US1491803A - Measuring hopper - Google Patents

Description

April 29 1924. 1,491,803

C. S. JOHNSON MEASURING HOPPER Filed June 4, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR. (Mi/e155 a? Jam 50m ATTORNEKS Patented Apr. 29, 1924.

cm s. Jonson, or cn mrnen, ILLINOIS.

museums nolirn'a.

' a ummn'alea June 4,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES S. JOHNSON, a citizen of the-United States, and a resident of Champaign, county of "Champaign, and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new. and useful Measuring Ho per; and I do .hereby declare-that the f0 owing is afull,

clear, and exact descriptionthereof, refer ence being had to the accompanying drawv ings, in which like numerals refer to like parts. I I

This invention relates to improvements in the valve mechanism for controlling the op eration of measuring hoppers, used in measuring drymaterial of any kind and particu-' larly in measuring and loading crushed stone and the like for making concrete.

There has always been trouble in operating the cut-off valve mechanism because of the pressure of the load of sand, gravel or .stone above it. and failure of valveto close completely because largeparticles of material would become pinched in the valve,--preventing full closing and causing leakage of smaller particles. This valve is usually mounted-at the outlet opening of a lar e bin adapted to receive a large quantity 0 sand or gravel or crushed stone. Therefore, when the valve is being closed, it' has to cut through the body of stone or sand at the outlet and in so doing should best be free to move material ahead of and out of the path of the valve. In this movement one trouble I has been that the material would wedge between the valve and the adjacent structure and block the closing movement of the valve.

Heretofore there was no means of forcing out of its path enough materialto permit the complete closing of the valve. The upward and forward crowding movement would haveto act against the entire weight of the material above, which might. be several feet deep and final forward movement was prevented by particles wedged in front of the valve.

Therefore, an object of this invention is to overcome the foregoing difficulties in the construction heretofore used. One means for, overcoming the disposition of the material to wedge between the knife and the adjacent parts is by curving the advancing:

the valve so it will have a shearing edge of movement to crowd the material forwar of the valve instead of wedgingit between the valve and adjacent-structure. Another feature of the invention in this connection is 192:. Serial 1%. 648,294.

the provision of an open chamber immediately above the valve that is not full of material and. into which the material may be crowded up ahead and out of the way as the valve closes and thus permit its closure.

Most constructions of this ln'nd have a I plurality of bin sections for materials of different kinds, such as sand' and stone for concrete, and a corresponding plurality of measuring hoppers, and each hopper has a valve for controlling the inlet thereto that must be operated by hand.

A feature of this invention is in the means I for operating the valves for the two ho 'dischar ed together.

The ull nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims: I

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a pair of measuring hoppers, partially broken away, and their associated valve mechanisms for controlling the inlet and outlet ofthe ho pers. Fig. 21s the same as the lower part 0 Fi%. 1, with the valves open instead of closed. ig. 3 is a plan view 0 the upper valve construction. Fig. 4 is'.

a section on the line P4 of Fig. 3 with the valve closed. Fig. 5 is the same as Fig. 4 with the valve only partially closed. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the right-hand valve structure in Fig. 3. showing the valve open. The particular construction herein shown and described has been made, adapted and used in connection with structures for measuring and loading loose material, such as gravel, sand, stone and the like for concrete. But the inventionis not limited to the sort of loose material handled nor to the purpose for which the material isintended. It may be employed in'any situation where loose material like sand,-gravel or grain is to be measured, and particularly where a plurality of measuring hoppers of different dimensions should be operated together.

There is shown in the drawings a large double, conical measuring hopper 10 an a smaller measuring hopper 11. In 1 they are shown centrally broken away in several places, so that the height of eachhopper is relatively greater than shown. These hoppers consist really of two parts, the large and major portions 10 and 11, and the upper portions 110 and 111, the lower ends of which project partially into the or inlet end of. each hopper flares upwardly so as to be hopper-like for receiving the material to be measured from the outlet pan 12 located above it and which is the outlet for a large storage bin above the pan 12, not here shown. This storage bin may be of several tons or a hundred tons capacity. The particular construction of this pan 12 is illustrated in Fig. 4:. It has a wide rectangular rim 112 with inclined downwardly and inwardly tapering sides to the outlet. In the constructions heretofore employed, the side walls of this pan havebeen circular, but one of the important improvements of this invention is providing said pan with an opening 14 in one side thereof to receive the sand or material forced forward and upward as the valve is being closed, as shown in Fig. 5. The top 214 is a horizontal covering or plate here shown integral with the pan for keeping the material above from entering and filling the opening 14 as the material flows through the pan or outlet.

On the arbor 15 mounted in one side of said pan, the shank 16 of a valve 17 is pivoted or fulcrumed. This valve plate 17 is largely circular, but the advancing edge 117 is curved concavely from the shank towards the point 217 so that when the valve is being closed as seen in Fig. 5, it will move and push the material along the edge of the valve and out of the way so that it will not jam between the valve and the side walls 12 of the pan. When the valve is being closed, it must be forced through the mass of crushed stone or the like and as the stone is incompressible, some space provision for the displaced material is necessary. This space is provided by chamber 14. As the valve is being closed with material above and below, it must force some of the material forward and upward and since there may be several tons of material above, it is not possible to force it upward by the closing movement of the valve unless there is provided the opening 14, which is not filled with material as it comes downward from the bin above. i

The circular wall 12 is modified. at the opening '14 to a V-shape in order to reduce and check the forward movement of material by the valve when closing. The V- shaped section of Wall 12 is extended be yond the closed position of the valve, thus serving to check but not positively stop the forward movement of material.

To enable the two valves of a pair to be simultaneously operated, there are arms 18 extending from the shanks 16 thereof which are connected by a connecting bar structure 19, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. A hand lever 20 is connected with one of the valves for opening and closing it and when one is opened and closed, the other is given the same movement.

In the rapid operation of mechanism of this kind, as is necessary in practical use, the foregoing featurebeco-mes of great value because stoppages of the mechanism by clogging or otherwise is very expensive as well as annoying. It must always operate and the improvements above specified enable it to do so.

The valves 25 at the lower ends of the hoppers are pivoted at 26 in a frame 27 secured to the hopper, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so that they can swing downward in their opening movement, as seen in Fig. 2. Each valve has a fin or plate 28 on the back of it and centrally located with a stop 29 forming a part thereof adapted to engage the wall of the measuring hopper and limit the,

opening movement of the valve, as seen in Fig. 2. One valve is controlled by a hand lever 30 pivoted at 31 on an arm extending laterally from the frame 27 and forming a part of said frame. Said lever is pivoted between its ends and its inner end is connected with the plate 28 by a connecting bar 32'. This is a toggle arrangement and is arranged so that when the valve is'closed, the middle pivot will pass slightly beyond center, but will be prevented from further movement by a bent stop arm 33 which is rigidly connected with the lever 30 and adapted to engage the outwardly extending arm from the frame 27, as seen in Fig. 1.

The other valve 25 for the right-hand measuring hopper is similarly constructed, but is controlled by a bell crank lever 34 which is operated through a long connecting rod 35 by a hand lever 36' fulcrumed at 31, beside the lever 30. This enables one. person to operate both valves from one position simultaneously. The bell crank lever 34 has a stop 37 thereon adapted to engage the outward arm from the frame 27 in order to hold the toggle joint in place and hold the valve closed, accomplishing the same purpose as the stop 33. In order for this com- 1 bined mechanism to operate well, the lower ends of the hoppers must be held in fixed. position. Therefore, their lower ends are connected by a rod 38. With this arr ge- KSO ment the slightest movement of the lever 30 or lever 36 will move the toggle joint past center on its return movement and then the way the material is resting on the valves will cause them to open.

The invention claimed is:

' l. The combination ofja bin outlet structure, a swinging horizontal valve for 'controlling said outlet, the advancing edge of said valve being curved concavelyso as to crowd away the material in the closing movement of the valve without jamming material between the valve and the bin outlet structure with which it'is mounted.

2. The combination of a bin outlet structure, a swinging horizontal valve for controlling said outlet, the advancing edge being pointed at the end and slightly curved conpavely therefrom to the shank so as to 1 shear through the material as it is being closed.

' 3. The combination of a bin outlet structure having an outlet passageway, a horizontally moveable valve pivoted to the structureat. one side'of the outlet, and an opennormally filling.

4. They combination of a bin outlet structure having an outlet passageway, a hori-' zontally moveable valve pivotedto the structu're at one side of the outlet, and an open- '-ing atthe closing side of the outlet towards which the advancing edge of the valve moves whileclosing so that the valve will crowd the displaced material into said opening, there being a plate above said opening to keep it from normally filling and there being no bottom. to said opening but there being side walls to. said opening inclined up-- wardly from the bottom of the outlet structure to said top plate. a v

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

CHARLES S. JOHNSON.

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