Improvements in Endless Conveyors for Coal and other Material.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 4th July, 1899-Accepted, 5th Aug., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Endless Conveyors for Coal and other Material.
A communication to me from C. W. HUNT COMPANY, a corporation of No. 45;
Broadway, in the City and State of New York, United States of America,
Manufacturers.
I, EDWARD GRIFFITH BREWER, of No. 33, Chancery Lane, in the County of
London, and No. 3, East Parade, Leeds, in the County of York, Fellow of the
Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement and accompanying
drawings, that is to say: -
Endless conveyors have been made with a series of pivoted buckets connected
by chains or wire ropes at the opposite sides, and these have been supported upon
tracks by wheels or rollers and caused to travel from one place to another so
as to transport coal or other material supplied into the buckets at one place and
delivered from the same at another place, but difficulty has been experienced in
preventing the coal or other material as it runs down from a chute or supply,
passing between one bucket and the next.
To obviate this difficulty the buckets have been made with lips lapping one
over the other, but it has been necessary to change the lap of the lips so as to
allow a bucket to either ascend or descend in its travel without the overlapping
of the lips causing the buckets to tip.
The present invention is made with reference to covering the space between
the end of one bucket and the next by an automatic shield that is moved by the
buckets themselves, and drops back to place and sheds the coal or other material
so that it passes into the buckets without dropping down between them. This
shield is pivoted at its ends upon the endless chains or ropes, and it is free to
turn by contact with the edge of the bucket, and in the different positions that
the parts assume, the shield will automatically turn or fall into position, so that
the material passing down will be diverted into the buckets by the shield and
not drop down between such buckets.
In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a cross section representing diagrammatically the
adjacent edges of the buckets and the intervening shields. Fig. 2 is an elevation
endwise of the rotary shield and representing a bearing for one pivot of the shield.
Fig. 3 shows adjacent edges of the buckets and a flat shield. Fig. 4 is a cross
section of a five leaf shield. Fig. 5 is a section of a shield with four leaves in
its normal position. Fig. 6 shows the same parts as one bucket commences to
rise. Fig. 7 shows the parts as one bucket is about to separate from its shield.
Fig. 8 shows the bearing with an elongated opening for the axis of the shield and
Fig. 9 is a partial plan of the parts shown in Fig. 1.
The buckets A are of any desired size, shape or configuration, and they are
pivoted at 3 upon the chains B which are provided with rollers C or wheels upon
a supporting track T. These chains, rollers and track are to be of any desired
character. The chains are represented as composed of plate links pivoted to-

page_text: gether, but wire ropes may take the place of chains. The shields D are provided
with pivots 4 at their ends, which pivots are advantageously supported by the
chains. Bearings E E are shown upon such chains for the pivots 4.
The shields may be either cylindrical rollers, as shown at D, or longitudinally
grooved rollers, approximating in section a four or five or more pointed cross
or leaves, as seen at 1). When the shields are star-shaped in section, the bear-
ings E for the pivots of the same should be constructed so that the shield simply
revolves by contact with 'the 'shield of the edge of the bucket, the parts being
proportioned in such a manner that the shield will be partly turned by contact
therewith of the edge of the bucket as it swings up or down, see Figs. 6 and 7,
and the edge of the bucket will thus freely clear the shield by turning the same,
but in a normal position the projecting edges or leaves of the shield lap over
the adjacent edges of the buckets; and it will be borne in mind that as the direc-
tion of travel of the endless conveyor may be charged and go either up or down,
one, edge of the bucket will rise above. the adjacent edge of the next bucket or
descend; hence these edges will act in unison to give rotation to the shield, and
in the turning of the shield any coal or other material that may have lodged
upon the shield will be delivered into the lower bucket, by the partial revolution
of the shield in that direction, and in consequence of the front and back portions
of the buckets being inclined, as represented, their edges quickly separate from
the shield, and the risk of the parts becoming wedged is avoided.
When the shield is made as a cylindrical roller, the openings in the bearings
are advantageously angular, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the pivots or shafts of
the shield can roll up the inclined surface of the angular bearings in either one
direction or the other, as such shield is pressed laterally by the contact therewith
of the swinging edge of the bucket, and as soon as the edge of the bucket separates
from the cylindrical shield, the pivots thereof roll down to the apex of the
angular bearings, and the diameter of the shield is always to be greater than
the width between the edge of one bucket and the next so as to cover the opening;
and' as the edge of one bucket rises and the edge of the next one. passes below,
the shield is pressed laterally by the ascending edge and its pivots roll up the
inclines of the bearings and the shield is carried bodily over the edge of the
adjacent bucket. below, and as the buckets return into a horizontal position the
inclined side of the upper bucket presses the cylindrical shield-back and the pivots
pass up the inclines and at the same time that the edge of the lower bucket tends
to lift the shield, and as the parts assume their normal horizontal-positions, the
shield. drops and rests upon the adjacent edges of the buckets so as to effectually
cover up the opening between one bucket and the next, and thereby deflect the
coal or other material into the buckets and prevent the same passing down between
such buckets. In place of the bearings being angular, they may be approximately
horizontal or curved, as indicated at E in the diagram, Fig. 8.
་,་
When the buckets descend in their travel, a similar action takes place on the
shield, and it is remarked that the axes of the buckets and shields should.be in
the same horizontal plane, or nearly so, because the upper side of the chain in
one part of its movement may become the lower side at another part of its circuit.
In some conveyors the material is received into and delivered from the buckets
before they commence their return travel, and in other conveyors there.is a twist
in the vertical, or nearly vertical portion so that the shields are maintained above
the edges of the buckets where the materials are received and delivered,..and it
is not necessary to place the pivots of the shields in the same plane as the pivots
of the buckets.
-
If the pivoted shield is moved by a hanging weight 6, Fig. 3, or other device,
it will be restored to a normal position by such device instead of being dependent
upon contact with the buckets for the movements.
Chains of various characters have been employed for.
rconnecting the buckets
in endless series and also wire and other ropes for the same purpose. In the
present improvement it is to be understood that the term "chains" for connecting

page_text: the buckets in endless series, is intended to include any device that may be
employed for this purpose.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
is claimed is:-
First: The combination in a conveyor with the buckets and means for con-
necting them in endless series, of a shield between the edge of one bucket and
the edge of the next, and means for supporting the ends of the shield upon the
devices that connect the buckets in series, substantially as set forth.
Second: The combination in a conveyor with the buckets and chains for con-
necting them in endless series of a shield between the edge of one bucket and
the edge of the next, and pivots at the ends of the shield supported upon the chains,
substantially as set forth.
Third: The combination with the pivoted buckets in an endless conveyor, of
shields covering the spaces between the buckets, pivots for supporting such shields
and upon which the shields are permitted to turn by the contact therewith of the
buckets, and bearings upon the chains of the endless conveyor for the pivots of
the shields, substantially as set forth.
Fourth: The combination with the pivoted buckets in an endless conveyor,
of cylindrical shields adapted to rest upon the adjacent edges of the buckets, pivots
at the ends of the shields, and bearings upon the chains for the pivots, such
bearings having elongated openings for the pivots, substantially as set forth.
Fifth: The combination in a conveyor with the pivoted buckets and chains
for connecting them in endless series, of a cylindrical shield between the edge of
one bucket and the edge of the next, and pivots for the cylindrical shield supported
upon the chains, substantially as set forth.
Sixth: The combination with the buckets and the chains for connecting them
in endless series, of a shield between the edge of one bucket and the next and
end supports for the shield directly upon the chains, such supports allowing a
lateral movement to the shield by contact with one of the buckets, substantially
ns set forth."
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1
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