Patent Application
20100155308
Screening arrangements are used in the mining and similar industries to size and separate materials. Certain screening arrangements include modular screening systems which are composed of a plurality of modular and replaceable screening media. These modular screening systems often include steel or other support structures to support modular screening media.
Existing steel or other structures used to support modular screening media often fail due to abrasive contact with screened material or by exposure to chemicals in the screened material. Current solutions for providing longer service life of these structures include modular protective covers, more exotic materials (e.g. using stainless steel instead of carbon steel in structure's fabrication), bonded rubber lining, spray-on coatings, additional thickness of the structure, or added layers of wear (sacrificial) materials.
Each of these remedies has inherent inadequacies. Current modular covers, such as molded plastic or rubber shapes that surround the top and sometimes sides of the protected structure fail to provide a seal at their interface locations. This allows both abrasive and chemical attacks of the protected structure. More expensive materials, such as stainless steel or composite materials, often last longer but are prohibitive in terms of cost. Moreover, these materials may offer improved resistance to chemical attack but typically do not outperform more conventional structural materials for abrasion resistance. Rubber lining and applied coatings eventually wear and are difficult to replace on site. Similarly, sacrificial materials, such as steel plating, are also difficult to replace on site.
Thus a need exists for a system and an apparatus for protecting support structures that overcomes these deficiencies.
One exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a modular system for protecting a support frame used in a screening arrangement. The modular system includes a plurality of modular protective covers mounted in side-by-side relationship. Each of the modular protective covers has a top surface and two opposing side walls that define a recess. A male component is located at a first end of the modular protective cover and a female component is located at a second end of the modular protective cover. The male component of each modular protective cover is adapted to mate with the female component of an adjacent modular protective cover.
Another exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a screening arrangement for use in screening materials. The screening arrangement includes a support frame and a plurality of protective covers mounted in side-by-side relationship along a length of a support frame. Each of the modular protective members has a top surface and two opposing side walls defining a recess configured to slide over the support frame. The modular protective covers have a male component located at a first end of the modular protective cover and a female component located at a second end of the modular protective cover. The male component of each modular protective cover is adapted to mate with the female component of an adjacent modular protective cover to provide a generally continuous surface along a length of the support frame.
A further exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a protective cover for protecting a support frame used in a screening arrangement. The protective cover includes a top surface and two opposing side walls defining a recess. The protective cover includes a male component located at a first end of the modular protective cover and a female component located at a second end of the modular protective cover.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended figures, in which:
a provides a perspective view of a modular protective cover according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
b provides a top view of a modular protective cover according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
a provides a top view of the interface between modular protective covers according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
b provides a perspective view of the interface between modular protective covers according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
c provides a side view of the interface between modular protective covers according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment, can be used with another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
Referring now to
The screening media 50 shown in
A securing device 40 is used to fasten screening media 50 to the support frame 20. The securing device 40 shown in
The support frame 20 includes a plurality of openings or sockets 60 for receiving the securing devices 40. The sockets 60 may be spaced at regular intervals or irregular intervals along the length of the support frame. A securing device 40 may be secured within a socket 60 in a variety of ways. For example, a securing device 40 may be secured to the support frame 20 by a screw thread. In other embodiments, the securing device 40 may be snapped into the support frame 20.
During a screening process, the support frames 20 will be exposed to abrasive contact with screened material and also to chemicals in the screened material. Such exposure may lead to failure of the support frames resulting in costly repairs and time delays. To address this concern, the exemplary embodiment of the present invention depicted in
The protective covers 30 may be formed from a variety of materials that are resistant to abrasion. For example, the protective cover 30 may be formed from a plastics material such as polyurethane or other high wear resistant polymer. Advantages of polyurethane include high resistance to abrasion, long wear life, and cost savings. The present disclosure, however, is not limited to a protective cover formed from a plastics material such as polyurethane. Using the teachings disclosed herein, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other abrasion resistant materials may be used, such as rubber, polyethylene, polypropylene, or other materials resistant to wear. The protective cover 30 may also be configured to sacrificially wear in order to protect the support frame
It is also desirable that the protective cover 30 be resiliently deformable. Referring to
The protective cover 30 has two openings 34. These openings 34 are configured to overlap a socket 60 on a support frame 20 when the protective cover 30 is mounted to a support frame 20. The exemplary protective cover 30 depicted in
Known protective covers for support frames fail to provide a seal at their interface locations. This allows both abrasive and chemical attacks of the protected structure at the interface between adjacent modular protective covers. The protective cover of the present disclosure overcomes this deficiency by providing a generally continuous protective cover along a length of a support frame. The interface between adjacent modular protective covers will now be discussed in detail
As illustrated in
The protective cover 30 also includes a top seal cover 39. In the Figures, the top seal cover 39 is located above the male components 36 of the protective cover 30. However, the top seal cover 39 may also be located above the female components 37 of the protective cover 30. The top seal cover 39 provides enhanced protection for the interface between two adjacent protective covers 30. For example, the top seal cover 39 may prevent abrasive material and chemicals from attacking the interface between the mating male components 36 and female components 37 of the protective cover 30.
Referring now to
c depicts a side view of the interface between adjacent modular protective covers 30. The protective cover 30 shown in
The male and female components 36, 37, the top seal cover 39, and the mating convex and concave surfaces 70, 75 allow the modular protective members to interlock in multiple dimensions to provide a protective seal at the interface between adjacent protective covers 30. The protective seal at the interface between adjacent modular protective covers 30 provides a generally continuous protective cover over a length of the support frame 20 as shown in
In addition to the above features, the protective system of the present disclosure also provides enhanced protection for the sockets 60 of the support frame 20.
As shown in
The components of the protective system 100 may be easily manufactured using injection molding or similar processes. Initial installation of the system onto a support frame requires no special tools and may be performed as part of the required installation of modular screening media. Removal and replacement of the individual components of the modular protective system may be performed at the same time the worn screening media is removed and replaced.
The individual modular protective covers of the modular system may be manufactured in a variety of configurations to provide the proper protective cover for the area of the support frame on which the protective cover or modular protective cover is mounted. These different configurations may interlock in the same manner to provide a continuous seal and protective cover over the length of the support on which the modular system is used, regardless of the variety of configurations of individual protective covers used.
While the present subject matter has been described in detail with respect to specific exemplary embodiments and methods thereof, it will be appreciated that those skilled in the art, upon attaining an understanding of the foregoing may readily produce alterations to, variations of, and equivalents to such embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is by way of example rather than by way of limitation, and the subject disclosure does not preclude inclusion of such modifications, variations and/or additions to the present subject matter as would be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.
