IMPROVE- MENTS IN DISINTEGRATORS
Year: 1886

page_text: I, JOHN HAYTON GREENHILL of Belfast, County of Antrim, mechanical and
electrical engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN DISINTEGRATORS to be as follows:-
My invention relates to improvements upon my patent No 131 A.D. 1872 for
Disintegrating machinery which consisted of a machine having by preference two
Discs, each mounted on a separate shaft and placed in the same axial line. Each
Disc is furnished with radial blades or beaters and concentric ribs, whose faces are
at an angle to the plane of the Disc. Said Discs are caused to rapidly rotate in
opposite directions, or one Disc may rotate while the other remains stationary,
being prevented from turning by a wedge or pin. The material to be operated
upon is fed in through apertures near the centre of one of the Discs, and is thrown
by reason of the angled faces of the radial blades or beaters and concentric ribs
from one Disc to the other a great many times in its progress towards the
periphery.
Instead of making the casing to open in two parts as formerly shewn, I prefer to
have the lower portion of the casing in one casting planed by preference to receive
the upper covering of the Discs, such covering being in one or more parts and
bolted together. The bearings of the shafts next the casing are carried on wedges
or screws by which each shaft can be raised or lowered, and the bearings can also
be moved sideways for the proper adjustment of the Discs, while at the same time
they can automatically range themselves in the true axial line of the shafts. These
bearings may, if found necessary be made to compress a soft packing against the
casing to thus act as a stuffing gland and so prevent the admission of the fine dust
from the ground product entering the bearings. Formerly the Discs were kept in
proper proximity by tail-pins pressed against the ends of the shafts, but I now
prefer to dispense with these tail-pins, and extend the outer bearings of the machine
to nearer the ends of the shafts, by which a more even distribution of the weight
and driving strains is obtained, and much less lubrication is necessary. These outer
bearings consist of adjustable "ball-and-socket" joints or "gymbals" whereby they
automatically arrange themselves in the true axial line of the shafts, or they may be
supported on wedges or screws, similar to the mode adopted for the inner bearings.
As it is necessary that the Discs should revolve at certain distances apart, I
accomplish this by having a sliding-bearing which fits the journal of the shaft, such

page_text: I
sliding-bearing being free to move endways, and thus carry the shaft with it along
the ball-and-socket or gymbal bearing when actuated by a regulating_screw.
prefer to drive the feeding roller or beater by a belt working on to a pulley on the
roller-shaft, or by interposing a worm and spur wheel to transmit a reduced speed
from the shaft carrying one of the Discs.
I, JOHN HAYTON GREENHILL of Belfast, County of Antrim, mechanical and
electrical engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS
IN DISINTEGRATORS and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to improvements upon 'my patent N° 131 A.D. 1872 for
Disintegrating machinery which consisted of a machine having by preference two
Discs, each mounted on a separate shaft and placed in the same axial line, Each
Disc is furnished with radial blades or beaters and concentric ribs, whose faces are
at an angle to the plane of the Disc. Said Discs are caused to rapidly rotate in
opposite directions, or one Disc may rotate while the other remains stationary,
being prevented from turning by a wedge or pin inserted in or against the Disc or
pulley which is keyed on the shaft. The material to be operated upon is fed in
through apertures near the centre of one of the Discs, and is thrown by reason of
the angled faces of the radial blades or beaters and concentric ribs from one Disc
to the other a great many times in its progress towards the periphery.
Instead of making the casing to open in two parts as formerly shewn, I prefer
to have the lower portion of the casing in one casting, planed by preference to
receive the upper covering of the Discs, such covering being in one or more parts
and bolted together. The bearings of the shafts next the casing are carried on
wedges or screws by which each shaft can be raised or lowered and the bearings
can also be moved sideways for the proper adjustment of the Discs, while at the
same time they can automatically range themselves in the true axial line of the
shafts. These bearings may, if found necessary, be made to compress a soft packing
against the casing to thus act as a stuffing gland, and so prevent the admission
of the fine dust from the ground product entering the bearings. Formerly the
Discs were kept in proper proximity by tail pins pressed against the ends of the
shafts, but I now prefer to dispense with these tail pins, and extend the outer
bearings of the machine to nearer the ends of the shafts, by which a more even
distribution of the weight and driving strains is obtained, and much less lubrication

page_text: "
is necessary. These outer bearings consist of adjustable "ball and socket" joints or
gymbals whereby they automatically arrange themselves in the true axial line
of the shafts, or they may be supported on wedges or screws, similar to the mode
adopted for the inner bearings.
As it is necessary that the Discs should revolve at certain distances apart, I
accomplish this by having a sliding bearing which fits the journal of the shaft,
such sliding bearing being free to move endways, and thus carry the shaft with
it along the ball-and-socket or gymbal bearing when actuated by a regulating
screw.
I prefer to drive the feeding roller or beater by a belt working on to a pulley on
the roller shaft, or by interposing a worm and spur wheel to transmit a reduced
speed from the shaft carrying one of the Discs.
In order to more fully indicate the method of construction, I annex the following
drawings.
Fig. 1. shews a plan of a complete machine, having the driving Pulleys A keyed
on the shafts B, resting on adjustable bearings which are free to move in true axial
line of the shafts, but supported by the sliding-wedge C (shewn in Figs. II and III)
and trained sideways by the set-screws D. The shafts (which carry the Discs K
and L) can be moved lengthways by the set-screws E, thus regulating the distance
between the Discs K and L. The Pulley F which is on the shaft carrying the
worin G is driven by a belt from the shaft B. The worm engages in a toothed
pinion H which is keyed on the shaft carrying the feeding roller J. Instead of
the Roller, an agitator or beater may be used.
Fig. II is partly end elevation and partly sectional, and Fig. III. is a sido
elevation, but shewing the outside bearing in section and the manner in which the
sliding-wedge acts. Instead of the sliding-wedge, a set screw acting from below
may be used, by which the bearings can be raised or lowered, thus constituting
also a bearing which will automatically adjust itself to the axial line of the shaft.
In Figs. I and II the inner bearings for the shafts are regulated by the set screws S
to compress a soft packing between the end of the brass and the casing to prevent
the admission of dust, but in order to allow the automatic axial line adjustment
of the bearings, the holes or slots in the brasses through which the set-screws S
and also the regulating screws E pass are sufficiently wide to permit the necessary
movement.
Figs. IV. V and VI are the sectional, end elevation and plan respectively of an
adjustable ball-and-socket bearing to be employed in lieu of the wedge or set-screw
methods previously explained. It is evident that if the shafts have to be raised
when the ball-and-socket bearings are employed, this can be done by putting wood
or other packing under the seat of the bearing.
Figs. VII and VIII show a pair of Discs, the feeding-iu orifices being marked M.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
The combination of the various parts and modifications thereof constituting the
improved machine as described and shewn.