# US 11,305,946 B2 · Drive system of scraper conveyor and control method

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- Number: US 11,305,946 B2
- Document ID: US11305946B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/266,628
- Filed: 2020-04-10
- Published: 2022-03-03
- Granted: 2022-04-19
- Earliest claimed: 2019-11-26
- Assignees: China University of Mining and Technology; Jiangsu Tianming Machinery Group
- Applicants: China University of Mining and Technology; Jiangsu Tianming Machinery Group Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Gang Shen; Zhencai Zhu; Kaiyu Dai; Yu Tang; Xiang Li; Yuxing Peng; Hao Lu; Guohua Cao; Gongbo Zhou; Wei Li; Fan Jiang
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11305946B2

## CPC

- B65G 43/00: Control devices, e.g. for safety, warning or fault-correcting
- B65G 43/10: Sequence control of conveyors operating in combination
- B65G 19/18: Details
- B65G 23/22: Arrangements or mountings of driving motors {(B65G23/08 takes precedence)}
- B65G 23/26: Applications of clutches or brakes
- B65G 23/44: Belt or chain tensioning arrangements
- F15B 1/04: Accumulators
- F15B 13/044: operated by electrically-controlled means, e.g. solenoids, torque-motors
- B65G 2203/0266: relating to the load carrier(s)
- B65G 2203/0291: Speed of the load carrier
- B65G 2203/042: Sensors
- F15B 2013/0448: {Actuation by solenoid and permanent magnet}
- B65G: TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS (packaging B65B; handling thin or filamentary materials, e.g. paper sheets or thread, B65H; cranes B66C; portable mobile or lifting or hauling appliances, e.g. hoists, B66D; devices for lifting or lowering goods for loading or unloading purposes, e.g. fork-lift trucks, B66F9/00; emptying bottles, jars, casks, barrels or similar containers, not otherwise provided for, B67C9/00; delivering or transferring liquids B67D; filling or discharging vessels for liquefied, solidified or compressed gases F17C; pipe-line systems for fluids F17D)
- F15B: SYSTEMS ACTING BY MEANS OF FLUIDS IN GENERAL; FLUID-PRESSURE ACTUATORS, e.g. SERVOMOTORS; DETAILS OF FLUID-PRESSURE SYSTEMS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

The present invention discloses a drive system of a scraper conveyor and a control method. The drive system includes a nose sprocket, a tail sprocket, a nose sprocket drive mechanism, and a tail sprocket drive mechanism, where the nose sprocket drive mechanism is a hydraulic motor I, and the tail sprocket drive mechanism is a hydraulic motor II; and a hydraulic system that drives the hydraulic motor I and a hydraulic system that drives the hydraulic motor II include same hydraulic elements, and both include a three-position four-way solenoid directional valve, a two-position two-way solenoid directional valve, a two-position three-way solenoid directional valve, an accumulator, and an oil supplement valve group. The present invention is applicable to rapid starting and stopping of the scraper conveyor in a heavy load status while adjusting chain tension in real time, thereby resolving a power imbalance problem in a dual-drive system, and has a simple structure and a long service life.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A drive system of a scraper conveyor, comprising a nose sprocket, a tail sprocket, a nose sprocket drive mechanism, and a tail sprocket drive mechanism, wherein the nose sprocket drive mechanism is a hydraulic motor I, and the tail sprocket drive mechanism is a hydraulic motor II; and a hydraulic system that drives the hydraulic motor I and a hydraulic system that drives the hydraulic motor II comprise same hydraulic elements;
the hydraulic system that drives the hydraulic motor I and the hydraulic system that drives the hydraulic motor II both comprise: a three-position four-way solenoid directional valve, a two-position two-way solenoid directional valve, a two-position three-way solenoid directional valve, an accumulator, and an oil supplement valve group; and an oil inlet P of the three-position four-way solenoid directional valve is in communication with a hydraulic oil source, a first actuator port A of the three-position four-way solenoid directional valve is in communication with an oil inlet of the hydraulic motor I, a second actuator port B of the three-position four-way solenoid directional valve is in communication with an oil inlet of the two-position two-way solenoid directional valve and an oil return port of the hydraulic motor I respectively, an oil outlet of the two-position two-way solenoid directional valve is in communication with a P-port of the two-position three-way solenoid directional valve through an one-way valve I, an A-port of the two-position three-way solenoid directional valve is connected to the accumulator, a T-port of the two-position three-way solenoid directional valve is in communication with the oil inlet of the hydraulic motor I through an one-way valve II, and the oil supplement valve group is connected to an oil circuit between the oil inlet and the oil return port of the hydraulic motor I in parallel.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The drive system of the scraper conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the hydraulic motor I and the hydraulic motor II are both servo-variable hydraulic motors; and the drive system further comprises a controller, wherein the controller comprises a start-stop controller, and the start-stop controller controls starting and stopping of the hydraulic motor I and the hydraulic motor II by controlling actions of hydraulic elements in a hydraulic valve group.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The drive system of the scraper conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the oil supplement valve group comprises two one-way valves connected in series, an oil outlet of an one-way valve III is connected to the oil return port of the hydraulic motor I, an oil inlet of the one-way valve III is in communication with an oil tank, an oil inlet of an one-way valve IV is in communication with the oil tank, and an oil outlet of the one-way valve IV is in communication with the oil inlet of the hydraulic motor I.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The drive system of the scraper conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the controller comprises a speed synchronization controller, rotational speed torque sensors disposed respectively between the hydraulic motor I and the nose sprocket and between the hydraulic motor II and the tail sprocket, and the speed synchronization controller controls, according to rotational speed signals of the rotational speed torque sensors, the nose sprocket and the tail sprocket to synchronously rotate.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The drive system of the scraper conveyor according to claim 4, wherein the controller further comprises a tension coordination controller, a chain tension monitoring sensor is disposed on a scraper of the scraper conveyor, and the tension coordination controller controls and adjusts tension of a chain according to chain tension detected by the chain tension monitoring sensor.

### Claim 6

A control method for a drive system of a scraper conveyor, comprising the following steps:
step 1: switching, by a start-stop controller in a controller, to a start mode, and controlling, by the start-stop controller, actions of solenoid valves in a hydraulic valve group, to supply hydraulic oil in a hydraulic oil source and high-pressure oil stored in an accumulator to a hydraulic motor I and a hydraulic motor II at the same time, and gradually reduce swash plate inclination angles of the hydraulic motor I and the hydraulic motor II from the maximum until the scraper conveyor reaches a rated operating rotational speed;
step 2: in a coal conveying process of the scraper conveyor, sending, by rotational speed torque sensors, real-time rotational speeds and average rotational speeds of the hydraulic motor I and the hydraulic motor II respectively to a speed synchronization controller, and controlling, by the synchronization controller, the swash plate inclination angles of the hydraulic motor I and the hydraulic motor II respectively according to a preset relative error value and an expected rotational speed value, to keep a tail sprocket and a nose sprocket synchronously rotating, to maintain a stable operating speed of the scraper conveyor;
step 3: when a chain tension monitoring sensor detects that chain tension is lower than a preset minimum tension value, switching, by the controller, to a tension coordination controller in real time, controlling, by the tension coordination controller, the swash plate inclination angle of the hydraulic motor II at a tail to increase, to reduce a rotational speed of the tail sprocket and keep a rotational speed of the nose sprocket unchanged, thereby gradually increasing the chain tension until the chain tension falls within a preset value range, and switching, by the controller, to the synchronization controller in real time, to keep the tail sprocket and the nose sprocket synchronously rotating;
step 4: when the chain tension monitoring sensor detects that the chain tension is higher than a preset maximum tension value, switching, by the controller, to the tension coordination controller in real time, controlling, by the tension coordination controller, the swash plate inclination angle of the hydraulic motor II at the tail to decrease, to increase the rotational speed of the tail sprocket and keep the rotational speed of the nose sprocket unchanged, thereby gradually reducing the chain tension until the chain tension falls within the preset value range, and switching, by the controller, to the synchronization controller in real time, to keep the tail sprocket and the nose sprocket synchronously rotating; and
step 5: switching, by the start-stop controller in the controller, to a stop mode, and controlling, by the start-stop controller, actions of the solenoid valves in the hydraulic valve group, wherein the hydraulic motor I and the hydraulic motor II continuously rotate because of inertia, so that an oil inlet side of a motor is evacuated, the oil inlet side is supplemented with oil through an oil supplement valve group, at the same time, hydraulic oil on oil return port sides of the hydraulic motor I and the hydraulic motor II flows into the accumulator and an oil tank, and pressure of the accumulator increases as stored oil increases, to form specific back pressure, to prevent the hydraulic motor I and the hydraulic motor II from continuously rotating, and speed up the hydraulic motors to stop rotating.

### Claim 7 (depends on 2)

The drive system of the scraper conveyor according to claim 2, wherein the controller comprises a speed synchronization controller, rotational speed torque sensors disposed respectively between the hydraulic motor I and the nose sprocket and between the hydraulic motor II and the tail sprocket, and the speed synchronization controller controls, according to rotational speed signals of the rotational speed torque sensors, the nose sprocket and the tail sprocket to synchronously rotate.

### Claim 8 (depends on 3)

The drive system of the scraper conveyor according to claim 3, wherein the controller comprises a speed synchronization controller, rotational speed torque sensors disposed respectively between the hydraulic motor I and the nose sprocket and between the hydraulic motor II and the tail sprocket, and the speed synchronization controller controls, according to rotational speed signals of the rotational speed torque sensors, the nose sprocket and the tail sprocket to synchronously rotate.

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The drive system of the scraper conveyor according to claim 7, wherein the controller further comprises a tension coordination controller, a chain tension monitoring sensor is disposed on a scraper of the scraper conveyor, and the tension coordination controller controls and adjusts tension of a chain according to chain tension detected by the chain tension monitoring sensor.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The drive system of the scraper conveyor according to claim 8, wherein the controller further comprises a tension coordination controller, a chain tension monitoring sensor is disposed on a scraper of the scraper conveyor, and the tension coordination controller controls and adjusts tension of a chain according to chain tension detected by the chain tension monitoring sensor.