Patent GB-423928-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to machines for washing or scrubbing sand, gravel, stone and like material
IPC: B03B5/56
Filed: 1933-07-06
Abstract: 423,928. Washing granular materials. WETTLAUFER, W. L., 40, Pearl Street, Buffalo, New York, U.S.A. July 6, 1933, Nos. 19167 and 19168. Convention dates, July 8, 1932 and Feb. 11, 1933. [Class 82 (ii)] A machine for washing sand, gravel, stone, &c., comprises a body adapted to be gyrated about a longitudinal axis, the material being treated on one or more decks substantially parallel to the axis about which the body is gyrated. The gyrating motion causes the material to move in circular paths in planes substantially at right angles to the axis as it travels along the deck or decks. Baffles are preferably provided on the decks, constructed so that the material moves in a substantially spiral path from one end of the machine to the other. Fig. 1 shows a machine comprising a body consisting of end plates 10 between which are mounted two decks 11 in the form of troughs to one end of which the material is fed from a hopper 21. Water-supply pipes 24, Fig. 2, are arranged longitudinally above each of the decks. The body is mounted on a shaft 13 journalled in bearings 14 on side frames 12, the shaft having eccentric portions to effect the gyration of the body. To maintain the balance of the gyrating body, coil springs 18 working in housings 19 are provided attached to the end plates 10 on each side of the shaft 13, the springs being seated on supporting members 20 on the frames 12. The decks are preferably roughened on the inside to transmit the gyrating motion to the material, and in the form shown each deck comprises an outer trough with an inner shell 22 spaced therefrom and constructed of wire mesh or punched plates, the perforations providing the roughened surface and also permitting the separation of small particles &c., from the material under treatment. The water and small particles are discharged through openings in the bottom of the outer trough and the washed material is discharged through passages 25 at the end of the decks. The preferred arrangement of the baffle system is shown in Fig. 3. Pairs of baffles 26, 27 spaced by a tie-bar 30 are disposed at intervals along the decks, the baffle 26 having an opening 28 at one side of the trough and the baffle 27 having an opening 29 at the other side of and in the lower half of the trough. Material passes along the bottom of the trough through the opening 29, is thrown upwards by the gyrating motion, and deflected by a part 31 of the baffle 27 towards and through the opening 28. The baffle 27 has a hinged portion 32 which is normally secured by a latch 33 but which can be opened for cleaning purposes. The baffle 26 can be replaced by the baffle 34 shown in Fig. 6. The gyrating body is preferably inclined transversely as shown in Fig. 2 to increase the force with which the material falls on the deck and the deflecting portions of the baffles. In the form shown in Fig. 7, the body comprises three superposed inclined decks 37 with baffles 38, the decks being arranged so that the material passes from one deck to the next. The decks are formed as troughs with roughened or corrugated inner walls.