Movable Curtain Dust Containment for Gallery Conveyors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional dust and particulate containment systems for gallery conveyors fail to effectively seal and contain dust and particulates, especially under storm wind conditions, and do not allow for the movement of traveling trippers along the conveyor.
Innovation Solution
A dust and particulate containment system featuring a movable curtain, a trough, a rail, a carriage with sealing means, and a spreader frame that biases the sealing means to lift the curtain over the carriage, ensuring the curtain does not cover the opening and allowing the movement of bulk materials while maintaining enclosure and resisting storm winds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional dust containment systems use stationary hoods or minimal sealing strips, then the structure is simple and allows equipment movement, but dust containment effectiveness is insufficient and storm winds can breach the enclosure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the sealing system movable rather than stationary. The curtain is attached to a carriage that travels along the conveyor, allowing the seal to dynamically follow the tripper's position. This resolves the contradiction by providing effective dust containment through continuous sealing while maintaining the ability to accommodate equipment movement along the conveyor length.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses an intermediary mechanism (the carriage and spreader frame) to mediate between the stationary curtain and the moving tripper. The spreader frame acts as a mediator that biases the sealing means to engage the curtain, ensuring continuous sealing contact without requiring the curtain itself to be rigid or complex. This intermediary approach achieves reliable dust containment while keeping the overall system manageable in complexity.
2Reliability
If a movable curtain is used to seal the gallery conveyor, then dust containment is improved, but the curtain may interfere with the movement of traveling trippers along the conveyor
Solution Approach 1:
The curtain is made dynamic by attaching it to a movable carriage that travels along the conveyor alongside the tripper. As the tripper moves, the carriage follows, keeping the curtain positioned to seal the gallery opening without interfering with tripper passage. This dynamic positioning resolves the contradiction between effective sealing and easy tripper movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing system is segmented into separate functional components: the curtain itself, the carriage that holds and moves it, and the spreader frame that engages the curtain. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently - the curtain provides sealing, the carriage provides movement, and the spreader frame provides engagement - without interfering with tripper operation.
3Reliability
If strong sealing means are used to withstand storm winds, then dust containment reliability improves, but the sealing system becomes more complex and difficult to operate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible curtain (made of fabric or flexible material) rather than rigid sealing structures. This flexible film can conform to the gallery opening and maintain effective sealing against storm winds while being lightweight and simple in construction. The flexibility allows it to withstand wind forces without requiring complex rigid support structures, resolving the contradiction between wind resistance and system simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing system is self-adjusting through the biasing action of the spreader frame on the sealing means. The spring-loaded or biased sealing mechanism automatically maintains contact pressure between the curtain and gallery opening to resist wind forces, without requiring external control systems or complex adjustment mechanisms. This self-service approach achieves reliable wind resistance while keeping the system simple to operate.
Data Source
AI summary
A dust and particulate containment system for an open sided gallery conveyor, having a movable curtain for covering the open side of the conveyor and a trough positioned within and extending along a length of the conveyor. A rail is arranged within the conveyor and a carriage, having an opening for transferring bulk materials therethrough via a sealed connection to a cross conveyor, is positioned to move along this rail. Sealing strips in the trough retain the curtain tautly in place and seal the open side of the conveyor. As each carriage moves along the rail, a spreader frame attached to the carriage biasingly opens the sealing strips, and temporarily frees the curtain from being retained, so that the freed curtain is lifted over the carriage to avoid covering the opening in the carriage, so that transfer of bulk materials in the conveyor can occur through the opening.