The invention relates to a chute for attachment to a conveyor belt for bulk material.

If material, in particular bulk material, is moved by means of a conveyor belt, it is regularly transferred to other devices at the end of the conveyor belt. This is often done by transferring the material to a lower position. In the simplest case, the material, the bulk material, falls off the conveyor belt at the end. However, especially at high conveying speeds, it is useful to divert the material flow by means of a chute.

In the case of fluctuating material flow, it is therefore known to design the chute, which is arranged at the end of the conveyor belt and deflects the material flow from approximately horizontal to approximately vertical, in a height-adjustable manner. Typically, the chute is moved further up when the material flow is greater and moved down when the material flow is less. This causes the opening of the chute to be correspondingly larger or smaller in relation to the conveyor belt and is thus adapted to the material flow.

However, it has been shown that the known state-of-the-art chutes do not always work completely reliably, especially with highly variable material flows. Such a situation can occur, for example, if the material flow can, for example, double due to the failure of a parallel plant.

It is the task of the invention to provide a chute, which is also suitable for extreme fluctuations in material flows of bulk material.

This task is solved by the chute with the features specified in claim 1 . Advantageous further embodiments are shown in the depended claims, the following description and the drawings.

A chute according to the invention is arranged at the end of the conveyor belt. The task of the chute is to divert the material flow of the conveyor belt from a mainly horizontal, usually slightly inclined, direction into a vertical direction downwards to another device for further processing or transport. Part of the chute is an impact plate. The orientation of the impact plate is essential for the direction of the material flow exiting downwards. The position of the impact plate is changed by the position of the chute. Thus, the direction of the downward material flow can be influenced by the position of the chute. The chute is adjustable in height relative to the position of the conveyor belt. By adjusting the height position of the chute, the chute can be adapted to a different height loading of the conveyor belt.

According to the invention, the chute is tiltable relative to the conveyor belt. By additionally adjusting the tilting of the chute, the discharge position of the material flow can also be adjusted. The advantage of the invention is to enable the central feeding of the other device, for example a subsequent conveyor.

In a further embodiment of the invention the chute comprises a first actuator for adjusting the height and a second actuator for tilting. The actuators can preferably be operated remotely, in particular from a control room. Particularly preferably, the actuators can be automatically adapted to the material flow by a self-controlling system. Although a manual adjustment is also possible, an adaptation to the current material flow is then considerably more complex.

The first actuator is preferably connected with a first linkage. The chute can be suspended from the linkage, for example.

The second actuator is preferably connected with a second linkage.

In a further embodiment of the invention the first actuator is fixedly connected to the chute and the second actuator is movably engaged to a recess of the chute. By coupling via a recess, the second actuator can compensate for the movements of the chute caused by the first actuator. Preferably, the recess is slot-shaped and, for example, vertical or almost vertical, wherein, due to the tilting of the chute by the second actuator, the term vertical can, of course, only be correct for a single position of tilting.

Especially the first actuator is fixedly connected via the first linkage to the chute and the second actuator is movably engaged to a recess of the chute via the second linkage. More preferably, the second linkage has a lever or cam system, which slides inside the recess.

In a further embodiment of the invention the recess of the chute is formed by a hook. Therefore the recess is open to one side, preferred on the bottom.

In a further embodiment of the invention the first actuator and the second actuator are electrically operated. Alternatively, hydraulic operation of the actuators is also possible, for example. Using electrically operated actuators will need less complex connections, and therefore will have a positive impact on the ease of retrofitting and quick removal for replacing the impact plate.

In a further embodiment of the invention the conveyor belt has a first sensor. The first sensor is being capable to detect the material flow on the conveyor belt. For example, the first sensor can detect the mass flow of the material stream transported on the conveyor belt, for example by a pressure-sensitive sensor on a support roller. Alternatively, the material flow can be detected optically, for example with a camera. Further, for example, the mass flow of the material stream can be detected by the device that applies the material to the conveyor belt, for example a crusher or excavator. The first sensor is connected to a control device, the control device is designed to adapt the position of the chute relative to the conveyor belt as a function of the material flow detected by the first sensor. This enables automatic adjustment of the height and tilt of the chute for optimum material transport even with highly fluctuating material flows.

In a further embodiment of the invention the chute can be adjusted in 3 to 8 different height positions relative to the position of the conveyor belt. By using a limited number of discrete positions, sufficient flexibility is created on the one hand, while at the same time limiting the need for control and thus the stress on the system to a minimum number of operations for large changes in the material flow.

If, for example, three crushers are combined with two downstream stackers and one crusher produces a material flow of 7000 t/h in the process, this results in four relevant states. In the first, one crusher and one stacker or two crushers and two stackers are active, then a material flow of 7000 t/h is transported via the conveyor belt to each active stacker. If all three crushers and both stackers are active, conveyor belts feed 10500 t/h to each stacker. If two crushers and one stacker are active, the material flow is 14000 t/h. And if three crushers but only one stacker are active, the material flow is 21000 t/h. Therefore, for this example, four stages of the material flow would be particularly relevant, 7000 t/h, 10500 t/h, 14000 t/h and 21000 t/h. Thus, the chute is preferably adjustable in four height positions corresponding to these material flows.

In a further embodiment of the invention the chute can be tilted to a certain angle for each height position. There is thus a fixed relationship between the height position of the chute and the angle of tilt of the chute.

In the following, the chute according to the invention is explained in more detail with reference to an example of an embodiment shown in the drawings.

Fig. 1 upper position

Fig. 2 lower position

Fig. 3 first tilted position

Fig. 4 second tilted position

A first position is shown in Fig. 1. The chute 10 is in the highest position relative to the conveyor belt 20. The chute 10 diverts the material flow coming from the conveyor belt 20 and guides it into the funnel shown below, under which a further conveyor belt, crusher or other component can be arranged, which is to receive the material flow and process or transport it further. The chute 10 has a hook 60 which forms a recess 50 in which the second actuator 40 engages via the second linkage 80. The fixed point of the second linkage 80 ist the point in the middle. The first actuator 30 is connected to the chute 10 via the first linkage 70. The fixed point of the first linkage is the left end. The first actuator 30 is used to change the height of the chute 10, the second actuator 40 causes a tilt. In the position shown here, the recess 50 is arranged vertically, the opening of the recess 50 is arranged at the bottom. Fig. 2 shows the chute 10 in a lowered and tilted position to reliably divert a lower flow of material from the conveyor 20. The first actuator is shortend and therefore the right part of the first linkage 70 is lowered and therefore also the chute 10.

Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 showing the first actuator 30 in the same position compared to Fig. 1 . In Fig. 3 the second actuator 40 is elongated and in Fig. 4 the second actuator 40 is shortend. Therefore the second linkage 80 is turned around the fixed point in the middle and therefore chute 10 is tilted.

Normally, both actuators are moved simultaneously. Here, the movements are shown separately to illustrate the principle of operation.

Reference signs

10 chute

20 conveyor belt

30 first actuator

40 second actuator

50 recess

60 hook

70 first linkage

80 second linkage