Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor section – Unit load conveying surface means moved about an endless or...
Patent
1983-05-20
1985-05-21
Valenza, Joseph E.
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor section
Unit load conveying surface means moved about an endless or...
198842, B65G 2110
Patent
active
045180792
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention is with respect to a bend unit for a bulk belt conveyor in keeping with the preamble of claim 1.
Such bend units are used for example in dock conveyors for unloading and loading bulk material transported by ships, the boom of the conveyor being turningly supported on a portal so that the free end of the boom may be luffed by a rope for motion between lower and upper end positions. At the free end of the boom there is a dependent upright leg, that may be turned about an upright axis, the lower end of the leg being designed for taking up bulk material, for example from the hold of a ship. The conveyor belt is in the form of a single corrugated edge belt running from the lower end of the leg, along the boom and then as far as the portal. At the point of connection between the top end of the leg and the outer free end of the boom there is a bend unit, in which the return run of the conveyor belt is supported by a single bend drum and the carrying run is supported on a number of parallel bend runners in the form of a so-called rolling belt guide.
This bend unit does however have one shortcoming in connection with the fact that the angle between the boom and the upright leg may be for example 30.degree. in the top end position of the boom and for example 110.degree. in the lower end position. That is to say, the carrying run in the top end position of the boom has to be bent through 150.degree. and in the lower end position of the boom through only 70.degree. before it is moved on along the upright leg. If however the bend runners are placed for example along a curved path of 150.degree. using a stiff support, there will be trouble conditions on lowering the boom. In fact, in this case, a great enough distance has to be kept between the return and the carrying runs at the bend unit, because, on lowering the boom, the bend runners placed along a curved path of for example 150.degree. have to be moved on the free end of lhe boom out towards the return run so that the end of the path or curved rolling guide will be moved against the return run possibly damaging it, at the top end of the upright leg, if the distance between the carrying and return runs is not large enough.
The purpose of the present invention is that of designing a bend unit for a conveyor between two stretches of the conveyor which may be turned in relation to each other so that the bend unit is as small as possible in size.
This purpose is effected by the invention by designing a bend unit as claimed in claim 1, of which further useful developments in keeping with the invention's purpose are claimed in the dependent claims.
With the bend unit of the present invention it becomes possible to keep the distance between the return and carrying runs at the boom, at the upright leg and at the bend unit to a small unchanging value, this being made possible inasfar as the curved rolling guide at the top end of the upright supporting leg is not stiff but is made flexible in such a way that, although the bend runners in the top end position are all placed along a curve, when the boom is lowered the lower runners are moved one by one by gravity into freely hanging positions.
As part of a useful further development of the bend unit of the invention, as claimed in claim 2, this is made possible inasfar as the lower bend runners are joined together by a chain of links with converging side faces forming link-to-link stop faces so that on luffing the boom these chain links, supporting the bend runners, are moved into a curved form with the spaces between the links taken up.
As part of a preferred development of the invention, as claimed in claim 3, this is made possible inasfar as there are only so many links as to let the bending of the carrying run as far as one end of its range of motion in operation, in which the bulk material is conveyed from a large container, as for example the hold of a ship, take place by way of the rigidly supported bend runners. In this case all the bend runners only take up positions along a curved line as part of
REFERENCES:
patent: 2245113 (1941-06-01), Meyer
patent: 4362237 (1982-12-01), Olsztynski et al.
patent: 4440537 (1983-04-01), Blattermann et al.
Shane Kyle E.
Valenza Joseph E.
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