This invention relates to unloading and emptying means for bul material in store houses and ship cargo holds. With bulk material is meant granular material with a capacity to slide a of different origin and particle size, such as grain, salt, fe tilizers and the like.

There is known equipment for this purpose using scraper con¬ veyors attacking the bulk material from above and moving it in the longitudinal direction of the room or hull. Due to the fac that the width of attack will be limited to the individual scraper's scraper width, it will also be necessary to move the scraper conveyor transverse to the work direction, i.e. back a forth in the room's transverse direction so that the total sur face area of the store room will be covered. Furthermore, it will be necessary to be able to move the scraper conveyor ver¬ tically, so that it can be lowered at the same race as the sur face of the bulk material, as this is sinking due to the un¬ loading. Scraper conveyors of this type are generally known, f instance from French patent No. 1.343751.

As a result of the work of the scraper conveyor the bulk material will be moved in the longitudinal direction of the ro and collects near one of the walls of the room, from where it can be transported out of the room by suitable elevator means which extend to the bottom of the floor ^" .

When the elevator means is in the form of a stationary elevator for instance a bucket elevator driven by chains, with the buckets mounted on to endless chains, there must also be pro¬ vided for transverse transportation of the bulk material, i.e. in a direction crossing the longitudinal direction, to the stationar elevator means. A^- r\ *--

Such transverse transportation may also conveniently be provid by means of a scraper conveyor, which either can be mounted ne or at the bottom floor or on the surface of the bulk material. In the last mentioned case this transverse scraper conveyor mu also be able to move in the vertical direction to progress together with the surface of the bulk material when it is gradually decreasing or sinking down during unloading.

Equipment of the last mentioned type is known and described in

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German Specification DOS 2800226, published 18.7.78, but at th time not taken into practical use. Equipment of the first mentioned type is, however, also known, and from 1973 taken in practical use for transport of fertilizers in a bulk ship be¬ longing to the applicant. The solution using a scraper conveyo moving near the bottom of the cargo hold was chosen because on wished to use the transverse conveyor in combination with the lifting gear of the elevator, a bucket elevator which was ex¬ tended completely down to the bottom of the hull, and thereby obtain a simpler and less costly construction. The choice between surface scraping or scraping at the bottom will also t a certain extent depend on what type of bulk material which is to be transported and how easily it slides.

The known unloading gear of this type utilizes scraper conveyo mounted on elongated guide beams which are partly or completel crossing the cargo hold. Furthermore, these beams are suspende in and mounted vertically movable by means of wires or chains hanging freely down from the roof or ceiling. The transmission of electrical current to the drive means situated on the scrap conveyors, must also be done with long movable cables. This re quires much space and causes great problems, not only for the unloading functions, but also when the hull shall be loaded again with bulk material.

The main object of the present invention is to eliminate these drawbacks and to provide a new and improved unloading equipmen According to the invention, this object is obtained by using a specially designed conveyor consisting of integrated scraper units, which are vertically supported against one or more of t walls of the room and which takes care of all scraping and transport functions necessary to bring the bulk material into the elevator means.

This integrated conveyor consists of one, in the horizontal direction stationary, main scraper unit which is mounted for vertical movement by means of wheel sets or the like running along rails mounted against the wall of the room, and one tran verse scraper member connected to the main unit and horizontal movable back and forth along this. The transverse unit thus wi be vertically movable together with the main part, while it simultaneously is movable back and forth horizontally. The delivery end of the main scraper unit is cooperating with the elevator means transporting the bulk material out of the room. Due to this improved construction the unloading gear will not obstructing the space above the hull when it is not used for unloading. Neither will there be any interference caused by beams hanging freely in chains or cables. Additionally, the equipment can easily be dismantled and brought ashore for replacements and repair and will not prevent the normal loading operation with subsequent delays of a ship at the quay-side. Th equipment will also allow the use of the ship's hulls for other cargo than bulk material, such as containers and pallet goods, because it will be easy to dismount, take out and store on shor for shorter or longer time intervals when necessary.

Additional advantages and especially important features of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed descrip¬ tion with accompanying drawings, where:

Fig. 1 shows a view of a cargo hull in a ship seen from above with the unloading gear installed.

Fig. 2 shows a ^" vertical sectional view in a ship's longitudina direction with the scraper conveyor in lowered position

Fig. 3 shows a vertical sectional view in the transverse direction of the ship.

The integrated scraper conveyor consists of a main unit 1 and a back and forth movable, transverse member 3. The individual scraper elements are designed as bucket-formed scrapers or the like 4 which are fastened to endless chains driven by means of independent driving means, for instance an electric motor (not shown on the drawings).

The main unit 1 is vertically movable by means of two or more sets of wheels 2 running along suitable rails 22 mounted agains the vertical walls of the room (Fig. 1). The transverse member is connected to the main unit 1 by means of a fork 6 mσvably supported on a longitudinal guide 23 in the form of one or more rails. The distance between the main scraper unit and the delivery end of the transverse member must be kept small and be kept constant or permanent. This is made simple due to the inte gration of the two units into a construction which functions as one entity. The height or vertical distance between the two scraper units can be individually regulated by means of the fork 6. The transverse member 3 will thus be vertically movable together with the main part 1.

To additionally support the back and forth movable, transverse member 3, the outer end of this may be supported against a longitudinal horizontal guide rail 24. This guide is provided with two or more sets of wheels 5 which are movable on vertical auxiliary rails 25 mounted against one of the ver-ical walls. The main unit, and eventually also the transverse member, are connected to a common wire or cord transmission system to raise or to lower the whole conveyor gear.

The unloading gear will thus become independent of movable or fixed beams or girdlers crossing the whole or part of the carg hull or store house. The scraper conveyor will normally attack the bulk material from the surface. To allow for use also with the ^" scrapers in partly or wholly covered position, they may be equipped with covers or the like on the top and at the sides. The working of the scraper system may be established by direct drive connection, or by means of appropriate transmission elements from the driving means. These details are, however, n shown on the drawings.

The main scraper unit 1 delivers the bulk material to the elevator 7 as shown on Figs. 2 and 3. The elevator 7 is in the form of a bucket elevator with endless chains running over the driving shaft 26 and guiding shafts 27, 28, and between the chains are fastened lifting buckets 29. In the construction shown on Fig. 3 the elevator equipment extends down to the bottom or ground floor and is installed in a permanent shaft o the like. The main scraper unit 1 is placed opposite one wall the hull and moves the material parallel with and along the wall. The bulk material is thus delivered into the elevator in direction parallel with the elevator's driving and guiding shafts 26, 27 and 28, but transverse of the the direction of movement of the endless chains holding the buckets, through especially designed openings 8, covered with flaps which may b remote-controlled. The bucket conveyor itself thus moves withi a limited room with permanent walls 10, in which the above mentioned openings are situated. This room will give space for manual service work and control of the equipment. The bulk material is partly pushed and partly falls inside and into the lifting buckets. Due to the relatively short scraping movement performed by the buckets in the shaft' s. lower room 9 in a direc tion transverse to the direction of the supply, the conveyor buckets will first transport the bulk material in a substanti¬ ally horizontal direction, before it is lifted vertically. This secures an effective filling of each elevator bucket. The elevator conveys the bulk material by free fall or throw-off to a suitable receiving equipment.

The provision of one integrated, vertically movable scraper co veyor running along rails mounted opposite one wall of a room not only space-saving, but is also a constructionally simpler, cheaper and more reliable solution, giving cargo storage hulls or rooms which are more versatile than before. Rail transport, with the use of rotating wheels gives low friction and is less force-, energy- and maintenance-demanding than transport using sliding parts securely fixed in relation to each other. The rails are easy to mount even against an uneven surface, where simple linings or supports can be used. Furthermore, the electrical connections to the driving means and the other electrical installations necessary to operate the unloading ge are also substantially simplified.