US586311A

US586311A - Endless-belt concentrator

Info

Publication number: US586311A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1897-07-13
Anticipated expiration: 1914-07-13

Description

(No Model.)

J. JACOBS. ENDLESS BELT GONGENTR ATOR.

Patented July 13. 1897.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JEI-IU JACOBS, OF HENLEY, CALIFORNIA.

ENDLESS-BELT CONCENTRATOR.

SEECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 586,311, dated July 13, 1897.

Application filed June 4, 1896. Serial No 594,227. (No model.)

To all whont it ntay concern.-

Be it known that I, JEHU J ACOBS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Henley, county of Siskiyou, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Endless-Belt Concentrators; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to certain improvements in endless-belt concentrators.

It consists in details of construction which will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3 is a transverse section showin g eccentric adjustment and Vertical adj ustment of cone-shaft journal-box. Fig. at is an enlarged view of joint-section of belt. Figs. 5, 6, '7, and 8 are details to be referred to.

The object of my invention is to provide certain improvements in the operating mechanism and in the adjustment of that class of concentrators in which an endless belt is caused to travel about rollers or drums at oppositeends of the apparatus, so as to receive the pulp or material to be treated, with a sufficient body of water for the purpose to separate the heavier valuable portions from the lighter waste material, so that the former is carried over the upper end of the belt and the latter is delivered over the lower end.

In my apparatus the endless belt A passes over rollers or drums B and B at the upper and lower ends, respectively. These rollers are journaled in a frame C,'and this frame is adjusted so that one end is raised higher than the other, thus giving the belt any desired amount of inclination for the work to be done.

The frame 0 is made rigid by means of di-' agonal braces 0, extending across its lower portion, so as to prevent any twisting or warping out of shape. The frame 0 has a side shaking motion and asimultaneous upward or lifting movement of the two sides alternately. This is produced as follows: Upon stationary frame-timbers D are journaled flanged rollers E, which are adapted to support the bars E. These bars are fixed transversely across the lower part of the frame 0,

and the ends are tapered or inclined where they rest upon the rollers E, so that when the frame 0 is moved to one side the inclined portion moving up on the roller E will slightly raise that side of the frame, and with it the belt, while the opposite ends of the bars F correspondingly have an incline which, moving down upon the rollers, will depress that side of the belt. When the table or frame returns in its shake, the opposite tilting motion takes place, and this serves to evenly distribute the pulp upon the belt. The side shaking movement of the frame is produced by the action of eccentrics G,which are fixed upon opposite ends of a shaft H, and which are slotted so that they may be moved on the shaft to increase or decrease the throw and the amplitude of the shake given to the belt-carryingframe. (See Fig. 6.) This shaft extends longitudinally at one side of the frame and approximately parallel with the frame and belt. Power is applied to rotate the shaft by means of a pulley I, from which a beltmay extend to the source of power, and by means of eccentric-straps connecting the eccentrics G with the frame 0 the side oscillations of the latter are produced.

In order to advance the belt up the incline which the position of its supporting-frame produces, I have shown a worm-gear consisting of the toothed wheel J, fixed upon one end of the shaft of the upper roller B, and a screw or worm J, journaled on the frame 0 so as to engage this gear. In order to transmit motion to this Worm-gear, which necessarily partakes of the side shaking motion, I have shown a long shaft K, one end of which is made rectangular or polygonal and slightly tapering and is adapted to enter a correspondingly-shaped opening in the end of the worm-gear or screw J, as shown in Fig. 5. This shaft K extends along parallel with the shaft H and close to the shaking frame 0, and its opposite end is similarly connected with a cone L, which is j ournaled in stationary bearings upon the main frame.

The cone L corresponds with a reverse cone L, which is fixed upon the shaft H, so that a belt extending between these two cones transmits motion from the shaft H and produces a rotary motion of the shaft K, thus turning the screw J and the gear J and drum l3 and gradually advancing the belt toward the upper end. The position of the belt upon the two cones determines the rate of speed at which the belt travels. 7

By reason of the length of the shaft K and the peculiar flexible connection of its ends it will be seen that motion may be transmitted through it from the rotary cone L, which has no shaking motion, to the worm or screw J at the opposite end, which partakes of the motion of the table or frame and belt, without binding or preventing the free action of the parts.

The cone L has its shaft journaled in boxes which are vertically movable by means of a screw M, turnable in vertical bearings, and the box or journal of the pulley L has a screwthreaded extension N, which fits and travels upon the screw when the latter is turned. This allows the pulley L to be depressed, so that any slack in the belt connecting it and the pulley L may be taken up and the belt caused to run at proper tension.

The rollers Band B, over which the belt A passes, are connected with the frame 0 by the angular truss-frames G which carry the journal-boxes'of the rollers. The journal-box of the roller B is not movable upon the frame; but the journal-box of the roller B is made movable along a horizontally-slotted support 0 by means of a screw P, which is connected with the frame C and upon which a screwthreaded nut from the journal-box is adapted to travel, so that when the screws are turned the journal-boxes of the roller B may be moved, so as to regulate the tension of the belt A. The upper surface of the belt A travels over horizontally-journaled rollers Q, supported upon the shaking frame 0.

In order to retain the pulp and water upon the surface of the belt as it travels between the rollers B and B, I have shown independ ent cones R, which turn loosely upon the shafts of the rollers Q. This is necessary because the outer ends of the cones, being of greater diameter than the shaft, would naturally move at a different rate of speed as the belt travels over them. Consequently by allowing the cones to turn freely these different rates of speed will not produce the rubbing and friction upon the belt which would occur if the rollers and cones were joined together. The cones are also made movable for the purpose of adjusting them to and from each other. This is done by the employment of washers S, Fig. 7, having approximately the same diameter as the rollers Q, and these washers are placed between the inner ends of the cones R and the outer ends of the rollers Q, thus practically forming an extension of the rollers, so as to fit the belt while the latter' is new and having the greatest width, the edges of the belt turning up on the inclined cones, as before described.

hen the belt becomes contracted and narrower, it is necessary to lift the shafts of the rollers out of their boxes or bearings on the frame 0, which are open on the top for that purpose, and the cones and washers may be slipped off and rearranged with one or more of the washers exterior to the cones, thus allowing the latter to be moved toward the center, and when thus arranged the edge of the belt will again incline properly upon the surfaces of the cones. There may be as many of these washers as it is found necessary to use to properly adjust the belt as its width varies with use.

The roller-shaft boxes are open on top and closed at the ends, so that the ends of the shafts abut against these closed ends and prevent any independent end movement of the rollers.

The cones which are the nearest to the drums B and B have the least inclination, and those nearer the center of the space between these drums have the greatest incline, so that the belt from being approximately i'lat upon the drums B and B gradually assumes a position in which the edges are raised to the highest point intermediate between these drums.

In order to produce the best results in saving the extremely fine sulfurets and heavy valuable material, I have found it preferable to make my belt in short sections of canvas, which are overlapped and stitched together, and the uppermost section presents its edge in the direction opposite to which the belt is traveling. This forms a very thin rifiie or obstruction equal in depth to the thickness of the canvas, and as the pulp flows downwardly over the inclined belt the very fine valuable particles will be caught in the rough surface of the belt and will be more particularly deposited behind these riflles formed by the overlapping sections of the canvas.

The lower portion of the belt passes over a roller T, intermediate between the rollers. B and B, and this roller has journal-boxes mounted in a swiveling frame U, which depends from the shaking frame C. Adjacent to thisswiveling frame is a fixed hanger V, through the lower end of which passes a screw W. The point of this screw abuts against or is connected with the swinging bar U, and by turning the screw this bar and the supported roller will be moved forward or back. This enables me to turn the roller T transversely of the belt at a greater or less angle with the belt, so as to change the direction of the belt to one side or the other, as may be desired. The bearing-boxes of this roller have downwardly-projecting shanks or pivots which enter corresponding holes in the swinging support U and are thus allowed to swivel or turn as the position of the roller is changed, so that the boxes always stand square with the journals of the roller and do not bind thereon.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an endless-belt concentrator, a frame having drums or rollers at opposite ends, an endless belt passing around said drums, a. main frame upon which the traveling-belt frame is supported, with mechanism by which a transverse oscillating and tilting movement is produced, a driving-pulley journaled upon the stationary frame at one end, having a polygonal opening made in it, a screw or worm journaled upon a downwardly-projecting portion of the oscillating belt-frame and engaging with a worm-pinion upon the drumshaft, said screwhaving a polygonal opening in the end which faces the driving-pulley, a rigid shaft extending between the drivingpulley and the screw having the ends adapted to fit the openings in the drum and screw without intermediate support whereby motion is transmitted from the pulley to the worm-gear.

2. In an endless-belt concentrator, the side shaking frame with its supporting-bars and rollers, an endless traveling belt passing around drums at opposite ends of the frame, a worm-gear connecting with one of the drums, a shaft having a tapered end loosely connected with the screw of the gear extending parallel with the shaking frame and connected with a cone-pulley near the opposite end having stationary journals, a frame in which the shaft of said cone is journaled, and a screw turnable in vertical bearings and engaging a threaded extension of the box or journal of the cone whereby the cone and its supports are raised or depressed by the turning of the screw, a shaft journaled parallel with and exterior to the shaft and cone, a second cone fixed upon the exterior shaft and a belt extending between the two, the tension of which is adjustable by the vertical movement of the interior cone.

3. In an cndless-traveling-belt concentrator, a side shaking frame having drums jouraled at opposite ends around which the belt passes, rollers journaled across the frame intermediate between the drums having shafts supported in boxes upon the frame, cones fitting and turnable loosely upon said shafts,

and washers having a diameter approximately that of the rollers and the inner ends of the cones, said washers turning loosely upon the roller-shafts and adapted to be transferred from the inner to the outer ends of the cones whereby the position of the cones may be adjusted to allow for a shrinkage in the width of the belt.

4:. In an endless-traveling-belt concentrator, the side shaking frame with drums journaled at opposite ends, an endless belt extending around the drums, mechanism by which the belt is caused to travel slowly up the incline between the drums formed bythe position of the supporting-frame, said belt being composed of sections of canvas overlapping and stitched together at intervals whereby a projecting riftle is formed by each overlapping edge of the canvas in the direction opposite which the belt is traveling.

5. In an endless-belt concentrator, a side shaking frame with drums journaled at opposite ends, an endless belt extending around the drums, mechanism by which the belt is caused to travel slowly up the incline between the drums, intermediate transverselyjournaled rollers by which the upper part of the belt is supported, independently loosely rotatable cones and collars upon the shafts exterior to the rollers, the cones nearest the end drums having less inclination than those nearer the center of the frame, j ournal-boxes upbn the frame in which the shafts are supported, said boxes being open at the top,

and having the ends closed so that the ends of the shafts abut against the closed box ends and prevent independent transverse oscillation of the rollers.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JEHU JACOBS. \Vitnesses:

S. H. NOURSE, J ESSIE C. BRODIE.