Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
I
MODULAR PULVERIZER
TECHNICAL FIELD
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
Solid materials such as garbage, rubbish or other solid materials have been
collected by trucks and transported for disposal for many years.
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.
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
According to one aspect, there is provided an improved vertical gyroscopic
mill or
.. pulverizer having advanced capabilities.
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
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construction and fabrication characteristics to potentially reduce costs of
the unit
as well as to simplify the building and/or maintenance processes.
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.
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.
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.
.. 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 reducing the size of
product
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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 having radially extending arms creating flow currents within the
pulverizer
for reducing the size of product input into the inlet and produce a sized
material
that is discharged through the outlet.
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According to another aspect, there is also provided a method for producing a
sized-
reduced material, comprising: feeding a material into a pulverizer as defined
hereinabove to reduce a size of the material and thereby produce the sized-
reduced material within the modular drum of the pulverizer; discharging the
sized-
reduced material from the outlet of the pulverizer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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
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.
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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 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.
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.
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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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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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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.
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
circumferentially about the entire drum. Other portions may extend vertically
from
top 80 to bottom 82 or anywhere in between.
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
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a consistent angle from a top 88 to a bottom 90 of the panel 12. Other
embodiments
could be constructed differently.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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
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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.
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.
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.
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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