Pipeline padding apparatus and method
First Claim
1. Pipe padding apparatus, comprisinga box-like frame adapted to be moved along a row of excavated material along the side of a ditch in which a pipeline has been laid by a vehicle traveling along the same side of the ditch,said frame having side walls with openings therein and an open front to receive at least a portion of the excavated material as the frame is moved therealong,a generally cylindrically shaped, open ended, hollow drum,means supporting the drum between and from the side walls of the frame for rotation about an axis transverse to the row of excavated material,means for rotating the drum to cause the bottom thereof to move in the direction of travel of the frame,said drum havingmeans thereabout for lifting excavated material which is received through said open front as the drum is so rotated, andmeans for screening coarse particles from the fines within the material which is lifted to the top of the drum and allowing the fines to fall into the hollow drum, andconveyor means mounted on the frame and extending in a direction generally parallel to the axis of rotation of the drum and through the open ends of the drum and the openings in the side walls of the frame so as to receive the fines as they fall into the drum and convey them into the ditch,said frame having a rear end which is open at least at the bottom portion thereof to permit the coarse particles to pass therethrough.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus are disclosed for padding a pipeline lying in a ditch by separating fine particles from coarse particles in the material excavated from the ditch and windrowed along the side of the ditch comprising moving a frame supporting a rotating separator drum at the desired distance above ground to engage windrowed material at the level required to obtain sufficient fines to pad the pipeline while rotating the separating drum to separate the fine and coarse material and conveying the fines laterally into the ditch.
56 Citations
13 Claims
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1. Pipe padding apparatus, comprising
a box-like frame adapted to be moved along a row of excavated material along the side of a ditch in which a pipeline has been laid by a vehicle traveling along the same side of the ditch, said frame having side walls with openings therein and an open front to receive at least a portion of the excavated material as the frame is moved therealong, a generally cylindrically shaped, open ended, hollow drum, means supporting the drum between and from the side walls of the frame for rotation about an axis transverse to the row of excavated material, means for rotating the drum to cause the bottom thereof to move in the direction of travel of the frame, said drum having means thereabout for lifting excavated material which is received through said open front as the drum is so rotated, and means for screening coarse particles from the fines within the material which is lifted to the top of the drum and allowing the fines to fall into the hollow drum, and conveyor means mounted on the frame and extending in a direction generally parallel to the axis of rotation of the drum and through the open ends of the drum and the openings in the side walls of the frame so as to receive the fines as they fall into the drum and convey them into the ditch, said frame having a rear end which is open at least at the bottom portion thereof to permit the coarse particles to pass therethrough.
Specification