Semiautomatic spiral-tightening device for a vibrating conveyor

18:

• A spiral-tightening device for a tie rod of a spiral tower of a vertical vibrating conveyor, whereby the spiral tower comprises multiple spiral modules and is secured with a screw cap, the spiral-tightening device comprising:
• an anchor plate configured to be set into vibration by means of an electromagnetic drive;
• and
• a tie anchor connectable to an inlet tie rod;
• wherein the spiral-tightening device has a wedge slider arranged between the spiral tower and the drive,
• wherein the wedge slider comprises a wedge assembly decoupled from the drive for mounting or dismounting the spiral tower and an anchor plate assembly coupled to the drive, which is vibratable for vibrating the spiral tower;
• and
• wherein the spiral-tightening device comprises a displaceable wedge which is substantially displaceable horizontally between a mounting position and a clamping position by means of which the tie anchor connectable to the inlet tie rod is substantially shiftable vertically for clamping the tie rod.

30:

• A method for controlling the semiautomatic operation of a spiral-tightening device of claim 18, said method
• comprising the following steps before manually mounting the spiral:
• step a1):
• manually switching on a main switch of the vibrating conveyor to start a switch-on software which runs when the anchor plate of the spiral-tightening device is not yet activated and is not vibrating;
• step a2):
• checking whether the wedge of the spiral-tightening device is in its mounting position and
• if yes, then:
• step a3):
• initializing a displacement of the wedge until a first proximity switch indicates the value=0 and then displacement of the same in the opposite direction until this first proximity switch indicates the value=1, and
• if not, then:
• step a4):
• initializing a displacement of the wedge until the first proximity switch indicates a value=1;
• and
• step a5):
• after step a3) or step a4), manually mounting the spiral tower.

31:

• The method for controlling the semiautomatic operation of a spiral-tightening device of claim 18, said method
• comprising the following steps for drive release:
• step b1):
• pressing a GUI start button, which activates a release software;
• step b2):
• initializing a displacement of the wedge into a clamping position until a second proximity switch indicates the value=1;
• step b3):
• checking whether the wedge of the spiral-tightening device is in its clamping position and
• if yes, then:
• step b4):
• releasing the drive for vibrating the spiral tower of the vibrating conveyor;
• and
• if not, then:
• step b5):
• displaying an error message on the GUI start button;
• and
• step b6):
• manual troubleshooting and repeating step b2).

32:

• The method for controlling the semiautomatic operation of a spiral-tightening device of claim 18, said method
• comprising the following steps before dismounting the spiral:
• step c1):
• pressing a GUI stop button, which stops the vibration of the spiral tower of the vibrating conveyor and activates a software for dismounting the spiral;
• step c2):
• initiating a displacement of the wedge into the mounting position until the first proximity switch indicates the value=1;
• step c3):
• checking whether the wedge is in its mounting position, and
• if yes, then:
• step c4):
• manual dismounting the spiral tower of the vibrating conveyor;
• and
• if not, then:
• step c5):
• displaying an error message on the GUI start button;
• and
• step c6):
• manual troubleshooting and repeating step c2).

33:

• A combination of a spiral tightening device of claim 18, with a vertical vibrating conveyor comprising a plurality of spiral modules, which
• (i) is secured with a screw cap;
• and
• (ii) has a tie rod,
• wherein the vibratory conveyor has a conveying height of more than 2.5 m.