US3028105A - Multiple cage disintegrator - Google Patents

Description

April 3, 1962 M. PERRINE MULTIPLE CAGE DI Filed April 8, 1960 IN V EN TOR.

PAUL M. PERRl/VE BY jL-yQficaZi. HIS ATTOR E Y 3,028,105 MULTIPLE CAGE DISINTEGRATGR Paul M. Perrine, Lawrenceburg, Ind, assignor to Sterlman Foundry and Machine Company, Inc., Aurora, Ind., a corporation of lndiana Filed Apr. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 21,046 Claims. (Cl. 241-188) This invention relates to an improved disintegrator mill of the multiple cage type and, in particular, is addressed to the improvement therein which obviates the serious wearing problem prevalent in existing mills.

In multiple cage disintegrator mills presently in use, the series of pins which serve as the movable disintegrator elements are secured at one end to rotatable carrier rings, in which construction there is an opening or i clearance provided between the unsupported ends of the pins and the adjacent faces of the carrier rings.

The unsupported ends of the pins are usually interconnected and secured in a common ring designed to give stiffness to the assembly. In this construction, one of the primary causes of failure of the operative elements invariably can be traced to the excessive wear of the unsupported end assemblies of the pins, including the ends of the pins themselves and the securing rings. This excessive wear is brought about primarily when the material being disintegrated finds its way between the ends of the pins and the adjacent faces of the carrier rings; it being appreciated that, during the operation of the mill, these surfaces are rotating in opposite directions thereby resulting in considerable friction between the elements.

This condition is aggravated by the surprising fact that, when subjected to the high speed rotational action of the :cages, most of the material tends to flow towards the ends of the pins. Since there is less resistance at the ends than at the center areas, the material consequently finds its way between the ends of the pins and carrier disks. This wear inevitably results in the unsupported ends of one or more of the pins being rapidly worn to the point where detachment from the rings occurs, thereby resulting in a breakdown of the mill.

In order to correct for this condition, the invention herein disclosed provides for arranging one or more protective elements, made preferably in the form of a metal band, in the mill in such a manner that the material passing through the disintegrator is to a substantial extent prevented from passing between the opposing surfaces of the pins and carrier disks. These protective elements are, therefore, arranged and constructed to serve as an effective material guide for the purpose of directing the material away from the ends of the pins.

Not only do the bands serve as protective members to prevent the material from getting between the opposite rotating surfaces of the pins and carrier disks, but, just as important, the band is constructed so as to collect sufficient material which is prevented from escaping by the centrifugal forces generated during operation of the rotating elements. The material so collected covers the inner circumferential surfaces of the bands, thus protecting the bands from coming into direct contact with the remainder of the material and hence, in this way, avoids wear of the bands.

These objects as well as the various other novel features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a partial vertical sectional view taken through the center of a disintegrator incorporating the features of the present invention, and

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view taken on lines II II of FIG. 1.

With reference to the drawings, the disintegrator mill ice illustrated therein is generally similar to the multiple row cage type mills presently in use in the industry, having a cylindrical rigid housing 8, formed by spaced apart end members 9a and 9b which are connected together by a center member 10, the member 10 being altered at the bottom to provide an opening 11, best shown in FIG. 2, for the discharge of the disintegrated material. The end member 9a i also provided with an opening 12 which communicates with a hopper 13 whereby the material to be disintegrated is introduced in the mill. A semi-circular shield 14 is arranged concentrically of the shaft 16 and located in the opening 12, for the purpose of protecting the shaft from the material issuing from the hopper 13 into the mill. As is the customary practice, the internal portions of the housing 8 that are exposed to the violent pounding and shock incident to the operation of the mill are additionally reinforced by secondary members, such as plates 15.

The internal operating members of the disintegrator comprises a pair of opposed co-axial driven shafts 16 and 17 which are arranged to project into the housing 8, being supported by external bearings and driven by power means, not shown. The disintegrator ends of the shafts are provided with hubs .18 and 19 which are rigidly secured to their respective shafts in such a manner that the shaft 16 projects into the housing farther than the shaft 17, whereby the hub 18 will not interfere with the effective introduction of material into the mill. To each hub 18 and 19, there is aflixed a sturdy carrier disk 21 and 22 respectively by means of a series of bolts 23, several of which are shown in FIG. 1. Also, as shown in FIG. 1, the carrier disk 22 represents a continuation of the flange portion of the hub 19 whereas the carrier disk 21 is so constructed that it is made up of two separate disks designated in the drawing by reference characters 21 and 21a. As in the case of the preferred location of the hub 13, the divided construction of the disk 21 permits ample clearance for the effective introduction of the material into the mill.

The distintegrator mill illustrated in the drawings is what is commonly referred to as a four row cage type wherein two series of pins 24 and 26 are secured to the disks 21 and 21a respectively and two series of pins 25 and 27 are also, respectively, connected to the disk 22. The pins of each series are located at a common radial distance from the center of the disks and equally spaced therearound, extending perpendicularly away from the disks. As noted in FIG. 1, the series of pins, being at different radial distances with respect to the centers of the disks, fit into a nested relationship with respect to one another and, by virtue of disks 21 and 21a being secured to shaft 16 and disks 22 to oppositely rotating shaft 17, the series of pins 24 and 26 rotate in opposite directions to pins 25 and 27. The ends of the pins 24, 25, 26 and 27 are sufficiently long to extend through suitable openings in the disks so that attachment to the disks is effected by upsetting the ends. The ends of the pins 25, 26 and 27 are similarly upset for attachment to the rings 28a, 28b and 280. In this particular construction, the rings 28a and 28b are arranged between the carrier disks 21a and 22 and hence, the pins of the counter-rotating series are subject to violent contact with the undisintegrated and partially disintegrated material. Also, with respect to the two intermediate series of pins, there exists a slight clearance between the faces of the carrier disks 21a and 22 and the ends of the pins 25 and 26 and the outside faces of the rings 28a and 28b.

As heretofore mentioned, it is one of the objects of this invention to obviate the excessive wear to which the ends of the pins and the rings 28a and 28b are subjected. This object is uniquely accomplished by providing continuous metal bands 29a and 29b which are secured to and adapted to extend perpendicularly from the carrier disks. The bands are located so as to encircle the immediate inner series of pins 24 and 25 and are of sufficient width so as to extend from the inner faces of the carrier disks to the inside edges of the rings 28a and 281), wherein they serve as shields, thereby to prevent material from passing between the carrier disks and the ends of the pins and consequently protect the ends of the pins and the inner circumferential surfaces of the rings 28a and 28b.

In addition to the shielding and protection afforded by the bands 29a and 2% as employed in the manner herein disclosed, the band 29a, in particular, serves as an effective material deflecting or directing member so that the undisintegrated material is confined to pass toward the center of the mill, hence resisting and reducing the tendency of the material to flow towards the ends of the pins which otherwise would occur, as explained heretofore. An even more surprising result is the fact that the centrifugal force generated during operation of the mill causes the material to be collected in the pocket formed by the bands and the carrier disks. This material builds up in the area adjacent to the disks to an extent that the material itself also functions as a protective agent, this by reason of the fact that the material which spills over the edges of the bands has been found to slip over the material adjacent to the band rather than over and in direct frictional contact with the band itself.

It will be appreciated that while the present invention has been described in connection with a four row cage type disintegrator mill, the use of bands as herein disclosed may be employed with equal success in any multiple row cage mill in which the band may be used either as a sealing, protecting or material-directing member.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle and operation of my invention and have illustrated and described what I consider to represent the best embodiment thereof. However, I desire to have it understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. In a disintegrator apparatus comprising co-axial shafts rotatable in opposite directions, spaced apart carrier disks extending radially from the axes of said shafts, secured thereto and rotatable therewith, at least one series of circumferentially spaced pins connected at the one end thereof to one of said carrier disks and extending in a direction substantially perpendicularly therefrom, and at least one series of pins connected in like manner to said other carrier disk, one of said series of pins being arranged to rotate within the other series, with the unsupported ends of each series terminating adjacent to the carrier disk of the other series and with a slight gap therebetween so as to form two cages rotatable in opposite directions, rings secured to the unsupported ends of said pins, a continuous annular band arranged adjacent to the unsupported ends of the innermost series of said pins, said band being secured to the carrier disks supporting said series of pins and being of a width suflicient to form a barrier across the gap between said unsupported ends of said pins and said carrier disks and the portion of the ring adjacent thereto.

2. In a disintegrator apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said band encircles the innermost series of said pins.

3. In a disintegrator apparatus comprising two shafts arranged co-axially with respect to each other and rotatable in opposite directions, a carrier disk extending in a radial direction, from the axes of each of said shafts, secured thereto and rotatable therewith, at least one series of circumferentially spaced pins connected at one end to one of said carrier disks and extending in a direction substantially perpendicularly therefrom, and at least one series of pins connected in like manner to said other carrier disk and at a radial distance from said shafts greater than that of said other series, said two series of pins being arranged one to rotate within the other with the unsupported ends of each series terminating adjacent to the carrier disk of the other so as to form two oppositely rotatable cages, a band arranged adjacent to the unsupported ends of the innermost series of said pins and secured to said carrier disks and having a width sufficient to extend a substantial distance in a direction along the length of the unsupported ends of said other series of pins.

4. In a disintegrator apparatus comprising a rotatable shaft, carrier members extending in a radial direction from the axis of said shaft, secured thereto and rotatable therewith, at least one series of circumferentially spaced disintegrating elementsconnected to one of said carrier members and extending in a direction substantially perpendicularly therefrom, and at least one series of disintegrating elements connected in like manner to said other carrier member at a radial distance from said shafts greater than that of said other series so as to form two rotatable cages in which construction there is a clearance between the ends of several of the elements and the adjacent inner face of the other carrier member, a band arranged adjacent to the unsupported ends of at least one of said series of elements and secured to said carrier members and extending in a direction along the length of the unsupported ends of said elements.

5. In a disintegrator apparatus comprising a shaft, carrier members extending in a radial direction from the axis of said shaft, one of which is secured thereto and rotatable therewith, at least one series of circumferentially spaced disintegrating elements connected to one of said carrier members and extending in a direction toward the other, and at least one series of disintegrating elements connected in like manner to said other carrier member so as to form two cages, one rotatable relative to the other and in which construction there is a clearance between said elements and the adjacent carrier member, a protective member arranged adjacent to the unsupported ends of at least one of said series of elements having a width sufficient to extend in a direction along the length of said unsupported ends of said elements.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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