US1457560A - Centrifugal amalgamator - Google Patents

Description

Jung 5, 1923.l

1,457,560 H. c. TABl-:R

CENTRIFUGAL AMALGAMATOR Filedl May 9, 1922 INVENTOR.

#055397' C. m55/e.'

lax/@977mm A TTORNE Y.

' `Referring to the drawings:

Patented June 5, 1923,I y

nir a s es HUBERT `C. TABER, OF IiOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOROF ONE-HALF T0 ARTHUR 1I. JONES, OF'LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, l

. cnN'rnIFUGAL AMALGAMATOB.. i

Application ined May sa,Y

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I,.IInnnn'r citizen o'f the United States, and resident of Los Angeles, California, have invented certain new and usefuly Improvements in VCentrifugal Amalgamators, o f `which the following is aspecification. Y My invention relates to the recovery of gold, silver, platinum,- iridium and other .precious metals from their ores or sand or .gangue, by the useof amalgamation with quicksilver, and the object, rst,is to pro'- vide a machine that will V'retain the quicksilver or-mercury, together with amalgam, 'besides the heavy particles of Aprecious .metals that separate out anddo not amalgamate; second, to provide a'. machine that is a self-contained, complete amalgamating unit;` third, to provide a machine in which 'the clean upof amalgam is .easily and quickly made; fourth, to provide a machine in which the running parts, such as bearings, areprotectedfrom grit andl dust, f

Other objects will appear from the; following specification, and while I havegshown a particularly constructed machine as to shape and material, Ido not limit myself' to such, hecausechanges` mayv bemade without departing ,froml the essential elements ,l K y .l shape, is provided with .a riinff21, which ex-Q, tends around the A plate. 4The v- loaseplatej 2,3

constituting my invention.

v .Figurel is'anelevation lview in part cros's section ofl my inventiomand Figure 2 is a partial ure 1 on the' line A. I 4

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross section of a pocket at Bon Figure 1.

Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts inthe different views. l

In the drawings numeral 1 refers to an cross-section of Figirregular shaped cone. I purposely make this cone in waves as shown andinay have any number of waves, `but I purposely use three,as shown. In order to obtain v the effect desired, I provide a smooth flowing surface on the inner sideof the cone, that is, there is no abrupt step or indentation v Thepocketsh2 extend aroundgthe inner side of the cone and are practically horizontal in position. mayl use any suitable number. The pocket 2 hasan opening 3* as shown, l with lips or extensions 5 'and 6. The back '.of the pocket 4 andthe pocket itself are'. made practically .parallell 4to' the' vertical.

The reasonfor this will be later set forth.

C. TABER, a

provided with ,a

1922.; serial no. 559,607.

The kcone 1 isprovided vatits base, an outlet7, which isthreaded :torjanyl suitable plug or valve connection. lThe .cone 1 is also providedwithja large Lpocket; 8.' This pocket 8 has a number ofopenings, rectangu lar in shape, leading/from the innerside of the cone to the pocket represented .by nuymeral 9. Over these openings .9` I stretcha strip yof canvas or vfine screen. 10, which is held in placebythe metal strip -11 at .the

lower edge, together with vthe screws I12,. At its upper edge, it is heldin place bythe metal strip. 13 andthe screws 14. All of.

these parts are put together to forni. a smooth flowing. surface. .Thepocket Sfis y y y, plug at its base forclean uppurposes. c l

- The cone 1 ksets on the base llivvhichv is fastened to the-cone 4at the flange@` 1G means` of studs 15. .Thefhasemember 14A,

v is provided with upper ball bearing 17 and lowerhall bearingl. y LAt thebase ofMA is a felt 'washer-.19,',which'rests`on the top ofthe hub or boss 2O.k 'lhilsieltwasher.L re- .K

-tains the oil inf-.thejbearingsland keeps the dust and dirt out. lThejboss r2Ois provided 4 with ya bearing metal '21' onfwhich shaftl The base .plate ff23,".which`jvi`s,circular -in has openings, ,25, for hold down boltso'r` lag screws. Agn I extension orv boss 26 ,withv bjearing 27 supports and holds the standard 28.

The base plate 23 is slightly cup shaped and has anoutlet 57 with valve"58"nsed` in cleaning up the mercuryy or'an'ialgamthat v`v is caught by'means of the'rim 24,

The standard 28 is preferably l y maat-f hollow shafting or pipe and :has a rackl gear..

29 set in its side as shown.1.'Thisrack gear`l 29 connects up toa pinion gear' 30,4 which-j. .d is surrounded and heldin place by; the

housing 31.l rlfhe? vhousin'gfvl has a'holerf32, as shown, for a standard 28. y

vthrough the housing 31 and f a1 cra-nl: 34' is attached to said shaft. IThe housingl isl provided with an indentation or slot y35, wedge shaped, into which'the horn lorhoss *'boltl in clamping [same tothe;` A vsuitable sha-ft 33 entends yloa espy manetta,

n in the cone l.

form the arm 38 and the bearing 39. rI` he bearing 89 supports the shaft 40. At the upper end of the shaft 40 is a suitable pulley 4l, and at the lower end is an agrtating propeller 42. lu inner cone 43 is pose tioned This inner cene 48 has two or more ribs 44 that extend froni'the upper edge of the cone to the shaft to forni the hub 45. A set screw 46 is provided in 'the hub 45, so that the inner cone may be fastened to the shaft 40. The inner cone has a curved lip or edge 47, as shown, which extends down on the side of the cone l.

In order to propel the shaft 40'and the attached mechanism, I provide a shafting 48, which has a-suitable'pulley 49 above and pulley 50 below, The shafting` 48 is supported at its 'base by the bearing 5l, the flange 52 of which, sets onand is fastened to the base plate 23. A set collar 53 is provided as shown. At the upper end of the shaft 48 I provide a bearing 54, which is bolted or riveted to the launder 55. The launder is made circular in shape and extends around the lip or upper edge of the cone. At its lower end I provide a nipple 56, The circular launder 55 has supporting legs 57A, four in number, which I preferably make of iron rods fastened by means of angle brackets to the launder and screwed to the base plate 23.

A belt is provided for the pulleys 4l and 49 and another one for the pulley 5() and the base 14A. The cylinder base14A serves the purpose of ya pulley. The inner ring of bearings 17 andl8 isfastened to the stub shaft 22 vand the outer ring to thecylinder base 14A. The stub shaft 22 is stationary in the bearing 2l. The bearings 17 and 18 serve both radial and thrust purposes, and when the cone is revolved, the kaction is similar to the spinning cfa top, .the cone tends to assume the vertical position. Consequently, an up per bearing abovethe machine is not'necessary.

theoperation of my invention, the driving jbelt isput on the cylinder base 14A, another' belt from 14A to pulley 50, and a belt from pulley 49 to pulley 4l. The beltl 'from 49 to 4l may be eitherdirect or half turned, so that the cone 43 may be driven in either direction; that is, the same direction as cone l or opposite.

A suitable amount of mercury is fed into the cone l suliicient to lill the pockets 2. The cone l is then revolved of suiicient speed to cause the mercury to rise and flow upward on the inside of the cone l and lill the pockets 2.

The surface then of the mercury is practically in line with the inner surface of the cone. Any eXcessof mercury passes on up and through the canvas lO and the openings 9 into the pocket 8.

With mercury in the pockets 2, I feed the gold or other metal bearing ore into the cone 43. The propeller 42 keeps the feed in perfect miX and while it passes through the cone 43 and out and between the cones l and 43, As the ore pulp passes between the two cones, centrifugal action forces the heavier particles of gold, platinum and the like into the mercury `and they are either amalgamated and held or, if not amalgamated, they are embedded in the quick in the pockets. The ore pulp passes on and out and is discharged into the launder 55 and through the discharge 56.

In order to obtain the best results on an ore, I may revolve the inner cone 43 in either direction.

By the use of pockets 2, as shown, when these kare filled with mercury, I have a smooth surface 'for the ore pulp to pass over. All abruptriiiles or steps are eliminated vin passing the ore pulp between the cones. Gonl" sequently, there is no counter force of agitation `to overcome the centrifugal action. 'It is evident that all centrifugal action might be destroyed by agitation produced from sharp riflles or steps.

In the construction of the inner surface of cone 1, I give the lower end a greater slope because centrifugal action is less than at the top of the cone where the diameter is greater.

It is evident that the action of centrifugal forces as here used is perpendicular to the axis of the cone. Therefore, centrifugal force must overcome gravit and in so doing, cause the ore pulp to ow upward and outward. f

In order to prevent banking of sand, I purposely use a cone, no part of which is cylindrical. The top of the cone l, as shown, may be one degree or more from the vertical.

After the machine has been in operation some time and the mercury has become heavy with other metals, I make the cleanup as follows:

The power is shut off, the belt is thrown olf pulley 4l, and the crank 34 is operated, causing the rack and pinion to raise the a'rm38, together with the shaft 40 and the ycone 43. TWhen the point of the conev43 is vclear of the cone l, the standard 28 is turned in the bearing 27 and the cone 43 is swung toene side. The plug is removed from the opening 7 and the contents, including the heavy metals and amalgam, are swept-out of the pockets 2 and drawn into any suitable container,

I claim:

l. A centrifugal amalgamator, comprising a cone-shaped body, having a pluralityiof amalgam pockets, said pockets practically vert-ical in position; said cone-shaped body having an outlet at bottom, lalarga amalgam trap or pocket at top, inlets to amalgam trap, and inlets covered with a screen, said cone body having an outwardly and continuously extending innensurface, an'inner cone in said body, an amalgam pocket at top of, cone cone body and means forrevolving said inner body', togetherv with inlets, said inlets covered' 1.0 j

cone7 means for revolving cone body substan-v With a screen, means for'revolving cone body, tially as described.

substantially 4as described 2. A centrifugal amalgamator, comprising Witness Amy'na-Ine th's 10th day of' April, i.

an irregulan cone-shaped body, having an 1922. outwardly extending inner surface, a plu` rality of vertically positioned pockets in cone 4 y y HBERT C,

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