IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CRUSHING AND GRINDING MINERAL AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66,
66, Chancery Lane, in, the County of Middlesex, Me-
chanical Draughtsman, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR CRUSHING AND GRINDING MINERAL AND OTHER SUBSTANCES." -A
communication.
Sealed the 2nd December 1853, and dated the 12th September 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 12th September 1853.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CRUSHING AND GRINDING
MINERAL AND OTHER SUBSTANCES " to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the grinding, pulverizing, or crushing of
mineral and other substances by the centrifugal action of balls revolv-
ing around a common axis, and working against the inner periphery of
a rotating circular shell or vessel into which the substance to be
operated upon is fed, and by the rotation of the shell or vessel is
properly distributed and held against the inner periphery of the vessel

page_text: by centrifugal action. The bottom of the rotating shell or vessel is
formed of wire gauze or perforated metal, to prevent all particles above
a given size from escaping until properly reduced to or below a given
size.
The balls are driven by means of a rotating plate or disc set con-
centrically with the circular vessel, in the periphery of which plate
recesses are made to receive the balls; or they may be driven by radial
arms, if thought desirable.
When the rotating plate or disc is set in motion the edges of its
recesses press against the balls and cause them to revolve about the
axle of the disc's shaft, and in their revolution to be forced out against
the inner periphery of the circular vessel by centrifugal action, and
thus to impinge against the inner surface thereof with a force increasing
as the velocity is increased, so that the pressure can be regulated simply
by a change of motion. Any substance therefore which lies against
the inner periphery of the vessel will be acted upon by the balls in
succession as they revolve.
By the introduction of a current of water, the particles, so soon as
they are sufficiently reduced, will be washed to and carried through the
meshes of the sieve. Or, instead of a current of water to facilitate the
discharge of the substance when properly reduced, a current or currents
of air may be substituted and introduced in any suitable manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,

page_text: Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my execu
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CRUSHING AND GRINDING MINERAL
AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," being a communication from abroad, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):
This Invention relates to the grinding, pulverizing, or crushing of
mineral and other substances by the centrifugal action of balls revolv-
ing around an axis, and acting against the inner periphery of a rotating
shell or vessel containing the substance to be operated upon, and which,
by the rotation of the said shell or vessel, is properly distributed and
held against the said periphery by centrifugal action.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1, represents in vertical section
the improved machine forming the subject of the present Invention ;
and Figures 2, and 3, are horizontal sections taken at the lines A, a,
and B, b, of Fig. 1. The same letters indicate like parts in all the
figures.
a, represents a vertical shaft properly supported in bearings, and
provided with a suitable driving pulley. Near the lower end of this
shaft is properly secured a circular vessel or shell b, whose inner

page_text: periphery is concave, and in its vertical section presents a semi or less
section of a circle. This shell or rim is connected by suitable arms
to the hub c, by which it is secured to the shaft a; and the open
space between the shell or rim b, and the hub is covered with wire
gauze e, or perforated plates, thus constituting a sieve-like bottom, with
the meshes or perforations of any suitable size.
The shell or vessel may be provided with a movable top or cover d,
having a central aperture surrounding the shaft through which the sub-
stance or substances to be operated upon can be introduced.
On the shaft a, is fitted a hollow shaft f, the lower end of which rests
on the hub c, and, like the shaft a, it is provided with a pulley for
effecting its rotation. This hollow shaft f, carries at its lower end a
disc g, provided at its periphery with indentations h, in each of which
one of a series of balls i, is inserted for the purpose of working against
the inner periphery of the shell or rim b. The diameter of these
balls should be a little less than the circle of the
shell or rim, as presented by its cross section.
concavity of the.
From the foregoing it will be seen that when the disc g, is set in
motion, the edges of its indentations strike against the balls, and cause
them to revolve about the axis of the shaft, and in their revolution to
fly out against the inner periphery of the shell or rim by centrifugal
force, and thereby to impinge against the inner surface of the said rim
by a force increasing as the velocity is increased. The pressure, there-
fore, can be regulated simply by a change of motion, and any substance
which lies against the inner surface of the said rim will be acted upon
by the balls in succession as they revolve.
The substance to be crushed, such, for example, as quartz rock, is to
be fed in through the aperture in the top of the shell or vessel in any
suitable manner, and falling upon the rotating disc g, will be carried
by centrifugal force against the inner periphery of the shell or rim; and
as this shell or rim is also rotating, the substance thus introduced will
be properly distributed around the said shell, the centrifugal force due
to the rotation tending constantly to concentrate such substance in the
middle of the circular groove or gutter of the said shell or rim, so as
to be in the best position to be acted upon by the balls as they pass

page_text: around in succession. The pressure of each ball in passing will crush
and spread the substance, which will be again concentrated before the
next ball
passes. In this way the particles of the substance are kept
constantly changing position, and in succession all the particles are
brought under the action of the balls. As the more dense and heavier
particles are carried by centrifugal force to the greatest distance in the
shell, that is, in the middle of the groove which is farthest from the
centre of motion, the finer particles already crushed will be gradually
displaced and passed through the perforated or sieve-like bottom, and
any particles too large to pass through will be again carried out by
centrifugal force to be recrushed..
By the introduction of a current of water into the shell, the particles,
as soon as they are sufficiently reduced, will be washed to and carried
through the meshes of the sieve.
Instead of a current of water to facilitate the discharge of the sub-
stance when properly reduced, a current or currents of air may be sub-
stituted and introduced in any suitable manner.
Instead of the disc, arms may be employed for moving the balls; and,
if desired, instead of having the disc or arms to impinge on the peri-
phery of and push the balls, each ball may have an axle journalled to
the arms
or disc, but in such case the axles of the balls should be
parallel with the central shaft or but slightly inclined thereto, and be
free to move radially.
Instead of causing the balls to travel in the reverse direction of the
shell, they may be made to travel in the same direction, but with
different velocities.
The substances to be operated upon, whether dry or mixed with
water, may, if desired, be fed or supplied to the shell through a tube
or tubes attached to or running through the shaft.
These changes in the arrangement of the machinery are pointed out,
not because they are deemed better than the mode represented, but
simply to shew that the details of construction, and the mode of con-
ducting the operation, may be varied without departing from the prin-
ciple of the Invention.
Having now described the Invention of "Improved Machinery for

page_text: "
Crushing and Grinding Mineral and other Substances,' as communi-
cated to me by my
me by my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be understood,
that under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim the con-
struction and use of machinery for the grinding, pulverizing, or crush-
ing of mineral or other substances wherein the centrifugal action of a
ball or balls revolving around a common axis is employed in conjunc.
tion with a rotating shell or vessel for containing the substance to be
operated upon, which substance, by the rotation of the said vessel, is
properly distributed and held against the periphery thereof by cen-
trifugal action, as described.
I also claim making the shell or vessel with a sieve-like bottom for
the discharge of the substances after they have been sufficiently re-
duced by the action of the balls, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)