US2682079A

US2682079A - Apparatus for forming mineral wool

Info

Publication number: US2682079A
Application number: US278679A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles D Richardson
Original assignee: CHARLES RICHARDSON CORP
Current assignee: CHARLES RICHARDSON Corp
Priority date: 1951-07-19
Filing date: 1952-03-26
Publication date: 1954-06-29
Anticipated expiration: 1971-06-29
Also published as: FR1084323A; GB729534A; GB698663A

Description

June 29, 1954 c. D. RICHARDSON APPARATUS FOR FORMING MINERAL WOOL Original Filed July 19,

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

June 29, 1954 c. D. RICHARDSON 8 79 APPARATUS FOR FORMING MINERAL WOOL Original Filed July 19, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENT OR. Cflfiz wk rason Patented June 29 1954 APPARATUS EGRiFORMING MINERAL WOOL .TCha'rles. .D. .Richardson, Anna, ..Ill.,;.assignr to fCha'rles"Rii:hardson (lorporatiomTMuncie; Ind.

Original application July 19, 1951,Serial No. :.237.,508. Dividedzand this; application March 2,6; 1952;:Serial-No.- 278,679

2 Claims. 1

This -inventionrelates tom-the conversion of molten slag intomineral woolaand is similar in .some respectsto-the. invention disclosed. in my prior=,.U. S. application, Serial No. 215,463, filed :March. 14 1951,- and isa. division of my. coperiding tapplication filed July= .19,v 1951,.Serial No, 237,508. Asin this. .prior. .a1: plication,.v the .term mineral wooll is used generally .to cover, slag, rock, glass, .Orsimilar materialswhichlhave been. melted to -form...a. molten slag .and .then fiberized.

.In the ..above-.identified application, Serial. No. 215,463,. an apparatus is disclosed. which disintegrateslanstream ofemoltenhslag. by means of a .peripherallychanneled beater. wheel. This wheel .dischargesa spray.of.the..'disinteg11ated slag in substantially a tangentialdirection,and the spray .is .fiberized.by. .subjecting.it toa' high velocity .env'eloping, jet of.v steam. or hotflair. While this -amaaratus .is. unusually .e'fiicient for rapidly producing. an. excellent gradeof mineral wool, 'the present invention is.designe'd' to provide animprovd apparatus arid. method. capable of producing even greater. tonnageper' .hour without in anymanner impairing the quality. offthe product.

ilncarrying. out the above end, a further object is to provide a high speed rotary cylinder into "which the. moltenislag is'fed for disintegration prior tofiberizing, said rotary cylinder having greater capacity than a beater wheel for disintegrating the molten slag and'discharging a spray thereof.

"Anotherobject ofjthe invention is to associate the slag-disintegrating cylinder in a novel manner with means for directing a high velocity jet of steam or hot air around and in contact with the spray of disintegrated slag issuing from said cylinder. "'Tliis'jet not only e'fiectively'fiberizes the spray, but confines the latter against being .centrifugally thrown to any hazardous extent.

Yet another object is to rotatably mount the slag..-disintegrating cylinder in a novel manner which permits'it to be quickly and easily removed and allows another cylinder to be substituted wranequal dispatch, "whenever required.

A still further'object-is taprovide an unusually simplevyet. highly efficient apparatus which may be expeditiously manufactured and profitably marketed at a reasonable price.

Witlrthe foregoing and other objects in view that willrbecome apparent asthe natureLof' the zinventionsis better understood-the samecon- :sists in the novel subject matternhereinafter; described and? claimed, and-shown. in the'accomapanyingldrawings.

In the drawings:

Figure l is aside elevatiompartly broken away and inisection, showing lthewimproved apparatus,

Figu-re 2=isa front elevationg and Figure .3 a fragmentary vertical sectional view. on:line 33 of-Figure 2.

A preferred .form -.oi construction has ubeen shown and while this construction will. be rather specificallydescribed; it is to be understoodthat variations .may. be..made-..within the-scope. ofethe invention as claimed.

-A slag melting furnace is. indicated.,..at:=5,:.1and maysbe of. any suitable form. It mayo-beacon- .sideredas of cupola. typeandprovidedwithaan adjustable discharge. spout- 6..-for anstreamaof .molten slag l.

.A rotary power-driven slagedisintegrating :cyl-

in'derB is positioned to receive the slag-stream i. This cylindercentrifugally converts the molten slag into minute .partially fiberized .fiuid particles which issue fromthe. frontend ofasaid cylinder in the. formof asleeve-like spray 9. A circular steam or hot air nozzle lfl-surroundsthe .front end .of the. cylinder =8. and for.wardly ..pro-

jects a sleeve-like high velocity. fiberizingjet H around the spray.@, thereby confining theilatter against being centrifugally. thrown. to a hazardous extent. The jet ll enveloping the. sleevelike spray. 9,.strikes andacceleratesathis.spray and completesconversion of "the latter into fibres, which fibresenter a chamber. it. This .chamher is, provided with a bottom. in the. form ofna conveyor [3 upon which the fibres-felt ior .mat .andby which they are carried from the chamber "for manufacture into batsor other mineral. wool products.

The cylinderffi, a driving ..motor'l4. for-said cylinder, and the nozzle Iii, are. mounted on..a stand it. This-stand includes a top plate l8 "from which two front posts H and two. rear posts ll project upwardly, said posts .having bearings I 3 and Hi for thefltrunnionsf l9 ofv two lower rollers .Zl') which rotatably support the cylinder 3, said cylinder having-peripheral flanges Lil at the ends of said rollers12l to holdTthecylinder against endwise movement. ..'Front and rear linksffi. and 22 are pivotallyt suppo'rte'dlby the trunnions I 9 andextend upwardlytherefrom atthe sides. ofjthe cylinderiil. "The llpperends .of .these .links ..are provided .with bearings F23 -andld for the .trunnionsiilof two upper rollers .25. The upper ends or" the two.front. links-22 .are connected. by atensionspringit, .andacorrespondingspringlt connectsthe upper ends .of'the two rear links 2%. .These: springs .hold therollers 25 inwardly against the cylinder}, said ro1lers'25 therefore coa'cting with the lower r'ollers2ll' inmounting. the. cylinder forv smooth rotation. The springsfifi" and '26, ,""however,'-are detachably connected atone endas 'indicate'd at 21*- in-Figure 2 and when heredetachdjthey allow-thei linksi 22 and 22 -to outwardly swing.

Thus, the upper rollers 25 move away from the cylinder 8, leaving the latter free to be lifted out and replaced with another. After the replacement, the

links

22 and 22 are again swung inwardly and the

springs

26 and 26 are again connected. The cylinder driving motor I4 is geared at 28 to one of the lower roller trunnions l9 and thus the cylinder driving means is not disturbed when changing cylinder.

The axes of the

rollers

20 and 25 are forwardly declined somewhat to support the cylinder 8 in a forwardly declined position, thus feeding the molten slag forwardly in said cylinder while it is being disintegrated. The period of time during which the slag remains in the cylinder, determines the diameter of the fibres produced by the apparatus; and said period may be varied by varying the point at which the slag stream 1 is discharged into said cylinder. When discharged about as shown in Figure 1, the slag will remain in the cylinder for the maximum period. The period of slag dwell in the cylinder may be reduced by discharging the stream 1 farther toward the front end of the cylinder, and this may be effected by substituting a longer chute 6.

Both ends of the cylinder 8 are open and the rear end of said cylinder is preferably flanged inwardly at 29 to prevent any back throw of the molten slag. The flange may well be of frustoconical form and will thus forwardly direct any fluid slag particles which may be centrifugally thrown against it.

The circular nozzle is pivotally mounted at 30 in a U-shaped yoke 3|, said yoke being secured to the upper end of a standard 32. This standard is adjustably secured at 33 to a slide 34, said slide being mounted on a track bar 36 secured to the stand IS. A hand screw 35 and nut 31 are shown for forwardly and rearwardly adjusting the slide 34, thereby similarly adjusting the nozzle I0 to attain the most advantageous setting.

An adjusting rod 38 is pivoted at 39 to the nozzle W for pivotally adjusting this nozzle to the most effective position, and suitable means 40 is provided for adjustably connecting said rod 38 with the stand l5.

For conducting steam or hot air to the nozzle ID, a valved line 4| is provided, including a length of hose 42. and communicates with a continuous chamber 43 of the latter as in Figure 3. A continuous narrow slit 44 is provided from the chamber 43 to the front side of the nozzle to discharge the high velocity jet H of steam or hot air. For most slags, a radial width of about forty thousandths of an inch is sufficient for the slit 44.

An excellent fibre can be formed when using a cylinder 8 of 6" internal diameter and long driven at 1,000 R. P. M. However, the invention is not restricted to any particular cylinder dimensions or speed of rotation. The rotating cylinder centrifugally disintegrates the molten slag into minute partly fiberized fluid particles which discharge forwardly from said cylinder in the form of the sleeve-like spray 9. This spray is confined, struck and accelerated by the high velocity, forwardly directed sleeve-like jet ll of steam or hot air, and complete conversion of the spray to fibres is thus effected. These fibres enter the chamber l2 and felt or mat upon the conveyor l3 which carries them off for manufacture into bats or other mineral wool products.

Whenever it is necessary to remove one cylinder and substitute another, this may be quickly and This line connects with the nozzle easily accomplished by disconnecting the springs 2626 and swinging the links 22--22" and rollers 25 outwardly. The cylinder may then be lifted from the rollers 20, and the replacement laid upon said rollers 20. I'he links 22-42"- and the rollers 25 are then returned to their normal positions and the springs 26-46 are re-connected again, placing the apparatus in condition for use.

From the foregoing it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been made for attaining the desired ends, and while there is herein shown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is nevertheless to be understood that minor changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. A mineral wool producing apparatus comprising a slag-receiving cylinder having an open front end for forwardly discharging a sleeve-like spray of disintegrated and partly fiberized slag, means rotatably mounting said cylinder, said mounting means comprising rollers spaced around the periphery of said cylinder and contacting with the latter, and mounting means for said rollers, including means mounting some of said rollers for outward movement from said cylinder, detachably connected spring means normally preventing said outward movement, means for driving said cylinder, and nozzle means associated with the front end of said cylinder for directing a fluid jet against said spray to further fiberize the same.

2. In a mineral wool producing apparatus, a support, two front laterally spaced posts rising from said support and having bearings at their upper ends, two rear posts rising from said support behind said front posts, said rear posts having bearings alined with those of said front posts, two lower rollers between said front posts and said rear posts, said rollers having trunnions engaging the bearings of said front and rear posts, a slag disintegrating cylinder resting on said two lower rollers, two upper rollers engaging said cylinder and normally holding it upon said lower rollers, right and left links carrying said upper rollers, said links being pivotally mounted at their lower ends to allow outward movement of said upper rollers when said cylinder is to be removed, detachably connected springs connecting said right and left links and normally preventing outward movement of said links, a circular fluid discharge nozzle surrounding the front end of said cylinder, a U-shaped yoke in which said nozzle is mounted for tilting adjustment, a standard carrying said yoke, slide means mounting said standard on said support for forward and rearward adjustment, means for normally holding said nozzle in adjusted position with respect to said yoke, and means for normally holding said slide means in adjusted position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 883,770 Wood Apr. 7, 1908 1,527,729 Dunajeff Feb. 24, 1925 1,558,067 Watson Oct. 20, 1925 2,497,369 Peyches Feb. 14, 1950 2,646,593 Downey July 28, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 571,807 Germany Feb. 16, 1933