Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
MODULAR PULVERIZER
Technical Field
[0001] The present relates to a pulverizer also known as a vertical grinding
mill which are normally
provided with a rotating shaft with a plurality of arms spinning thereabout
which generate a series
of air currents inside of a cylinder to pulverize, aerate, homogenize and/or
separate material.
Background
[0002] Solid materials such as garbage, rubbish or other solid materials have
been collected by
trucks and transported for disposal for many years.
[0003] Burkett developed a centrifugal mill sometime around in the mid-1970s
and ended up
with U.S. Patent No. 3,987,970 and others. The applicant's predecessor-in-
interest filed
Canadian Patent Application Nos. 2,125,797 and 2,147,666 for use with various
equipment and
methods for pulverizing rock and remediating soil utilizing an improved
pulverizer
configuration.
[0004] Still others have commercialized an embodiment of the Burkett mill and
are trying to sell
that design in the marketplace today. However, when attempting to build a
Burkett mill with
improvements, the applicant discovered there were components of that basic
design which could
be improved.
Summary
[0005] According to one aspect, there is provided an improved vertical
gyroscopic mill or
pulverizer having advanced capabilities.
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[0006] According to another aspect, there is provided a modular construction
for a pulverizer
mount so that the pulverizer can be made to be relatively simple in
construction and fabrication
characteristics to potentially reduce costs of the unit as well as to simplify
the building and/or
maintenance processes.
[0007] According to another aspect, there is provided an ability to replace
certain parts of a
pulverizer drum without having to replace all the parts should some part fail
or wear excessively.
[0008] Accordingly, a modular pulverizer is provided. Specifically, instead of
the housing being a
rolled piece of metal of a sufficient thickness to withstand impacts from
extremely rapidly rotating
materials thrown around the body of the pulverizer, the body is instead
divided into a series of
modular segments or panels, and for many embodiments those panels can be
interchangeable.
Additionally, the panels can have lips which cooperate with lips of adjacent
panels to provide a
location for connecting adjacent panels together. Additionally, these lips can
provide many
secondary functions that may or may not be critical to the process.
[0009] Additionally, a series of drum liner attachments can be attached
internally to the panels
and/or housings of other embodiments so that should any of the drum liner
panels be compromised
or worn out, a single panel and/or individual panels could be swapped out with
others without a
need to replace the entire housing. These easily accessible liners can also be
retained by the shelves
or other internal components.
[00010] Additionally, a discharge from the pulverizer can be made as a single
component so that
panels can possibly be substantially identical above the discharge. In fact,
one panel may hingedly
connect to another for some embodiments so that the panel provides internal
access.
According to one aspect, there is further provided a pulverizer comprising: a
top having
an inlet; a bottom having an outlet; a modular drum including a plurality of
planar panel portions
extending between the top and the bottom and connected together to define a
drum housing wall;
a rotating shaft having radially extending arms creating flow currents within
the pulverizer for
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reducing the size of product input fed into the inlet, the reduced product
input being discharged
through the outlet; a drum liner disposed inside the drum, the drum liner
including a plurality of
drum liner portions attached to the planar panel portions, each drum liner
portion being planar and
extending along a corresponding planar panel portion, each drum liner portion
being detachable
from the planar panel portion independently from the other drum liner
portions.
According to another aspect, there is also provided a pulverizer comprising: a
top having an inlet;
a bottom having an outlet; a modular drum comprising: a drum housing wall
comprising a plurality
of panels extending between the top and the bottom and connected together,
each panel
comprising: a pair of planar panel portions disposed in side-by-side relation
to each other to form
a seam therebetween, the pair of planar panel portions being angled with
respect to each other;
brace portions configured about a perimeter of the pair of planar panel
portions for securing the
same together; a drum liner disposed inside the drum housing wall and
including a plurality of
drum liner portions; a rotating shaft mounted within the drum housing wall and
having radially
extending arms creating flow currents within the pulverizer for reducing the
size of product input
fed into the inlet and produce a sized reduced material that is discharged
through the
outlet.According to another aspect, there is also provided pulverizer
comprising: a top having an
inlet; a bottom having an outlet; a modular drum comprising: a drum housing
wall comprising a
plurality of panels extending between the top and the bottom and connected
together, each panel
comprising: a pair of planar panel portions disposed in side-by-side relation
to each other to form
a seam therebetween, the pair of planar panel portions being angled with
respect to each other; a
shelf extending across the seam defined between the pair of planar panel
portions; a drum liner
disposed inside the drum housing wall and including a plurality of drum liner
portions; a rotating
shaft mounted within the drum housing wall and haying radially extending arms
creating flow
currents within the pulverizer for reducing the size of product imput into the
inlet and produce a
sized material that is discharged through the outlet.
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Brief Description of the Drawings
[00011] The particular features and advantages of the invention as well as
other objects will become
apparent from the following description taken in connection with the
accompanying drawings in
which:
Figure 1 is a pulverizer construction of the presently preferred embodiment of
the present
invention;
Figure 2 is an exploded construction view showing the components of a
pulverizer shown in Figure
1; and
Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of a pulverizer drum with drum liner
attachments as used with a
presently preferred embodiment of the invention as shown in Figures 1 and 2.
Detailed Description
[00012] Figure 1 shows a pulverizer 10, in accordance with one embodiment. The
pulverizer may
be constructed with a modular drum configuration. Specifically, a series of
panels
12,14,16,18,20,22, many if not all of which, may be similarly constructed may
be connected
together with adjacent lips 24,26 to form a drum 11. Specifically, the first
lip 24 may connect to a
second lip 26 of an adjacent panel 22 either internally or externally relative
to the inside of the
drum 11. The panels 12-22 may have bores such as a series of bores 28,30 etc.
to allow for a
connection to be made. Bolts may connect many adjacent panels 12-22 or the
lips 24,26 may be
otherwise connected for many adjacent panels 12-22 such as by welding, etc.
The bores 28,30 may
also be used for other features as will be described in further detail below,
and additionally, there
may be external connectors which may connect at shoulders 32,34 to assist in
connecting adjacent
panels such as 16,18 as well as feet 36,38 which may also connect together,
possibly to a bottom
portion 40. The feet 36,38 can connect to discharge piece or bottom portion
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40 such as at perimeter bores 42,44. Furthermore, perimeter bores 46,48 of
bottom portion 40 may be
useful to connect to perimeter bores 150,151 of the panels 12-22. A top can be
similarly or dissimilarly
connected.
[00013] In one embodiment, the panels 12-22 can be made similarly or even
identically and so that
the six panels 12-22 can come together to form a circumference about the
perimeter 50 of the
bottom portion 40. This way, the panels 12-22 need not be rolled after forming
to a precise
circumference. Instead, each of the panels 12-22 may have first and second
portions 52,53 which
may angularly meet together such as at about 30 degrees so that the six panels
12-22 can come
together to form a complete circumference about the perimeter 50 of the bottom
portion 40 so that
no material escapes between the adjacent panels 12-22 during operation by
connecting lips such as
lips 24,26 to one another or alternatively either in a permanent manner such
as by welding or using
connectors such as through bores 28,30 and/or other connection. It may also be
alternatively
possible that at least one of the panels 12-22 is configured as a door
relative to the other panels and
may selectively lock in position during use in a locked configuration and then
be able to be hingedly
connected to an adjacent panel such as having panel 16 be hingedly connected
to panel 14 while
having the capability of locking the panel 18 during operation while also
allowing the panel 16 to
rotate open to an open configuration during periods of non-use as one of
ordinary skill in the art
would understand to perform service internal to the drum 11.
[00014] Lips 24,26 are shown extending perpendicular to panel portions 52,53
and/or along
radius of the drum (if thought of as round) and/or housing 61 to facilitate
connection and/or
construction.
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[00015] Generally a consistent circumference about a large diameter
cylindrical housing has been
found to be expensive particularly when utilizing AR 400 or other metal. Few
machine shops have
been found to be willing to roll unitary drums to the desired shape. By
providing the panel
construction, the cost to form the housing or drum would significantly
decrease.
[00016] Furthermore, by providing six separate panels 12-22 to provide a drum
11, possibly
modular in nature, if any one of the panels 12-22 is damaged, they could
simply be replaced
without having to replace the entire housing. Furthermore, shipment of panels
12-22 as opposed
to a unitary drum is generally easier as well. The amount of steel can be
decreased and assembly
is believed to be greatly improved in efficiency compared to other options.
While six panels 12-
22 are shown each having two portions, such as the planar portions 52,53,
other embodiments
may have other numbers of panels 12-22, possibly with other numbers of
portions 52, 53 and/or
meeting at other angles. Furthermore, not all panels 12-22 need necessarily be
similarly
constructed for all embodiments.
[00017] While AR 400 or other high strength metal can be utilized, the various
improvements
disclosed herein can provide a design providing more panels than the six
panels 12-22 illustrated
and still other improvements.
[00018] Additionally, while making a modular drum construction, it is further
anticipated that
drum liner attachments could be modular in nature for at least some
embodiments.
[00019] Figure 3 shows first, second, third and fourth drum liner attachment
portions 54,56,58,60
forming a drum liner 59 which can be located against drum 11 or housing wall
61, i.e. along any of
the panels 12-22 shown in Figure 10, or against a drum or housing wall of any
other pulverizer as
is known in the art. Housing wall 61 may be curved (such as cylindrical) or
angled (i.e. made of
planar panel portions meeting at an angle) as described above or otherwise
along insides of the
drum 11. Specifically, the drum liner attachment portions 54-60 can
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have seams 62,66,67 as well as 68,70 which may be protected from contact such
as by shelves 72,74,76
as well as guards 78,79 at the top 80 and bottom 82 respectively.
[00020] By providing a drum liner 59 in the form of portions such as the
portions 54,56,58,60 it
may be possible to test different materials other than just AR400 rolled steel
as has traditionally
been utilized as a drum housing wall 61 in the past. It may be that there is a
low cost wear product
whether a fiberglass, an HDPE high density polyethylene, a ceramic, some
steels, chromium carbide
overlays, ceramic overlays and/or other materials that may benefit from being
utilized as any of the
drum liner attachment portions 54-60. As would be understood by the reference
to Figure 3 and
Figure 2, if four portions 54,56,58,60 were utilized per panel, then a total
of twenty-four total
portions 54,56,58,60 (four times six) could then be utilized. Of course, the
drum 11 could be less
wear resistant than prior art designs (or not) and the liner(s) 59 could
address impact internal to the
drum 11 and/or address other concerns. Internal surfaces 55 of the drum liner
59 could be curved,
like a cylinder or otherwise, or be planar regardless of the curvature or
planar nature of the housing
wall 61 depending upon the design objectives of the pulverizer 10.
[00021] Of course, other constructions could provide fewer or more portions 54-
60. Utilizing the
shelves 72,74,76 it has been found that they provide a particularly efficient
way to cover over the
seams 62,66,67 of adjacent portions as described above white other methods
could connect in
different ways. Additionally, the deflectors and/or shelves themselves may
also be made in
modular sets such as could be connected to each of the respective panels 12-22
such as in the
form of portions 54-60 illustrated in Figure 3 possibly only extending the
width 84 of a single
panel such as 18. Other portions 54-60 for other embodiments may be made to
extend
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circumferentially about the entire drum. Other portions may extend vertically
from top 80 to bottom 82 or
anywhere in between.
[00022] Deflectors and/or shelves as shown in Figure 1 may also be provided in
modular form for
at least some embodiments. The first and second planar portions 52,53 may be
representative for
each of the panels 12-22 or it may be that additional or fewer portions 52,53
would be provided
for a respective panel. Portions 52,53 may be planar and connect with an
interface such as at
interface 86 which may define a consistent angle from a top 88 to a bottom 90
of the panel 12.
Other embodiments could be constructed differently.
[00023] Furthermore, an intermediate lateral brace 92 could be provided for
structural support and
can be in addition to a bottom base 94 as well as an upper extension 96 for
structural integrity of
each of the panels 12-22. The brace 92, the bottom base 94 and the upper
extension 96 are shown
extending from lip to lip 24,26 of each panel, for at least some embodiments.
[00024] By constructing panels 12-22 and/or drum liner attachment portions 54-
60 in such a way
that the scalability can be increased, modularity can be made more efficient
and the cost can be
dropped to provide easier assembly for at least some embodiments in the
presently preferred
embodiment of the present invention.
[00025] Accordingly, a pulverizer 10 may comprise a top 80 having a perimeter
81, a bottom 82
having a perimeter 83, and a plurality of planar panel portions 52,53
connected together between
the top 80 to the bottom 82 to provide a modular drum 11 construction. The
pulverizer 10 also has
a rotating shaft 190 having radially extending arms 191,192,193 creating flow
currents within the
pulverizer 10 thereby reducing the size of product input 194 near the top and
discharged at the
bottom as output 195. Unlike prior art
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constructions, the panel portions 52,53 can be planar, and preferably modular,
rather than being formed of
a single cylindrically rolled drum, which can be rather expensive to produce.
[00026] The pulverizer 10 can connect the top 80 to the plurality of panel
portions 52,53 as well
the bottom 82. The top 80 can have an inlet 196 while the bottom has an outlet
197 whereby material
to be pulverized is fed in the inlet 196 as input 194, broken into smaller
pieces, and then discharged
from the outlet 197 as output 195.
[00027] Panels 12,14,16,18,20,22 and/or others can have multiple panel
portions 52,53, such as
first and second panel portions 52,53. Some, many or even all of the panels 12-
22 may be similarly
constructed. The panels 12-22 can have feet 36,38 which connect to the bottom
82, such as with
respective bores 150,151 etc. and 46,48, etc. in each receiving connectors
therethrough, or
otherwise. The panels 12-22 can have lips 24,26 whereby adjacent lips 24,26
may connect with
one another to assist in forming the drum 11. The lips 24,26 may also have
shoulders 32 which
can provide connection locations on an external surface of the drum 11.
[00028] For some embodiments, at least one panel portion 52,53, if not a panel
12-22, forms the
door as shown in Figure 1 or otherwise by being hingedly connected to another
panel portion 52
or 53 (if not another panel 12-22) and having a locked shut configuration and
an open configuration
as described above, or otherwise.
[00029] Internal to the drum 11 can be at least one drum liner 59, if not a
plurality of drum liner
portions 54-60. The drum liner 59 can meet the top 80 and bottom 82 at seams
68,70, and drum liner
portions 54-60 can meet one another at seams 62,66,67. The seams
62,66,67,68,70 can be covered
with at least one of shelves 72,74,76 and/or guards 78,79. Shelves 72,74,76
can assist in directing
flow in the pulverizer 10.
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[00030] Numerous alterations of the structure herein disclosed will suggest
themselves to those
skilled in the art. However, it is to be understood that the present
disclosure relates to the preferred
embodiment of the invention which is for purposes of illustration only and not
to be construed as a
limitation of the invention. All such modifications which do not depart from
the spirit of the
invention are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.
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