Improvements in Reducing or Disintegrating Apparatus, more especially intended for Disintegrating Super-phosphates and other similar Substances.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd July, 1890)
Complete Specification Left, 22nd May, 1891-Accepted, 11th July, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Reducing or Disintegrating Apparatus, more
especially intended for Disintegrating Super-phosphates and
other similar Substances.
We, PHILIP UNWIN ASKHAM, Managing Director of Askham Brothers
& Wilson Limited of Yorkshire Steel Works, Sheffield, in the County of York,
and WILLIAM WILSON, Foreman in the employ of the said Askham Brothers
& Wilson Limited, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
:-
This invention relates to machinery for reducing or disintegrating material
such for instance as super-phosphates, dissolved bones, and other artificial
manures.
In a machine constructed according to this invention we provide a hollow drum
or hollow druns mounted so as to be capable of rotating upon standards or frames
and when two or more are used with a small space between their peripheries; we
may drive these drums by any suitable means and where two or more are used we
may drive them either in the same direction as each other or in different directions
and at the same speed as each other, or at different speeds. Their peripheries may
be smooth or they may be serrated or formed with teeth or projections and grooves
either parallel to or at right angles with the axis of rotation, or at other angle
thereto, or they may be covered with perforated or reticulated material and their
ends may be either open or closed. Inside the drums we may fix a spiral or worm
for the purpose of conveying the material passing into the interior to either end of
the drum for discharge.
In juxtaposition to such drums, but not necessarily in contact therewith, we
place concave shaped frames which may be of rectangular shape and they may
be smooth or be provided with teeth or with gratings which may be covered
with perforated or reticulated material. The inner radius of such concaves
should be the same, or nearly the same as that of the exterior peripheries of
the drums.
We employ a concave for cach drum fixed adjacent to those sides of the drums
which are making downward rotation. They may be made of the same or about
the same length as the drums and may be of any convenient width; but we prefer
them to be of less width than the diameters of the drums, and they may be pivotted
or hinged upon their bottom edges, such hinges or pivots being made horizontally
and vertically adjustable so as to enable the workman to increase or diminish the
space between the drums and the bottom edges of the concaves for the purpose of
producing a finer or coarser reduction or disintegration of the material as may be
desired. The concaves receive a radial or rocking motion, alternately from and
towards the rotating drums. This motion may be obtained by any suitable means
as for example by fitting the top edges of the concaves with projecting pins to
which are attached connecting rods whose opposite ends are connected to cranked
shafts.
The connection with either both or all of the concaves we may form a shifting or
sliding hopper mouth consisting by preference of corrugated or flat plates of the
same lengths as the drums and hinged upon the top edges of the concaves and so
arranged to slide that when the top edges of the concaves are furthest away from
the drums the plates are nearly vertical and without obstructing the material being
fed into the machine will prevent it from falling away from the drums when the
concaves are either approaching or receding from them.
In the case of the top drums and concaves this shifting side, or sliding hopper

page_text: mouth, may form a part of the feed hopper above the machine extending the whole
length of the machine, and as the lower edge of this mouth is moved backwards and
forwards by the concave its top edge rises and falls upon guides so that it receives
sharp upward and downward motion which assists in the even distribution of
material in the hopper.
a
For the delivery of material from the bottom concave a hole may be left in the
base plate of the machine, or a shoot be provided to conduct it either to the front
or back of the machine.
The drums where several are used may be mounted so that the one drum is
vertically over another, or nearly so; and in the end frames of the machine annular
channels may be formed to receive the drum ends and the same frames may close
the open ends of the concaves to prevent material from falling out at either end.
These frames may also carry
the gearing and crank shafts and we may if desired
arrange the gearing so as to obtain a less speed upon the top drum than upon the
one beneath it, or vice versa.
We may also drive the concave so that they make
an odd number of strokes as compared with the revolutions of the drums, thus
bringing the whole surface of the drums alternately opposite the working cancaves
so as to equalize the wear of the drum surfaces. We are also able to adjust the
distance through which the concaves move away from and towards the drums by
altering the throw of the cranks or operating devices.
2:
When we cover the drums with sieving some portion of the material being operated
upon passes through into the interiors of the drums and this after being removed
by the spiral herein before mentioned may if necessary be returned to the top hopper
which can be done by directing it into a shoot or collecting screw and conveying it
into the boot of an elevator carrying it to the said top hopper. The shoot or screw
can also deliver into the boot of the same elevator the crude material to be treated
by the machine.
When we employ an elevator it may be arranged either as a part of the
machine, or separately and it may be either driven by the machine or
independently.
By the use of our improved machine we can reduce or disintegrate large quantities
of material from a very coarse and lumpy condition to varying degrees of fineness,
the operation of the machine being as follows. The coarse material is fed into the
hopper at the top of the machine and falls into the space between the top concave
and drum, when the concave is away from the said drum. The concave now moves
towards the revolving drum and the material is squeezed and abraided between the
revolving drum and concave; when we employ perforated or reticulated material
on the concaves a portion of the material passes therethrough and the remainder
escapes at the bottom edge of the concave, the size of the pieces of material passing
through being determined by the adjustment of the space between the drum and
concave and by the size of the perforations or reticulations so that the material can
be screened to any degree of fineness. In the arrangement with a drum and concave
beneath another the cranks which work the concave are arranged so that while one
concave is approaching one drum the other is receding from the other drum; the
space between the top concave and drum is being emptied whilst the bottom
concave is receding and receiving into the space between it and the bottom drum
the material squeezed from between the top concave and drum. Between the under
drum and concave a further squeezing and abrasion takes place the material being
further reduced and forced or dragged by the drum through the adjusted space
between the bottom edge of the concave and the periphery of the drum.
It will
be seen that the delivery of finished material is intermittent, but when two or more
drums and concaves are used the working stress in the machine is evenly
balanced because work is always being done between one or other of the drums
and concaves.
The machine may be made portable instead of a fixture and for this purpose we
may provide the framing with journals, axles and wheels and we may if desired
attach an engine and boiler or other motor to the framing for driving the machine,

page_text: or we may in the case of either a fixed or portable machine arrange it to be driven
by belt pulley, or hand, or in and by any other suitable means.
Dated this 92nd day of July 1890
J. H. JOHNSON & Co.,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Reducing or Disintegrating Apparatus, more
especially intended for Disintegrating Super-phosphates and
other similar Substances..
We PHILIP UNWIN ASKHAM Managing Director of Askham Brothers_and
Wilson Limited of Yorkshire Steel Works Sheffield in the County of York
and WILLIAM WILSON Foreman in the employ of the said Askham Brothers and
Wilson Limited 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 :-
This invention relates to machinery for reducing or disintegrating material
such for instance as super-phosphates, dissolved bones, and other artificial
manures.
In a machine constructed according to this invention we provide a hollow drum
or hollow drums mounted so as to be capable of rotating upon standards or frames,
and having, when two or more are used, a small space between their peripheries.
We may drive these drums by any suitable means and, where two or more are used,
we may drive them either in the same direction as each other or in directions
different from each other and at the same speed or at different speeds. Their
peripherics may be smooth or they may be serrated or formed with teeth or projec-
tions and grooves either parallel to, or at right angles with, the axis of rotation or
at other angle thereto, or they may be covered with perforated or reticulated
inaterial and their ends may be either open or closed. Inside the drums we may
fix a spiral or worm for the purpose of conveying the material passing into the
interior to either end of the drum for discharge.
In juxtaposition to such drum or drums, but not necessarily in contact therewith,
we place a concave shaped frame or concave shaped frames which may be of
rectangular shape in plan and they may be smooth or be provided with teeth or with
gratings which may be covered with perforated or reticulated material. The inner
radius of such concaves is preferably the same, or nearly the same, as that of the
exterior peripheries of the drums with which they are used.
We employ a concave for each drum and the concaves may be made of the same
or about the same length as the drums and may be of any convenient width, but we
prefer them to be of less width than the diameters of the drums and they may be
pivotted or hinged and such hinges or pivots may be horizontally and vertically
adjustable so as to permit of the space between the drums and the concaves being
increased or decreased for the purpose of producing a finer. or coarser reduction or
disintegration of the material as may be desired. The said concaves may be
stationary, but are preferably caused to receive a radial or rocking motion,
alternately from and towards the rotating drums. This motion may be obtained by
any suitable means such as for example by fitting the top edges of the concaves
with projecting pins to which are attached connecting rods whose opposite
ends are connected to the rod or strap of an eccentric mounted on the axis of
one of the drums.
In connection with either, both or all, of the concaves we may form a shifting or
sliding hopper mouth consisting by preference of corrugated or flat plates of the
same lengths as the drums and hinged upon the top edges of the concaves and so
arranged to slide that when the top edges of the concaves are farthest from the
drums the plates are nearly vertical, and without obstructing the material.

page_text: being. fed into the machine will prevent it from falling away from the drums
when the concaves are either approaching them or receding from them.
In the case of the top drums and concaves this shifting side or sliding hopper
mouth, may form a part of the feed hopper above the machine extending the
whole length of the machine and as the one edge of this mouth is moved back-
wards and forwards by the concave its other edge rises and falls so that it receives
a sharp upward and downward motion which assists in the even distribution of
material in the hopper.
For the delivery of. material from the bottom concave a hole may be left in the
base plate of the machine or a shoot may be provided to conduct the material either
to the front or to the back of the machine.
"
The drums, where several are used, may be mounted so that one drum is in
á position vertically over another, or nearly so, and in the end frames of the
machine annular channels may be formed to receive the drum ends and the
same frames may close the open ends of the concaves to prevent material from
falling out at either end. These frames may also carry the gearing and
driving shaft and we may if desired arrange the gearing so as to obtain a less
speed upon the top drum than upon the one beneath it, or vice versa.
We may also drive the concaves so that they do not make strokes synchronously
with the revolutions of the drums, whereby the whole surface of the drums is during
working brought opposite the working concaves so as to equalize the wear of the
drum surfaces.
t
We
may also provide for adjusting the distance through which the concaves move
away from and towards the drums.
$
When the peripheries of the drums consists of perforated or reticulated material,
some portion of the substance being operated upon passes through it into the
interiors of the drums and this may be passed to any desired place for instance if
necessary it may be returned to the top hopper which can be done by directing it
from the drums into a shoot or collecting screw which conveys it into the boot of
an elevator to be carried thereby to the said top hopper. The shoot or screw can
also be used for delivering into the boot of the same elevator the crude material to
be treated by the machine.
And in order that our said invention may be fully understood, we shall now pro-
ceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to the
accompanying drawings the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts
in both the figures.
Figure 1, represents in side elevation a disintegrating machine constructed
according to this invention, and Figure 2 is an end view of the same A. A are two
hollow druns or cylinders the peripheries of which consist of sieving or reticulated
material. The axes of these drums are mounted in bearings B. in the frame C of
the machine and are each provided with a spur wheel D D gearing with a pinion E
mounted on a stud E². Attached to, or formed in one with, the pinion E, is a spur
wheel F, gearing with a pinion G on the driving shaft G2 which may be driven
from any suitable source of power by a strap passing round the fast and loose
pulleys H. By arranging the pinion E to gear with both spur wheels D. D' as
shewn the drums A. A will be rotated in opposite directions respectively but if
desired the gearing may be arranged so as to cause both the drums to rotate in the
same direction.
The spur wheels D and D* on the axes of the drums are shewn as of different
diameters the one D, being larger than D² so as to cause one drum to rotate quicker
than the other drum but if desired they may be both caused to rotate at the same
speed.
Hinged to the framing of the machine opposite one side of each of the
drums A and A2 is a frame or concave H1 H2 covered with sieving or reticulated
material and having concave faces corresponding to the convexity of the drums.
The hinges of these frames or concaves are capable of being adjusted in position
nearer to, or further from, the drums according to the degree of fineness to which

page_text: the material is required to be reduced. These frames or concaves are connected at
their upper ends by rods a a² to the opposite ends of a lever to one end of which
lever is also connected the rod of an eccentric K jfast on the axis of the upper
drum A. When the cylinder A is rotating the eccentric K imparts through
the rods a a oscillating motions to the concaves H H in reverse directions
respectively that is to say while the concave His moving towards the drum A the
concave His moving away from the drum A² and vice versa. To the upper edges
of the concaves are hinged plates L L the upper ends of which rest against and
slide along guides c when the concaves are in operation. The plate L connected to
the upper concave H' forms with a plate M a hopper or guide to conduct the
material, to be operated upon, between the concave H' and the periphery of the
drum A.
The plate M is pivotted at d to the framing C, and is connected at e to a strut
or support which may be made extensible as shewn so as to permit of the angle of
the plate M being varied as required to regulate the passage of the material
thereover to between the upper drum and concave. A shaking or jogging motion
may be imparted to the plate M by connecting the rod or strut to the strap of an
eccentric on the driving shaft G³ as shewn.
By the use of our improved machine we can reduce or disintegrate large
quantities of material from a very coarse and lumpy condition to varying degrees
of fineness the operation of the machine being as follows. The coarse material is
fed onto the plate M at the top of the machine and falls into the space between
the upper concave H and drum A, when the concave is away from the said drum,
and then on the concave moving towards the drum A. the material is squeezed and
abraded between the rotating drum and the concave. When we employ perforated
or reticulated material on the drums and concaves as shewn in the drawing a portion
of the material passes through the concave H and also into the cylinder A and the
remainder escapes at the bottom edge of the concave, the size of the pieces of
material passing being determined by the adjustment of the space between the
drum and the lower edge of the concave, and by the size of the perforations or
reticulations, so that the material can be screened to any degree of fineness. In
the apparatus shewn a drum A and concave H are arranged beneath the drum A
and concave H the connections of the concaves with the eccentric rod being such
that while the concave H is approaching the drum A. the concave H² is receding
from the drum A2 and the space between the concave H and drum A. being emptied
whilst the concave H2 is receding and receiving into the space between it and the
drum A the materiai squeezed from between the upper concave and drum.
Between the under drum A2 and concave H2 a further squeezing and abrasion takes
place the material being further reduced and forced or dragged by the drum
through the adjusted space between the bottom of the concave and the periphery of
the drum. If more than two drums and concaves he employed the material will
pass from one to the next below in succession as above described till it reaches the
lower most drum and concave. It will be seen that the delivery of finished
material is intermittent, but when two or more drums and concaves are used the
working stress on the apparatus is evenly balanced because work is always being
done between one or other of the drums and concaves.
The drawing represents the apparatus as a fixture but it may be made portable
if desired by providing the framing with journals axles and wheels. An engine
and boiler or other motor may be carried on the framing for driving the machine
or in the case of either a fixed or portable machine it may be driven by belt and
pulley or any other suitable means either by hand or power.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is.
First. In apparatus for reducing or disintegrating super-phosphates or other
substances a drum or cylinder arranged to rotate in juxtaposition to a fixed or an

page_text: oscillating concave or equivalent surface between which surface and the periphery
of the drum the material is fed and reduced substantially as hereinbefore
described.
Second. In apparatus for reducing or disintegrating super-phosphates or other
substances the combination of a reticulated serrated, or roughened drum or cylinder
rotating in juxtaposition to a reticulated roughened or serrated hinged flap or
concave capable of being adjusted in position nearer to or further, from the drum
and means for imparting an oscillating movement to the flap or concave
substantially as hereinbefore described.
Third. In apparatus for reducing or disintegrating super-phosphates or other
substances the combination of two or more drums or cylinders arranged one
above another and rotated in the same or in opposite directions in juxtaposition to
hinged flaps or concaves, and means for oscillating the flaps alternately in opposite
directions so that the material passing from between an upper drum and flap or
cancave will be received between the periphery of the drum and face of the flap
or concave next below substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
Fourth. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting an apparatus for
reducing or disintegrating super-phosphates or other substances substantially as
herein before described and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
J. H. JOHNSON & Co.,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.
J. H. JOHNSON & Co.,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.