Portable Patents (Class 209/420)
  • Patent number: 6382424
    Abstract: A truck mounted particle screener for mounting atop the dump body of a dump truck having a support frame, a screen deck, a plurality of spring assemblies connecting the screen deck to the support frame, and a vibrating mechanism attached to the screen deck for imparting the vibratory motion to the screen deck.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2002
    Inventors: Christopher J. Bolton, Kenneth A White
  • Patent number: 6354439
    Abstract: A device enabling the timely removal and subsequent recycling of residues remaining in a pouring chute through which the load of a cement from a mixing drum of a mobile delivery vehicle was discharged. A strainer on a movable arm attached to the vehicle is placed under the chute to receive an effluent which results from spraying the inside of the nozzle with water. Solid particulates are retained by the strainer and a slurry which emerges from the strainer is pumped into the mixing drum, allowing the separated materials to be recycled when the vehicle returns to its base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2002
    Inventor: Cataldo S. Arbore
  • Patent number: 6334538
    Abstract: A stall cleaner that scoops material, such as a mixture of wood shavings and animal manure, sifts selected material out of the scooped material and collects remaining material in a receptacle. The cleaner includes a stationary portion and a vibrating portion. The stationary portion includes a frame that is supported by wheels. A scoop is located at a front end of the frame. A handle is provided on a rear end of the frame. The vibrating portion of the apparatus includes a tray that is supported by the frame. The tray has a rigid perimeter that surrounds and supports a plurality of spaced longitudinal elements. A motor rotates an off-center weight to impart vibration to the tray, causing smaller particles to fall through the tray. A receptacle is located behind the frame on the apparatus. The receptacle is positioned such that materials slide off of the rear end of the tray into the receptacle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2002
    Inventor: L. Ronnie Nettles
  • Patent number: 6138837
    Abstract: In combination a screen, a shaker, a conveyor and carbody device which is attachable to a vehicle of choice, such as an hydraulic excavator, a backhoe, etc., and when installed thereon allows the vehicle to perform as a padding machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2000
    Inventors: Cathy D. Santa Cruz, Albert Ben Currey
  • Patent number: 6098812
    Abstract: A mobile screening apparatus includes a wheel-supported main frame and a hopper mounted at or near to one end of the main frame. An elevator mounted on the frame feeds material received from the hopper to a screening device which screens the material into different size ranges. Discharge conveyors discharge different size ranges of the screened material to respective discharge positions. A tractor unit is releasably coupled with a towing coupling provided at one end of the main frame. The tractor unit is operative to move the apparatus over the ground while screening operations take place so that traveling deposits of screened material can be formed. A power plant mounted on the frame is arranged to drive the screening device, the elevator, and the discharge conveyors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2000
    Inventor: Patrick Joseph Douglas
  • Patent number: 6092668
    Abstract: A litter screening and separating machine including a storage compartment, a loader at one end of the storage compartment for picking up encrusted litter material from the floor of a chicken house, a conveyor including a pair of chains for moving the encrusted litter from the loader to the storage compartment. A baffle plate adjacent to and beneath the conveyor chain prevents contamination of the conveyor chain. Vibrator rollers adjacent the pair of chains for engagement with tabs on spaced links of each chain for vibrating the loading flights. Trap doors beneath the upper run of the conveyor may be opened to permit some of the material collected to fall back to the floor of the poultry house. One can regulate the amount of material thus recycled by independently opening and closing the trap doors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2000
    Assignee: Lewis Bros. Mfg., L.L.C.
    Inventors: Robert L. Lewis, Carl J. Thomas
  • Patent number: 6065606
    Abstract: A transportable sorting machine frame formed of first and second frame sections which are hinged together is provided. The sorting machine is mounted to one frame section and an infeed conveyor is mounted to the other. A pair of elevational jacks located adjacent to the hinge assemblies are used to tilt the frame sections upward from a horizontal transport position to an elevated position wherein the sorting machine is angled up for proper operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2000
    Assignee: Diamond Z Manufacturing Co., Inc.
    Inventor: Carl L. Bonner
  • Patent number: 6006921
    Abstract: A transportable trommel assembly is provided with a frame, a cylindrical trommel screen, having an infeed end and a discharge end rotatably mounted to the frame, and conveyors for carrying away sized material from the trommel screen. An infeed conveyor is movably connected to the frame and positionable to an operating position for infeeding material into the infeed end of the trommel screen and to a transport position where it is held within the infeed end of the trommel screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 28, 1999
    Assignee: Diamond Z Manufacturing Co., Inc.
    Inventor: Melvin A. Zehr
  • Patent number: 6000553
    Abstract: A screening plant including a housing to which first and second screen boxes are reciprocatably mounted. The screen boxes are coplanar and the inner peripheral edge of the first box is adjacent the inner peripheral edge of the second box. Separate prime movers, such as hydraulic motors, are drivingly linked to the independently mounted screen boxes. The screen boxes are separated by a gap over which a beveled cap is mounted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 14, 1999
    Assignee: Ohio Central Steel Company
    Inventors: Douglas J. Cohen, Mauricio A. Escobar
  • Patent number: 5979666
    Abstract: An apparatus for screening particulate material having a base frame (11), an elevating conveyor (12), and a conveyor carrying frame (13) adjustably mounted on the base frame (11) and arranged to be capable of moving the conveyor (12) generally lengthwise to adjust the position of an upper end (16) of the end (16) of the conveyor. A sub-frame (18) is pivotally adjustably mounted on the base frame (11) via a pivot (20), and it carries a vibratory screen (17) arranged to receive material falling under gravity from the upper discharge end (16) of the conveyor (12). The sub-frame is adjustable about the pivot in order to adjust the attitude of the screen. A tail conveyor (23) is provided for discharging separate screened portions of the material. A linkage (19, 22) exists between the sub-frame (18) and the carrying frame (13) which includes a direct pivotal connection (20) between the sub-frame and the carrying frame whereby there is simultaneous lengthwise adjustment of the sub-frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 9, 1999
    Inventor: Patrick J. Douglas
  • Patent number: 5957302
    Abstract: A self-propelled screening apparatus (10) having a support frame (11), endless crawler tracks (15) supporting the frame (11), a hopper (13) and screen or screens (12) mounted on the support frame (11), and a discharge conveyor (14) mounted on the frame (11) and operable to discharge at least one separated portion of screened material (received from the screen) along a required deposition zone while the apparatus is moving.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 28, 1999
    Inventor: Patrick Joseph Douglas
  • Patent number: 5927513
    Abstract: A portable shaker frame that is particularly adapted for separating irregularly-shaped wood shavings used in animal stalls as bedding materials from manure contained in the bedding material. The wood shavings are recovered for reuse and the manure is separated therefrom for disposal. The shaker frame is inclined and is suspended on springs carried on a carriage having wheels to permit it to be moved from place to place. The springs permit the shaker frame to vibrate relative to the carriage frame. The shaker frame includes a number of longitudinally extending, substantially parallel steel rods that are spaced from each to enable the irregularly-shaped wood shavings to pass therethrough while the manure slides downwardly along the rods and into a collection container for disposal. A vibratory motor is positioned on an end panel of the shaker frame for imparting vibratory motion to the rods carried by the shaker frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 27, 1999
    Inventor: Ronald D. Hart
  • Patent number: 5899340
    Abstract: A portable vibrating screen which has an arched frame, a basket supported on top of the arched frame by springs and a rotatable eccentric shaft for imparting a reciprocal movement to the basket. The arched frame has a vertical tall end, a vertical short end and two spaced apart stringer members joining the upper portions of the tall and short ends. The stringer members define an inclined plane between the tall end and the short end. The tall end has a first pair of spaced apart leg members and a first ballast mounted between the leg members of that first pair. The short end has a second pair of leg members and a second ballast mounted between the leg members of that second pair. An amplitude of a vibration of the basket transmitted to the arched frame is largely absorbed by the mass of the first and second ballasts. In another aspect of the present invention, the eccentric shaft has bearings attached to the basket and to the stringer members for retaining the basket along the inclined plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 1996
    Date of Patent: May 4, 1999
    Inventor: Douglas J. MacNaughton
  • Patent number: 5887727
    Abstract: A device for handling small objects which performs the combined functions of collection, inspection, sorting, transfer, and funneling. The device has a planar sheet of material optionally having uniformly dimensioned openings therethrough, a three-sided frame attached to the top and side edges of the sheet for support, with the top frame member and the side frame members remaining unattached to one another. Optionally hinges can be used to connect top frame member and side frame members when the sheet is required to support heavy loads. The dimension and configuration of top and side frame members are defined by the size and shape of objects to be retained on the surface of the sheet. A portion of each side frame member extends beyond the unbounded bottom edge of the sheet to form a handle. When the sheet is fully opened into a flat configuration, the device can be used for collection, inspection, and sorting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 30, 1999
    Inventor: John L. Ames
  • Patent number: 5842578
    Abstract: A combination screening apparatus and carrier. The screening apparatus has three hydraulic leg assemblies which are adapted to lift and lower the screening apparatus off and onto a carrier. The legs are positioned and operable that a carrier may be slid directly under the screening apparatus without interference with the legs. The carrier has pivotable holding elements which engage grasping elements fixedly attached to said screening apparatus. The shape and configuration of the holding elements and grasping elements are such that the screening apparatus is self-aligning on the carrier. The carrier may be left under the screening apparatus or removed during screening operations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 1, 1998
    Inventor: James Cordeiro
  • Patent number: 5819950
    Abstract: A portable trommel has a chassis, including support wheels at one end thereof for movement of the trommel. A trommel is rotatably mounted on the chassis and has an input and an output end. A hopper and an input conveyor, for supplying material to be screened to the input end of the trommel, are mounted on the chassis adjacent the input end of the trommel. An output or fines conveyor, for collecting material passing through the trommel screen, is mounted on the chassis, below the trommel. A stockpiling conveyor is mounted on the chassis and has a lower end adapted to receive screened material from the fines conveyor and an upper end for discharging screened material to form a stockpile. The stockpiling conveyor can be in two parts, which can be folded into a retracted position for storage and transportation, and further can be mounted for rotation about a vertical axis to enable an arcuate storage pile to be formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 1996
    Date of Patent: October 13, 1998
    Inventor: James Paschal McCloskey
  • Patent number: 5794787
    Abstract: A mobile screening apparatus for gravel and other aggregates includes a three sided box adapted to rest on the ground surface. A vibrating screen is located above the box in a tilted, or sloped condition, so that gravel deposited on the screen is in a fluidized condition. Relatively fine gravel particles (stones) pass downwardly through the screen into the box. Two upwardly divergent trough walls are rigidly secured to side edges of the screen to guide gravel particles onto the screen. A rotary motor is mounted on the undersurface of the screen to rotate an elongated shaft that acts as a counterweight to oscillate the screen in a generally vertical direction. The motor and elongated counterweight shaft are exposed so as to be readily accessible for inspection or maintenance purposes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 1995
    Date of Patent: August 18, 1998
    Inventor: Rafe Johnston
  • Patent number: 5685978
    Abstract: A portable, self-contained concrete reclaimer for use at construction sites to collect, break-down, and transport uncured waste concrete washed from concrete delivery equipment, to recycling facilities for use in the manufacture of fresh concrete. The concrete reclaimer comprises a screen having openings sized to separate aggregate from sand, cement and water when uncured waste concrete is washed thereon. The screen being sized to cover a portion of a water tight reclaiming tank having an open top, a closed wall, a bottom continuously sealed to the closed wall, and an upwardly extending partition disposed therein to divide the reclaiming tank into at least two separate, adjacently disposed compartments including a first receiving compartment adapted to receive and contain sand, cement and water, and an adjacent second receiving compartment adapted to receive and contain aggregate separated therefrom during the concrete washing and reclaiming procedure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 1994
    Date of Patent: November 11, 1997
    Inventors: Harold W. Petrick, Michael H. Petrick
  • Patent number: 5641071
    Abstract: A convertible vibratory material separating apparatus, and kits to convert the apparatus to a woven-screen or finger-rod upper separating surface. The separating apparatus includes a universal shaker head adapted for vibratory movement within a frame with a tall and short end. The shaker head includes side plates and a centerplate, and removable support rails or plates when the shaker head is converted to finger-rod combs for a separating surface. The shaker head includes flanges on a lateral support tube enclosing an eccentric motor driven shaft and flanges when the shaker head is converted to a woven-screen upper separating surface. The kits include right angle flanges, bars and plates for conversion of the shaker head with woven-screens or combs of finger-rods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 24, 1997
    Assignee: The Read Corporation
    Inventors: James L. Read, Robert J. Hadden
  • Patent number: 5624038
    Abstract: A free standing curved garden sieve of parabolic shape to separate stones and coarse matter from garden soil as the garden soil travels from upper substantially vertical portions to lower substantially horizontal portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 1995
    Date of Patent: April 29, 1997
    Inventor: Thomas M. Curtis
  • Patent number: 5622266
    Abstract: A garden sieve for a wheelbarrow has a collar frame adapted to conform to and fit loosely on the rim of a wheelbarrow. A sieve frame connected to the collar frame supports a wire screen adapted for sifting granular material. A motor can be connected between the wheelbarrow and the sieve to reciprocate the wire screen. The frame can include a partially removable gate for the removal of strained material and can include roller bearings to reduce friction between the sieve and the wheelbarrow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 1995
    Date of Patent: April 22, 1997
    Inventor: Thomas M. Curtis
  • Patent number: 5482165
    Abstract: A mobile screening apparatus for gravel and other aggregates includes a three sided box adapted to rest on the ground surface. A vibrating screen is located above the box in a tilted, or sloped condition, so that gravel deposited on the screen is in a fluidized condition. Relatively fine gravel particles (stones) pass downwardly through the screen into the box. Two upwardly divergent trough walls are rigidly secured to side edges of the screen to guide gravel particles onto the screen. A rotary motor and counterweight system is mounted on the undersurface of the screen to oscillate the screen in a generally vertical direction. The motor and counterweight system are exposed so as to be readily accessible for inspection or maintenance purposes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1994
    Date of Patent: January 9, 1996
    Inventor: Rafe Johnston
  • Patent number: 5479726
    Abstract: A padding machine attachment for a vehicle is provided. When padding of a ditch for a pipeline or cable is required, the padding machine is removably attached in a position at one end of a conventional bucket loader, bulldozer, or other base machine or vehicle, whereby said attachment moves along the path of travel of the vehicle. As the vehicle moves the padding machine attachment along one side of the pipeline ditch, the padding machine attachment picks up at least a portion of a pile of excavated material placed parallel to and along the same side of the ditch and processes the excavated material into padding material for placement into the ditch for padding the pipeline or cable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 1993
    Date of Patent: January 2, 1996
    Assignee: Ozzie's Pipeline Padder, Inc.
    Inventor: William B. Bishop
  • Patent number: 5400908
    Abstract: An apparatus for separating constituents of a mixture of dry organic material having different weights or densities, such as pine straw and lawn debris, includes a cylindrical housing that is positioned horizontally with respect to a working surface. The housing has a hopper on its top side, an inlet end and an outlet end, and a fan is mounted at the inlet end. The fan pulls air into the housing and generates a stream of air flow inside the housing from the inlet end to the outlet end thereof. An air baffle structure is located immediately downstream of the fan to produce substantial turbulence in the air flow stream. The mixture of material to be separated is introduced into the housing through the hopper and is then carried from the housing and separated into constituent parts by the stream of air flow. Higher density constituents are deposited at shorter distances from the housing outlet end while lower density constituents are deposited at a greater distance from the housing outlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 1993
    Date of Patent: March 28, 1995
    Inventor: James R. Prestwood
  • Patent number: 5398815
    Abstract: A waste material separating apparatus and method of separating waste landfill material which apparatus and method includes a frame and a vibratory screening deck or tier within the frame, the screening deck having a plurality of generally parallel, straight rod elements to act as bludgeons on the waste material. The rod elements are removably extended from a transverse rail. Waste material to be separated into a coarse material and a finer material is discharged onto the rod element. The separating apparatus has an eccentric rotating shaft secured to the deck to impart vibratory motion to the rod elements so that the free ends of the vibratory fingers vibrate in a generally vertical direction, and bludgeon and break up the compacted solid waste landfill material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 1994
    Date of Patent: March 21, 1995
    Assignee: The Read Corporation
    Inventor: Robert J. Hadden
  • Patent number: 5375721
    Abstract: A dry placer mining machine and a belt assembly for use therewith. The machine concentrates metallic constituents from a gravel mix by fluidizing the mix with air which passes upwardly through the belt assembly, and moving the fluidized mix over the belt and applying an electrostatic charge thereto. The belt assembly is made up of a composite fabric belt member and a plurality of riffle members which extend transversely across this. The composite fabric belt member is constructed of non-conductive materials so as to minimize dissipation of the electrostatic charge, and this is made up of a finely woven cloth top layer, a reticulated foam middle layer, and a coarse mesh lower layer. The riffle members, in turn, are provided with insulation for preventing the electrostatic charge from being conducted away from the fabric belt member. The belt assembly is driven over the open upper end of a plenum chamber, and air pressure is supplied to this through a blower and ducting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 1992
    Date of Patent: December 27, 1994
    Inventor: Gordon LaVigne
  • Patent number: 5368170
    Abstract: A colander structure is arranged of a generally semi-spherical configuration to include a matrix of first apertures directed therethrough of a first width, with a plurality of annular arrays of second apertures extending from a floor portion of the colander, wherein the second apertures are of a second width substantially greater than the first width to permit the reception of popcorn kernels therethrough to eliminate such kernels, with only fully expanded popcorn components remaining within the colander structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 1993
    Date of Patent: November 29, 1994
    Inventor: Alfred C. Leis
  • Patent number: 5346071
    Abstract: The present invention is a vehicle-mounted trommel screening apparatus. A rotating trommel screen cage having an open front and a closed back is mounted on the vehicle so that the open front of the trommel screen cage is at a side of the vehicle and is adjustably tiltable about the vehicle side while the cage rotates. A conveyor is mounted below the trommel screen cage to convey material rearwardly off the end of the trailer. A push plate folds down below the trommel to assist in loading material that has been discharged from the front. Axially extending gussets within the cage provide additional lifting and tumbling action. Material is dumped into the trommel screen cage with the cage tilted back from the open end. The rotation of the cage causes a tumbling action which simultaneously breaks up larger pieces of material and screens smaller material to the conveyor below the screen. Material retained in the trommel screen may be dumped by tilting the trommel screen cage forward toward the open end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 1993
    Date of Patent: September 13, 1994
    Assignee: Norkot Manufacturing Co., Inc.
    Inventors: James H. Page, Robert J. Page
  • Patent number: 5335784
    Abstract: A dump platform materials screener includes a horizontally fixed support frame to which is pivotably coupled a materials staging and screening frame. The materials staging and screening frame includes a materials staging area having a bottom region of non-screened material on which may be dumped materials to be screened. A materials screening area adjacent to the non-screened area is provided which extends from the non-screened materials staging area to a first end of the materials staging and screening frame. The materials screening area includes a bottom region including at least one screen having at least a first plurality of openings of at least a first uniform size, for allowing materials to be screened which are of lesser dimensions than that of the uniform size of the plurality of openings to pass through the plurality of openings when the materials to be screened are moved from the materials staging area to the materials screening area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 1992
    Date of Patent: August 9, 1994
    Assignee: Tyler and Kerouac Manufacturing and Development
    Inventor: Terry Tyler
  • Patent number: 5333738
    Abstract: A method is proposed for recovering valuable substances, particularly from construction site wastes and industrial trash as well as a system for implementing the method in which the essential sorters are disposed in a closed container which can be placed onto an elevated foundation. The foundation is formed by intersecting walls which simultaneously serve as partitions for various bunkers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 1991
    Date of Patent: August 2, 1994
    Assignee: Maschinenfabrik Bezner GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Dieter Fuchs, Peter Strohhacker
  • Patent number: 5322170
    Abstract: A waste material separating apparatus and method which comprises a frame and a vibratory screening deck or tier within the frame, the screening deck having a plurality of generally parallel, straight rod elements to act as bludgeons on the waste material. The rod elements are removably extended from a transverse rail. Waste material to be separated into a coarse material and a finer material is discharged onto the rod element. The separating apparatus has an eccentric rotating shaft secured to the deck to impart vibratory motion to the rod elements so that the free ends of the vibratory fingers vibrate in a generally vertical direction, and bludgeon and break up the compacted solid waste landfill material. The solid material is progressively moved from the tall to short end of the frame by forward rotary motion of the rotary shaft and falls off the ends of the vibratory rod elements onto the lower tiers to decompact and break up and tumble the waste material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 1992
    Date of Patent: June 21, 1994
    Assignee: The Read Corporation
    Inventor: Robert J. Hadden
  • Patent number: 5271168
    Abstract: A padding machine used for overlaying a pipeline disposed within a trench with sifted dirt to eliminate contact by rock or other abrasive material with the pipeline and, thereby, preclude rusting, corrosion or like damage. A trench typically lies along the edge of a right-of-way on which the padding machine travels, i.e. pulling, for example, as from a tractor. Raw filling material is introduced onto a shaker driven and/or vibrating screen through the use of, for example, a common backhoe. Rocks or larger sized particles move, by gravity, onto the right-of-way adjacent the side of the machine opposite to that of the trench, where sifted filler material passes onto and from a moving conveyor which is directed toward the desired covering relationship with the pipeline. A feature of the padding machine is the use of a boom which interconnects the freely vertical movable front end of the padding machine to a towing vehicle and includes an hydraulically operated piston for leveling purposes, i.e.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 1992
    Date of Patent: December 21, 1993
    Inventors: Gilbert T. Wilson, Sr., R. David Sheehan, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5261171
    Abstract: A padding machine attachment for a vehicle is provided. When padding of a ditch for a pipeline or cable is required, the padding machine is removably attached in a position at one end of a conventional bucket loader, bulldozer, or other base machine or vehicle, whereby said attachment moves along the path of travel of the vehicle. As the vehicle moves the padding machine attachment along one side of the pipeline ditch, the padding machine attachment picks up at least a portion of a pile of excavated material placed parallel to and along the same side of the ditch and processes the excavated material into padding material for placement into the ditch for padding the pipeline or cable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 16, 1993
    Inventor: William B. Bishop
  • Patent number: 5248042
    Abstract: A mobile screening apparatus includes a horizontal rotary drum preferably fed by underflow from a prescreening device that is reversible endless belt of screening grizzly bars. The belt reverses for expelling oversize material caught between bars. Force needed to turn the drum is monitored, as a way of controlling drum feeding by the prescreening device, for preventing protracted over-filling of the drum. The screening drum includes an outer peripheral cage of longitudinal bars, at least some of which preferably are movably mounted. A set of wires is circumferentially wrapped about the bar cage, with sufficient flexibility to permit the wires to locally elastically flex away from the bars sufficient to pass slightly oversize material and facilitate cleaning of debris lodged in spaces among the bars and wires. Brushes help dislodge lodged debris.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 1991
    Date of Patent: September 28, 1993
    Assignees: Ossi Rissanen, Vernon F. Chevalier
    Inventor: Mauri Kuhmonen
  • Patent number: 5244098
    Abstract: An improved separating apparatus for separating a feed material into coarse material and a finer material. The separating apparatus includes a frame with a tall and short end, vibratory separating screen or rods as a separating surface within the frame, and a fixed, angled, feed directing plate as a funneling surface to direct feed material into the separating surface at the tall end of the frame. The separating apparatus includes a feed directing plate extension to extend the funneling surface of the apparatus and includes a support arm and a support bracket on the frame to move the feed directing plate extension between an angular extended use position and a non-use position adjacent the frame surface to permit the separating apparatus to be road-transportable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 1992
    Date of Patent: September 14, 1993
    Assignee: The Read Corporation
    Inventor: Robert J. Hadden
  • Patent number: 5219078
    Abstract: A material separating apparatus and method which comprises a frame of a pair of spaced apart generally downwardly sloping, upper and lower vibratory screening decks within the frame, the upper screening deck comprising a plurality of comb-like elements, which are generally parallel, straight finger elements removably extending from a transverse bracket support and onto which finger elements a feed material is discharged to be separated into a coarse material and a finer material. A lower deck comprises a plurality of comb-like elements having a plurality of transverse cross members and a plurality of downwardly extending, small diameter finger elements extending therefrom, the finger elements being of greater plurality and of smaller diameter than the finger elements of the upper screening assembly, and downwardly angled so as to provide for the separating and sizing of feed material falling from the upper screening deck onto the lower screening deck.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 1992
    Date of Patent: June 15, 1993
    Assignee: The Read Corporation
    Inventor: Robert J. Hadden
  • Patent number: 5195260
    Abstract: An improved pipeline padding apparatus includes a separator for separating fine material out of spoil which is piled along side an excavation, an elevator for transporting spoil to the separator, and a pair of guide projections for guiding spoil into the elevator. A conveyor is provided to transport the separated fine portion of the spoil back into the excavation, thereby padding the pipeline. The separator, the elevator, the guide projections and the vehicle are all mounted on a tracked support vehicle. In one embodiment, the motor of the tracked support vehicle is mounted above and forward of the elevator, which helps reduce the amount of dust that the motor is exposed to during operation. According to another aspect of the invention, the guide projections may be configured to allow excess spoil to flow underneath in such a manner as to smooth out a path for the tracks of the support vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 1990
    Date of Patent: March 23, 1993
    Inventor: Mark Osadchuk
  • Patent number: 5183160
    Abstract: A pipeline padding machine for use with a motorized carrier is mounted on a flat bed trailer adapted to be hitched to the carrier. Collector apparatus mounted beneath the screening apparatus receives the earth from a discharge at the bottom of the screening apparatus and conveys it to its discharge end which is located laterally of the carrier-trailer when the screening apparatus is in a transverse operational mode. A delivery apparatus pivotally mounted at a receiving end beneath the discharge end of the collector apparatus may in turn receive the earth discharged for delivery at greater distances from the screening apparatus. This delivery apparatus may be supported at its discharge end from the carrier or the trailer so that its discharge end may be located laterally of the carrier-trailer at a selected distance from the carrier-trailer within a variable range of distances.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 1990
    Date of Patent: February 2, 1993
    Inventor: Ray McClain
  • Patent number: 5160034
    Abstract: The present vibrating bucket screen attachment for cleaning beaches and for being mounted on mobile machines such as skid-steer loaders includes an outer excavating bucket with a sand-scooping blade and runners on the outer bucket for supporting the outer bucket relative to the beach. An inner vibrating screen bucket is resiliently mounted in the excavating bucket and includes a hydraulically operated vibrator. Resilient bumper pad mounts disposed between the inner and outer buckets suppress the vibrations of the inner vibrating bucket relative the outer excavating bucket. A floor screen portion of the inner bucket is mounted above bottom, sand-engaging portions of the outer bucket such that the screen portion is spaced from the surface of the beach to vibrate freely during the separation of sand from litter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 3, 1992
    Inventor: Robert J. Potter
  • Patent number: 5112474
    Abstract: There is disclosed a screening apparatus for screening particulate material and which comprises a base frame, an elevating conveyor adjustably mounted on the base frame and arranged to convey material from a loading station at or near a lower end of the conveyor to a discharge station at an upper end of the conveyor, a sub-frame adjustably mounted on the base frame and carrying a vibratory screen for receiving material falling from the conveyor, a drive mechanism for adjusting the position of the conveyor along a guided path of movement, and a coupling arrangement which couples the conveyor and the sub-frame together in such a way that adjustment of the position of the conveyor relative to the base frame is accompanied by corresponding adjustment of the position of the sub-frame relative to the base frame so that the vibratory screen can take up any required attitude to suit particular requirements and in which it is still able readily to receive material falling from the upper end of the conveyor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 1989
    Date of Patent: May 12, 1992
    Inventor: Patrick J. Douglas
  • Patent number: 5106490
    Abstract: A mobile material screening apparatus includes a sloped screen box, a housing, a fifth wheel coupling, an engine and a pair of wheels fixed to the housing. Two hydraulic rams lift the apparatus and wheels off the ground and four extendable legs support it off the ground. A conveyor located underneath the screen box delivers fully screened material up over the fifth wheel coupling. A second conveyor located at the side of the apparatus removes second grade screened material. A third conveyor removes reject material which comes down a chute.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 1989
    Date of Patent: April 21, 1992
    Inventor: John McDonald
  • Patent number: 5097610
    Abstract: A compact padding machine for screening and conveying soil into a trench. The machine is usable as an attachment to a conventional bucket loader, bulldozer or other base machine. The padding machine includes a screening belt, an underlying inclined conveyor belt, and a transverse, extendible discharge conveyor belt. Soil is collected and conveyed upwardly on the screening belt. Fine grained soil passes through the screening belt, is deposited onto the inclined conveyor belt, and is discharged therefrom onto the transverse conveyor belt, from where it may be conveyed into an adjacent trench. A hydraulic vibrator is coupled to the screening belt to disaggregate clods of fine-grained soil and cause the soil to pass through the screening belt. Rocks and other large objects are conveyed to the rear of the machine and discharged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 1990
    Date of Patent: March 24, 1992
    Assignee: Bo-Ar Padding Co., Inc.
    Inventor: William B. Bishop
  • Patent number: 5032254
    Abstract: A litter cleaning apparatus that has a large new litter receptacle, a waste receptacle and a cleaned and reclaimed litter receptacle. Brand new, or recycled, litter is introduced into the new litter receptacle and is opened at the bottom to release litter into a litter pan when necessary or when used litter is seen to be uncleanable. Used, soiled litter is taken from litter boxes and poured over a separator screen. Cleaned litter will fall through while waste can be dumped off the screen into the adjacent waste receptacle. The cleaned litter receptacle can be emptied from the bottom in order to fill litter pans individually or to empty the litter directly into a recycling bucket. The apparatus can be wheeled about from area or area on a large animal raising installation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 1990
    Date of Patent: July 16, 1991
    Inventors: Kenneth R. Deboer, Mary Deboer
  • Patent number: 4983280
    Abstract: Screening apparatus comprises a feeder conveyor, an elevator, a screen box, an end boom elevator and two lateral boom elevators all carried on a wheeled trailer. The elevator has an elongated support with an endless belt arranged around two rollers longitudinally spaced apart on the support. A superstructure framework on the trailer carries the support in a plurality of inclined positions, and the screen box is pivotally linked to the end of the support corresponding to the discharge end of the belt and hinged to the structure at the opposite end. The support extends and retracts along its lengths by means of hydraulic rams and thereby pivots the screen. The screen box also has hydraulic rams and cylinders to adjust the angle of inclination of the screen relative to the support and thereby also adjust the inclination of the support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 1989
    Date of Patent: January 8, 1991
    Assignee: Powerscreen International Limited
    Inventor: Jan E. Eriksson
  • Patent number: 4966686
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for obtaining fine metals from gravel. A tiltable, rotatable cylinder has an inlet and an outlet. A mesh is positioned a predetermined distance from the inside diameter of the cylinder and extends around the periphery of the inside circumference. A first recovery ring is located downstream from the inlet and has an inside diameter greater than the inside diameter of the cylinder. An exit extends from the inside diameter to the outer periphery of the first recovery ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 1988
    Date of Patent: October 30, 1990
    Assignee: Wilson Creek Placer Ltd.
    Inventor: Marvin Sherman
  • Patent number: 4944108
    Abstract: A primary vessel, such as a flotable float or the like, having a crustacean retrieving means attached to the forward end of the vessel, with the vessel being motor driven, the motor driving a plurality of dasic wheels to maintain the vessel above the water, and allowing it to move on the bottom of the pond. The retrieving means includes a first primary roller positioned substantially the distance of the width of the vessel and moving along the bottom of the pond for distrubing the crustaceans as the vessel moves forward. There is provided the primary conveyor wall directly to the rear of the primary roller wherein the crustaceans moving over the roller are deposited on the conveyor which transports the crustacean upward into a first receiving bin in the vessel. The primary conveyor includes a puralilty of spaced apart shelf members along its width so that the crustaceans will be lodged against the shelf member and will be deposited into the receiving bin as the conveyor belt circulates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 1988
    Date of Patent: July 31, 1990
    Assignee: Crawfish Technology of South Carolina, Inc.
    Inventors: Albert L. George, Don Gooch
  • Patent number: 4923597
    Abstract: A portable screen with a raising and levelling system for raising a frame of the system containing a vibrating screen away from ground on which the system is positioned and for levelling the frame and vibrating screen for improved operation. A wheel assembly rigidly fixed relative to the frame extends from the frame at a first end wall where a first raising and levelling assembly is provided. At an opposite end wall of the frame, a second raising and levelling system is provided. First and second shedding roofs are respectively positioned over the wheel assembly and first and second hydraulic raising and levelling assemblies. With the portable screen having a raising and levelling system as disclosed, the system may be operated on sloping ground and/or ground having undulations and other protrubances.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 1989
    Date of Patent: May 8, 1990
    Inventors: Don W. Anderson, Robert Eddy, Alan Egge, Richard Lewison
  • Patent number: 4897183
    Abstract: A litter screening and separating apparatus including a storage compartment arranged for towed movement, a loader structure affixed at one end of the storage compartment for picking up encrusted litter material from floors of chicken houses, a conveyor including a pair of chains for moving the encrusted litter from the loading structure to the storage compartment, a baffle plate adjacent and beneath the conveyor chain for preventing contamination of the conveyor chain from the material stored in the storage compartment, a plurality of loading panels arranged between the pair of chains and being replaceably affixed thereto, and vibrator rollers adjacent the pair of chains for engagement with projections on spaced links of each chain for vibrating the loading panels. The loading panels may be of solid panel construction or of expanded metal, depending upon the type of litter being picked up and the method of use of the apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1987
    Date of Patent: January 30, 1990
    Assignee: Lewis Bros. Mfg. Inc.
    Inventors: Robert L. Lewis, Jr., Carl J. Thomas
  • Patent number: 4896835
    Abstract: A screening machine has a rotating screening drum for screening dirt or other material to a desired size through the screen openings, and is made so that it reduces clogging of the screen, even when rocks, dirt clods, and moist dirt is being screened. The rotating drum has interior brushes and a beater bar for keeping the material moving on the interior of the drum. A holding bin and feeding conveyor is used at the input end of the machine and is positioned to empty into an input pulverizer or shredder, that has a powered drum that will break the dirt clods up. The holding bin has a cover grate to remove excessively large rocks and the like. The output from the pulverizing roller also drops material onto a grate through which the material passes before reaching the screening drum. These grates are called "grizzly bars" and help in the classification process. The screening drum can be converted to a mixer drum by lining the screen wall with sheet metal and removing the normally used interior brushes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1989
    Date of Patent: January 30, 1990
    Inventor: Harley D. Fahrenholz
  • Patent number: RE34458
    Abstract: A screening machine has a rotating screening drum for screening dirt or other material to a desired size through the screen openings, and is made so that it reduces clogging of the screen, even when rocks, dirt clods, and moist dirt is being screened. The rotating drum has interior brushes and a beater bar for keeping the material moving on the interior of the drum. A holding bin and feeding conveyor is used at the input end of the machine and is positioned to empty into an input pulverizer or shredder, that has a powered drum that will break the dirt clods up. The holding bin has a cover grate to remove excessively large rocks and the like. The output from the pulverizing roller also drops material onto a grate through which the material passes before reaching the screening drum. These grates are called "grizzly bars" and help in the classification process. The screening drum can be converted to a mixer drum by lining the screen wall with sheet metal and removing the normally used interior brushes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 30, 1993
    Inventor: Harley D. Fahrenholz