Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
1155786
' . .
CO~EYO~ '`KIRT ANI:! HO~DER
~ACX~;ROUND OP THE Il~'VENTION
Heretofo.e, s~irt board devices have involved
arrangements which because of _apid wear-by the moving
conveyor belt, necessitated frequent replacement, or constar.t
adjustment which, with the arrangements used, was difficult
and because of the continuous wear on the d~vices it was
impossible to maintain an effective and continuous seel
between the skirt boards and the moving belt.
- 10 It has been the general pr~ctice to utilize skirt
boarding on uonveyorsto provide a seal between the moving
cGnvevor belt and the stationary bin, or chute, where ma-
terial i~ discharged onto the belt. This particuiar point is
~ery important to ~eal because it is here that a great per-
centage of the dirt encountered thrGughout a plant finds its
source. Material escaping from the conveyor at this loading
point becomes scattered throughout the plant and rapresents a .
loss of the material conveyed.
~. Prior skirt boards were constructed from resilient
material, such as rubber or the like, and were mounted on tSe
conveyor housing by some means whic~ afforded manual adjustm~nt,
in an effort to mate the board with the conveyor belt in some
such manner as miqht form an adequa~e seal~nq relationship.
The ~eal was extremely difficult to maintain because of the
wear resulting from the abrasion by the cons.antly traveling
conveyor belt and which made the frequent adjustments re-
~uired, almost .impossible for maintenance personnel in the
plant to cope with and unless the adiustment was attended
to at regular intervals it w3s not possible to prevent the
material frcm escaping from the conveyor system.
.
............... ~.~ ....... . - '~
1155786
Conventional skirt board installations heretofore
have provided arrangements where it was possible to adjust
the skirt boards to obtain a sealing engagement with the
conveyor belt but generally, these prior skirt boards were
bolted in place and it became a major operation to perform
the adjustments. The system had to be completely shut down,
the bolts loosened, the skirt boards adjusted and then the
bolts retightened and each time an adjustment was required
these same steps became necessary to perform and if any
resemblance of an effective seal was attempted to be
maintained, the operation had to be repeated quite frequently.
The present design for a skirt board installation
utilizes an inventive concept which avoids the problems
of such prior art devices and overcomes the various short-
comings inherent in the structures heretofore relied upon.
According to the present invention there is
provided a skirt board installation for a conveyor having a
travelling belt, the installation including at least one
mounting plate and at least one skirt board section
connectable to the mounting plate and disposed above the
belt and adapted to contact the belt. Slide and guideway
interlocking connection is provided between the mounting
plate and the skirt board sections allowing generally vertical
movement of the skirt board sections with respect to the
mounting plate. Friction means is disposed between the
mounting plate and the skirt board section adapted to permit
sliding of the skirt board section toward the conveyor when
a predetermined force is exceeded, but to retard movement of
the skirt board section away from the belt.
1155786
The improve~.ents aforded by this invention
provide a simple and convenient means for installing the skirt
~ boards and for adjusting them relative to the moving belt.
This adjustment can readily be made merely by tapping in-
dividual skirt boara sections to move them downwardly to
positions in enaagement with the belt, which can be
accomplished without the need for stopping the belt, thus
avoiding complete shut-down of the s~stem.
By thus mairltaining the seal ng relatioship
0 between the skirt board and the conveyor belt more o less
constan~ the escape of material from the belt is prevented
` and the high labor costs of cleaning uv this lost material
ic avoided. Present EPA rules reguire that plants be ke~t
very clean and in view of which any material escaping from the
conveyor system must be cleaned up and with prior skirt
board arrangements it was not possi~le to work arour.d a moving
conveyor bet so that it became nec-ssary to shut down the
conveyor sy~tem to adjust the skirt ~n an effort to obtain
a more effec:tive seal and to clean u? the lost material.
:0 . `Shutting down the conveyo:- system for these pur-
poses resulted in a serious loss of valuavle production
time so that the capability of the present skirt board
arranqement to enable the individual skirt board sections to
be tapped into ergagement with the belt to maintain a
maximum sealin~ condition ~reatly reauceC, or el~minates,
the necessity for clean-up operations and stoppage of the
conveyor system.
O~JECTS OP T~E I~.~ENTION
It is a primary purpose of this invention to
` provide a sealing installation between a stationary bin, or
loading chute, and a traveling conveyor belt which
effectively prevents the escape of material and which
`
, . .
1155786
:
may be readily adjusted to maintain a substantially
continuous sealing relationship with the belt.
The principal object of the invention is the
provision of a skirt board installation for conveyors
including a plurality of skirt board sections individually
adjustable.
An important object of the invention is to provide
a s~irt board installation for conveyors having a plurality
of skirt board sections interlocked together at their
10 adjoining vertical edqes and capable of individual relative
vertical movement.
DESCRIPTION OF THE D~AWINGS
- The foregoing and other and more specific
objects of the invention are attained by the construction
and arrangements illustrated in the accompanying drawings
wherein:
Pigure 1 is a general perspective view of a
canveyor belt system in association with a stationary bin,
or loading chute, and showing the s~irt board installation
- 20 of this invention mounted on the loaaing chute;
Figure 2 is a cross-sPctional view ta~en on the
- line 2-2 of Figure 1 showing the conveyor belt beneath
the bin, or chute, with the skirt boards of this invention
engaging the belt at the sides of the ~in;
Pigure 3 is a sectional view to larger scale
. showing the skirt board installation in greater detail;
Figure 4 is a top edge plan view of the skirt
. board installation on the mounting plate secured on a side
wall of the bin utilizing dovetail slide sections;
Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of a
mounting plate and a plurality of s~irt board sections in
separated relationship showing horizontal serrations on the
dovetail section vertical slides;
... ....... ~,~ .. . ......... .
1155786
.
Figure 6 is a detail perspective view of a skirt
board section of another form; and
Figure 7 is a detail perspective view of a some-
what modified mounting plate and skirt board sections.
DE~CRIPTION OF rREFERP~ED FMBOD}MENT
- As shown in Pigure 1, a hopper bin, or chute 10,
is mounted to discharge its contents onto a traveling con-
veyor belt system 11. The conveyor belt runs on rollers 12
located respectively at opposite ends of its reach and the
conveyor belt surface is supported by idler rollers 13 which
carry the conveying surface in a trcugh-like shape by reason
of the inclined disposition of the side rollers relative to
the bottom center roller ~see Figure 2). Rollers 14 at
spaced intervals support thc under side of the conveyor
belt system.
~he bin, or chute 11, discharqes directly onto th-
conveyor belt 11 and in order to prevent escape of any
matsrial by leakage at the side and rear edges of the chute,
a skirt board installation 15 is mo~.nted at thesë edges to
'0 seal these areas against the escape of material deposited
on the belt into the surrounding area beyond the conveyor
system. ~he skirt board installation includes a mounting
~late 16 a~apted to be secured on the face of each side
wall of the chute 10, here shown as being riqidly attached
~y ~eans of welding 1~. The mounting plate 16 is proviaed
with a plurality of vertical slides 18 at longitudinzlly
spaced intervals upon which a plurality of separate skirt
- board,sections 19 are adapted to be mounted for relative
vertical sliding movements and as best sho-~n in Figures 4
~ and ~, these slides are of dove-tail section whereby to
~ . . .. .. . .. .. .
1155786
provide an interlocking connection with the s~irt board sections
which have complcmentally shaped guide~ays ~0 closely
fitting and operatively engaging the slides 1~. Thus, the
s~irt board sections are restr2inoa against relative longi-
tudinal displacement but may be moved vertically on the
mounting plate 1;des 18 without affecting their longitudinal
position relative to each other and to the mounting plate 16
The individual skirt board-sections 19 have
interlocking connections at their vertical edges with
-10 adjoining skixt board sections and these connections ta~;e the
form of a vertically extending slide ~1 of round section on
the edge of one skirt board section and a complementally
shaped guioeway 22Ofround shape, on the adjoining skirt boa~d
section. qhis relationship is best indicatea in Figures 4
and 5. Th~s, the individual skirt ~oard secticns 19 are
; adapted to hava relative vertical slidiny move.. ent with
respect to the mounting plate 16 and to each other, without
aff~cting their interlocking relationship with either.
As best shown in Figure 5, the outer face of each
of thé vertical slides 18 is provid--d with hori~ontal serrc-
tions 23 w~ich are shaped to facilitate movement of the skirt
board sections 19 in a downward direction but to resist, or
.
retard upw2rd movement thereof, as best indicated in Figurr
3. Thus, zs thc skirt board sections are adjusted downwaraly to
enqage the belt 11 for more effective sealing purposes, the
adjusted position thereof is retained by the serrations
engagement with the inner faces of the skirt board sections.
It can readily be understood that an individual s~irt board
section, or for that matter, several such sections, can be
removed vertically and replaced without affecting adjoininq
sections. ~his is possible because of the relat;vely verticai
slidiDg movements permitted by the interlocking connections
_ ~ _
A~
1155786
18~20 ana 21/22 between the sections 19 and mountin~ plate
16 ana tbe adjoining skirt board sections; respectively.
To facilitate sliding movement of one or more individual
skirt board sections an opening, or recess 24, is provided
in the outer face of each such section and when it is nece-
ssary, or aesirable, to remove one or more sections, a
suitable tool-can be insertea in the recess 24 for the
purpose of prying, or slidinq, the section out of the
assembly. When inserting a new skirt board section, or
when adjusting one or more sections toward the belt, it
is necessary merely to tap the top edge of the section
with a suit3ble hammer, or mallet, to drive the individual
sections in a generally downward direction for a ~ore
effective sealing engagement with the conveyor belt 11.
These operations may be performed w_thout shutting down the
conveyor, if desired, in view of the simplicity of the
operation affordea by this mounting arrangement. Only
simple relative sliding movements o: the skirt board sections
are involv~d in making these adjustments.
The description of the invention hereinbefore
makes reference to relative vertical movements of the skirt
board sactions with respect to each other and in reiard to
the mounting plate ~ut it must be pointed out that this
does not require that the skirt board sections actually
move in a directly vertical direction. ~he generally ver-
tical movements of the sections may include a component of
movement whereby the sections would move toward and away from
the conveyor be t, as by means of inclinea guideways and
slides, disposed at an angle such as would cause the sections
to move generally vertically toward and away from the belt,
Ag
1155786
.
The mounting plate 16 may be fabricated from
metal in the form shown, as preferred, but the skirt board
sections 19 are nonmetall;c and may be made from rubber, or
a suitable plastic material such as might be consistent wit~
the type of service to be encountered with an installation
such as herein proposed~ The bottom edge of the skirt board
rides on the belt 11 and therefore must be capable of with-
standing this type of wear. However, the skirt board of
this invention is highly adapted to this type of service and
L0 may readily be adjusted to compensate for any wear that may
occur on the bottom edge of the skirt board sections as a
result of the running belt in engasement therewith, merely by
.
tapping the sections on their upper edges with a hammer, or
the like, to move them downwardly, as necessary, to take up
.
any develo~ed clearance, which otherwise might result in
leakage of the discharged material.
MODIFI~D SKIPT BOARD EMBODIMENT
As illustrated in Fig~re 6 a modification of
the s~irt board sections 79 is shown wherein the skirt boa-d
sections are of the same general dimensions as before and
have simil1r slide and guideway features 21 and 22, respec-
tively, of round section, at their opposite side edges an.
an actuating recess 24 in the front face thereof. ~owever,
this skirt board section utilizes a slide arrangement and
guideway ~or association with the moun~ing plate that is simi-
lar to the slide and guideway arrangement 21/22 of round
section whereby all of the slides and complemental guideways
are of similar round section. The skirt board section on
its inner face is provided with a pair of longitudinal spaced
guideways 25 of round shape designed to be comDlemental
to a slide of round section on a modified mounting plate
(not shown).
~ p
~,~ _ 9, _ .
,
. . 11~5786
In this ~orm of the invention the r ~ d sY~ion ~hicl~
slides on the mountin~ plate 16 may al~o be constructed to
'' retard upward movement of the skirt board sections l9 once - --~
adjustment thereof has been attained. For this purpose
the round section slidingon the mounting plate may comprise
threaded rod sections secured on the face of the mounting
plate lG by welding or the like. The guideways 25 in the
skirt board sections which engage the slides on the mounting
plate may be smooth on their inner surfaces or they might
be provided with generally horizontal ribs on their rounded
inner surfaces which would relate to the threaded ~ortions
- on'the ro~nd slides in a manner to retard upward movement of
the skirt board sections once they have been adjusted'
downwardl~ into positions bearing on the conveyor belt 11.
The skirt board sections I9 of this type will
- function relative to a mounting plate and in respect to each
other just as the preferred form does but the modified
- arrangemert facilitates manufactur~ inasmuch as all of the
- slides anc guideways are of simila: design.
MC~DIPIED SXIRT 80AR1~ AND MVUNTIN~ PLATE
Figure 7 illustrates a fnrther modification of
the skirt board'installation which involves changes in the
mounting plate as well as the skirt board section. The outer
face 26 of the mounting plate 16 310pes inwardly from top
to bottom so that the dovetail sliaes 18 on this face are in-
- clined at an inward angle whereby the skirt board sections 19
mounted'on the mounting plato by means of the slides 18
ana complemental guideways 20 in the skirt board sections,
are disposed at a similar inclination and engage the conveyor
belt 11 at th;s anglc. The skirt boards are movable toward
or away from the belt on the slides 18 at the angle of the
~ 7
~ . . . . . ~ . .. . . ..... . .
.
1155786
.
front surface 26 in making any adjustment of the skirt board
sections rclative to the conveyor belt.
The skirt board sections 19 in this form of the
invention incorporate a modified slide and guideway arrange-
ment at their side edges which may be described as 'J-shaped.
Each skirt board section 19 has a V-shaped slide 27 on
one side edge, a complementally V-shaped guideway 23 on
- the opposite side edge so that, in operative oosition,
', adjoining skirt board sections interlock against relative
lateral displacement just as in the,previous forms of
the invention and are relatively slidable in the same
manner as the previously described versions.
~UMMARY
From the foregoing it will be seen that there
has been provided a skirt board installat~on fox use with
' a conveyor belt wherein individual skirt board sections are
r , independently movable toward or away from the conveyor belt
for adjust~ent, or removal and renlacement`ana wherein
the skirt board sections have interloekingengagement with
a mounting plate and with respect to each other to main-
tain operative relationship while permitting adjustment of
one,or more sections without the necessity'for shuttinq
down the conveyor operation. ~he interlocking connections
between skirt board se~tions and with respect to the mount-
ing plate afford advantages not heretofore available in
maintaining al~-gnment of the skirt board sections and in-
,dependent adiustment and renewal.
. .
.
' ' '"' ' ' .` ' '.
~C3. ' .
_ ~ _
~,,
- - 1- ........ .. .. .
. . .
