CA1265497A - Counter flow impact rock breaker - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE:
A rock ring for a rock breaker having an impeller mounted on a vertical axis. The rock ring is formed to retain a quantity of rock in which the flow of material from the impeller creates a rock race.
The rock race is formed in a "sling-like" shape by means of spaced rock race control members. Primary rock race control members are placed more closely to the impeller than secondary rock race control members. The method of breaking is primarily by a flow of rock from the impeller table which result in mid-air collisions with a counterflow of rocks which flow from the rock race in the rock ring.

Description

~ 37 ~ C W NTER FLO~ PACT ROCK ~REAKER

3 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENT ~h.
4 This invention relates to a rock breaking machine which propels rock or ore material in a generally horizontal plane from an impeller 6 table ~ounted on a vertical shaft. Specifically the rock material is 7 primarily reduced in size by breaking when rock ~ ung from the impeller strikes other rocks instead of hitting the side of the 9 machine or specially constructed Metal anvils or metal blocks. The trade refers to this type of rock breaking machine as a lI ~rock-on-rDckU breaker. All previous rock-on-rock machines, ho~Jever, 13 effected breaking by ~ inging the rock at a stationary rock or a rock moYing more 51DW1Y away from the faster ~Dving rock. As more fully ]4 discussed below, the rock-on-rock breaker, set forth in this 1~ specification, breaks the rocks primarily by rnid-air collisions 16 between streams of rocks traveling in counter directions.
I7 The use of impellers to fling rock against a hard surface is 18 well documented in Burk U.S. 4,390,136, June 26, lg83. The history 19 of the use-of metal blocks is set forth in Burk U.S. 4,389,022, ~une 21, 1983 and Burke U~S. 4,126,280, ~ovember 21, 1978.
21 Use of the classic Urock-on-rocku principle was first shown in 23 Danyluke U.S. 3,180,582 to puiverize rock and ore to a dust-like fineness. The Denyluke impeller flung the rock or ore against a wall 24 o~ previously fractured rock ~aterial and the fine particles worked their way up a slope of the ~aterial and out the top of the housing.

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~ 7 2 In U.S. 2,9~2,7~4, July 18, 1961, Behnke disclosed a similar .~ apparatus for reducing the size ~f rocks and producing sand. There

4 is evidence that Behnke made a high prop~rtion of dust as well as r sand since Applicant is unaware of the existence of ~he machine.
~ On September 15, 1964 Behnke received U.S. Patent 3,14~,84D for 6 another machine to make sand and break rocks, this time using a 7 combination of meta? blocks and the rock-on-rock principle. This 8 machine too has disappeared from the commercial scene apparently ~or 9 the same reason as his previous machinej viz. it produces a high ~0 percentage of minus 200 sieve material or dust.

I2 MacDonald, U.S. 3,970~257, July 20, 1976 discloses a ~3 rock-on-rock machine. ln its commercial form, the impeller i5 driven by a plurality of belts from an off-set electr~c motor rather than lg the vertically mounted motor as shown. The ~achine is a recent ]~ addition to the commercially available machines ~nd has been tested ]6 and used. The MacDonald machine, like Danyluke, pulverizes rDck, but rather than being a virtue, this pulverization is a waste. ~he ~8 MacDonald machine consistently produces 18 to 20S of ~inus 200 sieve 19 material or dust which is unusable in construction and must be washed out with scrubbers before the material can be shipped, In addition 2~ to producing too many fines, the MacDonald machine uses an inordinate 22 amount of electrical energy to produce commercial rock products and 223 sand from ~uarry rock due to the construction of the machine. An annular ring of soft pulverized material builds up around the wall of the housing which cushions the rock flung from the impeller rather 2G than breaking it. Further, the material, as in the early Danyluke 27 machine, is deflected upwardly, rather than having a high percentage 28 of fractured rocks fall down through the machine.

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~ It is believed that over pulverization in present 2 Urock-on-rock" impact breakers such as the J~acDonald machine is due 3 to the fact that a hi~h percentage of rock breakage occurs sirnp1y by 4 the flow of rocks moving at a high velocity from the impeller and striking rocks either imbedded in ~he annular housing ring or those 6 which are rolling circumferentially around ~he housing ring. Thus, 7 the rock is repeatedly bombarded with a steady stream of rocks hur'led S fro~ the impeller. Before the fractured rock can drop down throuyh 9 the machine~ a high percentage has been pulYerized~
SUMMARY ~F THE I~YENTION:
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~l The present invention presents an entirely new principle in the l2 rock and ore breaking industry. Rock breakage occurs in three ways.
13 First, a tmall percentage of rocks which are traveling at high spe~d 14 as they le~ve the impeller, impact at high velocity against metal parts of the annular ring especially the rock race control members or 16 pins. Second, rocks traveling at high velocity after leaving the 17 impeller impact directly upon rock either imbedded in the material ~8 held by the annular ring or rolling along the surface of the annu'lar 1~ ring. Finally~ by far the highest percentage of rock breakage occurs between the rocks traveling at high velocity as they leave the '2~ impeller and those rocks which have struck the material in the 22 annular ring at an oblique angle and have been-~,irected back towards ~3 the impeller. In other words, most of the breakage occurs in the 24 mid-air collisions between the flow of rock from the impeller and the counterflo~ of rock from the annular ring. These collisions between 2~ the direct flow and counter flow streams of rock are by no means the 27 result of high velocity impacts of rock traveling in opposite 31' ~. i .

. ~i;S~37 , directi~ns, but rather the rock irnpacts are oblique impacts.
Further, the impeller directs ~he rock flow at a target high on the 4 annular ring and the plurality of rock races formed in the fill material of the annular ring be~ween the rock race con~rol members or pins directs the rock downwardly as the rock flow is turned in a direction back toward the impeller~ Thus> the mid-air collision ~ 7 impacts of the rocks result in a high percentage of broken rock being !~ 8 struck downwardly through the housing of the Inachine. Because of the downward cast of the counterflow stream, only a small percentage of ~ rock fragments are struck upwardly where they will be struck again as 4 1] they fall downwardly through the direct flow of rock from the impeller and the c~unter~ ow of rock from the annular ring.
i~ ~3 Whîle some prior impeller machines may haYe cast the rock ~4 radially outwardly, the present impeller, due to the configuration of the pin assemblies on the impeller~ flings the rock flow at an angle 16 of between 45 to 50 to the radius of the impeller. It is this 17 forward momentu0 that makes possible the counterflow of material ~, ~B which strikes the waterial held in the annular ring at an angle, aigs : 19 a "sling-like" shaped race in the material in the annular ring and is li~erally ~ ung back toward the impeller at high speed like the 2] action of a sling shot.
22 An object of the present invention is to provide an annular 23 breaker ring haYing a low initial cost in a rock breaker mach;ne.
24 ~nother object is to provide an annular breaker ring in a rock breaker which uses less energy per ton of material produced.
26 A further object i5 to provide a rock breaker which produces less waste material in the form of minus 200 sieve size material or 28 dust.

II ~L~ 3 7 ] Still another object i5 to provide a ro~k breaker which has a 2 ~inimum number of parts and requires little mairltenance or 3 replacement of parts.
4 A still further object îs to proYide a machine in which replacement parts may be easily and quickly installed to reduce the down ~ime of the ~achine.
~ The present machine is constructed so that the direction of the 8 impeller may be periodically reversed. This assists in cleaning the 9 ~achine and evens the wear on the impeller as well as on the parts in ~0 the annular ring. The annular ring is vertically adjustable so tha~
the impact of the stream of rocks flung from the impeller may be fine 12 tuned ~o s~rike the annular ring at the optimum elevation.
13 The present machine uses a relatively low impel1er speed in ]4 contrast to the high speed impellers in prior art rock-on-rock ~5 machines.
~6 Finally, the present annular ring is constructed as an integral ]7 unit which can be lifted from the housing for repairs, reconstruction 18 or even interchanging with the annular ring which holds metal 19 breaklng bloo~s as disclosed in ~y prior patent, U.S. 4,389,022.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS-21 Figure 1 is a side view of a rock breaker illustrating ~y new 22 annular rock ring.
23 Figure 2 is a top plan sectional view of the rock breaker shown 2~ in Figure 1 taken generally along the line 2-2. A cut-away portion shows the top wall ~ember removed to illustrate the build-up of rock 26 material in the annular rock ring. In this Yiew a schematic of the 27 ~id-air collisions of the rock is illustrated.

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-5-~ Figure 3 is an exploded view of the crusher illustrated in 2 Figure 1 illustratinq the fact that the annular rock ring may b~
3 removed fror,l the rock breaker housing as a unit.
4 Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional vie~ of a portion of ~he annular rock ring taken generally in ~he vicinity of line~ 4-4 of

6 Figure 1.

7 Figure 5 is a top plan sectional view of a portion of the S annular rock ring taken along line 5-5 of Figure 4 illustra~ing the 9 attachment of one of the rock race control members or pins.
Figure 6 is a cross sectional view of a portion of the annular ]1 rock ring taken along the line 6-6 of Figure 2.
i2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE _NYENTION:
13 The counter~ow impact rock breaker consists of a rock delivery ~ means such as a funnel 1 which receives rock to be broken from a ~5 conveyor not shown. The rock drops through a chute 2 and on to a 16 hori~ontal ~isposed impeller table~3.
~7 Yane means 4 connected to the impeller table ~ ing the rock 18 material outward7y at angle 5 to the radius of the table. Several 19 types of vanes may be used so long as the rock is ~ ung from the table at an angle. One of the preferred forms of impeller vanes is 21 shown in Burk U~S. 4~390,136. Figure 2 illustrates a rock 6 which is 22 flung from the table and follows approximately the path of arrow 7.
23 The rock breaker impeller is turned by ~otor ~ operatively 2g connected to the table by vertical shaft 9. The impeller table is preferably rotated by a vertically mounted motor but may also be 26 turned by standard motors mounted outside the housing and connected 27 to the vertical shaft by a plurality of drive belts. As shown in 32 ~6-~ .
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~ Figure 3, an annular rock ring 10 surrounds the impeller table. rhe 2 rock ring is an integral member which can be lifted off the rock 3 breaker housing as a unit for repair, cleaning; exchange or whatever purpose and then returned to the housing as a unit~ The rock ring is formed with an annular base mer~er 11, an annular back wall member 6 12, and a top wall member 13.
7 ` The rock ring traps a quantity of broken rock 14. The length

8 of the annular base member must be sufficient to ~rap a quantity of

9 rock to protect the back wall member. The height of the rock ring is selected so that most of the rocks ~ ung from the impeller will strike the rock ring. The key to the operation of the rock cell, ]2 howeYer, is the use of a plurality of prir,lary rock race control 13 me~bers 15 and a plurality of secondary rock race control mewbers 14 16. These control members shape the face of the rock fill 14 which create the uni~ue counterflow of rock which results in the mid-air 16 collisions and breakage of rock flowing fr~m the impeller. As shown ~7 - in Figure 2, each primary rock race control member consists of a ~8 metal mer~er mounted on the annular rock ring and is spaced at 19 selected intervals around the inner periphery of the annular base member. ~he secondary rock ra e control r,lembers are mounted on the 21 annular rock ring and are spaced at selected intervals between the 22 primary rock race control members and are spaced radially outwardly 23 from the primary rock race control mer~ers. Both the primary and 2~ secondary rock race sontrol mer~ers are spaced from the annular back- --wall member a sufficient distance to permit the formation of a sling 2G shaped rock race as shown by the nu~ber 17 between each of the ~9 3i 3~ _7 :; , . . , ' ~L~ 37 ] primary rock race control members for directing the O ow of rocks 2 ~ ung fro~ the irnpeller table back toward the impeller table.
3 A housing means 18 supports the annular ring and is formed with an annular opening which is defined between outer wall 19 and inner wall 20 for the passage of rock therethrough.
The primary and secondary rock race contro'l me~bers are preferably cylindrically shaped pins which extend from ~he annular base member to the annular top wall member of the,annular rock ring.
The primary and secondary rock race con~rol member pins may have the ~0 identical size and ~hape for economy of manufacture.
1~ Preliminary ~ests havé shown that placement of the secondary ~2 rock race control members approximately mid-way between the' primary 13 rock race contrcl members results in a satisfactory rDck race ~ configurat~on in the broken rock material 14.
~5 It is expected that some wear will occur in the rock race ]~ control ~e~bers. For thi~ reason; a plurality of openings 21 are formed in the annular top wall member permitting insertion of each of 18 the rock race control members through one of the openings.
1') As shown in Figure 1, a vertical adjustment mounting r.~ans 22 2() is connected to the annular rock ring and $o the housing to provide 2~ selective adJustment of the annular rock ring with respect to the 22 elevation of the r~ck impeller tablé. This may consist of a ~ plural,ity of brackets 23 for rotatably holding a bolt 24 formed with 2~ a threaded distal end 25. A plurality of threaded brackets 26 receive the threaded end of bolt 24 and are attached to a flange 27 2G attached to the annular base member of the rock ring. If, for :~0 ~2 ~ -8-.. . . ... ..

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~ example, it is found that the strealn of rocks Flung froln the ir,lpeller 2 is striking too high on the rock ring, nuts 2~ welded to bolts 24 ar~
3 simply rotated to lower the rock ring. In like manner, if the rock is striking too lo~ on the rock ring, the bolts are simply rotated in the opposite direction and the entire rock ring is raised 6 PreFerably9 the main strearn of rocks from ~he impeller table should 7 strike the approxi~ate center of the rock ring.
S Although more experimentation is yet to be done on the spacing 9 ~f the primary rock race control memhers, it has been found that satisfactory results are obtained by placins the rock race control ~e~bers about 22 inches apart on center about the rock ring.
12 Since a great many mid-air collision impacts occur between the 13 stream of rock~ flowing from the irnpeller table and the counter flow ~4 oF rocks ~manatinq from the rock ring, it is important to protect the ~5 walls of the housing. As shown in Figure l, a primary annular shelf ~6 28 consisting of an angular member having a hori~ontal leg 29 and a 17 ` vertical leg 30 is mounted below the rock ring. The vertical leg is ~8 welded to outer wall l9 and horizontal leg 29 catches rocks 31 wh;ch ~9 build to an approximately 45 degree angle as shown by sloping face 32.
A secondary shelf 33 having a vertical wall 34 connected to 21 outer wall l9 and a horizontal leg 35 which catches rock 36 on a ~2 slope wall 37 of about 45 degrees is mounted below the primary 23 annular shelf.
24 As added protection to the housing, it is preferable to attach an upper annular rock shield member 3~ to the top wall member 13 oF
26 .the annular rock ring along the inner perimeter 39. The upper rock 27 shield may be attached at about a 45 degree angle and preferably has 28 a hardened surFace 40.

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~ A lower annular rock shleld m~r~er 4l is connected to the 2 annular ba e me~ber ll along the inner perimeter 42 o~ the rock r~ny ~ and extends downwardly at about a 4$ degree angle. Pre~erably g s~rface 43 is hardened For longer lastiny wear.
As shswn in Figures 2, 4, 5 and 6, the rock race control G members are formed in a generally cylindrical shape with a generally 7 rectangular protrusion 44 extending from a side wall portion thereof 8 and protrusions such as a cylindrical shaped boss 45 extend from the 9 top wall 46 and cylindrical shaped bosses 47 extend from the bo~tom wall 48 and register with openings in plate members 54 and base me~ber ll. As shown in Figure 5, a plurali~y of socket members 4~
~2 are connec~ed to ~he annular back wall rnember lO and have a U-shap~d 13 me~ber 50 dimensioned for sliding regi,stration with the generally ]~ rectangular pro~rusion 44 connected to each of the rock race control members. A holding plate member 51 is connected to the U-shaped lG member and the annular back wall ~O.
17 As addittonal support for the rock race control members, a 18 pl~Jrality of U-shaped upper and lower ftanges 52 and 53 are connected 19 to the annular top wall member and the annular base member respectiYely and slidably register with the rock race control members.
21 As shown in Figures 2, 4 and 6, holding plate members 54 are 22 formed for removeable attachment to the top walt of the annular rock 23 ring covering the openings and are formed with an opening 55 for 24 registering receipt of the protrusions 45 extending from the top wall of the rock race control members.
2G METHOD OF BREAKING ROCK:
27 The rock breaking apparatus set forth in this application 28 provides a structure for breaking rock by a method not`heretofore 29 employed. All so called "rock-on-rock" crushers and horizontal 33o 32 -lO-1 impeller cr~shers break ~he rock by flinging them against either a 2 hard metal surface or a pile of accumulated rocks located on a 3 housing wall. After the rocks break, they fall downwardly out of the 4 way. In some crushers, t~le rock remains trapped for a time at the housing wall or is eve~ deflected upwardly before falling downwardly.
G The method for breaking rocks in the present app~ication I consists in flinging a stream of rocks from the impeller table in a X horizontal plane in a direction making an angle 5 with a radius of 9 the table. This angle is determined largely by the type and shape of the vanes on the impeller table. One form of vane is shown in Figure ~1 2 in which a series of vanes 4 consisting of three pins 57, ~8 and 59 ~2 are arran~ed roughly in the shape of an equilateral triangle.
]3 Material fills in between the pins leaving a fill surface, have an ~4 arcuate shape 6~ as shown in Figure 2. When the table is turning in ~5 a clockw7se direction as shown by arrow 61, head pin 57 and lead pin 58 make an angle 5 with a radial ~ine fro~ the center of the table.
ll This angle is roughly 45 to 50 degrees. Thus, instead of striking 18 the housing at a 90 de~ree angle, the rocks are thrown at an angle ~ toward the housing wall. The annular rock ring as stated above 2() retains a quantity Gf rock fill spaced fro~ the impeller table at 21 substantially the same elevation as the table. A plurality of 2 primary rock race contrDl members are spaced at intervals around the 23 inner perimeter of the annular ring. Also as set forth above, a 2g plurali-ty of secondary rock race control members are spaced at 2~ -intervals bet~een the primary rock race contro? members. The rock 2G race control members are not primarily used as a breaking surface.
27 Instead, the rock race control members cause the formation ~f a 2~

~ plurality of short sling shaped rock races 17 in the fill material in 2 the annular ring between ~he primary rock race control mer,~ers. As 3 shown in Figure 2, the rock race 17 consists of a steeply angled 4 ~irst portion indicated by the bracket 62. The first portion is located as shown in Figure 2 when the impeller is turning clockwise as shown by arrow 61 immediately to the left of the primary rock race 7 control memher and extends about one half the distance to the 8 secondary rock race control ~ember~ At point 63, ~he rock race 17 g takes a sudden turn and the race follows a path 64 shown by- bracket ~0 64 in the direction of the secDndary rock race control member 1~.
il Note that a small sector 65 of secondary rock race control member 16 ~2 facing the impeller table remains exposed. As shown in Figure 3, 13 sector 65 sf the exposed race control only represents the mid-pDrtion 14 since the upper and lower ends are i~bedded in fill rnaterial 14. As ~5 shown ~n Figure 3, the upper ~ill material has a face 66 which ~G approximates the angle of face 4D~of upper annular rock shield 38 and 17 ~ the lower face 67 is angled at about a 45 degree angle. The end of ~8 , the race 17 is a portion represented by bracket 6B extending from the 19 secondary to the next primary rock race control member and has a slightly concave shape. The primary rock control me~ber has an 21 exposed sector 69 which as shown in Figures 2 and 3 extends almost 22 frcn the top to the bottom of the rock race~;control member. The 23 effect of the creation of the rock race is to cause a counterflow of 2~ rocks ~hich are directed back toward the impeller table where they are struck by the stream of rocks flowing from the impeller table.
2G Thus a series of mid-air collisions occur between the flow and 27 counterflow of rock. A scheMatic simulating this method of breaking ~s~

1~ rocks i5 sh~wn in Figure 2. Arrow 70 represents a stredm of r~tks 2 Flung fr~m the impeller table. One of the rocks, for example, 3 reaches the fill material 14 in the rock ring just past the primary 4 rock race control member 15. While some breakage may occur against the rock fill, primarily, the rock 71 strikes the fill at a glancing 6 blow, cutting out some of the rock fill 14 and continues on a path 7 along the sling shaped race l7 shown by the curved arrow 72. By now X rock 71 has been broken to a slight1y smaller rock 71' and has ~ reached a`point as shown in Figure 2 where it is struck by a stream 1~ of rocks ~ ung fr~n the impeller following the path shown by arrow 73 11 and represented by the single rock 74 striking rock 71' in mid-air.
~2 Dt course, not all rocks would travel as far as rock 71 before being ~3 struck. As~ sh~wn ~n Figure 2~ some rocks rebound ~ff the fill 14 material as sho~n by rock 75 almost immediatel~ after striking the ~5 rock fill and fly back toward the impeller in a path as shown by lG arrow 76 where thPy are struck by a stream of rocks following the 17 direction of arrow 77 and represented by the large rock 78.
]8 Fragments of rocks 75 and 78 may strike the fill material but many ~9 simply fall d~wn thr~ugh the h~using. Still other rocks such as rock?n 79 following path 80 simply break against the exposed face of the 21 primary rock control member 15. Other rock following path 81 and 22 represented by rock 82 break against the expDsed face of the 23 secondary rock race control member 16. Of course, the stream of rock24 strikes the fill rock 14 at all points of the rock race 17 causing breakage and cutting out of fill material.
2G As stated above, the entire rock ring may be removed ~rom the~7 housing as a unit and a new or repaired rock ring also replaced as a 28 unit. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, in order to remove the rock ~' . -13-~ "J7~7 ' ~ ;S~

] ring, bolts 83, which attach the lid 84 to the r~ck ring are 2 removed. After the lid is lifted off, bolts 24 are turned until the 3 threaded end is backed out of brackets Z6 and the entlre rock riny as 4 shown in Figure 3 may be lifted off the housing by a crane.
Any rock race control mernbers may be either replaced or turned G while the rock ring i5 removed from the housing or they may be replaced or turned while the rock ring is attached to the housing.
~ B~lts 85 are loosened and plates 54 are removed. The rock race 9 control members may be simply lifted out through opening 21 in the top wall ~e~ber 13.
~ ln normal operation of the rock breaker, the impeller table 12 should be turned in one direction for a period of timP such as 3 or 4 ~3 hours. During the next time period of, for example, 3 or 4 hours, 14 the impeller should be turned in the opposite direction. The vane$
~5 on the impeller table should be of the type shown in the drawings so ~G that rock may be ~ ung from the impeller regardless of the direction ~7~ of the impeller table. Rotation of the i~peller in an oppr~site 18 direction to that shown in the drawings will not only even the wear 19 on the primary and secondary rock control members, but it will also cause a digging out of fill material in the rock ring, in a different 21 rock race pattern. The direction of the sling will simply be 22 reversed in direction. In effect, the machine is self-cleaning.
23 ~achines which turn in one direction may eventually fill with 24 material and may have to be shut down for cleaning.
The profile of the rock race as seen along a vertical plane 2G taken along a vertical section adjacent a prir.lary rock race control 27 mellber i5 shown in Figure 6. As set forth above, the rock stream is 28 ~ ung from the impeller so that a stream of rocks flow around the ~2~5~9~

] periphery of the rock ring. There is, howeYer, a general downward sast of the rock strear;l 50 that the rock will move downwardly through the housing to prevent too many rock collisions resulting in too fine of a product mix. As shown in Figure 6, some of the rock is cast upwardly as shown by arrow 86, strikes the fill rock 14 in the rock G ring at an upper point and rolls downwardly through the housing.

S Other rock follows the path of arrow 87 striking the mid to upper portion of the fill rock in the rock ring and then mo~ing (~ downwardly. Some of the rock follows the path of arrow 88 and moves around the periphery of ~he fill rock in the rock ring.
11 Adjacent the rock race control members, the profile of the fill ]2 material 14 is generally vertical. It has been found that by uslng ~3 the rock race control members and forming the fill material in a 14 generally -vertical wall in a large portion of the rock race" the ~5 impeller can be run at roughly half the speed of those machines ~n ]G which the profile of the rock face is at a sloping angle of about 45 1l degrees. By running the impeller at a slo~er speed and obtaining the lS same or be.ter breakage rate" less power is consumed and thus the ~9 product is much more inexpensively pr~ocessed.
2n Rock breakers which do not have the rock race control ~embers 21 set forth in this specification tend to clog if the moisture content 22 gets too high. Results of the present machine show no clogging even 23 when the moisture content gets very hight. As yet, there has not 2~ been any condition, wet or dry which has clogged the machine.
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Claims (10)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A counterflow impact rock breaker for breaking rock material comprising:
a. rock delivery means adopted for receiving and delivering said rock material;
b. a horizontally disposed generally circular impeller table positioned beneath said delivery means for receiving said rock material;
c. vane means connected to said impeller table for flinging said rock material outwardly at an angle to a radius of said generally circular table;
d. motor means for rotating said impeller table;
e. an annular rock ring surrounding said impeller table having an annular base member formed with an inner periphery, an annular back wall member and a top wall member for retaining rock material;
f. an accumulation of rock material held by said annular base member;
g. a plurality of primary rock race control members mounted on said annular rock ring and spaced at selected intervals around said inner periphery of said annular base member;
h. a plurality of secondary rock race control members mounted on said annular rock ring and spaced at selected intervals between said primary rock race control members and spaced radially outwardly from said primary rock race control members;
i. housing means supporting said annular ring and formed with an annular opening for the passage of broken rock material therethrough;
j. said primary and secondary rock Pace control members are spaced from said annular back wall member a selected distance;
and k. a sling shaped rock race formed in said rock material held by said annular base member between each of said primary rock race control members for directing the flow of rocks flung from said impeller table back toward said impeller table.

2. A counterflow impact rock breaker as described in claim 1 wherein:
a. said rock race control members are pins extending from said annular base member to said annular top wall member of said annular rock ring.

3. A counterflow impact rock breaker as described in claim 2 wherein:
a. said secondary rock race control members are located approximately mid-way between said primary rock race control members.

4. A counterflow impact rock breaker as described in claim 3 wherein:
a. said annular top wall member is formed with a plurality of openings permitting insertion of each of said rock race control members through one of said openings.

5. A counterflow impact rock breaker as described in claim 1 comprising:
a. vertical adjustment mounting means connecting said annular rock ring to said housing means providing selective vertical adjustment of said annular rock ring with respect to the elevation of said rock impeller table.

6. A counterflow impact rock breaker as described in claim 1 wherein:
a. said primary rock race control members are spaced about 22 inches from one another.

7. A counterflow impact rock breaker as described in claim 1 comprising:
a. a primary annular shelf connected to said housing and spaced adjacent and below said annular rock ring; and b. a secondary shelf connected to said housing spaced adjacent and below said primary annular shelf.

8. A counterflow impact rock breaker as described in claim 1 comprising:
a. an upper annular rock shield member connected to said top wall member of said annular rock ring along said inner perimeter of said ring and extending upwardly therefrom at an angle, and b. a lower annular rock shield member connected to said annular base member along the inner perimeter of said ring and extending downwardly therefrom at an angle.

9. A counterflow impact rock breaker as described in claim 4 comprising:
a. each of said rock race control members is formed in a generally cylindrical shape with a generally rectangular protrusion extending from a side wall portion thereof, and a protrusion extending from the top wall;
b. a plurality of socket members connected to said annular back wall member and having a U-shaped member dimensioned for sliding registration with said generally rectangular protrusion connected to each of said rock race control members;
c. a plurality of U-shaped upper and lower flanges respectively connected to said annular top wall member and said annular base member of said annular rock ring slidably registering with a portion of said rock face control members;
and d. a holding plate member formed for removeable attachment to said top wall of said annular rock ring covering said pin openings and formed with an opening for registering receipt of said protrusions extending from the top wall of said rock race control members.

10. A method of breaking rock which consists in:
a. flinging a stream of rocks from an impeller table in a generally horizontal plane in a direction making an angle with a radius of said table;
b. providing an annular rock ring for retaining a quantity of rock fill spaced from said impeller table at substantially the same elevation as said table;
c. positioning a plurality of primary rock race control members at spaced intervals around the inner perimeter of said annular ring;
d. positioning a plurality of secondary rock race control members at spaced intervals between said primary rock race control members;
e. forming a plurality of short sling shaped rock races in said fill material in said annular ring between said primary rock race control members by directing said stream of rocks at said rock fill in said annular rock ring; creating a counterflow of rocks directed back toward said impeller table;
and f. breaking said rocks by means of mid-air collisions between said flow of rock from said impeller table and counterflow of rocks from said rock races in said annular rock ring.