US1073367A - Ore-classifier. - Google Patents

Description

J. W. SHIELDS & A. C. THIELMANN.

OBB GLASSIFIER.

APPLIUATION FILED 1113.9, 1912.

1,073,367. Patented sept. 16,1913.

J. W. SHIELDS & A. C. THIELMANN.

ORE GLASSIFIER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHBBT 3.

Patented Sept. 16

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFT JAMES W. SHIELDS AND ALBERT C. THIELMANN, OF HUBBELL, MICHIGAN.

ORE-CLASSIFIER.

United States, residing at Hubbell, in the county of Houghton and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ore-Classiiiers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ore classifiers and aims to provide a classifier adapted to treat any and all kinds of ore and which may be operated either with or without a head of water.

Another object of the invention is to provide a classifier made up of sections, each including a series or group of independent pockets, the sections being adapted to be disassembled, whereby their number may be increased or decreased as desired, depending upon the character of the ore to be treated.

The classifier embodying the present invention is of that type in which concentration is accomplished by the rise and fall of a body of water, through a screen upon which the bed of ore to be treated has been deposited, and the invention aims to provide means for regulating the depth of this bed of ore, and the invention also contemplates the provision of means for causing a rise and fall of the water in the pockets, which means may be operated either with or without a head of water and may be adjusted to regulate the rise and fall of water in any one or any group of the pockets independently of the others.

The invention aims still further to provide means for supporting the screens upon which the bed of ore to be treated has been deposited in such manner that they will be readily accessible and may be readily removed and cleaned or replaced. Also the invention contemplates so supporting the screens that they may be vertically adjusted within the pockets so that the bed of orc may be supported at the desired height within the pockets.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a continuous trough having oppositely inclined sides, which trough conducts the overflow from each pocket to the next adjacent pocket and from one to the other group of pockets, the inclined walls of the trough serving to retard the flow, thereby allowing the lines to sett-le and the slimes to overow.

A further object of the invention is to Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led February 9, 1912.

Patented Sept. 16,1913.

sei-iai No. 676,665.

provide a novel and highly efiicient skimming device for carrying off the scuin of metal, which device will not be liable to clog, will continuously perform its skimming function, and will require little if any attention.

For a full understanding of the invention reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section of the classifier embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through a portion of the manifold of the classifier. Fig. 4f is a view showing the manifold in end elevation and the classifier proper in vertical transverse section. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the boxes of the classifier. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a box section which may be used in connection with the box shown in Fig. 5 for the purpose of adjusting the screens. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the side plates for holding the box sho-wn in Fig. 5 in place.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawing by the same reference characters.

As before stated, the classifier is made up of a number of sections, each including' a group of pockets and the manifold of the classifier is also made up of a number of sections, each including a set of plungers and cylinders in which the plungers work, the cylinders being in communication with the said pockets and reciprocation of the plungers in the cylinders serving to cause a rise and fall of the water level in the pockets.

That section in which the material is first treated is indicated in general by the reference character A, the one in which it is next treated is indicated by the reference character B and a third one of the sections is indicated at C and the corresponding sections of the manifold are indicated at D, E and F, respectively.

The body portion of the section A includes a forward wall l, a rear wall 2, side walls 3 and 4, and a bottom wall 5 and is divided by partitions 6, which extend from the front to the rear wall into pockets 7, 8, 9 and l0. The section A also includes a head 11 which is disposed upon the upper end of the body portion above described and is secured thereto by means of bolts 12 engaged through flanges 13 formed upon the said body portion and head.

By referring to Figs. 1 and 4 of the draw ing it will be observed that the front, rear and side walls of the body portion of the section A are formed at their upper edges with an inwardly projecting flange 14 and removably disposed within the head 11 and upon the said flange 14 is a screen 15. For the purpose of holding the screen 15 in place and protecting the walls of the head 11 there is provided a box consisting of a section 16 and a section 17. The assembled edges of the sections of the box are cut diagonally as at 18 and rabbeted as at 19 so as to render the connection between the said ends of the sections substantially water tight, it being understood that by diagonally cutting the edges of the sections, the sections may be readily removed without difficulty by first removing the section 17 and then removing the section 16. Partitions 20 extend from one side wall to the other of the sections 16 and 17 and correspond in location to the partitions 6 within the body portion of the section A. then the box consisting of the sections 1G and 17 is arranged within the head 11, the lower edges of its side and endwalls rest upon the edge portions of the screen 15 and serve to hold these said portions of the screen firmly upon the flange 14. The section 16 of the box shown in Fig. 5, which bo-x is the one arranged within the section A of the classifier, has its side walls and end wall extending upwardly at that end corresponding to the inlet end of the said section A and as indicated by the numeral 21 and these extensions of the said walls of the section 16 constitute the side and end-walls of a housing for the skimming device of the classifier, which device will be presently fully described. This housing is completed by a top wall 22 and a depending inner end-wall 23, the lower edge of which terminates substantially in a horizontal plane with the upper edges of the side and end-walls of the sections 16 and 17. For a purpose to be presently stated, the endwall of the section 16 and the extended portion thereof is formed with an opening 24. The head 11 of the section A carries a section of the trough of the classifier, the walls of which are indicated by the numeral 25, and as illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings, these walls are oppositely inclined. r1`he forward wall 1 of the head 11 is formed with a number of outlet openings 26 which are so arranged that each will drain one of the pockets formed between the partitions 2O and the end-walls of the sections of the box within this head, the corresponding walls of the said sections of the box being formed with openings 27 which register with openings 26, as shown in Fig. 4.

In order to hold the sections of the box firmly in position, there are provided, within the head 11, two plates 28 which are disposed one against the inner side of the forward wall ofthe head 11 and the other against the rear wall thereof. Each of these plates at each lower corner is formed with a notch 29 to receive the connecting flanges 30 by means of which the ends of the heads of the adjacent or connected ones of the sections are secured together, as shown in Fig. 1 and these plates are held in place by means of suitable bolts 30 secured through the said walls of the head 11 and through openings 31 in the plates.

By referring to Fig. 4 of the drawings, it will be observed that the lower edges of the plates 2S rest upon the upper edges of the side walls of the sections 16 and 17 of the box and, being bolted firmly in place, serve to hold the said sections of the box against upward displacement. It will also be observed that the upper edges of the plates coincide with the lower edges of the inclined walls 25 of the trough section which is carried by this head.

In o-rder to regulate the depth of material upon the screen within that one of the pockets in the box, which is located between the end-wall of the section 16 and the adjacent partition 20, there is adjustably secured upon the wall 23 of the housing for the skimming device, a plate 31, this plate being held at adjusment by means of bolts 32 secured through slots therein and into the said wall 23. By adjusting the plate, its lower edge may be positioned a greater or less distance above the screen 15 for the purpose stated. Plates 33 which are formed with slots 34, are held in adjusted position on each of the partitions 2O at the end wall of the section 17 of the box by means of bolts 35 secured through the said partitions or the end-wall, as the case may be, and through the said slots 34. It will be understood that by adjusting these plates their upper edges may be positioned at different elevations and that consequently the overflow from one pocket to another can be controlled, they being adjusted to an elevation found to be best. suit-ed for the particular ore to be treated.

ln connection with the box consisting of the sections 16 and 17, it may be desirable at times to employ an auxiliary box or section which is clearly shown in F 6 of the drawings and the side walls of which are indicated by the numeral 36 and the end-walls by the numeral 37. This box or section is divided at intervals by partitions 38 corresponding in location with the portions 20. Vhen this auxiliary box or section is employed, it is disposed with the lower edges of its side and end-Walls resting upon the fiange 14, and the scree-n 15 is then disposed upon the upper edges of these Walls and the upper edges of the partitions 38, after Which the box shown in Fig. 5 is set into place and the plates 28 are secured upon the front and rear Wallsl of the head 11. By the provision of the auxiliary box or section shovvn in Fig. 6, the screen 15 may be supported at different elevations, as Will be readily understood. The hutch of each pocket .is formed in its bottom With an outlet Which is indicated by the numeral 39.

The sections B and C of the classifier are of the same construction as the section A with the exception that their pockets are all of the same capacity and there is no equivalent of the housing for the skimming device and the pockets and other elements of the sections B and C corresponding to like elements of the section A are indicated respectively by the same reference numerals with the addition of the suffixes Z) and c respectively.

The manifold D comprises a Water-chest 41 Which is divid-ed by a number of partitions 42, as is shown in Fig. 3 into compartments 48, 44, 45 and 46, and from each of these compartments leads a pipe 47 connected as at 48 to a pipe 49 which leads from the hutch of the respective pocket of the section A, the compartments 43, 44, 45 and 46 being in this manner placed directly in communication with the hutches of the pockets 7, 8, 9 and 10, respectively. Cylinders 50, 51, 52 and 53 are respectively placed in communication ivith the compartments 43, 44, and 4G by ports 54 and in each of the cylinders there is mounted for reciprocation a piston or plunger 55. A shaft 5G is journaled in suitable bearings 57 mounted at the ends of the Water-chest 41 and upon this shaft there are a number of eccentrics 5S the straps of Which are indicated by the numeral 59. One of the eccentrics 5S is located above each of the cylinders and the straps Of the eccentrics are connected by means of connecting rods 60 With the respective plungers The sections E and F of the manifold are of the same construction as the section D and the elements thereof correspond to the elements above described as comprising the section D are indicated by the same reference numerals respectively, with the addition of the suffixes c and f. The shaft 56 may be driven in any desired manner, but preferably from a power-shaft G1 and belt 62.

From the foregoing it Will be readily unlerstood that as the plungers 55 reciprocate in the cylinders of the several manifold sections, the level of the material in the pockets of the section A, B and C is caused to rise and fall, resulting in the bed of the material upon the screens of the sections A B and C, being first lifted from the screens and then deposited thereon.

The skimmer of the classifier is, as before stated, mounted in one of the compartments of the pocket 11 and comprises a hollow shaft G3 journaled for rotation/in a suitable bearing 64 mounted through the opening 24 in the end-Wall of the section 16 of the said pocket and this shaft carries, at its inner end, a hollow open-ended dipper head G5 which is curved in the direction of rotation of the hollow shaft and eccentrically to the axis of the said shaft and is in communication With the interior of the shaft at its inner end. This end of the shaft is closed. |The dipper head is preferably tapered from its inner to its outer end so as to prevent clogging. The shaft G3 is preferably driven from the power-shaft G1 by means of a belt G5 and the material taken up by the dipper head and conducted through the shaft G3 may be discharged in any suitable receptacle, such for example, as a bucket placed beneath the outer ends of the shaft, as indicated at 67 in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The dipper head G5 .is arranged to rotate Within the housing' formed upon the section 1G of the box shown in Fig. 5, and it Will be readily understood that the plate 31 may be adjusted so as to prevent the entrance of gangue into the said compartment or housing.

The operation of the classifier is as folloivs:`The material to be treated is delivered into the trough of the classifier and flows first into the pocket 7 and upon the screen 15, and as a matter of convenience in describing the operation of the classifier, it Will be assumed that all of the pockets of the sections A,y B and C have been filled With the material, or in other Words, that the pockets have been successively filled and material has overfloived from each pocket into the next adjacent one. Upon doWn- Ward movement of the plungers of the manifold section D.I the level of the material in the pocket 7 ivill. due to the positive forcing action of the plungers, be caused to rise and the bed of the material upon the screen 15 in this pocket Will be momentarily lifted from the screen. Upon upivard movement of the respective plunger the level of the material in the pocket 7 ivill fall, thereby depositing the bed of material upon the screen 15, and this is true of the material in all of the pockets in each of the sections A, B and C. The level of the material in the pocket 7 is of course promptly restored after the plunger has ascended, by reason of the factthat the material is first fed into this pocket, and the other pockets of the first mentioned section are in a like manner promptly supplied ivith sufficient material to restore the level to normal, by the overiioiv of material from one

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