US1422092A

US1422092A - Separating and classifying apparatus

Info

Publication number: US1422092A
Application number: US335197A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lewis H Falley
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1919-11-01
Filing date: 1919-11-01
Publication date: 1922-07-11
Anticipated expiration: 1939-07-11

Description

L, H. FALLEY.

SEPARATING AND CLASSIFYING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1, I919- 7 2 SHEETS-SHEET I. 3 .e 1

Patented July 11, 1922.

LEWIS H. FALLEY, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

SEPARATING AND CLASSIFYING-APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J l 11 1922 Application fil ed November 1, 1919. Serial No. 335,197.

To all to ham it may concern Be it known that I, Lnwrs H. FALLnY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson, State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Separating and Classifying Apparatus, of which the following is a complete specification- The present invention pertains to separating apparatus designed for use in cleaning, separating and classifying or sizing various grades of granular substances or materials, having for one of its objects the provision of an improved type of apparatus whereby either materials heavier than water, or lighter materials under certain circumstances, may be appropriately separated and classified, in which process a suitable fluid working medium is employed in the operation of the apparatus. Accordingly 1' provide a tank subdivided into suitably arranged settling compartments, together with means for maintaining afluid medium therein and so regulating and modifying the flow through such compartments as to effect a plurality of separations of the material according to the desired classifications.

One of the features of the invention is a novel form and arrangement of deflecting elements within one of the bafile compartments of the tank for both agitating and deflecting the flow therethrough, as well as centralizing thesettling movement of the material therein.

It is also sought to devise as compact a structure as possible of the character described, having a maximum separating capacity.

With these general objects in view, the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing illustrating one form of construction for embodying the improvement, after which the novel features therein will be set forth in the appended claims. a

In the drawing 1 Figure 1 is a central vertical sectional view of an apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a similar section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the tank, with the coverportion omitted;

And Figures 4 and 5 are plan and edge views respectively on an enlarged scale of H one of the deflecting elements.

Referring to the drawings in detail, these illustrate the improved apparatus as comprising a tank 6, into which the material to be treated is discharged from a trough or chute 7, said material being received into a recelving compartment 8, the bottom of which is formed by a partition .9, sloping downward from near the top of the tank, adacent to the chute 7 to what may be termed the rear side of the tank as shown in Figure 1. Intersecting the partition 9 is a vertical partition 10, extending entirely across the tank, to the front side of which partition 10 is atttached a vertical channel partition 12 also intersecting the partition 9, thereby forming an intermediate settling compartment 13, which is provided with a receiving passage 14, communicating with the base of the receiving compartment 8. At opposite sides of the partition 12 the intersected portions of partition 9 are bent into horizontal position as illustrated in Figures 1 and 3.

A second downward sloping partition 15, is provided, extending parallel to the partition 9, and also intersecting the partition 12 and the lower edge of the partition 10, and connected with the rear side of the tank by a short reversely inclined partition 16; there is thus formed a fluid supply compartment 17 below this receiving compartment 8, to which compartment 17 is connected a pipe 18, fitted with a valve 19, for connection with any suitable source of fluid supply, such as water, for maintaining a fluid working or settling medium within the tank. A passage 20 in the partition 12 affords communication between the compartments 13 and 17, in the vicinity of the lower end of the compartment 13.

The partition 12 extends short of the upper end of the tank where the compartment 7 ranged V shaped partitions 25 in such a manner as to provide a restricted passage 26, between the upper and lower portions of said compartment 22, having the approach to said passage gradually converging in the upper porti n f such compartment and gradually diverging in the lower portion of such compartment below said passage as clearly shown in Figure 2. An outlet pipe 27, is connected with the upper portion of said compartment 22, and a second outletthis compartment.

The arrangement of the

partitions

9, 10, 15 and 16 isfsuch as to provide a collecting compartment 30, below the compartment 22, and an opening 31 at the bottom of partition 10, affords a discharge passage from the intermediate compartment 13 into said collecting compartment, from which the sep arated material discharges through a passage 32 in the partition 15, into a discharge compartment 33 at the bottom of the tank. This compartment 33 is provided with a discharge conduit, 34, having a valve 35. The bottom of the tank is also provided with a suitable drain pipe 36, fitted with a valve 37. To the front ofthe channel shaped partition 12 is located a vertical partition 38, depend ing some distance into the receiving compartment 8, from a cover 39, which extends across the top of the tank from said partition 38 to the rear side of the tank. hen a liquid settling medium, such as water, is employed, the water level is maintained at a height above the lower edge of said partition 38', as indicated by the broken line 40, within the

compartments

8 and 13, F igure 1, the said medium dropping to a lower level in the compartment 22, as indicated by the broken line 41, opposite the upper discharge pipe 27. 1

In the preferred mode of operation of the apparatus a suitable liquid working medium, such as water, is maintained in the tank by means of the

supply connections

18 and 23, at approximately the levels of the lines 4;0 and 11 respectively. By this means an upward flow of said working medium is established in its course through the comp llatively narrow settling compartment 13.

Thematerial to be treated is fed into the rece v ng compartment 8, from which it passes, through the opening 14, into said settling'compartment 13. For the purpose /in this. compartment and enhancing the of thoroughly breaking up the material 1 separating action therein, 1. provide 'a series of vertically spaced deflecting elements in the form of curved and twisted fingers A2,

' attached, at one endto the, channel partition l2, and extending rearward across 7 th compartment 13. The finger 2 ar of semi-circular form ('see Figure 5), and are pipe 28.

so located as to assume a downwardly curved position within the compartment 13, with their twisted free portions adjacent the rear wall of the compartment. This struc- 1 ture serves to interrupt the upward flow of the workingmedium, producing crosscurrents. and twisting movements of said medium, and thereby effectively agitating the material being treated, both the coarser particles which are descending in the compartment against the action of the current, as well as the finer particles of material which are being carried up with the cur- I rent. The downwardly curved shape or contour of the fingers 42 is furthermore such as to deflect the descending particles of material toward the center of the compartment, thus tending to centralize the downward travel of the material as it settles, so that the abrading action which would otherwise be exerted on the interior walls of said compartment, especially the partition 12, is thereby eliminated. The coarser particles of the material settle into the lower end. of the compartment 13, below the water inlet opening 20, and then pass through the opening 31, into the collecting compartment 30, from which they are discharged into the compartment 33, and with drawn by way of the discharge conduit 34.

By regulating the water flow, the separation may be effected at any desired size, a strong water flow carrying off a much larger portion of the coarse material, whereas a weaker flow, producing a more slowly moving upward current, will separate only the line particles from the coarser.

The transverse partition 38, provides a bypath for they overflow of water and finer particles of the material into the top of the compartment 13.

The product overflowing "into the compartment 2 2, is preferably subjected to the H action of an auxiliary supplyrof the liquid mediumadmitted through the connection 23, for effecting a complete separation of the material passing into this compartment, and seeking an outlet and flowing upward, carries off the very finest particles of the material through the discharge outlet 27, while the remaining heavier particles descend by gravity to the bottomof the compartment 22, and are drawn off through the By regulating the valve 29 in this pipe connection, it ispossibleto retard the movement of the material in this latter compartment, causing said material to pile up and thereby tending to raise the water level in the receiving compartment 8. This in turnwill resultv in greater pressure being exerted at the various discharge passages, from which it will be seen that the separating action may be retarded V or accelerated by regulation of said valve 29, and that'the discharge of the finest palticles at the outlet 27 may be regulated wholly by manipulation of said valve.

It is thus apparent that I have provided a simple and eflicient apparatus for carrying out the desired objects of the invention, and that a plurality of separations may be effected by the improved tank structure which is of a very compact form and arrangement. lhe improved construction and arrangement of the partitions and restricted passages, particularly those of the downflow compartment 22, enables a considerably smaller volume of water to be used in carrying out the operation. It is also apparent that the apparatus is adapted for use in similar fashion in the treatment of granular materials which are lighter than water, it being necessary merely to maintain the intake end of the tank reasonably air-tight, as by means of a canvas hood, or the like (not shown).

While I have illustrated and described what I now regard as the preferred form of construction for carrying out the desired objects of the invention, I desire to reserve the right to make such formal changes or modifications as may fairly fall within the scope of the appended claims.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a settling tank, a partition dividing the tank into a settling compartment and a receiving compartment communicating with said settling compartment intermediate the ends of the latter; fluid supply means communicating with said settling compartment and maintaining an upward flow therein, and a plurality of deflecting elements located in vertically spaced relation in said settling compartment, said elements extending in a downwardly curved direction, transversely across said settling compartment, and adapted to produce cross-currents therein, while also tending to centralize the downward movement of the material settling within said settling compartment.

2. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a settling tank, a partition dividing the tank into a settling compartment and a receiving compartment, communicating with said settling compartment intermediate the end of the latter; fluid supply means communicating with said settling compartment and maintaining an upward flow therein, and a plurality of deflecting elements located in vertically spaced relation in said settling compartment, said elements extending in a downwardly curved direction transversely across said settling compartment and provided with twisted free end portions, whereby said elements are adapted to produce a combined cross current and twisting movement of the upward flow through said settling compartment, while also tending to centralize the downward movement of the material settling within said settling compartment.

3. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a settling tank, a partition structure dividing the tank into an up-flow com partment and a down-flow compartment communicating with said up-flow compartment near the upper end of the latter; fluid supply means connected with the tank and operating to maintain an upward flow through said up-flow compartment, and a settling medium in said down-flow compartment outlet connections communicating with said down-flow compartment at diflerent elevations, and means for regulating the discharge from the lower or" said connections.

4. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a settling tank containing downflow settling compartment, a partition structure comprising spaced V-shaped members arranged to provide a restricted passage between the upper and lower compartments of said tank with the approach to said passage gradually converging and thereafter diverging below said passage; means for maintaining a fluid settling medium within said compartments; a discharge connection communieating with the tank at a point above said restricted passage, and a second discharge connection communicating with the tank at the bottom of said settling compartment and forming the sole outlet from said lower compart-ment.

5. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a settling tank containing downflow settling compartment; a partition structure comprising spaced V-shaped members to provide a restricted passage between the upper and lower compartments of said tank, with the approach to said passage gradually converging, and thereafter diverging below said passage; discharge connections communicating with said compartments at points respectively above and below said restricted passage, and means for supplying a fluid medium to said compartment at a point below said restricted passage, the discharge connection to the lower of said compartments being provided with a regulating valve and forming the sole outlet from said lower compartment.

In witness whereof, I affix my signature.

LEWIS H.- FALLEY.