TRANSPORTABLE, COLLAPSIBLE VEHICLE LOADING HOPPER

TRADUCTION NON-DISPONIBLE

English Abstract

TITLE

TRANSPORTABLE, COLLAPSIBLE VEHICLE LOADING HOPPER

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A loading bin is carried on a wheel-supported trans-
portable frame in a collapsed condition in which the upper
filling end of the loading bin is below vertical height road
clearances for highways. The bin can be elevated at the con-
struction site so that its lower discharge end is above the
height of the vehicles being loaded. The bin is filled by a
cart traveling along a track from ground to an elevation above
the bin with the track being deployed automatically upon rais-
ing of the bin. The cart automatically dumps its load into
the bin upon reaching the filling end of the bin.

Claims

CLAIMS:
1. A transportable, collapsible vehicle-loading
hopper for filling trucks or the like with sticky substances,
like asphaltic mix or other sticky mixed product, from a mix-
ing device at a remote construction site, comprising:
a transportable frame supported on ground-engaging
wheels,
a vertically raisable, large-capacity, rectangular,
one-piece holding bin having a truncated rectangular lower
portion terminating in a large discharge end adapted to be
above a vehicle when the bin is in a raised position and below
the vertical height clearance normally encountered on highways
when in a lowered transporting position and an upper filling
end adapted to be below the vertical height clearance normally
encountered on highways when in said lowered transporting po-
sition, said rectangular bin, lower truncated rectangular dis-
charge end including at least two separate, generally rectang-
ular discharge openings, and a gate closing each said opening,
thereby increasing the flow area out of the bin for minimum
mix segregation without increasing the vertical height of the
discharge end, said combined discharge openings having a large
area,
means for raising and lowering said bin within said
frame so that the vertical axis of said bin remains parallel
with the vertical axis of said frame, said bin being tele-
scoped in a unitary, unmodified condition between said raised
position and said lowered transporting position such that the
height of said frame and bin is reduced in said transporting
position without increasing the length or width of said frame
and bin,




mix delivery means extending from ground to above
said bin when the bin is raised, said mix delivery means in-
cluding means for transporting the mix from the mixing device
to the upper filling end of the bin, and
means for collapsing the delivery means into a posi-
tion supported solely on said frame but below said vertical
height clearance.
2. The vehicle-loading hopper of claim 1, including
means for supporting the mix delivery means on the bin for
simultaneously raising said mix delivery means with the bin.
3. The vehicle-loading hopper of claim 21 including
a track, said means for transporting the mix to the upper
filling end of the bin being a cart movable on the track and
having a dump end, and cart-moving means including cable means
for pulling the cart along the track and means for powering
said cable means.
4. The vehicle-loading hopper of claim 3, including
a stop on said track overlying the bin-filling end, a gate for
closing the dump end of the cart, and means on said gate en-
gageable with said stop for opening the gate by movement of
the cart past the stop.
5. The vehicle-loading hopper of claim 1, including
opposite side plates extendibly mounted to the bin and an end
plate joined to said side plates, means for raising said side
and end plates into a raised portion when the bin is raised
for providing a confined mix area above the bin upper filling
end.
6. The vehicle-loading hopper of claim 5, said end
plate supporting said mix delivery means directly above said
bin-filling end when said plates are in said raised position.




7. The vehicle-loading hopper of claim 1, said
means for raising and lowering said bin including a set of
chains dead-ended at said lower discharge end of the bin and
coupled to powered sprockets rotatably fastened to said frame
at an elevated position whereby rotation of the sprockets will
raise said bin into its extended position.
8. The vehicle-loading hopper of claim 7, including
side shield members pivotally coupled to the bin and to cables
engageable with said frame as the bin is raised whereby the
cables pull the shield members into shielding, raised posi-
tions above the upper filling end of the bin solely by raising
the bin.

Description

9~1

BAC GROUND OF THE INVENTION
E~ield of the Invention
This invention pertains to portable truck loading
apparatus, and more particularly to transportable, collapsible
loading hoppers adapted for loading asphalt or other product
at the source or at the construction site.
Description of th _Prior Art
Mobile asphalt plants such as described in U.S.
Patent No. 3,905,587 are known. In the patented device the
asphalt plant as well as a truck loading hopper are trailed to
ti.e construction site and erected such that vehicles can drive
beneath the hopper and be filled with the asphalt which is
manufactured right at the site.
One of the difficulties, however, with prior port-
able truck loading hoppers, in particular~ is that they have
re~uired considerable manpower and time to erect and dismantle
at the construction site. For example, patent No. 3,905,587
discloses the use of a bucket conveyor for lifting the asphalt
- from the mixing plant and depositing it in the inlet end of
the hopper. This conveyor requires considerable effort to be
dismantled and carried during transporting of the hopper to
and from the construction site. In addition, the asphalt be-
ing by nature sticky and abrasive causes considerable mainten-
ance difficulties in continued operation of the bucket convey-
or.
S~MMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide an im-
proved transportable, collapsible vehic]e loading hopper for
filling vehicles with sticky, abrasive material such as as-

phalt.




~.

9~

It is another object of this invention ~o provide aneasily and quickly erected transportable vehicle loading hop-
per.
Basically, these objects are obtained by providing a
transpor~able frame carried on ~round supporting wheels and
mounting on the frame a vertically extendible loading bin hav-
ing an upper or filling end that can be carried below vertical
road clearances on the highways and a lower discharge end
which can be elevated higher than the vehicles requiring load-

ing. The hin is uniquely kept filled by a cart which rides ona track extending from the ground level to an elevation above
the inlet end of the bin. The track is pivotally mounted to
the transportable frame and is erected to its deployed posi-
tion automatically by the raising of the bin. Additional seg-
ments of the track necessary to extend it to ground level are
easily and quickly assembledO The bin is elevated and the
cart reciprocated by self-contained mechanisms carried on the
transportable frame.
As is readily apparent~ the transpo~table, collap-

sible vehicle loading hopper can be carried long distances toa construction site and once located can be quickly put into
full operation. The use of a cart carried on an elevated
track for loading the bin provides the advantage of quick and
easy collapsibility of the conveying system as ~ell as ease of
maintenance and increased filling capacity over prior art
buc~et conveyors.
BRIEF DES~RIPTION OF THE FIGURES OF THE DRAWING
Fig. 1 is a perspective of a transporta~le, collaps-
ible vehicle loading hopper embodying the principles of the
invention shown in the raised position.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the hopper in Fig.

9~.

1 shown in a "travel" position.
Fig. 3 is ~ fragmentary schematic showin~ the means
for reciprocating the cart used in the hopper of Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a fragmentary end elevation of the vehicle
loading bin employed in the hopper of Fig. l.
Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan of the bin shown in
Fig. 4.
Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section of the bin
shown in Fig. 5.
Fig. 7 is an isometric of the bin filling cart shown
in Fig. l.
Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion
of the track overlying the bin inlet and illustrating the
automatic dumping aspect of the cart.
Fig. 9 is a fragmentary detail showing a pivotal
coupling of the track employed in the hopper of Fig. l.
Fig. 10 is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion
of the track employed in the hopper of Fig. l.
Fig. ll is a section taken along the line ll-ll of
Fig. 10 illustrating an extendible position of the lower end
of the track.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF T~E PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
As best shown in Fig. l the transportable, collaps-
ible vehicle loading hopper employs a transportable rame 10
carried by ground engaging wheels 12 (Fig. 2) and a forward
end 14 adapted to be carried by a tractor or other vehicle 15.
The frame is provided with telescopic supports or posts 16
which at the construction site are lowered to level the hopper
and to remove the load from the wheels. Thus at the construc-

tion site the transportable frame is held in a stable station-

ary position by the posts 16.


1~09~1

The hopper includes a vehicle loading bin 13 having
a filling end 17 (Fig. 1) and a discharge end 18 (Fig. 2).
The discharge end is closed by clam shell gates 20 which are
opened by pneumatic or hydraulic actuators 22. The gates op-
erate in synchronism through meshing gears 23.
The bin is raised and lowered by sets of chains on
either end of the bin which are dead ended to the bottom of
the bin as at 26 (Fig. 4) and pass over sprockets 27 which are
rotatably mounted on the Erame 10 with the opposite ends of
the chains being dead ended on the frame member 10 as at 28.
The dead end connections 28 are removed when raising the bin
to allow free fall of the chains. When the bin is at the "upl'
or raised position the dead end connections 28 are re-in-
stalled as safety stops to prevent the chain and thus the bin
from moving should the drive fail. Each of the sets of chains
is powered by a common motor 30 which drives gear reduction
units 32 to rotate both sets of sprockets 27. Rotation of the
sprockets causes the chain to be raised thus lifting the bin
- from below until it reaches the elevated position shown in
Fig. 1. Lowering of the bin occurs by the reverse rotation of
the sprockets 27 until the bin is in the lowered position in
Fig. 2.
As best shown in Fig. 6 the inlet or filling end 17
of the bin 13 is provided with opposite pivotal side plates or
panels 29 each pivotally mounted to the bin as at 33. The
side plates are joined by an end plate 29a with the free ends
of the plates suspended into the bin in the collapsed position
as shown in solid lines in Fig. 6 by cables 34. The cables
run over sheaves 37 at the top of the bin and through sleeves
; 30 35 fixed to the frame 10. The end of each cable is provided
with a spring 36. As the bin is elevat2d the spring ends of

09~

the cables are raised by the cable until each spring engages
the sleeve 35. Further upward movement of the bin then draws
the cable 34 at the free end oE the plates 29 and 29a upward-
ly relative to the bin so that as the bin reaches the fully
ex-tended position in Fig. 1 the plates are in the raised posi-
tion illustrated in phantom in Fig. 6. The plates prevent
spillage from the cart when loading through the inlet end of
the bin.
The hopper is provided with a filling cart 38 ~Fig.
1) which travels on an elongated track 40. The track has a
semi-stationary portion 40a, a pivotal upper section 40b and
a removable lower section 40c. As best shown in Fig. 2 the
pivotal section is lowered by the bin into the position where
the combined vertical height of the wheel-carried frame and
cart does not exceed the vertical height clearance allowed on ~.
highways~ However, in the elevated position the track is in a
straight line between the ground and overlying the inlet end
of the bin as shown in Fig. 1.
The track 40 has its stationary section 40a perma-

nently fixed to the frame 10. As best shown in Fig. 9 theupper section of the track 40b is pivotally connected at its
lower end on a pivot post 50 fastened to a bracket 51 that is
secured to frame 10. The section 40b is lifted by the bin
into the inc].ined position in abutment with the stationary
secti~.n 40a. Once in place bolts are placed through holes 52
to sec.~Le the upper section 40b. The no~.inal height of the
lowered bin is 14 feet.
The lower section 49c is best illustrated in Figs.
10 and 11. This section is uniquely pivotally carried by a
slidable pivot 60 that is secured to the outer end of a car-
riage 62. The carriage 62 rides in a track 64 so that it can



be extended either into the position shown in Fig. 10 or by
disconnecting bolts 66 the track can be swung clockwise about
the pivot 60 to a horizontal position and then pushed to the
right as shown in phantom lines in Fig. 10 into a stored
position. The stored position is also shown in Fig. 2. In
this manner a single operator can quickly roll the ]ower sec-
tion 40c outwardly, swing it into position and bolt it to the
stationary track 40a.
The cart is moved along the track by a pair of ele-

vating cables 68 which travel about spring loaded sheaves 69that are attached to the frame 10 and thence about drums 70.
Similarly, the cart is pulled back down the track by a single
cable 72 that is wrapped around a drum 74 ~Fig. 3). A motor
76 powers the drum so that the cables are let out and returned
simultaneously. The cart is provided with an automatic dump
gate 77 that is provided with actuating rollers 78 along its
forward edge (Figs. 7 and 8). Positioned on the track over-
lying the inlet end of the bin 13 is a stop mechanism 80. The
stop mechanism 80 is provided with a shock absorbing spring
82. A switch actuator is provided to stop the motor 76 a
predetermined distance after the rollers 78 engage the stop
mechanism 80. Thus the cart continues a short distance fur-
ther but the rollers 78 are stopped causing the gate 77 to
swing clockwise into an open position automatically dumping
the contents of the cart into the bin. When the cart is
emptied it automatically reverses to be refilled.
In operation, the transportable, collapsible hopper
is trailed to the construction site and the frame positioned
~ on its telescopic posts. The bin is then raised and the track
bolted in place. The asphalt plant then discharges asphalt
into the cart which can make several trips up and down the



track to maintain the bin filled while trucks pass beneath the
bin and are filled. When the operation is completed the track
is unbolted and the sections returned to their storage posi-
tion as the bin is lowered. The hopper is then transported to
its new location to begin operation again.
While the preferred embodiments of the invention
have been illustrated and described it should be understood
that variations will be apparent to one skilled in the art
without departing from the principles herein~ ~ccordingly,
the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiment
shown in the drawings.