WO2013000016A1

WO2013000016A1 - Vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement

Info

Publication number: WO2013000016A1
Application number: PCT/AU2012/000750
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mariusz MILEWICZ; Wayne CHATTERJEE
Original assignee: Schenck Process Australia Pty Limited
Priority date: 2011-06-29
Filing date: 2012-06-28
Publication date: 2013-01-03
Also published as: DE112012004647T5; CN103635260A; DE112012004647B4; AU2012276275A1; CN103635260B

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to a vibratory centrifuge (10) comprising a shaft assembly (12) connected at opposing ends to a drive mechanism (14) and a basket assembly (16), respectively. The vibratory centrifuge (10) also comprises a main housing (18) mounted to a base frame (20), and chute (22) connected to the main housing (18) to provide a solid/liquid feed to the basket assembly (16). The centrifuge (10) also comprises a mounting arrangement for the shaft assembly (12) including a combination of one or more slide blocks (34A) and (34B) and a tapered securement ring (32). The slide blocks (34A/B) are mounted to the shaft assembly (12) to permit sliding movement of the shaft assembly (12) within the main housing (18). The tapered securement ring (32) is one of three tapered segment rings located circumferentially around the shaft assembly (12). The tapered ring segments (32A/B) are located at respective ends of the shaft assembly (12) so as to clamp the shaft assembly (12) within the main housing (18).

Description

VIBRATORY CENTRIFUGE MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates broadly to a vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement. The invention also relates generally to a method of extracting a shaft assembly from a vibratory centrifuge.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

In a conventional vibratory centrifuge the shaft assembly is nested within the main housing. Maintenance of the shaft assembly, such as changing seals and bearings, requires disassembly of the main housing to lift out the shaft assembly. The main housing, by nature of its design, includes large and particularly heavy components which are too weighty to be lifted manually. This means that disassembly of the main housing is performed with heavy lifting equipment which is not only time consuming but requires easy access to the main housing of the centrifuge.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement for its associated shaft assembly, said mounting arrangement comprising:

one or more slide blocks adapted to mount to the shaft assembly to permit sliding movement of said shaft assembly within a main housing of the vibratory centrifuge;

securement means located at or adjacent at least one end of the shaft assembly for securing the shaft assembly within the main housing. Preferably the securement means includes a securement ring for clamping the shaft assembly within the main housing. More preferably the securement ring is a tapered securement ring. Preferably the securement ring includes a plurality of tapered ring segments located circumferentially around the shaft assembly. More preferably the tapered ring segments are each fastened to the shaft assembly via one or more clamping fasteners.

Preferably the mounting arrangement also comprises radial adjustment means operatively coupled to the main housing to radially displace the shaft assembly to permit securing of the shaft assembly to the main housing via the securement means. More preferably the radial adjustment means include¹ one or more adjustment fasteners threaded through the main housing and adapted to abut the shaft assembly to radially displace it for alignment of the securement means with the shaft assembly and the main housing.

Preferably each of the tapered ring segments includes a shoulder adapted to abut a corresponding shoulder in the shaft assembly to permit clamping of the shaft assembly within the main housing. More preferably the shoulder is located on an inner tapered surface of the tapered ring segment.

Preferably the tapered securement ring is one of a pair of securement rings located at or adjacent respective ends of the shaft assembly.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of extracting a shaft assembly from a main housing of a vibratory centrifuge, said method comprising the steps of:

releasing securement means which secures the shaft assembly within the main housing;

retracting the shaft assembly from the main housing by sliding it along one or more slide blocks mounted to the shaft assembly. Preferably the step of releasing securement means involves unscrewing one or more clamping fasteners which fasten the securement means to the shaft assembly.

Preferably the method of extracting a shaft assembly also comprises the step of temporarily supporting the shaft assembly prior to releasing the securement means by screwing adjustment fasteners through the main housing into abutment with the shaft assembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

5

In order to achieve a better understanding of the nature of the present invention a preferred embodiment of a vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement, and a method of extracting a shaft assembly from a vibratory centrifuge will now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in 0 which:

Figure 1 is an isometric sectioned view of a vibratory centrifuge;

Figure 2 is an isometric view of the shaft assembly taken from the vibratory 5 centrifuge of figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is another isometric view of the shaft assembly of figure 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged/detailed view of securement means and its associated 0 clamping fasteners taken from the vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement shown in figure 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

!5 As best shown in figure 1 there is a vibratory centrifuge 10 comprising a shaft assembly 12 connected at opposing ends to a drive mechanism 14 and a basket assembly 16, respectively. The vibratory centrifuge 10 also comprises a main housing 18 mounted to a baseframe 20, and a chute 22 connected to the main housing 18 to provide a solid/liquid feed to the basket assembly 16. The solid/liquid

I0 feed typically includes coal, salt, sand or phosphate to be dewatered in a mineral processing plant although the invention extends to other applications.

The basket assembly 16 includes a frusto-conical basket 24 mounted at its small diameter end to the shaft assembly 12 via a basket mount 26. The basket 24 is fabricated from a mesh material or in this example wire sieve segments The drive mechanism 14 includes a pulley 28 mounted to an opposite end of the shaft assembly 12, the pulley 28 being coupled to a drive motor (not shown) via a continuous belt 30. .

5 Figures 2 and 3 illustrate different isometric views of the shaft assembly 12 taken from the vibratory centrifuge 10 of figure 1 . Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view of securement means in the form of a tapered securement ring 32 taken from a preferred mounting arrangement for the shaft assembly 12 of the vibratory centrifuge 10 of figure 1 . The vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement of this aspect of the

0 invention comprises a combination of one or more slide blocks such as 34A and 34B (see figure 2) and the tapered securement ring 32 (see figures 1 and 4). The slide blocks 34A/B are mounted to the shaft assembly 12 to permit sliding movement of the shaft assembly 12 within the main housing 18 of the vibratory centrifuge 10. In this example the tapered securement ring 32 is one of three tapered segment rings

5 located circumferentially around the shaft assembly 12. As best shown in figure 1 the tapered ring segments such as 32A and 32B are located at respective ends of the shaft assembly 12 so as to clamp the shaft assembly 12 within the main housing 18.

As best shown in figure 4 the tapered ring segments such as 32A are fastened !0 to the shaft assembly 12 via clamping fasteners such as 34A. Each of the tapered ring segments such as 32A of this embodiment includes an inner tapered surface 38 which clamps into engagement with a corresponding tapered surface 40 in the shaft assembly 12. The tapered ring segment 32 about its outer annular surface 36 also engages with a bored surface 39 in the main housing 18 to permit clamping of the !5 shaft assembly 12 within the main housing 18. The main housing 18 also includes an annular shoulder 42 designed to provide an abutment surface for the tapered ring segments such as 32A for longitudinal placement of the shaft assembly 12 within the main housing 18.

I0 As best shown in figure 1 the mounting arrangement of this aspect of the invention also comprises radial adjustment means in the form of adjustment fasteners such as 44A and 44B operatively coupled to the main housing 18. In particular, the adjustment fasteners 44A/B are threaded through the main housing 18 underneath the shaft assembly 12 to radially displace or lift it to permit clamping of the shaft assembly 12 to the main housing 18 via the tapered ring segments such as 32A/B. The adjustment fastener such as 44A is one of a plurality of fasteners spaced circumferentially about a lower region of the main housing 18 underneath the shaft assembly 12. The adjustment fasteners 44A and 44B align longitudinally with a pair of respective annular flanges 46A and 46B welded or otherwise secured to or formed integral with the shaft assembly 12.

According to another aspect of the invention there is a method of extracting a shaft assembly from a main housing of a vibratory centrifuge such as that illustrated in figure 1 . The general steps involved in a preferred embodiment of this methodology are as follows:

The basket assembly 16 and the pulley 28 are detached from respective ends of the shaft assembly 12; 2. The adjustment fasteners such as 44A B are screwed into abutment with the shaft assembly 12;

The tapered ring segments such as 32A B are released to unclamp the shaft assembly 12 from the main housing 18;

The adjustment fasteners such as 44A B are released to lower the shaft assembly 12 onto its associated slide blocks 34A/B;

The shaft assembly 12 is retracted from the main housing 18 by sliding it along the pair of slide blocks 34A/B.

Each of the tapered ring segments such as 32A B is released by unscrewing the clamping fasteners such as 34A which fasten the securement ring such as 32A to the shaft assembly 12.

It will be understood that installation of the shaft assembly 12 within the main housing 18 involves what is effectively a reversal of the steps outlined above. The shaft assembly 12 is slid into the main housing 18 along the slide blocks 34A/B. The adjustment fasteners such as 44A/B are screwed inward to lift the shaft assembly 12 into radial alignment with the tapered ring segments such as 32A/B. The tapered ring segments 32A/B are then clamped to the shaft assembly 12 securing it within the main housing 18.

5 Now that a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in some detail it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement has at least the following advantages over the admitted prior art:

1 . The shaft assembly can be removed from the vibratory centrifuge without I 0 disassembly of the main housing;

2, Maintenance time is reduced and the lifting of particularly heavy components of the main housing using lifting equipment is largely avoided;

3. The tapered securement ring provides effective clamping of the shaft assembly within the main housing which is typically exposed to high

I 5 vibratory loads both radially and axially.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention described herein is susceptible to variations and modifications other than those specially described. The tapered ring segments may vary in their specific shape, for example the degree of the

20 taper angle, or the number of the segments may be different from that described. The slide blocks may also change in their design where for example they may bear circumferentially rather than longitudinally along the main housing to permit sliding of the shaft assembly from the main housing. All such variations and modifications are to be considered within the scope of the present invention the nature of which is to be

25 determined from the foregoing description.

Claims

1 . A vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement for its associated shaft assembly, said mounting arrangement comprising:

securement means located at or adjacent at least one end of the shaft assembly for securing the shaft assembly within the main housing.

2. A vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement as defined in claim 1 wherein the securement means includes a securement ring for clamping the shaft assembly within the main housing.

3. A vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement as defined in claim 2 wherein the securement ring is a tapered securement ring.

4. A vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement as defined in claim 3 wherein the securement ring includes a plurality of tapered ring segments located circumferentially around the shaft assembly.

5. A vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement as defined in claim 4 wherein the tapered ring segments are each fastened to the shaft assembly via one or more clamping fasteners.

6. A vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement as defined in either of claims 4 or 5 wherein each of the tapered ring segments includes a shoulder adapted to abut a corresponding shoulder in the shaft assembly to permit clamping of the shaft assembly within the main housing.

7. A vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement as defined in claim 6 wherein the shoulder is located on an inner tapered surface of the tapered ring segment.

8. A vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement as defined in any one of claims 3 to 7 wherein the tapered securement ring is one of a pair of securement rings located at or adjacent respective ends of the shaft assembly.

) 9. A vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement as defined in any one of the preceding claims also comprising radial adjustment means operatively coupled to the main housing to radially displace the shaft assembly to permit securing of the shaft assembly to the main housing via the securement means.

) 10. A vibratory centrifuge mounting arrangement as defined in claim 9 wherein the radial adjustment means include one or more adjustment fasteners threaded through the main housing and adapted to abut the shaft assembly to radially displace it for alignment of the securement means with the shaft assembly and the main housing.

) 1 1 . A method of extracting a shaft assembly from a main housing of a vibratory centrifuge, said method comprising the steps of:

retracting the shaft assembly from the main housing by sliding it along one or ) more slide blocks mounted to the shaft assembly.

12. A method as defined in claim 1 1 wherein the step of releasing securement means involves unscrewing one or more clamping fasteners which fasten the securement means to the shaft assembly.

3

13. A method as defined in either of claims 1 1 or 12 also comprising the- step of temporarily supporting the shaft assembly prior to releasing the securement means by screwing adjustment fasteners through the main housing into abutment with the shaft assembly.