Process and Apparatus for Concentrating Magnetic Iron Ores and Bricking the same for Market.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Apr., 1898-Accepted, 16th July, 1898
COM LUMIE DIECIFICATION.
Process and Apparatus for Concentrating Magnetic Iron Ores and
Bricking the same for Market.
I, BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of 23, Southampton Buildings, in the
County of London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
a communication to me from Thomas Alva Edison, of Llewellyn Park, in the
County of Essex, and State of New Jersey, in the United States of America,
Inventor), and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The invention relates to a process and apparatus for concentrating magnetic
iron ores and bricking the same for market.
In the accompanying drawings:-
-
Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of an apparatus for breaking and grinding
the ore;
Fig. 2 a similar view of the apparatus for pulverizing the ore, screening the
same, effecting the first magnetic separation, and drying the crude concentrates;
Fig. 3 a similar view of the apparatus for effecting the final pulverization,
screening and concentration; and Fig. 4 a similar view of the mixing, bricking
and baking apparatus.
1, 1 represent enormously heavy breaking rolls, driven through friction con-
nections and having roughened peripheries for engaging the ore of large size
and reducing the same to pieces not larger than two decimeters in diameter.
2, 2, are smaller rolls, driven through friction connections, for receiving the
material from the rolls 1 and further breaking the same. The material from
the rolls 2 falls into a hopper 3, and is elevated by an elevator 4 to a hopper 5,
having a roller feed 6 therefrom. From the hopper 5, the broken material is
fed through the grinding rolls 7, 7, 8, 8, and 9, 9, by which it will be reduced
to small pieces, not larger than one centimeter in diameter. From the grinding
rolls 9, the crushed material is deposited in a hopper 10, from which it will be
elevated by an elevator 11 onto a chute 12.
From the chute 12 the material passes over screens 13, 13, angle irons 14, 14, 14
being employed to check the material to provide for effective screening. The
tailings pass by a chute 15 to the rolls 9, 9 and are re-ground. The fine material
from the screens 13 is distributed by a suitable distributer 16, and passes through
a dryer 17, having a large number of inclined deflecting plates 18, by which
the material will be divided into fine, thin streams and be subjected to heated
air and combustion gases from a furnace 19, provided with a stack 20, having
a damper 21 therein to start the draft.
From the dryer 17, the crushed dried material passes to a hopper 22, from
which it is elevated by an elevator 23 and to a conveyor 24 working over a plat-
form 25 having openings 26 through which the material will fall and accumulate
in piles 27 in a suitable stock-house. A fan 28 is used to blow air over the
material to carry off any vapors through an opening 29.

page_text: From the stock-house, the ore is withdrawn by a conveyor 30 through chutes 31,
having gates to regulate the supply.
The said conveyor 30 (see Fig. 2) deposits the material in a hopper 32, having
a roller-feed 33, by which it will be fed to the screens 34, 34, 34. The fine
material passing through the screens is conveyed by a chute 35 to a conveyor 36.
The tailings pass to a hopper 371, having a roller-feed-38¹, by which material
will be fed on an apron 391, to the pulverizing rolls 40, 40¹, 40¹
The material passes between the two upper rolls, thence to an apron 411 be-
tween the two lower rolls, and most of the material will be finely pulverized by
these rolls, and deposited on the conveyor 36, and thence to the set of screens 37.
The tailings from these screens are deposited on a belt conveyor 38 and dumped
in a hopper 39, from which they are elevated by an elevator 40 to the hopper 871,
where these tailings again pass through the rolls 40¹.
The fine material from the screens 37 falls through the magnetic separators 41
of any suitable type and by which the magnetic material will be separated. The
non-magnetic material is deposited on a conveyor 42 and is carried to a suitable
dump. The magnetic material from the separators 41 passes through the
chutes 43 onto a conveyor 44, by which it will be carried to a hopper 45 and be
elevated by an elevator 46 to a chute 47, from whence it passes through a
dryer 48, so as to be effectively dried.
From the dryer the roughly concentrated dried material drops into a chute 49
and is elevated by the elevator 50 to a conveyor 51 (see Fig. 3). This conveyor
feeds the material over the second screens 52 of very fine mesh. The tailings
from these screens are conveyed by chutes 53 to a conveyor 54 and deposited in
a hopper 55 having a roller-feed 56. From this hopper, the tailings are con-
veyed to pulverising rolls 57, similar to the rolls 401 and by which the tailings
will be pulverized and will drop on a conveying belt 58 leading back to the
hopper 49 (see Fig. 2). The fine material passing through the screens 52 is
deposited on a conveyor 59 and carried to a hopper 60, whence it is elevated by
an elevator 61 to a conveyor 62, by which the fine, pulverized, dried material
will be fed to the magnetic separators 63, where a further separation takes place.
The non-magnetic material separated by the magnetic separators 63 is conveyed
by a belt conveyor 64 to the dump, while the magnetic material is directed
through the chutes 65 to a suitable dusting apparatus 66, in which the dried
material will be subjected to one or more blasts of air, to remove the fine dust
therefrom. The dust thus blown from the material is carried by a conveyor 67
to a suitable special dump, and this dust, owing to its extreme fineness, may
be used for industrial purposes, such as in the manufacture of paint. The dusted
material having passed through the dusting apparatus then falls through the
magnetic separators 68, in which the final separation takes place, and a concen-
trate of the desired fineness and high percentage is obtained.
These concentrates pass through chutes 69 to a conveyor 70, by which they are
carried to a suitable stock-house.
The material which is separated from the concentrates by the separators 68
and which contains large quantities of the magnetic oxide, is carried by a con-
veyor 71 back to the hopper 55, whence it passes through the pulverizing rolls 57
and again through the screens 52, separators 63 dusting apparatus 66, and the
magnetic separators 68. From the second stock-house the dried concentrates
are elevated by an elevator 72, see Fig. 4 and deposited in a hopper 73 having a
roller-feed 74, feeding the concentrates to a dryer 75, having a distributor 76.
From the dryer 75, the material passes to a conveyor 721 and is deposited in a
mixing apparatus 78 having stirring arms and by which a suitable binding agent
such as a mixture of petroleum and resin, is admixed with the concentrates.
This mixture is materially facilitated by the preliminary heating of the
concentrates, since the binding agent at an elevated temperature will be non-
viscous.

page_text: · From the mixer 78, the mixed material passes down a chute 79 over the de-
flecting plates or screens 80, upon which the material will be subjected to the
effect of cold air from a fan 81, so as to be cooled to the normal temperature.
From the cooling apparatus the mixture is deposited in a hopper 82, from
which it will be elevated by the elevator 83 to the conveyor 84, which feeds
the material to a series of suitable bricking machines 85, by which the material
will be formed, under enormous pressure, into small compact bricks, preferably
cylindrical in form. These bricks will be successively dropped from the several
bricking machines on to a conveyor 86 and carried to a conveyor 87 mounted
within an oven 88 and travelling slowly therein, the said conveyor being hung
in the form of loops as shown, so as not to be affected by changes in temperature.
The said oven may be provided with a forced blast 84¹ by which its temperature
may be regulated.
After leaving the oven, the several buckets forming the conveyor 87 are
dumped by striking against an inclined plate 90, and the baked, finished
briquettes then pass down the chute 91 onto a conveyor 92, from whence they
are carried to the car 93 for shipment.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. A process of preparing briquettes of magnetic iron ore, which consists
in passing the ore through breaking rolls so as to reduce the same to fragments
of convenient size, then passing said fragments through crushing rolls, then
passing the crushed material through a dryer, then passing the dried crushed
material through pulverizing rolls, then screening the material, conveying the
tailings back to the pulverizing rolls, then passing the fine material through
magnetic separators, then drying the concentrated ore, then mixing the ore with
a suitable binding agent, then forming the mixture into briquettes, and finally
in baking said briquettes, substantially as set forth.
2. A process of preparing briquettes of magnetic iron ore, which consists in
passing the ore through breaking rolls so as to reduce the same to fragments
of convenient size, then passing said fragments through crushing rolls, then
passing the crushed material through a dryer, then passing the dried crushed
material through pulverizing rolls, then screening the material, conveying the
tailings back to the pulverizing rolls, then passing the fine material through
magnetic separators, then drying the concentrated ore, then again screening
the material, then pulverizing the tailings from the second screens, then passing
the material through a second magnetic separator, then dusting the separated
concentrates, then subjecting the concentrates to a final concentration, then
drying the concentrates, then mixing the ore with a suitable binding agent,
then forming the mixture into briquettes, and finally in baking said briquettes,
substantially as set forth.
3. A process of preparing briquettes of magnetic iron ore, which consists
in passing the ore through breaking rolls so as to reduce the same to fragments
of convenient size, then passing said fragments through crushing rolls, then
passing the crushed material through a dryer, then passing the dried crushed
material through pulverizing rolls, then screening the material, conveying the
tailings back to the pulverizing rolls, then passing the fine material through
magnetic separators, then drying the concentrated ore, then again screening
the material, then pulverizing the tailings from the second screens, then passing
the material through a second magnetic separator, then dusting the separated
concentrates, then subjecting the concentrates to a final concentration, then
heating the concentrates, then mixing with a binding agent, then cooling the
concentrates, then bricking the concentrates, and finally baking the same,
substantially as set forth.
4. An apparatus for bricking iron ore, consisting of the breaking rolls, the

page_text: grinding rolls, the dryers, the screens, the magnetic separators, the pulverizing
rolls, the mixers, the cooling device, the bricking machines and the oven
substantially as set forth.
HARRIS & MILLS,
23, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents.