Title of Invention

A DEVICE TO SEAL BELT CONVEYORS AGAINST SPILLAGE OF MATERIALS

Abstract

This invention relates to a device for preventing spillage of "materialS from moving conveyor belts. The device consists of a support member on which modular and verticallY slidable blocks are mounted. Each block consists of shoulder area and toe area, made of rigid and flexible material respectivelY. A slot is provided on the modular block for fastening the same to the support member by means of a clamping plate. Two step joints are provided on the blocks which are disposed opposite to one another, one step on the inner surface and the other on the outer surface to seal.inglY align two adjacent blocks. Two such blocks are fixed together with locking means connecting one fastening means with the other, to prevent lateral displacement during operation.

Full Text

This invention relates to a device to seal belt conveyors against spi1lage of materials and is particularly but not exclusively adapted for use at loading and delivery points of be 11 conveyor systems that transport bulk materials. Belt conveyors are used for continuous transport of loose material or articles over a distance, for instance between two parts of a work shop, in mines, and thermal power stations where bulk material handling is involved. Often materials are transported in bulk through belt conveyors and are fed thereon from stationary metal chutes. A gap is necessarily maintained be tween the mouth of the stationary chute and the moving conveyor to avoid friction between the two surfaces and consequent wear and tear of the be It conveyor and this gap needs to be sealed to avoid spill age of material there through. Conventional device for sealing this gap consists of a long strip of rubber sheet mounted on a support plate which is fixed to the laoding area of the chute. This device is found ineffective in preventing leakage due to the following reasons. Belt conveyors are supported on spacedly disposed idler rollers and during loading and transportation, a sag is often noticed in between the unsupported d i st ance between two adjacent idler rollers due to the weight of the material. A gap is created between the belt conveyor and the long rubber sheet like skirt of the chute due to this sagging through which spill age or leakage occurs. Movement of the conveyor belt against this stationary apron i 1 ike rubber member causes wear and tear. Thi s wear is found to be uneven due to the sagging of the be It in between two idler rollers. The entire system has to be di smant1ed and operations discontinued for replacing the worn piece. Vertically movable and adjustable skirt boa id members have been developed to obviate the above mentioned drawback of belt conveyor transportation. A single piece skirt board system is replaced by modular skirt boards. Each module is made of a single material all through out and a plurality of them are slidably disposed on the support member. Vertical adjustment of these modules he Ips in avoid ing leakage through sagging or uneven wear of the belt conveyor. The modular skirt board members are capable of being adjusted vertically and are conducive to easy replacement of damaged or worn out pieces. But constant vibratory movements associated with bulk handling of materials loosen these modular blocks, which tend to move away from one another, creating gaps in between. An objective of this invention is to prevent lateral movement of modu1ar skirt members. Another draw back faced with the existing system of sealing is entrapment of mate rials between the conveyor belt and the skirt board member. Existing modu1ar skirt board members are made from a single rigid material such as compound rubber. Ent rapped material is not easily dislodged from these rigid members and will result in premature wearing off of the belt conveyor, Hence, anot her objective of this invention is to produce a skirt member having a flexible base or toe part to facilitate easy dislodging of entrapped particles between the belt and the skirt member and a rigid shoulder area. , The device consists of a support member preferably made of metals like iron in the form of a plate or sheet, mount abIe on the sides of chutes that come in contact with the conveyor belt. This plate has a plurality of centrally located mounting means on which skirt members are slidably fixed. These mount ing means may be block like projections extending from the support plate. Each mounting means has a fastening means to hold the skirt member in a vertically slidable manner. A cylindrical screw extending outwardly from t he moun ting means and a threaded nut form an example of such fastening means. The skirt board block of the device consists of a highly wear resist ant flexible toe part and a hard and tough shoulder part. The inner side of the block is alignable with the mount i ng means provided on the support plate. In case the mount ing means is a block like projection on the support plate, the skirt member must have a correspondinvly shaped channel on its inner surface. The outer surface of the skirt board block has a slot like opening located to per in it the cylindrical nut like fastening means on the mounting means to pass therethrough and locked with the help of the threaded screw. The shoulder part of the skirt board block consists of two projections extending laterally from either side of the central channel. These lateral projections join the toe part of the skirt board block and project internally therefrom towards the support plate. The outer surface of the skirt blocks are provided with two vertically slots or grooves on either side of the centrally located slot. These slots are intended to house the clamping plate when assembled. The length of these slots correspond to a serrated portion of clamping plate which is to be housed therein. Each skirt board block has two step joints located vertically on either side thereof. These steps are disposed oppos itely, one on the inner surface and the other on the outer surface, and extend vertically throughout. When assembled, the outer step of one skirt board block joins with the inner step of the adjacent block sealingly to avo id any gaps in between successively mounted blocks. Each skirt board block is provided with a clamp plate made of a single piece of material having high tensile strength. Each clamp plate has two serrated projections on either side thereof which effectively bite into the skirt board block and prevent upward movement of the blocks during operation. Clamp plates are provided with openings for enabling the skirt board members to be fastened to the support plate through the mounting and fastening means. When assembled, the skirt board members may be moved and fixed vertically as desired. Additional locking means are provided to prevent the modular blocks from moving apart clue to vibration. These locking means may be wires extending between two adjacent fastening means. Wires may be threaded through the screw and nut fastening means and tightly held to prevent movement of the blocks. Accordingly this invention relates to a device to seal belt conveyors against spillage of materials, which comprises a support plate having spaced 1y disposed thereon plurality of mount ing means, provided with fastening means, at least two modular skirt board blocks each consisting of a toe and a shoulder, the inner surface of the said block having an area correspond ing to the said mounting means on the support plate and aligning therewith, the said area provided with a slot for slidably fixing the said block on the mounting means, the said shoulder constituted by inwardly and laterally extending projections, the outer surface of the said block having at least two grooves on which a clamp plate having two serrated project ions correspond ing to the said grooves is mounted, the said clamp plate having an opening for the said fastening means, two laterally and oppositely disposed step joints extending vertically through the sides of the said blocks, for sealingly aligning with the corresponding step joints of the adjacent block, and locking means, locking two adjacently mounted inodu1ar skirt board blocks. This invention wiI 1 now be described with reference to the figures in the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig.I shows the skirt board block and the clamp plate. Fig II shows the device according to this invention having two modular skirt board blocks and Fig.Ill is an exploded view of the step joints of the two blocks which prevent lateral movement of the two blocks and effectively sealing the gaps in between the two skirt board blocks. Fig. I shows the skirt board b lock cons i st i ng a shou Icie r 5 and toe 6. The surface facing the support plate 15 shown in Fig.II has a channel like mounting means 1 (Fig.I) corresponding to the mounting means 12. Reference numerals 7, 7', 4, 4' and 2. 2' indicate the outwardly extending shoulder projection; grooves or slots for mounting clamping plate 8 and oppositely and laterally located step joints on the sides of the block respect ively. The clamping means 8 has serrated projections 9 extending there from which a 1i gn with grooves 4 and 4'. The central slot for fixing the skirt board block on the support plate is indicated by numeral 3 through which threaded nut 13 passes and is fixed to the desired posiiton with the help of the threaded screw 10. Reference numera1 11 indicates a washer. Two adjacent blocks are tightly held to prevent any lateral movement due to vibration. Locking means such as strong wire indicated by numeral 14 extends between two locking nuts and are tightened to prevent displacement. The portion shown as X in Fig.II is the step joint of the two adjacently located modules. The skirt board blocks may be made of rubber compositions, i, polymers such as polyurethane’s. The shoulder part and the the part may be mounded together using components of different Physical property to make the base flexible and the shoulder r igid. This device enables vertical adjustment of modular blocks by fixing the modules at any desired position while preventing format ion of any gaps between two modules, thus effectively sealing the gaps and preventing material losses. Various modifications of the present invention will become apparent to those ski 1 led in the art from the following description. Such modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. I Claim: 1. A device to seal belt conveyors against spillage of materials, comprising a support plate having spacedly disposed thereon plurality of mounting means, provided with fastening means, at least two modular skirt board blocks each consisting of a toe and a shoulder, the inner surface of the said block having an area corresponding to the said mounting means on the support plate and aligning therewith, the said area provided with a slot for slidably fixing the said block on the mounting means, the said shoulder constituted by inwardly and laterally extending projections, the outer surface of the said block having at least two grooves on whi ch a c1 amp plate having two serrated project ions correspond ing to the said grooves is mounted, the said clamp plate having an openi ng for the said fastening means, two laterally and oppositely disposed step joints ex tending vertically through the sides of the said blocks, for sealingly t aligning with the corresponding step joints of the adjacent block, and locking means, locking two adjacently mounted modular skirt board blocks. 2. The device as cla imed in claim 1 wherein the said support plate is metallic and the mounting means is a projected block extending from the said support plate* each mounting means having a threaded screw for fixing the modular skirt board block. 3. The device as claimed in claim 1 and 2 wherein the said skirt board block has a channel corresponding to the projected b1ock. 4. The device as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the fastening means for fastening the skirt board blocks on to the support plate consists of a threaded screw and nut assembly. 5. The device as claimed in claims 1 to 4, wherein the toe and the shoulder of the modular blocks are made from flexible and rigid ma t e r i a 1s respectively. 6. The device as cla imed in claim 5 where i n the flexible and rigid materials are selected from rubber compounds or polymers of desired density. 7. The device as clai med in claims 1 to 6 wherein the locking means is a wire connecting the fastening means of one block with the fastening means of the adjacent block. 8. The device as claimed in claims 1 to 7 wherein the fastening means is a screw and nut assembly and the locking means is f ixed to the screws located on the adjacent blocks. 9. A device to seal belt conveyors against spillage of materials substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

1326-mas-1997- abstract.pdf

1326-mas-1997- claims duplicate.pdf

1326-mas-1997- claims original.pdf

1326-mas-1997- correspondence others.pdf

1326-mas-1997- correspondence po.pdf

1326-mas-1997- description complete duplicate.pdf

1326-mas-1997- description complete original.pdf

1326-mas-1997- drawings.pdf

1326-mas-1997- form 1.pdf

1326-mas-1997- form 19.pdf

1326-mas-1997- form 26.pdf

1326-mas-1997- form 3.pdf