Excavating – Beneath a body of water – Rotary digger
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-18
2001-09-18
Pezzuto, Robert E. (Department: 3671)
Excavating
Beneath a body of water
Rotary digger
C037S352000, C037S901000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06289613
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates generally to an ejector mechanism for an excavating wheel mechanism and associated method, more particularly, to an ejector mechanism operatively positioned in association with the excavating wheel mechanism of a dredging apparatus for removing silt from the bottom of a body of water, the ejector mechanism being operable regardless of the direction of rotation of the excavating wheel.
BACKGROUND ART
Various types of ejector mechanisms have been used in the past to force material from a chamber. For example, it is known to use a pusher plate in a bucket for an excavator machine or in a bowl for a scrapper machine to force the material out of the bucket or bowl. These known pusher plates are normally controlled by a hydraulic cylinder so that when it is desired by the operator to eject the material, the operator merely operates a control valve which results in the hydraulic cylinder pushing the plate forward to force the material out of the bucket or bowl.
In strip mining applications, large excavating wheels have been used to remove overburden material so that coal can be harvested. These large wheel type excavating machines merely scoop up the overburden material in a plurality of individual scoops and as the individual scoops of the large wheel reach the topmost point of the wheel rotation, the overburden material falls out of the scoops onto a conveyor.
In a dredging application, an excavating wheel mechanism is used for removing silt, sand, mud or other sediment form the bottom of a body of water. One such dredging apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,915 and includes a floatation arrangement operative to float on the surface of the body of water, a frame structure mounted on the floatation arrangement, a silt excavating wheel mechanism rotatably mounted to the frame structure and operative to extract silt from under the body of water, and an ejector mechanism operative to urge the silt material from the silt retaining chambers associated with the wheel mechanism.
Typically, the dredging apparatus and its associated excavating wheel and ejector mechanisms are designed and constructed such that the dredging operation takes place in one predetermined direction such as in the forward direction of travel of the dredging apparatus. Since dredging only occurs in one direction, the excavating wheel mechanism is normally only operative in one direction of rotation, namely, either a clockwise or a counterclockwise direction of rotation, and the associated ejector mechanism likewise functions in conjunction with one direction of rotation of the excavating wheel.
It is therefore desirable to provide an ejector mechanism which is operable to urge soft material from the chambers of an excavating wheel regardless of the direction of rotation of the excavating wheel and which will enable a dredging apparatus to be operative in both the forward and reverse directions of travel.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In one aspect of the present invention, an ejector mechanism adapted for use on a dredging apparatus to remove silt from under the surface of a body of water, the dredging apparatus including an excavating wheel assembly having a plurality of silt retaining chambers defined therein, the excavating wheel assembly being rotatably mounted to a wheel frame assembly. The ejector mechanism includes a crankshaft member rotatably mounted to the wheel frame assembly and having an eccentric arm portion associated therewith, the crankshaft member being operatively coupled to the excavating wheel assembly and being operative to rotate in proportion to the rotation of the excavating wheel assembly, and an ejector member coupled to the eccentric arm portion of the crankshaft member, the eccentric arm portion being oriented such that the ejector member is moved into each of the silt retaining chambers during one revolution of the excavating wheel assembly.
In another aspect of this invention, a method for removing material from a plurality of chambers defined within a pair of first and second wheel assemblies associated with a dredging apparatus, the dredging apparatus being operative in both a forward and reverse direction, the first and second wheel assemblies being rotatably mounted to a wheel frame assembly for movement in both a clockwise and a counterclockwise direction based upon the direction of movement of the dredging apparatus is disclosed. The method includes the following steps of rotatably mounting a crankshaft member to the wheel frame assembly, the crankshaft member having first and second eccentric arm portions associated therewith, operatively coupling the crankshaft member to the first and second excavating wheel assemblies such that the crankshaft member rotates in proportion to the rotation of the first and second wheel assemblies and in both a clockwise and a counterclockwise direction based upon the direction of movement of the dredging apparatus, providing first and second ejector members for coupling respectively to the first and second eccentric arm portions of the crankshaft member, and orienting the eccentric arm portions relative to each other such that the first ejector member is moved into each of the chambers associated with the first excavating wheel assembly during one revolution of the first wheel assembly and the second ejector member is moved into each of the chambers associated with the second excavating wheel assembly during one revolution of the second wheel assembly.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4197036 (1980-04-01), Masquelier
patent: 4267652 (1981-05-01), Senesac
patent: 4397106 (1983-08-01), MdDowell
patent: 4887371 (1989-12-01), Kaiser
patent: 5020858 (1991-06-01), Nishikawa
patent: 5903989 (1999-05-01), Satzler
patent: 5907915 (1999-06-01), Satzler
patent: 5960570 (1999-10-01), Satzler
Blackwell Sanders Peper & Martin
Caterpillar Inc.
Pezzuto Robert E.
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