US1120882A - Rotator for piles of plates. - Google Patents

Description

G. M. ANDERSON. v

BOTATOB FOB PILES 0F PLATES.

APPLICATION FILED M1142. 1909.

1,120,882. Patentedmeo. 15, 1914.

GUSTAI M. ANDEBSONABF WATERLOO, IOWA.

BOTATOR FOB PILES OF PLATES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

Application led April 12, 1909. Serial No. 489,303.

To all whom t may concern v Be it known that I, GUs'rAF M. ANDERSON, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Waterloo, Blackhawk county, Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotators for Piles of Plates, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in rotators for piles of plates, and the object of my improvement is the application of propell means to the assembled liner` or separating core of a centrifugal creamseparator, adapted to impart such a motion or simultaneous rotation to same as will cleanse their surfaces of adherent matters when such core has been immersed in some fluid or detergent element. This object I have accomplished by the means which are hereinafter fully described and claimed, and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a front elevation of my rotator as operatively connected to a pile of the assembled liner-plates of a centrifugal cream separator howl, the plates being shown in central vertical axial section as are certain other parts of the connectin and supporting structure. Fig. 2 is a si e elevation of said rotator, with the latesup porting elements broken away. ig. 3 is a central vertical axial section of a pile of plates and its supporting elements immersed in a vessel of fluid, with the rotator not shown.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

The assembling and disassembling of the liner disks, plates or hollow frusta of a centrifugal liquid separator is a difficult task, since the exactness with which the bowl must be balanced necessitates that such disks or frusta shall be placed in the same vertical serial order at all times. This requirement has led to the numbering of the disks, to insure their identification for proper asserting and placing in the liner.

I am aware that various devices have been adopted to be used to detachably secure the liner disks or frusta together in their usual assembled succession, and also that different lrinesjasns have been employed to clean such My device contemplates the use of centrifugal force in the cleaning of such an assembled pile of disks or lates when removed from the separator owl. It is obvious that if there is an accumulation of matter between the plates of such a liner and a centrifugal force of suflicient amount is generated in them by rotating them at a high speed, the accumulated matter will move toward the outer edges of the plates. After this is done, if the pile of lates is submerged in water and so rotate a vortical suction is created in the water along the axis of the rotating body because the Huid in the vessel will pass through the passages 18 along the axis of rotation and fill that space with a column of cleansing fluid located near the center of rotation. and the centrifugal action then being given the plates or liners will cause such cleansing fluid to pass from the column into the interstices between the plates and the water which passes between the plates will be swept over them, and the centrifugal action thereon will be displayed in the voiding of the interspaces of all extraneous matter, adequately cleaning the surfaces of all the plates. The lpile of plates being removed, their continued rotation in the air causes an air current to sweep in a similar manner over each plate through the interspaces, which rapidly dries the plates surfaces.

I have shown a pile of separator plates 15 as assembled and superposed in a bowl, but as removed therefrom and supported on an axial cylinder 11. While the plates 15 are shown as hollow frusta, the principle of cleaning may be applied in practice to an pile of liner plates of whatever form. washer 12 in the upper end and a washer 14 in the lower. end of said cylinder all'ord an axial bearin for the s indle 16, the latter having a fi eted hea 13 to engage the washer 14. The washer 14 has its edge beveled so as to be seated against the lower edge of said cylinder.

The construction of the liner plates per se forms no part of the invention and it is of course understood that they may assume a variety of forms and are provided as is usual with passages 18 near the center for the cream and milk and into which passages when the device is being cleansed the cleansing lluid may enter and is thence carried into the interstices between the plates by centrifugal action caused by the actuation of the rotator.

I have shown a rotator which consists of the following elements: A frame l has a handle 2, and with a cylindrical bearing for the shaft 5 of a bevel-gear wheel 4. the latter provided with a crank-handle 3. nother shaft 6 is seated in bearings in said frame at an angle to the shaft 5, and a bevel-pinion 7 is secured thereto by a setscrew or pin 8. The lower end of the shaft 6 is formed into a depending hook 9, adapted to enter an eyelet 10 formed in the upper end of' the spindle 16.

The pile of plates supported by the described structures may be submerged in a vessel of water 17, the rotator being rapidly rotated, the fluid in the vessel or receptacle is by gravity or air pressure or both forced into the passages back of the periphery of the plates and extending along the axis-of rotation amd thence by centrifugal action into the spaces between the lates so as to form lammae of fluid there etween, when the laminae of water in the interspaces of the plates will scour the surfaces of such plates clean, the inertia of the water causing it to move at a retarded speed less than the speed of the rotating plates. A rotatory motion is set up in the water of a vortical nature, while the water laminas are discharged at the same time from the outer edges of the plates loaded with the suspended matters carried away from the plates. After cleansing, the pile of plates is lifted out of the water and rapidly rotated in the air, the centrifugal action driving off the water particles while the movin air-currents tend to dry the plates whic they pass over.

lVhile I have shown the device in the form of a bevel-gear attachment, I do not purpose to limit myself to that s ecific construction, since other devices or imparting rapid rotation may be used and still come clearly within the scope of my invention. My invention resides in the application by practical means of rotation to a pile of plates, whereby centrifugal force may be caused to clean the plates when thus assembled into a unitary structure. A practical device for accomplishing the same purpose would be a spiral ratchet similar to those used in automatic drills, the moving of which up or down would rotate the spiral, which could be a part of or connected to the shaft used to drive the core. While I show superposed frusta assembled, it is obvious that my invention may be applied to any liner composed of a plurality of plates so arranged that the use of centrifugal force thereon will shift and tend to remove any accumulation of matter thereon and throw it toward the outside of the pile.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure b v Letters Patent, is:

1. In an apparatus for use in cleaning cream separator sections without disassembling the sections, a device adapted to engage the assembled sections, and detachable means to locate such device in engaging position, combined with means to rotate sections in any desired direction.

2. In an apparatus for use in cleaning cream separator sections without disassembling the sections, a device adapted to engage the assembled sections, and positive rotating means flexibly connected to such device whereby the sections may be rotated in any desired direction.

3. In an apparatus for use in cleaning cream separator sections without disassembling the sections. a device adapted to engage and support the assembled sections, independently of the separator bowl, positive means to rotate said device and sections in any desired direction, and a flexible connection between said device and the rotating mechanl'sm.

4. In an apparatus for use in cleaning cream separator sections without disassembling the sections, a device adapted to engage the assembled sections, and positive rotating means connected to such device wherebythe sections may be rotated in any desired direction.

5. In an apparatus for use in cleaning cream separator sections without disassembling the sections, the combination with in- 100 terlocking means to connect or disconnect the assembled sections with the rotating means, and means for giving rotation to such assembled sections when they are thus interlocked.

6. The combination with a pile of plates constituting a liner for a cream separator provided with passages through the plates and back of the periphery thereof and intersecting the interstices between the pla of mechanism for rotating the liner, an means for detachably connecting said rotating mechanism with the liner.

7. The combination with a liner for a separator comprising a pile of plates having 115 a space between each pair of plates and provided with passages through the plates and back of the periphery thereof intersecting the spaces-between such plates, of positive mechanism for rotating said liner, and 12b a detachable connection between such mechanism and the liner having a flexible joint in such connection.

8. The combination with a liner for a separator comprising a pile of plates having 125 a space between each pair of plates and with passages through such plates intersecting said spaces between the plates, of positive mechanism for rotating the liner, and a detachable connection between such mechanism 130 and the liner having a, universal joint in such positive mechanism and the liner serv- 10 such connection. ing to interlock them to ether or permit 9. The combination with a pile of plates them to be se arated at Wi l. arranged as a. liner for a cream separator Signed at aterloo, Iowa, this 30th day and provided with passages through such of March, 1909.

plates and back of the periphery thereof GUSTAF M. ANDERSON. communicating with the spaces between the Witnesses: plates, positive mechanism for rotating the O. D. YOUNG,

liner, and a detachable connection between G. C. KENNEDY.

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