Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor section – Reciprocating conveying surface
Reissue Patent
1998-09-25
2001-04-03
Valenza, Joseph E. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor section
Reciprocating conveying surface
C198S750400
Reissue Patent
active
RE037121
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates, in a general sense, to
walking floors
reciprocating slat conveyors
for use in mobile, as well as stationary, applications and more particulary to improvements in the sealing of such
floors
conveyors
against arbitrary and inadvertent loss of material stored upon and moved by such
floors
conveyors
.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The storage and transportation of particulate materials such as grains, sawdust, wood chips, feeds, similar powdery materials, and even such materials having a liquid component, has been a matter of industry concern for several years. Materials such as those identified above will be referred to hereinafter simply as particulate materials.
Hoppers, bins and silos are all capable of storage of such materials, but are of limited use in transportation. Moreover, costs incident to the construction of such vessels, which is labor intensive, approaches the prohibitive.
Walking floors, sometimes referred to as reciprocating
Reciprocating slat
conveyors, have been found useful in the loading and unloading of more readily available rectangular enclosures wherein difficulty is encountered in using front end loaders, or other similar devices, to accomplish the task of moving particulate material into and out of a storage or transportation facility.
Such systems typically comprise a series of floor members, sometimes referred to as slats, which are disposed in side by side relation to form a flat surface or floor. Each of the floor members is movable fore and aft, either in unison, or in opposition, to move material disposed on the floor in either a fore or aft direction.
Systems of the type to which this invention relates, exhibit several problems which have been the focus of industry wide research since the systems began to enjoy acceptance. A major problem is one of leakage of particulate material through the floor. Such leakage creates problems in two broad areas. First, the material that actually leaks of passes through the floor members may be lost forever to the owner, and the quantity, over a trip of several miles could be measured in tons. Secondly, if the particulate material is not lost entirely, it will most certainly accumulate beneath the floor, and in so doing, pack together, eventually raising the floor, or creating frictional loads of significant magnitude, such that efficient operation of the floor becomes gravely impaired.
Until the advent of the present invention, problems such as those identified continue to diminish the acceptance of walking floor systems, particularly in the transportation industry.
2. Overview of the Prior Art
The type of system for which the present invention has particular utility is illustrated generally in Wilkens U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,957 and Quaeck Pat. 5,222,593. Wilkens is also illustrative of the problem addressed by the present invention. Referring to
FIG. 4
,
of Wilkens,
the bearing surfaces
90
and
92
are abutting, as illustrated. However, as these surfaces wear, particulate matter will filter down to the space, or pocket, defined between the integral walls
88
and will, if unable to escape, build up and become impacted against the horizontal floor slat retainer surface
80
. Eventually the material will apply pressure to the surface
80
, causing the slats to skew, increasing resistance to movement, and impairing the ability of the slats to move at all.
A myriad of solutions can be found in the patent art, such as, for example, in Hallstrom, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,641, in which a system is disclosed for wiping away accumulated material beneath the slats. The disclosure makes no real pretense, however, of preventing the infiltration of such material in to the guide and bearing area beneath the slats.
Halstrom, Jr. was prolific in this area, however, and in a related U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,595, he employs essentially the same structure to effect a waterproof seal, which is accomplished by a “U” shaped flexible fluid impervious seal,
72
, which caps abutting lateral extensions of the base members.
Foster, in his U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,896,761 and 4,858,748, both of which appear to have their beginnings in the same concept, employs a seal strip
38
between adjacent slats to prevent the incursion of particulate beneath the floor. Not unexpectedly, however, that seal wears and must be replaced, at a not insignificant cost.
Wilkens U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,798 discloses vertical bearing surfaces
84
, which the inventor states, in column
5
, acts as a seal in concert with an adjacent such surface. When wear is suffered by these surfaces, however, replacement rather than repair is the rule.
Quaeck also attempted to address the problem in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,323,894 and 5,346,056, both of which sprang from the same application, by cutting a slot, or groove, in a side bearing
8
. The groove receives flanges
82
formed on the edges of the slats, and, hopefully, prevents the incursion of particulate material beneath the floor. This system, while having some superficial appearance similar to that of the seals of the present invention, is entirely different in the scheme of things, as will appear from a further reading of this specification.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention, which is the subject matter of this specification, comprises a novel seal/bearing arrangement, which effectively prevents the inadvertent passage of particulate material disposed on the floor of a
walking floor or
reciprocating slat
conveyor system, through the floor members
or slats
and into the area beneath the floor members.
Accordingly, it is a principal objective of the present invention to provide a structure that effectively seals a
moving floor
reciprocating slat conveyor
from the incursion of particulate material to the area beneath the floor, while coincidently providing a highly effective bearing for minimizing friction on the reciprocatable floor members.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a novel
walking floor
reciprocating slat conveyor
which will effectively discharge particulate material that may accumulate beneath the floor members, despite the effectiveness of the sealing system, thereby avoiding the adverse consequences of such accumulation, such as packing of such material.
Yet another objective of the present invention is the provision of a
walking floor
reciprocating slat conveyor
system that is capable of being cleaned easily and effectively, both above and beneath the flooring, to eliminate contamination of particulate materials, and to preserve and enhance sealing and bearing surfaces.
Another, and still further, objective of the present invention is to provide a
walking floor
reciprocating slat conveyor
system in which the seal/bearing arrangement is sufficiently effective that the tolerances between respective parts becomes less significant than in systems currently in use.
A benefit, ancillary to the foregoing objective, is the ability to permit wider horizontal spacing of
the slats or
floor members, resulting in unsurpassed ease of installation, and a lower initial and maintenance cost.
The ability of the present invention to achieve these, and other objectives not specifically enumerated, will become apparent from a reading of the detailed specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
REFERENCES:
patent: 4856645 (1989-08-01), Hallstrom, Jr.
patent: 4858748 (1989-08-01), Foster
patent: 4896761 (1990-01-01), Foster
patent: 5088595 (1992-02-01), Hallstrom, Jr.
patent: 5222593 (1993-06-01), Quaeck
patent: 5267641 (1993-12-01), Hallstrom, Jr.
patent: 5301798 (1994-04-01), Wilkens
patent: 5323894 (1994-06-01), Quaeck
patent: 5325957 (1994-07-01), Wilkens
patent: 5346056 (1994-09-01), Quaeck
Barnard Delbert J.
Valenza Joseph E.
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