US1532249A - Automatic power discharge chute - Google Patents

Description

April 7, 1925. 1,532,249

E. H. LICHTENBERG AUTOMATIC PCWER DISCHARGE CHUTE lFiled Nov. 15. 192s 4 sheets-sheet 1 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. l5

E H LICHTENBERG AUTOMATIC POWER DISCHARGE CHUTE April 7, 1925.

April 7, 1925.

E. H. LICHTENBERG AUTOMATIC POWER DISCHARGE CHUTE Filed Nov. 15. 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 j w l /ay f? I 5/ r A v uw.; V l

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Filed Nov. 15 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Aprivl 7, 1.9255.

Patented Apr. 7, 1925..

UNITED STATES 'PATENTl OFFICE.

ERICH H. LICHTENBERG, OF MILWAUKE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR T0 KOEHRING COM- I IPANY, 0F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION.

AUTOMATIC rowiin DIscHARGE CHUTE.

Application led Novemberl, 1923. Serial' No. 675,014.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ERICH H. LioH'rEN- BERG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee 5 and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvement-s in Automatic Power Discharge Chutes, of which the l -following is a specification. l

, The improvements of this invention have to do with concrete mixing'machines, and Vcomprise c-ertainnovel means forautomatically discharging a concrete mixer at the end of a predetermined period of mixing.

lt is known today that there are definite 5 periods of time necessaryvand desirable for mixing concrete aggregates to obtain what may be styled as a co-ncrete of highest eiiiciency. To the above end, special contro-lling machines known as batch-meters are being used today quite commonly, for timing the mixing period of batches of concrete going through a'co-ncrete mixer.

My present invention involves a practical construction of instrumentalities operable in conjunction with a batch-meter of a concrete mixer, to set in motion certain power driving mechanism whereby at the end of a predetermined time of mixing, the discharge chute, or means employed for the mixer, will be operated by being shifted to its discharging position.` In this way the necessity of an operator of the machine keeping Watch on the discharging means to manually actuate the same at the end of the predetermined mixing period is obviated.

With the above in view it may be stated, that 'the principal mechanical features of my invention consist of a. discharge chute for the concrete mixer, power driving means including a clutch device for actuating said chute to turn it over to a discharging posi-' tion, automatic means operated by the ac` tion of the power driving means to render the said clutch means inactive when the dis- 5 charge chute has reached its discharged of said chute may be delayed slightly beyond the end of thev mixing period, something which may be called for under practical conditions .of service.

' Referring to the illustration of the preferred form of my invention, according to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 'is a view in elevation looking toward the side of a concrete mixing machine, and showing in detail the automatic mechanism of my invention, the batcli-meter feature being illustrated somewhat diagrammatically and the bracket supporting the skip which loads the concrete mixer, being the only portion of the skip shown.

Figure 2.is aview similar to Figure 1 but showing the various parts in their adjustment as when the discharge chute is in its non-discharging position.

Figure 3 is an end view of the mechanism shown in Figure l, the batch-meter discharge chute and skipv features being omitted.

Figure 4 is a top ,plan view of said mechanism. l I

Figures 5 and 6 are'views of the dog and co-operating hand lever.

Figure 7 is a small diagrammatic view of a typical complete machine having the .various cooperating parts, with the action'of which my invention is concerned through cooperation involving time relations.

With a view to a full understandingof the present invention, reference is niade to the United States Letters Patent of Robb,

1,370,497, issued March 1, 1921, which disclose certain power mechanism Vfor moving a discharge chute of a'mixer to its discharg-` ing position, the principle of the said invention being followedin the carrying out of my present improvements, the latter however, being applied in a somewhat different way so that the powerplant, or engine, of the mixing machine is utilized t-o drive the `chute inlmoving it to discharging position. Referring tothe parts of the invention in detail, A denotes in fragmentary illustration the drum of a concrete mixing machine, B lits discharge chute, and C. the pivot bracket which supports the skip D, byv which -the mixing drum is charged with aggregates to be mixed, E isa batch-meter which may iloo be of any conventional type, such as set for'th in Lichtenberg Patent #1,321,460 of 25 is a clutch lever 27 pivoted at its lower November 11, 1919, or preferably as disclosed by wWinkler Patent #1,451,483, issued April 10, 1923. 1t is notable that as the skip. D rises by its pivotal movement with the bracket C supporting it, a rod 1 intermediate the skip and the batch-meter E is actuated and an arm 2 of the batch-meter is moved downwards. The arm 2 is connected with a catch member 3, which leads downwardly and has its nose 3n adapted to engage a rocker arm 4 pivoted to the rock shaft 5 on which is keyed a rocking dog 6. The dog 6 is normally adapted to engage the projection 7 of a segment 8 mounted on the chute operating shaft 9, carried by any suit-l able supporting means, not shown, springs 10 being secured at one end as at 11, to' the framework 12 of the machine and attached at their other ends to lugs 13 ofistanding from said segment 8.

The shaft 9 has an arm, or arms 14, connected by a link, or links 15, with arms 16 on the chute B, so thatit will be evident that a pull or pushing movement on the links 15 will cause a rocking of the chute from a nondiseharging position extending into the mixer drum A, to a discharging position causing the contents of the drum to flow out, or vice-versa. The arm, or arms 14, are keyed to the shaft 9, and the chute B is supported by a suitable ivot shaft 17. The chute B may be of tfie type disclosed by Koehring Patent #899,414, issued September 22, 1908, or said chute may be of a different type as desired. r The chute actuating shaft 9 will preferably be driven by power means in regard to its movement for shifting the chute to a discharging position. n

The driving means forthe shaft 9 includes a belt wheel 18, which is keyed to the shaft, a belt or cable 19 passing around said wheel and also around a grooved wheel member 20, which is keyed to a driven shaft.

21. The driven shaft 21 is adapted to be operated by any suitable gearing connecting it with the engine of the mixing machine, and saidshaft carries a beveled gear. 22 meshing with Aa beveled gear 23. The gear 23 is mounted on a driving shaft24, being loose on said shaft so that the gears 22 and 23 are normally stationary. A clutch member 25 is keyed to the shaft 24 about opposite the gear 22, and the gear 23 is formed with a clutch ange, `or member 26, adapted to cooperate with said clutch member 25.

Suitably engaged with the clutch member end to a bracket 28, and having a loose pivotal and slot connection 29, seen best in Fig-y ure 1, with the segment, or loose swinging member 8 carried by the Shaft 9. i

swinging member 8. A restoring lever 30 susceptible of manual operation, is pivotally mounted in a loose manner on the shaft 9, and is adapted to engage with the laterally extending lug 31a, of a knock out lever 31, which is keyed or otherwise fastened to the shaft 9 to rotate with said shaft. The knock out lever 31 is equipped with an adjustable abutment 31c consisting merely of an adjustable set screw carried on its free end, said abutment being adapted to vengage the upper portion of the swinging segment 8 to move said segment and thereby impart corresponding movement to the lever 27 in a manner to be shortly set forth fully.

. 0n the shaft 5, which carries the dog 6 is mounted loosely a hand lever. 32. This lever 32 has a locking member 33 adapted by movement of the lever to be engaged with the clutch lever 27 so as to prevent the clutch lever from moving into clutch engaging position. It is notable, that the catch mem.

The skip D is raised by throwing in the clutch means of the customary mechanism for the purpose, and as the skip goes up the arm 2 is given a downward movement, as previously set forth. Such movement is suiiicient to bring the catch member 3 into engagement with the rocker arm 4 at the outer end portion of the latter. The aggregates have been now charged in the mixer, and the batch-meter E is loperating so that after the lapse of a predetermined time, usually one minute, the batch-meter operates to indicate the termination of the mixing period, and an upward movement of the arm 2 is caused. Said upward movement of the arm 2 rocks the arm 4, and the dog 6, so as to disengage said dog 6 from the projection 7 on the swinging,l or loose member 8.

Now this loose member 8, and its connected clutch lever 27 being attached to the springs 10, as soon as the inember 8 is released from the dog 6, the springs 10 promptly turn the member 8 .on its axis in a contra-clockwise manner, and this shifts the lever 27 to the right, throws into action the clutch members 25 and 26, and causes motion to be transmitted from the driving shaft 24 to .the driven shaft 21. The turning of the driven shaft 21 transmits motion through the belt connection 19, to the chute actuating shaft 9,and the shaft 9 begins to turn.

It may be noted that when the catch member 3 was pulled upwardly by the arm 2 to disengage the dog 6 from the member 8, .the cam 31?, on the catch member 3, by engaging the shaft 9, causes disengagement of the nose 3a from the arm 4, releasing the arm and thereby the dog 6, so as to. permit the latter to assume its normal positlon, readyto engage the part l8fa-t the projection 7..

It'will be recalled that inthe operation. of the parts, the shaft 9 is now rotating under actuation by the wheel 18 and the drive mechanism, said rotation being in a clockwisedirection. This operation compels a clockwise movement of the knock out arm 31, which moves from the positlon of its dotted lines in Figure 1, to the positionl of its lfull lines in said figure. When .the knock out member 31 has moved approximately 180", the about 31c engages the upper portion of the swinging segment 8, and forces Said segment downwards at the same time forcing the clutch lever 27 to the left and thereby disengaging-the clutch parts and 26. The driving action fromthe drive shaft 24 to the chute actuatingshaft, is "thus discontinued, 'and the discontinuance takes place automatically through the opv eration of the knockout member 31, at the time when the discharge chute B reaches its discharging position, as illustrated in Figure l. Under the present conditions, therefore,

` the operation of the. parts has been such as to automatically vshift the chute B `zfrom a non-discharging to a discharging position subsequent to the completion of the mixing period controlled by the batch-meter E.

Previous to the action of the knock out lever 31 in disengaging the clutch / members 25 and 26,' said member moves the segmenlt7 8 sufficiently to reset the springs 10; in othe words, the-springs 10 are again placed under tensioncand the dog 6 re-engages with 'the projection 7 of the member 8 and locks the parts in the tension adjustment. About at the moment the clutch members 25 and 26 are disengaged, the springs 10 restore the parts 6 and 7 to their original cooperation, by a slight upwardmovement of the part 8, which movement, however, is not transmitted to the clutch lever 27. This is due to the provision between the parts 8 and 27 of the pin and slot4 connection 27,

previously' described.

Cooperatin wit-hthe shaft 9 is a sprin actuated mec anism comprising a curve link 35 attached to a spring 36, which is lsuitably anchored to the frame of the machine-by a bolt 37 shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. lThe link 35 is curvedat its upper end so as to extend partly around the shaft 9, said upper end of the link being attached to a wrist pin 38 on the upper belt, or pulley wheel 18. The effective action of the link 35 and the spring 36 is as follows:

When the arts are in the position of Figure l, the pu l of the link 35 through the action of the spring 36, tends `to act upon the shaft 9 through the wheel 18 to hold-the i shaft 9 in a position maintaining the discharge chute B in its discharging adjustment. This adjustment is maintained under the positive action ofthe said parts 'after -the discharge chute has been turned over to its discharge `position through the driving mechanism controlled by the clutch devices. 4 L,

If it is desired now to restore the chute B to its normal position from its discharging position, the manual lever 30 is raised. vThe 'effect of such action` is to cause said lever 3Q to engage the projection 31e-of the knock out lever 31 and raise said arm slightly to turn the shaft9 contra-clockwise. A

slight .movement as? above set forth, will shift the point of connection of the link 35 and wheel 18 from one side of the axis 9 t the other side, whereupon the spring .36. will come into play to pull downwardsv onthe link l35 and restore the chute B to its non-discharging position, at the same time restoring the arm 31 to its dotted line position of Figure 1, and its full lineposition ,of Figure 2. The non-discharging position of the chute B may be a mixing position, or an inactive position entirely.

Should it be desired to delay the clutch engaging movement of the lever 27 after the batch-meter E hasloperated to cause upward movement of the arm 2, the operator may 4 lift the manual lever 30 so that the locking member 33 thereof, engages in front of the 'lever 2. This will prevent the lever 27 from moving to the right even though the dog 6 has released the projection 7 and part 8. After the slight delay, such as might be necessary under working conditions, if the operator lowers the lever 32, the springs 10 will go into action-and cause the clutch parts to engage 'automatically and the discharge chute will then turn over to its discharged position.

-It is not vharmful to delay the action of the discharge chute afterv the predetermined mixing perlod has expired, `but it would be harmfulto advance the operation of the moving of the discharge chute to its dischargedposition. To prevent any such last mentioned operation, or in other words to prevent throwing over the discharge chute B toits discharglng position when thedrum 4is mixing the batch, or before the predetermined mixing period expires, the catch member 3 1s formed with outstanding lugs 39 which `virtually lock the arm 4 against,`

raising, until the batch-meter arm 2 liftsA at the conclusion of the predetermined period of mixing, controlled by the said batch-meter E.

The lever 32 will, therefore, be understood as having a dual function in that it is adapted to actuate the'lever 27 to control the clutch operation in the event the batch-meter E is incapacitated or is not a part of the equip- ,viously identified, it is notable that the arm 2 is turned downwards as the member l is hit by the skip bracket D, when the latter reaches its uppermost position. The downward movelnent of the arm 2 is compelled by the link a pivoted to the arm z' which carries the weight j. As the arm 2 moves downwards the weight is lifted, and at the same time -tlie dog b is brought up by its co-acting spring against the stop c. In this way the dog b is rocked until it catches in the notch c of the member 7c and at this time the link a is disengaged from the member 7c through the action of the roller f and the nose g. As then adjusted the parts are disposed so that the dog Z) holds the member 2 against the pull of the spring h until the weight j comes down and releases the engagement through the tripping of the deg by the knock-out finger d. In this manner the spring z, is permitted to act upon the arm 2 and move the catch member 3 upwards.

It will be evident that the spring 36 and its linkage feature 35 with the connections linking up these parts to the chute, com prise an energy storing device or means, energy being stored in the spring 36 as an incident to the operation of the chute B by the power means constituted by the shaft 24. Furthermore, the catch 8, the arm 4 and the dog 6 with associated parts, form a control means intermediate the batch-meter. and the clutch part 25, by which to release the dog 6 and render active the power means through the clutch, to turn over the chute I3 to discharged position. In effect, furthermore, the springs 10 are energy storing parts for shifting the clutch, and they are placed under tension by the driving action of the power means 2-l in a manner which will be .evident from the foregoing descrip tion.

to transmit movement to the discharge chute at a predetermined time.

2. In combination, a discharge chute for concrete mixers, driving mechanism, clutch mechanism intermediate said driving mechanism andthe discharge chute, for transmitting movement to the chute, catch mechanism for normally maintaining said clutch mechanism inactive, an automatic means foi' releasing the catch mechanism and effecting operation of the clutch means to transmit movement to the discharge chute at a predetermined time, and mechanism for automatically discontinuing the operation of the clutch means at a predetermined time.

3. In combination, a discharge chute for concrete mixers, driving mechanism clutch, mechanism intermediate said driving mechanism and the discharge chute, for transmitting movement to the chute, catch mech- Vanism for normally maintaining said clutch mechanism inactive, an automatic means for releasing the catch mechanism and effecting operation of the clutch means to transmit movement to the discharge chute at a predetermined time, mechanism for automatically discontinuing the operation vof the clutch means at a predetermined time, and a manual means for causing a return movement of the chute after it has been moved by said driving means.

4. In combination, a mixing machine, a chute cooperating with said machine, charging means for the said machine, driving mechanism, clutch means to operatively connect the driving mechanism with the chute tomove the latter, control devices normally maintaining the clutch means inactive, and

means operated from the charging means for releasing said control devices at a predetermined time.

5. In combina-tion, a. mixing machine, a chute cooperating with said machine, charging means for the said machine, driving mechanism, clutch means to operatively connect the driving mechanism with the chute to move the latter, control devices normally maintaining the clutch means inactive, means operated from the charging means for releasing said control devices at a predetermined time, and comprising a batch meter initially set by the charging means, and adapted to operate the controlling devices aforesaid at a subsequent predetermined time, to render the clutch means, operable so that movement may be transmitted to the chute by the driving mechanism.

6. In combination, a mixing machine, a chute cooperating with said machine, charging means for the said machine, driving mechanism, clutch means to operatively connect the driving mechanism with the chute to move the latter, control devices normally maintaining the clutch means inactive, means operated from the charging means I meter initially set by the charging means,

and adapted to operate the controlling devices aforesaid at a subsequent predetermined time, to render the clutch means operable so that movement may be transmitted tothe chute by the driving mechanism, and a manually controlled device for delaying the transition of the clutch means to activity beyond the time when the control devices are operatedto permit the clutch means to become active. I

7. In combination, a mixingmachine, a chute cooperating with said machine, charging means `for the said machine, driving mechanism, clutch means to operatively/con! neet the driving mechanism with the chute to move the latter, control devices normally maintaining the clutch means inactive, means operated from the. charging means for releasing said control devices at a predetermined time, and comprising a batch meter initially set by` the charging means, and adapted to operate the controlling devices aforesaid at a subsequent predetermined time, to render the clutch means operable so that movement may be transmitted to the chute by the driving mechanism,A a manually controlled device for delaying the transition of the clutch means to activity beyond the time when the control devices are operated to permit the clutch means to become active, said manual means comprising a locking device for maintaining the clutch means out of operation and for efecting actuation of said clutch means.

8. In combination, a mixer, a discharge chute therefor, driving-mechanism for turning over said discharge chute to discharg-4 ing, position, clutch means intermediate said driving mechanism and the chute, for connecting the latter to be operated by driving mechanism, control means for the clutch means, normally maintaining the same inactive 'and preventing operation thereof, and a batch meter for releasing the control means so that the clutch means may operatively connect the driving mechanism with the chute to move the latter. l

9. In combination, a batch meter, a mixer .discharge chute, driving mechanism, means to connect the driving mechanism to the v.chute to move the latter, control means in'- cludingfa dog for normally maintaining said connecting means inactive, mea-ns operated .by the batch meter for locking said dog against releaseaction for a predetermined operation, and including a catch subsequently operable by the -batch meter to release the dog and thereby connect the chute to be operated by the driving mechanism.

10. In combination, a batch meter, a mixer discharge chute, driving mechanism,

time, after setting of the batch meter intov means, to connect the driving mechanism to the chute to move the latter, control means including a dog for normally maintaining said connectingmeans inactive, means` operated by the batch meter for locking said dog against release action for a predetermined time, after setting of the batch meter into operation, and including a catch subsequently operable by thebatch meter to release the dog and thereby connect the chute to be operated by the driving mechanism,

and means operable by said driving mechanism for transmitting to the chute other movement than transmitted .by the driving mechanism, and a manual control device to set the last mentioned means into action for normalizing the chute.

11. In combination, a mixer discharge chute adapted to assume discharging and non-discharging positions, ,a batch meter, power means to turn said chute over to a discharging position, connecting means between the power means and the chute, including a clutch, control devices controlled by the batch meter and normally maintaining said clutch inactive, and also controlled by the said batch-meter to release the clutch, and thereby cause said clutch to connect the power mechanism with the chute to turn it to discharging position, a power contrivance concrete mixers, power mea-ns, connecting means intermediate the power means and Said' chute for turning the chute to discharged position, a power contrivance'operable by said power means to store up power by which tol normalize the chute so that it assumes a non-discharging position, and means controlling vthe effective action of said power con-trivance. e

13. In combination, a discharge chute for concrete miners', power means, connecting means intermediate the power means and said chute for turning the chute to discharged position, a power contrivance operable by said power means to store up power by which to normalize the chute so that it assumes a non-discharging position, means controlling the effective action of said power contrivanc'e, comprising a manual device for throwing the power contrivance into action and causing it to'move the chute back to said non-discharging position.

14. In combination, a discharge chute for concrete mixers, an energy storing device, a linkage connection between said enero'y storing device and the vchute so disposed. as to hold the chute in dischargin and non-discharging positions power mec a\n ism for op for restoring the chute `to non-discharging i l, position.

erating the chu-te and thereby moving said linkage devices to a position storing up energy 1n the energy storing means, b which to force the chute back to a non-disc arging position, and means for releasing .said energy storing means for effective action on the chute, substantially as described.

15. In combination, a discharge chute for concrete mixers, a power operating mechanism,clutch means forming part of connections between said power operating mechanism and the chute, means for rendering said clu-tch means active, whereby the power operating mechanism will move the chute to a discharged position, an energy storing device operated incident to thev movement of the discharge chute to discharged position by said power operating mechanism, said energy storage device being so connected with the. chute as to restore it to non-discharging position, and means for releasing the energy storing device after the chute reaches a discharging position, whereby the chute is carried back to non-discharging 16. In combination, a concrete mixer discharge chute, power means for moving said chute to a discharging position, an energy storing device operated by said power means to store up power by which to move the chute back to non-discharging position, and means for releasing said energy storing device at will subsequent to its operation-by the power means. Y

17. In combination, a concrete mixer discharge chute, power means tomove said chute to discharged position, automatic means for disconnecting the power means from the chiite when the chute has reached discharged position control devices controlling the application of power by the power means to the chute, and a batch-meter controlling said control means.

18. In combination, a batch-meter, a power operating device, a concrete mixer discharge chut-e, clutch mechanismv to connect the power operating device with the chute to turn the latter to discharged position, a dog normally preventing the operation of said clutch means, a catch operable by the batch-meter for releasing said dog so-that the power device will actuate the discharge chute through the operation of the clutch mechanism, and means operated by said power device for renderinr the clutch mech-v anism inactive when the discharge chute reaches a predetermined point in its movement.

19. In combination, a batch-meter, a power operating device, a concrete mixer discharge chute, clutch mechanism to connect the power operating device with the chute to turn the latter to discharged position, a dog normally preventing the operation of said clutch means, a catch operable by the batch-meter for releasing said dog so that the power device will actuate the discharge chute through the operation of the clutch mechanism, means operated by said power device for rendering the' clutch mechanisrn inactive when the discharge chute reaches a predetermined point in its movement, an energy storing device operated by the power means and adapted to carry the discharge chute from discharged position back to non-discharging position, and a manual device for controlling the action of said energy storing device.

In testimony whereof'I affix my signature.

ERICH H. LIOHTENBERG.

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