US3737025A

US3737025A - Cleaning device for bucket elevator

Info

Publication number: US3737025A
Application number: US00192123A
Authority: US
Inventors: T Miller; R Zeck
Original assignee: FMC Corp
Current assignee: FMC Corp
Priority date: 1971-10-26
Filing date: 1971-10-26
Publication date: 1973-06-05
Anticipated expiration: 1990-06-05

Abstract

In a bucket elevator a cleaning lip is attached to a few buckets of the bucket and chain line to protrude beyond the normal outer edge of the bucket to remove material in the bottom part of the elevator casing. The material is conveyed to the head of the elevator and combined with the normally elevated material in the discharge chute or otherwise conveyed out of the elevator casing to prevent the buildup of spilled material at the bottom which might interfere with and cause damage to the bucket and chain line or the drive.

Description

United States Patent [191 Miller et al.

[ 1 June 5, 1973 I54] CLEANING DEVICE FOR BUCKET ELEVATOR [75] Inventors: Thomas F. Miller, Elmhurst; Richard C. Zeck, Bellwood, both of Ill. 1

[73] Assignee: FMC Corporation, San Jose, Calif.

[22] Filed: Oct. 26, 1971 [21] Appl.No.: 192,123

[52] US. Cl ..l98/229, 198/207 [51] Int. Cl ..B65g 45/00 [58] Field of Search ..198/55, 140, 142,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,375,881 4/1921 Wilsen ..'...l98/206 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 37,823 9/1923 Norway ..198/144 Primary ExaminerI-Iarvey C. Hornsby Assistant Examiner-James W. Miller AttornyP. W. Anderson, C. F. Tripp and John F.

Verhoeven [57] ABSTRACT In a bucket elevator a cleaning lip is attached to a few buckets of the bucket and chain line to protrude beyond the normal outer edge of the bucket to remove material in the bottom part of the elevator casing. The material is conveyed to the head of the elevator and combined with the normally elevated material in the discharge chute or otherwise conveyed out of the elevator casing to prevent the buildup of spilled material at the bottom which might interfere with and cause damage to the bucket and chain line or the drive.

18 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 N m-HIP ma INVENTORS. THOMAS A. MILLER RICHARD C. ZECK ATTORNEYS Patented June 5, 1973 mm. O Gm.

mm. rd 0% Patented June 5, 1973 3,737,025

5 Sheets-Shoot 2 Patented June 5, 1973 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 TIE 0 Km? a W Patented June 5, 1973 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 I Patented June 5,1973 4 3,137,025

5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Ill] ll 1 I I l 1 I I 7! llfI/IIII CLEANING DEVICE FOR BUCKET ELEVATOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to bucket'elevators for elevating loose, bulk materials, and, more particularly, to a cleaning device to remove or to prevent the buildup of spilled material in the bottom part of the elevator cas ing.

2. Description of the Prior Art In a bucket elevator of the type to which the cleaning device of the present invention may be applied with advantageous results, buckets are attached to power driven chains or a belt which are trained over upper head wheels or pulleys and lower foot wheels or guide tracks supported in a casing enclosing this machinery. A feed chute is provided near the foot wheels to load the buckets which buckets then move generally in a vertical path to the head wheels where the buckets empty the material into a discharge chute at the higher elevation. Such a mechanism is shown in U. S. Pats. No. 2,318,658 issued to J. M. Alvey on May 11, 1943, U.S. Pat. No. 2,394,638 issued to H. E. Schrader on Feb. 12, 1946, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,960,209 issued to H. S. Everhart on Nov. 15, 1960. This type of elevator is known as an internal discharge elevator but cleaning devices are not disclosed in the above patents.

Prior art cleaning devices for bucket elevators fall into several categories. In U. S. Pat. No. 1,434,601 to French and U. S. Pat. No. 2,545,377 to Parisi, a stripper member is provided within the bucket to push the material out of the bucket at discharge. In U. S. Pat. No. 416,301 to Roberts, U. S. Pat. No. 227,988 to Meech, U. S. Pat. No. 1,037,184 to Farrar, and U. S. Pat. No. 1,942,590 to Binger either the bucket carries a brush externally or a frame spaced between the bucket and having a series of brushes or a scraper member attached to the elevator belt is used to clean the legs of the elevator casing by its movement in close proximity to the interior cross-sectional portions of the casing. U. S. Pat. No. 1,710,279 to Waddell shows an auxiliary hand operated bucket elevator cooperating with the main elevator boot to carry away the excess material when the boot is choked and flooded with material. U. S. Pat. No. 2,552,812 to Patterson discloses a vibrating or knocking device applied to a cover plate for an opening in the bottom of the boot section whereby the knocking action throws material accumulated on the bottom cover plate into a momentarily suspended state in the path of the elevator buckets where it is caught by the buckets in their movement and so removed from the boot section. U. S. Pat. No. 2,641,357 to Jones shows a drawer-like compartment in the bottom of the elevator with a hand operated pusherscraper device for removing the material accumulated in the bottom of the elevator. U. S. Pat. No. 3,236,365 to Erisman shows a moving sealing belt in contact with the tips of the buckets around a substantial portion of the boot section to prevent spillage of material in the buckets. U. S. Pat. No. 3,343,654 to Fisher shows the use of air jets in the boot of an elevator to agitate the material so it will go into suspension and then be picked up by the passage of the buckets.

All of the above prior art patents are for use with centrifugal discharge type of bucket elevators, wherein the material is fed into and discharged from the bucket from the outer edge of the bucket opposite the bucketcarrying chain or belt.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The cleaning device of the present invention consists of a cleanout lip, or auxiliary scoop, secured to the leading edge of one or more buckets in the bucket line of a bucket elevator. This cleanout lip projects beyond the normal outer clearance line of the buckets and thus is closer to the bottom of the elevator boot. As the bucket with the attached cleanout lip moves from the down-run path around the loading position to the uprun path, the cleanout lip automatically and continuously scoops up any accumulated material lying in bottom of the elevator boot. The material thus picked up is elevated to the head section of the elevator where it is discharged with the material in the buckets. In one embodiment the bucket preceding the cleanout lip is replaced with a pivoted plate which, at the discharge point, swings by gravity out of the way to permit the material from the cleanout lip to pass over the back of the bucket with the cleanout lip and through this opening left by the pivoted plate into the discharge chute. An alternate embodiment of this invention discloses a bucket having an opening in its outer or bottom surface which is normally covered by a pivoted plate. When this bucket reaches the discharge position, the pivoted plate swings out of the way so the collected material in the cleanout lip flows through the opening into the bucket and then discharges from the bucket in the normal manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical bucket elevator with the casing partially broken away at the head and foot sections.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of a typical up-run section of the buckets and chain with with one shaft and the chain joints shown in cross-section.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the buckets and chain taken along line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the elevator of FIG. 1 with the intermediate sections omitted, showing the head and foot sections enlarged and showing the cleaning device of this invention in several successive positions.

FIG. 5 is an elevational view, partially broken away, of one of the buckets with the cleanout lip attached to the bucket.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the bucket and cleanout lip taken along line 66 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is an elevational view, partially broken away, of the pivoted plate replacing one bucket and used in conjunction with the cleaning device shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the pivoted plate, showing its position in the vertical up-run side of the elevator, taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the pivoted plate, showing its position in the discharge position on the head wheel and pivoting downward away from the following bucket.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the elevator of FIG. 1 with the intermediate sections omitted, showing the head and foot sections enlarged and showing a second embodiment of the cleaning device of this invention in several successive positions.

out lip 65, on the next trailing bucket 25 to the pivotable plate 60, projects beyond the normal outer clearance line of the regular buckets 25 by a distance P as shown in FIG. 4, but still clears the bottom and sides of the foot section 22. The cleanout lip 65 forms a small additional scoop or bucket and consists of a bottom transverse plate 66 and two triangular side plate 67 welded to the leading edge of the regular bucket 25 which forms the back of the cleanout lip. The cleanout lip 65 digs into the accumulated spillage and'as the bucket 25' articulates around the chain tracking guides 28, the material is scooped up and is caught in the cleaning lip. Bottom plate 66 forms a shelf on which this material rests between the side plates 67, as the bucket 25' is elevated to the head section. At the head section bucket 25 inverts as it articulates around sprockets 27 and the pivotable plate 60 swings by gravity to a downward position opening up a space 68 between leading bucket 25 and trailing bucket 25'. The spillage picked up by cleaning lip 65 is then free to discharge over the leading edge of bucket 25 into the opening 68 made between

buckets

25 and 25. This collected spilled material thus discharges with the material in the regular buckets 25 into discharge chute 31 as shown in the upper portion of FIG. 4. Pivoted plate 60 hangs in the position shown in FIG. 9 as it descends the down-run side of the elevator with the hooked edge 48 of the adjacent leading bucket forming a stop which prevents the plate swinging to a fully vertical position. When the pivoted plate 60 reaches the foot section, a cam surface 69 on the chain tracking guides 28 will push the pivoted plate to the closed position against the pin 53 of the adjacent trailing bucket, as shown in the lower portion of FIG. 4. In this closed position the pivoted plate closes the opening between

buckets

25 and 25' during loading under the feed chute 29 to prevent spillage.

The second embodiment of this invention is shown in FIGS. 10-12. One, or more if necessary for additional spillage cleaning capacity, of the buckets 25 is modified to form bucket 70 by the addition of an opening 71 in the bottom of the connecting plate 42 which corresponds to plate 42 of the bucket 25, a pivotable door or cover plate 72 inside the bucket to close opening 71, a hinge pin 73, and a cleanout member or a cleanout lip 75. FIG. 10 shows successive positions of bucket 70 around the entire path of the bucket line of the elevator. Opening 71, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, extends over most of the bottom of the bucket, leaving only a narrow ledge on all sides for the pivotable door 72 to rest on and to close the opening when material is fed into the bucket 70. The pivotable door 72 is a flat rectangular plate having one end curled to form a hinge portion 74 to receive hinge pin 73. The pin 73 is fixed in the end plates of the bucket, as by a press fit, after the pin is inserted in the hinge portion of plate 72. Cleanout lip 75 forms an auxiliary scoop or bucket which extends radially beyond the regular buckets 25 by a distance P, as shown in the lower portion of FIG. 10. The cleanout lip 75 consists of a curved bottom plate 76 and a pair of end plates 77 welded to the bottom of the bucket. The lip 75 has an opening facing in the direction of travel to scoop up the spilled material as the bucket 70 articulates around the chain tracking guides 28. At the head section bucket 70 inverts to discharge its material and plate 72 pivots by gravity to uncover opening 71. The material in cleanout lip 75 is then free to discharge through opening 71. The spilled material collected from the foot section is thus recovered and discharged with the material elevated in the regular buckets 25 into the discharge chute 31. As the bucket further articulates over the head sprocket 27 and returns to the foot section via the down run side of the elevator, the pivoted plate 72 pivots by gravity to cover the opening 71 in bucket 70, so the bucket is ready to receive material again by the time it reaches the area of the feed chute 29 in the foot section 22.

Although the best modes contemplated for carrying out the present invention have been herein shown and described, it will be apparent that modifications and variations may be made without departing from what is regarded to be the subject matter of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a bucket elevator for handling bulk material, the elevator having a foot section, a head section with a discharge chute and an endless chain and bucket line, said line being movable in a continuous path between said foot and head sections to elevate said material therebetween, apparatus for cleaning spilled material accumulated in the foot section of said elevator which comprises acleanout member attached to a bucket in said movable chain and bucket line, said cleanout member being positioned outwardly of the path of the outer edges of said buckets to scoop up said spilled material accumulated in the bottom of said foot section, and to carry said scooped up material to the head section for discharge of said material into said discharge chute together with the material from said buckets.

2. The apparatus for cleaning the foot section of an elevator as recited in claim ll, wherein said cleanout member comprises an auxiliary scoop secured to the outer edge of at least one bucket in said chain and bucket line.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 including a plate pivotally mounted in said chain and bucket line between said bucket and an adjacent bucket preceding said first bucket in the direction of travel of said chain and bucket line.

4. The apparatus for cleaning the foot section of an elevator as recited in claim 2, wherein said bucket having said scoop attached thereto has an opening in the bottom portion thereof, said opening extending substantially over the entire area of said bottom portion, said bucket further having a cover plate pivotally mounted inside said bucket adjacent its trailing edge, said cover plate normally closing said opening when said first bucket is in the foot section, and pivoting to uncover said opening when said first bucket is located in the head section to permit material carried in said scoop to pass through said opening, to pass through said bucket and then into the discharge chute.

5. In a bucket elevator for handling bulk material, the elevator having a foot section with a loading area wherein the buckets are loaded, a head section with head sprockets and with a discharge area wherein the buckets are emptied into a discharge chute, and an endless chain and bucket line movable in a continuous path between said foot and head sections, cleaning apparatus for the foot section comprising:

a. a cleanout member attached to the outside of a first bucket in the chain and bucket line, said cleanout member projecting beyond the path of the outer edges of the buckets, said cleanout member capable of picking up and removing spilled material accumulated in the bottorri of the foot section i iri the headsectionlof theelevato t material in the cleanout member torbedischafgediS chain and bucket line;

V bucket ina substantially horizontaipositionwhensaid 3 terialfrom said firstjandsecond buckets!" tion Overlapping the ladinlg edgeof said firsthuc i said plate approaches the loadin are nsaid "tron;

"dling bulk material having anendless andybuck a head section he feta/ tar, wherei loaded into the hue etsfroma loading chute nsid loop within the footsectionjand the material iseniptied from thcabuckets intoja discharge chnteinside said loop gin g the foot sectionilofuthe{elevator j he mprise v i h eane member:passes jthroughthespil materiahand mi l b. a plate pivotally mounted in the chain and bucke h in the chain and bucket line andmovable through a device forfcleam line, said plate locatedtina spacecorresponding to 5f spilledniaterialaccumulated in thefoot section,"

I a pitch of the chain between said bucket andj Qsaid bucket ha i'inga d ischargeopeningin the botan adjacent second bucket precedingvsaid first tomfiportioiforlthedischarge of material from the bucket in the direction of travel of said chain and J r l i cleanout lipto the discharge chute, said opening bucket line,"said pivoted plate being substantially extending substantiallyover the entire area of the horizontal inthe loading area of the foct section to bridging thespacegbetween saidfirstandsecond t buckets to prevent spillage inloadihgnthebuckets Q t i Said p mv l tii hifi fiwi g l aI iPQ P QdYPQ a tion at thehead sec t ion to permitthe pi cked up t bottomportion ofsaidbucket; and v b; apla'te pivotallymounted inside saidbucket adjacent itstrailing edge, said plate covering and clos- *ii g Sil dopening;inthe bottom portion of said amass;

ucket w en the bu etis in the loadingarea of the between thefi'rst andjsecondbuck ets soastopass aHalliecleaningdeviceofclaim12,wherein said intothedischargeichute. v ,v 6. The cleaningappa ratusof claim 5, wherein the ff endinthe direction oitravel and comprises two side cleanout member comprises an auxiliary scoopsecured vyplatesandaeurved plate extending substantially across t wa tresses? width siren ba ls efld wav d w I? i ll bottomportion ofsaidbucketto the re rof said open-ff and a cross-rod in the chain and bucket line inserted atransverse pin, said pinpasses through saidhinge porthrough said aperturestoconnect saidplate intosaid tion andfth'eendsofsaidlpin are secured in the side *platesf of said bucket adjacent the trailing edge,

"wher s. The cleaningapparatusf"ofciaimfi; assi meanest iipidefines anfiauxiliary scoopfwith an open r p r p in Thecleaningfdevice er claim mama as having an aperture adjacent the ieadingend ofthebar; piyotableplate furtherwcomprises ahinge portion and aid plate pivots by gravity to a substantially auxiliary scoop furtherlcomprises ajbottornfltransverse l"f hor'zontal jposition closing the bottom openingin said plate and two side plates, said scoop hayingan open ml buc ktfiwhen theybucket is in the loading area'so the foot section and said"plateautomatically swings to a substantially vertical position away from and uncovervmit materialwpicked uppbyjsaid cleanout lip to pass fthroughthenncovered opening insaid bucketan d second bucket islocatedin the loadingareawit hinthe foot section, said platethereby preventingpspillage of lstfirl abucketelevatonfor transporting material in material between saidfirst and second lbpckets in the Qjavertical easing fronraneinlet at the lower end of the loading area. i casingtoanputletattheupper end of the caSingQthe hue ket :canljrecei ueand hold material fedinto it in the ing said opening insaid bucket when said bucket isinavertedlonthehead sprocketsinthe head sectiontojper "through said 3 bucket to be collected in the discharge chute togetherw iththe rnaterial from saidbucket.

10. The cleaning apparatus of claimj, wherein the bucket elevat or havingla plurality of buckets mounted free end of said plate pivots downwardlyund er gravity to provide an open space for the passageofmateriai be-f tween said first andsecond bucketstothe discharge chute when said first and second buckets are located in let; saidbuckets heldwith the open'top always inward is; therein, meansfholding said buckets together in an endlessioop fortravel under the inlet and over the out the discharge area within said headsec tion, whereby toreceive materialfromthe inlet and to dump material material picked up bji said cleanoutmeans discharges by gravity through the open space and the materialis collected in the discharge chute together withthemaspilled material from thebott om of the casing for transopen at the top of the loopefor passage ofthe material 12.]n aninterna ldisc rgebucket elev or forhan line movable in a contihuousloop' on into the It utlet, the improvement comprising an out- 4 l wardly extending scoop on at least one bucket to scoop portio the outlet and door pivotally mounted insai d? floopadjacent said bucketwith the scoop, said door to at the a tdk hsiiv fls lshd he We a W bs es another elevation, said bucket elevator having a plurality of buckets mounted in said casing for travel therein in an endless path past the inlet and the outlet, the improvement comprising a cleanout member connected to at least one of said buckets, said cleanout member extending transversely across said bucket with the connected cleanout member, said cleanout member projecting radially outwardly of the clearance path of said buckets to engage material fallen to the bottom of said casing, and said cleanout member picking up and removing the spilled material from the bottom of said casing.

18. In a bucket elevator for transporting material in a vertical casing from an inlet at the lower end of the casing to an outlet at the upper end of the casing, the bucket elevator having a plurality of buckets mounted on a chain in the casing for travel past the inlet and the outlet in an endless path, the improvement comprising a scoop member mounted on at least one of said buckets to extend radially outwardly beyond said path to pick up and to remove material from the bottom of the casing, and a door mounted on the chain adjacent said scoop member, said door movable between a closed position at the bottom of the elevator to prevent spillage into the bottom of the casing of material passing from the inlet into the buckets and said door movable to an open position at the top of the elevator to permit material removed from the bottom of the casing by the scoop member to pass from the scoop member into the outlet.

Claims

1. In a bucket elevator for handling bulk material, the elevator having a foot section, a head section with a discharge chute and an endless chain and bucket line, said line being movable in a continuous path between said foot and head sections to elevate said material therebetween, apparatus for cleaning spilled material accumulated in the foot section of said elevator which comprises a cleanout member attached to a bucket in said movable chain and bucket line, said cleanout member being positioned outwardly of the path of the outer edges of said buckets to scoop up said spilled material accumulated in the bottom of said foot section, and to carry said scooped up material To the head section for discharge of said material into said discharge chute together with the material from said buckets.

2. The apparatus for cleaning the foot section of an elevator as recited in claim 1, wherein said cleanout member comprises an auxiliary scoop secured to the outer edge of at least one bucket in said chain and bucket line.

5. In a bucket elevator for handling bulk material, the elevator having a foot section with a loading area wherein the buckets are loaded, a head section with head sprockets and with a discharge area wherein the buckets are emptied into a discharge chute, and an endless chain and bucket line movable in a continuous path between said foot and head sections, cleaning apparatus for the foot section comprising: a. a cleanout member attached to the outside of a first bucket in the chain and bucket line, said cleanout member projecting beyond the path of the outer edges of the buckets, said cleanout member capable of picking up and removing spilled material accumulated in the bottom of the foot section as the cleanout member passes through the spilled material; and b. a plate pivotally mounted in the chain and bucket line, said plate located in a space corresponding to a pitch of the chain between said first bucket and an adjacent second bucket preceding said first bucket in the direction of travel of said chain and bucket line, said pivoted plate being substantially horizontal in the loading area of the foot section bridging the space between said first and second buckets to prevent spillage in loading the buckets and said pivoted plate swinging to an inclined position at the head section to permit the picked up material in the cleanout member to be discharged between the first and second buckets so as to pass into the discharge chute.

6. The cleaning apparatus of claim 5, wherein the cleanout member comprises an auxiliary scoop secured to the leading end of said first bucket.

7. The cleaning apparatus of claim 5, wherein said pivoted plate further comprises a bar secured to each of the transverse sides of said plate, each of said bars having an aperture adjacent the leading end of the bar, and a cross-rod in the chain and bucket line inserted through said apertures to connect said plate into said chain and bucket line.

8. The cleaning apparatus of claim 6, wherein the auxiliary scoop further comprises a bottom transverse plate and two side plates, said scoop having an open end in the direction of travel, the leading end of said first bucket forming the back portion of said auxiliary scoop.

9. The cleaning apparatus of claim 7, wherein one end of said plate is pivotally mounted under the trailing edge of said second bucket and the other free end of said plate overlaps the leading inside edge of said first bucket in a substantially horizontal position when said second bucket is located in the loading area within the foot section, said plate thereby preventing spillage of material between said first and second buckets in the loading area.

10. The cleaning apparatus of claim 9, wherein the free end of said plate pivOts downwardly under gravity to provide an open space for the passage of material between said first and second buckets to the discharge chute when said first and second buckets are located in the discharge area within said head section, whereby material picked up by said cleanout means discharges by gravity through the open space and the material is collected in the discharge chute together with the material from said first and second buckets.

11. The cleaning apparatus of claim 9, wherein a cam surface is provided in the down-run portion of the foot section, said cam surface located to contact said pivoted plate to return said free end of said plate to a position overlapping the leading edge of said first bucket as said plate approaches the loading area in said foot section.

12. In an internal discharge bucket elevator for handling bulk material having an endless chain and bucket line movable in a continuous loop between a foot and a head section in the elevator, wherein material is loaded into the buckets from a loading chute inside said loop within the foot section and the material is emptied from the buckets into a discharge chute inside said loop as the bucket and chain line passes over head sprockets in the head section of the elevator, a device for cleaning the foot section of the elevator which comprises: a. a cleanout lip attached to the outside of a bucket in the chain and bucket line and movable through spilled material accumulated in the foot section, said bucket having a discharge opening in the bottom portion for the discharge of material from the cleanout lip to the discharge chute, said opening extending substantially over the entire area of the bottom portion of said bucket; and b. a plate pivotally mounted inside said bucket adjacent its trailing edge, said plate covering and closing said opening in the bottom portion of said bucket when the bucket is in the loading area of the foot section.

13. The cleaning device of claim 12, wherein said cleanout lip defines an auxiliary scoop with an open end in the direction of travel and comprises two sideplates and a curved plate extending substantially across the transverse width of said bucket and secured to the bottom portion of said bucket to the rear of said opening in the bottom of said bucket.

14. The cleaning device of claim 12, wherein said pivotable plate further comprises a hinge portion and a transverse pin, said pin passes through said hinge portion and the ends of said pin are secured in the side plates of said bucket adjacent the trailing edge, whereby said plate pivots by gravity to a substantially horizontal position closing the bottom opening in said bucket when the bucket is in the loading area so the bucket can receive and hold material fed into it in the foot section and said plate automatically swings to a substantially vertical position away from and uncovering said opening in said bucket when said bucket is inverted on the head sprockets in the head section to permit material picked up by said cleanout lip to pass through the uncovered opening in said bucket and through said bucket to be collected in the discharge chute together with the material from said bucket.

15. In a bucket elevator for transporting material in a vertical casing from an inlet at the lower end of the casing to an outlet at the upper end of the casing, the bucket elevator having a plurality of buckets mounted in the casing each having an open top to receive material therein, means holding said buckets together in an endless loop for travel under the inlet and over the outlet, said buckets held with the open top always inward to receive material from the inlet and to dump material into the outlet, the improvement comprising an outwardly extending scoop on at least one bucket to scoop spilled material from the bottom of the casing for transport to the outlet and a door pivotally mounted in said loop adjacent said bucket with the scoop, said door to open at the top of the loop for passage of the mateRial from the scoop to the outlet and to close at the bottom of the loop below the inlet

16. In a bucket elevator for transporting material from an inlet at one elevation to an outlet at another elevation, the elevator having a loop of buckets movable past the inlet and the outlet, the improvement comprising a cleanout member mounted on at least one of said buckets to extend radially beyond the outer clearance line of the buckets so as to pick up spilled material at the bottom of the elevator and to remove the spilled material therefrom.

17. In a bucket elevator for transporting material in a casing from an inlet at one elevation to an outlet at another elevation, said bucket elevator having a plurality of buckets mounted in said casing for travel therein in an endless path past the inlet and the outlet, the improvement comprising a cleanout member connected to at least one of said buckets, said cleanout member extending transversely across said bucket with the connected cleanout member, said cleanout member projecting radially outwardly of the clearance path of said buckets to engage material fallen to the bottom of said casing, and said cleanout member picking up and removing the spilled material from the bottom of said casing.