Improvements in Ore Crushers and Amalgamators.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Feb., 1895-Accepted, 16th Mar., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Ore Crushers and Amalgamators.
1, JAMES SUTHERLAND of Parkville in the City of Brooklyn and State of
New York United States of America, Mechanical Engineer, 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 :-
My invention relates to improvements in ore crushers and amalgamators in which
two tables are arranged to rotate in opposite directions about a hollow shaft, said
tables being spaced apart by mullers geared with the opposite faces of the tables,
the hollow shaft serving as an outlet for the pulverized ore and water.
A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanying
drawing in which
Figure 1 is a vertical section through the casing, revolving tables, driving gear
and supports, and
Figure 2 is a top plan view, the casing being removed and a portion of the
upper table to show the position of the mullers with respect to the lower table.
The support for the several parts may be of any well known or approved structure,
in the present instance consisting of a base frame A surmounted by uprights a
framed together by cross girders a².
A casing consisting of a top or cap piece B and a base piece B¹ is supported
upon the frame, the base piece B being provided with an annular concave
depression b along the lowest portion of which there is an annular recess or
trough b' for the purpose of retaining any pulp which shall escape between the
casing and the lower table. Said recess b¹ may be provided with mercury in order
that the amalgamation of such escaped pulp may take place therein. A vertical
hollow shaft C is mounted iu suitable bearings in the framework and in the centre
of the lower part B' of the casing and is keyed to rotate with the upper table D.
The table D, while it is caused to rotate with the shaft, is permitted by means of
the ordinary feather and groove connection with the shaft, to move vertically up
and down thereon to a limited extent, a spring E being inserted between the top
of said table and a fixed abutment c on the shaft to normally depress the upper
table into contact with the ore.
The lower table D' is fixed to rotate with a sleeve C¹ mounted on the shaft C and
supported vertically by means of ball bearings c¹ interposed between a flange on
its lower end and the hub of a gear wheel F fixed to the shaft C. The opposite
faces of the tables D and D' are made of hardened material suitable to withstand,
as far as possible, the wearing action of the material to be crushed and are so shaped
as to ccnform in general to the conical shaped mullers G which are interposed
between the grinding faces.
The number of mullers interposed may be determined at pleasure; in the present
instance I have shown four, located at a quadrant distance apart. The muller is
provided with annular ribs g at intervals apart beginning from its smaller end
toward the central shaft which annular ribs are adapted to work in annular
grooves d in the faces of the tables. Intermediate of its ends the muller is provided
with annular gear g' adapted to intermesh with corresponding annular gear d¹ in
the opposite faces of the tables and exterior to the gear 9, which is preferably
located at the largest portion of the muller, the said muller is tapered off bluntly
to its apex g, and presents, intermediate of its apex.and the gear, a smooth grinding
surface.

page_text: The sleeve which carries the lower rotary table has fixed thereon a gear F¹ corre
sponding to the gear F, and a single driving pinion h on a drive shaft H provided
with a band pulley h¹ intermeshes with the two gears F and F¹, driving them, and
hence the tables, simultaneously in opposite directions. The rotary motion of the
tables D and D¹ in opposite directions also causes the mullers G to rotate upon
their axes by the gear connection between the mullers and the faces of the tables.
The ore to be pulverized is fed, together with water, into the open top b³ of the
top portion B of the casing past the tapered shield e located over the open upper
end of the vertical shaft C and thence down within the casing through suitable
openings d into an annular chamber d³ in the upper table and thence through
openings d near the centre of the table into the space between the two tables where
it becomes acted upon by the contact surfaces of the mullers and opposite tables as
it gradually finds its way outwardly to the opening between the outer edges of the
two tables and is forced thence upwardly around the upper table, a space being left
between the casing and the upper table for its passage back and into the upper open
end of the shaft C and thence down into the amalgamator I. The upper open end
of the shaft C may be provided with a guide for deflecting the crushed material
into its upper end, the said guide c and shield e being supported on the abutment c
by means of standards c³.
Water, in addition to that which enters the casing with the ore, is admitted
through a pipe K into a space between the lower revolving table and casing
and oil to keep the parts lubricated is admitted from a cup L at the top of the
casing down through a pipe extending within the upper end of the vertical
shaft C to a cross pipe which distributes it to the stuffing-box connected
with the lower table in which the shaft C rotates. Oil is also admitted
through a pipe L' to the stuffing box, forming a joint between the casing and the
sleeve C¹.
It is to be understood that the gear teeth on the mullers and the faces of the
rotating tables are to be hardened to form effective grinding surfaces as the ore
in passing from the inner to the outer space between the tables is forced to pass
between said teeth.
To accommodate pieces of ore of various sizes or masses of ore which shall vary
in hardness, the upper rotary table D is permitted to move up and down against
the tension of the spring E.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A grinding mill comprising upper and lower tables having grinding surfaces
between which the material is fed, means for rotating one of the tables relatively
to the other, a hollow delivery shaft at the axis of rotation of said rotary table
with a receiving mouth above the rotary table and means for directing the ground
material along the exterior of the upper table from the grinding surfaces to the
receiving mouth of the hollow delivery shaft, substantially as set forth.
2. The combination with the upper and lower grinding tables and means for
rotating them simultaneously in opposite directions,,of a hollow shaft having a
receiving mouth located above the upper table and the casing surrounding the
grinding tables and forming between it and the exterior of the upper table a
passageway to the receiving mouth of the hollow shaft, the said hollow shaft
forming an outlet for the pulverized ore after it has passed between the grinding
tables, substantially as set forth.
3. The combination with the grinding tables and means for rotating one of them
relatively to the other, of one or more mullers interposed between the opposite
faces of the grinding tables, the said mullers being geared to the opposite faces of
the grinding tables, substantially as set forth.
4. The combination with the casing and the rotating grinding tables located
therein, of a general outlet for the pulverized ore through the shaft at the centre

page_text: of the grinding tables and an amalgamating trough located in the bottom of the
casing beneath the lower table for amalgamating the ore which shall escape between
the lower table and the casing, substantially as set forth.
5. The combination with the grinding tables, of a casing having an amalga-
mating trough beneath the tables, the lower table forming a shield or cover over
the trough, substantially as set forth.
6. The combination with the grinding tables and means for rotating one of them
relatively to the other, of one or more mullers interposed between the opposite
faces of the grinding tables, the said mullers being provided with a series of
annular ribs and the opposite faces of the grinding tables being provided with a
corresponding series of annular grooves, the said mullers being geared to the
opposite faces of the grinding tables, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 5th day of February 1895.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.