Lifting support frame for a filter press

A new apparatus for extracting water from product or sewage sludge on the spot is provided. It is characterized by a frame matched to the dimensions of a low loader and having lifting supports which can be pivoted in and out and which have multi-step vertical adjustability. Filter presses of substantially higher capacity than those on known apparatuses employing a semitrailer can be used.

The invention relates to an apparatus for the mechanical extraction of 
water from product or sewage sludges on the spot. This apparatus consists 
of a conventional plate-filter press and of a frame receiving this press 
and which is equipped with appropriately adjustable lifting supports. 
Plate-filter presses which can be set up for extracting water from sludge 
at the location where the sludge occurs are known (the ACHEMA 1985 
prospectus of Messrs Schlammpress-Technik und Industriereinigung GmbH & Co 
KG/Dormagen). There, a plate-filter press is mounted on a conventional 
semitrailer. The semitrailer possesses, on the four corners, extendable 
lifting supports which hold the filter press at such a height that the 
filter cake can be collected, for example, in transportable refuse 
containers and transported away. The object was to develop a transport 
apparatus for a plate-filter press which has a substantially higher 
capacity. For this, it is necessary to utilize the transport width and 
height of a heavy goods vehicle to the greatest possible extent and so 
modify the frame that it can be erected and dismounted again by its own 
force. According to the solution for achieving this object, the frame is 
designed for transport by a low loader and is equipped with lifting 
supports which have hydraulic multi-step adjustability and which, in their 
highest position, are pivoted in to within the contour of the frame. The 
frame is therefore not itself a transport element, but has the dimensions 
and strength for transport by a standard low loader. Since a low loader 
allows a substantially greater constructional height of the filter press 
than a semitrailer, a press of higher capacity can be used. Furthermore, 
above the frame there is then more space for the lifting supports which 
are then generally also higher and which are moreover laterally pivotable 
and therefore do not project outwards beyond the contour of the frame 
during transport. In operation, the tending of the press is not impeded by 
the lifting supports then pivoted outwards. The space underneath the 
filter press is more readily accessible for filter-cake containers. 
The pivoting device for each lifting support consists preferably of a 
bearing journal anchored at one frame corner and projecting vertically 
upwards and of a bearing bush which is pivotable via this bearing journal 
and which carries the sliding guide for the lifting support on a very 
short extension arm. At the same time, the lifting support and sliding 
guide preferably have a rectangular or square cross-section, so that there 
is no need for rotation-preventing means. The bearing bush can preferably 
be retained in the two positions of the extension arm by means of a 
crosspin.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the erected frame positioned on a low loader 100. As 
shown especially in FIG. 3, the frame 1 consists of two crossheads 2 and 
two longitudinal sections 3 which are connected at the corners by means of 
junctions 4. The plate-filter press 5 rests with its stands 6 on the 
crossheads 2 only and is secured there exactly in position against 
displacement by means of studs 7. The triangular holders 8 provided on the 
longitudinal sections 3 serve for preventing the tension rods 9 of the 
filter press 5 from sagging in the no-load state. 
The design of the lifting-support pivot bearings 10 can be seen from FIGS. 
4 and 5. At bearing journals 11 there are column stubs 11a projecting 
vertically upwards which are anchored on the frame junctions 4 and which 
are welded into correspondingly ribbed brackets 12. Slipped over them is a 
bearing bush 13 which has a close fit and which carries a short extension 
arm 14 of double-T profile. The sliding guide 15 for the lifting support 
16 consisting of a square tube is fastened to the free outer end of the 
extension arm 14. The two bearing elements can be retained in the 
pivoted-out position of the sliding guide 15 by means of crosspins 17, 18. 
The bearing bush 13 possesses, on its rear side, a tie strap 19 which, in 
the pivoted-out state of the lifting support 16, can be screwed together 
with the top side of the pressed stand 6. Thus, in the erected state of 
the frame, the pivot bearing is connected to the filter press to form a 
structure resistant to pressure and tension. The bearing forces are 
transmitted to the press, without bending and shearing moments being 
generated. 
The device for adjusting the lift of the lifting support contains a 
double-acting hydraulic piston 20, an articulation fork 21 and a sliding 
block 23 which is lockable relative to the lifting support 16 (crosspin 
22) and in the lateral fork 24 of which is articulated the head of the 
piston rod 25. The sliding block 23 is closed at the bottom and there are 
possesses an insertion bush 26 for the stand foot 27 which is equipped 
with a corresponding stud 29 and which has a wide footplate for resting on 
a foundation 28 provided on the spot. The dimensions of the insertion bush 
26 are such that it fits over the stud 37 located on the longitudinal 
section 3 of the frame and thus retains the lifting supports securely in 
the pivoted-in state, in which they cannot be pinned together with the 
bearing journal 11. 
FIG. 1 shows the frame with the filter press 5, as it is when lifted off 
from the low loader During transport, the press occupies only the space 30 
represented by dot-and-dashed lines. The lifting supports 16 do not 
project beyond this contour After the frame has been aligned above the 
foundations, the lifting supports are first raised from the studs 37 
hydraulically and then pivoted outwards. In this position, the bearing 
bushes 13 are retained by means of the crosspins 17. All four lifting 
supports 16 are now extended in synchronism, and shortly before the 
foundations are reached the stand feet 27 are placed underneath. The 
sliding blocks 23 of the piston-rod heads are now released from the 
lifting supports 16 by a pull exerted on the crosspins 22 and subsequently 
are moved upwards as a result of the retraction of the piston rods 25. 
There, they are pinned together with the lifting supports 16 in the 
transverse holes 31. Subsequently, the transverse pin connections 18 of 
the sliding guides 15 can be released by subjecting the hydraulic 
cylinders to pressure in the lifting direction and the lifting supports 16 
extended into the uppermost position, in which they are once again pinned 
together with the sliding guide (transverse bore 32). The low loader can 
be moved out and the press connected and set in operation. 
Dismantling takes place in reverse order.