GB2630316A - Material processing apparatus with multi-mode conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

Material processing apparatus 100 comprising chassis 50, screen box 20, conveyor 80 slideably mounted to chassis via support 85 on sliding support beam 86. Cam 120 pivotally mounted to chassis for raising and lowering the screen box at the discharge ends, sliding actuator 87 to linearly move the receiving end of the conveyor in vertical direction and in direction of conveyance, and cam follower (121 fig. 2) that contacts the cam. In first operating position (fig. 1 & 2) the first conveyor receives material from the upper screen deck and the screen box is lowered, in the second operating position (figs. 3 & 4) the first conveyor receives material from both upper (21 fig. 2) and lower (22 fig. 2) screen decks and the screen box is raised.

Description

MATERIAL PROCESSING APPARATUS WITH MULTI-MODE CONVEYOR

The present invention relates to improvements in and relating to a material processing apparatus for screening feed material, in particular to a material processing apparatus comprising a multi-deck screen box to separate by screening a mixed size or coarseness of a feed material into two or more discharge streams of different particle size, the apparatus having a conveyor moveable between two or more operating positions to accept screened material from either one isolated or two or more decks.

Background to the Invention

It is known to provide material processing apparatus of the general type which comprise a screening unit with two or more screen decks such that an aggregate or other feed material such as coal, plastics, blasted rock etc. may be separated by vibrating screens into different sized material fractions, e.g., fines, midsize and oversize material fractions, which are discharged onto separate discharge conveyors.

In such known apparatus, material, the unit size of which is such that it does not fall through the screen deck, is discharged from the screen deck at a discharge end of the screen deck, for example onto a conveyor. Material fractions having a smaller unit size pass through the screen deck and fall onto another screen deck below or, for instance, onto another conveyor.

However, in material processing with such apparatus, discharge requirements may change. For example, it may be required to only separate fines material from oversize and midsize material such that both oversize and midsize material is presented to a single further processing apparatus, such as a crusher. In this case, it is preferable to discharge both midsize and oversize material onto one discharge conveyor. Typically, for primary scalpers with multi-deck screens, this often involves the removal and repositioning of a conveyor. Removal of such a conveyor requires lifting equipment such as a crane and causes considerable downtime.

It is a therefore an object of the present invention to provide a material processing apparatus which overcomes the drawbacks of known solutions or at least provides a suitable alternative.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention addresses the problem of providing a material processing apparatus of the type mentioned above, which can be converted with minimal effort and almost zero downtime in such a way that either one isolated or several material fractions together can be discharged from the discharge area of the screening unit.

This problem is solved by the receiving end of the conveyor being linearly movable between multiple operating positions by means of a conveyor sliding actuator, the movement of the conveyor causing the simultaneous movement of the discharge areas of the screen box. In particular, the sliding down of the conveyor receiving end towards the chassis raises the discharge end of the screen box and the raising up of the conveyor receiving end away from the chassis lowers the screen box discharge end.

The present invention relates to a material processing apparatus, preferably to a mobile aggregate processing apparatus, which may be transformed from a first operating position in which screened product fractions may be discharged onto multiple separate conveyors to at least a second operating position in which two or more fractions may be discharged onto one conveyor without the need to remove any parts from the apparatus.

The invention is set out in the claims.

In use, the material processing apparatus according to the invention enables both collection of screened material from the upper deck of the screen box only and collection of material from two or more decks by diagonally sliding a discharge conveyor and simultaneously raising or lowering the screen box without the need to remove the conveyor or any other parts of the apparatus and avoiding collision of parts.

Accordingly, a first aspect of the present invention is a material processing apparatus with a first conveyor slidably mounted to the chassis for raising the screen box so as to allow the conveyor to switch from receiving material from one screen deck to receiving material from multiple decks, the apparatus being convertible between at least first and second operating positions and comprising a sliding support beam, a sliding support being slidable along the sliding support beam, a conveyor sliding actuator for diagonally sliding the conveyor towards or away from the chassis and for pushing a cam follower to contact a cam for raising or lowering the screen box.

The first conveyor extends in a direction of conveyance between a receiving end and a discharge end, and is configured to receive at the receiving end material from at least the upper screen deck discharge end, preferably wherein the first conveyor extends from one end of the apparatus in the same direction as the screen decks.

The first conveyor may be a folding conveyor that may be folded for storage. However, to ensure that the first conveyor maintains a straight line to maintain side sealing and prevent material roll back, the first conveyor is preferably not an articulated conveyor, i.e., is not a conveyor that may be bent during use.

The first conveyor is preferably a belt conveyor, i.e., comprises an endlessly circulating conveyor belt.

A sliding support beam is mounted at one end to the chassis. The first conveyor is slidably mounted to the chassis via the sliding support on the sliding support beam. When the apparatus is in the first operating position, the first conveyor is for discharging material from the apparatus that is too large to fall through the upper screen deck, i.e., oversize material, and is therefore interchangeably referred to herein as an oversize conveyor. In the first operating position, the screen box is lowered so as to deposit material from the upper screen deck onto the first conveyor.

The apparatus preferably further comprises a second conveyor, e.g., a laterally extending side conveyor, for receiving and discharging material, e.g., midsize material, from the lower screen deck. The second conveyor may also be referred to herein as a midsize conveyor and these terms are used interchangeably. In the embodiment wherein the apparatus comprises such a second conveyor for receiving and discharging material from the lower screen deck, this second conveyor is redundant in the second operating position of the apparatus as when the apparatus is in the second operating position, the first conveyor is arranged to receive material from both the upper and lower decks and the screen box is raised so as to deposit material from both decks onto the first conveyor for further processing, e.g., by a crusher.

Alternatively, or additionally, the apparatus preferably comprises a collection conveyor and a fines conveyor for discharging material which falls through all screen decks, typically referred to as fines material fines conveyor, from the apparatus. In this embodiment, the collection conveyor is located beneath the screen box and the fines conveyor preferably extends laterally from the apparatus. In the embodiment wherein the apparatus is provided with a midsize conveyor and a fines conveyor, the midsize and fines conveyors preferably extend laterally from opposing sides of the apparatus.

When the apparatus is in the second operating position, the oversize conveyor is for discharging material from the apparatus that is too large to fall through the lower screen deck, i.e., midsize material, in addition to material that is too large to fall through the upper screen deck. In the second operating position, the screen box is raised so as to deposit material from both decks onto the first conveyor for further processing.

The screen box mounted on the chassis includes at least an upper screen deck and a lower screen deck. The lower screen deck is substantially vertically-stacked below the first screen 15 deck and the upper and lower screen decks have upper and lower screen deck discharge ends, respectively.

The screen box is preferably mounted to the chassis via a subframe. In this embodiment, the screen box preferably sits in the subframe on biasing means such as springs.

In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus is convertible to a third position, wherein the screen box comprises a further deck beneath the lower deck and the conveyor sliding actuator is configured to linearly move the receiving end of the first conveyor in both the vertical direction and the direction of conveyance to a third position. In this embodiment, when the apparatus is in the first operating position, the first conveyor is arranged to receive material from the upper screen deck and the screen box is lowered so as to deposit material from the upper screen deck onto the first conveyor, when the apparatus is in the second operating position, the first conveyor is arranged to receive material from both the upper and lower decks and the screen box is raised so as to deposit material from both decks onto the first conveyor, and, when the apparatus is in the third position, the first conveyor is arranged to receive material from all three decks and the screen box is raised further so as to deposit material from all three decks onto the first conveyor.

The conveyor sliding actuator is attached to the first conveyor and is configured to move the conveyor and cam follower such that the cam follower makes contact with the cam. In a preferred embodiment, the conveyor sliding actuator is pivotally attached to the first conveyor, e.g., via a shaft.

In some embodiments, the apparatus comprises two conveyor sliding actuators, wherein one is on the left-hand side of the conveyor and the other is on the right-hand of the oversize conveyor.

The or each conveyor sliding actuator preferably comprises a hydraulic cylinder.

In conversion of the apparatus between the operating positions, activation of the or each conveyor sliding actuator causes the oversize discharge conveyor to slide towards or away from the screen box. In the first operating position, the receiving end of the first conveyor is located beneath the upper deck discharge area and forward of the lower deck discharge end of the screen box such that the first conveyor is arranged to receive material from the upper screen deck only. As the conveyor sliding actuator moves the receiving end of the first conveyor from the first operating position towards the second operating position, the cam follower of the conveyor sliding actuator is pushed against the cam causing the cam to rotate, preferably wherein the cam pivots through an angle in the range of about 10 degrees to about 90 degrees. This movement of the cam raises the discharge end of the vibrating screen allowing the receiving end of the oversize conveyor to linearly move under the two or more discharge ends of the vibrating screen decks into the second operating position such that the first conveyor is arranged to receive material from both the upper and lower decks.

The cam is preferably a disc or plate cam, particularly preferably a substantially triangularly shaped plate.

In some embodiments, the cam is made of plastic or metal such as steel or aluminium.

The cam follower preferably comprises a wheel. However, this is not to be considered limiting and an alternatively shaped cam follower adapted to reduce friction could also be used such as a steel pad with a plastic liner.

The apparatus preferably further comprises a conveyor incline adjusting actuator configured to alter the angle of the first conveyor with respect to the chassis so as to alter the height of the discharge end of the first conveyor, preferably wherein the conveyor incline adjusting actuator is mounted, e.g., pivotally mounted, at one end to the chassis and at the other end is mounted to the sliding support beam. In this embodiment, on actuation of the conveyor incline adjusting actuator, the sliding support is moved along sliding support beam to raise or lower the free end, i.e., the discharge end, of the oversize conveyor and to thus alter the angle of the conveyor with respect to the horizontal so as to alter the discharge height.

The conveyor incline adjusting actuator is preferably mounted to the chassis above where the sliding beam is mounted so that the incline adjusting actuator is less prone to damage and to give more clearance under the oversize conveyor. However, this is not considered to be limiting and the conveyor incline adjusting actuator could instead be mounted below the sliding beam.

The conveyor incline adjusting actuator preferably comprises a powered telescoping cylinder leg.

Due to the cam raising the screen box as the oversize conveyor is moved towards the chassis, the conveyor does not collide with any part of the screen box. In embodiments comprising a conveyor incline adjusting actuator, the pivot point of the oversize conveyor receiving end and the sliding beam support are preferably positioned in such a way that collisions do not occur no matter what working angle the screen and oversize conveyor are set at.

In some embodiments, the sliding support is configured to pivot with respect to the conveyor and the chassis upon alteration of the angle of the sliding support beam. In this embodiment, the sliding support remains in line with the sliding support beam when the incline of the conveyor is changed.

The apparatus may further comprise a feed system mounted adjacent the screen box for providing material to be screened to the screen box. The feed system preferably comprises a hopper, optionally wherein the hopper is provided with a feeder belt.

The apparatus is preferably a mobile material processing apparatus comprising a chassis provided with one or more wheels or tracks, or both wheels and tracks. However, this is not to be considered limiting and the material processing apparatus may be static or skid mounted.

The apparatus is preferably a primary scalper for use in conjunction with other material processing apparatus in the processing of blasted rock.

The skilled person will understand that where the same feature has been referenced in different aspects of the invention, this feature comprises the same parts and operates in the same way unless otherwise stated.

Brief Description of the drawings

Certain preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a preferred mobile material processing apparatus according to the invention in the first operating position wherein the oversize conveyor is arranged to accept material from the top deck of the screen box; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side view of the apparatus of Figure 1 in the second operating position wherein the oversize conveyor is arranged to accept material from both decks of the screen box; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of Figure 3 in the second operating position; and Figure 5 is an enlarged view of the apparatus of Figure 4 with the oversize conveyor removed.

Detailed Description

In overview, a material processing apparatus is provided on which the positions of the oversize conveyor and vibrating screen box may be simultaneously adjusted so as to allow the apparatus to switch between at least a first operating position in which the oversize conveyor receives material from the top deck of the screen and a second operating position in which the oversize conveyor receives material from both decks, the apparatus comprising a sliding support beam, a sliding support being slidable along the sliding support beam, a conveyor sliding actuator for linearly moving the receiving end of the conveyor towards or away from the chassis and a cam for raising the screen box.

Various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, where like reference numerals represent like parts and assemblies throughout the several views.

It will be appreciated that the invention should not be construed to be limited to the examples, which are now described; rather, the invention is construed to include any and all applications provided herein and all equivalent variations within the skill of the ordinary artisan.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a mobile material processing apparatus, generally referred to herein by reference numeral 100, and comprising a tracked chassis 50 on which two-deck vibrating screen box 20 and oversize conveyor 80 are mounted. Oversize conveyor 80 extends in a direction of conveyance between a receiving end and a discharge end, and is designed as an endlessly circulating conveyor belt arranged to receive screened material at the receiving end from screen box 20 and to convey the material away from the apparatus.

Chassis 50 projects forwardly and rearwardly of endless tracks 51 and has upwardly extending posts 54, 55 at its rearmost and foremost points.

Apparatus 100 further comprises hopper 10 for accepting a supply of bulk material to be screened by the apparatus and for feeding the bulk material to screen box 20. Hopper 10 is mounted above feeder discharge belt 15 on the foremost upwardly extending portion 55 of chassis 50 to project forwardly of endless tracks 51 and, when in a deployed position, oversize conveyor 80 projects in an opposite direction from the opposite end of chassis 50.

Screen box 20 is mounted on chassis 50 via subframe 23 above endless tracks 51 and adjacent hopper 10 and accepts material to be screened from hopper 10 by means of feeder 15. Screen box 20 sits in subframe 23 on springs 25 and comprises a vibrating upper deck 21 with upper deck discharge 24 and a vibrating lower deck 22 with lower deck discharge 28, each screen deck having a predetermined mesh size so that different screened fractions can be separated and discharged by respective discharge conveyors away from the apparatus. Oversize material, which cannot fall through upper screen deck 21 due to the size of the material, is conveyed onto oversize conveyor belt 80 and from there away from the apparatus, e.g., to form a stockpile. Material that falls through upper screen deck 21 reaches lower screen deck 22 below. Midsize material that does not fall through lower screen deck 22 is fed to a side conveyor 40 extending laterally from and arranged to convey screened material away from apparatus 100, e.g., to form another stockpile. Fines material that falls through both screen decks is discharged from the base of screen box 20 onto a collection conveyor located under screen box 20 above endless tracks 51 and arranged to receive fines material from screen box 20 and convey the fines material to a discharge end of conveyor 30 onto a side conveyor 60 extending laterally from and arranged to convey fines material away from apparatus 100, e.g., to form a further stockpile.

Apparatus 100 further comprises sliding support beam 86 pivotally mounted to upwardly extending post 54 of chassis 50 at pivot 53, sliding support 85 slidably mounted on sliding support beam 86 and incline adjusting actuator 87. Incline adjustor 87 is a telescopic hydraulic leg pivotally mounted at one end on the post 54 of chassis 50 at pivot 52 and pivotally mounted at the other end to sliding support beam 86. In the preferred embodiment shown in the Figures, adjustor 87 is mounted above sliding beam 86 so that it is less prone to damage and to give more clearance under oversize conveyor 80. However, this is not considered to be limiting and adjustor 87 could instead be mounted below sliding beam 86.

Oversize conveyor 80 is slidably mounted to chassis 50 adjacent screen box 20 via sliding support 85 to which it is pivotally mounted. On actuation of incline adjustor 87 by a hydraulic cylinder, sliding support 85 is moved along beam 86 to raise or lower the free end, i.e., discharge end, of oversize conveyor 80 and alter the angle of conveyor 80 with respect to the horizontal so as to alter the discharge height. In other words, the sliding support always remains in line with the sliding support beam but pivots with respect to conveyor 80 and also to chassis 50 when the incline of conveyor 80 is changed.

The apparatus further comprises cam 120 and a cam follower in the form of wheel 121. In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the Figures, cam 120 is substantially triangularly shaped and is pivotally mounted to both chassis 50 and screen box subframe 23 for raising and lowering screen box 20.

Wheel 121 is part of conveyor sliding actuator 88 which further comprises a hydraulic cylinder and a pivot assembly 122. In the preferred embodiment shown in the Figures, conveyor sliding actuator 88 is attached at one end to post 54 of chassis 50 between sliding support beam 86 and incline adjustor 87 and at the other end pivotally attached to conveyor 80 via a shaft (not shown) of pivot assembly 122. On actuation of sliding actuator 88, the hydraulic cylinder engages with pivot assembly 122 to simultaneously move the receiving end of conveyor 80 and wheel 121.

When apparatus 100 is in the first operating position as shown in Figures 1 and 2, oversize conveyor 80 is shown in a raised position with the end of oversize conveyor 80 closest to chassis 50, i.e., the receiving end of conveyor 80, forward of bottom deck discharge 28 such that conveyor 80 is arranged to accept material from upper deck 21 only and material from lower deck 22 is discharged onto side conveyor 40.

On actuation of sliding actuator 88 to transition between the first and second operating positions of apparatus 100, the hydraulic cylinder is extended to engage with pivot assembly 122 to simultaneously linearly move the receiving end of conveyor 80 in both the vertical direction and the direction of conveyance between the first and second operating positions, i.e., conveyor 80 slides diagonally back and down towards vibrating screen box 20 and chassis 50, such that wheel 121 pushes against cam 120 and cam 120 pivots to raise screen box subframe 23 and thus discharge ends 24, 28 of screen box 20, allowing the receiving end of conveyor 80 to move under discharge end 28 such that apparatus 100 is in the second operating position as shown in Figures 3 and 4. In this second position, oversize conveyor 80 is lowered so as to accept material from both decks 21, 22 of screen box 20 and thus only two screen fractions are screened out, these fractions being fine material and non-fines material, the non-fines material comprising both midsize and oversize material. Accordingly, side conveyor 40 is not required when apparatus 100 is in the second operating position.

Due to cam 120 raising screen box 20 as oversize conveyor 80 slides towards chassis 50, conveyor 80 does not collide with any part of screen box 20 or side conveyor 40. The oversize conveyor tail section pivot point (not shown) and sliding beam support 86 are positioned in such a way that collisions do not occur no matter what working angle the screen and oversize conveyor are set at.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details described herein which are given by way of example only and that various modifications and alterations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (16)

1. Claims: 1. A material processing apparatus convertible between at least first and second operating positions, the apparatus comprising: -a chassis; a screen box mounted on the chassis and including at least an upper screen deck and a lower screen deck, the lower screen deck being substantially vertically-stacked below the upper screen deck and the upper and lower screen decks having upper and lower screen deck discharge ends, respectively; a first conveyor slidably mounted to the chassis via a sliding support on a sliding support beam, the first conveyor extending in a direction of conveyance between a receiving end and a discharge end, and being configured to receive at the receiving end material from at least the upper screen deck discharge end; a cam pivotally mounted to the chassis at a location between the first conveyor and the screen box for raising and lowering the screen box between the first and second operating positions at the upper and lower screen deck discharge ends; a conveyor sliding actuator connected between the chassis and the first conveyor, the actuator being configured to linearly move the receiving end of the first conveyor in both the vertical direction and the direction of conveyance between the first and second operating positions and comprising a cam follower configured to make contact with the cam to move the cam; wherein, when the apparatus is in the first operating position, the first conveyor is arranged to receive material from the upper screen deck and the screen box is lowered so as to deposit material from the upper screen deck onto the first conveyor and, when the apparatus is in the second operating position, the first conveyor is arranged to receive material from both the upper and lower decks and the screen box is raised so as to deposit material from both decks onto the first conveyor.
2. 2. The material processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the screen box is mounted to the chassis via a subframe, preferably wherein the screen box is attached to the subframe via biasing means such as springs.
3. 3. The material processing apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the cam is pivotally mounted to the chassis and pivotally mounted to the subframe.
4. 4. The material processing apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sliding support is configured to pivot with respect to the first conveyor.
5. 5. The material processing apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the apparatus further comprises a conveyor incline adjusting actuator for altering the angle of the first conveyor with respect to the chassis so as to alter the height of the discharge end of the first conveyor, preferably wherein the conveyor incline adjusting actuator is pivotally mounted at one end to the chassis and at the other end is pivotally mounted to the sliding support beam.
6. 6. The material processing apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the conveyor incline adjusting actuator comprises a powered, telescoping cylinder leg.
7. 7. The material processing apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cam follower comprises a wheel.
8. 8. The material processing apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cam is in the form of a substantially triangularly shaped plate.
9. 9. The material processing apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cam actuator comprises a hydraulic cylinder.
10. 10. The material processing apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the apparatus further comprises at least a second conveyor for discharging material which falls through all screen decks from the apparatus, preferably wherein the second conveyor extends laterally from the chassis in a direction perpendicular to the first conveyor.
11. 11. The material processing apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the apparatus comprises a collection conveyor extending under the screen box in the same direction as the first conveyor, and a fines conveyor extending laterally from the chassis in a direction perpendicular to the first conveyor.
12. 12. The material processing apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the chassis is provided with tracks or wheels or both.
13. 13. The material processing apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the conveyor sliding actuator is pivotally attached to the first conveyor, e.g., via a shaft.
14. 14. The material processing apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the apparatus comprises a first conveyor sliding actuator on the left-hand side of the conveyor and a second conveyor sliding actuator on the right-hand of the oversize conveyor.
15. 15. The material processing apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the or each conveyor sliding actuator comprises a hydraulic cylinder.
16. 16. The material processing apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the apparatus is covetable to a third position, wherein the screen box comprises a further screen deck beneath the lower deck and the conveyor sliding actuator is configured to linearly move the receiving end of the first conveyor in both the vertical direction and the direction of conveyance to a third position in which the conveyor receives material from all three decks.