US3323732A

US3323732A - Vertical refiner

Info

Publication number: US3323732A
Application number: US341578A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr David R Dalzell; Loyal H Hess
Original assignee: Beloit Corp
Current assignee: Beloit Corp
Priority date: 1964-01-31
Filing date: 1964-01-31
Publication date: 1967-06-06
Anticipated expiration: 1984-06-06

Description

June 1967 D. R. DALZELL, JR, ETAL 3,323,732

VERTICAL REFINER Filed Jan. 31, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 AIR FIG]

' INVENTORS DAVID R. DALZELL JR. LOYAL H. HESS ATTORNEYS June 6, 1967 D. R. DALZELL, JR, ETAL 3,3 3,73

VERTICAL REFINER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 31, 1964 FIG-4 R BJ O I 5 TL VI NLS E wa mhm R m m R T L A 3. V O a Y B m,

June 6, 1967 D. R. DALZELL, JR., ETAL 3,

VERTICAL REFINER 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 31, 1964 b a r n 6 WT 2 6 .0 .2 L pl I I. I: p I

H H 5 F WATER PRESSURE 1 INVENTORS DAVID R. DALZELLAR. BY LOYAL H HESS AT TQRNEYS United States Patent 3,323,732 VERTICAL REFENER David R. Dalzeli, Jr., and Loyal H. Hess, Beloit, Wis.,

assignors to Beloit Corporation, Beloit, Wis, a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Jan. 31, 1964, Ser. No. 341,578 9 Claims. (Ci. 241162) The present invention relates to improvements in paper stock refiners.

More particularly the invention contemplates providing a paper stock refiner having a vertical drive motor with a refiner rotor driven thereby having upper and lower refining faces, an upper stator above the rotor having a lower refining face, a lower movable stator below the rotor having an upper refining face, the faces of the rotor and stator adapted to receive stock in the refining spaces between them, means for adjusta'bly supporting the motor armature and refiner rotor with a vertical force slightly less than their weight so that the position of the rotor will be hydraulically balanced by the pressure of the stock in the refining spaces, and applying a controllable vertical upward force to at least the lower stator for determining the width of the refining spaces. The unit is housed in a compact arrangement with a lower housing part and an upper housing part arranged so that the refining rotor and stators can be simply and easily removed and interchanged.

An object of the present invention is to provide a refiner which is operated in a vertical position and which is of improved design and construction so as to provide higher horsepower and capacity per unit of space.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved vertical refiner wherein the refining units can be easily disassembled and replaced in a minium amount of time without effort or large space requirements.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved vertical refiner for a paper stock refining operation wherein the refining spaces are readily and closely controllable.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved refiner which has upper and lower stator refiner plates and a central rotor refiner plate with the refining spaces between the plates readily and automatically controlled so as to be substantially uniform for improved refining action.

Other objects, advantages and features will become more apparent with the teaching of the principles of the invention in connection with the disclosure of the preferred embodiments thereof in the specification, claims and drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view taken through an improved refiner embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the refiner of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the lower portion of the refiner illustrating a modified design;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of a top portion of a modified form of refiner;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of a top portion of a refiner of a design slightly modified from the arrangement of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along line VIVI of FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the top portion of a refiner of modified design.

As shown on the drawings:

FIGURES 1 and 2 illustrate a refiner having a rotor 10 with upper and lower refining faces. Above the rotor is an upper stator 11 having a lower refining face. Below 3,323,732 Patented June 6, 1967 the rotor is a lower stator 12 having an upper refining face. The refining faces between the rotor 10 and

stators

11 and 12 define refining spaces 13 and 14.

The stock in entering the refiner flows into an inlet 15 and radially outwardly through the first refining space 14, into the annular space 16, and then radially inwardly through the second refining space 13 to be discharged through the outlet 17.

The rotor is supported on a shaft means 18 which is shown as the shaft of a vertical drive motor 19.

The motor is enclosed in a lower housing 20 which provides the support stand for the refiner unit. Above the housing 20 is an upper housing 21 which is cast to provide the inlet 15 therein and to provide the chamber 16 for the rotor 10 and

stators

11 and 12. The chamber 16 is arranged to have an open top closed by a cap 22 suitably secured to the upper housing 21 such as by an annular row of bolts, not shown. Thus by simply removing the cap 22, full access will be had to the rotor 10 and

stators

11 and 12 for their removal. Thus when the parts wear, they can be easily and quickly removed and replaced. The refining spaces 13 and 14 are maintained substantially equal by somewhat resiliently supporting the weight of the motor armature 19, its shaft 18 and the rotor 10. The motor armature is supported and is freely vertically movable with a lower bearing 24 for the shaft 18 slidably mounted in the cylindrical internal surface of a hub 23 supported on a lower horizontal wall of the housing 20. The shaft has an upper bearing 19a which is suitably also supported in the inner cylindrical wall of a hub 20a supported on a horizontal wall of a housing 20.

The Weigth of the rotor ltl, shaft 18 and motor 19 are supported by an upward force which is substantially equal to but just less than their combined weight. For example if the assembled weight of the motor, shaft and rotor is 2000 pounds, an upward force of 1995 pounds is applied. The upward force applied should be no less than 97% of the total weight.

For applying the upward force an air diaphragm 26 is positioned beneath the motor shaft to yieldably apply an upward force on a plate 25 beneath the bearing 24. The diaphragm rests on a support plate 27 mounted on diametrically spaced

bolts

28 and 29 threaded into the supporting hub 23. The heads of the bolt support the plate 27. To prevent the motor shaft 18 from moving downardly to where the rotor 10 strikes the lower stator 12, the downward movement of the shaft is limited by the plate 25

engaging lock nuts

30 and 31. These nuts are adjustably fitted on the

bolts

28 and 29 and will be positioned so that the rotor 10 is at a position below its center position, i.e. where the upper refining space 13 is larger than the lower refining space 14. Thus when the rotor 10 is stationary and no stock is flowing through the refining spaces 13 and 14, the

lock nuts

30 and 31 will be supporting only the weight of the motor, shaft and rotor not supported by the diaphragm 26. In the example above given the diaphragm will support 1995 pounds and the stop nuts will support 5 pounds.

During operation the rotor will floatingly operate at a substantially centralized position between the

stators

11 and 12 so that the refining spaces 13 and 14 will be substantially equal, and will be maintained equal by the hydraulic reaction pressure of the stock flowing through the refining spaces. As the refining surfaces of the rotor 10 and

stators

11 and 12 wear, the refining pressure of the liquid stock in the refining spaces tends to maintain the refining spaces constant due to the floating feature.

The shaft 18 passes through a seal 32 preventing the stock from leaking downwardly as it flows in through inlet 15 and flows annularly upwardly around the shaft 18 to flow radially outwardly through the first refining space 14. For any liquid that leaks downwardly a slinger ring 33a is mounted on a shaft to throw liquid outwardly and drain pipes 35b are located here on the periphery of the upper portion 21.

For controlling the'size of the refining gaps 13 and 14, an upward axial pressure is applied to the lower stator 12. This is provided by supporting the lower stator on an axially moving plate 33 which is mounted in an annular channel in the upper housing part 21.

Below the plate 33 are annular tubes or

diaphragms

34 and 35. These are supplied with a controlled air pressure through a line shown schematically at 35a. As the pressure is increased the refining spaces 13 and 14 will be uniformly reduced, and the refining spaces accordingly will be increased as the pressure in the

tubes

34 and 35 is decreased.

To maintain uniform pressure between the outer surfaces of the

tubes

34 and 35 and the plate 33, and to collapse the tubes when the air pressure is reduced, the plate is drawn downwardly by springs 39 positioned in circular hubs 41 around beneath the plate. The plate has pins 37 extending downwardly into the hubs, surrounded by the springs 39, and collars 38 on the pins are engaged by the springs 39, and the springs are supported on shoulders 40 within the hubs.

Controlled recirculation of a portion of the liquid stock may be obtained by bleeding the recirculated portion out from the chamber 16 to a valve controlled inlet shown somewhat schematically at 44 in FIGURE 2. The recirculated stock flows through a recirculation line 42 to a recirculation outlet 43 leading into the stock inlet 15.

FIGURE 3 illustrates another form of base for the motor housing 20. In FIGURE 3 a motor housing 55 is shown with a motor bearing 56 therein supported on

rods

57 and 58 which have substantially the same structure as the

rods

28 and 29 of FIGURE 1. The motor housing 55 is mounted on an annular flanged base member 59 with an outwardly turned flange for rigidly attaching it to a floor surface.

As will be observed the entire unit is compact and will require a minimum of space for placement in a mill. Access to the unit for changing the refiner members is easily obtained through the top of the unit by removal of the cap 22. p

FIGURE 4 illustrates a two plate refiner with a single stator 45 and a rotor 46. The rotor 46 is supported on a shaft 47 which extends downwardly through a shaft seal 48 and the shaft has a slinger ring 49. Stock flows in through an inlet 50 up into the chamber and radially inwardly in the refining space between the stator 45 and rotor 46 and out through an outlet 51.

In the arrangement of FIGURES and 6, the

annular tubes

34 and 35 of FIGURE 1 have been replaced by a series of circumferentially spaced diaphragrns 62. These are each provided with a pressurized air supply line, not shown. In the structure of FIGURE 5 stock flows through an inlet 15 through spaces defined between the rotor and stators 11' and 12, and out through an outlet 17'. The structure is generally similar to that of FIGURE 1. The diaphragm 62 may be provided with independent supplies of air pressures so that the accidental rupture of one will not disrupt operation of the refiner and it can continue operating until the machine can be shut down for repair of the ruptured diaphragm. Similarly with the arrangement of FIGURE 1 the

tubes

34 and 35 may -be provided with separate pressurized air supply so that the damage to one tube Will not completely disrupt operation and pressure can be increased in the other tube until a run is finished.

In the arrangement of FIGURE 7 a resilient axial loading force is applied to both the upper and lower stators for controlling-the refining space. The refiner has a rotor 65 with upper and lower refining faces. An upper stator 66 has a lower refining face facing the rotor. A lower stator 67 has an upper refining face facing the rotor. The

refining space 76 into the chamber 72. The stock then 5 flows radially inwardly through the refining space 77,

through an axial outlet 78 and then through an outlet 71 from the housing. Recirculation can be arranged to direct a portion of the stock from the outlet 71 back to the inlet or from the chamber 72 to the inlet 70.

The rotor 65 is mounted on a drive shaft 68 and in the present instance the drive shaft 68 may be stationarily located and the motor does not have to be resiliently or adjustably supported as with the structure of FIGURE 1.

Axially outwardly of the

stators

66 and 67 are

pressure chambers

73 and 74 formed in the housing 69. The pressure chambers are sealed from the annular stock chamber 72 by stainless steel

flexible disks

75 and 76.

The

pressure chambers

73 and 74 are pressurized such as by being filled with water through a supply line 79 at a controlled pressure. As the pressure is increased or 'de-- creased, the refining spaces 76 and 77 will proportionately be increased or decreased. By maintaining the pressure in the

chambers

73 and 74 equal, the refining spaces will remain equal. Thus by control of the supply pressure through the line 79, the refining spaces can be controlled and the spaces are automatically maintained equal.

In summary, in the arrangement of FIGURE 1, stock is fed through an inlet 15 to flow upwardly in a refining space 14 and 'to flow radially'inwardly in a refining space 13 through an outlet 17. The rotor 10 is balanced by supporting substantially all of the weight of the rotor 10,

its shaft 18 and motor 19 by a diaphragm26. The refining spaces are regulated by the pressure supplied to

annular tubes

34 and 35.

The drawings and specification present a detailed disclosure of the preferred embodiments of the invention, and it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific forms disclosed, but covers all modifications, changes and alternative constructions and methods falling within the scope of the principles taught by the invention.

We claim as our invention:

1. A paper stock refiner comprising,

a refiner rotor having upper and lower refining faces,

an upper stator above the rotor having a lower refining face,

a lower stator below the rotor having an upper refining face,

refining faces of the rotor and stator adapted to receive a liquid stock in the refining spaces between them,

means for driving said rotorin rotation,

and means yieldably supporting said rotor by applying a predetermined vertical force thereto between said stators for maintaining a hydraulically balanced position from the pressure of the stock in said refining spaces.

2. A paper stock refiner comprising,

a vertical drive motor having an armature,

a vertical rotor shaft means on the armature,

a refiner rotor mounted on the shaft means having upper and lower refining faces,

a rigidly positioned upper stator above the rotor having a lower refining face,

a lower movable stator below the rotor having an upper refining face,

the refining faces of the rotor and stator adapted to receive stock in the refining spaces between them tflowing from an inlet,

:means for yieldably vertically adjustably positioning the shaft means and motor armature,

a resilient air chamber means below said lower stator for applying an axial upwardly directed force to the lower stator,

and means for controlling the pressure in said air chamber for controlling the opening width of said refining space.

3. A paper stock refiner in accordance with claim 2 wherein said air chamber is defined by an annular flexible closed tube coaxial with the rotor so that the tube expands or contracts with change in pressure therein for controllin-g the width of the refining space.

4. A paper stock refiner in accordance with claim 2 wherein said resilient air chamber means includes a plurality of individual resilient air bellows circumferentially spaced so that the pressure in said bellows controls the Width of said refining spaces.

5. A paper stock refiner comprising,

a vertical drive motor,

a vertical motor shaft means,

an upper stator above the rotor having a lower refining face,

a lower stator below the rotor having an upper refining face with the faces of the rotor and stator adapted to receive liquid stock in the refining spaces between them,

and means yieldably applying an upwardly directed axial force to said motor armature and shaft means and rotor members, and force being slightly less than the overall weight of said members for floatingly positioning the rotor between the stators.

6. A paper stock refiner comprising,

a refiner rotor having upper and lower refining faces,

means for driving the rotor in rotation, an upper stator above the rotor having a lower refining face,

a lower stator below the rotor havn-g an upper refining face with the refining faces of the rotor and stator adapted to receive liquid stock in the refining spaces between them,

a pressure chamber above said upper stator and a pressure chamber below said lower stator, flexible metal diaphragms attached to said stators closing said chambers and floatingly supporting the stators,

and means directing liquid into each of said chambers at substantially the same pressure at a controlled pressure for fioatingly supporting the stators.

7. The method of operating a paper stock refiner having a pair of stators with a rotor therebetween rotatable about a vertical axis which comprises yieldably supporting the rotor between the stators and applying an axially inwardly directed resilient force to one of the stators while rigidly positioning the other stator for obtaining a uniform pressure balance in the refining spaces between the rotor and stators and controlling the refining spaces.

8. The method of operating a paper stock refiner having a pair of stators with a rotor therebetween defining refining spaces between the stators and rotor with the rotor supported on a motor which comprises yieldably applying a vertical upward force to the motor armature and rotor members slightly less than their weight so that the pressure of the stock in the refining spaces between the rotor and stator supports the remaining weight of the members, and controlling the space of the refining members by applying a yieldable axially inwardly directed force to at least one of the stators.

9. A paper stock refiner comprising,

a vertical drive motor,

a vertical motor shaft means,

an upper stator above the rotor having a lower refining face and being fixed in position,

the lower stator being axially movable relative to the rotor,

means applying a controllably adjustable vertical inwardly directed force to the movable stator for controlling the width of the refining space between the movable statorland rotor,

and means floatingly supporting the rotor to automatically assume a position between the stators regardless of the position of the lower stator.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 203,127 4/1878 El-ting 241-268 218,884 8/1879 Keith 241-290 1,762,122 6/1930 Marsh 241259 2,344,504 3/1944 Dotzer 241146 2,412,677 12/1946 Eppenbach 241259 2,554,888 5/1951 Wood 241285 2,852,203 9/1958 Ditting 24l259 3,149,794 9/1964 Irvine 24l285 3,161,359 12/1964 Dalzell 241162 X ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Examiner.

D. KELLY, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. A PAPER STOCK REFINER COMPRISING, A REFINER ROTOR HAVING UPPER AND LOWER REFINING FACES, AN UPPER STATOR ABOVE THE ROTOR HAVING A LOWER REFINING FACE, A LOWER STATOR BELOW THE ROTOR HAVING AN UPPER REFINING FACE, REFINING FACES OF THE ROTOR AND STATOR ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A LIQUID STOCK IN THE REFINING SPACES BETWEEN THEM, MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID ROTOR IN ROTATION, AND MEANS YIELDABLY SUPPORTING SAID ROTOR BY APPLYING A