US1648144A - Automatic power-discharge chute - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 8, 1927.

A. C. MENNINGEN AUTOMATIC POWER DISCHARGE CHUTE File d Feb. 5, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 8, 1927.

A. C. MENNINGEN AUTOMATIC POWER DISCHARGE CHUTE Filed Feb. 5, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 8, 1927. 1,648,144

' A. c. MENNINGEN AUTOMAT I C POWER DI S CHARGE CHUTE Filed Feb. 5, 1926 4'Sheets-Sheet 3 Nov. 8, 1927,

A. c. MENNINGEN AUTOMATIC POWER DISCHARGE 0mm:

4 Sheet 4 Filed F Patented Nov. 8, 1927.

ADOLPH C. MENNINGEN, F MILXVAUKEE, VISCONSINf-A-SSIG'NOR TO KOEHRING dOM- PAR Y, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION.

AUTOMATIC rowan-DISCHARGE entire.

Application filed February 5, 1926 SerialNo. 86,200.

In the construction of concrete mixing machines today, particularly those of larger capacities, the discharge means for the mixer requires the employment of considerable power for the operation thereof.v The said discharge means is therefore commonly actuated by connectingthe same up with the power plant ofthe mixer to be driven therefrom; The connecting up has usually been established heretofore by the use of more or less complicated clutch mechanism under manual control, and requiring the throwing in of the clutch to turn the discharge chute to discharging position, the throwing out of such clutch to enable the said chute to remain in discharge position, and the throwing in again of the said clutch to return the chute to non-discharging position.

An essential object of the present invention has been to dispense with the use of clutch mechanism of the type above referred to, and utilizeja special stopping and starting mechanism of quite a different nature for throwing into action the chute moving means, one more simple, very effective, and eliminating the disadvantages that are usually incident' to the employment of clutch parts ofeither the jaw or friction classes.

An additional object of the present in vention is to improve generally a stopping and starting mechanism of the class above characterized such as embodied in the copending application of Webb, Serial No. 5827, filed January 30, 1925, in which are used certain worm gear actuating and controlling parts, the efiiciencyof which by the improvements hereof has been materially increased.

A full understanding of the invention will be had on reference to the following description, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which Figure'l is a fragmentary view in elevation showing a portion of aconcrete mixer with the mixing drum broken away to illustrate its discharge chute which is connected up with the stopping and starting mecha nism of this invention under the control of a batchmeter. so known in the art; a porsafety eoupling or connection between the tion of a loading skip being also shown in its discharge chute shaft and the starting' and stopping mechanism, "partly broken away l and shown in section.

Figure 3 is a. sectional view of the casing of the stopping and starting mechanismshowing'the-camn1ore clearly and certain driving connections for transmitting move-* ment from the power actuating means to the chute, the View being taken on about the line of 83 of Fig. 4. p Figure 4 is'a horizontal sectional View showing more clearly certainparts seen in Fig.3.

"I Figure'5'is, a verticalsection taken on the planes indicated. approximately by lines 55 of Fig. 3. i I Figure 6 is a sectional view taken through the 'alined control shafts at. the bottom' of .the casing which contains. the startingand stopping parts and driving connections.

Figure 6 is a sectional view showing the relation of.the starting lever andits release lever to the driving shaft and co-operativ'e features there-between, dotted lines showing the range ofinovem-ent of the lever and coaction between them and the" driving pins. Figure 7 is a sectional view taken about on the line 77 of Fig. 6 c Figure 8 is a detailedview..-showing a little more clearly the co-operation of the roller carried by'the starting lever, with one of the driving pins. i 1 Figure 9 is a sectional view taken on the line of 9-9 of Fig. 8, and fragmentary.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, showing slightly modified construction ofthe starting lever and its arm.

Figure 11 is a view illustrating how the mechanism of the invention may be inverted and arranged on the frame work of the machine so that it' is supported by a bottom bracket instead of being suspendedfrom a top bracket supporting means, the construction operating on the same principle as that shown in the previously described figures. above mentioned. Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2,1, designates the mixing drum of any conventional type of mixing machine; 2, the fragmentary portion of a loading'skip; 3,'a batchmeter of the construction substantially as shown and described in the U. S. Letters Patent of Ninkler No. 1,451,483, issued April. 10, 1923.; amt 4;,; associated starting and stopping mechanism with driving parts controlled The chute 5' is areversible chute and at Fig. 1 it is shown in a full line position in which it is adjusted to discharge the contents of the drum 1. It may be shifted to reverse its inclination in which event it will have assumed a non-discharging position in which-it may or may notact as a mixing element as may .be required or vdesiredin service. For-the purposes of this specification the .ohute 5 is shiftable from a non-dis- .charginmto adischarging position and .the means .f or-sdoing-this work will now be set forth; I

Enmes'hed with the teeth of the gear ring 6: of the :drum 1 is a spur gear 7, which is constantly driven thereby so long as the drum 1.is-inlmotion. The drum 1 isdriven from-the power plant o f the mixer in the well known manner. The gear 7 is carried a driving shaft8- used to transmit mo- .1 tio1r .from the drum .1 to the chute 5. shaft 8 enters the casing 4: and is equ pped The inside ,the casing, with a driving worm 9. The worm 9 has its spiral portion engaglng permanently with the worm teeth lt) of a worm .gear lO which is constantly driven or rotated thereby,:beingloosely mounted upon ash'aft' 11.- Coaxial with the worm gear 1 0 'i s' a,.second' wormgearll2, whose worm teeth I2" .are:-symmetrical with those of the gearilO, the said teethof the gear 12, however, beinginterrupted or omitted as shown at'fl2 'lin Fig. 4 and in Fig. 6". The gear 12 is keyed to the shaftll, as shown at'13' (see Fig. 57) .and the interrupted portions of theteethof the gear 12, which for convenience will be called recesses 12. are of such alength that the worm 9 may turn freely in-zthe space between the terminals of said recesses 12?, ,and the gear ,12 under such conditions will .remaln inactive. The gears 10 v and 12 might -.be said to be a composite gear,

considered collectively, one of the parts recessed .at diametrically opposite portions of.

its periphery, as .at 12, .so that it may remain unaffected by the drive of'the other part or .so .that theworm 9 will not actuate thegear or gear fparlt 12 when disposed in and-opposite either one of the recesses 12. For the purposes hereof, however, We shall consider ,the'gears 10 and 12' as separate gears because they may function together or separately, their teeth, however, being adapted .to line up with one another so that .theyflmay .act'jsubstantially as asingle gear whenkboth are simultaneously engaged by thejworm' 9.

The gear .12 being keyed to the shaft 11 wil'l drive .the shaft ll when said worm 12 d s-driven. The shaft 11 extends through .ithefsid'es o'fthecasing ta'ndis suitably journaled therein, and equipped at one outer end 180 then arm 16will reverse the inclination of thechute 5 from the positionof Fig. 1 and adjust itfto a non-discharging position. A second movement. of the arm 14 of about 180 will raise the arm 16 to it' s original positiomas shown in Fig. 1 in full lines and move the chute 5 to a discharging position again. I

It will, therefore, be understood thatf or practical purposes the worm gear 10 is'a driving worm gear and the worm. gear 12 is a driven worm gear, and when the two gears are connected together motion will be transmitted from the drum 1 to thechute. n

The means for controlling the connection ofthe parts 10 and 12, and their disconnection will .now be set forth- The'batchmeter 3 being of a known type is not described in detail as-it suflices .to

state that it is operated from the loading skip 2' as'said skip reaches-a positionabout as shown in Fig. 1 wherein a trip rod1'8' is shown inthe act-of being s'truc'kby an abutment 19 on the skip 2. The abutment in this way. operates the rod 18 to swing the arm 20 of the batchmeter and set the batchmeter into operation topred'etermine and control the mixing vperiod of the drum 1 after the known manner. This mixing period is usually a minute or a. minute and a half and upon its expiration the mechanism within the batchmeter' causes its control arm 21 to move up, lifting on the 'lift rod 22 and raising the actuating arm 23 on the outside of the casing 4. 'The arm 23 is carried by the shaft 2,4 whichfis ashort shaft mounted in a bearing at one side of the casing 4 and having rigidly attached to its inner end a fork or rocker arm 25. fork of arm 25 is preferablyprovided by the use of two parallel bars, as seen in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6,-one ofwh-ich bars is locked to shaft 24 (as by the use of a bolt asfseen in Fig. 6), and the other of whichbars is pivoted on a shaft 28 hereafter'to be described, and the two bars being rigid-ly 'fixed together, as by'being formed integral'thro ujgh an integrally cast connecting cross web 25 1, as seen in Fig; 5. This rocker arm .25 has pivoted thereto between the bars of the fork ,a locking pawl 26, which serves as a positive lock for the whole discharge mecha nism after the batchmeter '3 has been set, and during the period of its controlling operation, at which time the chute 5 is in non- The. f

so'as tohave an abrupt abutting engage ment at 29 with a Collar 30' pinned to the outer end of the shaft 28. Also, handle 29 has a camingengagement at 29 with the collar 30 and between the collar and the adjacent side of the casing 4:.

The releaselever 27 carries a roller 31 adapted to engage the lower end of a starting lever 32, which may be described as a 3-armed lever. At its upper end the starting lever'is connected by a coiled spring 33 with a suitable portion of the casing 4 and said spring 33 tends to mo-ve'the lever32 toward the shaft Qor axis 11. The release lever 27, however, is a detent and normally tends to hold the starting lever 32 in a position at its limit of movement away from the shaft" 11 with the spring 33 expanded and under tension. a

The startinglever 32 functionspeculiarly as a means to connect the constantly'moving driving worm with the intermittently operable worm 12. For this purpose, see Fig. 6 ,.the lever 32 is provided on its long upper arm with an abutment cam 33, seen best in Fig. 7 the inclined portion'of this cam being adapted to engage an inclined head 3a on each one of two driving pins 35,

which are yieldingly mounted on the worm gear 12 at opposite sides of theraxis of the latter, that is to say at opposite sides ofshaft 11. The pins 35 have shoulders 36 engaged by ends of springs 37 locked in recesses in'the body of the worm 12, said springs 37 engaging the inner ends of the said recesses and normally tending to project the pins 35 outwards or in a direction away from the driving worm gear 10.

The driving worm gear 10 is provided with a series of, preferably about seven,

openings 38, see Fig. 8. which openings are adapted 'to register with the pins 35 and receive the inner ends of said pinsat certain times when the pins are projected at such inner ends from their recesses, under the action ofthe cam 33. In other words, one 'of the functions of the starting lever 32, is, when released, to carry its cam abut-- ment'33 against the head 3lofa pin 35 and project said pin at its inner end-into engagement with one of the openings 38 or fork consists of when said opening comes oppositeor reg-.1

isters with the pin. Under theseconditions' the operated pin will connect the driving worm gear 10 with the driven wormgear" 1.2 and'then the worm gear 12 will be moved a short distance by the pin 35 until its teeth at the left end of the uppermost recess 12 seen in Figs. 3 and 1, become engagedwith the spiral of the driving worm- 9. At such time the spiral or thread of the driving worm 9 by contact 'withthe teeth of the driven worm gear 12 takes the load of the drive of said worm gear 12, which has previously been carried by, the interlocked pin 35, and under these conditions, since the worm 9 engages both of the worm gears 10 and 12, the frictional driving stress on the pin 35 belng relieved, its respective spring.

37 will act to return the pinto a position in which it is released from engagement with the worm. gear 10.

Of course, the'pins 35 work in alternation, the particular pin being projected when the release lever 27 becomes disengaged from the starting lever 32 as previously suggested, so that the spring '33 may act as a motor to carry the lever 32 towardthe shaft 11.

When once the worm gear 1'2 has been placed in proper engagement with the driving worm 9, the latter will turn the wormgear 12, its shaft 11 and arm ltapproximately a half revolution, all initiated 'by the batchmeter operation of lifting the rocker arm 25 on upward movement of the arm 23 by the lift rod 22. Such half revolution will turn the discharge chute from a non-discharging position to a discharging position in which it is shown in full lines in F ig.-1. Ofcourse, as soon as the gear 12 has made a half revolution, its

recess 12 'which was previously lowermost,

see Fig. 3, arrives at its uppermost position and causes a-disengagement of'the driv-' ing worm 9 from activev operating relation to said gear 12. The-starting lever 32 is restored to its position under the control of the detent or release lever27, by engagement of the shank of the pin 35, opposite the pin 35 acted upon by the cam part 33, in a starting operation. The said second pin with its. shank, ofcourse,turns'with the gear 12 af- Ill) ter said gear commences to move through its connection with the gear 10, or worm -9, so that when said second pin reaches a point opposite a roller 40, carried by the lever 32, the lever'32'will be forced'to the left at its upper end bringing its lower end into engagement with the detent or release lever 27, which holds it in the full alinedposition of Fig, 6 a restored position, again placing the spring 33 under tension.

The roller 40 is rather peculiarly mounted on the lever 32 being carried by a small pivoted arm 41, which has a slight; rocking movement. In addition to its function, as

above ClGSCIlbHL'Of restoring the lever 32 to its-position engagedby the part2'7, the roller 40; acts-as the stop to hold the gear 12 wth its :upper recess "1-2 arranged so that the ".worm 9 is centrally disposed in the recess properly disengaged from the gear 12 until 'the-latter is propelled into such anen'gagenien't'ata certaintime by the-cam part 33.

The lever 32, in addition to its upper arm :and its lower a'rm,has a middle lateral arm 42 provided with a cam or inclined extremity. 43' that functions in a special manner. Thesaidcam-43', when the lever32 is in fullline-positionof Fig.6"*, is adapted to engage eitherof' the-locking pins 35, as the gear 12 turns in a clockwise direction (seeFig. 9). Thus-if thespring 37 of'oneof the locking pins should become broken, or such "pin not restored through lack of lubrication, or for some other cause, it will be positively disengaged from the driving worm gear 10 by t-hezarm "42'and its cam L3. The co-operationof the part-42 with the pin 35 relative towhieh it is actively engaged performs a stepping function, moreover, to insure the stopping of the worm gear :12 ina centralized position, asregards the'relation notch snuglycontacting with and conforming movement, sothatthe cam hea'ds 34of'said pins 35 are retained always 'inproper position to be engaged by the co to the; contour of the periphery of a disklike part 44, which is formed integrally with a .hub extension 45 of the driven gear 12. The purpose of this contact is to maintain pins 35- from having independent angular surfaces of the operative cam 33 s V Thei'release or 'detent lever 27 being car- I ried by the shaft 28 on which the handle-29 is mounte'd,-may he tripped at any time by hand, exceptwhen the batchmeter 3 has beemset by the trip rod 18 and while the chute 5 is in its non-discharging "position. It will beiob-vious that it is not desired that the starting lever '32 be susceptible-of being released when the mixing. period is being controlled by .th'e-ibatchmeter 3. I If this were possible, th'en the-contr'ol ofthe mixing operation by the batchmeter might be interfered- With. For this reason, the locking pawl 26 is engaged with the release lever 27 when "thestarting devices are under the control of the batchmeter and premature-ending of themixing period is prevented.

By reference to vFigs. 3 and 7 it will be seen that the hub extension451of the worm gear '12, in addition to having the round disk part 44, is provided witha cam'46, the cam 'surfaceof which is; adapted to contact with the locking pawl26, when the chute 5 hasbeen moved to discharge position byoperav tion of the worm gear 12. Under such con ditions,- he cam A e6 maintains contact with the pawl 26 and holds itout of engagement respecting the detent or. release lever,}27.

Therefore, it is possible at this time, name- 1y, when the pawl 26 is so disengaged, for

the operator to turnthe handle 29loose on the shaft 28.- thereby-to trip the releaselever 27 out of engagement respecting the start ing'lever 32,'to cause-said startinglever'to perform its starting function and return the chute '5 ton non discharging position at the will .of the operator. This action of the handle 29 involvesengagement between the handle abutment 29 and the fixed collar 30 of the shaft 28. If the handle is turned in" an opposite direction the cam portion 2 9 of the handle will go into action and cause a clamping or binding action betweenthe release lever 27 rocker arm 25 .andgtheside of'the casing 4 in such a manner as to hold those of these parts which are movable,

againstoperation. This is only done when the operator of the'machine wishes to ,pre-.

vent the chute -5 from, beingfturned to the discharging position under the influence of the tripping action of the batch-meter 3 through its lift rod '22.

of the-mixing periodyor in other word's,

cause a discharge'of the drum before the i There are occasions. when it is possible that the discharging of batchmeter control period is over,.it may be i used to prolong the time that the batch of concrete is retained in the drum, something which could I do no harm.- A safety coupling means is shown intermediate-of the chute op erating shaft 17 and the" arm .16 attached to' the rod 15, but as this safety coupling, is described in the Vebb application, previously referred to,-and forms no part of the present invention, it is not treated in detail herein. i

It is notable from Fig. 6 that when' the starting lever 82 isreleased, it rocks in such a manner that its arm 42imoves downward out of the path of ithe lewermost :locking pin 35.

Concisely describing the complete 'opera tion of my mechanism, it isinoted that the parts, as in-the normal positions ofFig; 3', are readyto be operated by the-batchmeterS to cause -a movement of the discharge chute to discharging'position. .The'worm 9 is-in constant motion, as is th'egear "10'. ,The gear 12 is stationary. At the end' of the aising lever 27'to relea se the starting lever 32. The spring 33' now pulls the starting lever 32 to the right and causes it to act through its cam 33 to interlock .the gear 12 manually with the gear 10, and sufficiently long so that the two gearsrotatetogether in order to "accurately mesh the gear 12 with the worm 9. The interlock between the two gears 10 and 12 is now removed by retraction of the operative locking pin and the gear 12 rotates a half revolution until its previously lower recess 12'f is uppermost. Thechute 5 by the action of the gear 12 is moved to, discharge position, as shown in Fig. '1. The cam 46 now engages the pawl 26 and holdsit away from-the releaselever 27. The operation of 20 v erator, who may actuate the lever 2 7 at any time to cause operation of the starting lever the chute may now be controlled by the op- 32 to eiiect retract-ion of the chute 5 to normal non-discharging position. When chute 5 is, back at normal position, the cam 46 is inactive relative 'to the pawl 26 and the mechanism is again under the control of the batchmeter and cannot be controlled manually to cause operation of the chute.

. on the arm 21 to cause said arm 21 to move But while the parts are in the full line positions of Fig. 3, should the operator-not wish to permit discharge action of the chute 5, he may prevent the batchmeter 3 from initiating the action of the starting lever 32,

conditions, the batchmeter arm 21 moves up-.

wards, but does not effect operation of the arm 25, though power is stored up in the batchmeter spring (not shown) which acts the arm 25 just as soon as the operator turns the handle 29 to release his control by which he. delays the turning of the chute 5 to dis charge position. Y

The arm 42 and the lever 32, shown as an integral unit, may be in two parts as shown inthe modified view in Fig. 10 as 42 and 32 respectively. This arrangement may be used as a further assurance for gaining a positive locking together of the worm wheels 10 and 12 by means of the pins 35. The independent arm 12 shoulders against the shank of the pins 35 during the period in which the lever 32 is moving-to the right,

until a lug on the lever 32 contacts with the upstanding leg Z) of thearm 42, from which moment the abutment a rocks downwardly to allow the pin 35 to pass by with the rotation of themember in which the said pins are 'housed. The diiierence between the two arrangements is a change in the movement time of the arm 42', which is laterthan that of the arm 42 and this insures a complete iny turning the handle 29 torender the cam 1 to 3 inclusive, with its enclosed mechanism,

is rearranged slightly, being mounted upon the frame work of the machine. with an arrangement inverted as compared with that hereinbefor'e' described. This view simply illustrates that it is not vdesired to be limited to any particular arrangement of the starting mechanism because such phase of the presentation of the invention is not material so long as the said mechanism is suitably. connected up with the chute to operate it, and is likewise connected up with the batch meter to be controlled thereby. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States,is:

1. In .a chute operating mechanism, in combination, a batch meter, a chute, means operably connected with the chute [and batch meter controlled means'to interlock the second gear with the first mentioned gear for starting the movement of the two. gears together. i

- 2 In a chute operating mechanism, in combination, a power driving member, a power driven member, a chute operably connected with the power driven member, a batch meter, means to interlock the power driving member with the powerdriven memher, and means connecting the last mentioned means with the batclrmeter for control thereby. j Y

3! In a chute operating mechanism, in combination, a power driving member, a

, power driven member, a chute operably connected with, the power driven member, a. batch meter, means to interlock the power drivingmember with the power driven memher, and means connecting the last men tioned means with the batch met-er forcontrol thereby, and a driving part for the power driving member adapted-to drive the driven member after the movement of the latter has been initiated by the operationof the means interlocking the same with', the

power driving member.

4:. In a chute operating combination a power driving member, a power driven member, a chute operably connected with the power driven member, a batch meter, means to interlock the power driving member with the power driven memher, and means connecting the last mentioned mechanism, in

"meanswlwith the batch. meter for control therebxand' a driving part for the power driving, member adapted'to drive the driven member fter. the movenientoi" the latter [hasheeninitiatedby the operation of the meansinterlo'cking the same with the power driving member, and means for rendering ;the; interlocking means inactive after the i powerd'rivenme nber' hasjbeen placed in coi Periatin with he r v ng P o actuapn hereby.

a driving gear,

1 i a driving part normally operatingsaid" gear,

is; d

ItiQnL with he riving par n c u tin mea s. c ntrol d y the e m er fo 0P- erating the lastmentionedfmeans; I

' 6. Inchute OPGIatlIIgQmGQDQ lIl combinati'on, batch meter, a chute, a driving gear adriv'ing part, normally operating said gear,

a driven gear adapted to be operated by said driving, part but normally out of connection P I a i q :Z'gIn combination, a chute, two coaxially' mounted driv ng and driven worm gears, a

worm normally driving the driving worm therew th, means for interconnecting the gear-with the driving gear so, as to br g t tion'wththe driving part, and actuating IIIQQQH SCQDl/I'O'llQCl by the batch meter for op- "erflt e theilast m n ioned means, a means for rendering the interconnecting means between the gears inactive when the driven gear 'has beenconnected up with the driving gear a and meshing therewith, the driven wor n,gear having'a recess inits periphery to' receive the worm to prevent operation reby, oth Q -the W rm g a having teeth, teeth of one forming continnations of the teeth of the other, starting mechanism including means for connecting the driven worm ge'ar with the driving worm gear to bring the teeth of'the dr ven worm gear nto interengaged with the driving worm, and

thereby, both of the worm gears teeth, teeth of one forming continuations of' engagement with the driving Worm, means v to disconnectthe driving and driven worm gears when the driven worm gear hasfbeen m an c nn ct g. h ri en Wo m gear. to

i. perate th ch 8;.In' o na i n, a hute, twoo oaxial'ly mounted driving anddriven worm gears, a wormnormally driv ng the drivlng worm gear and" mesh ng the ewi h, he ive W rm gea haYing, av re ess n its. p riphery to rece ve the worm to prevent operatlon having thetee'th of the other, starting mechanism 'Inchute operatingmean in c mbine itie geb tch meter a hute,

he drivengear into-operative connecincluding means for connecting the driven worm gear with the drivingworm' gearto bring the teeth of the drivenworm gear into engagement with the driving worm, means to disconnect the driving and driven: worm gears when the drivenworm'gear'has been inter-engaged withv driving worm, and means connecting the drivenworm gearto operate the chute; and a batch meter for causing actuation ofthe starting 'IIlfiC'llHillflSID'flfQIi sa i 9. In combination, a chute,two coaxially mounted driving anddrivenvrorm gears, a worm normally. driving the driving worm gear and meshing therewith, the-- "driven worm gear having. a recess in its periphery to receive the. worm to prevent operation thereby, both] of the worm gears: having teeth, teeth of one forming continuations:0f, the teeth of the other, starting mechanism including means for connecting-thedri'ven 35 to disconnect the driving and driven worm gears when the driven worm gear has: been interei gagcd with "the driving worm, and means connecting the driven worm gear to operate the chute, power meansfor'putting the starting mechanism aforesaidinto-action, other and manual means for causingntheoperation of said starting mechanism and means for preventing for a certain lapsed time the operation ofthe starting niecha-l nisi'n by saidpower means.

1'0. In combination, achute, two coaxially mounted driving anddiiven WOIIII' gears, a

worm normally driving the driving Worm gearfand! meshing therewith, the; driven worm; gear llitVlIlg a recess in its per phery to receive the worm to prevent operation thereby, both of the worm gears having teeth, teeth, of oneforming continnations; of the teeth of'the other, starting mechanism" including means for connecting the driven wormgear with the driving, worm gear to bring the teeth of the driven orm gear into engagement with the driving worm, means to d scont nue the .dr ving and'driven,

worm gears when the driven worm gear has r been interengaged with the driving worm,

and means connecting the driven ,worm gear to operate the chute, batch meter controlling; means for causing operation of; the starting mechanism, manual means alsoifor causing operation'of the starting mechamu nism andineans cooperative with saidlnian' .iial means for interfering with the opera on of the starting mechanism by thehatch ,me i ter controlling means,

11. In combination, a chute, .tW OfiXifiHY mounted driving and driven wo m. gears; a worm, normally dliiViIlgv the driving worm gear and meshing therewith, the drive worm gear having a recess in its periphery to receive the worm to prevent operation thereby, both of the worm gears having teeth, teeth of one forming continuations of the teeth of theother, starting mechanism including means for connecting'the driven worm gear with the driving worm gear to bring the teeth of the driven worm gear into engagement with the driving worm, means to discontinue the driving and driven worm gears when the driven worm gear hasbeen interengaged with the driving worm, and means connecting the driven worm gear to operate the chute, batch meter controlling means for causing operation of the starting mechanism, manual means also for causing operation. of the starting mechanism and means cooperative with said manual means for interfering with the operation of the starting mechanism by the batch meter controlling means, and means operated by the driven worm gear for preventing said interfering means from being operated when the chute is in a certain position.

12. In a chute operating mechanism, in combination, a chute, an operating device for said chute including power driven instrumentalities, a connection between said chute and said power instrumentalities, a batch meter for causing operation of the chute by the power driven instrumentalities, other means for causing operation of the chute by the power driven instrumentalities, and means for rendering the last mentioned means inoperative when the chute is in a cer tain position. a

13. In a chute operating device, in combination, power driven instrumentalities, a chute, means to operate the chute from the power instrumentalities, a batch vmeter to control the operation of the last named means, the chute being movement from a ,nondischarging to a discharging position,

manual means to cause operation of the chute by the power instrumentalities, and means to prevent operation of the chute under the control of the manual means when the chute is in nondischarging position.

14. In a chute operating device, in combination, power driven instrumentalities, a chute, means to operate the chute from the power instrumentalities, a batch meter to control the operation of the last named means, the chute being movement from a non-discharging to a discharging position, manual means to cause operation of the chute by the power instrumentalities, and means to prevent operation of. the chute under the control of the manual means when the chute is in non-discharging position, and means controlled by said manual means for delaying the operation of the chute incident to the operation of the power instrumentalities under the control of the batch meter.

15. In a chute operating device, in combination, a chute, ,means to actuate the chute including a worm gear. adapted to be engaged and actuated by said worm but havmg a recess to receive the worm and thus prevent such engagement, means for centering the worm gear so that the worm is fully out of operative engagement with the worm gear and centered withrespect for the worm gear said recess, means for shifting to engage it with the worm.

16. In a chute operating device, in combination, a chute, means to actuate the chute including a worm gear adapted to be en gaged and actuated by said worm but having a recess to receive the worm and thus prevent such engagement, means for centering the worm gear so that the worm is fully outof operative engagement with the worm gear and centered with respect for 7 said recess, means for shifting the Worm gear to engage it with the worm, the centering means cooperating to limit movement of the worm gear in either of opposite direc tions.

17. In combination, a rotative concrete mixing drum, a discharge device therefor, batchmeter control means for causing the application of power to the discharge device for setting it in an operative position, and means for simultaneously discontinuing the said application of power to the discharge device and stopping the same after it has reached the desired operative position, the power applying means comprising instru mentalities for connecting the drum with the discharge device to actuate the latter.

18. In combination, a rotary a discharge device therefor, batchmeter control means to connect the discharge device with the drum for actuation thereby, manual means to interfere with the operation of action of the latter,

by the drum as aforesaid.

19. In combination, a rotary concrete-mix: f I ng drum, a discharge chute therefor, batchmeter control means for actuating said discharge chute including eonnections intermediate the drum and the chute for transmitting motion of the drum to the latter, and

means adapted to be operated by a loading skip for actuating the discharge chute to cause t to assume a non-discharging positlon in relation to the drum. i

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.-

ADOLPH G. MENN IN GEN.

miXing drum,

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