Drying machine for pasty and/or granular substances and spacer for rollers of conveyor belts for such drying machine

Abstract

A drying machine for pasty and/or granular substances, which comprises a supporting frame for a plurality of superimposed conveyor belts, the frame being provided with lateral openings for the passage of air, each conveyor belt being supported by a plurality of spaced rollers which are pivoted to the frame, the rollers being surrounded by spacers which are adapted to define, between the rollers and the belt, air passage spaces to optimize the drying of the conveyed substances, each roller being surrounded by a single helical body with spaced turns that define the air passage space between the roller and the belt.

Claims

1. A drying machine for pasty or granular substances, which comprises a supporting frame for a plurality of superimposed parallel conveyor belts, said frame being provided with lateral openings for the passage of air, each conveyor belt being supported by a plurality of parallel spaced rollers which are pivoted to the frame, said rollers being surrounded by spacers which are adapted to define, between the rollers and each conveyor belt, each of said conveyor belts configured to convey said substances, air passage spaces configured to dry said substances, wherein each roller of each conveyor belt is surrounded by a single helical body with spaced turns that define said air passage space between the roller and each conveyor belt.

2. The drying machine according to claim 1, wherein for each one of said rollers, said helical body is constituted by a helical spring, with end turns which are arranged at right angles to a rotation axis of the roller.

3. The drying machine according to claim 1, wherein opposite ends of the rollers bear corresponding anti-slipping spacer rings which are adapted to prevent sliding contact between an end turn of said spaced turns of the helical body and an adjacent frame portion to which each roller is pivoted.

4. The drying machine according to claim 1, wherein said helical body is shaped like a cylindrical helix and is extended longitudinally so as to affect the corresponding roller substantially along an entire length thereof.

5. The drying machine according to claim 1, wherein said spacers adapted to define an air passage space between the rollers and the belt comprise two mutually opposite helical portions with right-handed and left-handed spirals, which are joined at a center, each helix being extended so as to affect half of the rollers and being provided starting from a same metallic wire.

6. The drying machine according to claim 1, wherein the rollers that support a same belt are provided with helical bodies which are mounted so as to have an opposite winding direction from one roller to a next roller of said rollers.

7. The drying machine according to claim 1, wherein said helical body is constituted by a helical spring made with a metallic bar or metallic wire that has a solid circular cross-section.

8. The drying machine according to claim 1, wherein said helical body is constituted by a helical spring made with a metallic bar or metallic wire that is tubular and which therefore has an annular cross-section.

Description

(1) Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the drying machine according to the invention, which is illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drying machine according to the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the drying machine;

(4) FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of a portion of the drying machine according to the invention;

(5) FIG. 4 is a detail of a spacer according to the invention, applied to a roller of the drying machine according to the invention;

(6) FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a variation of embodiment of the machine according to the invention.

(7) With reference to the figures, a drying machine for pasty and/or granular substances according to the invention is generally designated with the reference numeral 10.

(8) The drying machine 10 comprises a frame 11 for supporting a plurality of superimposed conveyor belts, for example the belts 12, 13 and 14 indicated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

(9) The frame 11 is provided with lateral openings, for example 15, 16, 17, for the passage of air.

(10) Each conveyor belt 12, 13, 14 is supported by a plurality of spaced rollers 18, 19, 20 respectively, which are pivoted to the frame 11.

(11) The rollers 18, 19, 20 are surrounded by spacers which are adapted to define, between the roller and the belt, an air passage space, for example 21, 22 and 23 in FIGS. 3 and 4, for optimizing the drying of the litter conveyed.

(12) The peculiarity of the invention consists in that each roller 18, 19, 20, is surrounded by a single helical body 24, 25, 26 with spaced turns, respectively.

(13) The turns 27, 28, 29 and 30 of each helical body surround the corresponding roller 18, 19, 20, defining the air passage space 21, 22, 23 between the roller and the belt.

(14) The turns 27, 28, 29 and 30 in fact support the overlying belt 12, 13 and 14, keeping it at a distance that substantially corresponds to the thickness of the turn in the radial direction with respect to the respective roller.

(15) In particular the helical body 24, 25 and 26 is constituted by a helical spring, with end turns, for example 30 in FIG. 4, which are arranged at right angles to the rotation axis 31 of the corresponding roller 18, 19 and 20.

(16) The opposite ends of the rollers 18, 19 and 20 bear corresponding anti-slipping spacer rings, 32, 33 and 34 in FIG. 3, which are adapted to prevent sliding contact, and thus contact with braking friction and with wear, between the end turn 30 of the helical body 24, 25 and 26 and the adjacent frame portion 11 to which the roller 18, 19 and 20 is pivoted.

(17) In the embodiment of the invention described up to now, the helical body 24, as is 25 and 26, is shaped like a cylindrical helix and is extended longitudinally so as to affect the corresponding roller 18, 19 and 20 along its entire length except for the ends where the anti-slipping spacer rings 32, 33 and 34 are present.

(18) The helical body 24, 25 and 26 is constituted by a helical spring made with a metallic bar, or metallic wire, with a circular cross-section, and the air passage space 21, 22 and 23 is determined by the diameter of such circular cross-section, such diameter corresponding to the minimum distance between the belt and the surface of the roller.

(19) The helical body 24, 25 and 26 is constituted, alternatively, by a helical spring made with a metallic bar, or metallic wire, that is tubular and which therefore has an annular cross-section.

(20) In a variation of embodiment of the invention, which is shown schematically in FIG. 5 and designated therein with the reference numeral 110, the spacer adapted to define an air passage space between the roller and the belt comprises two mutually opposite helical portions with right-handed and left-handed spirals, 124 and 135, which are joined at the center (for example butt-welded), each helical portion 124 and 135 being extended so as to affect half of the roller 18.

(21) The mutually opposite helical portions 124 and 135 prevent the belt 12 from being deviated to one side by the friction with the turns, since they tend to drive the belt in two opposing or convergent directions, according to the assembly.

(22) The helical portions 124 and 135 can also be provided starting from the same metallic wire.

(23) In a further variation of embodiment of the drying machine according to the invention, not shown for the sake of simplicity, the rollers, for example the rollers 18, which support a same belt, for example the belt 12, have helical bodies 24 which are mounted so as to have an opposite winding direction from one roller to the next roller, so that the lateral deviations that may be imparted to the belt by the helical bodies, by alternating, substantially cancel each other out.

(24) The invention also relates to a spacer for rollers of conveyor belts of drying machines 10 for treating litter in poultry farm systems.

(25) Such spacer is constituted by a helical body with spaced turns 24, 25, 26, 124, 135, in which the turns 27, 28, 29, 30 completely or partially surround a corresponding roller 18, 19, 20.

(26) In practice it has been found that the invention fully achieves the intended aim and objects.

(27) In particular, with the invention a drying machine has been devised which is simpler to clean, thanks to the structural simplicity of the helical bodies that surround the rollers and support the conveyor belts, such helical bodies not having corners or gaps in which the dirt can accumulate.

(28) Furthermore, with the invention a drying machine has been devised in which the passage of air between the roller and the belt is better than in conventional drying machines, thanks to the distance between the turns of the helical bodies.

(29) Moreover, with the invention a drying machine has been devised which is simpler to assemble than conventional machines, since, with a single helical body that extends along the entire length of the corresponding roller, it is necessary to fit such single helical body onto the roller instead of a plurality of spacers as in the above mentioned known art.

(30) Furthermore, with the invention a spacer has been devised for rollers of conveyor belts of drying machines, which makes it possible to achieve the above aim and objects.

(31) The invention, thus conceived, is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, all the details may be substituted by other, technically equivalent elements.

(32) In practice the components and the materials employed, provided they are compatible with the specific use, and the contingent dimensions and shapes, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.

(33) The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. PD2014A000194 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.