheaves of its opposed series and thence to a guide-sheave on top of the frame, whereby draft on the chains will first close the scoop members with great power and then lift the entire apparatus, substantially as set forth.

2. In a clam-shell bucket, the combination of a frame, a pair of scoop members link-supported beneath the frame and adapted to oscillate through suitable arcs, shafts on the frame and a shaft in each scoop member provided with opposing sheaves, a pair of liftingchains each secured at its lower end and passing alternately around the sheaves of its opposed series on the frame and scoop-shafts and thus adapted to close the scoops with great power, with scoop-opening cables at tached to the scoop members and passing thence to guide-sheaves on the outer corners of the frame and thence to guide-sheaves at the center of the frame, substantially as set forth.

3. In a clam-shell bucket, the combination of a frame, a pair of scoop members adapted to swing in arcs below the frame and each suspended from the frame by a pair of side links pivoted on a cross-shaft located at the inner end of the scoop near its top edge and on a shaft located on the top of the frame approximate the center thereof, and by another pair of side links pivoted on a crossshaft located at the outer end of the scoop at its top edge and on a shaft located on the frame near its outer end and near the top, a series of guide-sheaves on said outer scoopshaft; shafts located near the lower edge of the frame and provided with sheaves opposed to those on the outer scoop-shafts, with a pair of lifting-chains secured at their lower ends and each passing alternately around its opposed series of sheaves and thence to a guide-sheave on the top of the frame, substantially as set forth.

4. In a clam-shell bucket, the combination of a frame, a pair of scoop members adapted to swing in arcs below the frame and each suspended from the frame by a pair of side links pivoted on the frame and on a crossshaft located at the inner end of the scoop near its top edge, and by another pair of side links pivoted on the frame and on a crossshaft located at the outer end of the scoop at its top edge, a series of guide-sheaves on said outer scoopshaft; shafts mounted in the frame near its lower edge and provided with sheaves opposed to those on the outer scoopshafts, with a pair of lifting and closing chains secured at their lower ends and passing alternately around its opposed series of sheaves and thence to guide-sheaves on the I name to this specification in the presence of top 01fl the figme, and scoop-opening cables two subscribing Witnesses.

attac ed to t e scoe s and passing thence to guidesheaves 0n the outer ends of the frame WILLIAM and thence to guide-sheaves near the center Witnesses:

of the frame, substantially as set forth. EDWARD NICHOLSON,

In testimony-whereof I have signed my Mrs. M. TRAINER.

Images