Excited base conveyor system
AssigneeFMC Corporation
InventorsPAUL E. SLEPPY, HAROLD E. PATTERSON
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A base excited vibratory trough conveyor includes a trough mounted on leaf springs to a base which is excited by a linear vibratory drive. The vibratory drive produces a linear force which is oriented to be perpendicular to the springs, and the linear force is adjusted to equal the reaction force of the springs on the base during the desired stroke. Such balancing results in no stroke or movement of the base. A more lightweight base can thus be used without requiring that the base center of gravity be aligned along the center of gravity of the conveyor and the trough, or that the base be excessively heavy.
Claims6
A base excited two-mass vibratory conveyor, comprising:
- a trough for transporting materials;
- a base underlying said trough;
- a plurality of elongate leaf springs connecting said trough to said base;
- a linear vibratory drive connected to said base;
- wherein said linear vibratory drive is arranged to generate a linear force along a first line which passes through said trough within a tolerance distance of a center of gravity of said trough, and said tolerance distance is less than or equal to 0.21 inches per foot of trough length, and said springs are arranged parallel to a second line defining a spring angle, and said first line is perpendicular to the second line, and wherein the force generated by the linear vibratory driver is equal to and opposite to the reaction force of said plurality of springs;
- and
- wherein a center of gravity of the base is located at a distance from said first line.
A method for assembling a vibrating trough conveyor, comprising the steps of:
- providing a trough and determining a weight of the trough and the location of a center of gravity of the trough;
- providing a base and a linear vibratory driver connected to said base;
- providing springs for mounting said trough above said base;
- selecting an operating frequency, spring angle of said springs between said base and said trough, and trough stroke, according to the desired feed rate;
- calculating a required force to produce the desired maximum stroke of the trough, and a spring rate;
- locating the springs along the trough and base to evenly distribute said springs about the center of gravity of the trough, and mounted at the selected spring angle;
- selecting a linear vibratory driver having a size sufficient to generate a force equal to the required force at the desired stroke;
- and
- locating the linear vibratory driver on the base such that a line of force generated by the linear vibratory driver is perpendicular to the springs and passes through the center of gravity of the trough.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.