VIBRATORY SCREEN ASSEMBLY WITH IMPROVED STRUCTURAL BRACING

Abstract

A vibratory screen assembly with improved structural bracing having a vibratory screen deck defined by pairs of side and end walls that are arranged in a rectangular configuration. Cross members are spaced along the length of the screen deck in parallel relationship with each other and extend between the side walls of the screen deck. Bracing components are mounted exclusively between adjacent pairs of cross members and increase the flexural frequency of the vibratory screen deck. Each bracing component includes a main segment configured to extend between adjacent cross members and end sections formed at each end of the main segment. The end sections are angled with respect to the main segment and are configured to mount to the cross members to brace the screen deck.

Claims

1. A vibratory screen assembly with improved structural bracing comprising: a vibratory screen deck defined by a pair of side walls and a pair of end walls that are arranged in a rectangular configuration; a plurality of cross members spaced along the length of the screen deck in parallel relationship with each other, each cross member extending between the side walls; and a plurality of bracing components mounted exclusively between adjacent pairs of cross members and configured to increase the flexural frequency of the vibratory screen deck, each bracing component comprising: a main segment configured to extend between adjacent cross members; and end sections formed at each end of the main segment and angled with respect to the main segment and configured to mount to the cross members to brace the screen deck.

2. The vibratory screen assembly of claim 1 wherein all bracing components have a uniform size and geometry.

3. The vibratory screen assembly of claim 1 wherein the cross members are I-beam shaped.

4. The vibratory screen assembly of claim 1 wherein each end section of the plurality of bracing components is configured to lie flat against the cross member when the bracing component is mounted to the cross member.

5. The vibratory screen assembly of claim 1 wherein at least two separate bracing components are mounted between each adjacent pair of cross members.

6. The vibratory screen assembly of claim 5 wherein the main segment of one of the at least two bracing components extends between adjacent cross members in a direction that is not parallel with the direction that the other of the at least two bracing components extends between adjacent cross members.

7. The vibratory screen assembly of claim 1 further comprising: a fastener slot formed in each end section of each bracing component; a fastener slot formed in the cross members that correspond with the fastener slots in each end section; and a fastener sized and configured for insertion through each of the corresponding fastener slots in the end sections and cross member for removably connecting the end section to the cross member.

8. The vibratory screen assembly of claim 7 wherein the majority of the bracing components are arranged so that at least two bracing components are attached to a cross member using the same fastener.

9. The vibratory screen assembly of claim 1 wherein the end sections of each of the plurality of bracing components are parallel with one another, the main segment is angled between the two parallel end sections, and the end sections extend outwardly away from ends of the main segment.

10. The vibratory screen assembly of claim 1 wherein each bracing component comprises a single, continuous flat plate with bends located between the main segment and each end section.

11. The vibratory screen assembly of claim 1 wherein the main segment forms an angle of about 125 to about 145 with each end section such that a supplementary angle formed between the main segment and each adjacent cross member is about 35 to about 55.

12. A method for improving structural bracing of a vibratory screen deck comprising the steps of: providing a vibratory screen deck comprising a pair of side walls and a pair of end walls that are arranged in a rectangular configuration, a plurality of stringers extending between the end walls and spaced across the width of screen deck in parallel relationship with each other, and a plurality of cross members extending between the side walls and spaced along the length of the screen deck in parallel relationship with each other; providing a plurality of bracing components, each comprising a main segment and end sections formed at each end of the main segment and angled with respect to the main segment; and mounting end sections of the plurality of bracing components exclusively to cross members such that the main segment extends at an angle between adjacent cross members.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein at least two bracing components are mounted between each pair of adjacent cross members.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of arranging the plurality of bracing components such that the main segment of one of the at least two bracing components extends between adjacent cross members in a direction that is not parallel with the direction that the other of the at least two bracing components extends between adjacent cross members.

15. The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of removably connecting the bracing members to the cross members by passing fasteners through corresponding fastener slots formed in both the cross member and the end section of the bracing component.

16. The method of claim 15 which includes arranging the majority of the bracing components so that at least two bracing components are attached to a cross member using the same fastener.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein, when the end sections of the bracing components are mounted to the cross members, the main segment forms an angle of about 125 to about 145 with each end section such that a supplementary angle formed between the main segment and each adjacent cross member is about 35 to about 55.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] The presently preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like parts throughout, and in which:

[0015] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a prior art screen deck having two X-shaped bracing components, including long segments mounted between cross members of the screen deck and short segments mounted between cross members and side walls of the screen deck;

[0016] FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views of a prior art screen deck having three X-shaped bracing components similar to those shown in FIG. 1;

[0017] FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a screen deck having Z-shaped bracing components mounted exclusively between cross members of the screen deck according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the screen deck of FIG. 4 taken along line 5-5;

[0019] FIG. 5A is a detail view of a circled portion of the screen deck of FIG. 5 identified by the letter A;

[0020] FIG. 5B is a detail view of a circled portion of the screen deck of FIG. 5 identified by the letter B;

[0021] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the screen deck of FIG. 4; and

[0022] FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a Z-shaped bracing component according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0023] This description of the preferred embodiments of the invention is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description of this invention. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, and certain features of the invention may be shown exaggerated in scale or in somewhat schematic form in the interest of clarity and conciseness.

[0024] Referring now to FIGS. 4-7, there is illustrated a screen deck 40 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. As shown therein, screen deck 40 includes a pair of side walls 42 and 44, and a pair of end walls 46 and 48 that are arranged in a rectangular configuration. Multiple stringers 50 are spaced across the width of the screen deck 40 in parallel relationship with each other. Each stringer 50 extends between end wall 46 and end wall 48. Similarly, a plurality of I-beam shaped cross members 52 are spaced along the length of the screen deck in parallel relationship with each other, and each of these cross members extends between side wall 42 and side wall 44. A plurality of bracing components 54 are attached only to the cross members. Preferably, as best shown in FIG. 7, bracing components 54 are somewhat Z-shaped and comprise main flat plate segments 59 that have angled end sections 56 which include a pair of fastener slots 58. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, bracing components 54 are adapted to form an angle within the range of 35-55, preferably about 45, with the cross members 52 to which they are attached. In this embodiment of the invention, each of end sections 56 is angled with respect to the main segment 59 of the bracing component to permit easy attachment of two bracing components (shown in FIG. 5A) or four bracing components (shown in FIG. 5B) to a cross member 52 using a plurality of fasteners such as bolts 60 and nuts 62. Preferably, main segment 59 is adapted for form an angle within the range of 125-145, preferably about 135, with each end section 56. In only two locations on screen deck 40 is a single bracing component attached to a cross member. These two locations are at the leftmost cross member 52 near side wall 42 (nearest to the joint between side wall 42 and end wall 46), as shown in FIG. 4, and at the rightmost cross member 52 near side wall 42 (nearest to the joint between side wall 42 and end wall 48), also as shown in FIG. 4. Of course, other means of fastening the bracing components to the cross members may be employed, as well as other configurations of the bracing components 54 themselves.

[0025] Physical testing was performed to quantify the improvements that may be obtained by employing the preferred embodiment of invention shown in FIGS. 4-7 over a conventional bracing configuration such as is shown in FIG. 1 for a screen deck of the same dimensions. The conventional bracing added 1485 lbm to the screen deck, and resulted in an average characteristic flexural frequency of 982 cycles per minute (s=26 cpm and n=5). By employing the preferred embodiment of the invention on a screen deck of the same size, 785 lbm of bracing was added to the screen deck, resulting in a characteristic flexural frequency of 1125 cycles per minute. In this test, therefore, the invention provided an improvement of about 15% in stiffness over that of conventional bracing while decreasing the mass of the bracing components by about 47%. Furthermore, the time required to install the conventional bracing shown in FIG. 1 was about 16 hours, whereas the time required to install the bracing of the preferred embodiment of the invention was only about 1.75 hours. Finally, the cost of the bracing according to the invention was considerably less than that of the conventional bracing.

[0026] The invention thus provides a bracing configuration that provides an increase in the natural frequency of a screen deck without substantially increasing the weight added. Furthermore, the preferred embodiment of the invention provides identically-shaped bracing components that are easy and inexpensive to fabricate and easy to install.

[0027] Although this description contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments thereof, as well as the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out the invention. The invention, as described herein, is susceptible to various modifications and adaptations as would be appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art to which the invention relates.