Transportable material conveying apparatus

Claim 2

A transportable proppant material conveying apparatus used in transporting particulate proppant material from a particulate proppant material supply container to a mixing apparatus where said particulate proppant material is blended with fluids used in well operations at well sites, said transportable proppant material conveying apparatus comprising: a transportable frame to facilitate the transportation of said apparatus to and from well sites; a controllable gathering conveyor means, mounted on said frame, for gathering said particulate proppant material from said particulate proppant supply container and delivering said particulate proppant material to another location on the transportable frame; a surge bin means, mounted on said frame, for receiving from said gathering conveyor, holding, and discharging said particulate proppant material to be transported to said mixing apparatus to be blended with said well fluids used in said well operations at well sites, said surge bin means having a holding capacity greater than the volume of said particulate proppant material which can be carried at one time by said gathering conveyor means, said surge bin means being so constructed that all of said particulate proppant material contained in said surge bin means can be discharged through a single outlet to thereby prevent the formation of dead spaces where substantial volumes of said particulate proppant material could be trapped within said surge bin means; a discharge conveyor means, mounted on said frame below an outlet of said surge bin means, for receiving said particulate proppant material from said outlet and for conveying said particulate proppant material to a discharge point to be discharged into said mixing apparatus to be blended by said mixing apparatus with said well fluids in said well operations at well sites, said discharge conveyor means being independently controlled and capable of intermittent independent operation to control the flow of said particualte proppant material to said mixing apparatus to be blended with said fluids in said well operations at well sites, said discharge conveyor means including an endless conveyor belt; adjustable screed means, operatively associated with said endless conveyor belt on a downstream side of said outlet of said surge bin means, for controlling a cross-sectional area of particulate proppant material which can be carried on said conveyor belt of said discharge conveyor means; pivotal mounting means, operatively associated with said discharge conveyor means, for permitting said discharge conveyor means to pivot about a substantially vertical axis relative to said frame; extension means, operably associated with said discharge conveyor means, for permitting said discharge point to be moved horizontally relative to said frame, said extension means and said pivotal mounting means permitting said discharge point to be selectively located within a predetermined area relative to said frame; discharge control means, operably associated with said discharge conveyor means, for controlling a speed of said conveyor belt, so that a discharge rate of said particulate material from said discharge conveyor means is determined by a combination of said adjustable screed means and said discharge control means; and discharge rate indicator means for indicating the rate at which particulate proppant material is being discharged into said mixing apparatus from said conveying apparatus to be blended with fluids used in well operations at well sites.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: external level indicator means, operably associated with said surge bin means, for providing a visually observable indication of a level of said particulate material within said surge bin means

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 2, wherein: said level indicator means includes a plurality of discrete level sensors within said surge bin means, and a plurality of indicator lights, one of which lights is associated with each of said sensors, said sensors and said lights being interconnected so that each of said lights is on when the level of said particulate material is at or above its associated sensor, and each of said lights is off when said level of said particulate material is below its associated sensor.

Claim 5

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: said gathering conveyor means includes an endless belt extending over a wall of said surge bin means so that discharge end of said gathering conveyor means is located above said surge bin means for discharging said particulate material from said endless belt into an upper end of said surge bin means; and said surge bin means includes: a carryover hopper means, located directly below a return portion of said endless belt between said wall of said surge bin means and said discharge end of said gathering conveyor means, for receiving particulate material carried past said discharge end of said gathering conveyor means by said return portion of said endless belt; and a carryover discharge chute communicating said carryover hopper means with a portion of said outlet of said surge bin means nearest an upstream end of said discharge conveyor means, so that said particulate material is prevented from piling up within said surge bin means below said return portion of said endless belt.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said gathering conveyor means includes: an endless conveyor belt; a drive pulley operably associated with said endless conveyor belt for driving said belt; a first drive motor connected to a first end of said drive pulley through a first overrunning clutch; and a second drive motor connected to a second end of said drive pulley through a second overrunning clutch, so that said drive pulley may be powered by either or both of said first and second drive motors.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising: a first power source operably connected to said first drive motor to supply power thereto; and a second power source, independent from said first power source, operably connected to said second drive motor to supply power thereto.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: releasable pivot locking means, operably associated with said pivotal mounting means, for holding said discharge conveyor means at a selected angle relative to said frame.

Claim 9

The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: releasable sliding locking means, operably associated with said extension means, for holding said discharge conveyor at a selected extended position relative to said frame.

Claim 10

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: said frame is an elongated frame having first and second ends; said surge bin means is located adjacent said second end of said frame; said gathering conveyor means is an elongated gathering conveyor means extending substantially parallel to said elongated frame, said gathering conveyor means including: a substantially horizontal first portion located at a first elevation and nearest to said first end of said frame; an inclined second portion extending from said first portion upward to a second elevation and longitudinally toward said second end of said frame; and a substantially horizontal third portion at said second elevation, and extending from said inclined second portion to a position above said surge bin means; and said discharge conveyor means is located at an intermediate elevation between said first and second elevations.

Claim 11

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said discharge conveyor means includes: an endless conveyor belt; a drive pulley operably associated with said endless conveyor belt for driving said belt; a first drive motor connected to a first end of said drive pulley through a first overrunning clutch; and a second drive motor connected to a second end of said drive pulley through a second overrunning clutch, so that said drive pulley may be powered by either or both of said first and second drive motors.

Claim 12

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said discharge control means is remotely located with respect to said conveying apparatus.

Claim 13

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said discharge control means is located on said conveying apparatus.

Claim 14

A transportable proppant material conveying apparatus used in transporting particulate proppant material from a particulate proppant material supply container to a mixing apparatus where said particulate proppant material is blended with fluids used in well operations at well sites, said transportable proppant material conveying apparatus comprising: a transportable frame to facilitate the transportation of said apparatus to and from well sites; a controllable gathering conveyor means, mounted on said frame, for gathering said particulate proppant material from said particulate proppant supply container and delivering said particulate proppant material to another location on the transportable frame; a surge bin means, mounted on said frame, for receiving from said gathering conveyor, holding, and discharging said particulate proppant material to be transported to said mixing apparatus to be blended with said well fluids used in said well operations at well sites, said surge bin means having a holding capacity greater than the volume of said particulate proppant material which can be carried at one time by said gathering conveyor means, said surge bin means being so constructed that all of said particulate proppant material contained in said surge bin means can be discharged through single outlet to thereby prevent the formation of dead spaces where substantial volumes of said particulate proppant material could be trapped within said surge bin means; a discharge conveyor means, mounted on said frame below an outlet of said surge bin means, for receiving said particulate proppant material from said outlet and for conveying said particulate proppant material to a discharge point to be discharged into said mixing apparatus to be blended by said mixing apparatus with said well fluids in said well operations at well sites, said discharge conveyor means being independently controlled and capable of intermittent independent operation to control the flow of said particulate proppant material to said mixing apparatus to be blended with said fluids in said well operations at well sites, said discharge conveyor means including an endless conveyor belt; adjustable screed means, operatively associated with said endless conveyor belt on a downstream side of said outlet of said surge bin means, for controlling a cross-sectional area of particulate proppant material which can be carried on said conveyor belt of said discharge conveyor means; pivotal mounting means, operatively associated with said discharge conveyor means, for permitting said conveyor means to pivot about a substantially vertical axis relative to said frame; extension means, operably associated with said discharge conveyor means, for permitting said discharge point to be moved horizontally relative to said frame, said extension means and said pivotal mounting means permitting said discharge point to be selectively located within a predetermined area relative to said frame; discharge control means, operably associated with said discharge conveyor means, for controlling the speed of said conveyor belt, so that a discharge rate of said particulate material from said discharge conveyor means is determined by a combination of said adjustable screed means and said discharge control means; discharge rate indicator means for indicating the rate at which particulate proppant material is being discharged into said mixing apparatus from said conveying apparatus to be blended with fluids used in well operations at well sites; and a first power source located on said transportable frame for powering said controllable gathering means and said discharge conveyor means.

Claim 15

A transportable proppant material conveying apparatus used in transporting particulate proppant material from a particulate proppant material supply container to a mixing apparatus where said particulate proppant material is blended with fluids used in well operations at well sites, said transportable proppant material conveying apparatus comprising: a transportable frame to facilitate the transportation of said apparatus to and from well sites; a controllable gathering conveyor means, mounted on said frame, for gathering said particulate proppant material from said particulate proppant supply container and delivering said particulate proppant material to another location on the transportable frame; a surge bin means, mounted on said frame, for receiving from said gathering conveyor, holding, and discharging said particulate proppant material to be transported to said mixing apparatus to be blended with said well fluids used in said well operations at well sites, said surge bin means having a holding capacity greater than the volume of said particulate proppant material which can be carried at one time by said gathering conveyor means, said surge bin means being so constructed that all of said particulate proppant material contained in said surge bin means can be discharged through single outlet to thereby prevent the formation of dead spaces where substantial volumes of said particulate proppant material could be trapped within said surge bin means; a discharge conveyor means, mounted on said frame below an outlet of said surge bin means, for receiving said particulate proppant material from said outlet and for conveying said particulate proppant material to a discharge point to be discharged into said mixing apparatus to be blended by said mixing apparatus with said well fluids in said well operations at well sites, said discharge conveyor means being independently controlled and capable of intermittent independent operation to control the flow of said particulate proppant material to said mixing apparatus to be blended with said fluids in said well operations at well sites, said discharge conveyor means including an endless conveyor belt; adjustable screed means, operatively associated with said endless conveyor belt on a downstream side of said outlet of said surge bin means, for controlling a cross-sectional area of particulate proppant material which can be carried on said conveyor belt of said discharge conveyor means; pivotal mounting means, operatively associated with said discharge conveyor means, for permitting said conveyor means to pivot about a substantially vertical axis relative to said frame; extension means, operably associated with said discharge conveyor means, for permitting said discharge point to be moved horizontally relative to said frame, said extension means and said pivotal mounting means permitting said discharge point to be selectively located within a predetermined area relative to said frame; discharge control means, operably associated with said discharge conveyor means, for controlling the speed of said conveyor belt, so that a discharge rate of said particulate material from said discharge conveyor means is determined by a combination of said adjustable screed means and said discharge control means; discharge rate indicator means for indicating the rate at which particulate proppant material is being discharged into said mixing apparatus from said conveying apparatus to be blended with fluids used in well operations at well sites; and a first power source located on said transportable frame for powering said controllable gathering means and said discharge conveyor means.

Claim 16

The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising: a second power source independent of said first power means for powering said controllable gathering means and said discharge means.

Claim 17

The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said first power source comprises an internal combustion engine driving a hydraulic pump means to supply hydraulic fluid under pressure to drive hydraulic motor means connected to said controllable means and said discharge conveyor means.

Claim 18

The apparatus of claim 14 wherein: said first power source comprises an internal combustion engine driving a hydraulic pump means to supply hydraulic fluid under pressure to drive hydraulic motor means connected to said controllable gathering means and said discharge conveyor means; and said second power source comprises an internal combustion engine driving a hydraulic pump means to supply hydraulic fluid under pressure to drive hydraulic motor means connected to said controllable gathering means and said discharge conveyor means.

Claim 19

The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said discharge control means is remotely located with respect to said conveying apparatus.

Claim 20

The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said discharge control means is located on said conveying apparatus.