Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor having impinging fluid to feed – shift or discharge... – Having cleaning means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-19
2002-03-26
Pape, Joseph D. (Department: 3612)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor having impinging fluid to feed, shift or discharge...
Having cleaning means
C015S256500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06360875
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a primary conveyor belt scraper for removing unwanted material from the surface of a conveyor belt. Conveyor belts are typically used in varying industrial applications for carrying products from one point to another. In many manufacturing and agricultural applications, conveyor belts are used to transport bulk materials. In such uses it is frequently necessary to ensure that all of the product carried to its destination is removed from the return run of the conveyor belt in order to minimize wear and strain on the conveyor belt machinery. To this end, conveyor belts typically employ a primary scraper and a series of secondary scrapers to remove all product, particularly in situations where the product may have a tendency to adhere to the conveyor belt surface. In many applications, a conveyor belt primary scraper is deployed against the belt as it passes over the head, or turn-around, drum at the outbound terminus of the conveyor belt. A scraper blade so situated can then exert considerable pressure against the flexible belt as the same is backed up by the head drum.
Since many industrial conveyor belts are employed to carry abrasive and/or corrosive materials, it is important that all possible materials be removed from the conveyor belt surface on the return run in order to minimize wear and tear on the conveyor belt machinery. For this reason, a conveyor belt primary scraper must remove as much material as possible consistent with reasonable friction and wear on the conveyor belt surface. Typically conveyor belt primary scrapers employ some form of spring or flexible means of biasing the scraper blade against the conveyor belt. This is necessary in order to accommodate irregularities in conveyor belt thickness and splices in the belt as well as variations in the operating radius of the conveyor belt head drum and variations in the amount and adhesiveness of material accumulations on the conveyor belt surface.
Because by design the conveyor belt primary scraper must remove unwanted material from the conveyor belt surface, it must be able to exert a uniform, acceptable pressure on the belt surface so as to achieve a compromise between removing the desired material and minimizing wear and friction losses. It must further be able to withstand the abrasive and/or corrosive environments created by the material being removed. Since conveyor belts often operate in extremely harsh environments, it is desirable that a conveyor belt primary scraper be resistant to corrosion and abrasion and that it be readily accessible and easily repaired in the event that maintenance is required. Conventional spring biased scraper assemblies have the disadvantage of suffering unduly from corrosion and becoming jammed or clogged by accretions of removed product so as to interfere with the tension exerted.
It is further desirable that the conveyor belt primary scraper be adaptable to most of the conveyor belt machines in general industrial use and that the scraper assembly require a minimum of maintenance and a minimum of down time in order to accomplish maintenance. It is further desirable that the conveyor belt primary scraper be easily adjustable as to the amount of tension exerted by the scraper blade on the conveyor belt and that the tensioning device be further adjustable so as to provide a limited amount of travel to prevent the scraper blade from digging into the belt as the blade wears down. Accordingly, for these and other reasons the need exists for a low maintenance, easily adjustable and inexpensive conveyor belt primary scraper tensioner which is adaptable to existing conveyor belt machines.
Prior art devices teach many designs and configurations of conveyor belt primary and secondary scraper systems including spring biasing systems in many configurations and elastomeric mounting systems in many configurations. However, no other prior art teaches an elastomeric rotatably biased primary scraper assembly which is easily maintained and adjusted, corrosion resistant and inexpensive to make and service as is found in the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to develop an adjustable, low cost, low maintenance, conveyor belt scraper tensioner for use on a wide variety of conveyor belt machines.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a conveyor belt scraper tensioner assembly which is resistant to corrosion, abrasion and deterioration from ultraviolet light.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a conveyor belt scraper tensioner assembly which is resistant to clogging by foreign bodies and resistant to physical damage from impacts.
It is yet still another object of the present invention to provide a conveyor belt scraper tensioner which is easily adjustable as to the amount of tension the scraper blade exerts against the conveyor belt.
It is yet still another object of the present invention to provide a conveyor belt scraper tensioner assembly which is easily adjustable so as to provide a limited amount of travel and thus prevent damage to the conveyor belt and conveyor machine assembly as the scraper blade wears away.
It is yet still another object of the present invention to provide a conveyor belt scraper tensioner which may be easily mounted in any attitude and at either side of a conveyor belt machine.
It is yet still another object of the present invention to provide a conveyor belt scraper tensioner which is easily maintained and repaired.
It is yet still a further object of the present invention to provide a conveyor belt scraper tensioner assembly which is simpler than competing designs and is cheaper to manufacture.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the foregoing and other objects are obtained by providing a conveyor belt scraper tensioner having an elastomeric means of biasing a scraper blade against the conveyor belt and which is capable of being mounted on most existing conveyor belt machines. The conveyor belt scraper tensioner is provided with one or more folded slab elastomeric biasing media affixed to a fixed flange mounted on the conveyor machine frame and to a rotatable flange mounted on the scraper blade axle. Means are provided for varying the attachment point of the rotatable flange on the scraper blade axle in order to easily and readily adjust the tension exerted by the scraper blade against the conveyor belt surface. A chain or other suitable movement limiting means may also be provided to limit the movement of the rotatable flange relative to the fixed flanged in order to prevent the scraper blade from digging into the conveyor belt surface.
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Altemus, Jr. William H.
Rodgers, III Ray V.
Coletta Lori L.
Foard Richard M.
Moore, Foard & Dias
Pape Joseph D.
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