Patent GB-857772-A (GB)
Title: Flexible conveyor
Inventor: SNYDER CLIFFORD HUTCHISON
IPC: B62D13/04
Filed: 1957-01-07
Abstract: 857,772. Endless belt conveyers. COLMOL CO. Jan. 7, 1957, No. 645/57. Class 78 (1). A flexible conveyer for receiving material from a mining machine at its forward end and discharging it from the other end comprises a plurality of conveyer supporting units each having supporting wheels which are steerable, adjacent units being connected by rigid bars pivotally supported on the units and adapted to steer the wheels in the same, or substantially the same tracks. In the construction shown in Fig. 1, each intermediate supporting unit 30 is supported by two pairs of steerable wheels 32 which are mounted on axles 31. An arm 40 on one wheel of each pair is connected to an adjustable reach rod 41. Arms 33 on each wheel are connected by rods 34 to a tongue 35 which is pivoted at 38 to the axle and is connected by a horizontal pivot 37 to the bar 36 connecting adjacent units. The bodies of the units overlap and support an endless belt conveyer. Each unit has a motor for propelling it and driving the belt. The receiving unit 40, Fig. 2, is connected to the mining machine 60 by a pivoted hitch 57 and has an open-bottomed hopper 41 which receives the coal and directs it on to an endless belt. The driving pulley 50 of this belt is driven by a motor 52, the control box 55 of which is at an operator's station. All the driving motors for the belts are controlled from this station. The wheels 98 are steered by known mechanism 73 actuated by a wheel 74. Each intermediate unit has a shallow hopper 85, Fig. 4, at one end to receive the material discharged over the pulley 48 of the unit 40. Guides 86, Fig. 3, of rubber direct the material on to an endless belt 87 which extends between pulleys 88, 89. The driving pulley 93 for the belt is driven by an electric motor 95. The steering wheels 98 are driven by an electric motor 99 through a vertical shaft 101 which drives a vertical shaft 103 through chain-and-sprocket gearing. The shaft 103 is connected by bevel gearing 104, 105 to one of the wheels. The lower end of the shaft 101 drives a cross-shaft 108 through bevel gearing. The shaft 108 is provided with universal joints and drives a vertical shaft 109 which drives the other wheel through chain- and-sprocket and bevel gearing. The wheels are mounted for steering movement about shafts, similar to the shaft 103 and are connected by linkage mechanism 111. This mechanism includes a bracket 112 which is pivoted to a cross-member of the frame and receives either a steering control hitch or a torsion bar 113 of a telescopic hitch. The wheels 114 are independently spring suspended and steered in conventional manner through the linkage 122. The suspension mechanism for each wheel includes an arm 115 pivoted to a rigid part 116 of the main frame. A torsion rod 117 extends through a bifurcated part of each arm 115 and a wing of the part 116 and is splined to a keeper arm 118. This arm is bolted to the arm 115. Each rod 117 is splined also to a keeper arm 119 bolted to the rear axle. The wheels 114 have steering link mechanism 120 similar to that shown in Fig. 1. A hitch element 123, which is complementary to the torsion bar 113, is pivoted to the bracket 121. V-type cross-pieces 124, 125 at the ends of the unit are complementary to similar members on adjacent units to which they are connected by universal joints. The discharge unit (not shown) is generally similar to the intermediate units, but none of its wheels is power driven. It carries a two-piece discharge boom which can be swung as a whole about a vertical axis and the end piece of which is adjustable about a horizontal axis.