GB2186539A - Fluid conveyor feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

A fluid conveyor feeder for feeding material into a fluid conveyor system, the feeder including a conduit having a fluid inlet at one end and a fluid outlet at its opposite end and a material inlet intermediate the fluid inlet and outlet through which material is introduced into the conduit, the conduit including a nozzle for creating a substantially lamina flow of gas or liquid which sweeps longitudinally along the portion of conduit facing the material inlet. Nozzle 100 creates a substantially lamina flow of gas, the material inlet being at 102. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Mineral breaker The present invention relates to a mineral breaker and in particular, a mineral breaker capable of producing broken material for insertion into afluid conveying system.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a mineral breaker comprising a breaker drum rotatably mounted in a housing, the housing including a bore portion having a mineral discharge opening at one end, and a mineral receiving section, the drum being located so as to extend from the discharge opening through the bore portion and into the mineral receiving section, the drum being provided with at least one helical formation which extends along at leastthe portion of the drum contained within the bore, the helical formation on rotation of the drum serving to move mineral through the bore towards and through the discharge opening, the discharge opening and the drum being provided with opposed breakerteeth which co-operate to break oversized mineral pieces.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a fluid conveyorfeeder forfeeding material into afluid conveyorsystem,the feederincluding a conduit having a fluid inlet atone end and afluid outlet at its opposite end and a material inletintermediatethefluid inletandoutlet through which material is introduced into the conduit,the conduit including a nozzleforcreating a substantially lamina flow of fluid which sweeps longitudinally along the portion of conduit facing the material inlet.

Various aspects of the present invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure lisa side view of a breaker according to the present invention together with a delivery conveyor; Figure2 isa sectional viewtaken along lineA-Ain Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of the breaker as shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a part plan view of the breaker shown in Figure 1 with some ofthe housing omitted; Figure5is a sectional end view taken along line D-D in Figure4; Figure 6 is a sectional side view of an alternative fluid conveying means; and Figure 7is a sectional view taken along lineVI-VI in Figure 6.

The breaker according to the present invention is generally shown at 10 and includes a housing 12 which rotatably contains a breaker drum 14. In the illustrated embodiment, the drum 14 extends between opposed end walls 16, 17 and is rotatably driven by a motor and gearbox assembly 18.

The housing 12 includes a lowertrough member 21 which extends the length of the drum 14and provides an arcuatechannel in which the drum is sited (as clearly seen in Figure3).

The housing 12 includes a mineral receiving section 30 which receives mineral from the delivery conveyor 35. The mineral receiving section 30 includes a sidewall 32 on one side ofthe drum 14 and a hingedly mounted wall 34 located on the opposite side ofthe drum. Both sidewall 32 and wall 34 extend above the drum 14to effectively form a hopper and thereby enable mineral to be deposited onto the drum.

Adjacent to the mineral receiving section 30, the housing includes an upper cover 38, which together withthetrough member21 definesa bore in which the drum 14 is housed. The upper cover 38 preferably includes a pair of flaps 40which are hingedly mounted so as to permit access into the bore. This is particularly desirable in the event of a blockage occurring within the bore.

The drum 14 is provided with a helical formation 50 which includes a helical flange or rib portion 51 on which is mounted a series of picks 52. Preferablythe helical formation 50 extends along the entire length of the drum 14. Preferably, the diameter of the helical formation 50 is such that the tips of the picks 52 are closely spaced from the surface of the trough member 21 and the bore.

Usually, material deposited into the mineral receiving section 30 comprises particulate material and lumps of mineral. Smaller material falls past the drum 1 4 into the trough 21 and on rotation of the drum the helical formation urges the material along the trough and through the bore to exit through the discharge openings 60 formed in end wall 16.

Larger pieces of mineral are acted upon by the picks 52which either react againstthe sides ofthe housing facing the picks or static picks 62 mounted on the housing.Very long pieces of mineral can be forcibly urged against the drum by the sidewall 34.

Movement of side wall 34 is achieved via a hydraulic ram 34a. The effect of these actions is to break larger pieces of mineral into smaller pieceswhich are able to be accommodated between the scroll of the helical formation and are thus transported by the action of the helical formation toward the discharge openings 60 in the end wall 16.

The terminal end of the helical formation is provided with breaker teeth 65 which co-operate with static teeth 67 mounted in the discharge openings 60. Minerai pieces urged by the helical formation through the discharge openings are acted upon by teeth 65 and teeth 67 and if these pieces are of a largerthan predetermined size, then they are further broken down until they are able to pass through the discharge opening. The maximum size of piece of mineral able to pass through the discharge opening is determined by the size ofteeth 67 relative to the discharge opening 60 and the spacing between teeth 67.

The orientation and/or size of teeth 67 may vary in the direction of rotation of the drum so that a different breaking action is encountered as teeth 65 pass from the leading tooth 67a to the trailing tooth 67b. Advantageously, the trailing tooth 67b may project substantially axially of the drum 14so as to also act as a gouge for reducing the likelihood of clogging.

Preferably the drum 14 has a flaired portion 14a which provides a smooth transition between the periphery of the drum and the opening 60.

As shown in the drawings, three discharge openings 60 are provided but it is to be appreciated that any number may be provided spaced aboutthe periphery of the drum. The number of openings provided depends upon the throughput required.

Afluid conveying means having a housing 70 is attached to the housing 12 so as to coverthe discharge openings 60 to define a mineral receiving chamberto receive material being discharged from the discharge openings 60.

The fluid conveying means includes a conduit 73 having connecting flanges 71,72 communicates with the bottom of the housing to receive material falling to the bottom of the chamber. The conduit 73 in use is connected to lengths of conduit along which pressurised fluid (usually air) flows for transporting material from the chamber to a desired location.

One advantage of the present breaker is thatthe maximum throughput of the breaker can be chosen so that the conduit will not be flooded and therefore blocked.

Preferably as illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 a nozzle 100 is located within the conduit73 to create a substantially lamina flow ofairto sweep along the bottom portion ofthe conduit in the vicinity where material to be conveyed falls into the conduit. The nozzle 100 is shaped so that the upper boundaries of the airflow are substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the conduit as illustrated by the dotted line B. In this way material falling into the air stream have little influence on deflecting some of the air stream upwards and back into the breaker.

Additionally since the air stream is concentrated at the bottom ofthe conduitthe likelihood of build up of material in the area of deposit is reduced.

Preferably the outlet 101 of the nozzle 100 is located directly beneath the mineral inlet 102 into the conduit 73 so that the nozzle partially protrudes across the inlet. In this way the upperwall 104 ofthe nozzle 100 is located directly beneath inlet 102 and is inclined so as to serve to deflect mineral falling from the inlet 102 towards the downstream end of conduit 73. Accordingly mineral entering the air stream enters the air stream atan acute angle and also has some impetus in the direction of flow of the air stream.

In addition, fine particulate material on hitting the upper boundary B of the airflow is encouraged to be drawn into the airflow rather than bouncing backto toward the inlet 102. Aiso since material entering the airflow is moving in the same general direction the flow pattern suffers a minimum amount of disturbencewhich makes for an efficient transfer of material into the airflow. The system generally uses low air pressure say, 8 p.s.i. flowing at a rate of 2700 3500 cub.ft/min.

Preferablythecross-sectional dimension of conduit 73 is greater in the vicinity of nozzle outlet 101 than at connecting flange 72. This provides a maximum opening for flow of material past the nozzle and into the conduit properwhilst enabling the conduit 73 to be connected to conduit lengths (notshown) of a standard diameter.

The housing 70 is conveniently provided with deflection plates 80 which facilitate discharge flow of mineralthroughtheinlet102.

As seen in Figure 6 the nozzle 100 is generally of a tubular construction which protrudes into the conduitfromitsfluid inletend. The nozzle 100 is conveniently provided with a flange 108 which in use is attached to flange 71. As seen in Figure7 the nozzle outlet 101 is shown as generally D-shaped, the lower portion directing the flow ofairto sweep along the bottom portion of the conduit. If the conduit bottom were of different shape than the bottom portion of the nozzle outlet 101 would be shaped so as to be complementary.

The upper portion of the nozzle 101 is shown as being straight to define a flat boundary B, however other shapes may be adopted if desired provided the upper portion serves to direct the upper boundary of the airflow to be substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction ofthe conduit. As an example, the upper portion may be of a contourwhich is complementary to the bottom of the conduit as illustrated by the dotted line C.

Claims (2)

1. Afluid conveyorfeederforfeeding material into a fluid conveyor system, the feeder including a conduit having a fluid inlet at one end and afluid outlet at its opposite end and a material inlet intermediate the fluid inlet and outlet through which material is introduced into the conduit, the conduit including a nozzle for creating a substantially lamina flow of liquid which sweeps longitudinally along the portion of conduit facing the material inlet.

2. Afeederaccordingto Claim 2 wherein the nozzle protrudes partially across the material inlet and has a wall portion facing the material inlet which serves to deflect material entering the conduit toward the fluid outlet.