Support ring mount for rotating drum
AssigneeGentec B.V.
InventorGary Catlett
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rotatable drum arrangement, wherein the drum is mounted on support rings such that circumferential expansion and contraction of the drum relative to said support rings does not adversely affect the mounting. In a preferred embodiment, drum blocks are mounted to the drum, and corresponding ring blocks are mounted to the support ring. The side surfaces of adjacent drum blocks and ring blocks support the weight of the drum on the ring. In this arrangement, gaps may be maintained between the drum and support ring that allow for expansion and contraction of the drum. In the preferred embodiment, there is also a drive sprocket mounted on the drum with a sprocket mounting arrangement that also accommodates expansion and contraction of the drum.
Claims9
A rotatable drum arrangement, comprising:
- a cylindrical drum, having an outer surface and defining an axis of rotation, wherein, at a given axial position, said drum has a circular cross-section and defines a plurality of radii extending from said axis;
- at least one support ring encircling said drum at said given axial position, said support ring having an inner surface spaced a substantial radial distance away from the outer surface of said drum;
- a plurality of drum blocks fixed to the drum around the outer surface of said drum at said given axial position, each of said drum blocks having an outer surface and two substantially radially-directed side surfaces, wherein, for each of said drum blocks, there is a substantial gap between the outer surface of the drum block and the inner surface of said support ring;
- and
- wherein said drum is supported on said ring by forces directed substantially tangentially to the outer surface of said drum acting on said substantially radially-directed side surfaces.
A rotatable drum arrangement, comprising:
- a hollow, cylindrical, rotatable drum, defining an axis of rotation;
- a plurality of interconnected arcuate sprocket sections mounted at an axial position of said drum, encircling said drum, wherein there is a radial gap between said drum and said sprocket sections;
- each of said sprocket sections defining at least one sprocket hole for mounting the sprocket section on the drum;
- a plurality of mounting brackets, each of said mounting brackets being fixed to said drum and defining at least one radially-elongated hole aligned with a corresponding sprocket hole;
- and
- a pin extending through the aligned sprocket hole and elongated hole to form a pinned connection between said sprocket section and said mounting bracket which permits expansion and contraction of the drum without damaging the mounting brackets, sprocket sections, or the drum.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.