Improvements in Screw Conveyers Applicable for Feeding Coal to Furnaces and for other Purposes.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Feb., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 5th Dec., 1889-Accepted, 11th Jan., 1890
PROVISIONAL. SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Screw Conveyers Applicable for Feeding Coal to
Furnaces and for other Purposes.
.
1, LEWIS HOPCRAFT, of 26 West Bank, Stamford Hill, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The object of this invention is to produce a screw conveyer whereby coal or
other material is conveyed in any desired direction instead of in a straight line as.
hertofore. The screw conveyer is also so constructed that the feed of the coal or
other material can be regulated at will.
According to this invention I construct the screw conveyer in sections, and string
then loosely upon a fixed rod or bar curved to the shape of the direction in which
it is desired to convey the coal or other material. Between each two sections, I
place a gimbal or universal joint, provided with two pairs of trunnions each pair
being at right angles to the other pair. One pair of trunnions takes into recesses
or bearings in one section and the other pair of trunnions into bearings in the next
section. Each section is constructed in the form of a boss or collar with a screw
wing or blade constructed thereon in such a manner that when fitted together, the
wings or blades are continuous and form an archimedean screw around the bosses or
collars. To the first section I affix the actuating mechanism. When it is, rotated,
the blade or wing thereon and the universal joint will rotate the second section,
which in its turn rotates the third section and so on, the whole screw being rotated
by the rotation of the first section.
To regulate the feed of the conveyer, I construct the boss or collar of the first section,
or the section immediately under the hopper, in the form of a truncated cone, with
a blade or wing which only extends the same distance from the centre as the wings
or blades on the other sections, thus as the boss or collar becomes thicker the wing
or blade becomes correspondingly less, and will therefore take up and feed along a
smaller quantity of coal or other material at its thicker than it would at its thinner
end. To. diminish the feed, I push the end section along the curved rod or bar
until the desired width of wing or blade is beneath the hopper. To increase the
feed-1 reverse the operation. As the first section is moved it will take with it all
the other sections.
D1
T
1000
CASTLE SMITH,
Per F. W. Golby,
"Invention" Office, 54, Fleet Street, London, E.C., Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Screw Conveyers Applicable for Feeding Coal to
Furnaces and for other Purposes.
I, LEWIS HOPCRAFT, of 26 West Bank, Stamford Hill, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
The object of this invention is to produce a screw conveyer whereby coal or other
material is conveyed in any desired direction instead of in a straight line as here-
tofore. The screw conveyer is also so constructed that the feed of the coal or other
material can be regulated at will.
According to this invention I construct the screw conveyer in sections, and string

page_text: them loosely upon a non-rotatable rod or bar curved to the shape of the direction
in which it is desired to convey the coal or other material. Between each two
sections place a gimbal or universal joint, provided with two pairs of trunnions,
each, pair being at right angles to the other pair. One pair of trunnions takes into
recesses or bearings in one section and the other pair of trunnions into bearings in
the next section. Each section is constructed in the form of a boss or collar with a
screw wing or blade constructed thereon in such a manner that when fitted together the
wings or blades are continuous and form an archimedean screw around the bosses or
collars.
And in order that my invention may be more fully understood and carried into
practice, I will now proceed to describe the same with reference to the accom-
panying drawings in which similar letters are, used to indicate corresponding parts
throughout.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a curved tube and screw conveyer constructed
according to this invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged plan of one of the gimbals ; and
Figure 3 is an enlarged plan of one of the sections of the screw conveyer; Figure 4
is an enlarged sectional elevation and shews the arrangement adopted for regulating
the feed and Figure 5 is a section on the line X X Figure 4.
I construct the screw conveyer in sections and string them loosely upon a non-
rotatable rod or bar M. shewn in dotted lines in Figure 1 curved to the shape
of the direction in which it is desired to convey the coal or other material
so that the said rod or bar M is always central in the conveyer tube J. On to the
upper end of the said rod M is affixed a head A which rests against the last section of
the screw and keeps it in position. The other end of the rod M passes through the
centre of the worm actuating shaft S and is produced outwards and provided with a
spiral or other spring B bearing against a washer C with adjusting lock nuts D (see
Figure 1). The tension of the spring therefore tends to pull the rod forward out of
the tube J, causing the head A to bear against the last section thus compressing all
the sections and so keeping the gimbals in their places. Between each two sections
I place a loose gimbal or universal joint N provided with two pairs of trunnions O
each pair being at right angles to the other pair (see Figure 2). One pair of
trunnions takes into recesses or bearings P in one section and the other pair of
trunnions into bearings in the next section. Each section of the screw conveyer is
constructed in the form of a boss or collar with a screw wing or blade R (see
Figure 3) constructed thereon in such a manner that when fitted together the wings
or blades are continuous and form an archimedean screw around the bosses or collars
as shewn in Figure 1.
To regulate the feed of the conveyer I construct the boss or collar q of the first
section or the section immediately under the hopper, in the form of a truncated cone
with a blade or wing which only extends the same distance from the centre of the boss
as the wing or blades on the other sections as shewn in Figure 1 and in detail in Figures 4
and 5. Thus as the boss or collar q becomes thicker, the wing or blade r becomes
correspondingly less, and will therefore take up and feed along a smaller quantity of
coal or other material at its thicker than it would at its thinner end. The first or
conical section is provided with a sleeves riding loose on the shaft S, which said
shaft S is rigidly affixed to the boss Q of the second section. This shaft S is
provided with a pin or thread T extending partly round its circumference and of the
same pitch as the pitch of the archimedean screw. This said pin or thread T. works
in a corresponding groove formed on the inside of the boss of the first section.
The wing is prolonged beyond the end of the boss q and is provided with a small
shoulder or bend t and then continued so as to lie parallel, with and close against the
under side of the wing R of the second section. By this arrangement, as the first
section is moved away from the second, there will be no gap in the archimedean
screw. The first section is actuated as follows:-The sleeve s terminates in a collar u
with a suitable number of holes around its circumference into which the end of a
" tommy or lever may be placed, and provided with a set screw v. Figure 4 shews
the conical section close up to the next section so as to feed the smallest amount
22

page_text: "
of coal or other material possible. To alter the feed, I turn the collar u by means of
a tommy" or hand lever, the groove on the boss works over the thread T
formed on the shaft S, and the continuation of the wing r works along and under the
wing R on the second section, until the desired thickness of the cone is beneath the
hopper, when I fix it by means of the set screw u. The other extreme position of
the collar u is shewn by the dotted lines in Figure 4. There is an annular recess
in the base of the cone into which takes the boss U on the cover of the conveyer
tube J.
re
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1
claim is
(1) The construction of a screw conveyer in section fitted together by gimbals or
universal joints N working on a central rod M bent to the required shape substan-
tially in the manner described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the accom-
panying drawings.
(2) The foed regulating device consisting of a conical section with a prolonged wing
or blade and a thread T working in a corresponding groove formed in the boss
and actuated by the sleeves and collar u substantially as and for the purpose
hereinbefore set forth and illustrated in Figures 1, 4 and 5 of the accompanying
drawings.
(3) My improved screw conveyer constructed combined and operating substantially
as hereinbefore set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
.
Dated this 5th day of December 1889.
CASTLE SMITH,
Per F. W. Golby,
"Invention" Office, 54, Fleet Street, London, E.C., Agent for the Applicant.