Vibratory screening apparatus

Abstract

A vibratory screening apparatus including a support and at least two screen decks arranged one over the other as an assembly. Each screen deck includes a screen frame, a screen and a chamber underlaying the screen surface, an outlet duct for oversized material and an outlet duct for undersized material in communication with the chamber. Mountings are configured for mounting the assembly of the screen decks to the support. A drive support with a motor assembly is configured for vibrating the assembly of screen decks. A feed unit is configured to feed the material to be screened to each screen deck. The feed unit is arranged on the support and configured to be moved between a feed position and a maintenance position. The assembly of the at least two screen decks is resiliently arranged on the support, while the feed unit is non-resiliently arranged on the support.

Claims

1. A vibratory screening apparatus comprising: a support; at least two screen decks arranged one over the other as an assembly, each screen deck including a screen frame, a screen and a chamber underlaying the screen surface, an outlet duct for oversized material and an outlet duct for undersized material that is in communication with the chamber; mountings configured for mounting the assembly of the at least two screen decks to the support; a drive support with a motor assembly configured for vibrating the assembly of the at least two screen decks; and a feed unit configured to feed the material to be screened to each screen deck; wherein the feed unit is arranged on the support and configured to be moved between a feed position and a maintenance position, wherein the feed unit is non-resiliently arranged on the support; and in that the assembly of the at least two screen decks is resiliently arranged on the support, wherein the assembly of screen decks has a first side facing the support, which first side is fastened to the support with at least one resilient mounting, and wherein the assembly has a second side, opposite the first side, which second side is fastened to the drive support, and wherein the drive support is fastened to the support with at least one resilient mounting.

2. The vibratory screening apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the feed unit is articulately arranged on the support.

3. The vibratory screening apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an abutment support attached to the support and arranged to provide an abutment surface for the feed unit when set in the feed position.

4. The vibratory screening apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least two screen decks are arranged directly piled on top of each other.

5. The vibratory screening apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the assembly of screen decks is self-supporting.

6. The vibratory screening apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the screen decks have notches and protrusions which are configured to interact with corresponding notches and protrusions on the adjacent screen decks in the assembly.

7. The vibratory screening apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a tension strut configured to maintain the assembly of the at least two screen decks together.

8. The vibratory screening apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the assembly of the at least two screen decks are configured to allow replacement as a single unit with a new assembly of at least two screen decks.

9. The vibratory screening apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mountings are resilient mountings.

10. The vibratory screening apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support comprises a lower part of the support and an inclined part of the support.

11. The vibratory screening apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the assembly of screen decks has a first side facing the lower part of the support, which first side is fastened to the lower part of the support with at least one mounting; and wherein the assembly has a second side, opposite the first side, wherein the second side is fastened directly or indirectly to the inclined part of the support.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will be described in more detail with reference to the appended schematic drawings, which show examples of presently preferred embodiments of the invention.

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vibratory screening apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention.

(3) FIG. 2 is a side view of the vibratory screening apparatus of FIG. 1 with the feed unit in a feeding position.

(4) FIG. 3 is a side view of the vibratory screening apparatus of FIG. 1 with the feed unit in a maintenance position.

(5) FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a screen deck assembly with a drive support including a motor assembly according to one embodiment of the invention, further showing a close up and an exploded view of a part of the screen frame.

(6) FIG. 5 is a side view of a vibratory screening apparatus according to another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which currently preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided for thoroughness and completeness, and to fully convey the scope of the invention to the skilled addressee. Like reference characters refer to like elements throughout.

(8) FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show a vibratory screening apparatus 1 according to one embodiment of the invention. The vibratory screening apparatus 1 has a support 2 including a lower part 2a and an inclined part 2b. Screen decks 30 are piled directly on top of each other forming an assembly 3 of the screen decks 30. The assembly 3 of screen decks 30 has a first side 3a facing the lower part 2a of the support 2, which first side 3a is attached with the lower part 2a of the support 2 with two resilient mountings 4a. On a second side 3b, opposite the first side 3a, the assembly 3 of screen decks 30 is attached to a drive support 5 with a motor assembly 6. The drive support 5 is attached to the inclined part 2b of the support 2 with two resilient mountings 4b.

(9) A feed unit 7 with a number of distributors 8 is arranged on the support 2 with an articulated coupling 9 to be movable between a feed position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and a maintenance position as shown in FIG. 3.

(10) The vibratory screening apparatus 1 further has an abutment support 10 attached to the lower part 2a of the support 2, and this abutment support 10 is arranged to provide an abutment surface for the feed unit 7 when set in the feed position. Thus, the feed unit 7 does not rest upon the assembly 3 of screen decks 30, but only align the different distributors 8 with the screen decks 30.

(11) The distributor outlets 8a may in one embodiment comprise a flexible material to bridge any distance between the distributor outlet 8a and the screen decks 30.

(12) The vibratory screening apparatus 1 may further comprise a second abutment support 11, also this attached to the lower part 2a of the support 2, and this second abutment support 11 is arranged to provide an abutment surface for the feed unit 7 when set in the maintenance position as shown in FIG. 3.

(13) In FIG. 4 a perspective view of the assembly 3 of the screen decks 30 together with the drive support 5 and the motor assembly 6 is shown. Each screen deck 30 comprises a screen frame 31, a screen 32 and a chamber underlaying the screen surface. The chamber is however not evident from FIG. 4.

(14) As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the vibratory screening apparatus 1 has an outlet duct 12 for oversized material and an outlet duct 13 for undersized material. The outlet duct 12 for oversized material is in communication with the upper surface of the screen decks 30, and the outlet duct 13 for undersized material is in communication with the chambers.

(15) The screen decks 30 may be piled directly on top of each other by piling the screen frames 31 on top of each other. In the shown embodiment, and as also evident from the close up shown in FIG. 4, the aligning of the screen frame 31 is made with the aid of notches 34 and protrusions 35 arranged on the screen frames 31, which notches 34 and protrusions 35 are configured to interact with corresponding notches 34 and protrusion 35 on the adjacent screen decks 30 in the assembly 3.

(16) The screen decks 30 are held together by a tension strut 36, and the screen deck assembly 3 as such is self-supporting with the piled screen frames 31.

(17) When maintenance is to be made on the assembly 3 of screen decks 30 or on the feed unit 7, the feed unit 7 is moved to its maintenance position, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 5. In this position, the feed unit 7 may be maintained and/or the assembly 3 of screen decks 30 may be maintained. In one embodiment the whole assembly 3 of screen decks 30 may be replaced as one single unit. The assembly 3 is loosened from the resilient mountings 4a on the first side 3a, the drive support 5 is loosened from the resilient mountings 4b on the inclined part 2b of the support 2, and the drive support 5 is loosened from the second side 3b of the assembly 3. The assembly 3 is removed and replaced with a new assembly 3 of screen decks 30.

(18) In FIG. 5 another embodiment of the invention is shown, a vibratory screening apparatus 1 that has an alternative support 2 to the one shown in FIGS. 1-3. In this embodiment a separate support member 2a-1 may be arranged for mounting of the first side 3a of the assembly 3 and the abutment support 10, and another separate support member 2a-2 may be arranged for the articulated coupling 9. A further separate support member 2b is arranged for mounting of the second side 3b of the assembly 3, either directly, or in case of a vibratory screening apparatus 1, via a drive support 5.

(19) The skilled person realizes that a number of modifications of the embodiments described herein are possible without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims.

(20) For instance, the screen decks do not necessarily have to be piled directly on top of each other, they may also be attached to a support arrangement supporting each screen deck separately, but the screen decks may still be arranged as an assembly.