Improvements relating to Centrifugal Apparatus for Treating Molten Material.
Year: 1890

page_text: Complete operation Lon
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Centrifugal Apparatus for Treating
Molten Material.
I, ORRIN BURTON PECK, of 162, 34th Street, Chicago, Illinois, United States
of America, Mining Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of this invention is to provide convenient means for developing
and applying the operating-power and for adjusting the various parts of the
apparatus relatively to each other; and the invention consists in the features and
combinations hereinafter described.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section, of the entire machine ;
Figure 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a plan view of the bed and engine plates and adjusting mechanism;
Figure 4 is a side elevation of an adjustable guide-pulley;
Figure 5 is a side elevation partly in section, taken at right angles to Figure 4:
Figure 6 is an end elevation of a portion of Figure 1, and
Figure 7 a detail view of the adjusting mechanism shown in Figure 1.
V is the receiving vessel; B the curb; C, the shaft for supporting and rotating
the vessel; D D, journal-boxes for supporting and maintaining the vertical position
of the shaft; E, a driving pulley rigidly attached to the shaft C; F, the engine-
shaft driven by the engine G; H, a driving-wheel mounted on the shaft F; I a
driving belt passing around the wheel H and pulley E; J, an adjustable guide-
pulley; K, a bed plate or frame on which the parts are assembled; K', an engine-
plate for supporting the engine and adjustably attached to the bed-plate; L a
hand-wheel and L, a screw-shaft by means of which the engine-plate is moved
back and forth.
•
The invention consists, essentially of a centrifugal machine having a receiving-
vessel, a curb surrounding the same, a shaft provided with suitable bearings for
supporting and revolving the receiving vessel, suitable mechanism for economically
and effectively developing and applying the motive power for operating such
machine, and suitable means for adjusting the various parts relatively to each other.
The bed plate or frame K is constructed of suitable length and breadth to
accommodate all parts of the apparatus as hereinafter set forth.
I prefer to have
a portion of this bed-plate somewhat raised above the general level of the plate, as
shown at the right-hand end of Figure 1, and upon this raised portion I place the
centrifugal machine, which as stated has a revolving receiving-vessel, a curb
surrounding the same and a shaft provided with suitable bearings for supporting
and revolving the vessel, such shaft being provided with a suitable driving-pulley
the details of which will be apparent from an inspection of the drawings, and
require no further description.

page_text: The engine-plate K' should be made of suitable size to receive and support the
various parts of the engine, as hereinafter described. It is mounted upon the bed-
plate which is preferably provided with suitable ways or guides upon which the
engine-plate rests and moves.
The engine-plate is provided, preferably, with a sufficient number of slots or
openings, through which pass bolts or screws attached to the bed-plate. These
bolts serve to assist in guiding the engine-plate and serve to hold it in any desired
position.
In order to move the engine-plate back and forth, I prefer to provide a hand-
wheel L, connected to the screw-shaft L'. This shaft is suitably connected to a
lug or projection 1, passing through a suitable opening in the engine-plate and
secured rigidly to the bed-plate. The shaft also passes through an internal screw-
threaded bearing secured to the engine-plate. In the drawings I have shown this
bearing as made integral with the supporting framework of the engine; but it may
be attached to the engine-plate, in any other suitable manner that will serve the
purpose for which it is intended. From this method of construction it will be
evident that as the hand-wheel and shaft thereto attached are turned in one direction
or the other the engine-plate K' will be moved back and forth upon the bed-plate
and held in any position desired. To assist the screw-shaft Lin holding the
engine plate firmly in any position to which it is moved, screw down the bolts k',
and of course when it is desired to move the engine-plate these bolts should first be
loosened; but while I have shown and described the hand-wheel and screw-thread
shaft for adjusting the engine-plate I have done this merely for the purpose of
illustrating one means by which such plate may be adjusted, but without any
intention of limiting myself to such means solely, as any other suitable mechanism
such as a rack and pinion might be used for the same purpose, the gist of this part
of my invention consisting in making the engine adjustable toward and from the
centrifugal machine.
To the engine-plate or frame I attach, by means of any suitable framework the
engine G and the driving-wheel H, mounted upon the shaft F.
It has heretofore been customary in the operation of centrifugal machines having
a vertical shaft to place the driving wheel in a vertical position, giving a quarter
twist to the driving-belt. This is difficult or impracticable owing to the great size
of the machine and the necessarily increased size of the belts required to drive the
same, and the speed at which it is driven. I have therefore found it more practicable
and convenient to attach the driving-wheel directly to the engine-shaft, such shaft
being placed vertically, thus bringing the driving-wheel into a horizontal position.
From this method of constructing the apparatus I derive great efficiency through
the direct application of the power of the engine to the driving-wheel, and I am
able to operate the machine without twisting the belt. This construction allows a
very compact arrangement of the machinery, and enables me to make use of a short
straight driving belt of any desired size or strength.
The belt I passes over the driving-wheel to the pulley E upon the shaft of the
centrifugal machine. The tension of this belt may be adjusted in whole or in part
by moving the engine plate back and forth in the manner above described, the
engine and driving-wheel H. partaking, of course, of the motion of the engine-plate.
Although the belt may be adjusted by this means yet the exact amount of tension
obtained thereby cannot be very closely determined. To regulate this tension and
to provide means for obtaining any given amount of tension I preferably provide
the adjustable guide-pulley J. This pulley is located at some suitable point
between the driving-wheel and the shaft of the centrifugal machine, and is so placed
as to bear against the surface of the belt, and is adjustable to the frame and belt.
The supporting-frame of the guide-pulley is preferably connected to the bed-
plate by means of bolts and slots, as heretofore described when speaking of the
engine-plate, as more particularly shown in Figure 3, so as to allow of the adjust-
ment thereof to and away from the belts.
In order to obtain the proper amount of pressure which may be desired from time

page_text: to time, I preferably provide a rope or wire j fastened to the framework of the
pulley and running as shown in the drawings over a sheave which supports or has
attached to it any desired weight. When it is desired to apply any certain amount
of pressure to the bolt, the bolts M M are loosened and a sufficient weight to create
the pressure desired is attached to the end of the rope j. This weight will draw the
pulley against the belt, creating the desired pressure, and the bolts M M may then
be tightened to hold the pulley in this position. If at any time it be desired to
increase or diminish this pressure, the bolts may be loosened and the weights
attached to the rope increased or diminished, allowing the pulley to move toward
or from the belt, and the bolts then tightened.
While I have shown and described the rope and weight as a means for adjusting
the pulley, I do not intend to limit myself thereto, as other means such as a spring
might be employed for this purpose. By this means the machine is enabled to be
operated with the driving-belt at any predetermined degree of tension.
To serve as a guide for the belt to hold it in its place, and to prevent its rising
or falling through stretching or any other change that may take place in the belt,
I preferably support the pulley J in such a manner as to allow of its being adjusted
to either side of the horizontal position, as desired. In the drawings I have shown
the pulley supported upon trunnions NN, and capable of being rocked one side or
the other, in order to guide the belt. When it is desired to rock the pulley in
either direction the bolts N' are loosened and the trunnions N N, rotated by any
suitable means, as a bar, bring the pulley into position one side or the other of the
horizontal line in Figure 4. I have shown the pulley as rocked toward the right;
but it is evident that if desired it might be rocked in the other direction. The
pulley being rocked into the desired position the bolts N¹ may then be tightened to
maintain the pulley in place.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
In combination with a centrifugal machine for the treatment of molten material,
a bed plate or frame, an engine plate or frame, means for adjusting the engine to or
from the machine, and an adjustable pulley to guide the belt between the engine
and machine, substantially as described.
Dated this 26th dow of
1000
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.