Reclaimers, reclaimer systems, and methods of using same
AssigneeBruks Rockwood, LLC
InventorsFrancis J. Warmoth, Bengt Axel Nilsson, Steven B. Bennett, Matt P. Ervin
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are reclaimer systems, troughs, and methods for selectively positioning at least a portion of an upper portion of a trough relative to a vertical axis to adjust an operative height of the trough and thereby set an overflow threshold height for the reclaimed material, wherein reclaimed material below the overflow threshold height contributes to a target reclaim rate for the reclaimer system, and wherein the trough is configured to permit overflow of reclaimed material above the overflow threshold height.
Claims20
A reclaimer system comprising:
- a selectively travelling reclaimer bridge having a length;
- a rotatable screw positioned along the length of the reclaimer bridge, the rotatable screw having a rotation axis, a leading side, a trailing side, an operative circumference, and an operative diameter, the rotatable screw being configured to collect material reclaimed from a pile contacting at least a portion of the selectively travelling reclaimer bridge;
- and
- a trough positioned on the trailing side of the rotatable screw, wherein the trough comprises an upper portion,
- wherein at least a portion of the upper portion of the trough is configured for selective positioning relative to a vertical axis to define an operative height of the trough and thereby set an overflow threshold height for reclaimed material collected by the screw, wherein reclaimed material below the overflow threshold height contributes to a target reclaim rate for the reclaimer system, and wherein the trough is configured to permit overflow of reclaimed material above the overflow threshold height, and
- wherein the upper portion of the trough comprises a selectively moveable portion that is selectively moveable relative to the vertical axis, the reclaimer system further comprising at least one overflow detection device configured to detect the presence of material above the selectively moveable portion of the upper portion of the trough.
A trough for use in a reclaimer system having a selectively travelling reclaimer bridge and a rotatable screw positioned along a length of the selectively travelling reclaimer bridge, the rotatable screw being configured to collect material reclaimed from a pile contacting at least a portion of the selectively travelling reclaimer bridge, the trough being configured for positioning on a trailing side of the rotatable screw and comprising:
- a fixed lower portion having an inner surface;
- and
- an upper portion coupled to the fixed lower portion,
- wherein at least a portion of the upper portion is configured for selective positioning relative to a vertical axis to adjust an operative height of the trough and thereby set an overflow threshold height for reclaimed material collected by the screw, wherein reclaimed material below the overflow threshold height contributes to a target reclaim rate for the reclaimer system, and wherein the trough is configured to permit overflow of reclaimed material above the overflow threshold height, and
- wherein the upper portion comprises a selectively moveable portion that is selectively moveable relative to the vertical axis, the trough further comprising at least one overflow detection device configured to detect the presence of material above the selectively moveable portion of the upper portion of the trough.
A method comprising:
- using a rotatable screw to collect material reclaimed from a pile contacting at least a portion of a selectively travelling reclaimer bridge, the rotatable screw being positioned along a length of the reclaimer bridge, the rotatable screw having a rotation axis, a leading side, a trailing side, an operative circumference, and an operative diameter;
- positioning a trough on a trailing side of the rotatable screw, wherein the trough comprises an upper portion;
- and
- selectively positioning at least a portion of the upper portion of the trough relative to a vertical axis to adjust an operative height of the trough and thereby set an overflow threshold height for the reclaimed material collected by the screw, wherein reclaimed material below the overflow threshold height contributes to a target reclaim rate for the reclaimer system, and wherein the trough is configured to permit overflow of reclaimed material above the overflow threshold height;
- detecting, using at least one overflow detection device, a presence of material above a selectively moveable portion of the upper portion of the trough;
- receiving, by a processor an output from the at least one overflow detection device indicative of the material reclaim rate;
- and
- receiving, by the processor, an output from at least one flow detection device indicative of a quantity of material discharged from a discharge end of the trough, the processor being communicatively coupled to motors of the rotatable screw and the selectively travelling reclaimer bridge and to an actuator of the selectively movable portion of the upper portion of the trough;
- comparing, by the processor, the determined material reclaim rate to a material reclaim rate setpoint;
- and
- selectively adjusting, by the processor, at least one of the following parameters as needed to achieve the material reclaim rate setpoint:
- (a) a rotation speed of the rotatable screw;
- (b) an advance rate of the selectively travelling reclaimer bridge;
- or
- (c) the operative height of the trough.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.