Transporting device for a cable conveyor for free-flowing loose materials

Abstract: A transporting device (10) of a conveyor for free-flowing loose materials, of the type with a cable (11) forming a closed loop along which are secured radial disks (12) for transporting the material, comprises a plurality of pulleys for actuation, tensioning and/or transmission of the cable. To actuate the cable (12) a pair of driving pulleys (16, 17) having the same diameter are coaxially disposed to be operated in synchronous rotation by receiving, in races (18, 19) along their circumference, disks (12) belonging respectively to a first and a second section of the cable. An additional pulley (20) is provided to receive, along its circumference (21), disks (12) belonging to a section of the cable between the sections wound round the first (16) and second (17) pulley of the pair.

Description: This invention refers to a conveyor for free-flowing loose materials, for example granular or powdery material, of the type consisting of a cable along which are disposed radial disks for transporting the material (see WO-A-8 301 245). In such conveyors, the cable follows a closed loop-shaped path comprising a tubular duct extending between a material feeding device and devices for dispensing the material in correspondence with the users. The movement of the cable is provided by an assembly comprising a driving pulley, snub pulleys and tension pulleys. One of the problems encountered in these systems concerns the movement of the cable by the driving pulley. In fact, the transmission of the motion occurs by contact between the pulley and the disks located in the section of cable wound around it; in particular, in the devices most commonly used, the disks are received in the V-shaped race of the pulley, thereby achieving the contact substantially on two portions of their outer edge. It is obvious that such a limited contact surface can easily cause the cable to slip with respect to the pulley, resulting in irregular functioning and wear and tear of the materials. In addition, the high force per unit of surface transmitted by the pulley to the disks tends to cause the latter to side skid with respect to the radial plane of the pulley in which they lie, resulting in stress on the cable and on the disk in the area in which it embraces the cable. In order to reduce the force transmitted to each individual disk, it has been suggested to fit rubber elements in the race, which push out of shape upon insertion of the disks so as to increase the contact surface. The use of such deformable elements, however, has proved to be unsatisfactory due to the fact that they wear out very rapidly. To prevent the cable from slipping it has also been suggested to use pulleys provided with teeth along their circumference, the disks having to fit into the recesses between two consecutive teeth. This coupling ensures the transmission of the force necessary to operate the conveyor without slipping occurring. Nevertheless, it presents drawbacks due to the fact that the tolerances for inserting the disks between the teeth must be quite limited and even the slightest slipping of a disk along the cable (for example due to wear of the materials or to imperfect fastening) is sufficient to cause interference between the disk and the teeth. The general scope of this invention is to obviate the aforementioned problems by providing a device for driving a cable provided with disks, which ensures transmission of the motion of the driving pulley to the cable without the latter slipping and without the cable or the disks being subject to harmful stress. This scope is achieved, according to the invention, by providing a transporting device for a conveyor for free-flowing loose materials, the device comprising a cable forming a closed loop along which are secured radial disks for transporting the material, a plurality of pulleys for actuation, tensioning and/or transmission of the cable, characterized by the fact that to actuate the cable a pair of driving pulleys having the same diameter are coaxially disposed to be operated in synchronous rotation, said driving pulleys receiving, in races along their circumference, disks belonging respectively to a first and a second section of the cable, an additional pulley being provided to receive, along its circumference, disks belonging to a section of the cable between the sections wound round the first and second pulley of the pair. The innovative principles of this invention and its advantages with respect to the known technique will be more clearly evident from the following description of a possible exemplificative embodiment applying such principles, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a transporting device made according to the innovative principles of this invention. Fig. 2 shows a top view of a detail of the transporting device of Fig. 1. With reference to the figures, Fig. 1 schematically shows an assembly 10 for operating a cable 11 provided with a plurality of radial transporting disks 12 and circulating, in the direction of the arrow 13, along a closed loop for conveying free-flowing loose materials. Conveyor systems of this kind are well-known to the expert in the field and consequently will not be further described herein. The assembly 10 comprises a rotating motorized cable driving unit 14. The unit 14 is keyed onto a driving shaft 15 protruding from a motor not shown in the figure. According to the innovative principles of the invention, the motorized unit 14 is composed of a pair of driving pulleys 16, 17 around the outer edge of which the cable 11 is wound. The first and second pulley 16, 17 have the same diameter and are disposed in such a way as to be actuated in synchronous rotation by the driving shaft 15. The outer edges of the pulleys 16, 17 are provided respectively with races 18, 19 designed to receive the disks 12 on the cable. Disposed close to the pair of pulleys 16, 17 is an additional idle pulley 20 also having a circumferential race 21 to receive the disks 12. The three pulleys 16, 17, 20 are reciprocally disposed in such a way that the cable, with respect to its forward direction of movement, initially winds around the first driving pulley 16, as can be clearly seen in Fig. 1, defining on its circumference an incoming portion 22 and an outgoing portion 23 of the cable; from here the cable is sent back around the idle pulley 20, also defining circumferential incoming 24 and outgoing 25 portions on it; lastly, the cable winds around the second driving pulley 17, between respective incoming 26 and outgoing 27 portions. Advantageously, to prevent excessive stress on the disks and the risk of them slipping out of the races, the three pulleys 16, 17, 20 are reciprocally disposed so that the transmission pulley 20 lies on a plane 28 forming an angle a ranging from 10° to 35°, preferably around 20°, with respect to the parallel planes 29, 30 of the driving pulleys 16, 17. In particular, as can be seen in Fig. 2, the plane of pulley 20 is oriented so as to dispose the circumferential cable incoming portion 24 substantially in line with the circumferential outgoing portion 23 of the first driving pulley 16 and dispose its circumferential outgoing portion 25 substantially in line with the circumferential incoming portion 26 of the second driving pulley 17. At this point it is clear how the cable transporting device according to the invention enables the driving force to be distributed along a longer section of the cable than in the known devices, thereby increasing the number of disks interacting with the driving unit. This decreases the specific force transmitted to the disks, thus overcoming the previously described drawbacks of the known technique. In order to further improve the transporting action of the disks, the races of the pulleys can be V-shaped, with a sufficiently small angle as to enable the disks to substantially fit into the races. This angle advantageously ranges from 12° to 30°, preferably from 17° to 20°. In addition, the races can be provided with small projections to improve the adherence of the disks. The foregoing description of an embodiment applying the innovative principles of this invention is obviously given by way of example in order to illustrate such innovative principles and should not therefore be understood as a limitation to the invention as defined in the claims. For example, as shown in Fig. 1, in addition to the driving unit 14 and the transmission pulley 20, the assembly 10 can comprise additional cable transmission and tensioning pulleys 31, 32. The reciprocal disposition of the pulleys, however, may differ from that shown herein. In addition, the pulley 20 may also be a driving pulley, utilizing known means for synchronizing its rotation with respect to that of unit 14.

Claims: Transporting device (10) for a conveyor for free-flowing loose materials, the device (10) comprising a cable (11) forming a closed loop along which are secured radial disks (12) for transporting the material, a plurality of pulleys for actuation, tensioning and/or transmission of the cable, characterized by the fact that to actuate the cable (11) a pair of driving pulleys (16, 17) having the same diameter are coaxially disposed to be operated in synchronous rotation, said driving pulleys receiving, in races (18, 19) along their circumference, disks (12) belonging respectively to a first and a second section of the cable, an additional pulley (20) being provided to receive, along its circumference (21), disks (12) belonging to a section of the cable between the sections wound round the first (16) and second (17) pulley of the pair. Device as claimed in claim 1, characterized by the fact that the additional pulley (20) lies in a plane (28) forming an angle (α) with respect to the planes (29, 30) of the pair of pulleys (16, 17), the plane (28) of said pulley (20) being oriented so as to dispose its circumferential cable incoming portion (24) substantially in line with the circumferential cable outgoing portion (23) of the first driving pulley (16) and dispose its circumferential cable outgoing portion (25) substantially in line with the circumferential cable incoming portion (26) of the second driving pulley 17. Device as claimed in claim 2, characterized by the fact that the angle (α) formed by the planes of the pulleys (16, 17, 20) ranges from 10° to 35°, preferably around 20°. Device as claimed in claim 1, characterized by the fact that the additional pulley (20) is an idle pulley. Device as claimed in claim 1, characterized by the fact of comprising additional cable transmission and tensioning pulleys (31, 32). Device as claimed in claim 1, characterized by the fact that the races (18, 19, 21) of the pulleys are generically V-shaped with an angle ranging from 12° to 30°, preferably between 17° and 20°. Device as claimed in claim 1, characterized by the fact that the races (18, 19) are provided with small projections protruding from the surfaces designed to come into contact with the disks.

Inventors: PIROVANO PAOLO, PIROVANO, PAOLO
Applicants: PIROVANO PAOLO, PIROVANO, PAOLO
Application year: 1996
Main classification: B65G19
IPC codes: B65G19, B65G23