Combination structure of belt conveyor and gate device and gate device

Abstract

With the belt conveyor passing through the opening set in the wall, the gate device (5) for opening and closing the opening is structured as follows: a pair of pillars (51), an upper gate (61) and a lower gate (62) that move up and down between the pair of pillars (51), a feed screw (52) with upper male threads (52a) and lower male threads (52b) in opposite directions as a lifting drive mechanism that simultaneously drives the upper gate (61) and the lower gate (62) to move up and down, an upper nut (53a), and a lower nut (53b).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a combination structure of a gate device for opening and closing an opening provided in a wall with the belt conveyor, and a gate device combined with the belt conveyor. Background Technology

[0002] In large-scale chicken farming facilities, various conveyors are used, such as conveyors for transporting excrement (chicken manure) from caged poultry, flatbed conveyors that simultaneously transport and dry chicken manure, and rod conveyors for transporting eggs laid by caged poultry. The transport pathways created by these conveyors are configured through multiple spaces defined by walls. That is, there are cases where the transport pathways created by the conveyors are used with openings that penetrate the walls.

[0003] In such cases, it is desirable that the conveyor's opening remain closed when it is not in use. In particular, when the opening is located on a wall separating the interior and exterior spaces of a building, there is a high risk that foreign objects such as dust or small animals may enter the building through the opening.

[0004] Therefore, the applicant has proposed a gate device that can open and close the space above the transport passage at the opening when a rod conveyor has an opening through it in a wall (see Patent Document 1). This is a device that closes the space above the transport passage at the opening by inserting a gate from above between two adjacent rods in the rod conveyor. That is, the gate device of Patent Document 1 is a device specifically for rod conveyors.

[0005] However, as mentioned above, conveyors used in chicken farming facilities with transport pathways through openings in the walls are not limited to rod conveyors. In particular, belt conveyors for transporting chicken manure are commonly used in large-scale chicken farming facilities. Therefore, for belt conveyors, there is also a need for technology that can prevent foreign objects or small animals from entering through the openings in the walls.

[0006] Existing technical documents

[0007] Patent documents

[0008] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 6472542 Summary of the Invention

[0009] The problem that the invention aims to solve

[0010] Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned actual situation, the object of the present invention is to provide a combination structure of a belt conveyor and a gate device that can open and close the opening when the belt conveyor passes through the opening provided on the wall, and a gate device combined with the belt conveyor.

[0011] Methods for solving problems

[0012] To solve the above-mentioned problems, the combined structure of the belt conveyor and the gate device according to the present invention (simply referred to as the "combined structure") is as follows:

[0013] "It is equipped with a belt conveyor and a gate device, wherein the belt conveyor passes through an opening in the wall."

[0014] The belt conveyor has a frameless space, meaning a space containing only the annular belt without a frame, by making a portion of the horizontally extending side bars discontinuous within the frame supporting the annular belt, and this frameless space is arranged facing the opening.

[0015] The gate device has an upper gate that moves up and down, and a lower gate that remains stationary or moves up and down.

[0016] The upper gate and the lower gate are disposed in the frameless space. On the one hand, by lowering at least the upper gate, the upper gate and the lower gate clamp the annular belt in a state where the conveyor belt and the return belt overlap, thereby closing the upper and lower space of the annular belt at the opening. On the other hand, by raising at least the upper gate, the opening is opened.

[0017] "Transport belt section" refers to the upper part of the conveyor belt that carries and transports the transported items in a circulating ring belt, that is, the part from the upstream end to the downstream end. On the other hand, "return belt section" refers to the part of the conveyor belt that returns to the lower part of the upstream end after the transported items have ended at the downstream end.

[0018] Unlike the single-path structure used for transporting materials in rod conveyors, belt conveyors utilize a circulating, looping belt. Furthermore, a large gap exists between the transport belt section and the return belt section within this circulating loop. Therefore, to close the wall opening (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "wall opening") of the belt conveyor, it is necessary to close not only the space above the transport belt section but also the space below the return belt section and the space between the transport and return belt sections. Since the space between the transport and return belt sections is enclosed by the looping belt, closing such a space using any component is difficult.

[0019] In contrast, this invention employs a novel approach: forming an overlapping state between the transport belt section and the return belt section, and clamping them together using an upper gate and a lower gate. The upper gate is a vertically moving gate, while the lower gate can be either a stationary gate or a vertically moving gate. When the lower gate moves vertically, the upper gate presses down the transport belt section, and the lower gate pushes up the return belt section, thereby forming an overlapping state between the transport belt section and the return belt section, which is then clamped by the upper and lower gates. When the lower gate is stationary, it approaches the return belt section below it, within limits that do not impede the rotation of the annular belt. By pressing down the transport belt section with the upper gate, it overlaps with the return belt section, and then, by pressing both down, they are clamped between the upper and lower gates.

[0020] In belt conveyors, by utilizing the inherent curvature of the annular belt or by increasing the curvature by removing part of the load-bearing rollers supporting the transport belt, a state in which the transport belt and return belt overlap can be formed.

[0021] Furthermore, in belt conveyors, it is unavoidable that the frame supporting the annular belt protrudes upwards and downwards from the belt surface. In contrast, in this invention, at the positions where the upper and lower gates of the gate device move up and down, the belt conveyor is configured without a frame, with only the frameless space of the annular belt existing. Therefore, the upper and lower gates do not interfere with the frame and can be firmly clamped from above and below without leaving any space above or below the annular belt.

[0022] According to the combined structure of the belt conveyor and gate device of the present invention, based on the above structure, it can also be:

[0023] "The gate device is a device that allows the upper gate and the lower gate to move up and down."

[0024] By lowering the upper gate and raising the lower gate, the annular belt, which is in a state of overlap between the transport belt section and the return belt section, is clamped by the upper gate and the lower gate.

[0025] This is a structure that combines a gate device with an upper and lower gate that move up and down with a belt conveyor. Because the lower gate can be used to push the return belt section up to approach the transport belt section, it can overlap with the return belt section even if the bending of the transport belt section is small, compared to the case where the lower gate is stationary.

[0026] According to the combined structure of the belt conveyor and gate device of the present invention, based on the above structure, it can also be:

[0027] The gate device has the following features:

[0028] A feed screw with oppositely oriented male threads on its upper and lower parts, an upper nut fixed to the upper gate and moving along the upper male thread, and a lower nut fixed to the lower gate and moving along the lower male thread.

[0029] As the feed screw rotates in one direction, the upper gate and the lower gate move up and down simultaneously, either moving away from or approaching each other.

[0030] When separate mechanisms are set up to drive the upper gate's up-and-down movement and to drive the lower gate's up-and-down movement, the gate device's structure becomes complex. Furthermore, for belt conveyors, the mechanism that only drives the lower gate's up-and-down movement needs to be located at the bottom, where there is generally little space available in environments where belt conveyors are installed.

[0031] In contrast, in this structure, by using a feed screw with oppositely oriented male threads at the top and bottom, the upper and lower gates, which move up and down in opposite directions, can be driven simultaneously simply by rotating the feed screw in one direction. This simplifies the gate device structure and allows the mechanisms for driving the upper and lower gates to be installed using the generally ample space above a belt conveyor.

[0032] According to the combined structure of the belt conveyor and gate device of the present invention, based on the above structure, it can also be:

[0033] "The gate device has cutouts in the supports that support the upper gate and the lower gate."

[0034] In the belt conveyor, the end of the side bar facing the frameless space is held in the cut.

[0035] In this invention, it is necessary to correctly position the upper and lower gates of the gate device within the frameless space of the belt conveyor. In this structure, since the ends of the side rods facing the frameless space are held in the cutouts on the support pillars of the gate device within the frame of the belt conveyor, the positional relationship between the belt conveyor and the gate device can be easily, accurately, and stably set.

[0036] Secondly, the gate device according to the present invention:

[0037] "A gate device for opening and closing an opening provided on a wall while a belt conveyor passes through it, comprising:"

[0038] A pair of pillars;

[0039] An upper gate and a lower gate that move up and down between a pair of said pillars; and

[0040] A lifting drive mechanism that simultaneously or independently drives the upper gate and the lower gate to move up and down.

[0041] This is a gate device structure in which the upper gate and the lower gate move up and down in a gate device combined with a belt conveyor in the above-mentioned combined structure.

[0042] According to the gate device of the present invention, based on the above structure, it can also be:

[0043] The lifting drive mechanism includes:

[0044] A feed screw with oppositely oriented male threads on its upper and lower parts, an upper nut fixed to the upper gate and moving along the upper male thread, and a lower nut fixed to the lower gate and moving along the lower male thread.

[0045] The upper gate and the lower gate move up and down simultaneously in a manner that allows them to separate or approach each other, by rotating the feed screw in one direction.

[0046] This is the structure of a gate device with a feed screw as a lifting drive mechanism, wherein the feed screw has male threads in opposite directions at the upper and lower parts. It can simultaneously drive the upper and lower gates to move up and down.

[0047] The gate device according to the present invention, instead of the above structure, can also be:

[0048] The lifting drive mechanism has the following features:

[0049] A pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder that drives the upper gate to move up and down; and

[0050] A pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder that drives the lower gate to move up and down.

[0051] This is a gate device structure that uses a pneumatic cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder to independently drive the upper gate and the lower gate to move up and down.

[0052] The effects of the invention

[0053] As described above, according to the present invention, a combination structure of a belt conveyor and a gate device that can open and close the opening provided in the wall when the belt conveyor passes through it, and a gate device combined with the belt conveyor can be provided. Attached Figure Description

[0054] Figure 1 (a) is a partial perspective view of a belt conveyor combined with a gate device as one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 (b) is a three-dimensional view of the framework of this part.

[0055] Figure 2 (a) is Figure 1 (a) is a cross-sectional view of a belt conveyor. Figure 2 (b) is a cross-sectional view of a belt conveyor with the transfer rollers and return rollers omitted.

[0056] Figure 3 This is a perspective view of the gate device according to this embodiment.

[0057] Figure 4 (a) is the combined structure when the wall opening is opened. Figure 4 (b) is the combined structure when the wall opening is closed. Detailed Implementation

[0058] The assembly structure, as a specific embodiment of the present invention, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This assembly structure includes a belt conveyor 1 and a gate device 5 for the belt conveyor. The horizontal direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the belt conveyor 1 will be referred to as the "left-right direction".

[0059] The belt conveyor 1 is equipped with an annular belt 15 and a frame 10. The frame 10 is equipped with two side frames 10a and 10b that are separated in the left and right directions, and a transverse connecting member 13 that connects these side frames 10a and 10b to each other.

[0060] Side frames 10a and 10b are each equipped with an upper side bar 11 and a lower side bar 12 extending in the transport direction, and a plurality of longitudinal connecting members 14 connecting the upper side bar 11 and the lower side bar 12. Transverse connecting members 13 connect the lower side bar 12 of one side frame 10a to the lower side bar 12 of the other side frame 10b at multiple locations. Furthermore, the upper side bar 11 and the lower side bar 12 are equivalent to the "side bars" of this invention.

[0061] The frame 10 supports the annular belt 15 between the left and right side frames 10a and 10b, above the transverse connecting member 13. In this embodiment, the annular belt 15 is wound around a pair of pulleys (not shown), and the rotary drive mechanism (not shown) that drives the circulation of the annular belt 15 is also supported by the frame 10. One of the pulleys is rotatably supported on the frame 10 at its upstream end in the transport direction, and the other pulley is rotatably supported on the frame 10 at its downstream end. Furthermore, the belt conveyor 1 is equipped with a support roller 17 supporting the transport belt section 15c and a return roller 18 supporting the return belt section 15r in the circulating annular belt 15. Both the support roller 17 and the return roller 18 are rotatably supported between the left and right side frames 10a and 10b via the longitudinal connecting member 14.

[0062] By cutting off 5cm to 15cm of length from the upper side rod 11 and lower side rod 12 in the sections where the transverse connecting member 13, longitudinal connecting member 14, carrying roller 17, and return roller 18 are absent, the conveyor belt 1 becomes discontinuous. As a result, in the cross-section where the belt conveyor 1 is cut along the left and right directions, a frameless space S is formed where there is no frame 10 and only the annular belt 15 exists.

[0063] The gate device 5 is equipped with a pair of left and right separated pillars 51, an upper gate 61 and a lower gate 62 that slide vertically between the pair of pillars 51, and a lifting drive mechanism for driving the upper gate 61 and the lower gate 62 to move vertically. The pillars 51 are erected vertically from the mounting surface, having a central wall 51c and side walls 51d extending in the same direction from both sides of the central wall 51c, thus forming a U-shaped cross-section with angles. The pair of pillars 51 cause the opening 51r of the U-shape to face each other.

[0064] The upper gate 61 has a flat gate body 61m and cylindrical sliding bodies 61s disposed on the left and right sides of the gate body 61m. Similarly, the lower gate 62 has a flat gate body 62m and cylindrical sliding bodies 62s disposed on the left and right sides of the gate body 62m. Both sliding bodies 61s and 62s have a size and shape that allows them to slidably fit into the opening 51r of the support column 51. That is, the opening 51r of the support column serves as a guide rail for the sliding bodies 61s and 62s to slide.

[0065] The lengths of the gate bodies 61m and 62m in the left and right directions, as well as the distance between the pair of support columns 51, are set to match the distance between the left and right side frames 10a and 10b in the belt conveyor 1. Furthermore, in each support column 51, a semi-circular slit 51n is provided on the two side walls 51d, corresponding to the heights of the upper side rod 11 and lower side rod 12 of the belt conveyor 1. The slit 51n is sized to allow the upper side rod 11 or the lower side rod 12 to be inserted.

[0066] The lifting drive mechanism is equipped with a pair of feed screws 52. One of the feed screws 52 is arranged along the side wall 51d of the left support column 51, while the other feed screw 52 is arranged along the side wall 51d of the right support column 51, both arranged vertically on the same side in the transport direction.

[0067] Each feed screw 52 has a male thread 52a at an upper part above the center and a male thread 52b at a lower part below the center. Hereinafter, the upper male thread 52a will be referred to as "upper male thread 52a" and the lower male thread will be referred to as "lower male thread 52b".

[0068] The upper male thread 52a and the lower male thread 52b have the same pitch, but the threads are in opposite directions (the spiral directions are opposite). The upper nut 53a is threaded into the upper male thread 52a, and the lower nut 53b is threaded into the lower male thread 52b. Stops 54a and 54b, respectively, are fixed to the upper nut 53a and the lower nut 53b to restrict their rotation. The stops 54a and 54b have portions that contact the side wall 51d of the support column 51, and by interfering with the side wall 51d, they restrict the rotation of the upper nut 53a and the lower nut 53b.

[0069] With this structure, when the feed screw 52 is rotated in one direction, the non-rotating upper nut 53a descends along the upper male nut 52a, and the non-rotating lower nut 53b rises the same distance along the lower male thread 52b. When the feed screw 52 is rotated in the opposite direction, the upper nut 53a rises along the upper male thread 52a, and the lower nut 53b descends the same distance along the lower male thread.

[0070] Furthermore, the upper nuts 53a of the left and right feed screws 52 are fixed to the upper gate 61 by a retainer (not shown in the figure), and the lower nuts 53b of the left and right feed screws 52 are fixed to the lower gate 62.

[0071] Additionally, the gate device 5 has a top plate 79 for fixing to a wall having an opening through which the belt conveyor 1 passes, or a structure provided in such a way as to extend from a nearby ceiling. The output shaft of the motor 70 rotatably passes through the top plate 79 from below, and a pulley 71, rotating integrally with the output shaft of the motor 70, is mounted on the top plate 79. Similarly, left and right feed screws 52 rotatably pass through the top plate 79 from below, with a pulley 72 integrally rotatably mounted on one feed screw 52 and a pulley 73 integrally rotatably mounted on the other feed screw 52. The pulley 72 has a portion wound with an annular belt (not shown) circulating between the pulley 71 and another portion wound with an annular belt (not shown) circulating between the pulley 73 and the pulley 74.

[0072] Thus, when the motor 70 is operated, the rotation of its output shaft is transmitted to one of the feed screws 52 via pulleys 71 and 72, and to the other of the feed screws 52 via pulleys 71 to 73, so that the left and right feed screws 52 rotate in the same direction at the same speed.

[0073] Therefore, when the output axis of the motor 70 is rotated in one direction, the left and right feed screws 52 rotate in the same direction, causing the upper nut 53a to descend and the upper gate 61 to descend, while the lower nut 53b rises and the lower gate 62 rises. Conversely, when the output axis of the motor 70 is rotated in the opposite direction, the left and right feed screws 52 also rotate in the opposite direction, causing the upper nut 53a to rise and the upper gate 61 to rise, while the lower nut 53b falls and the lower gate 62 falls. The upper gate 61 and the lower gate 62 move up and down simultaneously in opposite directions at the same speed.

[0074] A belt conveyor 1, used in conjunction with the gate device 5 described above, is installed through an opening in the wall to transport an object from one space to the other in two spaces divided by the wall. The belt conveyor 1 is positioned such that the frameless space faces the wall opening.

[0075] The gate device 5 is configured such that a pair of supports 51 stand in the frameless space S. If the horizontal length of the frameless space S is approximately equal to the distance between the pair of sidewalls 51d of the supports 51, the ends of the upper and lower sidebars 11 facing the frameless space S can be held in the cutouts 51n of the supports 51. This allows for easy, accurate, and stable setting of the positional relationship between the gate device 5 and the belt conveyor 1. Furthermore, by ensuring that the depth to which the ends of the upper and lower sidebars 11 and 12 are inserted into the cutouts 51n is within the thickness of the sidewalls 51d, interference between the sliding bodies 61s and the upper sidebar 11 can be prevented, and interference between the sliding bodies 62s and the lower sidebar 12 can be prevented. Additionally, the support 51 contacts a wall with an opening on the sidewall 51 opposite to the sidewall 51d along the feed screw 52.

[0076] During the process of transporting the transported items by belt conveyor 1, such as Figure 4 As shown in (a), the upper gate 61 is raised and the lower gate 62 is lowered. Thus, the object to be transported can be placed on the transport belt 15c and transported in the space between the upper gate 61 and the lower gate 62. In this state, the transport belt 15c and the return belt 15r are separated from each other in the annular belt 15.

[0077] During the period when belt conveyor 1 is stopped (when not in use), such as Figure 4 As shown in (b), the upper gate 61 is lowered and the lower gate 62 is raised to clamp the annular belt 15. In the belt conveyor 1, as... Figure 2 As shown in (a), since a shallow V-shaped transport roller 17 is generally used, the transport belt portion 15c is bent in the part without the transport roller 17. Additionally, as... Figure 2As shown in (b), the return belt section 15r generally bends due to its own weight in the part without the return roller 18. Therefore, by using the upper gate 61 and the lower gate 62 to push from above and below, it is possible to clamp the transport belt section 15c and the return belt section 15r in an overlapping state. In addition, by removing one or more transport rollers 17 from the frame 10 near the wall opening, the bending of the transport belt section 15c can be further increased.

[0078] The sizes of the upper gate 61 and lower gate 62 are set such that, when there is no gap between the conveyor belt 15c and the return belt 15r, and the upper gate 61 is clamped by the lower gate 62, the upper end of the upper gate 61 is higher than the upper end of the wall opening, and the lower end of the lower gate 62 is lower than the lower end of the wall opening. Thus, by using the upper gate 61 and lower gate 62, which are connected in a clamping state with the annular belt 15 in place, a state is formed between the pair of supports 51 that closes the wall opening. Therefore, when the belt conveyor 1 is not in use, foreign objects or small animals are prevented from entering through the wall opening through which the belt conveyor 1 passes.

[0079] When restarting the belt conveyor 1, the upper gate 61 is raised and the lower gate 62 is lowered to separate them, forming the upper part of the conveyor. Figure 4 (a) The state described.

[0080] As described above, by assembling the gate device 5 into the belt conveyor 1 with the through-wall opening, the wall opening can be opened when the belt conveyor 1 is in use, and closed when the belt conveyor 1 is not in use. Since a frameless space S is provided in the belt conveyor 1, in which the upper gate 61 and the lower gate 62 move up and down, the conveyor belt 15c and the return belt 15r can be clamped from above and below in a state where they are firmly overlapped. The space above the conveyor belt 15c, the space below the return belt 15r, and the space between the conveyor belt 15c and the return belt 15r can be eliminated simultaneously, thus closing the wall opening.

[0081] Furthermore, in the gate device 5 of this embodiment, a feed screw 52 with an upper male thread 52a and a lower male thread 52b having opposite directions is used to move the upper gate 61 and the lower gate 62 in opposite directions. Therefore, by rotating a single feed screw 52 in one direction, the upper gate 61 and the lower gate 62 can move up and down simultaneously in a separated or approaching manner, and the up and down movement of both the upper gate 61 and the lower gate 62 can be driven by a single motor 60.

[0082] Furthermore, since the existing belt conveyor frame can be combined with the gate device 5 by simply cutting off a portion of it to form a frameless space S, the existing equipment is not wasted, and the wall opening can be opened and closed simply by introducing the new gate device 5.

[0083] The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various improvements and design changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0084] For example, in the above description, the rotation of the output shaft of the motor 70 is illustrated as being transmitted to the feed screw 52 via pulleys 71, 72 or pulleys 71 to 73. However, a gear mechanism that increases or decreases the rotation of the motor may also be provided.

[0085] In addition, the above description illustrates the up-and-down movement of the upper gate 61 and the lower gate 62. However, the lower gate can also be kept stationary, positioned slightly below the return belt section 15r.

[0086] Furthermore, the belt conveyor combined with the gate device 5 is not limited to belt conveyors for transporting chicken manure in chicken farming facilities, but is a wide range of belt conveyors for transporting objects in multiple spaces divided by walls.

Claims

1. A combined structure of a belt conveyor and a gate device, characterized in that, It is equipped with a belt conveyor and a gate device, wherein the belt conveyor passes through an opening in the wall. In the frame supporting the annular belt, a portion of the horizontally extending side bars is discontinuous, thus creating a frameless space for the belt conveyor. This frameless space is a space without a frame, containing only the annular belt. The frameless space is positioned facing the opening. The gate device has an upper gate that moves up and down, and a lower gate that remains stationary or moves up and down. The upper gate and the lower gate are disposed in the frameless space. On the one hand, by lowering at least the upper gate, the upper gate and the lower gate clamp the annular belt in a state where the conveyor belt and the return belt overlap, thereby closing the upper and lower space of the annular belt at the opening. On the other hand, by raising at least the upper gate, the opening is opened.

2. The combined structure of the belt conveyor and gate device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The gate device is a mechanism that allows the upper gate and the lower gate to move up and down. By lowering the upper gate and raising the lower gate, the annular belt, which is in a state of overlap between the transport belt section and the return belt section, is clamped by the upper gate and the lower gate.

3. The combined structure of the belt conveyor and gate device as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The gate device has: A feed screw with oppositely oriented male threads on its upper and lower parts, an upper nut fixed to the upper gate and moving along the upper male thread, and a lower nut fixed to the lower gate and moving along the lower male thread. As the feed screw rotates in one direction, the upper gate and the lower gate move up and down simultaneously, either moving away from or approaching each other.

4. The combined structure of the belt conveyor and gate device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The gate assembly has cutouts in the supports that support the upper gate and the lower gate. In the belt conveyor, the end of the side bar facing the frameless space is held in the cut.

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