U.S. patent number 3,633,719 [Application Number 04/799,741] was granted by the patent office on 1972-01-11 for support assembly for a concrete mixer chute.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Construction Machinery Company. Invention is credited to Cecil G. Lynch.
United States Patent |
3,633,719 |
Lynch |
January 11, 1972 |
SUPPORT ASSEMBLY FOR A CONCRETE MIXER CHUTE
Abstract
A support assembly for a concrete mixer chute including a
support member rotatably secured to the concrete mixer frame below
the mixing drum discharge opening. The upper end of the chute is
connected to the upper end of the support member and is connected
intermediate its length to the lower end of the support member. The
chute and support member are rotatable about a vertical axis with
respect to the mixer so that the concrete can be directed to the
desired unloading point. A first gear segment is rigidly secured to
the support element for rotation therewith and a second gear
element is movably mounted on the mixer frame. The second gear
segment is movable into and out of engagement with the first gear
segment to permit the chute and supporting member to be locked in
various positions of their rotatable movement to maintain the chute
in the desired unloading position. Means are also provided to
maintain the second gear segment in its engaged position and its
disengaged position with respect to the first gear segment.
Inventors: |
Lynch; Cecil G. (Waterloo,
IA) |
Assignee: |
Construction Machinery Company
(Waterloo, IA)
|
Family
ID: |
25176631 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/799,741 |
Filed: |
February 17, 1969 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
193/10;
70/190 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B28C
5/4248 (20130101); Y10T 70/5681 (20150401) |
Current International
Class: |
B28C
5/42 (20060101); B28C 5/00 (20060101); B65g
011/12 (); B65g 011/18 () |
Field of
Search: |
;70/190 ;193/10 ;212/69
;74/527 ;302/34 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Hornsby; Harvey C.
Assistant Examiner: Maffei; Merle F.
Claims
I claim:
1. In a discharge chute support for concrete mixers or the
like,
a frame means,
a support means operatively secured to said frame means,
a support member operatively rotatably secured to said support
means and adapted to be secured to said discharge chute and to
rotatably support the same with respect to said frame means,
a locking means selectively locking said support member in various
positions of its rotatable movement with respect to said support
means,
said locking means including a first locking means rigidly secured
to said support member for rotation therewith, a second locking
means operatively secured to and movably mounted on said support
means, said first and second locking means having first and second
registering portions provided thereon respectively adapted to be
selectively interlocked with each other at times, said second
locking means being movable from a first position wherein said
registering portions are not interlocked to a second position
wherein said registering portions are interlocked,
said discharge chute being maintained in various positions of its
rotatable movement with respect to said support means when the
registering elements are interlocked,
said first and second registering portions being comprised of first
and second gear segments respectively,
said second gear segment being mounted on a horizontally disposed
pivotal rod means,
a handle means connected to said rod means for pivotally moving
said second gear segment into and out of engagement with said first
gear segment,
said handle means including an end portion which is secured to said
rod means in an eccentric relationship with respect to said second
gear segment and said rod means,
and a spring means yieldably engaging said end portion of said
handle means when said gear segments are interlocked to yieldably
maintain the same in said interlocked position,
said spring means being elongated and including an arcuate portion
adapted to receive said end portion of said handle means when said
second gear segment has been moved to a position out of
interlocking engagement with said first gear segment.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the axis of said end portion of
said handle means is disposed above the axis of said rod means and
is disposed above the plane of said second gear segment when said
gear segments are interlocked.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the axis of said end portion of
said handle means is disposed above the axis of said rod means and
is disposed below the registering portion of said second locking
means when said gear segments are not interlocked.
Description
Conventional concrete truck mixers have a discharge chute pivotally
connected to the rearward end of the mixing truck to permit the
concrete to be discharged some several feet away from the mixer. It
was necessary at one time for a workman to grasp the discharge
chute during the discharge of the concrete therefrom so that the
chute would remain in its desired unloading position. Obviously,
the necessity of the attendance of a workman to position the
discharge chute was an inefficient operation. Some attempts have
been made at overcoming the inefficient operation described
hereinbefore by means of selectively locking the discharge chute in
various positions of its rotatable movement with respect to the
mixing drum. However, these attempts were somewhat less than
satisfactory due to the manufacturing expense thereof and due to
the fact that considerable maintenance was required to keep the
locking means free from foreign materials such as rocks, concrete,
etc. Additionally, the existing locking means sometimes fail to
properly maintain the discharge chute in its proper position which
resulted in the concrete being spilled.
Therefore, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a
support assembly for a concrete-mixing chute.
A further object of this invention is to provide a support assembly
for a concrete mixer chute having means thereon to selectively lock
the discharge chute in various unloading positions.
A further object of this invention is to provide a support assembly
for a concrete mixer chute and means for locking and unlocking of
the discharge chute being accomplished by first and second gear
segments which are moved into and out of engagement with each
other.
A further object of this invention is to provide a support assembly
for a concrete mixer chute and means for locking the same in
various positions with respect to the mixing truck, the locking
means including means to yieldably maintain the locking means in
its unlocked and locked positions.
A further object of this invention is to provide a support assembly
for a concrete mixer chute which is durable in use, convenient to
operate and economical of manufacture.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the
art.
This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and
combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects
contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth,
specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the concrete mixer
truck illustrating the device of this invention;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top view of the mixer truck illustrating
the concrete chute extending therefrom, the broken lines
illustrating the positions to which the chute may be moved;
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side view of the support assembly of this
invention with portions thereof cutaway to more fully illustrate
the invention;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view as seen along lines 4--4 of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary top perspective view of the support
assembly of this invention;
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the device
illustrating the second gear segment in a locked position; and
FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 except that the second gear
segment is positioned in its unlocked position.
The numeral 10 generally designates a concrete mixer truck having a
rearward end 11 and a frame means 13. A mixing drum 15 is rotatably
mounted on the truck 10 at the rearward end thereof and includes a
discharge end 17 at the upper rearward end thereof. A collecting
hopper 19 is provided on the truck 10 at a point below discharge
end 17 and is adapted to receive the concrete being discharged from
the discharge end 17 of the drum 15.
Truck 10 is provided with a rearwardly extending frame means 21
which is partially shown in FIG. 3 and which is enclosed by a cover
means 23. A pair of spaced apart bearings 25 and 27 are secured to
the rearward end of the frame means 21 by any convenient means such
as welding or the like. A shaft 29 is rotatably mounted in bearings
25 and 27 and has its upper and lower ends partially extending
therefrom. A pedestal 31 is secured to the upper end of shaft 29
and extends upwardly and rearwardly therefrom as best viewed in
FIG. 3. The upper end of the discharge chute 33 is pivotally
connected to the upper end of the pedestal 31 at 35 and extends
downwardly and outwardly therefrom. A hydraulic cylinder means 37
is pivotally connected at one end to a collar 39 which is rigidly
secured to the lower end of the shaft 29 as viewed in FIG. 3. The
other end of the hydraulic cylinder means 37 is pivotally connected
to the under side of the chute 33 intermediate the length thereof.
The hydraulic cylinder means is operatively connected to the mixer
truck hydraulic circuit to permit the lower end of the chute 33 to
be raised or lowered.
As seen in FIG. 5, a top cover 41 is positioned over the cover
means 23, shaft 29 and bearings 25 and 27 to prevent foreign
material from dropping down into the interior of the cover means
23. Top cover 41 is provided with a suitable opening formed therein
to permit the operative connection of the pedestal 31 with the
upper end of the shaft 29. A gear segment 43 is secured to the
lower end of the pedestal 31 and extends therearound as illustrated
in FIGS. 4 and 5. Gear segment 43 is secured to pedestal 31 by any
convenient means such as welding or the like to provide the rigid
connection therebetween. If desired, the gear segment 43 may be
secured to the upper end of the shaft 29 with the pedestal 31 then
being secured to the upper surface of the gear segment 43 providing
proper materials and welding procedures are employed to achieve the
necessary strength.
Gear segment 43 includes a face portion 45 which is defined by the
spaced-apart teeth 47. The numerals 49 and 51 refer to a pair of
spaced-apart bearing blocks having a rod 53 rotatably mounted
therein and extending therebetween as illustrated in FIG. 5.
Bearing blocks 49 and 51 are provided with suitable capscrews 55 to
permit the bearing blocks to be disassembled to facilitate the
insertion of the rod 53 therein. As seen in FIG. 5, one end of rod
53 protrudes outwardly from bearing block 49. The numeral 57
generally designates a handle member having its end portion 59
secured to the outer end of the rod 53 by welding or the like in an
eccentric relationship as best illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. A gear
segment 61 is secured to the rod 53 between the bearing blocks 49
and 51 and includes a face portion 63 which is complementary to the
face portion 45 of gear segment 43 and which is adapted to engage
the same as illustrated in FIG. 4. A spring 65 is secured to one of
its ends to top cover 41 by screws 67 and extends rearwardly
therefrom. Spring 65 includes an arcuate portion 69 which is
adapted to receive the lower end portion 59 of handle 57 (FIG. 7)
when the gear segment 61 has been moved to its inoperative or
unlocked position with respect to the gear segment 43. Spring 65
also includes an end portion 71 which is located outwardly of the
arcuate portion 69 and which is adapted to engage the end portion
59 of handle 57 (FIG. 6) when the gear segment 61 has been moved
into mating engagement with the gear segment 43 and which engages
the rod 53 (FIGS. 5 and 7) when handle 57 has been moved to cause
the gear segment 61 to be moved out of engagement with the gear
segment 43.
FIG. 5 illustrates the relationship of the gear segments 43 and 61
when it is desired to permit the chute 33 to be freely moved with
respect to the mixer truck. In the position illustrated in FIGS. 5
and 7, gear segment 61 is maintained in its unlocked position due
to the eccentric relationship between the end portion 59 of handle
57 and the rod 53 and due to the fact that end portion 59 is
received in the arcuate portion 69 of spring 65. Additionally, the
end portion 71 of spring 65 engages rod 53 and the combined effect
is to create sufficient leverage on the gear segment 61 to maintain
the same in the position of FIG. 7 so that the chute can be moved
to its proper position. The fact that the chute 33 is operatively
connected to the shaft 29 permits the chute 33 to be moved to the
positions illustrated by broken lines in FIG. 2 or to any position
therebetween. When the chute 33 has been moved to its proper
position, handle 57 is simply pivoted from the position of FIG. 7
to the position of FIG. 6 which causes the disengagement of the end
portion 59 from the arcuate portion 69 of spring 65 and causes the
gear segment 61 to be lowered into mating engagement with the gear
segment 43. The spring force exerted on the end portion 59 of
handle 57 (FIG. 6) together with the weight of the handle 57 and
gear segment 61 is sufficient to yieldably maintain the gear
segment 61 in its position of engagement with gear segment 43. The
combined leverage exerted on the gear segment 61 is sufficient to
prevent the inadvertent disengagement of the gear segment 61 from
the gear segment 43.
It can be appreciated that an extremely durable support assembly
for a concrete mixer chute support assembly has been provided which
includes locking means to permit the chute to be maintained in
various positions of its movement with respect to the mixer truck.
The support assembly described herein is such that the chute can be
easily locked into position or quickly unlocked to permit its
repositioning. The opposite faces of the gear segments 43 and 61 is
such that very little "play" will exist between the gear segments
43 and 61. The configuration of the faces of the gear segments 43
and 61 is also such that a large number of chute positions is
possible and the number of positions will be only limited by the
number of teeth on the gear segment 43. Thus it can be seen that
the support assembly accomplishes at least all of its stated
objectives.
Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my
support assembly for a concrete mixer chute without departing from
the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention
to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure, or use of
mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within
their scope.
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