Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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SHOCK MOUNT TEI ESCQPING CONVEYOR BELT CLEANER
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This application is a continuation in part of my Canadian
application, Serial No. 446,938, filed February 7,1984.
The present invention relates to conveyor belt cleaners having bL~des
for rernoving debris from the surface of a conveyor belt. More specifically7 theinvention relates to a conveyor belt cleaner which is attached to the conveyor by
means o~ an adjustable spring mount.
Conyeyor belt cleaners are used on conveyors for continuously
cleaning the surface of a moving conveyor belt by scraping debris from the lower PUn
of the conveyor belt.
Conveyor belt cleaners should be rugged in construction and
unafIected by debris falling from the surface of the conveyor belt. Conveyor belt
cleaners are typically mounted beneath the lower run of the conveyor belt where
debris removed from the surface of the belt may be deposited thereon. Accumulations
of debris on moveable parts and surfaces over which parts move may inhibit movement
and cause accelerated wear of the surfaces and parts.
Service is periodically required Oll the bLqdes and blade support
apparatus of conveyor belt cleaners. The blades are subject to wear over time and
reqwre adjustment to compensate for ~e wear. Eventually ~e blades and blade
support apparatus must be replaced. In some app~ications, service is required on a
daily basis to keep the conveyor belt cleaner ~unctioning properly. As the frequency of
service increases, the ease of servicing the cleaner becomes more important.
The conveyor belt cleaner may be safely serviced by either stopping
the conveyor belt to work on the scraper blades and support structure while underneath
the conveyor, or by moving the scraper blades and their sùpport members from under
the conveyor. If the conveyor belt cleaner is serviced in its operative position, under
the conYeyor, the conveyor belt should be stopped prior to servicing. However, if the
scraper blades and support structure are removed from the conveyor, th0 servicing
operations may be performed while the conveyor continues to operate.
One way of making a conveyor belt cleaner that is serviceable while
the conveyor belt is operating is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,249,650 to Stahura. bl
the ~tah-lra patent individual belt scraper blades are affixed to concentric sleeve
members which s]ide linearly upon a support member arranged transverse to the
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d;rect;on of conveyor belt travel. The individual belt scraper blades are
interconnected by links and all of the bl~àes are moved ~long the support member by
means of a cable. While the scraper blades of this apparatus may be serviced from t}le
side of the conveyor belt, dirt and debris may aceumulate on the support member
between ~e sleeve members, making it diffieult to move the sleeve members aIong
the support member. This is particularly true when several sleeve members are linked
together to provide a long scraper blade because the total sliding friction between the
respective members increases with length.
If the Stahura device is used, dirt deposits between the sleeve and
support member may abrade the surface of the support member or sleeve. Such
abrasion causes accelerated wear on the mennbers which loosens the itt of the sleeve
on the support member. These problems are particularly apparent when the cleaner is
used to remove abrasive substances from the surface of the conveyor belt.
Another disadvantage of such a device is that the cable used to move
$he sleeve members and blades along the support member can become entangled in
trailers, or torn portions of the belt, resulting in damage to the belt or belt cleaner.
When prior art conveyor belt cleaners are rigidly attached to
corlveyors having a mechanical splice they are subjected to repeated jolting blows or
impacts each time the splice passes by the blades of the conveyor belt cleaner. While
it is known to use resiliently mounted arms9 as shown in U.S. Patent No. 3,656,610 to
McWilliams, repeated impacts can reduce the life of the spring arms. In addition,
individual spring arms will have differing amounts of resiliency.
These and other problems encountered by prior art conveyor belt
cleaners are overcome by the present invention.
The present invention relates to a resiliently mounted conveyor belt
cleaner ha-/ing scraper blades that are mounted on a blade carrying member to berolled onto and off of a support member. The support member and blade carrying
members are both supported on opposite sicles of the conveyor by means OI a resilient
and adjustable mounting means. The versatile bLqde carrying member of the present
invention is adapted for use with doctor blade conveyor belt scrapers, spring arm
mounted conveyor belt scrapers, or other types of belt cle~ning devices.
According to the present invention~ a conveyor belt cleaner for an
endless belt conveyor is provided in which the blade carrying member and support
member have rotatable means interposed therebetween to permit the blade carrying
member to be rolled fllong the support member. The rnounting means for supporting
the blade carrying member and support member does not interfere with or complicate
rolling the blade carrying member along the support member.
The blade carrying member is uniquely constructed to shield the
rollers and rolling surface from ~e deposit of dirt and debris to prolong the life of the
conveyor belt cleaner. The conveyor belt cleaner is rugged in construction, long
10 wearing and resists jamming~
The mounting means is preferably a jack screw and spring
combination which are shielded by an enclosure. The enclosure shields the threads of
the iack screw from foreign matter and guards the springO
The iack screw is pivotably connected to the support member and/or
blade carrying member so that both ends may be lowered to permit rolling the blade
carrying member onto ~nd off of the support member. The pivotable eonnection also
permits the conveyor belt cleaner to be secured to the conveyor at an angle.
According to another feature of the present invention, the rotatable
means comprise ~ylindrically shaped rollers rotatably journaled on the blade carrying
20 memberO
According to another feature of the present invention7 the blade
carrying member substantially encloses the support member to prevent the deposit of
dirt on the support member while the blade carrying member is in its operative
position.
Other Ieatures and advantages of the invention will become apparent
upon reading the following detailed description with reEerence to the drawings.
Accordillg to the invention, there is provided a conveyor belt cleaner
for use on a conveyor having an endless belt comprising: an elongate support member
having a first longitudinal axis adapted to extend transversely of the endless belt; a
30 blade carrying member having a blade a~ixed thereto ancl being carried by said support
mem~er and having a second longitudinal axis spaced from and p~rallel to said first
longitudinal ax~s; rotatable means interposed between sai;l support member and said
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blade carrying member for rolling the blade carrying member along the support
member, said rotatable means being moun$ed for rotation on one of said members and
in rolling contact with the other of said members; and irst and second mountingmeans intel connecting the elongate support and the conveyor at spaced loeations for
adJustably biasin~said blade carrying member toward the endless belt.
Figure 1 is a side view of the conveyor belt cleaner of the present
invention having spring arm mounted blades ancl being shown assembled to the
conveyor in its operative position.
Figure 2 is an end view of the conveyor belt cleaner of the present
invention shown assembled to the conveyor.
Figure 3 is a plan vieYY of the conveyor belt cleaner shown assembled
to the conveyor.
~igure 4 is a fragmentary cross-section side view of ~e access doors
and the side of the conveyor taken along the line 4-4 in Figure 1.
Figure 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the pivotable
connection between the jack screw mounting means, t~le bl~de carrying member andthe supp~rt member.
Figure ~ is an end view showing the conveyor belt cleaner with the
bLqde carrying member partially removed from the support member and being tippeddown on one end.
Figure 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the jack screw and
spring assembly taken along the line 7-7 in Figure 1.
Figure 8 is a side view of the conveyor belt cleaner with a doctor
blade scraper.
Figure 9 is a fragmentary end view of the conveyor belt cleaner
showing a portion of a doctor blade scraper.
Referring now to the drawings, a conveyor belt cleaner, generally
designated by the numeral 10, is attached to a conveyor 12 to clean the surface of an
endless belt 14. One or more blades 15 ~re provided on the cleaner 10 to scrape the
surface of ~e endless belt 14 as it moves past the cleaner 10. Each blade 15 is
retained on a blade carrying member, generally indicated by the numeral 17, which is
in turn retained on a support member 18 when in its operative position on the
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conveyor 12. The support member 18 extends transverse to the direction of travel of
the endless belt 14. A plurality of rollers 21) are provided between the blade carryillg
member 17 and the support member lB within a clearance space 21 bounded by
opposing surfaces of the bl~de carryin~ mernber 17 ~md the support member 18. The
conveyor belt cleaner 10 can be easily serviced by rolling the blade carrying
member 17 along the support member 18 to a position wherein the blade 15 is not
beneath the endless belt 14.
An adjustable mounting means, generally indicated by the reference
numeral 23 is provided for holding opposite ends of the support member 18 on opposite
lU sides of the conveyor 12. The adjustable mounting means includes a jack screw 24 and
a spring 25 assembled together on opposite ends. The jack screw 24 is used to move an
end of the support member 18 closer to or away from the endless belt 14 to adjust or
service the conYeyor belt cleaner 10.
The blade carrying member 17 comprises a rectangular tubular
member 28 substantially enclosing and extending across the length of the support
member 18. The rectangular tube 28 may be segmented, if desired, to permit removal
of the bl~de carrying member 17 in confined areas. In situations where there is
insufficient space beside a conveyor 12 to permit the entire b~ade carryin~ member 17
to be rolled off in one piece, the blade carrying member 17 may be split into ~wo or
20 more segments and removed one segment at a tirne.
The blade carrying member shown in Figures 1 through 7 discloses the
use of a spring arm support 29. The spring arm support 29 includes ears 30 on opposite
sides o~ the rectangular tube 28. A hole 31 is formed through the ears 30 and
rectangular tube 28 through which a shaft 32 extends. On opposite ends of the
rectangular tube 28, or segments of the rectangular tube 28, rollers 20 are disposed on
shafts 32. ~3ach shaft 32 is attached to the spring arm support 29 with their cen$ral
axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of the support member 18. The rollers 20 are
thereby adapted to roll along the top surface of ~e support member 18 in a direction
parallel to the longitudinal axis of the support member 18. ~ach spring arm support 29
30 also includes a base portion 37 secured to the top of the rectangular tube 28 with
perpendicular tab portions 38 extending from opposite sides of the base portion 37.
The tab portions 38 each include a hole 40 for receiving a machine screw and nut
assembly 39 which is used to retain the spring arm assembly 41 on the spring arm
support 2~.
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The spring arm assembly 41 includes a helical sprirg portion 42
through which tlle machine serew and nut assembly 39 extends and a rod portion 43
extending from the helical spring portion 42 to which the blade 15 is secured bysuitable fasteners.
The adjustable mounting means 23 is provided on opposite sides of the
conveyor to support ~e opposite sides of ~e support member 18 and blade carryingmember 17. The adjustable molmting means 23 includes a threaded shaft 43 which i9
received within a bloek 44 that is in turn welded to a mounting plate 46 which is bolted
to the conveyor 12. The block 44 in the disclosed embodiment incllldes a pair oflU nuts 45 on opposite sides thereof which adjustably receives the threaded shaft 43 on
the block 44.
A square nut 47 is provided on the threaded shaft 43 and is received
within a hlbular sleeve 48. The tubular sleeve 48 is adapted to slide over the square
nut 47. The tubular sleeve 48 is attached to the guide plate 49 which is slidably
mounted within a pair of guide channels 60 for maintaining the alignment of the
sleeve 48. The top end of the tubular sleeve 48 is secured to a U-shaped yoke 50 which
is adapted to be secured to the blPde carrying member 1~ and/or the support
member 18. The spri;~ 25 is engaged on its opposite ends by the square nut 47 and the
~oke 5û to resiliently hold the bl.ade carrying member 17 and support member 18 on the
conveyor 12. The end of the ~readed shaft 43 ls spaced from ~e yoke 50 so ~at the
spring 25 may be compressed when ~e blade lS is impacted by an object such as a
mechanieal splice on ~e belt. When the bLade 15 is impacted the blade carrying
member 17 and support member 18 are permitted to move downwardly because the
tubular sleeve 48 can s~ide over the sguare nut 47 to absorb the shock~ The spring 25
biases the bl.ade into contact with the belt but does so resiliently to save we~ and tear
on the conveyor belt cleaner 10.
A ratchet assembly 52 is provided to adjust the theaded shaft 43
upwardly to increase the pressure exerted on the conveyor belt or downwardly to
reduce the pressure. The ratchet 52 is also used to move the end of the blade carrying
member 17 away from the belt to permit the removal of the blade carrying member 17
from the support member 18 for servicing. An end roller 22 may be positioned on the
mounting means 23 to further facilitate rolling the bL~de c~u~rying member 17 onto and
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off of the support member 18. The blade carrying member 17 and support member 18
are attached to the yoke 50 by means of a fastener 54 which extends through an
opening formed through both tabs of the yoke 503 the bL~de carrying member 17 and/or
the support member 18. The fastener 54 is ramoved to permit the blade carrying
member 17 to be rolled off of the support member 18 for servicing. When servieing is
complete the blade earrying member 17 may be ro1led back on ~e support member 18
and the fastener replaced to hold the bl~de carrying member 17 in place.
The conveyor includes access doors on the side through which ~e
b~de carrying member 17 is to be moved. ~ the embodiment disclosed in Figures 1
10 through 7 a slide door 57 and hinged door 58 are provided as aceess doors. The sl~de
door 57 is adapted to be pulled up and out o~ the way so th~t the blade carrying
member 17 may be rolled off of the support member 18 and the hinged door 58
provides clearance for removing the blades 15 and spring arm 41 ~rom the conveyor 12.
As best shown in Figure 4, 1~e slide door 57 is moved within a pair of guide
channels 60, one of which is formed as the end of the hinged door 5B. The slide door 57
is preferably retained on the conveyor 12 by means of the guard chain 62 as is well
known in ~e art. The access doors 57 and 58 may be provided on either or both sides
o~ ~e conveyor 12 if it is desirable to be able to examine the conveyor belt cleaner
from either side of the conveyor 12.
The blade carrying member 17 may be formed in a plurality of
segments 65 if insufficient space is available to permit the entire bl~ade carrying
member 17 to be removed in one piece front the conveyor 12. Although it is pre~erred
to use a single piece blade carrying member 17, if the blade carrying member must be
broken into segments 65 the shielding function o~ the bhde carrying member may be
aided by the use of channel shaped linking members 66. The linking members 66 are
welded to one segment and may be connected to an abutting segment by fasteners 67.
Fasteners 67 are then removed from me segment 65 as they are pulled off the support
member 18~ One advantage of the segmented arrangement is that a segment 65 of the
blade carrying member 17 may be replaced as a unit i it becomes dam~ged. It is
30 important that the linking member 66 substantiaLly covers the space between the
abutting segments so that dirt and debris are not permitted to fall from the conveyor
belt 14 to the support member L8.
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Rubber sealing rin~s 70 may fllso be used according to ~e present
invention to provide an additional shield between the adjacent segments 65. The
rubber sealing rings 70 may include means on opposite side~ for gripping the edges of
adjacent segments 65.
In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in Figures 8
and 9, a doctor blade 72 made from urethane or another suitable material, may bedirectly attached to the bl~de carrying member 17 by means of a blade clamp 74. The
doctor blade 72 is adapted to scrape the conveyor belt 14 without an intervening spring
arm assembly 41. The blade clamp 74 locks the doctor blade 72 in place on the bLqde
carrying member 17. In this embodiment, a single access door, preferably the slide
door 57, is pros/ided on the conveyor 12 for permitting the blade carrying member 17 to
be rolled of~ of the support member 18 and through the side of the eonveyor 12.
As with the spring arm embodiment, shown in Figures 1-7, the blade
carrying member 17 may be segmented to permit servicing and installation of the
apparatus in confined areas.
In the doctor blade embodiment, the adjustable mounting means 23
provides the primary means for absorbing shoeks and impacts from the belt upon the
conveyor b31t cleaner 10. This is true because in this embodiment there is no spring
arm assembly 41 between the blade 15 and the blade carrying member 17.
Operation of the present invention will be described with reference to
the doctor blade embodiment of ~e present invention, but it is to be understood that
the embodiment having the spring arm mounted blade 15 operates in substantially the
same manner as the doctor blade embodiment. In operation, the doctor blade 72 isretained by the blllde cl~mp 74 on the blade carrying member 17 to e~ert pressure on
the endless belt 14. Pressure is applied by turning the ratchet 52 to move ~e square
nut 47 along the threaded shaft 43. The spring 25 biases the bL~de 72, blade carrying
member 17 and support member 18 toward the endless belt 14.
When a mechanical splice or other object on the belt 14 contacts the
blade 72, the blade 72 is fol ced away from the endless belt 14. When this happens, the
tubular sleeve 48 is permitted to telescope over the square nut 47 to the extent that
the resiliency of the spring 2S is overcome. The spring 25 then urges the blade l2 back
into engagemellt with ~e endless belt 14 after the mechanical splice has passed by the
blade 72.
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In ~e normal course of usage, the blade 72 will wear as a result of
the endless belt abrading the edge of the bLqde 72. The spri~ 25 biases the blade into
contact with the endless belt 14 thereby providing an automatic ad~ustment ~or wear.
EIowever, periodically the adjustable mounting means 23 is used to compensate for
blade wear by moving the b}ade toward ~e endless belt 14. The adjustable mounting
means 23 is adjusted by turning the ratchet 52 until the desired pressure is exerted on
the belt 14.
The access door 57 provides a convenient way of periodically
inspecting the conveyoI belt cleaner 10 to determine if the blade is still working
10 properly sr if it requires adjustment. The conveyor belt cleaner may be serviced by
simply turning the ratchet 52 to pull the blade away from the belt 16. The access
door 57 opens providing access to the blade carrying member 17 for removing it from
the conveyor 12. The fastener 54 is then removed from the yoke 50, the support
member 18 and the blade carrying member 17. When the blade 72 is substantially clear
from the belt 14, the support member 18 and blade carrying member 17 may then be
lifted as a unit from the yoke 5û so that the blade carrying member 17 may be rolled
off of the support member 18.
It will be readily ~preciated that the entire servicing procedure can
be safely performed without stopping the conveyor. After removal9 the blade carrying
20 member 17 may be ssrviced or replaced with an equivalent blade carrying member 17.
To reinstall the blade carrying member 17 the above steps are reversed and the
bl~de 72 is tightened against the belt 14 by turning the rachet 52.
If Q segmented blade ~arrying member is used, the same procedure is
followed e2~cept that each segment 65 is removed in turn by first removing the
fastener 67 ~rom ~e blade carrying member to permit the segment 65 to be lifted off
o~ the linking member 66~
It should be readily appreciated ~at ~e blade carrying member is
easy to remove from the support member 1~ because the movement is ai;led by the
rollers 20 loc~ted in the clearance space 21. The blade carrying member 17 is
30 pivotab~ retained on the yoke 50 at its access door end hy the f~stener 54 so that the
blade carrying member 17 may be lifted from the yoke permitting it to be rolled off of
tho support mamber 18. The opposite end of the support membelr 18 from the access
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door; which is not shown in Figures 8 and 9 but may be understood with reference to
Figure 6, is retained within the yolce 50 by a ~astener 54 but the blade carrying
member 17 ;s not attached on said opposite end to permit removal from the access
door side.
Free movement of the rollers 20 a10JIg the support member 18 34 is
assured because the support member 18 is shielded from the deposit of dirt and debris
on the blade carrying member l7.
The above description is provided as an example of two embodiments
of ~e invention and should not be construed to limit the invention,. The present
10 invention should be construed in accordance with the foLlowing claims.
