Patent Publication Number: US-2016230379-A1

Title: Conveyor Belt Filter Device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to German Patent Application No. 10 2015 001 411.0 filed on Feb. 6, 2015, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a conveyor belt filter device and to a sewer cleaning assembly. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Conveyor belt filter devices are used to mechanically clean a liquid that flows in a sewer and is polluted with solids and comprise an endless filter belt of sheetlike filter elements that are connected to one another and can be pivoted against one another, and a flexible drive means that is guided via a lower deflection device and at least one upper deflection device, and a frame that supports the deflection devices and the filter belt. 
     Conveyor belt filter devices of the kind mentioned above are also called pater-noster filter rakes and are primarily used to mechanically clean flowing sewage in sewers formed for this purpose. The sewage flows through the filter elements in the perpendicular or also in the longitudinal direction of the filter elements, and the filter elements carry the filtered matter, which cannot pass through the filter elements, out of the sewer. 
     In the area of an upper deflection device of the filter belt, which is arranged above the surface of the sewage, a scraper device of a solids removal device is provided, which is realized as a brush, for example, and removes filtered matter adhering to the filter elements from the filter elements before they reenter the liquid flowing through the sewer in the course of the circulation of the filter belt. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the present invention is to increase the effectiveness of the conveyor belt filter device while keeping the design of the conveyor belt filter device as compact as possible, as disclosed herein. It is particularly advantageous if the upper frame portion is provided with a lifting device for changing the distance of the deflecting section of the frame relative to the sewer bottom or for adjusting the angle of incidence. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the following description, a preferred embodiment of the invention will be illustrated in more detail with the aid of the drawing. In the figures: 
         FIG. 1  shows a lateral view of a sewer cleaning assembly comprising a conveyor belt filter device; 
         FIG. 2  shows a top view of the conveyor belt filter device illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 3  shows a deflecting section of the conveyor belt filter device according to view III in  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS 
     The conveyor belt filter device illustrated in  FIG. 1  has a frame  10 , a filter belt  11  guided on said frame  10 , a chain drive  12  connected to said frame  10  and to said filter belt  11  and a filtered matter discharge  13  comprising a dropping sewer  14 . The conveyor belt filter device is used to clean a sewer  15 , which runs below an installation level  16  of the conveyor belt filter device. For this purpose, the filter belt  11  is provided with filter elements  30 , which, in the present case, have a curved filter wall  31  formed by a perforated metal sheet. 
     A liquid  17  loaded with solids flows through the sewer  15  in a flow direction  18 , which is illustrated by a directional arrow, wherein the sewer  15  may extend vertically to the drawing plane with extensive width. The conveyor belt filter device reaches down to a sewer bottom  19 , thus blocking the entire flow cross-section of the sewer  15  transversely to the flow direction  18  and the liquid  17  having to pass through the part of the conveyor belt filter device that is located in the sewer  15 . 
     The frame  10  is composed of a lower frame portion  20 , which forms the part through which the liquid  17  has to pass, and of an upper frame portion  21 , which extends largely outside of the sewer  15  and has an upper deflection device  22  at its upper end, which has an upper deflection shaft  24 , which allows the filter belt to circulate  11  together with a lower deflection shaft  25  of a lower deflection device  23 , which is arranged at the lower end of the lower frame portion  20 , which is arranged within the liquid  17 . In a deflecting section formed in the area of transition from the lower frame portion  20  to the upper frame portion  21 , the upper frame portion  21  is inclined at an angle of inclination α relative to the lower frame portion  20  in such a manner that an upper filter belt conveying path  32  is arranged at the angle of inclination α relative to a lower filter belt conveying path  33 . To deflect the filter belt, the deflecting section  28  has a deflection device  29 , which is illustrated in particular in  FIG. 3 . 
     As shown in particular in  FIG. 1 , a solids removal device  27  is provided as part of the filtered matter discharge  13  at an upper end of the upper frame portion  21 , said solids removal device being realized in the present case as a rotating scraper device, which scrapes solids off the filter elements  30  and transports them through the dropping sewer  14  to a solids receiving device (not illustrated). 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the conveyor belt filter device allows forming a sewer cleaning assembly, in which a frame base  34  of the lower frame portion  20  is supported on the sewer bottom  19  of the sewer  15  in the area of the lower deflection device  23  and a frame base  35  of the upper frame portion  21  is mounted on the installation plane  16  outside of the sewer  15  in such a manner that the distance a between the lower deflection device  23  and the upper deflection device  22  is smaller than the length l of a total conveying path  36 , which is composed of the length l 1  of the lower filter belt conveying path  33  and of the length l 2  of the upper filter belt conveying path  32 . This leads to a compact installation of the conveyor belt filter device above the sewer  15  in spite of a relatively flat angle of incidence α of the filter belt  11  and the resulting large effective filter surface  37 . 
     Preferably, the upper frame portion  21  is provided with a lifting device  38  for changing the distance of the deflecting section  28  of the frame  10  relative to the sewer bottom  19 .