US1362056A - Excavator - Google Patents

Description

H. R. STRAIGHT.

Patented Dec. 14, 1920.

3 $HEETSSHEET 1- H. R. STRAIGHT.

EXCAVATOR.

APPLICATION man MAR. 31. m9. 1,362,056, Patented Dec. 14,1920.

3 SHEETSSHEEI 3.

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HALVER R. STRAIGHT, OF ADEL, IOWA.

EXCAVATOR.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HALvnR It. STRAIGHT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Adel, in the county of Dallas, State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Excavator, of .which the following is the specification.

This invention relatesto a new and improved excavator adapted to mining rock, shale, sulfur, oil shale, etc., and is especially adapted to mining oil shale.

Oil shale is a substance of a bituminous nature and will produce crude oil and ammonia. sulfate by destructive distillation, large quantities of it has been found in the mountainous regions of certain parts of the United States in layers or veins from ten to fifteen feet in depth and in a good many cases above the valley floors. It may be mined by tunneling or drifting. Oil shale is hard and tenacious at atmospheric temperatures but becomes quite soft, rotten and volatile when heated to a temperature of three or four hundred degrees.

It has been customary heretofore to mine it by the pick and blasting, after which it is necessary to crush it by a special crusher before submitting it to the distillation process. This causes a large amount of very fine material which is more or less objectionable. On account of its viscous and elastic nature at normal temperature it is hard to drill with an ordinary pneumatic drill, the drill having a tendency to bounce without materially cutting the shale. It does not blast readily, the charge having a tendency to blow out rather than break and shatter. When the chunks are blown off they are hard to break and handle.

An object of my invention is to provide an excavator of simple, durable and inexpensive construction, having few moving parts to loosen, wear or get out of order, and particularly to mining or excavating oil shale, sulfur, rock, shale, etc.

A further object is to provide in an excavator having a rotary excavating memher, a new and improved bucket designed to be rigidly connected to the said member.

A further object is to provide in an excavator having a rotary excavator member,

improved means for carrying and rotating said member.

A. still further object is to provide in an excavator, an improved rotary excavator member constructed with few moving parts and designed to have the cutters and buckets detachably but rigidly held in position.

Serial No. 286,565.

A further object is to provide an excavator having a rotary excavator member, improved means for advancing and controlling the feed of the excavator cutters.

I obtain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 shows a plan view of my excavator showing in dotted line, one of its positions of movement.

Fig. 2 shows a transverse sectional view on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a central longitudinal sectional view.

Fig. a shows a transverse sectional view of the truck and the pivot frames, taken on the line 4% of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a detailed sectional view of one of the buckets showing the manner in which it is filled.

For mounting my excavator, I have provided a track 10, built in short sections. The said track is designed to carry a truck 11 having an axle 12 upon which are mounted wheels 13, only the front end of the truck 11 being shown in the drawings. The back end of the truck 11 is designed to carry elevator devices which are similar to those shown in a companion application filed. by me.

Mounted ahead of the track 10, I have provided a semi-circular track 14 designed to rest on ties l5. Mounted on the front end of the truck, I have provided a cast frame 16 having a circular opening 17 at its center, the inner part of the frame 16 being provided with an annular flange 18.

Rotatively mounted on the upper edge of the flange 18, is a casting 19 which is provided with an annular downwardly extending flange 20 designed to exteno into and to fit the opening 17 of the frame 16. On the upper side of the casting 19 I have provided parallel grooves or rabbets 21 shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3. The back side of the casting 19 is provided with the projection 22 having a screw threaded opening 23. Above the casting 19, I have provided a rectangular casting 24: which has each end provided with a downwardly extending flange 25 designed to slidably rest upon the horizontal bases of the rabbets 21 of the casting 19. ach end of the casting 24 is provided with an upwardly extending slide bar 26 (Fig. l). The said casting 24 has an opening 27. On the bottom of the casting 24 and on the back side of each side is a downwardly and rearwardly extending lug 28. These lugs 28 are provided with a rotatively mounted and screw threaded shaft 29, one end 'of which is provided with a crank 30. r

I have provided for each end of the shaft 29, between the lugs 28, a thrust collar 31. The said shaft 29 is designed to be rotatively mounted in the projection 22 of the casting 19.

It will be seen by this construction that when the shaft 29 is rotated, the casting 24 may be moved relatively to the casting 19. Extending diametrically through the center of the casting 24, I have provided a screw threaded shaft 32. A shield 33 is mounted above the shaft 32 and is for the purpose of protecting the said shaft from dirt or grit.

For the sake of convenience, a shall call the casting 24, a slide frame; the casting 16, the first annular pivot frame; and the casting 19, the second annular pivot frame,

It will be seen from the drawings that the second annular pivot frame 19 is rotatively mounted on the first annular pivot frame 16, the purpose of this will be more fully set forth. For mounting the excavator member and its driving mechanism, I have provided a supporting frame consisting of longitudinal beams 34, 35, 36and 37 , transverse beams 38, 39, 40 and 41.

Mounted between the beams 38 and 39, I have provided longitudinal beams 42. The under side of each of these beams is provided with an inverted channel 43, which are designed to be slidably mounted upon the slide bars 26, as shown in Fig. 4.

From this construction it will be seen that the supporting frame is slidably mounted relative to the slide frame 24 and also pivotally mounted upon the truck 11 due to the pivotal relation between the first and second annular pivot frames. For moving the supporting frame relative to the slide frame 24, I have provided a bracket 44 between the beams 39 and 40 held in position by rivets or bolts 45 (Fig. Secured to the underside of the bracket 44 is a reversible motor 46, having its shaft in line with the shaft 32. Mounted on and between the bars 42, beneath the forward end is a bracket 47 designed to carry a speed reducing gear de vice 48. This device contains the proper speed reducing gears and is dust and oil proof. This speed reducer is a commercial device and can be purchased of gear manufacturers. It is therefore deemed unnecessary to describe the details of construction.

The motor shaft and the driver shaft of the speed reducers, are connected by the coupling 49. The driven shaft of the speed reducer 48, is connected with the front end of the shaft 32 by means of the coupling 50, which also serves as a thrust bearing. The

opposite end of the shaft 32 is rotatively mounted in a bearing 51 on the central under side face, of the beam 38. A thrust bearing 52 is provided for the rear end of the shaft 32 and is designed to co-act with the forward end of the bearing 51. If the motor 46 is rotated, the shaft 32 will be rotated through the speed reducing mechanism 48. This will cause the slide frame 24 to move longitudinally relative to the channels 43 of the supporting frame. If the motor is reversed, the slide frame 24 will be moved in the opposite direction.

For swinging the front or free end of the supporting frame, I have provided angular arranged beams or supports 53, secured to the under side and near the ends of the beams 39, 40 and 41. Secured to each of the supports 53 are bearings 54. Between each set of bearings 54, I have provided a roller 55, having a shaft 55 rotatively mounted in the bearing 54. The rollers 55 are about three feet long and are designed to travel or roll on the circular track 14. The axes of the rollers 55 are in a horizontal plane and intersect at the pivot center of the pivot frames 16 and 19 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, when the said frames are at their central position of movement relative to the supporting frame, at which time the track 14 is so positioned as to engage the rollers at their central portion midway between their ends. The shaft 55 on the forward end of the right hand roller 55, is provided with the sprocket 56. For rotating the said rollers 55, I have provided an angular arranged plate 57 on the right hand ends of the beams 39 and 40 designed to carry a reversible motor 58 and the speed reducing gear mechanism 59. This mechanism is similar to the speed reducer 48 above described. Arrangement of these are clearly shown in Fig. 1.

The adjacent ends of the shafts of the motor 58 and the speed reducer 59 are connected by the coupling 60. The driven shaft of the speed reducer is rotatively mounted in a bearing 61 and is provided with a sprocket 62. A chain 63 operatively connects the sprockets 56 and 62. If the motor shaft is rotated, sprocket 62 will be rotated through the speed reducer 59 and in turn rotates sprocket 56 through the chain 63, which will in turn rotate the roller 55, the rotation of which will cause thefree end of the supporting frame to move in a circular path about the pivot truck. If the rotation of the motor shaft is reversed, the direction of the movement of the supporting frame will also be reversed.

For excavating and elevating the material I have provided the following mechanism which I shall term as the rotary excavator member.

Mounted on the central portion of the beams 40 and 41, is a bearing 64, arranged with its axis in a horizontal plane and extending longitudinally with the supporting frame, the center of which would intersect the vertical center line of the pivot frames. Rotatively mounted in the bearing 64 is a shaft 65 having on its forward end a hub 66. This hub 66 is provided with a flange 67.

I have provided a disk 68 having an opening 69 at its center, the said opening being designed to pass over the end of the hub 66 so that the disk 68 lies adjacent to the back side of the flange 67. The disk is secured in position by means of bolts 7 0. Secured to the back side of the disk 68 and at its periphery, I have provided an internal gear 71. This gear is built in sections and is secured to the disk by means of bolts 72. The said gear is provided with the flange 73 in which the bolts 72 are mounted. The forward end of the hub 66 is provided with a flange portion 74 bracing the disk 68 against the rearward movement as the excavator member is being operated.

I have provided spokes 7 5 having their inner ends connected with the flange 74 and their outer ends secured to the bolts 72. Bolted to the periphery of the internal gear 71, I have provided a series of cutter holders 76 having a plate 77 designed to rest adjacent to the periphery of the internal gear 71 and secured thereto by means of bolts 78. The plate 77 is provided with an outwardly and. forwardly inclined arm 79, the said arm being provided with a recess 80. This recess 80 is rectangular in cross section and is designed to receive a cutter 81 which is pointed at its outer end and secured in position in the recess by means of the set screw 82. The arm 79'is designed to be inclined in the direction in which the internal gear is rotated.

For gathering the material and elevating it, I have provided buckets 83 having an inclined bottom 84 and inwardly projecting lugs 85, a front end 86, a top 87, a back end 88 and a back side 89 and front side 90. The front side 90 is provided with the opening 91 and the back end 88 is provided with an opening 92. The lower edge of the end 88 is provided with a hinge 93 designed to have a door 94 pivotally connected therewith. The lower end of the door 94 is provided with a roller 95. A spring 96 is mounted on the hinge member 93 in such a manner as to normally hold the door 94 in an open position. The lugs 85 are so constructed as to extend down the front side of the disk 68 toward its center and are held in position by means of the bolts 72. It will thus be seen I have provided an excavating member so constructed that if the cutter holders orbuckets should be broken they can easily be replaced and the internal gear 71 may also be easily replaced if it should become broken.

Secured to the forward end of the supporting frame, I have provided an annular track 97. as to engage the rollers when the door 94 is in its closed position, and is for the purpose of holding said doors closed against the action of the spring 96.

At the top portion of the track 97, I have provided a rearwardly extending portion 98 and is for the purpose of permitting the doors 94 to open, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3. Secured to the beam 41 on each side of the bearing 64, I have provided vertical upright supports 98, the up per ends of which are provided with a pivotally mounted chute 99, the upper end of the chute 99 being provided with an enlarged portion 100, .which is tapering at its lower end to connect with the upper end of the chute 99. Pivotally mounted to the forward end of the frame 24, I have provided a chute 101, the upper end of which is telescopically connected with the chute 99, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

Mounted upon the left hand end of the members 39, 40 and 41, I have provided a plate 102 designed to carry a motor 103 and the speed reducer 104. This speed reglucer is similar to those already described and has its driving shaft in line with the shaft of the motor 103. These shafts are connected by means of the coupling 105. The forward end of the driven shaft of the speed reducer 104 is provided with a pinion gear 106 and is arranged to be in mesh with the internal gear 71. By this arrangement it will be seen that if the motor 103 is operated, the pinion 106 will be rotated in aclockwise direction, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. This will cause the internal gear 71 to be rotated together with the cutter arms 79 and the buckets 83. The cutters will engage the material to be excavated, breaking and cutting it loose in small chunks, a portion of which will fall in the buckets and the remainder will fall upon the floor. As the buckets 83 are elevated, the roller 95 will engage the track 97. When the said roller is advanced to a position where it will engage the rearwardly extending portion 98, the doors 94 will be opened, thereby permitting any material that is within the bucket to slide out into the enlarged portion of the chute 99. This will move downwardly and pass through the opening 20 in the pivotal supporting members and fall upon the conveyer 107, the said conveyor being designed to rotate over a pulley 108. The opposite end of the conveyer 107 is not shown as above stated and is designed to communicate with suitable conveyers for loading the material into cars. The plate 109 is provided for directing ma- This track is of such a diameter I terial into the opening 20. As the supporting frame is moved relative to the slide frame 24L, the chute 101 will be moved relative to the chute 99. As the buckets travel to a loweredposition they will engage the material loosened by the cutters. which will be slid in through the opening 91 and carried upwardly and dumped as above described.

While the rotary excavator member is being rotated, the shaft of the motor 58 will also be rotated, which will in turn rotate the sprocket 62, the rollers 55 will be rotated through the chain 63 and the sprockets 56. The rotation of these rollers will cause the forward or free end of the supporting frame to move in a circular path. This rotary movement of the frame will be carried on until the longitudinal axis of the supporting frame is past the transverse center line ex tending through the pivot centers or at right angles to the longitudinal line with the track 10. hen the cutting or forward edge of the rotary excavator member is past the transverse line referred to a distance equal to the diameter of the excavator member, the motor 58 will be reversed. This will cause the roller 55 to be reversed and the frame started in the reverse direction. At this time it is necessary to operate the crank 30,

which will cause the shaft 29 to be rotated and the supporting frame moved transversely relative to the slide frame 24. This will causethe right hand side of therotary excavator member, as shown in Fig. 1, to disengage the bank of the material being excavated and the left hand end of the excavator member to engage the said bank. This movement is represented in dotted lines in Fig. 1. When the supporting frame is moved tothe left, the cutters will engage the material on an upward movement and when the supporting frame is being moved to the right, the said cutters will engage the material on the downward movement, it being seen that the cutters will engage the bank at their lower position of movement and disengage it at their upper position of movement. The transverse movement of the supporting frame is for the purpose of freeing the idle cutters from the side of the bank so that they will not have a dragging contact which would cause them to be worn out very rapidly.

After the excavator member has been moved about the pivot centers of the pivot frame through an angle of approximately 180 degrees and at a position at right angles to the longitudinal center of the track and at the time that the motor 58 is reversed, the motor 46 will be operated which will cause the shaft 82 to be rotated and the supporting frame to be moved radially, which will cause the rollers 55 to be slid on the track 14. This movement is designed to be approximately an inch. This will cause the cutters to be moved into the bank so that a new cut may be made. lVhen the supporting frame has been moved outward to its limit of movement the motor et6 is reversed which will reverse the movement of the shaft 32, causing the truck 11 to be moved toward the excavator member, until its opposite limit of movement is reached. v

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an excavator of comparatively simple construction and having its gears and working parts inclosed so as not to gather the dust and its moving parts arranged in such a manner as to be accessible so that repairs may be easily made when it is necessary. It will also be seen that the material will be cut in small chunks of a comparatively uniform side and automatically gathered and delivered to a point where it may be loaded into cars and carried to the retorts for distillation.

This is an important feature in machines of this kind due to the fact that the expense of gettingthe material out must be limited in order that the crude oil may be distilled commercially.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a truck, an annular pivot frame thereon, a second annular pivot frame on said first pivot frame, a slide frame on said second annular pivot frame, means for moving said slide frame relative to said second annular frame, a supporting frame having one end slidably mounted on said slide frame, means for movin said supporting frame relative to said slide frame and at right angles to the movement thereof, means forv carrying the free end of said supporting frame in an alternate circular path, a rotary excavator on the free end of said supporting frame designed to rotate in a vertical plane substantially tangent to the circular path, means for rotating said excavator member and telescopic means for delivering material from the'excavator member through said annular pivot member.

2. The combination of a truck, a circular track, a supporting frame having one end pivotally and slidably mounted on said track, radially arranged rollers for carrying the free end of said supporting frame and designed to travel on said track, means for ro tating said rollers in either direction to move the free end of said supporting frame in a circular path, a rotary excavator member on the free end of said supporting frame, designed to excavate, elevate, and discharge material and to rotate in a plane substantially tangent to the said circular path, means for driving said excavator and means for moving the sliding end of said supporting frame transversely in either direction.

3. The combination of a truck, a circular track, asupporting frame having one end pivotally and slidably mounted on said track, radially arranged rollers for carrying the free end of said supporting frame and designed to travel on said track, means for rotating said rollers in either direction to move the free end of said supporting frame in a circular path, a rotary excavator memher on the free end of said supporting frame, designed to excavate, elevate, and discharge material and to rotate in a plane substantially'tangent to the said circular path, means for driving said excavator, means for moving the sliding end of said supporting frame transversely in either direction and means for moving said supporting frame radially relative to said truck.

l. In a device of the class described, a truck, a supporting frame having one end pivoted to said truck, means for carrying the other end in a circular path, a shaft arranged radially and horizontally on said frame, a rotary member secured to the outer end of said shaft, means for rotating said member, detachable cutters for said member, buckets capable of being filled tangentially and discharged transversely and means for receiving and delivering the discharged material to a predetermined point of discharge.

5. In a device of the class described, apivot truck, a supporting frame on said truck capable of pivotal and radial movement in a horizontal plane, an excavator member on said frame designed to rotate in a vertical plane substantially perpendicular to the radial line of movement, means for rotating said excavator, means for moving said frame and excavator in an alternate semi-circular path and means for increasing or diminishing the radius of said circular path.

6. In a device of the class described, a pivot truck, a supporting frame on said truck capable of pivotal and radial movement in a horizontal plane, an excavator member on said frame designed to rotate in a vertical plane substantially perpendicular to the radial line of movement, means for changing the angle of the vertical plane of rotation relative to the said line of radial movement, means for rotating said excavator, means for moving said frame and excavator in an alternate semi-circular path and means for increasing or diminishing the radius of said circular path.

7. In a device of the class described, a truck, an annular pivot frame thereon, a second annular pivot frame on said first pivot frame, a slide frame on said second annular pivot frame, means for moving said slide frame relative to said second annular frame, a supporting frame having one end slidably mounted on said slide frame, means for moving said supporting frame relative to said slide frame and at right angles to the movement thereof, means for carrying the free end of said suporting frame in an alternate semi-circular path, a rotary excavator on the free end of said supporting frame designed to rotate in a vertical plane substantially tangent to the semi-circular path and means for rotating said excavator member.

8. In a device of the class described, a supporting frame, means for moving said frame alternately in a semi-circular path, an excavator thereon, means for rotating said excavator in a vertical plane at an angle slightly inclined to a tangent to the semicircular pathwhen said excavator is moved in one direction and at a reverse angle when the movement of the excavator is reversed.

9. In a device of the class described, a supporting frame, means for moving said frame alternately in a semi-circular path, an excavator thereon, means for rotating said excavator in a vertical plane at an angle slightly inclined to a tangent to the semicircular path When said excavator is moved in one direction and at a reverse angle when the movement of the excavator is reversed and means for increasing or diminishing the radius of the said semi-circular path.

10. In a device of the class described, a supporting frame, means for moving said frame alternately in a semi-circular path, an excavator thereon, means for rotating said excavator in a vertical plane at an angle slightly inclined to a tangent to the semi circular path when said excavator is moved in. one direction and at a reverse angle When the movement of the excavator is reversed, means for increasing or diminishing the ra dius of the said semi-circular path and means for conveying the excavated material to a fixed point as the excavator is being 013* erated and from any of its operative positions. A

11. In a device of the class described, a truck, a supporting frame having one end pivotally and slidably mounted thereon, means for imparting a radial movement to said supporting frame in either direction, means for carrying the free end of said frame alternately in a semi-circular path, a rotary excavator member on the free end of said supporting frame, designed to excavate, elevate and discharge material, and to rotate in a plane substantially tangent to the semi-circular path, means for driving said excavator member, means for moving the slidable end of said supporting frame transversely in either direction, means for conveying the discharged material from the excavator through the pivot center of said supporting frame and said truck.

HALVER R, STRAIGHT.

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