IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR REDUCING OR PULVERIZING ORES AND OTHER HARD SUB- STANCES, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR REDUCING OR PULVERIZING ORES AND OTHER HARD SUB-
STANCES, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR OTHER PURPOSES." A communication from
abroad by La Société Anonyme des Mines et Fonderies de Zinc de la Vieille
Montagne, of Chênée, in the Kingdom of Belgium, represented by Jules
François, at Paris, France.
Sealed the 25th July 1876, and dated the 3rd February 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd February 1876.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR REDUCING OR PULVERIZING ORES AND
OTHER HARD SUBSTANCES, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
This Invention relates to improved machinery for pulverizing, disintegrating, or
reducing all kinds of substances, the operation being effected by the action of
centrifugal force and gravity combined.
The machinery is applicable amongst other uses for reducing all kinds of ores,
refractory and ceramic matters, as well as for stone breaking, decorticating rice and
other grain, extracting cane and beetroot syrups, and obtaining meal from cereal
and other produce. The matters are projected by the centrifugal force repeatedly
against the sides of the apparatus, the matters after each projection falling upon a
fixed incline which conducts them back to the centre of the apparatus, whence they
fall upon the next centrifugal disc or projection, and so on, the operations being
repeated a number of times according to the degree of fineness required.
In the accompanying Drawing is represented by way of example a sectional
elevation of an apparatus, having three series of centrifugal discs or projectors
superposed as applied for the reduction of zinc ores and raw products.
A, bed plate on which is fixed the casing B provided with doors for giving access
to the interior. C, bross bar supported on the tops of four columns (not shown)
and bracing the whole firmly together. A hole D is made at the middle of cross
bar C to receive the upper journal S of the shaft Q, which is centred therein by
means of wedges, adjustable bolts and nuts. E, intermediate cross bar also fixed to
the columns and provided at its centre with a stuffing box F through which the
vertical shaft Q passes. To the cross bar E is attached the cover G in which are.
two apertures for returning the matters, after being projected by one disc to the
centre of the disc next below; I, I, toothed or ribbed plates or linings against which

page_text: the matters are projected by the centrifugal force, the said plates being removable
when worn; J, bottom ring of the apparatus resting on the bed plate A provided
with a stuffing box K through which the shaft Q passes, and also with an opening
or spout through which the matters are discharged. The bottom of the casing has
also an inner lining which is removable when worn. The support L of the footstep
bearing of shaft is firmly bolted to a suitable foundation as shown; M, bronze
footstep let into a wrought-iron support N made vertically adjustable to compensate
for the wear of the step and pivot by sliding through a socket o, in which it is
maintained at the proper height by bolts and nuts.. The upper part of the footstep
bearing is provided with an adjustable bearing tightened up by means of wedges,
which are connected together so as to be adjusted simultaneously; Q, hollow shaft
provided with steel journals or pivots S; T, steel collars shrunk on the end of shaft
Qto prevent wear. Each of the three discs U keyed on shaft Q is composed of a
flanged boss a, a disc or plate b of iron, and having ribs or blades bolted thereon at
intervals. The discs are lined with thin iron plates, and the under surface of the
lower disc is similarly lined and also provided with similar projections or blades,
which serve as collectors for directing the matters towards the discharge spout.
'
The discs may be driven at successively increasing speeds, and the apparatus may
also be made of conical form or the discs decreasing in diameter in succession down-
wards or otherwise arranged to cause the matters to be projected distances
inversely proportional to their degree of coarseness.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Scal Patent Office on the 28th
July 1876.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent. IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR REDUCING OR PULVERIZING
ORES AND OTHER HARD SUBSTANCES, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR OTHER PURPOSES." A
communication to me from abroad by La Société Anonyme des Mines et Fonderies
de Zinc de la Vieille Montagne, of Chênée, in the Kingdom of Belgium, represented
by Jules François, at Paris, France.
This Invention relates to an improved machine or mill for pulverizing or
disintegrating all kinds of hard substances, the mill operating by the action of
centrifugal force repeated an indefinite number of times alternately with the action
of gravity.
The mill is applicable among other uses for pulverizing ores, phosphates for
manures, earths, and raw materials used in the manufacture of porcelain, ceramic
and refractory products, reducing plaster, lime, cement, and coal used for the
manufacture of coke and agglomerated fuel, ochres, and other mineral coloring
matters, stone breaking for road metal or concrete, decorticating rice and other
grain, extracting cane and beet root syrups, grinding tan and dyewoods, and
obtaining meal from cereals and other produce.
The essential feature of novelty in the mill is that the substances are projected
by the action of the centrifugal force not once only but repeatedly against the sides
of the apparatus, the substances being returned each time by the action of gravity
in order to be again acted on, and so on. The mill consists of a series of superposed
horizontal revolving discs by which the substances to be pulverized are projected
against the sides of the apparatus. The said substances are thus acted on by all
the discs successively, being each time conducted back by a fixed incline to the
centre of the disc next below, the operations being repeated any number of times by
increasing the number of discs according to the degree of fineness required.
In the accompanying Drawing is represented by way of example a sectional
elevation of a mill having a series of three centrifugal discs or projectors superposed,
as employed for the reduction of zinc ores and raw materials for refractory
products.

page_text: A, bed plate on which is fixed the casing B provided with doors for giving access
to the interior; C, top cross frame supported on the tops of four columns (not shown)
and bracing the whole firmly together. The columns are firmly bolted to a suitable
foundation, the bolts also serving to fix the bed plate A; D is an aperture at the
middle of the top frame C to receive the bush in which the upper journal S of the
shaft Q revolves, said bush being made in three parts and centred in the aperture
by means of wedges made adjustable by bolts; E, intermediate cross frame also
fixed to the columns and provided at its centre with a stuffing box F, through
which the vertical shaft Q of the mill passes. To the frame E is attached the
cover G in which are two apertures, one for shovelling in the raw material, and the
other for receiving the gross fragments from the sizing trommel; U, horizontal discs
fixed one above the other on shaft Q at proper intervals apart; HI, H, conical
hoppers or shoots for returning the matters after being projected by one disc to the
centre of the disc next below; I, I, toothed or ribbed plates or linings against which
the matters are projected by the centrifugal force, the said plates being removable
when worn; J, bottom of the casing resting on the bed plate A provided with a
stuffing box K at its centre through which the shaft Q passes, and also with an
opening or spout through which the pulverized matters are discharged. The
bottom of the casing has also an inner lining which is removable when worn.
All the joints are hermetically packed with sheep skin. The support L of the
footstep bearing of shaft Q is firmly bolted to a suitable foundation as shown; A,
bronze footstep let into a wrought-iron support N made vertically adjustable to
compensate for the wear of the step and pivot by sliding through a socket O, in
which it is maintained at the proper height by bolts and nuts. The upper part of
the footstep bearing is provided with a bush P made in three pieces tightened up
by means of wedges, which are connected together so as to be adjusted simul-
taneously and thus avoid displacing the shaft; Q, hollow shaft provided with cast
steel journals or pivots S. The shaft is driven at the rate of about 500 revolutions
per minute by a belt passing round a pulley R. The shaft Q is furnished at the
part where it passes through the upper and lower stuffing boxes with steel bushes
T shrunk on to prevent wear. Each of the three discs U keyed on shaft Qis
composed of a flanged boss a, a disc b of iron, and ribs, blades, or bars c bolted
thereto so as to be readily replaced when worn. The discs are faced on their upper
surfaces with thin iron plates, and the under surface of the lower disc is similarly
covered and also provided with similar projections or blades, which serve as
collectors for directing the matters towards the discharge spout at the bottom of
the apparatus.
By a suitable modification the discs may be driven at different and successively
increasing speeds from the top downwards, or the apparatus may be made of conical
form, the discs decreasing in diameter in succession downwards, or the apparatus
may be otherwise arranged to render the trajectory of projection inversely
proportional to the degree of coarseness of the substances acted on.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing
the sanie, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the machine or mill constructed
substantially as herein-before shown and described, and operating by the repeated
and alternate action of centrifugal force and gravity, whereby the substances are
projected against the casing and then returned to the centre to be again projected
outwards and so on repeatedly, according to the nature of the substances under
treatment and the degree of fineness required.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord Onc
thousand eight hundred and seventy-six
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)