Improvements in Discharge Shoots, specially Adapted for Feeding Ore to Stamp Batteries.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Dec., 1896-Accepted, 30th Jan., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Discharge Shoots, specially Adapted for Feeding
Ore to Stamp Batteries.
I, ALEXANDER WOODROFFE GOYDER, of Hillgrove, in the Colony of New
South Wales, Assayer, 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 :-
Whilst this invention is applicable to the intermittent feeding of various
materials from shoots, it is chiefly intended to provide improvements in that
class of discharge shoots by which ore is fed automatically in regulated though
varying quantities to stamp batteries; following the principle that the less the
quantity of ore on the die as the stamp descends, the greater should be the
quantity of ore immediately fed into the stamp box from the shoot, and vice versa.
Although there are various contrivances known for automatic ore feeding,. in
which it is attempted to follow this principle (which has proved to be one of
great economic value), none of these contrivances meet with general acceptance,
band feeding being still almost universally prevalent in Australia aud some other.
countries. The original, simple inclined shoot, to which were administered
recurring jerks, having been discarded as too crude, more complex motions and
mechanisms have since been introduced. My appliance however is light, compact,
of few parte, comparatively inexpensive, and not easily put out of order, whilst
I so perfect the construction and arrangement of the shoot and other parts as
to cause the ore to leave said shoot more nearly in accordance with the principle
above enunciated than it does from other shouts known to me. In the motion
given to my shoot, there is no circular, lateral or forward and backward move-
ment, but simply an up and rocking down motion, the shoot being pivoted to its
frame. I shall now proceed to describe the general construction of my ore feeder.
and afterwards point out its novel features..
In the drawings accompanying this specification Figure 1 represents a side
elevation partly in section, showing an ore feeder provided with my improvements.
Figure 2 shows an elevation (from the stamp battery end) of the same partly in
section on line Z-Z in Figure 1. This end I also call the delivery or discharge
end. Figure 3 shows an end elevation of the same from the opposite end to that
in Figure 2. Figure 4 is a plan view from above on the line Y-Y in Figure 1.
Parts are shown broken away and parts are dotted in various figures for the
purpose of more clearly illustrating the construction. The same letters of
reference represent the same parts in the various figures.
In this drawing A is a shoot made of plate iron or other suitable material having
Bides B and delivery edge C, an important peculiarity of which is a transverse
lip D of bar iron which is neither broad nor bigh, say one inch wide and half an
inch or rather more deep, fixed across and upon the whole length of the said
edge C. The inclination of my shoot is materially steeper than in ordinary shoots,
which are not provided with a lip on their delivery edge. The discharge end of
the shoot has fastened to it a fork E which forms. a bridge over the top of said
end, and has a vertical shank F provided with a recess G, within which are inserted
first an elastic block H (as of rubber), then a non elastic block 1 (as of metal),
and lastly the foot K (not rigidly fastened in) of an ordinary jogging rod L
(hereafter called the jogger) which extends upward and is provided with an

page_text: ordinary adjustable buffer N, adapted at certain times to be struck by the underside
of the tappet on a stamper stem P. Figure 1 shows the tappet when descending
and just beginning to strike the buffer. The jogger works in a guide (not shown).
so that the motion at its base shall be a vertical one. The shoot A is secured to a
shaft Rat a point approximately under the back end of the base of the feed
hopper S, and the ends of said shaft are journaled at T on the frame work, so that
the shoot is adapted to rock up and down with the shaft as a pivot. A vertically
adjustable comb U is connected to the front of the hopper S. This comb has 2 or
more teeth which depend in front of the discharge opening at the bottom of said
hopper, the vertical adjustment of the comb. being secured by having a slot V
therein through which pass screw threaded bolts W on which are nuts for holding
the comb. in place. X is a vertically arranged steel spiral spring, situated below
and attached at one end to the bottom of the shoot at the upper end of the latter.
The lower end of this spring is attached by a screw bolt M to a cross bearer on the
framing. The function of the spring is to sharply restore the shoot to.its previous
position after its battery end has been swung down by the jogger. I do not how-
ever claim any novelty in respect of the spring. An adjustable plate having &
horizontal base and a slotted upright arm 6 at each side is fastened to the
framing in such a position that the base 5 is at a greater or less distance (according
to the adjustment) below the bottom of the upper end of the shoot when the latter
has been raised by the action of the jogger. The adjustment is effected by
tightening the nuts on bolts which pass through the framing and through the slots
in the upright arms 6: The position of this plate regulates the angle of inclination
of the shoot when the bottom of the upper end of the latter is brought down to
its normal position (i.e. resting on the plate 5) by the tension of the spring. In
using this invention the ore is fed into the hopper S, falling on to the inclined
surface of shoots A and sliding down said incline until stopped by the presence of
the lip D, so that a greater body of ore accumulates immediately behind the
edge C than there would be in the case of there being lip D. The comb U
(necessary to prevent too great a body of ore sliding down at one time), when
properly adjusted allows a sufficient quantity of ore to come to a stop just behind
the said lip D for the effective operation of this invention.
no
The spring X can be tightened up or loosened by operating the screw bolt M so
as to give the spring such abruptness and force of action as the user finds
desirable. Each time that a jolt is communicated to the shoot (by the action of
the jolter L actuated by the kick of the tappet against the buffer, immediately
followed by the rebound produced by the spring), a quantity of ore will be jolted
out of the shoot over the lip, the said ore thus being fed to the stamp battery, the
quantity varying with the nature of the jolt. As is the case with other ore feeders,
the jolt is greater the less ore there is on the die when the stamp is descending,
secing that the stamp then desceuds a greater distance.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The combination of an inclined ore shoot pivoted upon its frame and having
a lip as D at its delivery end, with a feed hopper as S provided with a comb as U
substantially as set forth;
2. The combination with the parts claimed in the first claim, of a yoke as E
having a bollow shank and (in order) an elastic block, a non elastic block, and the
foot of a jogger fitted therein substantially as hereinbefore set forth.
3. The combination with the parts claimed in the first claim, of a spring as X
and au adjustable plate as 5 having slotted upright arms as 6 substantially as and
for the purposes set forth.
4. The combination with an inclined ore shoot, of a fork as E having a
shank as F having a recess as G; and (in order) an elastic block H, uon elastic
block 1, and foot K of a jogger inserted in such recess all-substantially as set forth.

page_text: 5. In combination with the frame of a shoot, an adjustable plate having a.
horizontal base and upright arms for regulating the angle of inclination of the
shoot when the rebound of said shoot-has been effected by a spring substantially
as set forth.
6. The combination as a whole of the parts constituting my improvements in
shoots substantially as illustrated in the drawings with reference to the preceding-
description.
Dated this 29th day of December 1896.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.