TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure is related to a sugar cane mill. More particularly relates to a system for displacing an inter rake carrier of the sugar cane mill during maintenance or repair operations.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
Milling tandem in sugar industry may include one or more heavy structures, including but not limited to, mill rollers, conveyor or inter rake carrier, and walk way. In a typically arrangement of the sugar cane mill, the inter rake carrier need to be dismantled to do any maintenance work or repair work. Once the maintenance or repair works are completed, the inter rake carrier is again aligned and assembled in order to restart milling operation.

Hence, the maintenance or repair works in this kind of inter rake carrier arrangement becomes a long and cumbersome process. In an example, in order to replace any roller of the mill rollers, the entire inter rake carrier need to be dismantled for making passage for accessing the roller of the mill rollers. Thus, during these conditions, an after assembly re-alignment is a big issue and overall the exercise consume a lot of time in days.

One kind of mechanism developed to provide lifting and tilting of objects or platforms may include, a hydraulic mechanism. The hydraulic mechanism typically includes a piston and a cylinder arrangement. The piston cylinder arrangement is actuated using an oil from a reservoir. For example, in a dump vehicle, a dump body of the vehicle is provided with a hydraulic system at its bottom surface for lifting the loaded dump body. The hydraulic system can be actuated for dumping the load from the dump body. The piston cylinder arrangement of the hydraulic system in the dump vehicle may typically be hinged to a chassis of the vehicle at one end and to a bottom portion of the dump body at other end of the piston cylinder arrangement. As the piston cylinder arrangement in the hydraulic system include hinging points and joints on the vehicle, the hinging points and the joints may require either replacement of the component or servicing it more often. Also, the piston cylinder arrangement of the hydraulic system may not be feasible and applicable in application involving higher vertical lifting operations since the arrangements may incur additional cost.

Another kind of mechanism existed to provide the lifting and tilting objects or platforms may include worm and worm wheel arrangement. The worm and worm wheel arrangement may be typically used when there is a high torque requirement. The arrangement of the worm and worm wheel may require a large space and may also be heavier in weight to handle.

Therefore, the present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
The present disclosure relates to a system for displacing of an inter rake carrier of a sugar cane mill for maintenance of the sugar cane mill. The system includes a flange member disposed onto a column member of the inter rake carrier. The system further includes a shaft member adapted to rotatably couple with the flange member and fixedly couple with a trough of the inter rake carrier. The inter rake carrier is adapted to be displaced by the shaft member by tilting of the inter rake carrier when the inter rake carrier is lifted by a lifting device.

In an embodiment, the shaft member includes a hollow portion defined at a middle portion and a solid portion defined on a first end and a second end of the hollow portion and the solid portion is adapted to be fixedly connected inside the hollow portion of the shaft member.

In an embodiment, the solid portion of the shaft member is rotatably coupled with the flange member and the hollow portion of the shaft member is fixedly coupled to the trough.

In an embodiment, the shaft member includes a solid portion.

In an embodiment, the inter rake carrier is displaceable between a first position and a second position for maintenance of the sugar cane mill, where, the first position is defined as a position at which the inter rake carrier is in operating condition and where, the second position is defined as a position at which the inter rake carrier is in non-operating condition and located away from a maintenance path of the sugar cane mill.
In an embodiment, the inter rake carrier is configured to be displaced between the first position and the second position, by using a lifting device.

In an embodiment, the shaft member is welded to the trough of the inter rake carrier.

In an embodiment, the intake rake carrier is adapted to rotate about an axis of shaft member.

In an embodiment, the flange member is a plummer block.

The present disclosure in another embodiment relates to a, milling tandem including a system for displacing of an inter rake carrier of the sugar cane mill for maintenance of the sugar cane mill. The system includes a flange member disposed onto a support column member of the inter rake carrier. The system further includes a shaft member adapted to rotatably couple with the flange member and fixedly coupled with a trough of the inter rake carrier. The inter rake carrier is adapted to be displaced by the shaft member by tilting of the inter rake carrier when the inter rake carrier is lifted by a lifting device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a side view of a milling tandem, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,
FIG. 2 shows a portion of the milling tandem having a sugar cane mill shown in FIG. 1, having a system for displacing an inter rake carrier, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,
FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the sugar cane mill shown in FIG. 2, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,
FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the system for displacing the inter rake carrier of the sugar cane mill shown in FIGS. 1-3, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,
FIG. 5A shows a cross sectional view of a shaft member of the system shown in FIG. 4, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,
FIG. 5B shows a cross sectional view of a shaft member of the system, in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, and
FIG. 6 shows a side view of the sugar cane mill shown in FIGS. 1-4, when the system is displaced, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE
Provided below is a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present invention and a reference will now be made in detail to specific embodiments or features, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, corresponding or similar reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or corresponding parts. Moreover, references to various elements described herein, are made collectively or individually when there may be more than one element of the same type. However, such references are merely exemplary in nature. It may be noted that any reference to elements in the singular may also be construed to relate to the plural and vice-versa without limiting the scope of the disclosure to the exact number or type of such elements unless set forth explicitly in the appended claim.

FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of a milling tandem (100), in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The milling tandem (100) is used in a milling process in a sugar industry. Milling is one of the process for extraction of juice from cane raw material. The juice extraction by milling process is typically carried out by a process of squeezing juice from cane under a set of mills using high pressure between heavy iron or hard material rollers. A plant for production of sugar or such products may include one or more milling tandem (100). Each of the milling tandem (100) can further include one or more sugar cane mills (110) which may be connected in series or any other configuration which can yield better juice extraction and efficiency.

Each of the sugar cane mill (110) may include additional devices, such as, but not limited to one or more milling set-ups (102), a conveyor (104), a set of rollers (106), and a walkway (108). In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the milling tandem (100) includes two sugar cane mills (110) connected in series.

FIG. 2 illustrates the sugar cane mill (110) shown in FIG. 1, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. It is to be noted that the illustrated FIG. 2 explains with a single sugar cane mill (110) in the present disclosure is not limiting. However, the features explained for the single sugar cane mill (110) can be applicable to one or more sugar cane mill (110) provided in the plant and the single sugar cane mill (110) described herein is to be considered for ease of understanding and explanation purpose only and the same is not limiting.

The sugar cane mill (110) includes the walkway (108) as illustrated. The walkway (108) can be adapted to connect each of the sugar cane mill (110) connected in series in the plant. That is to say, a single walkway (108) can be provided for all the sugar cane mill (110) connected in series in the entire milling plant. The walkway (108) is a supporting structure for a plant engineer or a service engineer or any other person to walk along the sugar cane mill (110) during working or during maintenance or repair operations. The walkway (108) may additionally provide visibility of components, including, but not limited to, the set of rollers (106) of the milling set-up (102) provided below the walkway (108). Each set of rollers (106) may include rollers ranging from about 3 to 6 roller. It is to be understood that the number of rollers in each set of the rollers (106) may vary and it is not meant to be limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

Additionally, the set of rollers (106) may include, but not limited to, gear arrangements in conjunction with the rollers for milling operation or squeezing operation of a cane or a sugar cane. The milling set-up (102) may be operated by an Internal Combustion (IC) engine (not shown) or any other prime mover known in the art, to drive a shaft (not shown) of the rollers meshing to each other. The milling set-up (102) may be adapted to be removably attached onto a platform. In an embodiment, the platform may be a ground surface (112).

Each of the milling set-up (102) may be adapted to be in connection with the conveyor (104) for carrying and transporting a sugar cane or a crushed sugar cane or a bagasse (not shown) coming out of the set of rollers (106). The conveyor (104) for carrying and transporting the bagasse may also be referred as an “inter rake carrier”. The terms “conveyor” and the “inter rake carrier” as used herein refers to same device and they are interchangeably used in the present disclosure. The inter rake carrier (104) (more clearly shown in FIG. 3) is a drag type conveyor used for receiving and transporting the crushed cane from one sugar cane mill to another sugar cane mill. The inter rake carrier (104) can be rotated and tilted at a hinge point (114) at a column member (116) of the sugar cane mill (110) through a system (118).

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the system (118), in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The system (118) is adapted to displace the inter rake carrier (104) of the sugar cane mill (110) shown in FIGS. 1-3. The inter rake carrier (104) is required to be displaced during any maintenance or repair operations of components of the sugar cane mill (110) including the milling set-up (102), the set of rollers (106) provided underneath the inter rake carrier (104) or located proximal to the inter rake carrier (104) of the sugar cane mill (110). The system (118) further includes a flange member (120) disposed onto the column member (116) for supporting the inter rake carrier (104).

In the illustrated embodiment, the system (118) includes two flange members (120) supported onto the two column members (116). In an example, the flange members (120) may be mounted onto a pair or support brackets (122) fixedly connected to the column member (116) at a predetermined height. In an exemplary embodiment, the flange member (120) is a plummer block. Each of the flange members (120) may include a base portion (124) and a support portion (126) extending from the base portion (124). However, the flange member (120) may also be in a form of a “U” shaped receptacle or any other support structure to serve the purpose of holding and withstanding a load of the inter rake carrier (104). The support portion (126) of the flange member (120) may include a through hole or a blind hole (128) for accommodating a shaft member (130) of the system (118).

The shaft member (130) of the system (118) is adapted to connect with a bottom portion or a trough (132) of the inter rake carrier (104). The terms “bottom portion” or “trough” in the present disclosure are interchangeably used. In the illustrated embodiment, the shaft member (130) is adapted to fixedly connect with the bottom portion (132) of the inter rake carrier (104) through a fabrication method including, but not limited to, welding method.

In the illustrated embodiment, a centre of gravity of the inter rake carrier (104) is positioned to be present nearest to the hinge point (114). The hinge point (114) can be located at an off-centre of the inter rake carrier (104) in order to adjust the center of gravity for ease of handling of the inter rake carrier (104) during displacement of the inter rake carrier (104).

FIG. 5A illustrates a cross sectional view of the shaft member (130) of the system (118) shown in FIG. 4, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment, the shaft member (130) includes a hollow portion (134) defined at a middle portion (136) of the shaft member (130) and solid portions (138) abutting a first end (140) and a second end (142) of the hollow portion (134).

In an example, the solid portion (138) of the shaft member (130) is adapted to be fixedly connected with to an inner surface (144) of the hollow portion (134) of the shaft member (130). In this example, the shaft member (130) includes two solid portions (138) and one hollow portion (134) connected between the two solid portions (138) of the shaft member (130). That is to say, the first end (140) of the hollow portion (134) is connected to a first end (146) of the first solid portion (138-A) and the second end (142) of the hollow portion (134) is connected to a first end (148) of the second solid portion (138-B).

A second end (150) of the first solid portion (138-A) and a second end (152) of the second solid portion (138-B) is adapted to be mounted onto bearings (154) of the flange members (120). In this embodiment, the solid portions (138, 138-A, 138-B) of the shaft member (130) is adapted to be rotatably coupled with the flange members (120) and the hollow portion (134) of the shaft member (130) is fixedly coupled with the bottom portion (132) of the inter rake carrier (104).

FIG. 5B illustrates a cross sectional view of a shaft member (130’) of the system (118), in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the shaft member (130’) is a solid portion (138’) and does not include a hollow portion as disclosed in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5A.

The shaft member (130’) includes a first end (156) and a second end (158) opposite to the first end (156). Each of the first end (156) and the second end (158) is rotatably coupled with the flange members (120) disposed onto the column member (116). An outer surface (160) of the shaft member (130’) is adapted to be fixedly coupled with the bottom portion (132) of the inter rake carrier (104) (as shown in FIG. 4). The outer surface (160) of the shaft member (130’) is fixedly connected with the bottom portion (132) of the inter rake carrier (104) by a fabrication method, including but not limited to, welding.

FIG. 6 shows a side view of the sugar cane mill (110) shown in FIGS. 1-3, when the inter rake carrier (104) of the system (118) is displaced, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The inter rake carrier (104) may be displaced for a regular maintenance operations or repairing operations due to breakdown of any of the components or assemblies located underneath the inter rake carrier (104) or proximal to the inter rake carrier (104). The inter rake carrier (104) is displaced from a first position to a second position for allowing access of the components or assemblies. In the illustrated embodiment, the first position is defined as a position of the inter rake carrier (104) at which the inter rake carrier (104) is in operating condition. That is to say, when the inter rake carrier (104) is carrying the cane or crushed cane or bagasse on it for transporting. The first positon of the inter rake carrier (104) may also be called as an operating position.

In an embodiment, the second position is defined as a position of the inter rake carrier (104) at which the inter rake carrier (104) is in non-operating condition and located away from a maintenance path of the sugar cane mill (110). It is to be noted that the second position may include any position from the first position when the inter rake carrier (104) is lifted using a lifted device (160). The lifting device (160) may include devices such as, but not limited to, a crane.

In the illustrated example, the maintenance or repair work may be considered to be carried onto the milling set-up (102). During such maintenance or repair work, the inter rake carrier (104) is required to be displaced from the first position to the second position, providing a clearance or space for required maintenance or repair work. The inter rake carrier (104) has to be stopped from operation. Once the inter rake carrier (104) is stopped from the operation, a top portion (104-A) of the inter rake carrier (104) can be lifted by the crane and suitably displaced according to the requirement. The lifting of the inter rake carrier (104) urges the shaft member (130) of the system (118), to rotate or tilt the inter rake carrier (104) about the axis of the shaft member (130) at the hinge point (114) as the shaft member (130) is welded to the bottom portion (132) of the inter rake carrier (104).
The rotation of the shaft member (130) causes the tilting of the inter rake carrier (104) to displace from the first position to the second position providing the clearance or the space for accessing the components underneath the inter rake carrier (104). The clearance or the space may be sufficient for doing any repair work, such as replacement of the milling set-up (102). To tilt the inter rake carrier (104), the center of gravity of the inter rake carrier (104) is designed to be provided near to the hinge point (114) so that a minimal effort can be required for tilting. After the maintenance work or repair work is completed, the inter rake carrier (104) can be placed back at its position with the help of the crane. That is to say, the inter rake carrier (104) is positioned back to the first position for its functioning.

Advantages
In an embodiment, the system (118) disclosed in the present disclosure provides a maintenance friendly operation since the inter rake carrier (104) is not dismantled or assembled for the maintenance operation or repair operations.

In an embodiment, the system (118) provides an easy removal of the milling set-up (102) provided underneath the inter rake carrier (104).

In an embodiment, the system (118) provides easy maintenance work and thereby reducing the duration of the maintenance work since the inter rake carrier (104) needs to lifted and tilted for the maintenance or repair operations.

In an embodiment, the effort required for lifting and tilting the inter rake carrier (104) is reduced since the centre of gravity of the inter rake carrier (104) is positioned to be present nearest to the hinge portion.

In an embodiment, the efficiency of each of the sugar cane mill (110) in the sugar industry is increased since the maintenance time or repair time is drastically reduced to few hours.

Industrial applicability
The system (118) disclosed in the present disclosure, finds its potential application in sugar cane milling industry. However, the system (118) as disclosed herein may also find its application in fields including, but not limited, to a steel plant, an oil plant or any such plant or heavy set-ups where there are possibilities of components or assemblies similar to the inter rake carrier exists.

During the maintenance or repair operations, assemblies which may be similar to structure of the inter rake carrier (104) may be rotated using the system (118) having the shaft member (130) when the assemblies or structure is lifted using a lifting mechanism for maintenance of components located below the lifted structure. The advantages such as, ease of maintenance or repair operations, quick removal and assembling of the components, may be achieved in those applications as well.

While aspects of the present invention have been particularly shown and described with reference to the embodiments above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various additional embodiments may be contemplated by modification of the disclosed device without departing from the scope of what is disclosed. Such embodiments should be understood to fall within the scope of the present invention as determined based upon claims and any equivalents thereof.

List of Referral numerals

100: Milling tandem
102: Milling set-up
104: Conveyor or Inter rake carrier
104-A: Top portion
106: Set of rollers
108: Walkway
110: Sugar cane mill
112: Ground surface
114: Hinge point
116: Column member
118: System
120: Flange member
122: Support brackets
124: Base potion
126: Support portion
128: Blind hole
130: Shaft member
130’: Shaft member
132: Bottom portion or trough
134: Hollow portion
136: Middle portion
138: Solid portion
138’: Solid portion
138-A: First solid portion
138-B: Second solid portion
140: First end
142: Second end
144: Inner surface
146: First end
148: First end
150: Second end
152: Second end
154: Bearings
156: First end
158: Second end
160: Lifting device

We claim:
1. A system (118) for displacing of an inter rake carrier (104) of a sugar cane mill (110) for maintenance of the sugar cane mill (110), the system (118) comprising:
a flange member (120) disposed onto a column member (116) of the inter rake carrier (104);
a shaft member (130) adapted to rotatably couple with the flange member (120) and fixedly couple with a trough (132) of the inter rake carrier (104),
wherein the inter rake carrier (104) is adapted to be displaced by the shaft member (130) by tilting of the inter rake carrier (104) when the inter rake carrier (104) is lifted by a lifting device (160).

2. The system (118) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shaft member (130) comprises a hollow portion (134) defined at a middle portion (136) and a solid portion (138) defined on a first end (140) and a second end (142) of the hollow portion (134) and the solid portion (138) is adapted to be fixedly connected inside the hollow portion (134) of the shaft member (130).

3. The system (118) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the solid portion (138) of the shaft member (130) is rotatably coupled with the flange member (120) and the hollow portion (134) of the shaft member (130) is fixedly coupled to the trough (132).

4. The system (118) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shaft member (130’) comprises a solid portion (138’).

5. The system (118) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inter rake carrier (104) is displaceable between a first position and a second position for maintenance of the sugar cane mill (110).

6. The system (118) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first position is defined as a position at which the inter rake carrier (104) is in operating condition.

7. The system (118) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the second position is defined as a position at which the inter rake carrier (104) is in non-operating condition and located away from a maintenance path of the sugar cane mill (110).

8. The system (118) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inter rake carrier (104) is configured to be displaced between the first position and the second position using the lifting device (160).

9. The system (118) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shaft member (130) is welded to the trough (132) of the inter rake carrier (104).

10. The system (118) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the intake rake carrier (104) is adapted to rotate about an axis of shaft member (130).

11. The system (118) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flange member (120) is a plummer block.

12. A sugar cane mill (110) comprising a system (118) for displacing of an inter rake carrier (104) of the sugar cane mill (110) for maintenance of the sugar cane mill (110), the system (118) comprising a flange member (120) disposed onto a column member (116) of the inter rake carrier (104); and a shaft member (130) adapted to rotatably couple with the flange member (120) and fixedly coupled with a trough (132) of the inter rake carrier (104), wherein the inter rake carrier (104) is adapted to be displaced by the shaft member (130) by tilting of the inter rake carrier (104) when the inter rake carrier (104) is lifted by a lifting device (160).