DESC:FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)

Title of invention:
A CROSS CONVEYOR SYSTEM FOR A BLASTING MACHINE

Applicant:
BEML Limited
A company Incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 1956
Having address:
BEML Soudha, 23/1, 4th Main,
Sampangirama Nagar, Bengaluru - 560 027,
Karnataka, India

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is
to be performed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PRIORITY
[001] The present application claims priority from Indian provisional application no. 201941053173 filed on 20th December 2019.

TECHNICAL FIELD
[002] The present subject matter described herein, in general, relates to a cross conveyor system for a blasting machine.
BACKGROUND
[003] Abrasive blasting is the process of effectively propelling a stream of abrasive material against a surface under high pressure to smooth a rough surface, roughen a smooth surface, shape a surface, or remove surface contaminants. These breathtaking pieces of machinery are used for a variety of applications. They are used for blasting floors, wall, drums and anything else that needs resurfacing. Abrasive blasting has several types of variations. The different types include bead blasting, sand blasting, soda blasting, and shot blasting. These type of blasting differ by use of different types of media such as silica sand, metallic shots, steel grit or some nut shells. In shot blasting metallic shots are used as blasting media.
[004] After blasting operation the blasting media or abrasive material (metallic shots) needs to be recovered for subsequent usage. However, these shots are now comprising of the impurities such as rust, dust etc. removed from the surface of the treated metal. To transfer this mixture of metallic shots and impurities to a separator, a cross conveyor is used. Generally, the cross conveyor is having a length equivalent to the length of room where shot blasting operation is performed.
[005] However, most of the time shot blasting leads to clogging of shots in cross screw conveyor system. This may lead to failure of cross screw conveyor, motor and gear box. Hence, replacement of entire length of screw element is required that adds cost and manpower to repair the screw conveyor. The above problems can be overcome by adopting a cross conveyor system disclosed by present subject matter.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
[006] Main object of the present invention to reduce the length of the screw conveyor to reduce the torque required to cascade the material.
[007] Another object of the present invention to reduce break down and maintenance of the lengthy screw conveyors due to clogging of the material.
[008] Another object of the present invention to enhance the performance of the blasting machine by improving availability of the blasting machine because of the reduced maintenance requirement
[009] A yet another object of the present invention to reduce failures of screw conveyor, motor and gear box
SUMMARY
[0010] Before the present system and method are described, it is to be understood that this application is not limited to the particular machine or an apparatus, and methodologies described, as there can be multiple possible embodiments that are not expressly illustrated in the present disclosures. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular versions or embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. This summary is provided to introduce aspects related to a dual stage cross conveyor system in a shot blasting machine, and the aspects are further elaborated below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the proposed subject matter nor is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the proposed subject matter.
[0011] The present invention discloses a cross conveyor system for a blasting machine. The cross conveyor system comprises a plurality of screw conveyors and a plurality of motors to drive each of the screw conveyors individually. The plurality of screw conveyors are configured to constitute a conveying network adapted to cascade a material to different places and mounted at an axially offset position and optionally at an angle with each other. The material from at least one of the screw conveyors is configured to be cascaded to at least one of the another screw conveyors

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawing. For the purpose of illustrating the disclosure, there is shown in the present document example constructions of the disclosure, however, the disclosure is not limited to the specific methods and apparatus disclosed in the document and the drawing:
[0013] The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figure. In the figure, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawing to refer like features and components.
[0014] Figure 1 illustrates a cross conveyor system for a blasting machine, in accordance with one embodiment of the present subject matter.
[0015] Figure 2 illustrates another configuration of the cross conveyor system for a blasting machine, in accordance with one embodiment of the present subject matter.
[0016] The figure depicts various embodiments of the present disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words "comprising", “having”, and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. Although any systems and methods similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present disclosure, the exemplary, systems and methods are now described. The disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the disclosure, which may be embodied in various forms.
[0018] Various modifications to the embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments illustrated, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.
[0019] In shot blasting operation metallic shots are used as blasting media. After blasting operation, the blasting media or abrasive material (metallic shots) needs to be recovered for subsequent usage. However, these shots are now comprising of the impurities such as rust, dust etc. removed from the surface of the treated metal. To transfer this mixture of metallic shots and impurities to a separator, a cross conveyor is used. In the separator, the shot particles are separated from the rust and dust. These separated shot particles may be reused in subsequent shot blasting operation. Generally, the cross conveyor is having a length equivalent to the length of room where shot blasting operation is performed. In existing system, due to long length of the cross conveyor and clogging caused by the shot particles, the cross conveyor, gear box or drive motor may get damaged.
[0020] In an embodiment of the present subject matter, as illustrated in figure 1 and figure 2, a cross conveyor system 100 for a blasting machine is disclosed. The cross conveyor system 100 comprises a plurality of screw conveyors 110 and a plurality of motors (not shown) to drive each of the screw conveyors individually. The plurality of screw conveyors 110 are configured to constitute a conveying network adapted to cascade a material to different places and mounted at an axially offset position and optionally at an angle with each other. The material from at least one of the screw conveyors is configured to be cascaded to at least one of the another screw conveyors. The material may be any residual particles retrieved after the blasting operation. The material may be transferred to a separator by means of the cross conveyor system where rust, dust etc. may be separated from the material and the separated material may be recovered for subsequent use in the blasting operation. Further an end of the plurality of screw conveyors 110 may be configured with a lesser diameter of screw blades 105 for smooth cascading of material from one of the screw conveyors to another screw conveyors. Further the plurality of screw conveyors 110 are configured with a synchronized rotation with respect to each other for smooth operation.
[0021] In another embodiment, as illustrated in figure 1, a first screw conveyor 111 and a second screw conveyor 112 are disclosed. The first screw conveyor 111 may be configured to be mounted with an axial offset and at an angle with respect to the axis of the second screw conveyor 112. The material from the first screw conveyor 111 is configured to be cascaded to the second screw conveyor 112.
[0022] In yet another embodiment, as illustrated in figure 2, a first screw conveyor 111, a second screw conveyor 112 and a third screw conveyor 113 are disclosed. The first and second screw conveyors (111, 112) are configured to be mounted at an angle with each other and with an axially offset and at an angle with respect to the third screw conveyor 113. The first and second screw conveyors (111, 112) are configured to cascade the material to the third screw conveyor by collecting the material from two different directions and vice-versa. The third screw conveyor 113 is configured to further transfer the cascaded material to a third direction. In another embodiment, the third screw conveyor 113 may be configured to cascade the material to the first and second screw conveyors (111, 112). Further the first and second screw conveyors (111, 112) may be configured to transfer the cascaded material in two different directions.
[0023] The cross-conveyor system 100 of present invention reduces the length of the screw conveyor to reduce the torque required to cascade the material thereby reducing the break down and maintenance of the lengthy screw conveyors due to clogging of the material. It also enhances the performance of the blasting machine by improving availability of the blasting machine because of the reduced maintenance requirement. The clogging of the shots in the screw conveyor is reduced to a great extent and thereby reducing the failures of screw conveyor, motor and gear box. In case of any failure the entire length of the cross conveyor need not be replaced.
[0024] Exemplary embodiments discussed above may provide certain advantages. Though not required to practice aspects of the disclosure, these advantages may include those provided by the following features.
[0025] Some objects of the present invention enable to reduce the length of the screw conveyor to reduce the torque required to cascade the material.
[0026] Some objects of the present invention enable to reduce break down and maintenance of the lengthy screw conveyors due to clogging of the material.
[0027] Some objects of the present invention enable to enhance the performance of the blasting machine by improving availability of the blasting machine because of the reduced maintenance requirement
[0028] Some objects of the present invention enable to reduce failures of screw conveyor, motor and gear box.

,CLAIMS:
1. A cross conveyor system (100) for a blasting machine, wherein the cross conveyor system (100) comprises:
a plurality of screw conveyors (110), configured to constitute a conveying network adapted to cascade a material to different places, are mounted at an axially offset position and optionally at an angle with each other, wherein the material from at least one of the screw conveyors is configured to be cascaded to at least one of the another screw conveyors; and
a plurality of motors to drive each of the screw conveyors individually.
2. The cross conveyor system as claimed in claim 1, wherein a first screw conveyor (111) is configured to be mounted with an axial offset and at an angle with respect to the axis of the second screw conveyor (112).
3. The cross conveyor system as claimed in claim 1, wherein a first screw conveyor (111) and a second screw conveyor (112) are configured to be mounted at an angle with each other and with an axially offset and at an angle with respect to a third screw conveyor (113).
4. The cross conveyor system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the material from the first screw conveyor (111) and the second screw conveyor (112) is configured to be cascaded to the third screw conveyor (113).
5. The cross conveyor system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the material from the third screw conveyor (113) is configured to be cascaded to the first screw conveyor (111) and the second screw conveyor (112).
6. The cross conveyor system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein an end of the plurality of screw conveyors (110) is configured with a lesser diameter of screw blades (105).