US3280426A

US3280426A - Floating die type pellet mill

Info

Publication number: US3280426A
Application number: US78507A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edgar N Meakin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1960-12-27
Filing date: 1960-12-27
Publication date: 1966-10-25
Anticipated expiration: 1983-10-25
Also published as: DK107725C; CH400775A; GB935568A; NL267832A

Description

Oct. 25, 1966 E. N. MEAKIN 3,280,426

FLOATING DIE TYPE PELLE'I MILL Filed Dec. 27, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

E0 GAR /v. MEA K/IV N BY [(1 0 3AM /1'/$ ATTORNEYS Oct. 25, 1966 E. N. MEAKIN 3,280,426

FLOATING DIE TYPE PELLET MILL Filed Dec. 27, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. EDGAR /V. MEA/fl/V HIS ATTORNEYS Oct. 25, 1966 E. N. MEAKIN 3,280,426

FLOATING DIE TYPE PELLET MILL 7 Filed Dec. 27, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 m5 1 v MrAMMMM WWKH- 7% a INVENTOR.

EDGAR /v. ME/JK/IV BY H/S A TTOR/VEYS Oct. 25, 1966 E. N. MEAKIN 3,280,426

FLOATING DIE TYPE PELLET MILL Filed Dec. 27, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN V EN TOR.

EDGAR IV- MEll/(l/V BY HIS AT TOR/VE'YS Oct. 25, 1966 E. N. MEAKIN FLOATING DIE TYPE PELLET MILL 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 27, 1960 INVENTOR. EDGAR IV. MEAKl/V HIS ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,280,426 FLOATING DIE TYPE PELLET MILL Edgar N. Meakin, 372 Roblar Ave., Hillshorough, Calif. Filed Dec. 27, 1960, Ser. No. 78,507 8 Claims. (Cl. 1812) My invention relates to pellet mills and more particularly to the type utilizing a floating die such as depicted in the patent to Bonnafoux, No. 2,870,481 of January 27, 1959.

In a pellet mill of the floating die type, a ring type die, instead of being mounted on the wall of the mill housing as has been conventional practice in the past, is carried entirely by the extrusion rolls, of which there are at least three in number equally spaced within the die which they support.

Among the objects of my invention are:

(1) To provide a novel and improved pellet mill of the type utilizing a floating die;

(2) To provide a novel and improved floating die pellet mill which permits rapid and convenient installation and removal of a die;

(3) To provide a novel and improved floating die type pellet mill which is readily adjustable to compensate for wear:

(4) To provide a novel and improved floating die type pellet mill having a plurality of power driven extrusion rolls;

(5) To provide a novel and improved floating die type pellet mill in which the probability of contamination in either direction between the lubricant and the pellet material is minimized; and

(6) To provide a novel and improved floating die type pellet mill employing a plurality of power driven extrusion rolls, and in which installation and removal of a die and adjustments for wear, are accomplished through adjustment of one only of said rolls.

Additional objects of my invention will be brought out in the following description of a preferred embodiment of the same taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view in section through a pellet mill of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view in elevation of the pellet mill of the present invention with the door in its open condition;

FIG. 3 is a corresponding view with the die and controlled roll removed;

FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to that of FIG. 3 but with the front Wall of the housing for the most part removed to expose the drive and adjusting mechanism for the rolls; and

FIG. 5 is a view depicting a tensioning lever for supporting an idler gear employed in tensioning a drive chain.

FIG. 6 is a front view, partly in section, of a pellet mill embodying a modification of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a view in section taken in the planes 7-7 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a view in section taken in the planes 8-8 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a view depicting the tensioning lever and idler sprocket employed in the embodiment of FIG. 6.

Referring to the drawings for details of my invention in its preferred form, the same comprises a mounting base 1 on which is mounted a mill housing 3 including parallel front and

rear Walls

5 and 7 and end walls 9 and 11 connecting the front and rear walls.

The front and rear walls support two pairs of aligned bearing housings 1315 and included bearings 17, the one pair of aligned housings and bearings being displaced substantially 120 from the other pair about a central axis 25. One pair of aligned bearings supports a fixed location extrusion roll supporting shaft 29 journalled therein and extending through the front wall to mount an extrusion roll 31, while the other pair carries a similar fixed location extrusion roll shaft 35 which likewise extends beyond the front wall 5 and mounts an extrusion roll 37.

With respect to the aforementioned

fixed location rolls

31 and 37, there is a third extrusion roll 41 adjustably mounted with respect to the other two. The means for mounting such adjustable roll includes a saddle shaped lever 43 which is journalled at one end on a pivot shaft 45 supported by and between the front and rear walls, at a location such that an intermediate point 47 of the lever can describe an arc 51 tangent to the perpendicular bisector 53 of the line 55 connecting the

fixed location shafts

29, 35, while the point of tangency is selected to be substantially 120 degrees from the axes of the

other rolls

31 and 37 as measured about the central axis 25.

The lever 43 is made adjustable through a range of adjustments on its pivot, such as to swing the aforementioned point 47 through such tangential are 51. The means for so adjusting the lever comprises an adjusting screw 59 connected to the free end of the lever and extending freely through a wall of the housing to receive an adjusting wheel 61 threadedly secured thereon externally of the housing.

A stub shaft 65 carried by the lever with its axis coinciding with the aforementioned point 47 of the lever, extends through an enlarged opening 71 in the front wall of the housing, and on its extended end is journalled the extrusion roll 41 whereby adjustable movements of the lever will cause the extrusion roll to move along the tangential arc. The aforementioned adjustable mounting of the third extrusion roll 41, places it at substantially 120 away from either of the fixed locations rolls 31, 37.

The three rolls are power driven in a positive manner, the drive means for this purpose including a gear or sprocket 81 on each of the rolls shafts, and a gear or sprocket chain 83 encircling the gears or sprockets in engagement therewith.

One of the fixed location roll shafts 35 extends through the rear wall of the housing and carries a gear 85 in mesh with a drive pinion 87 driven by a motor 89 mounted on the base.

Tension in the driven chain 83 is maintained by suitable tension means including a lever 91 supported at an intermediate point on a shaft 93 between the front and rear walls of the housing, such lever including a fulcrum sleeve 95 journalled on said shaft and having spaced parallel arms 97 fixed to its ends and straddling the drive chain 83 to carry at such end, an idler gear or sprocket 99 in mesh with the drive chain.

'Fixed to said fulcrum sleeve at an intermediate point thereon and extending in the opposite direction, is an arm 101, to the extremity of which, one end of a tensioning spring is hooked or otherwise anchored, while the other end of said spring is hooked to a clevis 107 which is threadedly mounted on an adjusting screw 109 which in turn is rotatably mounted in an end wall 5 of the housing. Rotation of such screw from externally of the housing, will alter the tension in the spring, in one direction or the other depending on the direction of rotation of the adjusting screw, and thus provide means for tensioning the gear or sprocket chain.

The three rolls cooperate to provide a support for floating a ring type die 115, the compression side of which is preferably recessed along the area of the die holes to receive the rolls and provide a retaining shoulder 117 to each side of the rolls.

To install such die, the adjustable roll 41 is swung inwardly along its prescribed arc of movement, which will permit assembling of the ring die over the rolls, following which, the adjustable roll is moved outwardly until it engages the compression side of the die with suflicient pressure to establish pressure engagement between all the rolls and the die. As thus installed, the positive drive rotation of the rolls, will simultaneously, through the existing frictional engagement between the rolls and the die, produce rotation of the die, whereby pellet material introduced into the extrusion or die chamber defined by the die, will be extruded through the die apertures.

In a machine adapted to perform heavy duty work such as the pellet mill of the present invention, the various bearings must be maintained under pressure lubrication at all times, and this may be accomplished in any conventional manner as by the pressure feeding of a lubricant through oil lines to the various bearings from a pump which draws its supply of oil from a reservoir. In the present instance, the lower end of the housing serves as a reservoir 121 for holding such lubricant.

One of the problems, ever present in a pellet mill, is to maintain adequate protection against contamination, either of the lubricant by the pellet material or the pellet material by the lubricant, and such problem in the machine of the present invention, is an aggravated one, attributable to the necessary provision of the oversize opening 71 in the front wall of the housing to permit of the adjustment of the adjustable roll 41.

In effecting a solution to this problem, a main front plate 125, preferably of circular shape and covering an area greater than that of the die chamber, is aifixed to the front wall 5 of the housing and sealed thereto about its peripheral edge by a sealing ring 127. This main front plate has openings therein to closely fit the protruding ends of the fixed

location roll shafts

29 and 35, such openings being bounded by a circular rib 129 of slightly greater diameter to provide for insertion and retention of a seal 131 about the proximate shaft.

At the location of the adjustable roll 41, the main front plate 125 is provided with an enlarged opening of a diameter roughly comparable to the diameter to the roll itself. The surrounding portion of the main front plate is formed with a two stage recess 137, the central or deeper section being of sufficient area to slidably receive a shaft seal plate 139 of comparable thickness and having a rib 141 encircling the stub shaft 65 and spaced sufficiently from the shaft to provide for reception of suitable sealing means 143.

The shaft seal plate 139 is retained in sliding engagement with the recessed portion of the main front plate 125, by a retainer plate 147 which snugly fits into the front main plate, flush with the front surface thereof, and of a thickness sufiicient to hold the shaft seal plate 139 in sliding contact with the main front plate, to allow for the necessary adjustments of the roll 41 mounted on the stub shaft. It is noted that the shaft seal plate 139 and the retainer plate 147 encircle the adjustable stub shaft 65 only.

Following the application of the seal plate retainer 147, is a circular die seal plate 151 which is adapted to receive the proximate end of the die 115 when the die is assembled on the rolls, and is further adapted to shift with movement of the die in response to adjustments of the adjustable roll 41, by providing shaft openings 155 therethrough of sufficient size and shape to permit of such shifting.

This die seal plate 151 is aflixed to the main front plate 125 in a manner to permit of such shifting by mounting the same on cap screws 159 anchored to the front plate, suitable slots 161 being provided in the die seal plate for passage of such cap screws and for enabling such shifting of the plate.

A cover plate 171 surrounding the stub shaft 65 is screwed to the rib 141 on the shaft seal plate 139 and is of suflicient size to overhang the proximate portion of the die seal plate 151 with which it maintains sliding contact.

Material to be pelleted is supplied through a down chute 181 mounted on a door 183 with its discharge end extending through an opening 185 in said door. From the chute, the material is discharged onto a flaring guide component 187, the large end of which is flanged for mounting the guide component onto the end of the ring die 115 for rotation with such die.

Thus material discharging from the chute will be fed into the extrusion or die chamber for extrusion through the die, and to assure a more equitable distribution of such material to the various extrusion rolls, to realize substantially uniform loading on the various rolls and a resulting uniform product, a deflect-or 191 supported by a stern 193 from the die seal plate 151, is angu'larly positioned along the inner surface of the flaring guide component 127, whereby to intercept a portion of the material which may be carried around by the guide member, and deflect the same into the upper portion of the die chamber. Inasmuch as this deflector is mounted on the die seal plate, it will shift with any movements of the die resulting from adjustments of the adjustable roll 41, and accordingly the deflector will always maintain its proper relationship with the flaring guide component.

The door 183 is mounted on hinges 197 extending from the housing 3, and is provided with conventionally installed pellet knives 199 fixedly related to the die 115, to form pellets from the material being extruded from such die.

The door in its closed position forms a pellet housing for receiving the pellets as they are formed, and in a conventional manner the door is formed with a discharge spout 201 at its lower end for the discharge of such pellets as they are formed.

The modification of the invention as depicted in FIGS. 6 through 9, differs from the embodiment of FIGS. 1

through 5, primarily in the manner of mounting and adjusting the adjustable roll 41 of the machine.

In this connection, the shaft 215 on which the adjustable roll is to be mounted, is supported in bearing assemblies 21 7, 219 one associated with the front wall 5 and the other with the rear wall 7 of the machine housing, the bearing assembly 219 being eccentrically housed in a cylindrical housing 223 set into a socket defined by a substantially cylindrical flange 224, while the front bearing assembly is similarly housed in a cylindrical housing 225 which is supported within a substantially cylindrical flange 226 in alignment with the other bearing assembly 219.

The flange 226 substantially borders an opening in the front wall 5 over which is a wall plate 227 into which is rotatably fitted, a circular plate or insert 228 which is bolted or otherwise aflixed to the exposed end of the bearing assembly housing 225 on a common axis. In this plate or insert is an opening located with its center on the axis of the shaft 215 to permit passage of the shaft through the insert to mount the adjustable roll 41.

The free edge of each bearing assembly housing is toothed to provide a gear 231 formed integral therewith. These gears are each adapted to mesh with an associated drive pinion 233 mounted on a common shaft 235 supported in front and rear Wall bearings 237, 239 respectively, and extending beyond the rear wall for the mounting of an adjusting whee-l 241.

Manual rotation of this adjusting wheel, will accordingly result in simultaneous angular movement of the bearing

assembly housings

223, 225, along with the front wall insert 228, and due to the eccentricity of the bearing assemblies 219, 217 therein and the shaft 215 supported thereby, such bearing assemblies and shaft will accordingly be caused to swing with their common axis following a small circular path, to thereby permit of the desired adjustment of the roll 41 carried by this shaft.

Inasmuch as there is no linear movement of the shaft 215 relative to the front wall insert 228, conventional type seals 251 may be employed where this shaft passes through the insert. This greatly simplifies the problem of sealing the shaft 215.

To assure maintenance of an adjustment once it has been effected, and remove stresses which might otherwise be imparted to the gears 231 and pinions 233, I provide clamping means 255 for each bearing

assembly housing

223 and 225, by partially severing each flange from its associated wall, splitting the severed portion and providing the ends with bored opposing

ears

259, 261 to slidably receive an adjusting screw 265 which extends through an end or proximate wall of the machine housing where it mounts a control lever 267. Reversely threaded

nuts

269, 271 to either side of the opposing ears, will permit of clamping or releasing of the associated bearing assembly housing at will, merely through manipulation of the associated lever 267.

In this modification of the invention, I prefer to drive the adjustable shaft 215 from one of the fixed roll shafts 35 independently of the remaining fixed roll shaft 29. Toward this end I provide a twin sprocket 279 on the shaft 35 and from one side of this twin sprocket, a drive chain 281 connects this shaft to a sprocket 283 on the other fixed roll shaft 29. From the remaining side of the twin sprocket 279, the first shaft 35 is drive connected to a sprocket 287 on the adjustable shaft 215, by a drive chain 293 which encircles an idler sprocket 295 in a manner similar to that illustrated and described in connection with the embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 5, to maintain tension in the associated drive chain, despite adjustments of the adjustable roll 41.

The idler sprocket 295, due to the employment of the two drive chains, will have the sprocket teeth on idler sprocket asymmetrically located in order to accommodate the sprocket to the plane of the drive chain 293, so as not to require a shift in the location of the entire idler sprocket assembly.

From the foregoing description of my invention in its preferred form, it will be apparent that the same fulfills all the objects attributable thereto, and while I have illustrated and described my invention in considerable detail, it will be apparent that the same is subject to further alteration and modification without departing from the underlying principles involved.

For example, the shaft which mounts the adjustable roll may be supported in any conventional manner such as between the front and rear walls of the housing, with the front end extending through the front wall and provided with an eccentric extension on which the roll will be rotatably mounted. By eliminating the drive to this shaft, but merely providing an angular adjustment of the shaft such as described in connection with the embodiment of FIG. 8, the sealing of the shaft where it passes through the front wall may be conventional. The permissible angular rotation of the shaft will enable adjustments of the roll. In this embodiment, the adjustable roll will be driven by the rotating die, while the remaining rolls will be keyed or otherwise fixed to their respective shafts and will rotate with such shafts, which will be driven.

I accordingly, do not desire to be limited in my protection to the specific details thus illustrated and described, except as may be necessitated by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A pellet mill comprising a housing including front and rear walls; means for adjustably supporting an extrusion roll adjacent the outer side of said front wall, said means including a pair of bearing housings, means rotatably supporting one of said bearing housings adjacent said front wall, means rotatably supporting said other bearing housing adjacent said rear wall independently of but in alignment with said first rotatable bearing housing, bearing means eccentrically carried by one of said rotatable bearing housings, bearing means eccentrically carried by the other of said rotatable bearing housings and on a common axis with said first bearing means, a shaft journalled in said bearing means and extending through an opening in said front wall of a size to expose the proximate bearing housing; a roll mounted on the extended end of said shaft; means for angularly adjusting said bearing housings simultaneously to swing said shaft and its roll through an arc to obtain adjustment of said roll; and means for maintaining a seal between said shaft and said front wall, said means including a circular wall insert atfixed to the exposed bearing housing on a common axis and having a shaft opening with its center on the axis of said shaft, and means rotatably sealing said shaft in said circular wall insert.

2. A pellet mill comprising a housing including front and rear walls; means for adjustably supporting an extrusion roll adjacent the outer side of said front wall; said means including a pair of bearing housings, means rotatably supporting one of said bearing housings adjacent said front wall, means rotatably supporting said other bearing housing adjacent said rear wall independently of but in alignment with said first rotatable bearing housing, bearing means eccentrically carried by one of said rotatable bearing housings, bearing means eccentrically carried by the other of said rotatable bearing housings and on a common axis with said first bearing means, a shaft journalled in said bearing means and extending through an opening in said front wall of a size to expose the proximate bearing housing; a roll mounted on the extended end of said shaft; and means for angularly adjusting said bearing housings simultaneously to swing said shaft and its roll through an arc to obtain adjustment of said roll, said means including a gear axially connected with each of said bearing housings, a pair of pinions on a common shaft, each in mesh with one of said gears, and a handle on said shaft for angularly rotating the same; and means for maintaining a seal between said shaft and said front wall, said means including a circular wall insert afiixed to the exposed bearing housing on a common axis and having a shaft opening with its center on the axis of said shaft, and means rotatably sealing said shaft in said circular wall insert.

3. A pellet mill com-prising a base; a housing on said base including parallel front and rear walls and end walls connecting said front and rear walls; two pairs of aligned bearing housings and included bearings in said front and rear walls, the one pair being displaced substantially degrees from the other pair about a central axis; a fixed location extrusion roll supporting shaft journalled in each pair of aligned bearings and extending through said front wall; an extrusion roll mounted on each of said shafts; means for adjustably supporting a third extrusion roll along an arc tangent to the mid-line between said aforementioned rolls, said means including an adjustable roll supporting shaft; an extrusion roll journalled on said adjustable roll supporting shaft and movable through said are with adjustments of said adjustable roll supporting shaft; means for driving said rolls; means for sealing said fixed location roll shafts in said front wall, while leaving an opening for said adjust-able supporting means shaft, sufiiciently large to permit of the desired adjustments of said adjustable roll supporting shaft; means for sealing said adjustable roll supporting shaft in said front wall, said means including a shaft seal plate having a shaft receiving opening therein positioned about said adjustable roll supporting shaft and slidably sealed between two plates fixedly supported by said housing front wall to permit slide movement of said shaft seal plate with adjustments of said adjustable supporting means shaft, and a seal between said shaft seal plate and said adjustable supporting means shaft.

4. A pellet mill comprising a housing including parallel front and rear walls and end walls connecting said front and rear walls; two pairs of aligned bearing housings and included bearings in said front and rear walls the one pair being displaced substantially 120 degrees from the other pair about a central axis; a fixed location extrusion roll supporting shaft journalled in each pair of aligned bearings and extending through said front wall, each of said fixed shafts being exposed intermediate its aligned supporting bearings; an extrusion roll mounted on the extended end of each of said shafts; means for adjustably supporting a third extrusion roll about a point substantially 120 degees from each of said other rolls, said means including a shaft supported in a pair of aligned bearings and extending through said front wall at a location such that the axis of said shaft can describe a path substantially through said point, said shaft being exposed intermediate its aligned bearings; means for driving said rolls, said means including a sprocket on the exposed portion of each of said roll shafts between the aligned bearings supporting such shaft; sprocket chain means drive connecting the sprocket of one of said fixed roll shafts with the sprockets on the other roll shafts, and a cylindrical die surrounding said rolls and supported exclusively thereby.

5. A pellet mill comprising a housing including front and rear walls; a fixed location extrusion roll supporting shaft journalled in said front and rear walls; a second fixed location extrusion roll supporting shaft journalled in said front and rear walls and extending through said front Wall; said second shaft being displaced substantially 120 degrees from said first shaft about a central axis; an extrusion roll mounted on each of said shafts; means for adjust-ably supporting a third extrusion roll about a point substantially 120 degrees from each-of said other rolls, said means including a pair of bearing housings, means rotatably supporting one of said bearing housings adjacent said front wall, means rot-atably supporting said other bearing housing adjacent said rear wall in alignment with said first rotatable bearing housing, a bearing eccentrically carried by one of said rotatable bearing housings, a bearing eccentrically carried by the other of said rotatable bearing housings and on a common axis with said first bearing, a shaft journalled in said bearings and extending through said front Wall, said shaft being exposed between its supporting bearings, a roll mounted on the extended end of said shaft; drive means coupled to said last shaft at its exposed portion; and means for angularly adjusting said bearing housings simultaneously.

6. A pellet mill comprising a housing including front and rear walls; two pairs of aligned bearing housings and included hearings in said front and rear walls, the one pair being displaced substantially 120 degrees from the other pair about a centnal axis; a fixed location extrusion roll supporting shaft journal-led in each pair of aligned bearings and extending through said front wall, each of said shafts being exposed intermediate its supporting bearings; an extrusion roll mounted on each of said shafts; means for adjustably supporting a third extrusion roll about a point substantially 120 degrees from each of said other rolls, said means including a pair of bearing hous ings, means rotatably supporting one of said bearing housings adjacent said front wall, means rotatably supporting said other bearing housing adjacent said rear wall in alignment with said first rotatable bearing housing, a bearing assembly eccentrically carried by one of said rotatable bearing housings, a bearing assembly eccentrically carried by the other of said rotatable bearing housings and on a common axis with said first bearing assembly, a shaft journalled in said bearings and extending through said front wall, said shaft being exposed intermediate its supporting bearings, a roll mounted on the extended end of said shaft; drive means interconnecting said shafts at their exposed portions; and means circumventing said drive means for angularly adjusting said bearing housings simultaneously.

7. A pellet mill comprising a housing including front and rear walls; a pair of roll supporting shafts supported by said front and rear walls and extending through said front wall, the one shaft being displaced substantially 120 degrees from the other about a central axis on each shaft being exposed intermediate said walls; an extrusion roll mounted on each of said shafts; means for adjustably supporting a third extnusion troll about a point substantially degrees from each of said other rolls, said means including a pair of bearing housings, means rotata-hly supporting one of said bearing housings adjacent said front Wall, means rotatably supporting said other bearing housing adjacent said rear wall independently of but in alignment with said first rotatable bearing housing, a bearing assembly eccentrically carried by one of said rotatable bearing housings, a bearing assembly eccentrically carried by the other of said rotatable bearing housings and on a common axis with said first bearing assembly, a shaft journalled in said bearing assemblies and extending through an enlarged opening in said front wall, a roll mounted on the extended end of said shaft; means for angularly adjusting said independently supported beta-ring housings simultaneously to adjust the shaft supported therein and the roll carried by said shaft; and means for locking said rotatable bearing housings against rotation out of adjustment; and means for sealing said enlarged wall opening about said last mentioned shaft, throughout all permissible adjustments thereof.

8. A pellet mill comprising a housing including front and rear walls; two pairs of aligned bearing housings and included bearings in said front and rear walls, the one pair being displaced substantially 120 degrees from the other pair about a central axis; a fixed location extrusion roll supporting shaft journalled in each pair of aligned bearlugs and extending through said front wall with each of said shafts exposed intermediate its supporting bearings; an extrusion roll mounted on each of said shafts; means for adjustably supporting a third extrusion roll about a point substantially 120 degrees from each of said other rolls, said means including a pair of bearing housings, means rotatab-ly supporting one of said bearing housings adjacent said front Wall, means .rotatably supporting said other bearing housing adjacent said rear wall independently of but in alignment with said first rotatable bearing housing, a bearing assembly eccentrically carried by one of said rotatable bearing housings, a bearing assembly eccentrically carried by the other of said rotatable bearing housings and on a common axis with said first bearing assembly, a shaft journalled in said bearing assemblies and extending through said front wall; a roll mounted on the extended end of said shaft; and means for angularly adjusting said bearing housings simultaneously, said means including a gear axially connected With each of said bearing housings, a pair of pinions on a common shaft, each in mesh with one of said gears, and a handle on said shaft for angularly rotating the same; and drive means coupled to at least said fixed location shafts at the exposed intermediate portions thereof.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 24,775 2/1960 Bonnafoux 1812 X 1,153,372 9/1915 Churchward 72-24215 X 1,662,229 3/1928 Ballot 72-242.15 X 2,160,302 5/1939 Billows 18-12 X 2,391,638 12/1945 Meakin 18-12 2,642,011 6/1953 Sizer 107835 2,870,481 1/1959 Bonnafoux 1812 X FOREIGN PATENTS 504,930 12/ 1954 Italy.

WILLIAM J. STEPHENSON, Primary Examiner.

MICHAEL V. BRINDISI, W. E. THOMSON, C. N,

SHANE, L. S. SQUIRES, Assistant Examiners.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No 3 ,280,426 October 25, 1966 Edgar N. Meakin It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 8, line 1, for "on" read and Signed and sealed this 5th day of September 1967.

( L) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer EDWARD J. BRENNER Commissioner of Patents

Claims

1. A PELLET MILL COMPRISING A HOUSING INCLUDING FRONT AND REAR WALLS; MEANS FOR ADJUSTABLY SUPPORTING AN EXTRUSION ROLL ADJACENT THE OUTER SIDE OF SAID FRONT WALL, SAID MEANS INCLUDING A PAIR OF BEARING HOUSING, MEANS ROTATABLY SUPPORTING ONE OF SAID BEARING HOUSINGS ADJACENT SAID FRONT WALL, MEANS ROTATABLY SUPPORTING SAID OTHER BEARING HOUSING ADJACENT SAID REAR WALL INDEPENDENTLY OF BUT IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID FIRST ROTATABLE BEARING HOUSING, BEARING MEANS ECCENTRICALLY CARRIED BY ONE OF SAID ROTATABLE BEARING HOUSINGS, BEARING MEANS ECCENTRICALLY CARRIED BY THE OTHER OF SAID ROTATABLE BEARING HOUSINGS AND ON A COMMON AXIS WITH SAID FIRST BEARING MEANS, A SHAFT JOURNALLED IN SAID BEARING MEANS AND EXTENDING THROUGH AN OPENING IN SAID FRONT WALL OF A SIZE TO EXPOSE THE PROXIMATE BEARING HOUSING; A ROLL MOUNTED ON THE EXTENDED END OF SAID SHAFT; MEANS FOR ANGULARLY ADJUSTING SAID BEARING HOUSINGS SIMULTANEOUSLY TO SWING SAID SHAFT AND ITS ROLL THROUGH AN ARC TO OBTAIN ADJUSTMENT OF SAID ROLL; AND MEANS FOR MAINTAINING A SEAL BETWEEN SAID SHAFT AND SAID FRONT WALL, SAID MEANS INCLUDING A CIRCULAR WALL INSERT AFFIXED TO THE EXPOSED BEARING HOUSING ON A COMMON AXIS AND HAVING A SHAFT OPENING WITH ITS CENTER ON THE AXIS OF SAID SHAFT, AND MEANS ROTATABLY SEALING SAID SHAFT IN SAID CIRCULR WALL INSERT.