Core-gathering apparatus and a main conveyor belt drive roller structure for the apparatus

An apparatus which gathers earthen cores dug out by a boring machine operates with a main conveyor belt and auxiliary conveyor belt which are partially forced in contact with each other so as to sandwich earthen cores inbetween and transfer the cords to a collecting box. The main conveyor belt is driven by a single drive roller that has axially inclined projecting strips on the end portions so as to prevent the main conveyor belt from shifting in position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to an apparatus for gathering earthen cores 
extracted from vertical holes and a roller which drives the main conveyor 
belt of the core-gathering apparatus. 
2. Prior Art 
Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid-Open) No. 63-248305 discloses an 
example of a core-gathering machine. This machine digs the ground with 
cylindrical tines and extracts earthen cores (called "cores" hereinafter). 
Then, it conveys and collects the cores while holding the cores between a 
main conveyor belt which in a reversed Z (" ") shape (when viewed from one 
side) and an auxiliary conveyor belt which is in an I-shape (when viewed 
from the side). 
However, the conventional machine is not completely satisfactory from the 
standpoint of receiving and conveying cores from the core-gathering 
apparatus. In particular, though the main conveyor belt in the 
core-gathering machine is driven by a main conveyor belt drive roller 
(called "drive roller"), during the operation the position of the main 
conveyor belt shifts in the axial direction of the drive roller as a 
result of differences in the load resistance, etc. This results in 
mis-positioning of the belt. When the main conveyor belt is thus 
mis-positioned, a desirable conveying of the cores is naturally hindered. 
Moreover, the main conveyor belt rubs against the side plates, etc. which 
are installed on both sides of the belt. This results in that the belt and 
side plates are easily damaged. 
The above problem is derived from the following functional characteristics 
of the main conveyor belt: i.e., the main conveyor belt is a sheet-form 
belt, having a considerable width. In addition, the distribution of cores 
carried by this belt is not uniform in the direction of width. 
In particular, if the distribution of the cores is biased in the direction 
of width, the load resistance can vary. As a result, the main conveyor 
belt tends to lag on the side where the load resistance is larger. Thus, 
the belt is shifted in this direction. Even if the tension of the main 
conveyor belt is increased overall or adjusted in the direction of the 
width in an attempt to prevent the shifting thereof, the effect is not 
satisfactory. In short, if the main conveyor belt shifts in its position, 
a means forcibly returning the belt to its original position is required. 
This might conceivably be accomplished by forming the center of the drive 
roller higher than the edges thereof. In this case, however, how high the 
center should be is another problem. If the center of the belt is too low, 
the inhibiting force which prevents positional shifting of the belt will 
be small. On the other hand, if the center of the belt is too large, the 
main conveyor belt may not come into contact with the drive roller at the 
ends of the roller since the main conveyor belt has a large width. In such 
cases, a sufficient driving force cannot be obtained. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The primary object of the present invention is to solve the above-described 
problems. 
It is main object of the present invention to provide a core-gathering 
apparatus which securely receives and conveys the earthen cores. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a main conveyor 
belt drive roller structure used therein which effectively restores the 
main conveyor belt to its original position even if the belt should shift 
to an improper position, obtaining a strong driving force for the entire 
width of the belt. 
The above and other objects of the present invention is accomplished by a 
unique structure wherein: 
The core-gathering apparatus, which is linked to a vertical hole boring 
machine that collects and discharges the cores, is constructed so that a 
main conveyor belt which is driven by an engine is installed so as to form 
a Z shape consisting of a horizontal receiving part, an upward conveying 
part and a horizontal conveying and discharging part. A transfer plate is 
positioned beneath the discharge port of the boring machine and used as a 
part of the main conveyor belt. The earthen cores discharged from the 
discharge port of the boring machine are first received and conveyed by 
the horizontal receiving part of the main conveyer belt. The cores are 
then sandwiched between the upward conveying part of the main conveyer 
belt and an auxiliary conveyor belt (which is mounted in an I shape 
configuration) and carried upward. The earthen cores thus conveyed upward 
are moved onto the horizontal conveying and discharge part of the main 
conveyer belt and discharged thereby. The earthen cores thus discharged 
are collected in a box which is installed beneath the horizontal conveying 
and discharging part. 
A main conveyor belt drive roller used in the above core-gathering 
apparatus is characterized in that both end sections thereof are formed 
smaller in diameter than the central section, and projecting strips having 
the outermost surfaces being approximately the same diameter as the 
central section and inclined axially rearward relative to the direction of 
rotation are formed at fixed intervals on the outer surfaces of the end 
sections. 
With the structure described above, the cores discharged from the vertical 
hole boring machine are received, conveyed, and collected by the 
core-gathering apparatus. 
Also, when the drive roller for the main conveyer of the core-gathering 
apparatus is rotated, the tip end portions of the projecting strips stay 
front of the near-the-center portion of the projecting strips. 
Accordingly, the main conveyor belt is kept at its original position, thus 
being prevented from shifting to an improper position. Also, since these 
projecting strips are approximately as high as the central section, a 
strong driving force can be obtained for the entire width of the main 
conveyor belt.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with 
reference to the attached drawings. 
FIG. 1 shows the side view of the vertical hole boring machine A and 
core-gathering apparatus B which are linked together. FIG. 2 is a top view 
of the core-gathering apparatus B. 
In the vertical hole boring machine A, a main body 2 has a cabinet 1 
installed on its rear half and is supported by a front wheel 3 located at 
the center of the main body and two rear wheels 4 located on the left and 
right. The rear wheels 4 are mounted to a rear wheel frame 6 which is free 
to rotate about a support shaft 5 that projects to the left and right of 
the main body 2. Thus, the rear wheels 4 are independent from the main 
body 2. 
A hydraulic cylinder 7 is installed vertically between the rear wheel frame 
6 and the main body 2. When the shaft of this hydraulic cylinder 7 is 
extended and retracted, the main body 2 (cabinet 1) moves vertically with 
respect to the rear wheels 4. 
An engine 8 is mounted on the main body 2 in front of the cabinet 1. The 
motive force of this engine 8 is transmitted to a drive pulley 10 via a 
pulley-and-belt mechanism 9 and then transmitted to a running drive pulley 
13 via a pulley-and-belt mechanism 12 with a clutch mechanism 11 
interposed so that the motive force can be freely transmitted and cut off. 
The motive force of the running drive pulley 14 is transmitted to the rear 
wheels 4 via a sprocket-and-chain mechanism 14. The sprocket 15 which is a 
part of this sprocket-and-chain mechanism 14 is mounted on the supporting 
shaft 5, so that the transmission of the motive force to the rear wheels 4 
is not hindered even if the rear wheel frame 6 should rotate about the 
supporting shaft 5. 
A steering handle 16 is installed on the front part of the main body 2. A 
clutch lever 17 which operates the clutch mechanism 11 and a speed-change 
lever 18 which controls the rpm of the running drive pulley 13 are also 
installed here. Thus, when the clutch lever 17 is operated, the boring 
machine A begins to run. The running speed can be altered by operating the 
speed-change lever 18. 
A crank wheel 19 is installed inside the cabinet 1. The motive force of the 
drive pulley 10 is transmitted to this crank wheel 19 via a 
pulley-and-belt mechanism 21 with a clutch mechanism 20 interposed so that 
the motive force is transmitted and then cut off as desired. 
Tine rods 22 are connected to the crank wheel 19 by pins 23, and hollow 
cylindrical tines 24 are mounted to the lower ends of the tine rods 22. 
Accordingly, when the crank wheel 19 rotates, the tine rods 22 and tines 
24 move up and down. This up and down motion of the tine rods 22 is 
controlled by operating a tine lever 25 which is installed on the steering 
handle 16, and which engages and disengages the clutch mechanism 20. 
The positional relationship of the tines 24 is set so that they are 
separated from the ground surface when they go up to the highest point, 
and so that the tines 24 are inserted into the ground almost completely 
when they are lowered to their lowest point. When the tines 24 are pushed 
into the ground, they dig out the cores 26 for the length that corresponds 
to inserted depth. By repeating this action, cores are successively raised 
in the tines 24 so that preceding cores are pushed out from the upper ends 
of the tines 24 by the following cores. 
FIG. 7 shows the detail of the tines 24 (only one shown). FIG. 8 is a rear 
view thereof. 
A guide chute 28 which extends upward and rearward to the discharge port 27 
is installed near the lower end of each tine rod 22. The tines 24 are 
installed so that the upper ends protrude into the lower end of the 
corresponding guide chute 28. 
One guide chute is attached to each tine rod 22. A plurality of tines, for 
example 2 to 4, are mounted in each guide chute 28, and a multiple number 
of sets each comprising the tine rods and tines are used. These sets are 
arranged so that the phase of vertical motion is different from each 
other. 
When the cores 26 extracted by the tines 24 are pushed out from the upper 
ends of the tines 24, the cores 26 pass through the corresponding guide 
chute 28 and are discharged from the corresponding discharge port 27. 
A fork-form pressing plate 29 is extended from the bottom of the main body 
2 so that the pressing plate 29 runs along the ground alongside the tines 
24. The pressing plate 29 presses the earth surrounding the tines 24 so 
that the earth does not pile up when the tines 24 are inserted into the 
ground. 
In order to prevent the cores 26 that have been discharged from the 
discharge port 27 of each guide chute 28 from flying forward in the 
direction of the tine rod 22, a rubber cover 30 is fastened to the rear 
wall of the cabinet 1, etc. The lower end of the rubber cover 30 extends 
to each guide chute 28. 
The core-gathering apparatus B is linked to the rear end of the thus 
constructed vertical hole boring machine A so that the core-gathering 
apparatus receives and collects the cores 26 discharged from the guide 
chutes 28 of the boring machine A. 
In the core-gathering apparatus B, a main frame 32 has an upright structure 
and is supported by a running roller 31 which acts also as a pressing 
roller. Connecting rods 34 are pivotally connected to pins 35 which are 
installed on the side walls of the cabinet 1 of the boring machine A. The 
connecting rods 34 extend forward from the side plates 33 of the main 
frame 32. Chains 36 and 37 are fastened to the lower and upper portions of 
each side plate 33, and the boring machine A and the core-gathering 
apparatus B are linked via the chains 36 and 37. 
A main conveyor belt 38 and an auxiliary conveyor belt 39 are installed on 
the main frame 32 of the core-gathering apparatus B. The main conveyor 
belt 38 is installed around six rollers 40 through 45 and has a reversed Z 
() configuration when viewed from the side as shown in the drawings 
(regular Z configuration when viewed from the other side). The lower 
horizontal part of this configuration is called in the specification a 
"horizontal receiving part 46", the middle vertical part is an "upward 
conveying part 47", and the upper horizontal part is a "horizontal 
conveying and discharging part "48". 
The auxiliary conveyor belt 39 is installed between the roller 41 (which is 
beneath the roller 44) and roller 49 (which is above the roller 44). The 
auxiliary conveyor belt 39 is formed in an I shape in front of the upward 
conveying part of the main conveyor belt 38. The vertical part of the 
auxiliary conveyor belt 39, called an "upward conveying part 50," is 
installed so that the upward conveying part 50 is pressed against the 
upward conveying part 47 of the main conveyor belt 38 and stays in contact 
therewith. 
A ground-contact 51 is fastened to both side plates 33 and extends rearward 
with its leading end in contact with the ground so that the contact 51 is 
around the circumference of the lower half of the roller 40 (which is at 
the leading end of the main conveyor belt 38). 
A transfer plate 52 which is inclined downward toward the rear end is 
attached to the front of this ground-contact 51. 
The main frame 32 of the core-gathering apparatus B is thus supported on 
the ground by the running roller 31 and the ground-contact 51. The 
transfer plate 52 is positioned farther forward than the discharge ports 
27 of the guide chutes 28 when the core-gathering apparatus B is linked to 
the boring machine A. Thus, the cores 26 discharged from the discharge 
ports 27 are securely carried to the horizontal receiving part 46 of the 
main conveyor belt 38 by the transfer plate 52. 
The main conveyor belt 38 is driven by an engine 53 (which is installed on 
the main frame 32) in the direction that the front side of the upward 
conveying part 47, which is in contact with the auxiliary conveyer belt, 
runs upward. More specifically, among the rollers 40 through 45, only the 
roller 45 is connected to the engine 53 so that the motive force of the 
engine 53 is transmitted to this roller 45 via a clutch mechanism 54 and 
power transmission mechanism 55. Thus, the roller 45 is a main conveyor 
belt driver roller (hereafter called "drive roller"). 
FIG. 9 shows the clutch mechanism 54. A belt 59 is installed between an 
output pulley 57 (which is attached to the output shaft 56 of the engine 
54) and a drive pulley 58 (which is installed alongside the drive roller 
45). The motive force is transmitted and interrupted by tensing and 
relaxing the belt 59 via a clutch arm 60 that pivots about the drive 
pulley 58. The pivotal motion of the clutch arm 60 is accomplished by 
transmitting the rotation of a clutch lever 61 (installed in a separate 
place) via an operating transmission mechanism 62 that consists of link, 
rod, spring, etc. 
FIG. 10 shows the power transmission mechanism 55, and FIG. 11 shows one 
end thereof. 
The drive pulley 58 is attached to a worm shaft 64 on which a worm 63 is 
formed, and this worm 63 is engaged with a worm wheel 65 which is fit over 
one end of the shaft of the drive roller 45. The motive force of the 
engine 53 transmitted to the drive pulley 58 via the clutch lever 61 is 
further transmitted from the worm 63 to the worm wheel 65. The main 
conveyor belt 38 is thus driven. 
In operation, the cores 26 extracted by the vertical hole boring machine A 
are discharged from the discharge ports 27 of the guide chutes 28. The 
discharged cores 26 are received by the horizontal receiving part 46 of 
the main conveyor belt 38. 
The cores are then conveyed to the upward conveying part 47. Since the 
upward conveying part 50 of the auxiliary conveyor belt 39 is in contact 
with the upward conveying part 47 of the main conveyor belt 38, the 
frictional force arising from the driving of the main conveyor belt 38 is 
transmitted to the auxiliary conveyor belt 39. Thus, the two belts 38 and 
39 sandwich the cores 26 between them and convey the cores 26 upward. 
When the cores reach the point where the auxiliary conveyor belt 39 is 
separated from the main conveyor belt 38, the cores 26 enter the 
horizontal conveying and discharging part 48 of the main conveyer belt 38 
and are discharged downward from the trailing end of the conveying and 
discharging part 48. 
Guide 66 (see FIG. 2) is installed on the left and right sides of the upper 
surface of the horizontal conveying and discharging part 48 of the main 
conveyer belt 38. The guide 66 move the cores 26 at the edges of the belt 
to the center thereof. 
A collecting box 67 is set on a frame 68 attached to the main frame 32. The 
box 67 is positioned beneath the trailing end of the horizontal conveying 
and discharging part 48 so that the discharged cores 26 drop into the box 
67 and are collected in there. Beneath the collecting box 67 is a spare 
collecting box 69 installed on a frame 70. 
During the operation, if the shaft of the hydraulic cylinder 7 of the 
boring machine A is extended and the cabinet 1 is raised, the tines 24 
will no longer act on the ground. In this way, the boring job can be 
interrupted by thus operating the cylinder 7. Such an operation of the 
cylinder 7 further causes the core-gathering apparatus B to be pulled 
towards the boring machine A via the connecting rods 34 and chains 36 and 
37. As a result, the ground-contact 50 is moved to the height that lifts 
the contact 50 and separate it from the ground surface. 
FIG. 3 shows the detail of the drive roller 45, and FIG. 4 shows an 
enlarged cross section thereof. 
Two end sections 45a of the drive roller 45 are smaller in diameter than 
the central section 45b. Projecting strips 71 are formed at fixed 
intervals on the outer surfaces of the end sections 45a. The outermost 
surfaces of the projection strips draw a (imaginary) circle that is of 
approximately the same diameter as the central section 45b. The projecting 
strips 71 are inclined rearward in relation to the axis of the drive 
roller 45 in the rotational direction thereof. In other words, portions of 
the projections closer to the central section 45b stay behind the portions 
closer to both ends 45b when the roller 45 is rotated (or, the tip end 
portions of the projecting strips stay in front of the near-the-center 
portion of the projecting strips when the roller is rotated). 
It is desirable that the diameter of the end sections 45a be approximately 
2 to 3 mm smaller than the central section 45b. It is also desirable that 
the two end sections 45a and the central part 45b form three roughly equal 
divisions in the axial direction. It is further desirable that the width 
of the projecting strips 71 be 0.15 to 0.3 times the diameter of the end 
sections 45a. In addition, it is desirable that the angle of inclination 
of the projection strips 71 be 10 to 15 degrees. It is also desirable that 
the spaces between the adjacent projecting strips 71 be greater than the 
width of each projecting strip 71. The number of projection strips 71 is 
determined from these relationships and from the diameter of the drive 
roller 45. Generally, however, 3 to 5 projecting strips 71 are most 
appropriate to be formed on the drive roller. 
FIG. 5 shows another type of drive roller 45. The drive roller 45 is made 
of a pipe of even diameter. A sleeve 72 is fit over the central section 
45b of the pipe and is fastened in place by welding, etc. so that the 
diameter of the central section 45b is larger than the rest of the drive 
roller 45. This type of drive roller does not require cutting to form 
smaller-diameter end sections 45a. Thus, it is advantageous in view of 
manufacturing costs. 
FIG. 6 shows an enlarged cross section of one of the projecting strips 71. 
The strips 71 may be fastened to the end sections 45a of the drive roller 
45 by welding, etc. It is preferable not to leave the welding material on 
the forward surfaces of each strip with respect to the rotational 
direction and not to form the corners of the strips round. 
When the drive roller 45 of the (two) types as described above is used, the 
main conveyor belt 38 is driven with a sufficient driving force without 
any causing positional shifting. 
The table below shows the results obtained when the core-gathering work was 
performed in a golf course by the use of improved drive roller 45 of the 
present invention. Though the core-gathering work with conventional drive 
rollers became unsatisfactory before the completion of one out of eighteen 
holes of a golf course, a great difference in effectiveness was observed 
when the drive roller 45 of the present invention was used. 
TABLE 
______________________________________ 
Golf Course 
Number of Holes Worked 
Results 
______________________________________ 
A 18 Working still possible 
after completion 
B 18 Working still possible 
after completion 
C 24 Working still possible 
after completion 
______________________________________ 
The present invention as described above has the following advantages: 
(i) The core-gathering apparatus uses a main conveyor belt which has a " " 
shaped configuration (when viewed from the side) and an auxiliary conveyor 
belt which has an "I"-shaped configuration (when viewed from the side) 
that work together so that cores discharged from the boring machine are 
completely received, conveyed and collected. In addition, the presence of 
the transfer plate at the tip end of the horizontal receiving part of the 
main conveyor belt contributes to a completely reliable core receiving 
action. Since the driving source which drives the main conveyor belt is 
mounted on the core-gathering apparatus independent from the boring 
machine. There is no need to install a complicated power transmission 
mechanism, etc., to transmit power from the boring machine to the 
core-gathering apparatus. 
(ii) Since the end sections of the drive roller used in the main conveyor 
belt of the core-gathering apparatus are smaller in diameter than the 
central section of the roller, the belt is driven by a roller which is 
virtually in a form of high-center. This is very effective in preventing 
positional shifting of the belt. 
(iii) Since the projecting strips which are more or less the same diameter 
as the central section of the drive roller are installed on the both ends 
of the drive roller, a driving force is generated for the entire width of 
the drive roller. Thus, reduction in the driving force does not occur. 
(iv) The projecting strips are inclined relative to the axis of the roller 
so that one end portion which is near the center of the roller stay behind 
the other end portions which is farthest from the center of the roller 
when the roller is rotated. Accordingly, even if the main conveyor belt 
should begin to shift its position, a restoring force is generated by the 
angle of the inclination of the projecting strips so that the belt is 
returned to its original position. 
(v) Since the projection strips are provided with spaces inbetween, the 
main conveyor belt contacts the surfaces of the projecting strips and such 
spaces so as to be driven by the both projecting strips and the spaces. 
Accordingly, a large driving force is given to the main conveyor belt 
without any slippage.