US2553936A - Reclaiming machine - Google Patents

Description

' May 22, 1951 B. F. PATRICK RECLAIMING MACHINE Filed July 2, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Il /l May 22, 1951 B. F. PATRICK RECLAIMING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 2, 1948 nilliiilill r Inventor fiezz 1''. Pa Zrz'c K Attorney Patented May 22, 1951 I'TE 1 a 2,553,936 a R'EGLAIEMING MACHINE Ben E. Patrick, Knoxville, Tenn.

Application July- 2-, 1948, SeriaLNo. 36,730

5 Claims. (Cl. 209-199) This invention relates. to an improved reclaim! ing' machine for extracting. precious metals; Such as placer gold. and other metals, found; in a. tree state, from pulp and more particularly cons ti. tutes. an improved centrifugal amalgamato which utilizes. mercury for separating. the precis ous. metals from the pulp.

A primary object. of the. present invention is to provide a reclaiming machine Qf extremely simple. construction having means. for circulating themercur-y to and from themachine in order 110. maintain the surface ofthe. mercury in afresh condition. and relatively free. from. the. precious. met -ls which: have been am l mat d thereby so, that the. amalgamation of the precious metals canbe readily ac mpli he and t liminats the ne e i y of: redu inethe velocity of; rotation of the machine to break. upxthe'mercnry wall for c omplishin this p rpo e A o h r ob ec of: h invention is. to. rovide a machine. or extremely simple co truct on; ision. s. adapted o e revolv at a i rate. of pee wh r by throug th ent i u al r e re parted thereby to. the hula-and precio metals,

pre ious metals. will. bere d ly par te out f he pulp and. am l ma d wit h m rcury and th b lb car i o f nd epar t dthe ma hi e h h a u roundin l nde $ti1lai r he 3 b ect of he. inv ntion is o pr v d a ma h n neludi s a bowl or .eehtain ns the erc y a d int wh ch he. pulp. is d s; ch r d an havin me ns f rea ly xpos na e 01 11 wi l of the bow t 12 211 6: 0 re t on. r epaireus ot r ob s; an a v nta s. the inv ntion wi here a becom m re h ly ppa n f m e fio ew ne d script n o th d awin lus rat n a presently preferred erebodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is, a vertical sectional; View, partlyin side elevation of the reclaiming machine;

Figure 2. is a izontal ectio al i w thereof taken substantially along a plane as indica by the line 2.Z of Figure 1 gur 3 s a ho nt se n Vi w ta n substantially along a plane as indicatedby the. line 3;-3 of Figure 1 F g 4 is a side e e naliew, pa tly n vertical section taken substantially at a. right angle to Figure 1, andlooking from right to. left thereof Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view onan enlarged scale, taken substantially along a plan as indicated lay-the line 55 of Figure l, and

Figure 6 is a similar viewtaken substantially alo g a plane as mdicated by the.;1ine 676 of? Figure. L.

Referring. more particularly to. the: drawings, the. novel reclaiming; machine. or centritugal amalgamator constituting, the. invention is desig-. natedgenerally 1 andincludes a. frame 8: come posed of. upright corner. posts. 9., preferably of angle. iron, the. lower ends of: which. rest, on or may be. suitably: anchored in a supporting. S111": face In. The posts 9 are bracedat their upper end v by the braces l lxandadjacent. their lower ends by superimposed: plates Lb and .t3;.which are a tached o. the. legs 9; by angle brackets. M and each of; which is provided with a. central-open: ins 1-5, and, an upstanding flange i6 disposed COIL: centricallyaroundthe. opening. IE' and spaced outwardly bereiroin.

A hollow shaft. ll: extends loosely. through the pen ng. It and is provided adjacent. itslo wer end w h. collar l8; which bears on a thrust bearing l9 retained in the fiangelfi; of the bottomplate [13 for retatably supporting the shaft 11: the frame l8 The flange tB of the. upper.- plate In contains an antifrictlon bearing 20. in which said shaft I}! is joiirnaledand whichcombines with the bea ng la tor axially iournaling. the. shaft in. he. ame. 8. V

A hQWl 21 is. provided with a central externally fla ed. pe in 22; in. the bot om. thereof throu h which the upper portion of. the. shaft [1; extends and to; which said shaft. is. secured for. rotation or the bowl Zlwiththe'shaft. ll. and as best illus: trated in. Eigurel, said shafit extends. to a slight distance above the bottom or the bowl 21. A beveled ring gear. 2:3 is: fixed to the shaft H: be! tween the bearings l9; and 20. and meshes with a beveled gear; 24 ofa driven shaft 25 which. may be driven from any suitable powersource, not shown. Likewise, it will be readily apparent that a belt. pulley, not shown, could be substituted for the gear 23- for reVolv-ingthe shaft 11 by a belt drive.

The bowl 21 is provided with a substantially cylindrical side wall having an internal spiral rib 26 extending from near the bottom thereof to a point near the open top 2-! -oi said bowl which is slightly-restricted relatively to the internal diameterof the bowl. Adjacent its open top 2T, the bowl 2| is provided with an annular outwardly bowed portion 28 disposed above the upper end of the spiral r-i-b Mi-and which isprovided with a plurality of outwardly and; downwardly extending discharge conduits "29', for a purpose which will hereinafter become apparent. An annular rim 30 having acentral opening'off' 3 approximately the same size as the bowl opening 21 is secured by fastenings 3| to the upper end of the bowl 2| and externally thereof and from its bore to its periphery is tapered and curved outwardly and downwardly, as best illustrated in Figure 1.

A brace 32 is secured to and extends between two of the legs 9 adjacent their upper ends for supporting a portion of a supply pipe 33 which is mounted thereon and secured thereto by a strap 34. The end of the pipe 33 which extends into the frame 8 is externally enlarged and threaded as seen at 35 to receive a threaded retaining collar 36 which is mounted on the elbow of a pipe 31. The elbow end of the pipe 31 has an out-turned flange 38 which is adapted to bear against the outer end of the enlargement 35 and the collar 36 is provided with an inturned annular flange 39 at one end thereof which engages the opposite, inner side of the flange 38 for securing it against the enlargement 35 for coupling the pipes 33 and 31. The opposite, normally depending end of the pipe 31 is provided with an extension 40 which telescopes thereon and which has an internal flange 4| at its inner end for engagement with an external flange 42 on the lower or outer end of the pipe 31 to prevent the section 49 from being disconnected from the pipe 31 and for normally supporting said section 49 in its extended position of Figure l and so that it will extend into the bowl 2| and open above and adjacent the upper end of the shaft IT. The pipe section 40 adjacent its upper end is provided with an annular flange 43 of arcuate cross section which is disposed substantially concentrically over the rim 30 and which combines with the exterior surface thereof to form an annular outwardly and downwardly extending discharge passage 44 which opens outwardly of the conduits 29 and into an annular trough or launder 45 which is supported in the frame 8 on brackets 46 secured to the posts 9. The trough 45 is provided with an outer annular wall which extends to above the bottom edge of the flange 43 and which is-spaced outwardly therefrom and has an inner annular wall which terminates in an inwardly flared edge disposed below and inwardly of theouter edge of the rim 30 and accordingly inwardly of the discharge passage 44. Said inner wall of the trough 45 is spaced from the cylindrical side wall of the bowl 2| and disposed beneath and adjacent the bowl portion 28 and is provided with a flange which extends upwardly therefrom and toward the bowl 2| to combine therewith for forming a smaller inner gutter or flume 41 into which the conduits 29 discharge. A pipe 48 has an upper end opening into the bottom of the flume or gutter 41 and extends downwardly therefromthrough openings in the plates I2 and I3 and is provided with an upwardly extending opposite end 49 which extends upwardly through the bore 59 of the shaft I1 and which is loosely disposed in said bore 5|] so that the shaft I! can freely revolve around the pipe portion 49. As best seen in Figure 5, the shaft I1 is provided with a recessed upper end 5| into which the upper end of the bore 5|] opens and into which extends the upper end of the pipe section 49. Said upper end of the pipe section 49 terminates in a crosshead 52 having oppositely opening discharge ends which open into the recess 5|. Said recess 5| is tapered downwardly and outwardly and is provided with downwardly and outwardly opening discharge ports 53'. The recess 5| is normally closed by athreaded cap 4 54 which engages the externally threaded upper end of the shaft |1.

The pipe 48 beneath and adjacent the gutter 41 is provided with an inspection box 55 to the top and bottom of which adjacent sections of the pipe 48 are threadedly connected so that box 55 constitutes a part of the conduit of the pipe 48 and forms an enlargement thereof. The inspection box 55 is provided with a window 56 behind which andwithin the box 55 is disposed an upstanding graduated rod 51. The pipe 48, beneath and adjacent the inspection box 55, is provided with a manually controlled valve 58.

The shaft H is provided with a pair of dia metrically opposed impeller vanes or blades 59 which extend outwardly therefrom and which are curved in a direction away from the direction of rotation of the shaft I! as indicated by the arrow 60 of Figure 3 and which vanes 59 increase in width toward their outer ends and are provided with upwardly curved trailing edges.

The shaft I7 is adapted to be revolved in the frame 8 by its driving connection with the driven shaft 25, as previously described, for rotating the bowl 2| on its longitudinal axis at a relatively high velocity for producing a substantial centrifugal force within said bowl. The conduit 33 is adapted to be connected to a source of pulp supplyv containing precious metal which may be conveyed therethrough in any suitable manner and. discharged from the pipe section 49 into the bowl 2| adjacent its bottom. The bowl 2% is initially charged with mercury, not shown, which due to the centrifugal force within said bowl 2| when revolved will form a lining on the cylindrical wall of the bowl and fill the spaces between the spaced convolutions of the spiral rib 25. The pulp which is discharged outwardly and downwardly into the bowl 2| will be deflected outwardly and upwardly by centrifugal force and by the action of the vanes or blades 59. This centrifugal force will cause the precious metals to be separated from the pulp and to be amalgamated with the mercury lining the cylindrical wall of the bowl. The lighter pulp will be conveyed upwardly and will be .discharged through the open top 21 of the bowl 2| and over the rim 38 and will be deflected outwardly and downwardly by the annular deflector flange 43 so as to be discharged from the annular discharge passage 44 into the trough or launder 45 which may be provided with a suitable outlet, not shown, for carrying off the pulp after the precious metals have been thus separated therefrom. Ordinarily,

L the surface of the mercury lining the inner wall of the bowl 2| would rapidly become impregnated with the precious metal particles which would resist further amalgamation. In order to overcome this and without the necessity of slowing down the rotation of the bowl to break up the mercury wall, the mercury is supplied in suflicient quantities so that the upward impetus produced thereon by the vanes 59 together with the centrifugal force will cause the amalgam of precious metals and mercury to be carried upwardly of the bowl 2| into the enlarged portion 28 from which such amalgam will be'discharged through the conduit 29 into the flume or gutter 41 from whence the amalgam will flow through the con- . duits 48, 49 into the recess 5| of the shaft I! to be discharged therefrom through the ports 53 centrifugally back into the lower portion of the bowl 2| thereby constantly re-distributing the mercury so that the surface of precious metals cannot be formed thereon. The window 56 of the inspection box 55 affords a means whereby the operator can visually determine and check the flow of the mercury for varying and regulating this iiow by the control valve 58. By momentarily shutting off the valve 58 the rate of mercury flow can be determined by reference to the graduated rod 51 for determining the rate at which the mercury will fill the inspection box.

Ready access is provided to the open top of the bowl 2| for the purpose of inspection or repair by the simple expedient of retracting the pipe section 4d upwardly on the pipe section 3'1, as illustrated in Figure 4 after which said telescoped pipe can be swung upwardly and to one side, as illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 4, so that the top of the bowl 2| will be exposed.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A centrifugal reclaiming machine for precious metals comprising a frame, a hollow shaft journaled therein, a bowl fixed to said shaft and supported thereby in the frame in an upright position and for rotation with the shaft on its vertical axis, said shaft extending through the bowl bottom, drive means connected to said shaft beneath the bowl, said bowl having a cylindrical side wall adapted to be lined with mercury by the centrifugal force of the rotation of the bowl, a feed conduit for pulp supported by said frame and having a discharge end opening into the bowl adjacent thebettom thereof, said pipe extending through the open top or" said bowl, a rim secured to the open top of the bowl and having an outwardly and downwardly extending annular flange over which the pulp is adapted to be discharged after separation of the precious metals therefrom by amalgamation in the mercury, a trough or launder supported by the frame around the bowl and beneath and adjacent the annular flange for receiving the pulp, and means for circulating the mercury by extraction of the mercury from adjacent the top of the bowl and by recharging the bowl by a gravity feed with the mercury adjacent the bottom thereof and through the hollow shaft.

2. A reclaiming machine as in claim 1., said last mentioned means comprising an annular gutter or flume supported by said trough and inwardly thereof, said bowl having an upper annular internally enlarged portion forming an integral part thereof into which the mercury is conveyed and provided with discharge ports opening into said gutter, a conduit extending downwardly from said gutter having an upturned portion extending upwardly through said hollow shaft through which the mercury is returned to the bottom of the bowl by gravity from the gutter, said hollow shaft having a recessed upper end provided with outwardly and downwardly opening discharge ports opening into the lower portion of the bowl and into which the upturned end of said pipe discharges for recharging the bowl with the mercury.

3. A reclaiming machine as in claim 1, said feed pipe having an annular deflector flange normally disposed over and adjacent the bowl rim for deflecting the pulp into the trough, said feed pipe having a telescopic section supporting said deflector flange above and out of engagement with the bowl, said telescopic section being retractable out of said bowl, and said feed pipe including a joint on which the telescopic portion thereof is swingable for displacing the feed pipe away from the bowl for exposing the open top of the bowl.

4. A reclaiming machine as in claim 1, said means comprising an annular gutter or flume supported by said trough and inwardly thereof, said bowl having an upper annular internally enlarged portion into which the mercury is conveyed and provided with discharge ports opening into said gutter, a conduit extending downwardly from said gutter having an upturned portion extending upwardly through said hollow shaft, said hollow shaft having a recessed upper end provided with outwardly and downwardly opening discharge ports opening into the lower portion of the bowl and into which the upturned end of said pipe discharges for recharging the bowl with the mercury, the flange of said rim extending outwardly beyond said gutter for deflecting the pulp into the trough and away from the gutter.

5. A reclaiming machine as in claim 1, said hollow shaft having an upper portion disposed within the lower part of said bowl, and impeller blades secured to said upper portion and adjacent the bowl bottom and provided with upwardly curved trailing ends for deflecting the pulp upwardly relatively to the bowl bottom.

BEN F. PATRICK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 355,958 White Jan. 11, 1887 604,978 Garland et a1 May 31, 1898 739,081 Hicks Sept. 15, 1903 1,003,118 McKellar Sept. 12, 1911 1,204,231 Alderson Nov. 7, 1916 1,220,051 Zimmer Mar. 20, 1917 1,232,104 Sharples July 3, 1917 1,361,723 I-Ianssen Dec. 7, 1920 1,456,737 Lapham May 29, 1923 1,951,108 Reilly Mar. 3, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 418,518 Great Britain Oct. 26. 1934

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