AU624764B1 - Apparatus for supporting belt cleaners - Google Patents

Description

i I "*CtC -1 6 2 4 7 /00/011 62' Reg ation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING BELT CLEANERS o o Ua 6 0r o ror f I o o I+ o 0 a re a u« a

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6 a O ro 6 a a o e a a o o o a o a iu a 0 a The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: GH&CO REF: 17754-F DJH/KLS 1 I VNr I T- i 34 3r 3 lA APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING BELT CLEANERS FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for supporting belt cleaners which scrape off residual matter adhered to the surface of a conveyor belt.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A conventional belt cleaning mechanism and an apparatus for installing such mechanism are disclosed in Australian patent No.528698 as well as Australian patent Nos. 449142 and 565417, the latter two patents were granted to the present applicant.

The belt cleaning mechanism introduced by these prior arts has a line of cleaner units provided on a pidelike frame in a straight manner. Each of cleaner units comprises a hold plate supported by a cushion member made of elastic material and a scraper mounted on the top of hold plate. While supporting both ends of the pipelike frame by brackets which are mounted and fixed to some parts of the belt conveyor mechanism such as a conveyor frame, a hopper or the like, the scrapers constituting a line of cleaner units are pressed to be in contact with the surface of the conveyor belt.

*The ends of the frame of belt cleaning mechanism are supported by a pair of brackets in such a manner that each end of the frame can be adjusted in vertical direction. According to the Australian patent No. 528698, for example, a pair of bearing members 25 fixed to both ends of the frame are constructed to be raised by means of pushing bolts provided on the lower parts of the brackets. While according to the Australian patent No. 565417, each bearing member supporting each end of the frame is screwed with a threaded shaft r r j ii k

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2 provided rotatably on the bracket so that the bearing member can be elevated when rotating the threaded shaft.

For this reason, when setting these conventional belt cleaning mechanisms to the conveyor belt, an adjustment of vertical position of the frame allows the ordered line of the scrapers to be pressed against the surface of belt with desired pressure applied thereto. Namely, the scrapers become elastically in contact with the surface of the belt with a help of elastic deformation of the cushion member, thereby scraping off the residual matter adhered to the surface of belt.

A frictional manner of pressing the scrapers on the surface of the running belt causes themselves to be gradually worn. It is possible during a period of a slight degree of being worn that the scrapers, following up restoring posture of the cushion member, are 15 pressed to be in contact with the surface of belt. However, 0 subsequent to a rise in degree of being worn, elastic force of the cushion member grows weak and contact pressure of the scrapers against the surface of belt becomes insufficient, thereby making it impossible to scrape off the residual matter adhered to the surface o" 20 of belt in a satisfactory manner.

Under the circumstances, the conventional technical situation is that a regular maintenance and inspection of the belt cleaning mechanism is performed for an adjustment work of pressing 0 the scrapers to be in contact with the surface of belt at the specified pressure by means of holding upward the frame on the bracket.

However, partly because a necessity of performing regularly such maintenance and inspection is unfavorable in terms of the costs, partly because it brings also an unavoidable inconvenience of stopping

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.1 3 I temporarily operations of the belt conveyor, a demand exists for an apparatus needing no such adjustment work.

Australian patent no. 528698 can achieve a "free of maintenance" function. This Australian patent includes coil springs interposed between the bearings fixed to both ends of the frame and the pushing bolts provided on the lower part of the bracket, the bearings are constructed to be raised with the coil springs being compressed by means of pushing up the pushing bolts.

Accordingly, when the scrapers become worn due to the frictional sliding relationship with the surface of the running belt, the coil springs, subsequent to such a wear, restores to elastically push up the bearings and rise the frame together with the belt cleaner units thereon so that the scrapers can be kept to be pressed to become in contact with the surface of the belt.

The following problems exist with the disclosure in o AU 528698.

Firstly, the residual matter adhered to the surface of the belt is scraped off by the scrapers, being dropped 'to gradually accumulate on the belt cleaning mechanism and its installing apparatus. Therefore, such a construction of exposing the coil springs to the 41C jt P17754F/429 i -4- 4I outside as found in the Australian patent ascribes an easiness in losing the spring function of being elastically restored to clogging the coil part of the springs with accumulated matter. In addition to K that it is subject to quality of the residual matter adhered to the Ssurface of belt, which is scraped off, to corrode easily the metallicmade coil springs earlier than estimated, whereby a standpoint of durability cannot obtain the best result.

Secondly, the construction wherein the coil springs permit both ends of the frame of the belt cleaning mechanism to be raised needs the coil springs long enough to support movably up and down the frame under the specified stroke and to enable an ascent of the frame K under the stroke to be made. Accordingly, it is unavoidable that the i construction of the apparatus becomes vertically longer, resulting in a problem of being unable to make the apparatus compact.

Thirdly, the construction wherein both ends of the frame are iI 'raised requires absolutely raising force to be distributed to and act it: upon entirely both ends of the frame in uniform manner, when a V uniform pressure aims to act entirely upon a line of scrapers which are ordered in a straight manner. In other words, if elastic force of 20 raising both ends of the frame becomes unbalanced, a problem of i. giving deflected wear to a line of scrapers takes place.

i i Finally, the present applicant supplies to the market the belt cleaning mechanisms as mentioned below wherein the frame is rotated with respect to its axis by tension means, one or plurality of the scrapers mounted on the frame being contact with the surface of belt from such a rotational direction. It is found that the apparatus for pushing both ends of the frames upward referred to in the Australian patent No. 528698 cannot be applied to such types of A NT0 xl the belt cleaning mechanism.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The aim of the present invention is to ameliorate at least some of the problems of the prior art.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an apparatus for supporting a belt cleaning mechanism comprising scraper blades secured to a frame, the frame having first and second ends and being rotatable about an axis passing through said ends to move the scraper blades into and out of contact with the belt to be cleaned, the apparatus comprising: a pair of brackets rotatably supporting respective ends of the frame such that said frame is rotatable about said axis, each bracket including a mount part adapted to be mounted to a belt conveyor mechanism and a frame supporting part having a bearing member to support a respective one of the ends of the frame, the apparatus further comprising: tension means for urging said frame to be rotated about said axis and means for actuating said tension means, wherein: the tension means includes an inner sleeve through which the frame is arranged to be detachably secured, an outer sleeve disposed around the circumference of said inner sleeve such that a gap is interposed between said inner and outer sleeves, an elastic member located in said gap interconnecting said inner and outer sleeves, and a tension lever extending outwardly from said outer sleeve; and said actuating means is located on the frame supporting part of one of the brackets and comprises a movable adjustment member operable to apply a force to said tension lever causing rotation of said outer sleeve whereby rotation of said outer sleeve relative to said inner sleeve induces stress in the elastic member causing a torque to be applied to said inner sleeve, said applied torque to said inner sleeve being variable on adjustment of said adjusting member and wherein in use said applied a a *O a O 0, o a

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00 0r 0 torque to said inner sleeve causes a corresponding torque to be applied to the frame to bias said frame to rotate is a direction to move the scraper blades into contact with the belt to be cleaned.

According to a first embodiment of the present invention, the inner sleeve and the outer sleeve are disposed coaxially, the elastic member of a material such as rubber or the like is moulded within the gap between said inner and outer sleeves by a process of vulcanizing such material, and said elastic member is adhered to said sleeves to be connected thereby.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the inner sleeve has an extension which is extended axially beyond the outer sleeve, a stopper lever is provided on said extension and projects in a direction opposite to said tension lever, and a stopper means is provided on the frame supporting part of the bracket and comprises an adjustably movable stopper member facing against said stopper lever, whereby the inner sleeve is prevented from being rotated upon adjustment of said stopper means against said stopper lever.

In use, an advantage of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is that even when the scraper becomes worn, following up such a wear, the tension me-ns 25 causes the frame to be rotated in an elastic manner to press always the scraper against the surface of the belt, it is attained to make the belt cleaning mechanism free from maintenance.

A further advantage is that, even if the residual matter is scraped off from the belt surface by the scraper and in such matter is dropped to be collected onto the installing apparatus, the desired and expected functions and actions of the tension means can be maintained.

Namely, the tension means is constructed to interpose the elastic member between the inner sleeve and the outer sleeve, so the outer sleeve acts as a housing for the elastic member. Therefore, the tension means is

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SP17754F/429 1 I -7excellent in chemical resistance, particularly being suitable to protect the elastic member from being deteriorated by influence from the collected matter which is dropped.

Yet a further advantage is that the apparatus may be constructed to interpose the elastic member 25 between the inner and outer sleeves and which are disposed on the inner and outer peripheries respectively, being not bulky, the tension means can be made to be as compact as possible. For this reason, as the supporting apparatus for the belt cleaning mechanism, which has to be usually provided on a narrow space in the belt conveyor, the apparatus of the present invention contributes markedly to the space saving.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is advantageous in terms of incurring no deflected wear of the scraper, because the frame is being urged to be moved in a rotational direction at both ends of the belt cleaning mechanism and this construction allows the o 20 elastic force to be distributed uniformly to the entire 0o part of the scraper of the belt cleaning mechanism, even 0. gif the elastically urging force of the tension means of :0 one apparatus at one end of the mechanism becomes :o unbalanced to that of the tension means of another apparatus at the other end of the mechanism.

ofBRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the first embodiment °o of an apparatus according to the present invention; 0* Fig. 2 is a side view of the first embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention; S. Fig. 3 is a partially sectional front view of the first view of the first embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the second embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention; Fig. 5 is a side view of the second embodiment of Z the apparatus according to the present invention; P17754F/429 7A Fig. 6 is a side view of the belt cleaner shown in Figs. 4 and 5; and Fig. 7 is a partially sectional front view of the second embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, a belt cleaning mechanism 1 provides axially a plurality of cleaner units 3 along a straight line 4 Z 44 s.4 a 0 0 04 ~NT 0 P17754F/429 4 I i f e 8 on a pipelike frame 2 and, as shown in Fig. 2, is constructed to scrape off matter adhered to a surface of a belt 5 wound around a pulley 4. Namely, the cleaner unit 3 connects and adheres a mount plate 7 and a hold plate 8 integrally to each other with a cushion member 6 which is formed of rubber and the like and is interposed between the mount plate 7 and the hold plate 8. The hold plate 8 is provided with arms 9 projecting upward with base ends of arms 9 being fixed to the hold plate 8. A scraper 10 is mounted detachably to the top ends of the arms 9. The mount plate 7 of each cleaner unit 3 is detachably fixed to a mount part 11 of the frame 2, using bolts and nuts, thereby ordering a plurality of cleaner units 3 parallel to an axis of the frame 2. Since the belt cleaning mechanism is substantially identical to the mechanism proposed by the present applicant previously as the Australian patent No. 565417, a detailed description of the mechanism is omitted.

The belt cleaning mechanism 1 is supported by the frame 2, and both ends of the frame 2 are supported by an apparatus 12.

A pair of installing apparatuses '.12 and 12, disposed symmetrically to each other, take the same 20 construction, so only one apparatus 12 is illustrated and described.

f| The supporting apparatus 12 includes a bracket 13 supporting rotatably the frame 2, a tension means 14 of urging the frame 2 to be 1: rotated, a means 15 of actuating the tension means 14, and a stopper means 16 of preventing the frame 2 from being rotated over the predeterminde extent.

The bracket 13 is made of metal plate, being of L-shape in section', which is equipped with a frame supporting part 17 and a mount part 18. Under a state of disposing the frame supporting part TT 0s0 !K^kL7^ u 'K N I li( i 9 17 substantially horizontally, the mount part 18 is mounted and fixed to a partial area of a belt conveyor mechanism (not shown), e.g. a frame, a hopper and the like of the conveyor, using the bolts and the nuts.

A bearing member 19 for supporting rotatably the frame 2 is provided on and fixed to the frame supporting part 17, using the bolts which pass through the frame supporting part 17 and screw into the bearing member 19 (see Figs. 2 and The bearing member 19 has an axial support 21 of crevice-shape which is formed to extend upward and permits a pin 22 to close an upper opening of the axial support 21 under a state of holding the frame 2 rotabably.

The tension means 14 includes an inner sleeve 23, an outer sleeve 24 which is disposed concentrically to the inner sleeve 23 and giving a sufficient gap around the circumference of the inner sleeve 23, and an elastic member 25 such as rubber and like which is o* interposed between the inner and outer sleeves 23 and 24.

The inner sleeve 23 has an extension 26 on which a stopper lever 27 is provided.

A tension lever 28 is provided on and projected from the *:220 outer sleeve 24.

The stopper lever 27 and the tension lever 28 are projected in directions opposite to each other.

In the drawings, the inner sleeve 23 and the outer sleeve 24 are made of metallic annular members which are concentric to each other. An elastic material, such as the rubber and the like, with which the gap between the sleeves 23 and 24 is filled, is vulcanized and molded together with a disposition of the sleeves 23 and 24 being set in a mold so that the elastic member 25 is molded and adhered tc it0 10 the sleeves 23 and 24, resulting in the tension means 14.

This tension means 14 locates the stopper lever 27 and the tension lever 28 to be directed radially of the sleeves.

The actuating means 15 includes a bolt which passes through one end of the frame supporting part 17 of the bracket 13 and is screwed therein in a movable manner. For this purpose, a nut 29 is fixed to the lower face thereof by means of the welding and tne like (see Fig. 2).

The stopper means 16 includes a bolt which passes through another end of the frame supporting part 17 and is screwed therein in a movable manner. For this purpose, a nut 30 is fixed to the lower face thereof by means of the means of welding and the like (see Fig.

2).

The end of the frame 2 is detachably inserted into the innei sleeve 23 of the tension means 14 and fixed therein. For the purpose *o4 of completing such a fixture, a set bolt 31 is provided on the extension 26 of the inner sleeve 23. Fixing of the frame 2 into the tension means 14 by the set bolt 31 causes a pair of levers 27 and 28 S"of to be disposed substantially in parallel with the frame supporting part 17 of the bracket 13, the tension lever 28 being located o-cc the :actuating means 15. As illustrated, since the fra-e supportin9 part 17 of the bracket 13 is formed to be narrow in width and the extension part 26 of the inner sleeve 23 and the stopper lever 27 are located sideways from the upper space of the frame supporting part 17, a wing part 32 provided on the end of the stopper lever 27 is located over Sthe stopper means 16.

Under a state where the scrapers 10 of the belt cleaning mechanism 1 is in contact with the surface of a belt 5, a rotation of il

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*4 rI the bolt constituting the actuating means 15 to be screwed-in causes the top end of the bolt to push and raise the tension lever 28, thereby rotating the frame 2 together with the tension means 14. Such a rotation gives rise to an elastic deformation of the cushion member 6 of each cleaner unit 3 and the resulting elastic force causes the scrarars 10 to be pressed to become in contact with the surface of the belt 5. When a screwing of the actuating means 15 raises the tension lever 28 further, in addition to an occurrence of the elastic deformation of the cushion member 6, the elastic deformation of the elastic member 25 of the tension means 14 is made in a direction of twisting the elastic member 25. Namely, due to the contact of the scrapers 10 with the surface of the belt, a resulting state is to interrupt the rotation of the frame 2 and the inner sleeve 23, then a commencement of forced rotation of the outer sleeve 24 caused by the ,15 actuating means 15 twists the elastic member 25 to be deformed between the sleeves 23 and 24. As a result, an operating of the conveyor belt under such circumstances allows the elastic forces from the cushion member 6 of the cleaner unit 3 and the elastic member 25 of the tension means 14 to press the scrapers 10 against the surface of the belt 5, whereby residual matter adhered to the surface of the belt is well scraped off.

When the scrapers 10 become worn, the restoring force of the twisted elastic member 25 causes the inner sleeve 23 to be rotated together with the frame. As a result, the cleaner unit 3, keeping a state where an elastic deformation of the cushion member 6 is under way, is pressing the scrapers 10 against the surface of the belt whereby a scraping effect of the scrapers 10 is maintained.

The stopper means is used, when the belt conveyor can be 1!

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12 rotated forward and backward. In that case, a movable adjustment of the bolt constituting the stopper means 16 causes a top end of the bolt to be located at a distance by a small gap S from the lower surface of the o'pper lever 27 (see Fig. thereby preventing the scrapers 10 from biting and damaging the surface of the belt 5 during the belt is rotating backward.

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rr t rr I i Additionally, if the gap S is set to allow the stopper means 16 to prohibit the frame 2 from taking a further rotation, when the scrapers 10 become fully worn, the top ends such as the arms 9 are prevented from becoming contact with the belt and being worn in a frictional manner with the belt.

(Second Embodiment) Referring now to Figs. 4 to 7 showing a second embodiment of the present invention, a belt cleaning mechanism 40 is equipped with 15 a bladelike scraper 41 substantially of U-shape with respect to its plane view. The scraper 41 is detachably fixed to a holder 42 which is also substantially of U-shaped. The holder 42 has a pair o_ coaxial pipelike frames 43 and 43 projecting from its opposite ends in a sideway direction. A flexible sheet 44 fixed to the back of the 20 scraper 41 is constructed to act as a guide for dropping the residual matter to be scraped off from the surface of the belt.

As shown in Fig. 6, when the belt cleaning mechanism 40 is rotated about an axis A of the frames 43 and 43, such a rotation is interlocked with a rotation of the scraper 41, thereby inclining up the scraper 41, its contact with the surface of the belt takes place.

At that time, since its scraping edge is of upward arched shape, said contact can be made completely along the surface of the belt which forms an arch shape in cross section by a so called "trough"

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4.

If _illL_ C LI-L- 13 K tendency. The construction of the belt cleaning mechanism 40 of this type is substantially identical to that referred to in the Australian patent No. 587352 which the present applicant filed previously, so a detailed description thereof is omitted.

The belt cleaning mechanism 40 is supported at the frames 43 and 43 by the supporting apparatuses 12 and 12 according to the present invention. A pair of supporting apparatuses 12 and 12 disposed at the frames 43 and 43 respectively have the same construction each other. Therefore, one of them is illustrated and described.

SThe supporting apparatus 12 of the second embodiment i is identical in basic construction to the supporting apparatus already referred to in the first embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3. For this reason, their constituent members of the same e 15 are illustrated with the reference numerals corresponding to those shown in Figs. 1 to 3 in order to avoid the repeated description.

t Under a state of disposing the mount part 18 of the bracket 13 to take a substantially vertical posture, it is mounted and fixed I to a part of the belt conveyor (not shown) such as the frame, hopper 20 and the like, using the bolts and the nuts.

So: Then, the frame 43 of the belt cleaning mechanism 40 is *r rotatably held in the axial support 21 of the bearing member 19, S"subsequently, the pin 22 is inserted into the axial support 21.

The tension means 14 is mounted to the frame 43. Namely, the frame 43 is detachably inserted into the inner sleeve 23 and fixed therein, using the set bolt 31. As a result, the tension lever 28 is directed to be upward, while the stopper lever 27 takes a downward direction and the actuating means 15 is located at the position

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'NT 0 ii 14 opposite to the tension lever 28, while stopper lever 27 has the winglike part 32 disposed opposite to the stopper .neans 16.

Further to a state where the scraper 41 of the belt cleaning mechanism 40 is in contact with the surface of the belt 41, screwingin of the bolt constituting the actuating means 15 causes the top end of the bolt to rotate the tension lever 28, whereby such a rotation is interlocked with the concurrent rotations of the tension means 14 and the frame 43, and the scraper 41 is pressed against the surface of the belt 5. Still further to the state of pressing thus the scraper 1 0 41 against the surface of the belt, continued screwing-in of the i actuating means 15 forces the outer sleeve 24 to be rotated relatively to the inner sleeve 23 which forms a twisting deformation of the ji elastic member 25. As a result, the elastic force of rotating the I scraper 41 in a standing-up direction functions on the inner sleeve H 15 23 through the elastic member 11 S: 4 Accordingly, an operating of the conveyor under such i circumstances allows the elastic force from the elastic member 25 to i the scraper 41, whereby the scraper 41 is properly pressed against the :surface of the belt 5, and the residual matter can be well scraped off from the surface of the belt When the scraper 41 becomes worn, the restoring force of the twisted elastic member 25 causes the inner sleeve 23 to be rotated, the frame 43 being concurrently rotated in the same direction, and the scraper 41 is maintained to be pressed against the surface of the belt 5, so the scraping effect of the scraper 41 is still under way.

Similarly to those mentioned in the first embodiment of the present invention, the stopper means 16 attains the same purpose in the same manner.

NT 0 In a second embodiment of the present invention, the bearing member 19 is movably up and down mounted to the frame supporting part 17 of the bracket 13. For this purpose, the bolts 20 for mounting and fixing the bearing member 19 are screwed therein through vertically longer holes (not shown) formed in the frame supporting part 17.

A support member 45 is fixed to the lower part of the frame supporting part 17 by a bolt 46. A push bolt 47 supporting the bearing member 19 is movably screwed to the support member 45. For this purpose, a nut 48 is fixed to the lower face of support member 45 by the welding or the like (see Figs. 5 and 7).

Therefore, afteL determining the vertical position of the bearing member 19 by means of screwing up or down the push bolt 47 with the bolts 20 being loosened to make the bearing member 19 movable up and down along the long rx"so hole, the bolts 20 are fastened to fix bearing member 19, whereby the vertical position of the frame 43 is adjusted.

i a1 N 0754429 t E i O 7 54 2

Claims (6)

1. An apparatus for supporting a belt cleaning mechanism comprising scraper blades secured to a frame, the frame having first and second ends and being rotatable about an axis passing through said ends to move the scraper blades into and out of contact with the belt to be cleaned, the apparatus comprising: a pair of brackets rotatably supporting respective ends of the frame such that said frame is rotatable about said axis, each bracket including a mount part adapted to be mounted to a belt conveyor mechanism and a frame supporting part having a bearing member to support a respective one of the ends of the frame, the apparatus further comprising: tension means for urging said frame to be rotated about said axis and means for actuating said tension means, wherein: the tension means includes an inner sleeve through which the frame is arranged to be detachably secured, an 20 outer sleeve disposed around the circumference of said inner sleeve such that a gap is interposed between said inner and outer sleeves, an elastic member located in said gap interconnecting said inner and outer sleeves, and a tension lever extending outwardly from said outer sleeve; and said actuating means is located on the frame supporting part of one of the brackets and comprises a movable adjustment member operable to apply a force to said tension lever causing rotation of said outer sleeve whereby rotation of said outer sleeve relative to said inner sleeve induces stress in the elastic member causing a torque to be applied to said inner sleeve, said applied torque to said inner sleeve being variable on adjustment of said adjusting member and wherein in use said applied torque to said inner sleeve causes a corresponding torque to be applied to the frame to bias said frame to rotate is a direction to move the scraper blades into contact with the belt to be cleaned. P17754F/429 I 17 4 5r n. a t S 'A '4 I Ir K; t.~

2. An apparatus for supporting a belt cleaning mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inner sleeve and the outer sleeve are disposed coaxially about the axis of rotation of the frame, and wherein the elastic member is of a material such as rubber or the like and is formed within the gap between said inner and outer sleeves by a process of vulcanizing such material, causing said elastic member to adhere to said sleeves.

3. An apparatus for supporting a belt cleaning mechanism as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the inner sleeve has an extension which projects outwardly beyond the outer sleeve, a stopper lever is provided on said extension and projects in a direction opposite to said tension lever, and a stopper means is provided on the frame supporting part of the bracket, and comprises an adjustably movable stopper member facing against said stopper lever and adjustable into and out of contact with said stopper lever, whereby the inner sleeve is prevented from being rotated upon adjustment of said stopper member 20 into contact with said stopper lever.

4. An apparatus for supporting a belt cleaning mechanism comprising scraper blades secured to a frame, the frame having first and second ends and being rotatable about an axis passing through said ends to move 25 the scraper blades into and out of contact with the belt to be cleaned, the apparatus comprising: a pair of brackets rotatably supporting respective ends of the frame such that said frame is rotatable about said axis, each bracket including a mount part adapted to be mounted to a belt conveyor mechanism and a frame supporting part having a bearing member to support a respective one of the ends of the frame, the apparatus further comprising: tension means for urging said frame to be rotated about said axis and means for actuating said tension means wherein: the tension means includes an inner sleeve through which the frame is arranged to be detachably secured, an P17754F429 P1 7754F/429 I- 18 outer sleeve disposed around the circumference of said inner sleeve such that a gap is interposed between said inner and outer sleeves, an elastic member formed of a material such as rubber or the like moulded in said gap interconnecting said inner and outer sleeves, and a tension lever extending outwardly from said outer sleeve, and an extension extending outwardly in an opposite direction to said tension member from said inner sleeve and extending to a point beyond the outer sleeve wherein a stopper lever is secured thereto,; and said actuating means is located on the frame supporting part of one of the brackets and comprises a movable adjustment member operable to apply a force to said tension lever causing rotation of said outer sleeve whereby rotation of said outer sleeve relative to said inner sleeve induces stress in the elastic member causing a torque to be applied to said inner sleeve, said applied torque to said inner sleeve being variable on adjustment of said adjusting member and wherein in use said applied o 20 torque to said inner sleeve causes a corresponding torque to be applied to the frame to bias said frame to rotate is a direction to move the scraper blades into contact with the belt to be cleaned, the apparatus further comprising stopper means provided on the frame supporting part of the bracket in which the actuating means is located, the stopper means comprises an adjustably movable stopper member facing against said stopper lever and adjusted into and out of contact with said stopper lever whereby the inner sleeve is prevented from being rotated upon adjustment of said stopper when in contact with said stopper lever. An apparatus for supporting a belt cleaning mechanism as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein there are said tension means and actuating means located at both the first and second ends of the frame and each of said tension means and actuating means being associated with the respective bracket supporting the A( first and second ends of the frame.

P17754F/429 i-~I1I1I-~~--i~ 19

6. An apparatus for supporting mechanism substantially as herein reference to the accompanying drawings. a belt cleaning described with Dated this 26th day of February 1992 NIPPON TSUSHO KABUSHIKI KAISHA By their Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK CO. *r r* 4 ct t ii rr i~q ,-4 I P1774F42