US487542A - Device for operating ore-concentrators and allied machines - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet; 1]

v 0,. E. SEYMOUR. DEVICE FOR OPERATING ORE OONOENTRATORS AND ALLIED MACHINES No. 487-,54z. Patented Dec. 6, 1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. SEYMOUR, LAKE GENEVA, \VISCONSIN.

DEVICE FOR OPERATING OR E-CONCENTRATORS AND ALLIED MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 487,542, dated December 6, 1892.

Application filed February 1, 1892. Serial No. 419,880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES E. SEYMOUR, of Lake Geneva, in the county of Walworth and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Devices for Operating Ore Concentrators and Allied Machines, of which the following is'a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

My invention has relation to improvements in devices for operating ore-concentrators and allied machines, the present application showing and describing the invention in connection with a device constructed in accordance with my former application for Letters Patent, filed September 19, 1891, Serial No.

406,183, illustrating means for automatically throwing the gear and rack employed in said former application for operating the cleaning-pipe into and out of mesh, and in connection therewith means for automatically taking up the slack of the endless cable and for automatically regulating the speed of said cable. In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of so much of the improved ore-concentrator above referred to as is necessary to illustrate the application of my present improvements thereto. Fig. 2 is a fragment of the upper partof the frame and the parts carried thereby at right angles to Fig. 1, looking toward the right. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the cable system, and Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing clearly the vertically-adjustable shaft and the parts operating in connection therewith.

Like letters and numerals of reference refer to like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, the letter A indicates a portion of the frame, of suitable construction, for supporting the operative mechanism, B a fragment of the concentrator bowl or pan, and C a hollow rotatable shaft supporting rigidly said pan or bowl. An annular sleeve-valve D upon the shaft 0 .bears normally water-tight, being properly packed therefor against the bottom of the pan, forming a valve or dam to prevent the discharge of the concentrates from the bowl into the .hollow shaft through the portsc of said shaft.

valve-rod E, arranged centrally and movable endwise by any suitable means in the shaft 0, and is adapted for raising and thereby opening and for lowering and thereby closing the ports 0.

For cleaning up and discharging the pulverized and heavier mineral deposits that settle on the bottom and sides of the pan I provide a catcher and discharge-pipe, consisting of a flexible pipe F, which at itsinner end is secured to and opens from above through a a cap or hood G into the chamber or space within the valve D, from which the thereinreceived material is discharged through the ports a. The hood G is secured rigidly to hangers which are attached at their upper ends to the frame. The flexible pipe F is provided with a metal mouthpiece f, having a soft-metal lip or scoop f secured thereto. This catching and discharging device is adapted to have its mouth held near to the bottom or sides of the pan as the same revolves, and thus to scoop or catch up the deposit of pulverized mineral on the bottom or walls of the pan, which by the centrifugal action of the deposit thus caught will be carried through the pipe and discharged into the valve-sleeve D. This action is also better accomplished by the aid of water usually supplied to the pan with the pulverized ore in the form of pulp or independently thereof in any convenient manner,

which Water, flowing through the pipe, aids to carry the mineral through it. To actuate this discharge-pipe automatically, a rod H is secured at one end thereof, said rod being provided with alaterally-extending fingerl, which is arranged to be supported movably on a friction-roller J, carried by a pin fixed on an arm K. The finger I also carries at its extremity a laterallyprojecting finger L, adapted to bear against and pass around a cam is, fixed on arm K. At its outer end the rod H is hinged to a vertically-moving rack M. A worm N, revoluble on a pin 0, fixed on a movable block P, is adapted by its rotation, when in mesh with the rack M, to raise or lower said rack in its ways in the frame. The worm is rotated by a belt Q, run on a pulley integral therewith and on a pulley on the shaft 0. The block P is movable in ways therefor on the frame toward and from the rack, so that the worm N can be thrown out of or put in gear with the rack M by shifting the block through the medium of a lever-handle R, which is pivoted to a pin S medially on the frame. The worm N is held normally out of mesh with the rack M by a spring T, which draws the block P away from the rack.

To automatically put the worm N into gear with the rack M at regular intervals when the mechanism is in operation, a tripping or shift- 1 ing lever U, pivoted mediallyon a bracket V, fixed on the frame, is connected at its lower end by a link \V to the block P, and is ar ranged when tilted toward the left at its upper end, as shown in Fig. 2, to shift the block P toward the rack and put the worm into mesh therewith.

An endless cable X is provided with a cone I shaped button y, adapted, as the cable is carried forward in the direction ofthe arrow, to

take into the forked end of the lever U and time that the lever U is to be held to the left,

is taken up, as will hereinafter more fully appear. To release the button y from the lever U,

a detaching-rod Z, having endwise movement in the frame, is provided with an arm 1, adapted to engage a pin 2 on the rack M and to be carried up thereby, whereby the rodis car.- ried against the rear part of the button, and

the button and cable thus elevated sufficiently to release the former from the forked end of the lever U. The pin 2 is shown by dotted lines in. Fig. l at the lower end of rack M, said pin extending inwardly from the rack at right angles to the arm 1 of detaching-rod Z, whereby its contact with said arm is insured upon the upward movement of the rack. The rod Z falls by gravity away from the cable when no longer supported by the pin 2, when it goes down with the rack M.

To provide for the button striking the lever U with sufficient force, I employ a device for checking the motion of the cable, which consists of a ring 4, through which the cable runs, which ring is rigid on the bracket V. To this ring I secure a funnel 5, through which also the cable runs. This funnel is constructed in two parts or jaws, the larger open its movement slightly, taking up a little of the slack in the cable, so that the button when released from the funnel strikes the lever U with sharpness, tilting it and throwing the worm into gear with the rack.

It will of course be obvious that as the worm N rotates the rack M the latter is carried upwardly and with it the rod or arm H, by means of which the mouth of the pipe F is drawn slowly up along the side of the pan, while the finger I will be drawn along on the Trict-ionroller J to its extremity and will thereafter bear against the under face of the cam until it is carried entirely above said cam and the mouth of pipe F is carried nearly to the top edge of the pan. Thereupon by the, release of the worm N from the rack the weight of said rack and pipe will allow them to drop, the laterally-extending pin L falling on top of cam 70 and being thereby carried inwardly, keeping the mouth of the pipe F away from the sideof the pan until the rack shall have reached the lowest limit of its travel, when the upper end'ofthe rod H will be somewhat lower in the pan than shown in Fig. 1, and the mouth'of. pipe F will, by the rod H tilting, be carried. upwardly and inwardly away from the surface of the pan.

The finger I is hinged on a sleeve 9 in such a manner that it is capable of folding limitedly from the rod H, but is not permitted to spring outwardly relative to said rod further than to the position substantially as shown in Fig. 1.

A spring 10, fixed on the sleeve 9, bears against the finger I and holds it yieldingl'y outwardly in the position shown in Fig.

1. As the rod H is raised by the rack, the finger I, passing below the cam k, is swung inwardly toward the rod, but immediately assumes its normal position on passing be yond the cam, so that it is in proper position to engage the cam as the rod is lowered by the release of the rack from the worm.

The foregoing description covers the machine fully set forth in my former application, Serial No.406,183,aud which is set forth in detail herein, in order to clearly illustrate the application of my present improvements relating to the propelling trip-cable thereto.

The endless cable X, carrying the button y, runs over four pulleys 11, mounted upon verti'cal shafts 12, 12, 12, and 13, the latter also carrying a friction-wheel 14. This shaft 13 hasits step-bearingin a screw-wheel15, which latter has its threaded shank extending into a threaded base-socket 16. As will be seen, the cable-pulley 11 is feathered on shaft 13, so as to allow of the vertical adjustment of said shaft without at the same time changing the relative position of the pulley.

The numeral 17 indicates a driving-shaft, which is journaled in suitable bearings 18 18 and has mounted thereon a cone-pulley 19 and on its extremity a driving-wheel 20, which IIO ings 21 21 to one side of shaft 17 is a second shaft 22, having a longitudinal movement in its bearings and carrying medially a conepulley 23, connected with the cone-pulley of shaft 17 by a belt 24 and also carrying upon its end a frictional drive-wheel 25, adapted to bear against the wheel 14 and to be held in engagement-therewith by a coil-spring 26 encircling the shaft. The cable X also runs around one side of two sheaves 27 27 and around the opposite side of a medial sheave 28. The shaft of the latter sheave is journaled in the bifurcated end of an arm 29, said arm sliding in ways 30 and having attached thereto one end of a spring 31, which normally holds said arm laterally out of line with the other two sheaves of the series.

Of course the arrangement of the cable illustrated in Fig. v3 is such that it passes through the ring 4, as previously explained. As soon as the button y strikes this ring the cable is stopped for an instant, causing a slack therein between the point of stoppage and the power-sheave behind the button, while the cable is taken up taut in front of the point of stoppage and between the same and the power-sheave This tightness increases as the power-sheave revolves, but is allowed for by sheave 28, which is drawn down against the action of its retrievingspring. As soon as this sheave is drawn down to its full extent, as indicated in dotted lines, the continued strain on the cable is now exerted against the obstruction afforded to the button by the checking device, and the consequence is that said button is drawn past the yielding jaws and through the ring 4, striking the lever U with sharpness, so as to tilt the same and put the worm into gear with the rack, as previously explained.

In order to adjust the speed of the travel of the cable, the vertical shaft 13 is raised by turning the screw-wheel 15, so as to bring the frictional driven wheel 14 thereof closer to the center of the face of the frictional drivewheel 25, thereby changing and adjusting the travel of the cable, so that the trip-button y will make its circuit in any desired time, once in fifteen, twenty, thirty, forty, or sixty minutes, and thus adjust it to trip the machine at the desired time.

WhileI have in this application illustrated my invention in connection with an ore-contrator of peculiar construction, 1 do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to such adaptation, as the invention may be used in connection with other forms of ore-concentrators or allied machines without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described vmy invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-- 1. The combination, with a machine provided with a tripping-lever by which certain parts are disengaged or operated, of a lever operating device, consisting of an endless cable, a series of pulleys on which the cable is carried and driven, one of which pulleys is movable yieldingly and is arranged by its yielding movement to permitapredetermined amount of slack on the cable, and a button on the cable, adapted to engage'temporarily the lever and tilt it, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of a trip-lever, an endless cable carrying a button, which is adapted to engage the free end of the lever, sheaves or pulleys around which said cable runs, and a series of intermediate supplemental pulleys also engaging the cable, the medial pulley thereof being movable and adapted to be drawn out from its normal position as the cable tightens and to be drawn back laterally to said normal position upon the relaxation of the cable, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a trip-lever, a motionchecking device, a cable carrying a button adapted to be stopped temporarily by said checking device and to subsequently engage the free end of the trip-lever, sheaves or pulleys around which said cable runs, and a series of intermediate supplemental pulleys also engaging the cable, the medial spring-controlled pulley thereof being movable and adapted to be drawn out from its normal position as the button is stopped by the checking device and to be drawn backlaterally to said normal position upon the release of said button, sub stantially as set forth.

4. In an ore-concentrator having a revolving pan, a flexible discharge-pipe, and an automatic device for elevating the pipe, the combination of an endless cable for operating the automatic device, said cable provided with a button, sheaves or pulleys around which the cable runs, a series of supplemental intermediate pulleys also engaging the cable, the medial pulley thereof being out of line with the outer supplemental pulleys, and a sliding spring-retrieved arm forming a bearing for the shaft of the medial pulley, substantially as set forth.

5. In an ore-concentrator having a revolving pan, a flexible discharge-pipe, and an automatic device for elevating the pipe, the combination of an endless cable for operating the automatic device, sheaves or pulleys around which said endless cable runs, one of the shafts of said pulleys being adjustable longitudinally independent of its pulley and carrying, also, thereon a frictional-driven wheel, and a rotatable shaft carrying on its end a frictional driving-wheel adapted to contact with the corresponding wheel of the pulleyshaft, substantially as set forth.

6. In an ore-concentrator having a revolving pan, a flexible discharge-pipe, and an automatic device for elevating the pipe, the com bination of an endless cable for operating the automatic device, sheaves or pulleys around which said endless cable runs, one of the IIO shafts of said pulleys being adjustable longitudinally independent of its pulley and carrying, also, thereon a frictional-driven \vheel,a spring-actuated shaft carrying medially a cone-pulley and upon its end a frictional driving-Wheel contacting with the corresponding wheel of the pulley-shaft, and a driveshaft carrying a cone-pulley connected with the cone-pulley of the other shaft by means of a belt, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in t presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES E. SEYMOUR.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR L. MORSEL-IL, O. T. BENEDICT.

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