GB2155808A

GB2155808A - Mineral breaker

Info

Publication number: GB2155808A
Application number: GB08505439A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alan Potts
Original assignee: MMD Design and Consultancy Ltd
Current assignee: MMD Design and Consultancy Ltd
Priority date: 1984-03-15
Filing date: 1985-03-04
Publication date: 1985-10-02
Also published as: ZA851680B; AU3970585A; GB8406764D0; GB8505439D0

Abstract

The mineral breaker includes a support frame, a pair of breaker drums (12, Fig. 3, not shown) mounted in the frame 25 with their axes of rotation parallel, at least one of said breaker drums being rotatably housed in a housing 14 which is movably mounted on said frame to enable the distance between the axes of said drums to be adjusted, there also being provided a first independent motive drive means 40 for rotatably driving a first of said drums and a second independent motive drive means 40 for rotatably driving a second of said drums. The drives are each connected by a fluid coupling 42 and a reduction gear box 44. The entire apparatus is mounted on skids for positioning purposes. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Mineral breaker The present invention relates to a mineral breaker.

Mineral sizers are known having a pair of horizontally disposed breaker drums which act on mineral deposited therebetween to break the mineral into smaller pieces. The present invention is concerned with this type of mineral breaker and in particular with the type of mineral breaker disclosed for instance in our published European patent specification 0096706 wherein the breaker drums have projecting breaker teeth arranged in annular groups, the groups on one drum being offset with the groups on the other drum.

The breaking action of such a mineral breaker results in a positive sizing of the mineral and for a given tooth size, the sizing is determined by the distance between the pair of drums.

Normally, the mineral breaker is constructed to have a fixed distance between the drums which is chosen bearing in mind the end use of the breaker.

A breaker having a fixed spacing between the drums has constructional advantages in that the drums can be fixedly located in order to withstand the working loads imposed thereon during use and also enable the drums to be drivingly interconnected via a simple gear train which transmits drive from one drum to the other and ensures that the rotation of one drum is correctly timed with the rotation of the other drum.

However it is desirable to provide adjustability in the spacing between the drums in order that the sizing may be adjusted during use of the breaker.

Such a facility provides greater flexibility from a user point of view in that it enables an operator to adjust the sizing in response to the mineral being supplied to the breaker.

However in producing a breaker wherein the drums are movably mounted to enable the distance between the drums to be adjusted it is necessary to construct the breaker so that the drums are able to withstand the normal working loadings without being forced apart and also to drive each drum so as to achieve the correct timing therebetween for the correct breaking action.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a mineral breaker having a pair of breaker drums which are arranged so that the spacing therebetween may be adjusted.

According to the present invention there is provided a mineral breaker including a support frame, a pair of breaker drums mounted in the frame with their axes of rotation parallel, at least one of said breaker drums being rotatably housed in a housing which is movably mounted on said frame to enable the distance between the axes of said drums to be adjusted, a first independent motive drive means for rotatably driving a first of said drums and a second independent motive drive means for rotatably driving a second of said drums.

Preferably each breaker drum is rotatably mounted in its own respective housing, each housing being movably mounted on the frame.

Preferably the housing of a given drum and its associated motive drive means are connected to one another so as to be movable in unison relative to said frame.

Various aspects of the present invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of an embodiment according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of the embodiment shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line Ill-Ill in Figure 1.

A mineral breaker according to the present invention is generally shown at 10 and includes a pair of breaker drums 12 each of which is rotatably housed in its own housing 14. Each drum 12 has breaker teeth 11 which intermesh with one another. Reference should be made to our European Patent Application Nos: 83900287.0 (Publication No. 0096706) and 84300124.9 which disclose various arrangements and constructions of breaker teeth which may be adopted for the purposes of the present invention. At opposite ends of each housing 14 there is provided a bearing housing 16 for rotatably receiving opposite ends of the associated drum shaft 13. Each housing 14 is suspended from a box-like support frame 25 via pivotal connections 28 so as to be pivotally movable relative to the frame and movable toward one another for adjustment of the distance between the drums 12.

As will be appreciated from Figure 1, the pivotal connections 28 are located on the feed side of the breaker drums.

Motive means in the form of hydraulic rams 30 are provided connected between the frame and the associate housing for moving each housing relative to the frame and conveniently the rams 30 are used to hold the associated housing at a desired position during use of the breaker. Alternatively, if desired the rams 30 may be used only to move the housings and mechanical locating means (not shown) may be provided for locating each housing at fixed predetermined locations. As will be appreciated from Figure 1, the hydraulic rams are located on the discharge side of the breaker drums.

The side by side by side housings 14 define the side walls of a passageway 32 through the mineral breaker through which the mineral to be broken passes.

The end walls of the passageway 32 are defined by static end plates 34 which are secured to the frame 25 so as to overlap respective ends of the housings 14.

Each drum 12 is rotatably driven by an independent motive drive means 40. In the illustrated embodiment drive means 40 each comprise a power unit in the form of an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine. It will be appreciated that other power units may be adopted, if desired, such as for example an electric motor.

Each drive means 40 is drivingly connected to its associated drum 12 via a fluid coupling 42 and a reduction gear box 44. The drive means 40, fluid coupling 42 and gear box 44 are each mounted on a common support frame 46 and are rigidly connected to one another via respective housings and the gear box 44 housing is also rigidly connected to an associated drum housing 14. The drive means 40, fluid coupling 42, and gear box 44 are suspended from the frame 25 via a suspension bracket 50 attached at one end to the engine and gear box housings and pivotally attached at its opposite end to the frame 25 via a pivotal connection 52.

Accordingly, each drum housing 14 and its associated motive drive means 40 is movable in unison relative to the frame 25.

Conveniently the support frame 25 is mounted on skids 60 which enable the entire mineral breaker to be dragged across ground for positioning purposes.

The above construction has several major advantages. The provision of breaker drums which are movable so as to adjust the spacing between the drums, enables an optimum spacing between the drums to be easily obtained in order to provide the desired sizing of different types of mineral using the same mineral breaker. Additionally, if mineral becomes jammed between the drums it is easy to remedy by moving the drums apart to release the blockage.

The provision of independent drum housings each having independent motive drive means overcomes the problem of manufacturing a large machine which needs to be transported to its working site. In this respect, the mineral breaker can be transported as a kit of parts including the frame 25, each housing 14, each drive coupling 42 and gear box 44 as independent parts which are easily assembled together on site.

A further advantage attributed to independent motive drive means is that power transmission to each drum can be relatively high compared to conventional twin drum breakers where both drums are driven from a single motive power source.

It has been surprisingly discovered that timing of the rotation of the drums for obtaining optimum grip on the mineral to be broken is automatically achieved when using independent motive drive means. In addition, a greater flexibility is given in that instead of running both drums at approximately the same rotational speed it is possible to run the drums at different speeds as required.

The above construction enables relatively large capacity mineral breakers to be constructed which can handle large sizes of mineral lumps such as a metre cube and yet be relatively small in size compared to conventional breakers, such as gyratory crushers, having a similar capacity.

Claims

1. A mineral breaker including a support frame, a pair of breaker drums mounted in the frame with their axes of rotation parallel, at least one of said breaker drums being rotatably housed in a housing which is movably mounted on said frame to enable the distance between the axes of said drums to be adjusted, a first independent motive drive means for rotatably driving a first of said drums and a second independent motive drive means for rotatably driving a second of said drums.

2. A mineral breaker according to Claim 1 wherein each breaker drum is rotatably mounted in its own respective housing, each housing being movably mounted on the frame.

3. A mineral breaker according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the housing of a given drum and its associated motive drive means are connected to one another so as to be movable in unison relative to said frame.

4. A mineral breaker according to Claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the or each housing is pivotally connected to said frame and motive means are provided associated with the or each housing for adjusting the pivotal position of the associated housing.

5. A mineral breaker according to claim 4 wherein the motive means for the or each housing comprises at least one fluid actuated ram and cylinder unit.

6. A mineral breaker according to Claim 4 or 5 wherein the pivotal connection for the or each housing is located on the feed side of the breaker drums and the motive means for moving the or each associated housing are located on the discharge side of the breaker drums.

7. A mineral breaker according to any preceding claim wherein the power unit for each of the first and second motive drive means comprises an internal combustion engine or an eletric motor.