Impact Mill (Patent No: 678601)

Inventor: Industrial Coal and Minerals Ltd.

Location: Calgary

Comments: N/A

Description: The embodiments of an invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An impact mill for reducing the size of rock particles including an elongated tube of predetermined length having a receiving end and a discharge end, an attrition bin disposed in co-operative alignment with said tube and communicating with the discharge end thereof, means for introducing rock particles to said tube, means for impelling said particles through said tube at high velocity, whereby said particles are hurled from said discharge end into the attrition bin, said bin being adapted to accumulate at least some of said particles, said co-operative alignment of said bin with said tube serving to direct said particles hurled from the discharge end of said tube into collision with the particles accumulated in said bin to reduce the size of at least some of said particles.

2. An impact mill according to claim 1 in which the means for introducing rock particles to said tube includes a feed hopper detachably connected to the tube adjacent the receiving end thereof.

3. An impact mill according to claim 1 including an aperture for removing dust from said bin and a closable aperture in the floor of said bin through which rock particles can be withdrawn.

4. An impact mill according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 in which the means for impelling the particles at high velocity through the tube comprises a source of conveying medium connected to the receiving end of said tube, said medium having a viscosity sufficiently low to avoid acting as a lubricant to said particles and being introduced into said tube at sufficient velocity to force the particles to move at high velocity along said tube toward the discharge end thereof.

5. An impact mill according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 in which the means for impelling the particles at high velocity through the tube comprises a fan in the receiving end of said tube capable of creating high velocity winds in said tube in the range from 50 to 500 miles per hour; said winds serving to force said particles to move at high velocity along said tube.


6. An impact mill according to claim 1 or 2 in which the bin includes a floor, a pair of mutually opposed end walls, a pair of mutually opposed side walls, a top cover, an aperture in the top cover to permit the escape of dust from the bin, an aperture in said floor and a baffle plate slidably connected to said floor and adapted to open and close the aperture in said floor, said floor aperture, when open, serving to permit withdrawal of the reduced rock particles from the bin.

7. An impact mill according to claim 1 in which the tube is helical and the discharge end thereof is elevated relative to the receiving end thereof.

8. An impact mill according to claim 1 or 7 in which the tube is made of concrete.

9. An impact mill for reducing the size of rock particle said mill including at least two elongated tubes of predetermined length and an equal number of attrition bins, each of said tubes having a receiving end and a discharge end; said bins being co-operatively aligned in series with said tubes for the successive reduction of said particles; one of said discharge ends communicating with each of said bins; means for introducing rock particles to a selected first tube, means for impelling said particles through said selected first tube at high velocity into the bin communicating with the discharge end thereof, means for introducing rock particles in said bins to the receiving ends of said tubes, means for impelling said particles through said tubes at high velocity into the bins communicating with the discharge ends thereof, each of said bins being adapted to accumulate at least some of said particles, whereby said particles are impelled through said tubes from bin to bin and said co-operative alignment of said bins with said tubes serves to direct said particles impelled from the discharge ends of said tubes into collision with said accumulated particles in said bins to reduce the size of at least Some of said particles.

10. An impact mill for reducing the size of rock particles said mill including a plurality of elongated tubes of predetermined length, each of said tubes having a receiving end and a discharge end; a plurality of attrition bins disposed in series for the successive reduction of said particles, said bins being co-operatively aligned with said tubes with one of said discharge ends communicating with each of said bins; means for introducing rock particles to a selected first tube means for impelling said particles through said selected first tube at high velocity into the bin communicating with the discharge end thereof, means for introducing rock particles in each successive bin in said series to the receiving ends of said tubes, means for impelling said particles through said tubes at high velocity into the bins communicating with the discharge ends thereof, each of said bins being adapted to accumulate at least some of said particles, whereby said particles move through said tubes from bin to bin in said series, said co-operative alignment of said bins with said tubes serving to direct said particles impelled from the discharge ends of said tubes into collision with said accumulated particles in said bins to reduce the size of at least some of said particles.

11. An impact mill according to claim 9 or 10 in which the means for introducing rock particles to said selected first tube includes a feed hopper detachably connected to said selected first tube adjacent the receiving end thereof.

12. An impact mill according to claim 9 or 10 in which the means for impelling the particles through the tubes, including the selected first tube, at high velocity comprises a plurality of fans, each of said tubes having one of said fans connected to the receiving end thereof, said fans being capable of creating high velocity winds in said tubes in the range from 50 to 500 miles per hour.

13. An impact mill according to claim 9 or 10 in which the means for introducing rock particles in each successive bin to the receiving ends of said tubes comprises an aperture in the floor of each of said bins, each of said apertures communicating with the receiving end of the tube having its discharge end communicating with the next bin in said series.

14. An impact mill according to claim 9 or 10 including a louvered aperture toward the receiving end of the tube having its discharge end communicating with the last bin in said series, said louvers being adapted to close said aperture when back pressure arises

15. A method of reducing the size of rock particles including the steps of impelling certain of the particles at high velocity into collision with other particles which are stationary to reduce at least some of said impelled and stationary particles to a predetermined size.

16. A method according to claim 15 including the step of recycling oversize particles until they have been reduced substantially to said predetermined size.

17. A method according to claim 16 including the step of removing the particles reduced to said predetermined size from the particles being recycled.

18. A method according to claim 15 or 16 or 17 including the step of continuously removing most of the dust formed as a result of the said collision between the impelled and the stationary particles.

19. An impact mill according to claim 1 or 9 or 10 in which the geometrical shape of the particles 1s angular and the said collisions serve to round the shape of at least some of the particles.