US3069995A - Compacting device - Google Patents

Description

H. SCHWEER COMPA Filed Dec. 25, 1962 CTING DEVICE May 4, 1960 United States Patent Office 3,069,995 Patented Dec. 25, 1962 3,069,995 CQMPACTKNG DEVICE Herman Schweer, Greendale, Wis., assignor to Allis- Chalmers Manufacturing Company, Milwaukee, Wis. Filed May 4, 1969, Ser. No. 26,825 2 Claims. (Cl. 99237) This invention relates in general to roller mills and in particular to roller mills of the type used toproduce sheet and flake products.

When compacting material in a roller mill, it sometimes becomes necessary to force feed the material to the rolls. This is especially true when compacting low density materials, for example cornstarch, because flufliness of the material enables the material to remain suspended above the rolls. Only by creating a pressure such as by means of a force feeder, to force such material through the rolls, is it possible to compact these materials. In a like manner force feeding may be used for compacting high density material that resists flow through the rolls.

It is desirable that the sheets and flakes produced be uniform. For instance, in the manufacture of breakfast foods, if the flakes of cereal were not of uniform thickness, it would not be possible to evenly toast the flakes, resulting in a breakfast food having flakes that were raw and burnt.

Force feeding the material to the rolls does not always yield a uniform product. A problem arises in that the air and moisture entrained in the material becomes entrapped at the nip of the rolls. The entrapped air or moisture will build up at the nip preventing portions of material from passing through the rolls and when the entrapped fluids build up enough to be forced through the rolls, a blow hole or void will be formed in the compacted product.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a novel compacting machine that produces a uniform product.

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel escape means in compacting machines for enabling entrapped gas and liquid to escape.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel escape vane for entrapped gases and liquids that will not hinder or obstruct the flow of material to the rolls.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel escape vent for entrapped fluids that can be adjusted for various materials fed into a roller mill.

In the preferred embodiment of this invention a hollow vane is placed within a feed bin. The feed bin is placed to deliver feed to a pair of rolls. The vane is suspended within the bin to extend into the roll valley just above the nip of the rolls. The vane extends longitudinally parallel to the axis of the rolls, a distance substantially equal to the length of the rolls that receives material from the feed bin. The sides of the vane that are thus substantially parallel to the roll axis are smooth and taper inwardly toward the nip to thereby present a streamlined surface for guiding flow of material to the nip and yet enabling the vane to be positioned in the valley close to the nip. The bottom of the vane is open, defining an entranceway for fluids, such as air and water, entrapped above the nip. The lower edges of the vane are equipped with several screws so that the size of the entranceway may be adjusted. In this manner variations of entrained fluid content between various material may be provided for by making appropriate adjustments to the entrance opening. The inner side surfaces of the vane taper outward in the direction away from the nip to thereby define a uniformly expanding escape passageway. Since the rolls squeeze entrained fluid out of the material passing therebetween, the fluid is entrapped between the nip and the pressures of the force feeder toward the nip. Therefore the fluid is under pressure as it enters the vane, and since the escape passageway affords a uniformly increasing volume of space in a direction away from the nip,.

the fluid will expand into the passageway and be induced to flow outward from the nip.

Objects and advantages other than those above set forth will be apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a compacting machine having a bleeder vane;

FIG. 2 is a view taken in the direction of line II-II of FIG. 1 showing a single roll of a pair journaled in schematic bearings together with sectional portions of a bleeder vane, and a feed bin; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the vane shown in FIG. 1, displaying in detail an adjustable entranceway.

With reference to the drawings and FIG. 1 in particular, a pair of parallel compacting rolls 10, 11 is shown operative for use in a compacting machine of the type used to produce flaked and sheet products. A roll valley indicated at 14 and a nip indicated at 15 are formed between the surfaces of the roll as illustrated. The rolls 10, 11 rotate in the direction indicated by the arrows of FIG. 1 so that material fed therebetween may be com pacted into sheets and flakes.

A feed means such as a feed bin 18 structurallyshown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is positioned above the rolls 10, 11 to direct material into the rolls for compaction. As illustrated, the bin 18 may be flange connected to a supply conduit 19 supplying material under pressure from a force feeder (not shown).

Since a force feeder rather than gravity may be relied upon to feed material to the rolls 10, 11, application of this invention is not limited only to compacting machines having a pair of horizontally displaced rolls. In fact, the rolls l6, 1]. shown in a preferred embodiment in the drawings may be taken to be disposed along any plane including a vertical plane. Therefore, it is not meant to limit this invention to a roller mill having horizontal rolls.

A tapered hollow bleeder vane 26 is positioned in the valley 1 3 between the rolls Iii, 11 to afford an escape passageway 21 for vapors entrapped at the nip 15. The vane 2%) may be fashioned out of a single rectangular sheet 22 of metal bent to the cross sectional configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. The opposed open ends of the sheet 22 are enclosed by end pieces 23. The end pieces 23 may include a circular flange portion 24 and a tapered portion 25 which as illustrated may be fixed to the opposed ends of the sheet 22 in any suitable manner, such as by welding, thereby providing a hollow tapered escape passageway 21 within the vane 20. An exit opening 26 may be provided in each flanged portion 24. This preferred embodiment of the vane is then supported by the flange portions 24 and suspended from the feed bin 18 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. As illustrated, a pair of exit ducts 27 may be connected to the flange portions 24 at exit openings 26 to provide an outlet for entrapped fluids. In some cases it may be desirable to attach some means as a suction pump (not shown) to create a negative pressure, and thereby facilitate exit of the fluid. The tapered portion 25 of the end pieces 23 have a gradual taper ending at apex 28. As FIGS. 1 and 3 illustrate, the sides of sheet 22 extend past apex 28 of the tapered portions 25 to provide lips 30 having a mouth opening 31 defined between them. Because of the inherent resiliency and flexibility of the material used in sheet 22 to form the sides of the vane 20, it is possible to adjust the size of the mouth opening 31 by moving the lips 30 apart or toward each other. This is accomplished in the preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 by means of several screws 33 spaced along the lips 30. By turning the screws 33, the lips 30 may be drawn together or separated to thereby adjust the mouth opening 31.

In the operation of this machine, the material to be compacted is fed under pressure from a force feeder (not shown) through a conduit 19 to the feed bin 18. The material will flow past the streamline surfaces of the tapered bleeder vane 20 and be guided toward the rolls 10, 11. The material will feed into the nip and through the rolls 10, 11 emerging as a uniform compacted product. Any fluid squeezed out of the material and entrapped at the nip 15 may escape into mouth opening 31 between lips 30 of the vane 20, through the escape passageway 21 and out exit openings 26 to exit conduits 27 As such fluid is under a pressure from the force feeder greater than atmospheric pressure, the fluid will readily escape into the atmosphere. However, in some cases it may be desirable to provide a suction pump to improve flow of entrapped fluid out through the vane.

Because of different fluid contents of various materials to be compacted, it is sometimes desirable that the mouth opening 31 be adjustable to take into account such differences. For example, when compacting a material having a small fluid content, the mouth opening 31 can be diminished in size by tightening the screws 33 thereby drawing the lips 30 together.

Although but a single embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent'to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications will be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having 'now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and the manner in which it is to be performed, 'I declare that what I claim is:

1. A roller mill for making sheet and flake products from pressurized material having fluid entrained therewith comprising: apair of juxtapositioned rolls cooperable to compact material fed therebetween, said rolls forming a feed valley and nip therebetween, and said rolls defining a plane bordering said valley and tangent each of said rolls; feed means including wall structure enclosing a space leading to said rolls for delivering said material under pressure to said valley; and a tapered hollow vane positioned within said feed means and in said valley between said rolls to define a continuous taper located between said plane and said nip for guiding said material past said vane to said nip, said vane defining an escape passageway having a mouth opening, said mouth including a pair of adjustable lips and means to adjust said lips for opening and closing said mouth opening, said passageway between said plane and said nip tapering outward from said nip defining a continuously expanding vent promoting outward flow of entrained fluid in said material.

2. A roller mill for making sheet and flake products from pressurized material having fluid entrained therewith comprising a pair of juxtapositioned rolls cooperable to compact material fed therebetween, said rolls forming a feed valley and nip therebetween, and said rolls defining a plane bordering said valley and tangent each of said rolls; feed means including wall structure enclosing a space leading to said rolls for delivering said material under pressure to said valley; and a tapered hollow vane positioned within said feed means and in said valley between said rolls to define a continuous taper located between said plane and said nip for guiding said material past said vane to said nip, said vane defining an escape passageway having a mouth opening, said mouth including a pair of adjustable lips and a screw operative to adjust said lips for opening and closing said mouth opening, said passageway below said plane tapering outward from said nip to provide a continuously expanding vent facilitating flow outward of said entrained gas.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,118,856 Hawk Nov. 24, 1914 1,187,702 Boss June 20, 1916 1,188,323 Richardson June 20, 1916 2,340,456 Dinley Feb. 1, 1944 2,533,550 Blackwell Dec. 12, 1950

Images