WO2011067584A1

WO2011067584A1 - Improvements in soil and/or rock conditioning machines

Info

Publication number: WO2011067584A1
Application number: PCT/GB2010/051983
Authority: WO
Inventors: Andrew William Armstrong
Original assignee: AQS Holdings Ltd
Current assignee: AQS Holdings Ltd
Priority date: 2009-12-02
Filing date: 2010-11-29
Publication date: 2011-06-09
Anticipated expiration: 2012-06-02

Abstract

A soil and/or rock conditioning machine (1) includes a feed hopper (5), and conveyor means (6) to feed the soil or rock to a mixing chamber (7). At least one rotor (9, 10) is positioned in the mixing chamber (7). The mixing chamber (7) includes at least one adjustable door (13, 14) in a position to intercept the material ejected by the rotor or rotors (9, 10) to facilitate desirable conditioning and mixing of the material. The clearance between the rotor (9, 10) and the door (13, 14) is adjustable depending on the material being conditioned. The doors (13, 14) are adjustable by actuating means (24, 26) adapted to position the doors (13, 14) and also to provide a vibratory, shaking or oscillation movement to assist in the removal of accumulated deposited material on the surface of the doors (13, 14).

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN SOIL AND/OR ROCK CONDITIONING MACHINES

The invention relates to a soil conditioning and crushing machine for conditioning or treatment of soil and rocks. Particularly the invention relates to the modifying or regenerating various soil type soils for which the machine can also perform as a crusher.

Throughout the specification and appended claims, where reference is made to the term soil, the term is intended to include all soil types and also material to be crushed in the machine such as stones and small rocks.

In this specification unless the contrary is expressly stated, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred or discussed, this reference or discussion is not to be construed as an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge; or known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.

Clay soil creates problems in the building industry and also in earth works. It is well known that a soil conditioning material is spread over areas of clay, the conditioning material for example being lime, gypsum or cement. More recently machines are available to condition the clay soil. The clay is dug or scraped from the ground and loaded onto a conveyor belt of the machine. The clay with conditioning material is dropped onto a mixer where it is mixed and fed to a discharge conveyor. One example of such a machine is described in US 5,988,937 in the name of Komatsu Ltd. This specification is primarily directed to the feeding of the soil to be conditioned and the feeding of the conditioning material prior to the materials being fed to the crusher.

However when it is desired to condition various types of soils, clay, solid or granular material such as stones and small rocks different conditions are required in the mixing chamber. This includes varying the rotational speed of the mixing rotors or hammers in the mixing chamber and also the clearance between the walls of the mixing chamber and the rotor or rotors.

However when conditioning materials containing moisture whether soils stones or rocks and particularly clay soils, the major problem occurs in that the material adheres to the walls of the mixing chamber resulting downtime for the mixing chamber to be cleaned. This is time consuming, often requiring the mixing to be opened and even removal of the mixing rotor to enable access to be gained to the surfaces to be cleaned.

An object of the invention is to provide adjustable doors on at least one surface of the mixing chamber adjacent to the rotor whereby the clearance between the door and rotary mixer or hammer is adjustable.

A further object of the invention is to position the adjustable door or doors closely adjacent the rotor or rotors whereby the rotors clean excess material from the surface of the doors. A further object of the invention is to shake or vibrate the adjustable door to assist in the removal of adhered material on the surface of the door.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, taking in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed.

According to the present invention, although this should not be seen as limiting the invention in any way, there is provided according to the invention a soil and/or rock conditioning machine including a feed hopper, conveyor means to feed the soil or rock to a mixing chamber, at least one rotor positioned in a mixing chamber, said mixing chamber including at least one adjustable door in a position to intercept the material ejected by the rotor or rotors to facilitate desirable conditioning and mixing of the material whereby the clearance between the rotor and the door is adjustable depending on the material being conditioned, characterised in that the doors are adjustable by an actuator, and wherein the actuator provide a vibratory, shaking or oscillation movement to assist in removing accumulated deposited material on the surface of the doors.

Preferably the doors are hinged to be positioned toward and away from the rotors.

Preferably the doors are positioned to intercept the material ejected from the rotors in directions other than downward.

Preferably the doors are shaped to intercept the material.

Preferably the adjustable door or doors are cleaned by moving the adjustable door or doors to be adjacent the said rotor or rotors.

Preferably the vibratory, shaking or oscillation movement can be provided during the cleaning action or during the operation of the conditioning machine.

By way of example, an employment of the invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of the soil conditioning machine showing two rotors,

Figure 1 a shows a similar view showing a machine with one rotor,

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of one embodiment of the mixing chamber showing two mixing rotors rotating in the same direction. Figure 3 is a partial view of the mixing chamber showing the adjustable doors in the open position.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the doors in the closed position, and Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of the mixing chamber showing the mixer rotors in vertical alignment rotating in opposite directions with a different door configuration.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the drawings.

The soil conditioning or crushing machine 1 shown in figure 1 is mounted on a trailer chassis 2 having a tow bar 3 and wheel bogie 4 whereby the machine can be easily transported from site to site.

The machine 1 comprises a feed hopper 5 feeding a conveyor 6 to transport the soil to a mixing chamber 7. A hopper 8 to contain conditioning material can deposit regulated amounts of conditioning material on the soil prior to entering the mixing chamber. The soil as it is being conditioned passes downwardly through the mixing chamber 7 where it is mixed and conditioned by rotors 9 and 10, as later described, onto a discharge conveyor 21 . The machine is driven by an internal combustion engine 1 1 driving hydraulic pumps. The conveyors and rotors are driven by variable speed hydraulic motors, the hydraulic circuit and control valves being conventional and is not described or shown.

Turning now to Figures 2 and 3 showing the mixing chamber 7 in more detail with front wall 7a and rear wall 7b, the rotors 9 and 10 in this embodiment are shown as mixing rotors with both rotating in the same direction. The rotor 9 has its centre of rotation at about the level of the conveyor 6, with the picks 12 passing closely adjacent to the end of the conveyor 6. The mixing chamber has doors 13 and 14 against which the severed pieces of soil are thrown. Door 13 has portion 15 extending across and downwardly and angled portion 16 and deflecting portion 17 to deflect the soil pieces onto rotor 10. Similarly door 14 has portion 18 extending downwardly and portion 19 to deflect the soil portions to outlet 20.

Both rotors rotate in the clockwise direction and rotor 9 cuts the soil directly off the end of the conveyor and accelerates the pieces of soil against door 13 which deflects the soil portions onto the rising picks 12 of rotor 10. Some of the soil portions would be accelerated back onto rotor 9 to maximise the amount of sheer (energy) that is put into the process.

As noted above while the conditioning machine is primarily for conditioning soil, it can also be used as a crusher in which case one or both mixing rotors with picks can be replaced by a hammer rotor.

Door 13 is hinged by hinge 23 to the mixing chamber wall and can be adjustably positioned by hydraulic actuator 24.

Door 13 at the upper portion of the mixing chamber is shaped to intercept the upwardly projected material from rotor 9, rotating in a clockwise direction, on surface 34 which directs the material generally downwardly back to the rotor 9 or down to rotor 10. Other material ejected from the rotor 9 is intercepted by surface 35 on door 13 to direct the material downwardly onto rotorl O. Inclined surface 36 at the end of surface 35 assists in directing the material onto rotor 10.

Door 14 is hinged by hinge 25 to the mixing chamber wall by hinge 25, and is adjustably positioned by hydraulic actuator 26. This door at the lower portion of the mixing chamber intercepts the material ejected from rotor 10 rotating in a clockwise direction. Surface 37 on door 14 directs a portion of the material either back onto the rotor 10, or onto surface 3 to direct the material to the conveyor 21 (not shown).

A fixed deflection plate 39 is attached to the walls of the mixing chamber to intercept the material thrown generally directly upward by the rotor 9 from the end of the feed conveyor. The deflection plate 39 directs the material back onto the rotor 9 for further processing.

Figure 4 shows the doors in the closed cleaning position where the rotors remove the soil and build up of material deposited on the doors, thus in effect the mixing chamber is self cleaning. Figure 5 shows a further embodiment of the machine in which the second rotor 27 rotates in the opposite direction to rotor 9. Door 29 is positioned to intercept the treated material ejected by rotor 27, the door being hinged at 30 and movable by actuator 31 The door 29 has deflecting surfaces 40 and 41 to direct the conditioned material to the discharge conveyor (not shown).

On the wall of the mixing chamber deflecting surface 42 deflects the material from rotor 9 onto rotor 27, and surface 43 directs the material to the discharge conveyor (not shown).

To assist in the cleaning of the doors the actuators 24, 26 and 31 can be actuated to provide a vibratory, shaking or oscillating movement to the doors. The frequency and the stroke of the actuators is such that the deposited material is assisted in falling from the doors. This vibratory movement can occur during the closed position cleaning position, or at desired times during the operation of the conditioning machine. This will depend on the type of material being conditioned and its moisture content. The cleaning cycle for the doors is variable depending on material type. The doors need to be cleaned at varying durations dependent on the thickness of the deposited material. The position of the doors during operation is determined by the material being conditioned. The position of the doors and the closing for cleaning and return to the operating position can preferably be computer controlled. The frequency of cleaning and the duration of each cleaning can be determined and programmed so that the cleaning takes place automatically with the doors returning to their pre-determined position. Also it is to be noted not all doors need be cleaned at the same time, and the vibratory, oscillating or oscillatory movement may be applied to selected doors, again depending the condition of the material being conditioned.

The cleaning operation can take place during the operation of the machine, or alternately the feed conveyor can be stopped while the cleaning operation takes place. If for any reason the machine has to be stopped, an auto stop sequence is installed. This stops and reverses the belt 6 (Fig.1 ) slightly prior to the machine stopping. This prevents material at the end of the belt 6 falling down onto the rotor thus preventing the rotor from stalling and/or failing to restart. The embodiments just described illustrates the rotors being staggered, the lower rotor being spaced below and to one side of the upper rotor.

However the lower rotor can be positioned directly below the upper rotor as shown in Figure 5 being a partial section of the mixing chamber 7.

Rotor 9 rotating in a clockwise direction cuts or picks the material from the end of the conveyor and accelerates the material onto door 13 to direct the clay pieces onto rotor 27 which rotates in an anti-clockwise manner to accelerate the clay pieces back onto rotor 9. However in this embodiment door 14 is replaced by a baffle 28 having inclined surfaces 42 and 43 positioned to leave a small clearance adjacent to the rotor 27 and prevent the clay pieces from passing to outlet 20, the surface 42 directing the material onto rotor 27.

Door 29 is hinged by hinge 30 to the mixing chamber opposite to the baffle 30 and deflects and directs the clay pieces by inclined surfaces 40 and 41 to the outlet 20.

Thus it can be seen there is provided a versatile soil conditioning machine which can be adapted to be a crusher by the substitution of one or both of the mixing rotors with hammer rotors, the mixing and hammer rotors can be in any configuration, mixer and hammer, or hammer and mixer. The rotors can be changed from one type to the other in a short period of time, thus enhancing the versatility of the machine. The double rotor concept provides efficient mixing of the clay with the conditioning material of lime or cement, by accelerating the particles into the path of the other rotor to maximise the amount of sheer (energy) that is put into the mix process. While the above embodiments describe either one or two rotors, it is to be realised that the invention is not limited thereto, for three or more rotors positioned in vertical array can be positioned in the mixing chamber, depending on the type of material being conditioned and the desired standard of the conditioned material.

The incoming material does not fall into the mixing chamber but is cut by the upper rotor directly from the end of the conveyor and accelerated onto the door to direct the material onto the second rotor. The blowing of compressed air into the mix chamber aids the vaporisation of any hydrocarbon materials. The air is blown through the pulverized soils as they leave the rotor and the process of the material flying through the air maximises the contact of the compressed air with the soil particles to release hydrocarbon contamination.

The adjustable doors for each rotor permit the clearance to be adjusted for each type of soil being conditioned, the doors also being adjusted to self- cleaning position. The use of hydraulic motors permits infinite speed adjustments depending on soil types and/or operation made, e.g. mixing or crushing, e.g. mixing 200-500 RPM, crushing 800-1000RPM.

Although the invention has been herein shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures can be made within the scope of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details described herein but it is to be accorded the full scope of the appended claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices and apparatus.

Claims

1 . A soil and/or rock conditioning machine including a feed hopper, conveyor means to feed the soil or rock to a mixing chamber, at least one rotor positioned in a mixing chamber, said mixing chamber including at least one adjustable door in a position to intercept the material ejected by the rotor or rotors to facilitate desirable conditioning and mixing of the material whereby the clearance between the rotor and the door is adjustable depending on the material being conditioned, characterised in that the doors are adjustable by actuating means to position the doors and also to provide a vibratory, shaking or oscillation movement to assist in the removal of accumulated deposited material on the surface of the doors.

2. A soil and/or rock conditioning machine as defined in claim 1 characterised by a pair of doors positioned to intercept the material ejected from the rotor or rotors other than in the downward direction.

3. A soil and/or rock conditioning machine as defined in claim 1 or 2 wherein each door is hinged at its upper end and supported towards it lower end by a hydraulic actuator to position the door in relation to an adjacent rotor.

4. A soil and/or rock conditioning machine as defined in claim 3 wherein each door has a pair of deflecting surfaces angled to form a V to deflect the ejected material, the adjacent rotor being substantially within the V.

5. A soil and/or rock conditioning machine as defined in claim 4, characterised by a pair of rotors, a first rotor at the end of the feed conveyor, a second rotor positioned below the first rotor, a first door positioned to intercept and deflect the material ejected from the first rotor and deflect and direct the material to the second rotor, and a second door positioned to intercept and direct the ejected material from the second rotor to an outlet in the mixing chamber.

6. A soil and/or rock conditioning machine as defined any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the hydraulic actuator for each door adjusts the position of the door relative to its adjacent rotor depending on the material being conditioned.

7. A soil and/or rock conditioning machine as defined in claim 6 wherein the hydraulic actuator for each door can move its door to a cleaning position for its adjacent rotor.

8. A soil and/or rock conditioning machine as defined in any one of claims 3 to 7 Wherein the hydraulic actuators are activated to vibrate or shake the doors either during the cleaning of the doors or as required during the operation of the machine.