Improvements in Grinding and Amalgamating Pans.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Mar., 1890-Accepted, 19th Apr., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Grinding and Amalgamating Pans.
We WILLIAM ROBERTS of Petersham near Sydney in the Colony of New South
Wales Mechanical Engineer and HOWARD RAYMOND BELDEN of Sydney aforesaid
Publisher 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 improvements in Grinding and Amalgamating Pans and
it has been specially devised in order to produce machines of such description as will
thoroughly and quickly crush grind or disintegrate metalliferous and other materials
and if desired effectively amalgamate precious metals contained therein.
These improvements in Grinding and Amalgamating Pans consist first in the
special construction of such a pan having as its essential features a scries of concentric
adjoining annular basins or grinding faces in or on one or more of which is a set of
revolving mullers and in or on each of which is a set of suspended drags or sliding
disintegrators; secondly in the combination and arrangement with the wearing face
of grinding basins or pans of drags or sliding disintegrators having part of their
working surfaces fluted or corrugated; and thirdly in the combination and arrange-
ment with the grinding basins or pans having disintegrating mullers and drags of
means for lifting such mullers and drags from out of said pans.
But in order that this invention may be clearly understood reference will now be
made to the drawings herewith in which Figure 1 is a sectional elevation and
Figure 2a plan of an improved Grinding and Amalgamating Pan constructed
according to our improvements.
aa and as are adjoining concentric annular basins or pans.-B central shaft.-
C revolving mullers. d d and d³ drags or sliding disintegrators.-E feed pipe.-
F discharge receiver.-G lifting lever. A false removable bottoms or wearing
surfaces. A mercury wells.-B¹ revolving discs.-B arms.-B³ circular splash
board. B teasers.-C spindles.-C2 bearings.-C3 back plates.-D' false or
removable faces.
D² corrugations. D' supporting bolts.- central hopper.-
E distributing pipes.-F¹ discharge shoot or lander.-G¹ suspended fulcrum.-G² collar
bracket and G supporting brackets.-G elevating screw.-G band wheel.
-
In operation the tailings or other metalliferous material or sand &c. is supplied
with water from a convenient receiver or feed box and the shaft B is set in motion
say by bevel gearing as shewn, and when amalgamation is carried on mercury is
supplied in pans and wells A³. The material is carried to hopper E' and is distributed
therefrom by pipes E to the outer part of outer pan a' and from thence it passes
through the mercury in the well A of pan a¹ to the upwardly inclined grinding
surfaces and is crushed ground or disintegrated on said first surface A¹ by mullers
and drags d and thence passing under circular splash board B through mercury
well A of pan a is further ground on second surface A¹ by drags and passing
under circular splash board through outer well A of pan a² it finally passes
between third surface A where drags d pass over it and thoroughly reduce it to an
impalpable powder which passes under circular splash board B3 through final mercury
well A on inner side of pan a³ to receiver F and is carried away to waste or for
further treatment by lander F. In all the wells A' teasers similar to B* are
preferably placed outside the splash board B³. The disc B₁ being vertically loose on
shaft B is free to slide up and down as the mullers Croll over the material on the bottom
of pan a¹ and the weight and wear of said mullers regulate the degree of intimacy
of drags d' and d with bottom of the pans and this intimacy is further adjusted
by bolts D³ so that the grinding surfaces A and D' just touch but have no grip one
on the other. As the drags did and travel around the flutes or corrugations

page_text: therein allow the pulp to pass freely under instead of being pushed in front. In order
that the operations may be easily started after stoppage with pulp in the pans the
hand wheel G is revolved and by means of lever G under collar bracket G lifts the
whole of the gear on disc B clear of the obstructing pulp in the pans.
It is to be understood that it is not material to the working of this invention
whether the pans proper or the grinders proper have motion imparted to them so
long as there is relative motion that is that either the disc B and its attachments is
still and the pans a a² and a³ revolve or as is preferred and as shown the former are
revolved and the latter are stationary.
As a modification the inner pans might be dispensed with and a novel amalgamator
constructed having sets of revolving mullers and sets of suspended drags or sliding
disintegrators working therein.
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. The improved Grinding and Amalgamating Pan the essential features being
a series of adjoining concentric basins or grinding pans in one or more of which is a
set of revolving mullers, and in each of which is a set of suspended drags or sliding
disintegrators, constructed and arranged substantially as herein described and explained
and as illustrated in the drawings.
Second. In Grinding and Amalgamating Pans the combination and arrangement
with a grinding face, of drags or sliding disintegrators having part of their grinding
surfaces fluted or corrugated substantially as herein described and explained.
Third. In Grinding and Amalgamating Pans the combination and arrangement
with a wearing face and mullers and disintegrators grinding thereon of a lever and
other mechanical parts or other means for freeing said grinding parts from the pan
and wearing faces substantially as herein described and explained.
Fourth. In Grinding and Amalgamating Pans the combination and arrangement.
with and in an annular basin or wearing surface of a set of revolving mullers and a
set of drags or sliding disintegrators adapted to travel arcund together in said basins
substantially as herein described and explained.
Fifth. In Grinding and Amalgamating Pans the combination and arrangement
with and in annular Lasins having set of revolving mullers drags or grinders, of the
wearing surfaces in said basins set with upward and centrally inclined faces
substantially as herein described and explained.
Sixth. In Grinding and Amalgamating Pans the combination and arrangement
with and in annular basins having mullers and grinders and mercury wells of circular
splash boards to minimise currents and compel the travelling material to enter said
mercury wells substantially as herein described and explained.
Seventh. In Grinding and Amalgamating Pans the combination and arrangement
with annular basins having mullers and grinders and mercury wells with circular
splash boards, of teasers or travelling stirrers in said wells outside said splash boards
substantially as herein described and explained.
Dated this Third day of February One thousand eight hundred and ninety
WILLIAM ROBERTS.
H. R. BELDEN.