DESCRIPTION

Technical field

The present invention relates to a bucket for crushing inert material, having the characteristics outlined in the preamble of the main claim.

Technological background

In the technical field of reference, buckets are known which comprise an outer casing, configured for the collection of inert material, such as aggregate, material resulting from the demolition of building structures, and inside which are mounted crushing means for crushing the collected material.

In the present context, the term "bucket" is intended to indicate as a whole any device arranged and intended to be hooked onto the free end of an arm of an operating machine. The buckets according to the prior art, however, have some drawbacks which limit their performance. For example, they are subject to clogging up in the presence of some types of material, with consequent reduction of the overall efficiency of the processing.

Description of the invention The problem underlying the present invention is that of producing a bucket for crushing inert material, structurally and functionally designed in order to remedy the limitations mentioned above with reference to the prior art cited.

Within the scope of that problem, it is a principal aim of the invention to provide a bucket having a wider operating scope and functionality than those offered by the conventional buckets.

This problem is solved and this aim is achieved by the present invention by means of a bucket produced in accordance with the claims which follow.

Brief description of the drawings The characteristics and advantages of the invention will become clearer from the detailed description of some preferred exemplary embodiments thereof, illustrated by. way of non-limiting example with reference to the

appended drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view from above of a first example of a bucket for crushing inert material, produced according to the present invention, - Figure 2 is a perspective view from below of the bucket of

Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a view on an enlarged scale of the detail III of the bucket of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a frontal perspective view from above of a second example of a bucket produced according to the present invention,

Figure 5 is a perspective view from below and behind of the bucket of Figure 4,

Figure 6 is a view in side elevation of the bucket of Figure 4 in the operating position for crushing.

Preferred way of implementing the invention

With initial reference to Figures 1 to 3, the reference 1 indicates as a whole a bucket for crushing inert material, produced according to the present invention. The bucket 1 comprises an outer casing 2, generally of a shovel-like shape, in which are defined an inlet opening 3 and a longitudinally opposed discharge opening 4.

On the upper part of the casing 2 a pair of attachment means Ia are provided for hooking the bucket 1 to the free end of an arm of an operating machine.

Also mounted in the casing 2 are crushing means for crushing the inert material, comprising a pair of jaws 5 and 6, facing each other. The first jaw 5 is associated, in a manner known p_er se, with drive means indicated as a whole by 7, so as to be set in motion away from and towards the second, fixed jaw 6, in order to compress and crush the material present between same. The bucket 1 further comprises riddling means 10 for riddling the inert

material and arranged at the inlet opening 3.

The means 10 in turn comprise a perforated plate 11, extending to cover a through opening 2a provided on the bottom of the casing 2, and also a vibrating system 16 connected to the perforated plate 11. The plate contains holes 11a, preferably uniformly distributed and having the same shape and dimension. The holes 11a define the discharge aperture of the perforated plate 11.

The type of perforation, as also the material, dimensions and thickness, of the perforated plate 11 may be as varied as possible, provided that they are suitable for the purpose indicated. In this way, the term plate, as used in the present context, also includes the concept of a mesh. Preferably, the plate 11 is arranged so as to connect a lip 3a defining a bottom side of the opening 3 with the fixed jaw 6. It is also fixed peripherally on a frame 12, which is in turn supported on brackets 13 fixed on the casing 2, through respective damping members 14 interposed between the frame 12 and the brackets 13.

Advantageously, the perforated plate 11 is removably fixed, for example by means of countersunk screws 15, so as to be interchangeable with other similar plates. The substitution of the plate 11 may make it possible to vary the dimension or the number of the holes 11a in the plate intended for riddling the inert material, or to vary its mechanical characteristics according to the specific requirements of the user. The vibrating system 16 may be of any type suitable for setting the plate 11 in vibration and is preferably mounted on the outside of the casing 2, in such a way as not to hinder the flow of inert material through same. The operation of the bucket 1 provides that, while the inert material to be crushed is collected in the casing 2 through the inlet opening 3, the perforated plate 11 is set in vibration by the vibrating system 16. In this way the material fed in, before arriving between the jaws 5, 6 in order to be crushed, is necessarily led over the perforated plate 11, where all the material, or a large part thereof, having a dimension smaller than

that of the holes 11a, passes through the discharge aperture defined thereby and is discharged directly onto the ground.

This preliminary riddling operation advantageously makes it possible to separate from the inert material fed into the casing 2 the entire fraction of reduced particle size, preventing it from reaching the crushing means. This "fine" fraction in fact, while not itself requiring any crushing, tends on the contrary to clog up needlessly the space between the jaws 5 and 6. It will therefore be noted that, owing to this preliminary riddling, the overall efficiency of the bucket is consequently increased, since only the fraction of inert material which actually needs to be crushed is treated.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, not shown in the appended drawings, the riddling means 10 also comprise means for choking the perforated plate 11 in order to vary the dimension of the holes 11a and consequently the discharge aperture through which the inert material fed into the casing 2 is riddled.

The choking means may comprise a second plate resting on the plate 11 at the surface facing towards the outside of the casing 2. The second plate will have perforations the size and distribution of which will be provided in such a way as to obtain the desired degree of choking. For example, the second plate may have perforations with dimensions and shape similar to that of the plate 11, but positioned so as to be off-set with respect thereto, so that the overall discharge aperture is defined by the superposed portion of perforation. Preferably, the position of the second plate is adjustable with respect to that of the plate 11, so as to vary the overall discharge aperture and adjust the particle size of the material to be discharged.

With reference to Figures 4 to 6, a second exemplary embodiment of the bucket according to the present invention is shown, indicated as a whole by 100. Details of the bucket 100 that are analogous to the bucket of the preceding example are designated by the same reference numbers.

The riddling means of the bucket 100, in addition to a perforated plate 11 arranged at the inlet opening 3 analogously to the preceding exemplary

embodiment, comprise a receptacle 101 fixed to the casing 2 on the same side as the discharge opening 4, for receiving and riddling the inert material crushed by the jaws 5 and 6. The receptacle 101 is substantially box-like in shape with a pair of sides 102, with solid surface, fixed to the casing 2 by means of screws or by means of tie-rods (not shown) hooked to eyelets 103.

On the receptacle 101 are further defined a proximal end 103, close to the discharge opening 4, and an opposed distal end 104, remote from that opening. A perforated back wall 105, facing on the opposite side to the discharge opening 4, and a wall 106, solid (except at the discharge 4), extend between the sides 102 and the ends 103, 104, for delimiting the receptacle 101.

The proximal end 103 is formed by a hatch 107, pivoting about hinges 108 between a closure position and a position opening towards the outside. Resilient members, not shown, act on the hatch 107 to urge it into the closure position.

Preferably, in addition to the back wall 105, the walls corresponding to the ends 103, 104 are also perforated and, even more preferably, all these walls are removably fixed, so as to be able to be easily substituted, for example in order to vary the dimension and/or the distribution of the holes.

The receptacle 101 is furthermore configured and fixed to the casing 2 in such a way that when the bucket is in the operating position for crushing, the material collected therein is conveyed away from the discharge opening 4, in order not to hinder the exit of the following material. As for the known buckets, during the crushing operation the bucket is typically placed in such a way that the inlet opening 3 and discharge opening 4 are aligned in a substantially vertical direction and, in order to achieve the aim proposed, provision is made for the back wall 105, when the bucket is in that position, to be inclined with respect to the horizontal plane such that the material leaving the casing 2 flows towards the distal end 104, where it accumulates without hindering the exit of the following material (see Figure 6). During this course, it necessarily flows over the

hatch 107 and the back wall 105, therefore undergoing a first riddling operation, then completed by the subsequent action of the perforated wall delimiting the distal end 104. The crushed inert material having a particle size smaller than the dimension of the holes in the hatch 107 and in the back wall 105 or the other perforated walls, is then immediately discharged, while the material of larger size is retained inside the receptacle 101.

This latter may then be discharged through the hatch 107 by means of partial tilting of the bucket which causes the material still inside the receptacle to drop on to the hatch 107 which will be opened by the weight of the material itself, overcoming the resistance opposed by the resilient members.

It will be noted that in this way heaps of crushed inert material having a smaller particle size and composed of the material discharged during riddling, and heaps of material of larger particle size, composed of the material discharged through the hatch 107, may be formed. ^■ In this case also, the riddling operation may be facilitated by the provision of a vibrating system associated with the receptacle 101, and capable of setting the latter in vibration. The vibrating system may conveniently be derived from the crushing means, by means of a connecting rod connection 109 between the movable jaw 5 and the receptacle 101.

Provision is of course made for the bucket 100 to be able to be provided only with the receptacle 101, without the provision of the perforated plate 11, so that the bucket is capable of carrying out only the post-crushing riddling.

The present invention therefore provides numerous advantages compared with the known buckets, including the possibility of separating the finer portion of the inert material from the coarser portion immediately downstream of the crushing process, with a single piece of mechanical equipment. Moreover, the bucket according to the invention has a greater processing efficiency, owing to the riddling of the material prior to crushing.