US3690179A

US3690179A - Rotary samplers

Info

Publication number: US3690179A
Application number: US73045A
Authority: US
Inventors: James F Olson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1970-09-16
Filing date: 1970-09-16
Publication date: 1972-09-12
Anticipated expiration: 1989-09-12

Abstract

A sample disc assembly is divided into a number of equal sectors separated by vertical radial walls. This assembly is rotated around a vertical center axis in a stream of falling material, such as ore. In one embodiment, one of the sectors has no floor but has a peripheral vertical wall, so that the material falling on this sector falls through and constitutes the sample. All of the other sectors have floors and have no peripheral walls, so that material falling into them is thrown by centrifugal force into an annular space surrounding the disc assembly, where the material is collected as the reject material. In a second embodiment the functions of the two kinds of sectors are reversed. The sample compartment has a floor but has no peripheral wall, so that the sample is centrifuged out and is caught by the sample output chute, while the rejected material falls through the other, floorless compartments.

Description

United States Patent Olson I v [54] ROTARY SAMPLERS [72] Inventor: James F. Olson, 7310 East Montecito Dr., Tucson, Ariz. 85710 [22] Filed: Sept. 16, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 73,045

[52] US. Cl. ..73/424 [51] Int. Cl. ..G01n l/20 [58] Field of Search ..73/424, 423, 422 R [56] References Cited 9 UNITED STATES PATENTS 888,471 5/1908 Constant ..73/424 433,714 8/ 1890 Bridyman ..73/424 655,478 8/1900 Damm ..73/424 3 ,045 ,493 7/1962 Seabome ..73/424 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 767,096 1/ 1957 Great Britain ..73/424 Primary Examiner-Louis R. Prince Sept. 12, 1972 Assistant Examiner--Daniel M. Yasich AttorneyJames A. Eyster [5 7] ABSTRACT A sample disc assembly is divided into a number of equal sectors separated by vertical radial walls. This assembly is rotated around a vertical center axis in a stream of falling material, such as ore. In one embodiment, one of the sectors has no floor but has a peripheral vertical wall, so that the material falling on this sector falls through and constitutes the sample. All of the other sectors have floors and have no peripheral walls, so that material falling into them is thrown by centrifugal force into an annular space surrounding the disc assembly, where the material is collected as the reject material.

In a second embodiment the functions of the two kinds of sectors are reversed. The sample compartment has a floor but has no peripheral wall, so that the sample is centrifuged out and is caught by the sample output chute, while the rejected material falls through the other, floorless compartments.

18 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PKTENTEUSEP 1 2 I972 SHEEI 1 OF 3 FIG.

JAMES F: GA. 5 ON INVENTOR.

BY W dc PATENTEUsmz m2 3.690.179

sum 2 or 3 JA ME 5 F. OLSON INVEN'TOR.

1 ROTARY SAMPLERS I BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to samplers used in industry, and particularly to rotary secondary samplers as used in the mining and milling industry to take samples of wet or dry materials for analysis.

Mining companies depend on sampling of their ores,

in dry-or slurry form, followed by chemical analysis of siderable effort has been expended by the industry in developing accurate primary and secondary samplers.

One sampler in common use comprises a horizontal trough or slot, termed a sample cutter, which is moved through and across a falling stream of ore. The trough catches a fraction of the ore and directs this fractional sample into a pipe leading to a sample bin. I

When a sampler is applied to a stream of ore constituting the entire process stream the device is termed a'primary sampler. In such a case the ore stream may attain a rate as high as 1,000 tons per hour, so that even a small sample fraction would be too large to be practical for assay. The sample is therefore further reduced in quantity by a secondary sampler.

One secondary sampler in common use, the Vezin sampler, comprises a horizontal trough or sample or may rotate once at predetermined intervals controlled by a timer. The rate of rotation during sampling is, typically, one revolution in 6 seconds. The percentage of sample'taken per revolution is directly proportional to the angle subtended by the cutter blades and, therefore, the accuracy is dependent upon the accuracy of that angle, and upon the maintenance of this angle throughout the life of the cutter.

Trough sample cutters are generally considered to sample accurately, but actually they do not do so because the main stream and the sample stream are treated differently at the point of separation. The main stream, freely falling past the sampler'to constitute the rejected material, meets no obstacle in its fall. The sample stream, on the other hand, on entering the sample cutter trough no longer falls freely, but is constrained to enter the sampler through a small cutter opening, after which the sample follows a passage to the sample bin.

Moreover, as the sample cutter has a horizontal velocity in its passage through the falling stream of ore, larger pieces of ore tend to be knocked aside, so that the sample taken is not completely representative of the proportions of large and small chunks and of dust in the ore. As there is likely to be a greater proportion of worthless rock in the larger chunks than in the small pieces and the dust, the assay of metals and other materials in the sample is not precisely representative of the proportions of components in the plant product.

Furthermore the edges, or blades, of the Vezin cutter wear, under normal operation, changing their shapes and thus changing the important trough angular opening size and hence the accuracy of sample secured.

The combination of primary and secondary samplers in the typical ore plant requires a crusher to reduce the primary sample, followed by a bin and feeder. When two secondary samplers are employed, with gravity feed, a sampling tower 35 feet or more in height is required. In many installations this requirement is difficult, for this much headroom may not be available.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a rotary sampler which may be used as a secondary sampler on ores, slurry, liquids, grain and any other solid or liquid material which can be applied to the sampler in the form of a vertical stream of material. This sampler can also be used as a primary sampler.

The sampler overcomes objections to present samplers because it receives the material in such a way that both sample and reject are treated impartially and in exactly the same manner. The shape of the entrance ports is relatively unimportant, except that they diverge from the center, and wear of the blades separating these ports, although it may change the entrance port shape, will not affect the sample accuracy since all blades will wear identically. As a result, the sample.

analysis will accurately reflect the constitution of the body of material applied to the sampler, and will continue to do so throughout the life of the sampler.

Furthermore, the use of the sampler eliminates the need for a feeder to even out the spurts or slugs of material coming from the primary sampler, since our sampler will takea representative sample from intermittent or pulsating streams. Therefore headroom required for the sampling tower is reduced. Moreover, this sampler, when used as a secondary sampler, largely eliminates the necessity of crushing the primary sample before feeding it to the secondary sampler, further reducing the required headroom.

The sampler of the present invention comprises a circular sampling disc mounted to rotate about its center in a substantially horizontal plane. The floor of the disc is divided by vertical radial partitions into a plurality of pie-shaped compartments or sectors subtending equal angles. The material fed to the sampler, for example ore, is fed in the form of a falling stream which is of cross sectional area having a major dimension the same as or smaller than the diameter of the active portion of the sampling disc.

In one embodiment, one of the compartments has no floor but has a peripheral wall, and the falling ore passes through into a vertical outlet pipe to constitute the sample ore stream. The other compartments all have floors but have no peripheral walls, and therefore do not permit the ore to dropthrough. Instead, the ore is thrown out sideways by centrifugal force, due to rotation of the disc at a suitable speed, into an annular space leading into a reject output pipe. The floors of these compartments may slope outward and downward so that gravity will supplement the centrifugal force. The sample will be a selected fraction of the quantity of ore fed to the sampler, the fraction being determined by the number of compartments, and the analysis of the sample will be precisely representative of the constitution of the ore applied because all parts of the ore stream falling into the continuously-rotating sampler are received in precisely the same manner by all of the identically-dimensioned compartments.

The operation of sampling occurs as the ore falls into the compartments, or strikes a radial partition and then falls into a compartment. The top, radial edges of the partitions are termed blades, or wear blades, and may be replaceable, as they will wear rapidly. It is at these blades or, more specifically, in the plane of the top edges of these blades, normal to the sampling assembly axis of rotation, that the sampling operation occurs.

In another embodiment the several compartments all are open bottomed except one, which has a floor. In this embodiment the sample ore is thrown out by centrifugal force from the floored compartment, and passes into a sample output pipe, while the reject ore passes through and down into a reject output pipe. Also, in this embodiment the center shaft bearings are eliminated and the weight of the sample disc is borne by a peripheral ring bearing. This keeps the bearing out of the ore stream.

One object of this invention is to provide a sampler which takes an accurately representative sample of material.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sampler which eliminates the need for a feeder and reduces headroom.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sampler which, in its operation as a sampler, also operates as a declassifier.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sampler which can be used as a distributor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING A further understanding of the invention may be secured from the descriptions of the preferred embodiments, together with the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectioned elevation of one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross section of FIG. 1 on the line 2-2.

FIG. 3 is an elevation, partly sectioned, of another embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, an external, circular casing 11, also serving as a supporting frame, ends below in a vertical chute 12 of somewhat reduced diameter serving as the reject output chute. A center supporting hub 13 is secured by a plurality of radial support arms, such as

arms

14 and 16, to the casing 11. The hub 13 supports a shaft 17 which carries two

antifriction bearings

18 and 19. These bearings support a sampling disc assembly or sampling assembly which comprises a cylindrical hub 20, a floor 21, a peripheral wall 22, and eight

radial partitions

23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31 and 32. The peripheral wall 22 is provided, in seven of the eight sectorial spaces or compartments set off by the partitions, with an opening or port as indicated at 33. In the eighth sector, defined by

partitions

28 and 29, the peripheral wall 22 is solid and extends to the level of the disc floor 21, at the plane of the lower edges of the partitions, and the floor is open or contains an aperture or port, 30.

A cap 34, which is as small as structure will permit, closes the top of the cylindrical hub 20. Eight wear blades, such as

blades

36 and 37, are screwed to the top edges of the eight partitions and are clamped, at their inner ends, by the cap 34.

An input pipe 38, which is shown centered but need not be, having a diameter less than the outer diameter of the sampling disc assembly is suspended over the latter by braces, such as

braces

39 and 41, removably secured to the external casing 11, to provide for replacement. This input pipe 38, or downwardly pro-- aperture 30 in the sampling disc floor 21. The small end,

of the funnel 42 is terminated in a chute 43 passing outside of the reject output chute 12 and constituting the sample output chute.

A labyrinth 44 protects the upper edge of funnel 42 to insure that only the sample and all of the sample enters the funnel. Where dusting is a problem, a rubber or fabric seal may be used in conjunction with or instead of a labyrinth.

A gear motor 46 is secured to the external casing 11 and is connected by belts 47 to the peripheral cylindrical surface of the wall 22 of the sample disc assembly. This motor should rotate the sample disc assembly at a speed suitable to generate adequate centrifugal force on the reject ore and to provide proper distribution of material across the plane at the top of the blades. For example, in some cases the speed could be r/min.

In the operation of this embodiment as a rotary secondary sampler, the sample material from the primary sampler is dumped into the input pipe 38, and falls onto the rotating sample disc assembly. When the primary sample thus falls onto the sample disc assembly it is met by and impinges upon the blades, the upper edges of which tend to mix the material and pass it randomly. The material is thus scattered over the entire plane of the rotating blades while the material is being accelerated to an angular velocity by the blades. The material then passes down beyond the plane of the upper edges of the rotating blades, constituting also the plane of the entrance ports, to the sectorial compartments. That part of the material which falls onto the sector termed the sampling compartment, defined by

radial partitions

28 and 29 and peripheral wall 22, because this sector has no floor, falls through port 30 into funnel 42 and out the sample output chute. The remainder of the ore, in this case exactly seven-eighths of the total input, falls into the other seven sectors and is propelled by centrifugal force into the external cas ing 11 and out the reject chute 12. Because all eight sectors are exactly alike in reception of the ore, the sample sector will receive exactly the same proportion of fines, medium pieces and large chunks as will the other seven sectors, so that analysis of the sample will truly reflect the constitution of the applied ore.

The wear blades will wear, perhaps rapidly, but they will all wear evenly, so that wear at this point cannot affect sampling accuracy.

The wear blades may be made of rubber, or their upper edges may be made of rubber, when soft material such as grain is to be sampled.

This sampler can have two functions in addition to the sampling function described. It can declassify the ore for, if the descending ore stream applied to the device tends to have more fines in one part of the stream than in the remainder, the device moving rapidlythrough the entire stream correctly mixes the fines, thus producing a declassified sample.

The device can also have the function of a distributor, for it can be arranged'to split an input into two equal parts,'or into two unequal parts having a ratio depending on the number of sectors and on how many have open bottoms.

in a second embodiment the main body or reject falls through while the sample is centrifuged to the annular space. To accomplish this, seven of the eight sectors have no floor and have peripheral walls, while the eighth or sample sector hasa floor and no peripheral wall.

Referring to FIG. 3, an external wall 48 defining an annular space 49 surrounds the sample disc assembly comprising a floor 51, peripheral walls 52 and a central hub 53. A plurality of partitions orvanes indicated by 54 and 56 divide the space of the disc assembly into a plurality of equal sectorial spaces. The number of spaces maybe as desired, from two to any reasonable larger quantity. Each vane is topped by a replaceable wear blade as indicated by

blades

57 and 58. These blades are screwed to the vanes and clamped at their inner ends by the cap 34.

The external cylindrical wall 48 has a sloping bottom 59 which funnels or directs material into a converging rectangular sample-collecting chute 61. A concentric funnel 62 is secured beneath the sample disc assembly and is terminated below in a reject output pipe 63. These two funnels or compartments and two output chutes are mechanically interconnected for mechanical .support while permitting no openings which would intermix the sample and reject outputs.

The upper end of the concentric funnel 62 supports a ring bearing 64, on which the sample disc floor 51 at its outer edge rests and can rotate.

A gear motor 46 is positioned-to rotate the sample disc assembly by belts 47 at a suitable speed, as in the first embodiment. An intake pipe 38 is supported above the disc assembly. An inverted-vee deflector 66 prevents pile-up of material at the point where the reject output pipe 63 passes through the eccentric compartment or funnel 59. A flexible seal 67 prevents dust from getting out of the annular space.

In the operation of this embodiment, the incoming material is dumped onto the sample disc assembly. It is there met by and impinges upon the rotating blades, at their upper edges tending to mix and distribute the material randomly. The material then passes into the several sectorial compartments. A portion of the material falls on the floor of the sample sector of the disc assembly, is centrifuged into the annular space 49 and goes out the sample chute 61. The remainder of the ore drops through the disc assembly and out the reject chute 63. Support of the sample disc assembly on the large ring bearing 64 eliminates the center bearings and eliminates the use of shaft supports 14/16, FIG. 1. This is preferable when central chuting of reject material is desired or when the handled material is very abrasive, and is necessary when large amounts of material are handled, when wear of the central hub supports becomes a problem.

What is claimed is;

l. rotary sampler for solid broken material, including ore, comprising:

a circular sampling assembly rotatable around a substantially vertical axis;

a plurality of pie-shaped or sectorial compartments in said assembly arranged in a circle around said axis and completely occupying the circle, said compartments being of two kinds, sampling and reject, there being one sampling compartment and all others being reject compartments;

a. floor normal to said assembly axis, said floor being the floor of at least one of said compartments and at least one of said compartments having no floor;

a plurality of identical flat partitions separating each said compartments and forming the radial walls thereof, each said partition lying in a plane comprehending said axis and radial thereto, all of the top edges of said partitions lying in a plane normal to said axis, whereby said plane of the top edgesof the partitions constitutes exclusively the sampling region of the sampler, and the area in the said plane of the top edges, at each compartment, constitutes the entrance port of that compartment;

a peripheral wall having the general form of a surface of revolution with axis coincident with said assembly axis and generally defining the outer portions of said compartments, at least one of said compartments having an aperture in said peripheral wall;

means for rotating said sampling assembly about its axis;

an external stationary casing surrounding said sampling assembly and spaced therefrom, the form and position of said casing being that of a right circular cylinder having its axis coincident with that of said circular assembly axis, and having no floor, whereby solid broken material centrifugally thrown from any compartment having an aperture in the peripheral wall thereof strikes said casing and falls;

means for applying the solid broken material to said sampling assembly;

means for catching the solid broken material after it has struck said casing and fallen therefrom; and

means for catching the solid broken material falling from a floorless compartment and separating it from material falling in said casing.

2. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 1 in which said means for rotating turns said sampling assembly at such speed as to produce centrifugal force sufficient to discharge material from any said compartment having a floor.

3. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 1 in which said means for applying the solid broken material to the sampler comprises a downward projecting in take chute having a discharge area covering substantially all of the area of said sampling assembly, whereby material falling and projected from said intake chute enters substantially the entire said sampling assembly area.

4. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 1 in which said means for catching the solid broken material falling from a floorless compartment comprises:

a conical funnel suspended under said circular sampling assembly; and

an output chute terminating the bottom of said conical funnel.

5. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 1 in which said means for catching the solid broken material after it has struck said casing and fallen therefrom comprises: v

a cone-shaped funnel suspended under said casing;

and

an output chute terminating the bottom of said coneshaped funnel.

6. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 1 in which the upper edge of each said partition constitutes a replaceable wear blade.

7. A rotary sampler for solid broken material, including ore, comprising:

a circular sampling assembly rotatable around a substantially vertical axis;

a plurality of pie-shaped or sectorial compartments in said assembly arranged in a circle around said axis and completely occupying said circle, said compartments being of two kinds, sampling and reject, there being one sampling compartment and all others being reject compartments;

a floor normal to said assembly axis, said floor generally forming the floors of said compartments, said floor being absent from said sampling compartment, said floor being present in all of said reject compartments;

a plurality of identical flat partitions separating said compartments and forming the radial walls thereof, each said partition lying in a plane comprehending said axis and radial thereto, all of the top edges of said partitions lying in a plane normal to said axis, whereby said plane of the top edges of the partitions constitutes exclusively the sampling region of the sampler, and the area in the said plane of the top edges, at each said compartment, constitutes the entrance port of that compartment;

a peripheral wall enclosing the outer portion of said compartments and connected to two said flat partitions to form said sampling compartment, said reject compartments each having an aperture in said peripheral wall adjacent to said floor;

means for rotating said sampling assembly about its axis;

an external stationary casing surrounding said sampling assembly and spaced therefrom, the form and position of said casing being that of a right circular cylinder having its axis coincident with that of said circular sampling assembly axis and having no floor, whereby solid broken material centrifugally thrown from said reject compartments strikes said casing and falls;

means for applying the solid broken material to said sampling assembly;

means for catching the sampled solid broken material falling from said floorless sampling compartment; and

means for catching the rejected solid broken material after it has struck said casing and fallen therefrom.

8. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 7 in which said means for rotating turns said sampling assembly at such speed as to produce centrifugal force sufficient to discharge material from any said compartment having a floor.

9. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 7 in which said means for applying the solid broken material to the sampler comprises a downward projecting intake chute having a discharge area covering substantially all of the area of said sampling assembly, whereby material falling and projected from said intake chute enters substantially the entire said sampling area simultaneously.

10. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 7 in which said means for catching the sampled solid broken material falling from a floorless compartment comprises:

a conical funnel suspended under said circular sampling assembly; and

an output sample chute terminating the bottom of said conical funnel.

11. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 7 in which said means for catching the rejected solid broken material after it has struck said casing and fallen therefrom comprises:

a cone-shaped funnel suspended under said casing;

and

an output chute terminating the bottom of said coneshaped funnel.

12. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 7 in which the upper edge of each said partition constitutes a replaceable wear blade.

13. A rotary sampler for solid broken material, including ore, comprising:

a circular sampling assembly rotatable around a substantially vertical axis;

a floor normal to said assembly axis, said floor generally forming the floors of said compartments, said floor being present in said sampling compartment and absent from said reject compartments;

a plurality of identical and flat partitions separating said compartments and forming the radial walls thereof, each said partition lying in a plane comprehending said axis and radial thereto, all of the top edges of said partitions lying in a plane normal to said axis, whereby said plane of the top edges of the partitions constitutes exclusively the sampling region of the sampler, and the area in the said plane of the top edges, at each said compartment, constitutes the entrance port of that compartment;

a peripheral wall having the general form of a right circular cylinder with axis coincident with said assembly axis, connected to the outer portions of said partitions to form said compartments, said sampling compartment having an opening in the portion of the peripheral wall adjacent to said floor;

means for rotating said sampling assembly about its axis;

an external stationary casing surrounding said sampling assembly and spaced therefrom, the form and position of said casing being that of a right circular cylinder having its axis coincident with that of said circular sampling assembly axis and having no floor, whereby solid broken material centrifugally thrown from said sampling compartment, which has no peripheral wall, strikes said casing and falls;

means for applying the solid broken material to said sampling assembly; means for catching the rejected solid broken material falling from said floorless compartments; and

means for catching the sampled solid broken material after it has struck said casing and fallen therefrom.

14. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 13 in which said means for rotating turns said sampling assembly at such speed as to produce centrifugal force sufficient to discharge material from any said compartment having a floor.

15. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 13 in which said means for applying the solid broken material to the sampler comprises a downward projecting intake chute having a discharge area covering substantially all of the area of the sampling assembly, whereby material falling and projected from said intake chute enters substantially the entire said sampling area simultaneously.

16. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 13 in which said means for catching the rejected solid broken material comprises:

a conical funnel suspended under said circular sampling assembly; and

an output rejection chute terminating the bottom of said funnel.

17. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 13 in which said means for catching the sampled solid broken material after it has struck said casing and fallen therefrom comprises:

a cone-shaped funnel suspended under said casing;

and

an output chute terminating the bottom of said coneshaped funnel.

18. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 13 in which the upper edge of each said partition constitutes a replaceable wear blade.

Claims

1. A rotary sampler for solid broken material, including ore, comprising: a circular sampling assembly rotatable around a substantially vertical axis; a plurality of pie-shaped or sectorial compartments in said assembly arranged in a circle around said axis and completely occupying the circle, said compartments being of two kinds, sampling and reject, there being one sampling compartment and all others being reject compartments; a floor normal to said assembly axis, said floor being the floor of at least one of said compartments and at least one of said compartments having no floor; a plurality of identical flat partitions separating each said compartments and forming the radial walls thereof, each said partition lying in a plane comprehending said axis and radial thereto, all of the top edges of said partitions lying in a plane normal to said axis, whereby said plane of the top edges of the partitions constitutes exclusively the sampling region of the sampler, and the area in the said plane of the top edges, at each compartment, constitutes the entrance port of that compartment; a peripheral wall having the general form of a surface of revolution with axis coincident with said assembly axis and generally defining the outer portions of said compartments, at least one of said compartments having an aperture in said peripheral wall; means for rotating said sampling assembly about its axis; an external stationary casing surrounding said sampling assembly and spaced therefrom, the form and position of said casing being that of a right circular cylinder having its axis coincident with that of said circular assembly axis, and having no floor, whereby solid broken material centrifugally thrown from any compartment having an aperture in the peripheral wall thereof strikes said casing and falls; means for applying the solid broken material to said sampling assEmbly; means for catching the solid broken material after it has struck said casing and fallen therefrom; and means for catching the solid broken material falling from a floorless compartment and separating it from material falling in said casing.

3. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 1 in which said means for applying the solid broken material to the sampler comprises a downward projecting intake chute having a discharge area covering substantially all of the area of said sampling assembly, whereby material falling and projected from said intake chute enters substantially the entire said sampling assembly area.

4. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 1 in which said means for catching the solid broken material falling from a floorless compartment comprises: a conical funnel suspended under said circular sampling assembly; and an output chute terminating the bottom of said conical funnel.

5. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 1 in which said means for catching the solid broken material after it has struck said casing and fallen therefrom comprises: a cone-shaped funnel suspended under said casing; and an output chute terminating the bottom of said cone-shaped funnel.

7. A rotary sampler for solid broken material, including ore, comprising: a circular sampling assembly rotatable around a substantially vertical axis; a plurality of pie-shaped or sectorial compartments in said assembly arranged in a circle around said axis and completely occupying said circle, said compartments being of two kinds, sampling and reject, there being one sampling compartment and all others being reject compartments; a floor normal to said assembly axis, said floor generally forming the floors of said compartments, said floor being absent from said sampling compartment, said floor being present in all of said reject compartments; a plurality of identical flat partitions separating said compartments and forming the radial walls thereof, each said partition lying in a plane comprehending said axis and radial thereto, all of the top edges of said partitions lying in a plane normal to said axis, whereby said plane of the top edges of the partitions constitutes exclusively the sampling region of the sampler, and the area in the said plane of the top edges, at each said compartment, constitutes the entrance port of that compartment; a peripheral wall enclosing the outer portion of said compartments and connected to two said flat partitions to form said sampling compartment, said reject compartments each having an aperture in said peripheral wall adjacent to said floor; means for rotating said sampling assembly about its axis; an external stationary casing surrounding said sampling assembly and spaced therefrom, the form and position of said casing being that of a right circular cylinder having its axis coincident with that of said circular sampling assembly axis and having no floor, whereby solid broken material centrifugally thrown from said reject compartments strikes said casing and falls; means for applying the solid broken material to said sampling assembly; means for catching the sampled solid broken material falling from said floorless sampling compartment; and means for catching the rejected solid broken material after it has struck said casing and fallen therefrom.

10. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 7 in which said means for catching the sampled solid broken material falling from a floorless compartment comprises: a conical funnel suspended under said circular sampling assembly; and an output sample chute terminating the bottom of said conical funnel.

11. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 7 in which said means for catching the rejected solid broken material after it has struck said casing and fallen therefrom comprises: a cone-shaped funnel suspended under said casing; and an output chute terminating the bottom of said cone-shaped funnel.

13. A rotary sampler for solid broken material, including ore, comprising: a circular sampling assembly rotatable around a substantially vertical axis; a plurality of pie-shaped or sectorial compartments in said assembly arranged in a circle around said axis and completely occupying said circle, said compartments being of two kinds, sampling and reject, there being one sampling compartment and all others being reject compartments; a floor normal to said assembly axis, said floor generally forming the floors of said compartments, said floor being present in said sampling compartment and absent from said reject compartments; a plurality of identical and flat partitions separating said compartments and forming the radial walls thereof, each said partition lying in a plane comprehending said axis and radial thereto, all of the top edges of said partitions lying in a plane normal to said axis, whereby said plane of the top edges of the partitions constitutes exclusively the sampling region of the sampler, and the area in the said plane of the top edges, at each said compartment, constitutes the entrance port of that compartment; a peripheral wall having the general form of a right circular cylinder with axis coincident with said assembly axis, connected to the outer portions of said partitions to form said compartments, said sampling compartment having an opening in the portion of the peripheral wall adjacent to said floor; means for rotating said sampling assembly about its axis; an external stationary casing surrounding said sampling assembly and spaced therefrom, the form and position of said casing being that of a right circular cylinder having its axis coincident with that of said circular sampling assembly axis and having no floor, whereby solid broken material centrifugally thrown from said sampling compartment, which has no peripheral wall, strikes said casing and falls; means for applying the solid broken material to said sampling assembly; means for catching the rejected solid broken material falling from said floorless compartments; and means for catching the sampled solid broken material after it has struck said casing and fallen therefrom.

16. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 13 in which said means For catching the rejected solid broken material comprises: a conical funnel suspended under said circular sampling assembly; and an output rejection chute terminating the bottom of said funnel.

17. A rotary sampler in accordance with claim 13 in which said means for catching the sampled solid broken material after it has struck said casing and fallen therefrom comprises: a cone-shaped funnel suspended under said casing; and an output chute terminating the bottom of said cone-shaped funnel.