FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for reducing high stress on the
vibrating material handling equipment vibro feeder to arrest failure by crack.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A vibratory feeder is an instrument that uses vibration to "feed" material to a
process or machine. A series of Vibro feeder are installed at Coke plants for
feeding coal to the stamp charging and pushing machine (SCP machine) using
vibrating mechanism. Use of vibro feeder in SCP machine is attempted first time
in the world at Tata Steel coke plant.
Below photos figure 1 are for coke making plant technology and the actual
picture of SCP machine.
After commissioning of the new SCP machine in coke plant battery no 10 and 11,
failure of the Vibro Feeder was observed within single weeks some in single
days. The side wall of the vibro feeders cracked due to high stresses. Re-

welding of the cracks also failed within days. Whereas expected service life of
the Vibro feeder is ~5 years. Several attempts were implemented locally as well
as those suggested by the original equipment manufacturer. The in-house
solutions before the invention and OEM solutions could not restrict the failure
and so plant was facing huge loss due to plant downtime cost which is ~Rs 5
lakhs/hours. We have found no patent is on the Vibro Feeder design
improvement.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to propose a method for reducing high
stress on the vibrating material handling equipment vibro feeder which is capable
of reducing the said stress and thus eliminate the failure of the vibro feeder due
to crack.
Another object of the invention is to propose a method for reducing high stress
on the vibrating material handling equipment vibro feeder which is capable of
arresting the huge loss due to plant downtime cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This innovation has identified the critical failure location and deficiency in the
Vibro Feeder design and provided an innovative design solution which is easy to
implement at the site. In order to find the critical area finite element analysis
(FEA) was done on the Vibro Feeder under static loading condition and it's found
the side plate is bending near Motor bracket junction which is due to Motor
mass. Gusset plates are welded in various shapes near critical location to
strengthen the design. FEA helped to predict the stress level on the proposed
solution. It's found the Stresses on the Vibro Feeder is reduced by ~10 times
after implementing the gussets at strategical locations.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
Fig.1 - Shows a coke making plant where vibro feeder is used.
Fig.2 - Shows a vibro feeder.
Fig.3 - Shows a computer aided design (CAD) model of the vibro feeder.

Fig.4 - Shows the vibro feeder with Gusset plate in accordance with the
invention.
Fig.5 - Shows the possible shapes of Gusset plate according to the
invention.
Fig.6 - Shows various possible orientation of Gusset plate on vibro feeder
according to the invention.
Fig.7 and Fig.8 - Vibro Feeder with gusset plate.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE
INVENTION
Vibro feeder is the apparatus installed at Coke plants for moving cokes using
vibrating mechanism. Expected service life of the Vibro feeder is ~5 years but
existing Vibro feeders are failed within single weeks some in single day also.
Various design solutions are applied to the Vibro feeder but those could not
control the crack initiation. This innovation has identified the critical area of
failure and deficiency in the design with the help of FEA and provided a small
easy to implement design solution to the Vibro Feeder which results in reduction
of high stress level by ~10 times.

Innovation features multiple gusset plates added at strategic location leading to
complete elimination of the failure. This gusset concept (Stiffener) could be used
at any Vibration prone structure for protecting the parent structure as well as
separating Vibration from other adjoining structure.
Design modification detail of innovation is explained below:
Motor (7) are actuating device which provides Vibration to the Vibro feeder for
transporting the raw material in this case Coal (9). Two set of Motor
arrangement is bolted to motor mounting bracket (2) to transfer sinusoidal wave
to side plates (3) & (4) and then to top bolt plate (5) and then bolted tray (8).
Motor mounting bracket (2) is welded to side plate left (3) & side plate right (4)
as weld lines (6). Because of actuating motor mass and system vibration these
weld lines (6) were found failing which initiated the crack formation on the side
plates.
Present innovation provides for controlling these weld line failure. 10-25mm thick
Gusset plate (1) is welded between side plate left (3) and motor mounting
bracket (2) similarly on side plate right (4) and motor mounting bracket (2). Size
and shape of gusset plate is decided based on available space and severity of
stress. Possible shape of Gusset plate (1) is as shown in Figure 7 which can be
further modified as slotted or

corner modification to control strength parameters. Gusset plate (1) can be
welded at various locations in various orientations as shown in figure 6.
Gusset plate (1) can be welded to motor mounting bracket (2) in various options
as follow:
Option 1: side "ab" is extended alone up to top bolt plate (5) parallel to "cd"
(Figure 7).
Option 2: side "ad" is extended alone up to top bolt plate (5) parallel to "be"
(Figure 8).
Option 3: sides "ab" and "ad" is extended together (as shown above Figure 6).
Option 4: sides "ab", "be", "cd", "ad" are extended alone or in group.
Option 5: sides "ab", "be", "cd", "ad" are extended alone or in group after
reorientation of the motor mounting bracket (2).
Option 6: Gusset plate is added over sides "ab", "ad", "cd", "be" at some angle
other than perpendicular.

WE CLAIM
1. Method for reducing high stress on the vibrating material handling
equipment vibro feeder to arrest failure by crack comprising;
Finding location of high stress zone based on finite element analysis;
fixing motor arrangement to motor mounting bracket (2) by bolting;
welding motor mounting bracket (2) to side plate left (3) along the weld
lines (6);
welding motor mounting bracket (2) to side plate right (4) along the
similar weld lines (6);
wherein, single or a plurality of gusset plates (1) of various shapes and
sizes based on severity of the stress are welded between side plate left
(3) and motor mounting bracket (2) and side plate right (4) and motor
mounting bracket (2) to arrest failure by crack along the weld lines (6).
2. Method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thickness of the gusset plate
(1) is 10-25 mm.

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method of restricting the failure by crack of vibratory
feeder used to feed coal to the stamp charging and pushing machine (SCP
machine). The motor arrangement is fixed to motor mounting bracket (2) by
bolting. The motor mounting bracket is welded to both side plates left and right
(3, 4) along the weld lines (6) when the gusset plates are welded between side
plate left (3) and mounting bracket (2) and side plate right (4) and mounting
bracket (2) to arrest failure by crack along the weld lines (6).