IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PULVERIZING OR REDUCING ORES AND OTHER HARD SUBSTANCES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Dingey, of Truro, in the County of
Cornwall, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
PULVERIZING OR REDUCING ORES AND OTHER HARD SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 29th November 1870, and dated the 2nd June 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Dingey at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd June 1870.
I, FRANCIS DINGEY, of Truro, in the County of Cornwall, do hereby
5 declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR PULVERIZING OR REDUCING ORES AND OTHER HARD SUBSTANCES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements in machinery for reducing or
pulverizing ores and other hard substances, and consists first, in the
) combination with a revolving pan of a number of runners or rotating
discs (constructed as herein-after described) mounted in a horizontal
position in said pan, with the bottom of which their lower surfaces or
grinding faces are in contact. Each disc or runner is keyed to the lower

page_text: end of a vertical shaft mounted in bearings in a suitable framework
above the revolving pan. These shafts with their several discs are all
rapidly rotated in one direction by means of suitable gearing from the
driving shaft, which also imparts a slow rotary motion to the pan. The
grinding or lower faces of these discs rotate in contact with a raised ring
or grinding surface bolted or otherwise secured to the bottom of the pan.
This surface is of such width that the discs will slightly overlap the
edges of the ring which are distant at all parts about an inch or so from
the sides of the pan.
The improvements relate, secondly, to the construction of the discs or
runners, and to the mode of supplying the material to be ground thereto.
The discs I cast with an annular opening around the centre or boss
which is connected to the outer portion or grinding surface by curved
radial arms.
The discs being also provided with a number of curved
recesses leading inwards from the inner and outer edges of the grinding
surface. To facilitate repair of the discs when worn I cast or form each
grinding surface of a ring or it may be of a number of similar segments
with which the disc would be shod or faced. The material to be
pulverized having been crushed in the usual manner is mixed with
water and supplied through the annular opening to the centre of the
disc, whence it is distributed by the inner series of curved recesses.
Having passed between the grinding surfaces of the disc and pan it is
partly collected by the outer series of recesses (which are curved in the
opposite direction to the first) and again subjected to the action of the
discs until reduced to the required degree of fineness. The material is
supplied to the several discs from a circular trough provided with spouts
leading down into the annular openings in said discs.
My improvements consist, thirdly, in providing the sides of the pan
(which are open at those parts) with a number of adjustable perforated
plates or sieves serving to screen the pulverized matters which as they
are reduced to the required degree are caused by the centrifugal action
imparted by the rotating discs to pass through the sieves out of the pan
into a suitable trough or receptacle, the remainder being retained and
subjected to the action of the apparatus until sufficiently pulverized or
reduced to pass through the screens. The screens being made removable
may be replaced by others of coarser or finer quality according to the
degree to which the matters are required to be reduced.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Francis Dingey in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st December 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
DINGEY, of Truro, in the County of Cornwall, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Francis Dingey, Her special licence, that I, the
said Francis Dingey, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Francis Dingey, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
PULVERIZING OR REDUCING ORES AND OTHER HARD SUBSTANCES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Francis Dingey, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was
to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Francis Dingey, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the two Sheets of
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :—
My Invention relates to improvements in machinery for reducing
or pulverizing ores and other hard substances, and consists, first, in the
combination with a revolving pan of a number of runners or rotating
discs (constructed as herein-after described), mounted in a horizontal
position in said pan, with the bottom of which their lower surfaces or

page_text: grinding faces are in contact. Each disc or runner is keyed to the
lower end of a vertical shaft mounted in bearings in a suitable frame-
work above the revolving pan. These shafts with their several discs are
all rapidly rotated in one direction by means of suitable gearing from
the driving shaft, which also imparts a slow rotary motion to the pan.
The grinding or lower faces of these discs rotate in contact with a
grinding surface bolted or otherwise secured to the bottom of the pan.
This surface is of such width that the discs will slightly overlap its
edges, which are distant at all parts about an inch or so from the sides
of the pan.
runners,
The improvements relate, secondly, to the construction of the discs or
and to the mode of supplying the material to be ground
thereto. The discs I cast with an annular opening around the centre or
boss, which is connected to the outer portion or grinding surface by
curved radial arms, the discs being also provided with a number of curved
recesses leading inwards from the inner and outer edges of the grinding
surface. To facilitate repair of the discs when worn I cast or form each
grinding surface of a ring, or it may be of a number of similar segments>
with which the disc would be shod or faced. The material to be
pulverized having been crushed in the usual manner is mixed with water
and supplied through the annular opening around the boss of the disc,
whence it is distributed by the inner series of curved recesses. Having
passed between the grinding surfaces of the disc and pan it is partly
collected by the outer series of recesses (which are curved in the opposite
direction to the first), and again subjected to the action of the discs until
reduced to the required degree of fineness. The material is supplied to
the several discs from a circular launder provided with spouts leading
down into the annular openings in said discs.
My improvements consist, thirdly, in providing the sides of the pan
(which are open at those parts) with a number of adjustable perforated
plates or copper grates serving to screen the pulverized matters which,
as they are reduced to the required degree, are caused by the centrifugal
action imparted by the rotating discs to pass through the grates out of
the pan into a suitable trough or receptacle, the remainder being
retained and subjected to the action of the apparatus until sufficiently
pulverized or reduced to pass through the grates. The grates being
made removable may be replaced by others of coarser or finer quality
according to the degree to which the matters are required to be reduced.

page_text: Figure 1 is an elevation of my improved pulverizing apparatus ;
Figure 2 is a plan view of the same; Figure 3 is a central vertical
* section (taken on line 1-2, Figure 2) of the revolving pan and discs or
runners, the framing, driving shaft, and feed apparatus being omitted.
Figure 4 is an under side view of one of the discs showing the curved
recesses in the grinding surface.
A is the revolving pan supported on friction rollers mounted in
brackets beneath the pan. It is provided with a central boss or
bearing A', through which passes a vertical shaft B to keep the pan in
place, and about which the pan rotates. This shaft B is supported in a
footstep B', and in a suitable bearing at the upper part of the framing.
The framing consists of uprights C, on which are supported horizontal
circular frames C¹, C³. D, D, are four horizontal discs or runners, the
under surfaces of which rotate in contact with a raised grinding
surface E bolted to the bottom of the pan. The discs are disposed
regularly around the pan shaft B, from which they are equidistant.
Each disc D is made fast to the end of a vertical spindle F supported
in suitable bearings carried on the circular frames C³, C³, above the
pan A. Rotary motion is imparted to the discs from a spur wheel G
keyed on shaft B, which gears with a pinion F¹ keyed at the upper part
of each spindle F, the shaft B being driven by bevel gearing from the
main or driving shaft H. The discs are thus all rotated in one
direction, each round its own axis. The pan is surrounded by a ring
of teeth A² cast thereon, with which gears a pinion on a vertical shaft I
turning in bearings in the framework and driven by bevel gear from
the main shaft H, by which the pan is slowly rotated, the combined
motion of the discs and pan speedily effecting the reduction of the
matters subjected to the action of the machine. The raised grinding
surface E is rather less in width than the diameter of discs D, so that
the latter slightly overlap the edges of the grinding surface E, which
are distant at all parts about an inch from the sides and from the
central boss of the pan.
The materials to be pulverized having been previously crushed in the
usual manner are mixed with water and supplied to a hopper K, whence
they are conveyed by a feed screw or worm on a shaft L, rotating in a
box or casing and driven from shaft I, by which the materials are

page_text: supplied in regular quantity to a circular launder M, supported on
frame C. This launder is furnished with a number of spouts M³, one for
each disc D, which lead down and feed the materials to an annular
opening around the boss of the disc. Each disc is cast with an annular
opening a formed around the centre or boss b, which is united to the
outer portion D by curved radial arms c. The opening a (which is
surrounded by a ring a¹, into which the spouts of the launder M dip)
leads to a central space or eye d, whence the materials fed through the
annular opening a from the launder M, as before described, are dis-
tributed between the grinding surfaces of the disc and pan. The disc
may either be cast all in one or it may be shod or faced with a ring e
cast entire or in segments which are bolted to the back of disc D, which
may readily be renewed when worn. In either case the grinding face
is formed with an inner series of furrows or recesses g disposed longi-
tudinally around the opening a by which the distribution of the matters
to be pulverized is effected, the disc being rotated in the direction of the
arrow, Figure 4. A second series of furrows or recesses g³ are also
provided around the outer edge or circumference of the face e, which
being also inclined or tangential, as shown, serve to collect part of the
matters which have passed between the disc and pan and again subject
them to the action of the grinding surfaces. The matters are retained
in the pan and acted on by the discs, as above described until sufficiently
reduced to pass through perforated plates or grates h of copper in the
sides of the pan A. When reduced to this degree of fineness the
matters are caused by the centrifugal action of the disc and pan to pass
out through said grates into a suitable launder or receptacle (not shown
in the Drawing). The pan is cast with a number of openings in the
sides, each of which is filled by a perforated plate or grate / bolted to
the outside of the pan, as shown, a guard i being placed over each grate
to deflect the matters passing through the grate downwards into the
launder to receive them. The grates are perforated plates of sheet
metal which are clamped by a rectangular metal frame /² (see Figure 5),
bolted to the outside of the pan so that the grates may be easily removed
and replaced by others of coarser or finer quality, the guard i being
also secured by the bolts.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would observe that I do not claim the use of a
circular revolving pan nor passing the pulverized matters out through

page_text: sieves; but what I claim as my Invention to be protected by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,--
1st. The combination with a circular revolving pan of horizontal
rotating discs or runners disposed therein arranged and operated sub-
stantially as herein-before described and illustrated in the Drawings and
for the purpose specified.
2ndly. I claim constructing said discs or runners with a concentric
annular opening and with furrows or recesses in the grinding surface, the
whole combined and arranged substantially as described and shown in
the Drawings for the purposes set forth.
3rdly. I claim fitting openings in the sides of the circular revolving
pan with grate plates made removable, substantially as shown and
described and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Dingey, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.