Belt conveyor device

Abstract

[Solution] This belt conveyor device (1) comprises: a belt (2) on which a conveyed object is placed and travels; a head pulley (4) positioned at a turnaround end of the belt (2); a scraper (5) that is in contact with the conveying surface downstream of the head pulley (4) and that scrapes off an adhered conveyed object which is the part of the conveyed object adhering to the conveying surface; and a spray device (6) that sprays, to the conveying surface, a peeling agent for peeling off the adhered conveyed object downstream of the scraper (5).

Description

Belt conveyor equipment

[0001] The present invention relates to a belt conveyor device that maximizes belt capacity and extends the life of the belt.

[0002] A belt cleaning device for cleaning a conveyor belt of a conveyor device that moves along a predetermined conveyance path is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This belt cleaning device includes a fluid supply unit that supplies a fluid to the conveyor belt, a scraper located downstream of the fluid supply unit, and a wiping belt located further downstream of the scraper.

[0003] JP 2010-222081 A

[0004] However, in the belt cleaning device of Patent Document 1, even if a fluid is supplied to the conveyor belt, the distance to the scraper makes it impossible to reliably provide the effect of the fluid to the conveyor belt. Furthermore, to maximize the effect of the fluid, the fluid must reliably adhere to the conveyor belt. Furthermore, because the scraper is located at a position where the conveyor belt is moving in a straight line, the pressing force of the scraper on the conveyor belt is lost.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned conventional techniques, and has as its object to provide a belt conveyor device that maximizes the belt capacity and scraper capacity and extends the life of the belt.

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a belt conveyor device comprising: a belt on which an object to be conveyed is placed and which runs; a head pulley located at the folded end of the belt; a scraper downstream of the head pulley which contacts the conveying surface and scrapes off any adhering object that is part of the object and is adhering to the conveying surface; and a spray device downstream of the scraper which sprays a release agent onto the conveying surface to remove the adhering object.

[0007] Preferably, the belt further comprises a snap pulley for angledly bending the belt downstream of the scraper and upstream of the point where the release agent is sprayed onto the belt by the spray device.

[0008] Preferably, the scraper is disposed upstream of the midpoint between the point where the belt separates from the head pulley and the point where the belt contacts the snap pulley.

[0009] Preferably, the scraper is positioned below the head pulley and at a position where the head pulley and the belt are spaced apart, and is positioned upstream of a tangent extending vertically downward from the head pulley in the running direction of the belt.

[0010] Preferably, the conveying apparatus further includes a vent pulley that is disposed downstream of the location where the release agent is sprayed onto the belt by the spray device and abuts against the conveying surface, and the belt is bent at an angle along the vent pulley.

[0011] Preferably, the angle at which the belt is bent around the bent pulley is 135 degrees or less.

[0012] According to the present invention, materials (i.e., materials that may fall off) adhering to the belt conveying surface during conveyance can be first scraped off using a scraper. Then, a release agent is sprayed onto the belt using a spraying device. This allows the scraper to apply a water-repellent coating to areas of the belt worn by the scraper and improve lubricity, thereby maximizing the belt's performance and improving the scraper's ability to scrape off adhering materials. Furthermore, the release agent reduces the belt's surface resistance, thereby extending the belt's lifespan. The lubricity of the release agent prevents wear on the scraper that contacts the belt and maintains its ability to scrape off materials. Furthermore, because the release agent is sprayed in a non-contact spraying manner without using a contact-type additive device, the structure is simple, and even if materials that are not completely scraped off by the scraper remain on the belt, the spraying device is not affected. As a result, stable spraying is possible, and the belt can be constructed without structural modifications, allowing the belt's running speed to be maintained.

[0013] In addition, because the snap pulley bends the belt at an angle while it is being fed out, the belt tension can be maintained high from the head pulley to the snap pulley. As a result, the scraper scrapes off any adhering material in this high-tension area, further improving scraping efficiency.

[0014] Furthermore, since the scraper is positioned upstream of the midpoint between the point where the belt separates from the head pulley and the point where the belt contacts the snap pulley, the scraper comes into contact with the conveying surface at a position where tension is particularly high, further improving the efficiency of scraping off adhering conveyed material.

[0015] Furthermore, because the scraper is located below the head pulley and at a position where the head pulley and the belt are separated, and upstream of the tangent line extending vertically downward from the head pulley in the direction of belt travel, the scraper is located as close as possible to the point immediately after the head pulley and the belt are separated. This position is where the belt bends due to the pressure of the scraper, and because it is located close to the head pulley, the amount of bending is the smallest, and therefore the scraper's pressing force is the least likely to be released by the bending of the belt. This allows the scraper to reliably scrape off any adhering material.

[0016] Furthermore, a vent pulley is provided downstream of the point where the sprayer sprays the release agent onto the belt, preventing the sprayed release agent from being repelled and ensuring that it adheres closely to the belt. At this time, the vent pulley bends the belt at an angle, ensuring that the release agent adheres closely to the belt. In particular, if the bending angle is 135 degrees or less, the belt is always in close contact with the vent pulley, ensuring that the release agent's performance is provided to the belt.

[0017] 1 is a schematic side view of a belt conveyor according to the present invention;

[0018] As shown in FIG. 1, a belt conveyor device 1 according to the present invention includes a belt 2 on which an object (not shown) is placed and travels. Specifically, the object is placed on the transport surface of the belt 2. While the object is being transported (while the transport surface faces upward), the belt 2 travels along a carrier roller 13. The belt 2 is turned around at the head pulley 4 and sent out to a tail pulley 12 located on the opposite side of the belt conveyor device 1 (while the transport surface faces downward), the belt 2 travels along a return roller 11 while the belt 2 travels from the head pulley 4 to the tail pulley 12 (while the transport surface faces downward). The belt 2 is turned around at the tail pulley 12 and travels again with the object placed thereon. Therefore, the belt 2 is formed in a circular shape via a plurality of rollers, pulleys, etc.

[0019] The conveyed material is collected in a hopper 3 located below the belt 2 at the position where the belt 2 is folded back by the head pulley 4. The conveyed material includes, for example, iron ore raw materials, coke, raw materials for power generation, sludge, cement raw materials, gypsum, crushed stone, crushed sand, silica sand, grains, animal feed, wood chips, waste plastics, etc. These conveyed materials are collected and used together with the attached conveyed material described below. In other words, the conveyed material that is the subject of the present invention is used in the same way as the conveyed material even when it becomes attached conveyed material. The head pulley 4 mentioned above is located at the folded back end of the belt 2 where the hopper 3 is located. The head pulley 4 causes the belt 2 to be folded back in the opposite direction.

[0020] The head pulley 4 causes the belt 2 to turn back, and from this turning point onwards, the belt 2 runs with the surface on which the transported objects are placed (the transport surface) facing downward. As most of the transported objects as described above contain moisture from rainwater and the like, some of the transported objects adhere to the belt 2, becoming stuck transported objects. To scrape off these stuck transported objects, a scraper 5 is disposed downstream of the head pulley 4 in contact with the transport surface of the belt 2. The scraper 5 is made of materials such as carbide chips (iron), ceramic, and urethane.

[0021] A spraying device 6 is disposed downstream of the scraper 5, spraying a release agent onto the conveying surface of the belt 2 to remove adhering materials. The spraying device 6 is composed of a nozzle 6a for spraying the release agent and a release agent discharging device 6b connected to the nozzle 6a. The release agent discharging device 6b has a tank for storing the release agent, a pump for delivering the agent, and an adjusting device for stably discharging the release agent. Silicon oil or Teflon (registered trademark) can be used as the release agent. The release agent sprayed from the nozzle 6a penetrates scratches and gaps on the surface of the belt 2, smoothing out the surface irregularities of the belt 2. Furthermore, since the release agent contains a surfactant, it bonds with moisture adhering to the belt 2. This allows the release agent to function as a lubricant, which is added when the release agent adhering to the belt 2 comes into contact with the snap pulley 10, vent pulleys 7 and 9, or return roller 11 (described later) via the conveying surface, thereby creating a condition in which adhering materials are less likely to adhere to the conveying surface of the belt 2. This extends the life of each roller and pulley and reduces the surface resistance of the belt 2, thereby maintaining the running speed. When the release agent is silicone oil, it contains silicone, wax, additives, surfactants, etc., and also contains a water-repellent component.

[0022] As described above, the scraper 5 can first scrape off any adhering materials that adhere to the belt 2 during transport. The sprayer 6 then sprays a release agent onto the conveying surface of the belt 2, allowing the scraper 5 to apply a water-repellent coating to worn areas of the belt 2 and improve lubricity, thereby maximizing the belt's capabilities and extending its lifespan. The lubricity of the release agent also prevents wear on the scraper 5 that contacts the belt 2 and maintains its ability to scrape off adhering materials. Furthermore, because the release agent is sprayed in a spray form from a non-contact nozzle 6a without using a contact-type additive device, the structure is simple, and even if any adhering materials remain on the belt 2 that were not completely scraped off by the scraper 5, they are not affected by the sprayer 6. As a result, structural modifications are reduced, and the belt running speed can be maintained.

[0023] Furthermore, in some cases, the scraper 5 cannot completely scrape off adhering transported materials containing a large amount of moisture. Since such adhering transported materials are easily released from the conveying surface by the belt 2 sprayed with the release agent, they can be removed from the belt 2 with a small force, such as by contact with the snap pulley 10 or return roller 11, which will be described later. Therefore, even if the scraper 5 cannot completely scrape off the adhering transported materials, they can be peeled off from the belt 2 in the upstream portion when the conveying surface faces downward (after the belt 2 is folded back by the head pulley 4) and stored in the hopper 3. Even if the adhering transported materials fall to the floor without being stored in the hopper 3, most of the adhering transported materials will fall in this upstream portion, thereby reducing the cleaning area and facilitating these operations. Furthermore, the hopper 3 is positioned so that it can store the transported materials that fall directly at the portion where the head pulley 4 is folded back. At this time, the opening surface may be formed to widen below these so that it can further accommodate adhering transported material scraped off by the scraper 5 and also adhering transported material that comes into contact with the snap pulley 10 and falls.

[0024] Downstream of the scraper 5 and upstream of the point where the release agent is sprayed onto the belt 2 by the nozzle 6a of the spray device 6, a snap pulley 10 is disposed for sending out the belt 2 while bending it at an angle, and a load is applied by the tension pulley 8. This makes it possible to maintain a high tension on the belt 2 from the head pulley 4 to the snap pulley 10. Therefore, the scraper 5 scrapes off the adhering transported material in this high-tension portion, further improving the scraping efficiency. In particular, when the drive motor for running the belt 2 of the belt conveyor device 1 is connected to the rotation shaft of the head pulley 4, this portion is most effective because it has the highest tension for running the belt 2.

[0025] 2, the scraper 5 is disposed upstream of the midpoint (the point indicated by arrow A in FIG. 2) between the point where the belt 2 separates from the head pulley 4 and the point of contact between the belt 2 and the snap pulley 10. This allows the scraper 5 to come into contact with the conveying surface at a position where tension is particularly high, further improving the efficiency of scraping off adhering conveyed materials.

[0026] On the other hand, the scraper 5 is disposed below the head pulley 4 at a position where the head pulley 4 is spaced apart from the belt 2, and is disposed upstream of a tangent line (dotted line B in FIG. 2 ) extending vertically downward from the head pulley 4 in the running direction of the belt 2. This allows the scraper 5 to be disposed as close as possible to the position immediately after the head pulley 4 and belt 2 are separated. This position is where the belt 2 is bent by the pressure of the scraper 5, and because it is located close to the head pulley 4, the amount of bending is smallest. Therefore, it is the position where the pressing force of the scraper 5 is least likely to be released due to the bending of the belt. In order to scrape off adhering conveyed materials, it is preferable to press the belt 2 at a position where the belt 2 is bent to some extent. Therefore, the scraper 5 is located at a position where the head pulley 4 and the belt 2 are slightly spaced apart from each other, rather than where the belt 2 is sandwiched between the head pulley 4 and the scraper 5. This allows the scraper 5 to reliably scrape off adhering conveyed materials adhering to the belt 2.

[0027] The belt conveyor device 1 also includes a vent pulley 7 disposed downstream of the spray device 6 (where the release agent is sprayed onto the belt 2) and in contact with the conveying surface. The vent pulley 7 bends the belt 2 at an angle along the vent pulley 7, preventing the sprayed release agent from being repelled from the belt 2 and allowing the sprayed release agent to adhere to the belt 2. At this time, the vent pulley 7 bends the belt 2 at an angle, and the vent pulley 7 is in close contact with the belt 2, ensuring that the release agent is in close contact with the belt 2. In particular, as shown in the figure, if the belt 2 is bent at an angle of 135 degrees or less by the vent pulley 7, the belt 2 is always in close contact with the vent pulley 7 during that time, ensuring that the release agent's performance is provided to the belt 2 reliably.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 1, the belt 2 is bent by the bent pulley 7, folded back by the tension pulley 8 disposed below it, and is further bent by the bent pulley 9 located further ahead and continues to run.

[0029] In the belt conveyor device 1 according to the present invention, the scraper 5 is continuously in contact with the belt 2, and therefore wear of the belt 2 due to contact resistance becomes a problem. This problem is particularly pronounced when a short belt 2 is used. However, as described above, the release agent is applied in a non-contact manner, which reduces the resistance value due to contact with the scraper 5, thereby resulting in a longer life for the belt 2.

[0030] For example, when a belt 2 having a total length of 30 m was used, and the scraper 5 was not disposed near the head pulley 4 and the spray device 6 was not disposed (conventional type), the thickness of the belt 2 had worn down from 8 mm to 5.0 mm after 60 days of use, whereas in the belt conveyor device 1 according to the present invention, the thickness of the belt 2 had only worn down from 8 mm to 6.2 mm after 90 days of use. When a belt 2 having a total length of 455 m was used, the belt 2 had worn down from 8 mm to 1.60 mm after 250 days of use in the conventional type, whereas in the belt conveyor device 1 according to the present invention, the belt 2 had only worn down from 8 mm to 5.50 mm after 240 days. This result also confirms that the position of the scraper 5 and the spray device 6 extend the life of the belt 2.

[0031] 1: Belt conveyor device, 2: Belt, 3: Hopper, 4: Head pulley, 5: Scraper, 6: Spray device, 6a: Nozzle, 6b: Release agent discharge device, 7: Vent pulley, 8: Tension pulley, 9: Vent pulley, 10: Snap pulley, 11: Return roller, 12: Tail pulley, 13: Carrier roller

Claims

1. A belt conveyor apparatus comprising: a belt along which an object is placed and travels, a head pulley located at the folded end of the belt, a scraper downstream of the head pulley that contacts the conveying surface and scrapes off any part of the object adhering to the conveying surface, and a spraying device downstream of the scraper that sprays a release agent onto the conveying surface to remove the adhering object.

2. The belt conveyor apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a snap pulley for bending the belt at an angle and sending it out downstream of the scraper and upstream of the point where the release agent is sprayed onto the belt by the spray device.

3. The belt conveyor device according to claim 2, characterized in that the scraper is disposed upstream of the midpoint between the point where the belt separates from the head pulley and the point of contact between the belt and the snap pulley.

4. A belt conveyor device as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the scraper is arranged below the head pulley and at a position where the head pulley and the belt are spaced apart, and is arranged upstream of a tangent extending vertically downward of the head pulley in the running direction of the belt.

5. The belt conveyor device according to claim 1, further comprising a vent pulley disposed downstream of the location where the release agent is sprayed onto the belt by the spray device and in contact with the conveying surface, wherein the belt is bent at an angle along the vent pulley.

6. The belt conveyor apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the angle at which the belt is bent around the bent pulley is 135 degrees or less.

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