AU2007100172B4 - Chute Liner - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT Invention Title: Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for service: Chute Liner Skellerup Industrial Pty Ltd Peter Robin Colvin WRAY ASSOCIATES Level 4, The Quadrant 1 William Street Perth, WA 6000 Attorney code: WR including the best The following statement is a full description of this invention, method of performing it known to me:- "Chute Liner" Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a protective liner suitable for preventing material which is passing over the liner from adhering to the liner. It is particularly applicable to a liner for a surface over which mined ore passes and the invention will be described in relation to that application but is to be appreciated that the invention is not limited to that application.

Background Art Ore collected from mining operations is transported to the works for initial processing by suitable transport means including large vehicles such as "Haul Pacs", conveyors and like means. The ore is transferred to the processing plant initially by depositing it into a chute arrangement, after which it is then transferred, often by conveyor to other machinery, such as crushers.

The nature of many ores is such that, if the ore becomes damp or moist, for instance by being exposed to rain, some of the ore will adhere to the chute wall. This can progressively lead to clumps of ore material building up on the chute wall. As these clumps grow in size, they impede the passage of ore within the chute and can even lead to the chute being blocked, completely.

The present invention provides a means to prevent or at least reduce the tendency of such ores to form these clumps on the chute wall.

Disclosure of the Invention Accordingly, the invention resides in an elongate chute liner element intended in use to be applied to a portion of a chute surface in side by side relationship with other elongate chute liner elements of corresponding form to line the said portion of the surface, the chute liner element being formed of a resiliently flexible material, the chute liner element comprising a base intended in use to -3be fixed to the surface, the base having an upper longitudinal edge which in use is to be uppermost, a wing portion at the face of the base which in use is to be remote from the surface, the wing portion extending substantially the length of the chute liner element, said wing portion extending outwardly from the base and obliquely downwardly away from the upper edge, the base extending laterally to at least one side of the wing portion.

According to a preferred feature of the invention the wing portion has the configuration of a strip.

According to a preferred feature of the invention wherein the junction of the wing portion to the base is provided by root portion which is formed to extend laterally from the face of the base and wherein the wing portion extends form the outer portion of the root portion.

According to a preferred feature of the invention the root portion has a width less than that of the base and greater than the thickness of the wing portion.

According to a preferred feature of the invention the portion of the base which extends to at least one side of the junction between the wing portion and the base provides a fixing portion, said fixing portion being intended, in use, to be fixed to the surface and .wherein the width of the wing portion is such that in use when a set of elongate elements are affixed to the surface in side by side relationship the wing portion of an elongate chute element will overlie the fixing portion immediately below it.

The invention will be more fully understood in the light of the following description of several specific embodiments.

Brief Description of the Drawings The description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a chute provided with a chute liner in accordance with the first embodiment; -4- Figure 2 is an isometric view of a chute liner element in accordance with the first embodiment; Figure 3 is a sectional view of a chute liner element in accordance with the first embodiment; Figure 4 is an end view of series of chute liner elements mounted to a surface in accordance with the first embodiment; Figure 5 is an orthographic view of an arrangement of chute liner elements covering a surface in accordance with the first embodiment; Figure 6 is an end view of series of chute liner elements mounted to a surface in accordance with the second embodiment; 2, MAR. 2007 16:53 WRAY AND ASSOCIATES NO. 505 P. 9 0 Figure 7 is a sectional view of a chute liner element in accordance with the third embodiment.

C(A Figure 8 is a sectional view of a chute liner element in accordance with the fourth embodiment; Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments 0 The embodiments of the invention are directed to a chute liner 21 which is o composed of a number of chute liner elements and which is used to line the o wall of a chute which is adapted to receive ore from a mining operation.

A first embodiment of the chute liner element is illustrated in Figures 1 to 5. A typical chute 11 to which the liner 21 is adapted to be applied is depicted in Figure 1 and comprises a group of four trapezoidal walls 12 of steel sheet joined together at the corresponding non-parallel edges 14 to provided an inverted, truncated pyramid arrangement. The walls 12 are joined by welding or other secure means to hold the walls 12 in a structure capable of withstanding the continual impact of ore which is directed to fall within the chute. The chute 11 is supported by a suitable support (not shown).

Two types of chute liner elements 21 being a the standard chute liner element 23 and an upper or end chute liner element 24 are used to form the chute liner 21. The chute liner elements according to the embodiment are fixed to the surface of the chute in side by side parallel relationship as shown at Figure 1 to provide a flexible face over the surface A standard chute liner element 23 is shown in Figures 2 and 3 and comprises an extruded strip formed of rubber or polyurethane or a like resiliently flexible material and has a base 25 and a wing portion 27. The wing portion 25 is connected to the base through a root portion 32. The base 25 has an upper edge which in use is to be upmost and is spaced laterally from the root portion 32 to provide a fixing portion 31 therebetween. The wing portion 27 has the COMS ID No: SBMI-06468105 Received by IP Australia: Time 18:43 Date 2007-03-02 2-MAR2001 16:53 WRAY AND ASSOCIATES NO. 505 P. configuration of a strip and is cantilevered to extend obliquely outwardly and downwardly away from the fixing portion.

SThe fixing portion 31 takes the form of a planar strip of sufficient thickness to provide a mounting means for the chute liner element and having a plurality of apertures 33 along its length adapted to be received by corresponding support studs 41. Support studs 41 are of stainless steel to avoid corrosion and extend Sfrom a steel backing plate 42 which extends for the length of the chute liner element 23. The backing plate 42 is fixedly mounted to the wall 12 of the chute S11 by welding or bolts or the like. The chute liner elements 23 are adapted to S 10 be retained by the studs 41 by domed nuts of nylon 44. A locking plate 46 of steel extending for the length of the chute liner element 23 is also engaged by the locking nuts 44 to the exposedside of the chute liner element 23 to more positively clamp the whole of the fixing 31.

The root portion 32 provides a resiliently deformable body adapted to flexibly support the wing portion from the base and flex with the impact of the ore passing through the chute and then return to its usual position. The wing portion 27 is of sufficient thickness and stiffness to flexibly accommodate the impact of the ore impacting on the wing portion on its passage through the chute. It is anticipated that the support provided by the wing portion by the base through the root 32 will enable the wing portion to. flex on the root on impact and subsequently rebound and vibrate until it finally will comes to rest. It is anticipated that such vibration in will prevent damp ore material from adhering to the wing portion 27. In this regard it is believed that the root 32 will store energy during deflection of the wing portion and release it again, thereby causing the oscillations to be more intense than would be the case if the energy was stored within the wing portion by itself. While the primary vibration or oscillation which the wing undergoes after deflection may be a swinging back and forward action around the junction between the wing portion and the root it is also expected that a vibration will also be induced within the wing portion itself which will provide an effective means for preventing ore from adhering to the surface of the wing.

COMS ID No: SBMI-06468105 Received by IP Australia: Time 18:43 Date 2007-03-02 2-MAR-2007 16:53 WRAY AND ASSOCIATES NO, 505 P. 11 -7- As shown in Figure 4, the upper chute liner element 24 comprises an extruded rubber strip 51 having a profile identical to that of the standard chute liner element 23 except that the fixing portion has no apertures to be received by support studs. Instead, the chute liner element 24 is bonded to a steel base plate 61. The base plate 61 has a foot portion 62 corresponding to the face of the base of the chute liner element which is to abut the surface of the chute 51 and is provided at its lower edge with a support flange 63 spaced form the plane of the foot portion 61 by a web 64. The support flange 63 is parallel to the foot portion 62 but offset by a distance substantially corresponding to the thickness of the fixing portion 31 of an abutting standard chute liner element The support flange is provided with apertures adapted to correspond with the apertures in the fixirng portion 31 of the standard chute liner element 23 to enable the support flange and thereby the upper chute liner element 24 to be retained by the nuts which also secure the adjacent standard chute liner element 23 immediately below it.

As shown in Figure 4 a plurality of backing plates 62 are mounted to a wall 12 of the chute 11 to extend substantially horizontally to support a corresponding number of chute liner elements. The standard chute liner elements 21 23 are arranged so that the upper edge one chute liner element 23 almost abuts the lower edge of the chute liner element above it.

The arrangement has a number of significant advantages. The chute liner elements 21 are retained by a series of nuts screwed to studs, such that the nuts are readily accessible from the external face of the chute liner. Thus, an individual chute liner element can be replaced without the need to replace other chute liner elements 21. Maintenance downtime is therefore minimized.

Nevertheless, the retaining nuts are protected from wear and damage by being covered by the heel and wing of the chute liner element above it. The flexible resilience of the wings which results in vibration of the wing prevents the accumulation of ore on the exposed face of the wing, or indeed on the underside of it. This can also reduce the downtime for maintenance of the plant.

COMS ID No: SBMI-06468105 Received by IP Australia: Time 18:43 Date 2007-03-02 2-MAR-2007 16:53 2. MR, 207 1:53 WRAY AND ASSOCIATES N.0 .1 NO, 505 P, 12 In use it expected that there will be substantially greater wear of the chute liner elements towards the centre than to the sides. Because chute liner elements 21 according to the embodiment are replaceable individually, it is useful to o mount a plurality of chute liner elements 21 in ani end to end relationship, across the face of a chute wall 12, leaving a slight gap 65 there-etween. In c-i this way central elements can be replaced more frequently than side the lateral elements, thereby achieving a significant saving. As shown in Figure 5, in an o array of elongate elements, each transverse row is assembled from three lengths of chute liner elements 21 with slight gaps 65 between adjacent chute liner elements 21 and such that the gaps of adjacent rows are offset. This Ci further acts to prevent the build-up or ore.

In a second embodiment as shown in Figure 6, the studs 41 are attached directly to the wall 12 of the chufte 11 during installation, rather than being applied to a backing strip. In an alternative adaptation of this embodiment (not shown), all of the studs are attached to a single backing plate which is then affixed to the wall. This arrangement provides a simple means of applying the invention to an existing installation, while minimizing the downtime required.

In a third embodiment as shown in Figure 7, the lower face of the chute liner element which provides the junction between the root 32 and the wing portion 27 is arcuate in configuration and as result the base of the wing portion decreases in thickness away from the root.

In a fourth embodiment, as shown in Figure 8, a chute liner element is provided with a wing portion 27 which is cantilevered from the base in the opposite direction from the previous embodiments and the fixing portion is provided between the root and the lower edge such that the wing portion 27 overlies the fixing portion. In this embodiment, the nut 44 and stud 41 of the fixing means are thereby protected by the wing portion 27 of the chute liner element which they support. With this embodiment, a standard chute liner element can be used as the end member, thereby avoiding the need to provide a standard chute liner element and ant end chute liner element as was the caue in the previous embodiments.

COMS ID No: SBMI-06468105 Received by IP Australia: Time 18:43 Date 2007-03-02 2. MAR. 2007 16:54 WRAY AND ASSOCIATES NJO. 505 P. 13 While fixing means of the form described in respect of the first embodiment wil generally be Preferred, it will be appreciated that in certain adaptations of the embodiments, a fixing means comprising a stud extending from the toe on the o covered side of the chute liner element adjacent the support surface may be preferred. Such studs may pass through apertures in a support plate and be ci secured by suitable nuts or other means.

It should be recognized that many variations are possible to embodiments described. For instance, the invention is applicable to most chute o arrangements- But further, the above embodiments identify but one of the ci 10 potential applications to which the invention may be adapted. The invention is applicable to the transfer of many other materials, other than ores, such as grains, powdered substances, and the like. Even more broadly, the invention may be adapted to many other situations where such substances traverse a surface. It should therefore be appreciated that the scope of the present invention need not be limited to the particular scope of the embodiments described above.

Throughout the specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

COMS ID No: SBMI-06468105 Received by IP Australia: Time 18:43 Date 2007-03-02

Claims (4)

1. An elongate chute liner element intended in use to be applied to a portion of a chute surface in side by side relationship with other elongate chute liner elements of corresponding form to line the said portion of the surface, the chute liner element being formed of a resiliently flexible material, the chute liner element comprising a base intended, in use, to be fixed to the surface, the base having an upper longitudinal edge which, in use, is to be uppermost, a wing portion at the face of the base which, in use, is to be remote from the surface, the wing portion extending substantially the length of the chute liner element, said wing portion extending outwardly from the base and obliquely downwardly away from the upper edge, the base extending laterally to at least one side of the wing portion.

2. An elongate chute liner element as claimed at claim 1 wherein the wing portion has the configuration of a strip.

3. An elongate chute liner element as claimed at claim 1 or 2 wherein the junction of the wing portion to the base is provided by root portion which is formed to extend laterally from the face of the base and wherein the wing portion extends form the outer portion of the root portion.

4. An elongate chute liner element as claimed at claim 3 wherein the root portion has a width less than that of the base and greater than the thickness of the wing portion. An elongate chute liner element as claimed in any one of the previous claims wherein the portion of the base which extends to at least one side of the junction between the wing portion and the base provides a fixing portion, said fixing portion being intended, in use, to be fixed to the surface and wherein the width of the wing portion is such that in use when a set of elongate elements are affixed to the surface in side by side relationship the wing portion of an elongate chute element will overlie the fixing portion immediately below it.