Abstrict A shredder, crusher, hammer mill, ring mill or the like is provided
with a multi-sided rotor shaft to which spider arms and hammers
are mounted. The rotor shaft has at least one pair, and preferably
two or more pairs, of opposing sides. The hammers are pivotally
mounted between spider arms. The spider arms have bases which include
openings. The spider arm base openings have straight sides corresponding
to the number of straight sides on the rotor shaft. The spider arm
straight sides engage the rotor shaft straight sides. Hence, the
spider arms are rotationally fixed in place relative to the rotor
shaft without the use of keys and keyways, pins, bolts, or other
types of fasteners, allowing for easier assembly and reduced maintenance
costs for the crusher.
Claims What is claimed is:
1. Crusher machinery in the category of a shredder, crusher, hammer
mill or ring mill, and for use for crushing material, said crusher
machinery comprising a shaft, a housing with support structure for
holding said shaft in position for rotation therein, said shaft
being multi-sided, said multi-sided shaft having four equally spaced
substantially flattened surfaces integrally formed into a square
shaft substantially along its length, said shaft holding at least
one support spider thereon, said at least one support spider having
a spider base, said spider base having an opening therein which
is also square, and having a size greater than the four flattened
surfaces of the square shaft so as to be accommodated thereon, a
pair of spider arms, one of each spider arm extending from opposite
sides of said spider base and being connected thereto, a series
of rods extending transversely through the spider arms and said
rods provided for folding a hammer to each of the spider arms during
usage, there being integral extensions provided projecting from
either end of the square shaft, said extensions being circular in
configuration and provided for mounting said square shaft within
the support structure of the machinery, an arcuate grate provided
beneath the square shaft and its mounted spider base, spider arms,
and hammers, said grate provided for holding any material to be
crushed in the housing when impacted during usage of the crusher
machinery.
2. The crusher machinery of claim 1 wherein each spider base has
said opening provided approximately centrally therethrough, said
opening being square in configuration, and which square opening
has a configuration substantially similar to but slightly larger
than the square shape of the multi-sided shaft for the crusher machinery.
3. The crusher machinery of claim 2 wherein said extensions being
of a lesser diameter than the distance between any pair of oppositely
disposed flattened surfaces integrally formed upon the square shaft.
Description BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Crushers, shredders, hammer mills, ring mills, and the like, are
often used to process scrap material and stone, to crush or reduce
the size of the material so that it can more easily be handled by
other equipment for further processing or use.
Such crushers typically include a plurality of hammers mounted
about a rotatable shaft. As the shaft rotates, the hammers engage
and crush whatever media is introduced into the crusher. The hammers
can be mounted between spiders which are positionally fixed relative
to the rotor shaft. Typically, the rotor shaft is cylindrical. The
use of a cylindrical shaft requires that the spider arms be positively
keyed to the shaft, for example, using a square or rectangular key
on the spider and a corresponding keyway on the shaft, so that the
spider arms cannot rotate relative to the shaft. The use of a keyway
weakens the main shaft and makes removal of the spiders and end
discs a much more difficult task. Further, the key will weaken over
time, and eventually the rotor assembly will shift between the shredder
housings. Obviously, this can necessitate a repair of the crusher,
requiring that operation of the crusher be stopped for the duration
of the repair. Depending on the location of the spider which is
no longer positively fixed with respect to the shaft, the crusher
can be shut down for a considerable period of time.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A shredder, crusher, hammermill, ringmill or the like is provided
with a multi-sided rotor shaft to which spider arms and hammers
are mounted. The rotor shaft has at least at least one pair, and
preferably two or more pairs, of opposing sides. The hammers are
pivotally mounted between spider arms. The spider arms have bases
which include openings. The spider arm base openings have straight
sides corresponding to the number of straight sides on the rotor
shaft. The spider arm straight sides engage the rotor shaft straight
sides. Hence, the spider arms are rotationally fixed in place relative
to the rotor shaft without the of a central key, or other types
of fasteners, allowing for easier assembly and reduced maintenance
costs for the shredder.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a crusher having a shaft of
the present invention taken along line 1--1 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the crusher taken along line
2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the shaft;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the shaft taken along line
3--3 of FIG. 4; and
FIG. 5 is a plan view of a spider which is mounted on the shaft
to support hammers in the crusher.
Corresponding reference numerals will be used throughout the several
figures of the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The following detailed description illustrates the invention by
way of example and not by way of limitation. This description will
clearly enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention,
and describes what I presently believe is the best mode of carrying
out the invention.
A crusher 10 is shown generally in FIGS. 1 and 2. The crusher 10
includes a housing 12 having a front wall 14 a back wall 16 side
walls 18 and 20 and a top 22. A feed inlet 24 is formed in the
front wall, and, can extend only a portion of the side-to-side width
of the crusher 10 or can extend substantially the full side-to-side
width of the crusher 10.
A rotor or shaft 30 extends between the side walls 18 and 20 to
rotate within the housing. As seen in FIG. 3 the rotor 30 includes
a multi-sided central section 32 and two cylindrical end sections
34 extending from opposite sides of the central section. As seen
in FIG. 4 the central section 32 has eight sides; however, it could
be formed with fewer sides or more sides, as desired. The central
section 32 as shown in FIG. 4 includes four long sides 36 which
are angled generally 90.degree. to each other and four short sides
38 positioned between the long sides 36 and which are also angled
generally 90.degree. to each other. The short sides 38 are curved
and define arcs of a circle. Thus, in cross-section, the rotor central
section 32 can be defined as a circle which is flattened along four
sides to form the long sides 36. Alternatively, the central section
32 can be defined as a square in which the corners are truncated
or beveled; the beveled or truncated sections forming the curved
short sides 38. The ends 34 of the rotor 30 extend through openings
40 in the side walls 18 and 20. At least one end of the rotor 30
is in a bearing assembly 42 to allow the rotor to rotate within
the housing 12. The other end 34 of the rotor 30 can be operatively
connected to, and supported by, a drive, such as a motor to rotate
the shaft along its axis X.
A plurality of spider arms 50 are positioned on the rotor central
section 32. The spiders have a generally square base 52 having with
a central opening 54. The opening 54 is a generally square opening
having straight sides 56 and curved, rather than sharp, corners
58. The square opening 54 of the spider arm is sized to fit over
the rotor central section, such that the central section long sides
34 are adjacent the straight sides of the square opening 54. Rods
60 extend transversely through the spider bases 52 to hold the spider
arms 50 together on the rotor 30. See FIG. 5. A pair of arms or
mounts 62 extends from opposite sides of each spider base. The arms
62 of adjacent spiders alternate, such that one set is vertical,
the next is horizontal, the next is vertical, etc. Hammers 64 are
mounted between adjacent spiders which extend in the same direction.
A hammer shaft 66 extends through the arms 62 and the hammers 64
are journaled on the hammer shafts 66. As can be appreciated, the
hammers are positioned at intervals of 90.degree. around the circumference
of the rotor shaft 30. The rotor shaft could be provided with more
than two pair of opposing straight sides to reduce the interval
between the hammers. For example, if the rotor shaft had three pair
of opposing straight sides, the hammers could be spaced at intervals
of 60.degree. around the shaft. Four pair of opposing straight sides
would allow for intervals of 45.degree. between the hammers. Alternatively,
the rotor shaft could be formed with only one pair of opposing straight
sides, such that the hammers are positioned 180.degree. apart from
each other. This would require the use of spacers between the spider
arm bases.
A grate 70 extends from the bottom of the inlet 24 beneath and
around the rotor 30 and hammers 64 in a generally arcuate fashion.
The grate 70 as can be appreciated, will hold matter to be crushed
in the housing to be impacted and crushed the hammers. As the material
is crushed to a desired size, it will fall through the grate 70.
The use of the multi-sided rotor shaft 30 facilitates assembly
of the spider arms 52 and hammers 64 on to the rotor 30 as well
as operation of the crusher 10. Because the shaft 30 includes the
flat sides 36 and the spider base openings 54 have the corresponding
flat sides 56 the spiders 50 cannot rotate relative to the rotor
shaft 30. Thus, the crusher 10 does not require keys and keyways,
pins, bolts, or other fasteners to rotationally fix the spider arms
52 to the rotor shaft central section 32. Additionally, the corresponding
shape of the rotor shaft central section 32 to the spider openings
54 causes the rotor shaft 30 to positively drive the spiders, and
hence the hammers. Again, because there are no keys and keyways,
pin, bolts or other fasteners which secure the spiders to the rotor
shaft 30 there are no keys and keyways, pins, bolts, or fasteners
which might sheer during operation. Hence, the use of the multi-sided
rotor shaft 30 with the spider arms having straight side walls
reduces not only the construction costs of the crusher or mill 10
but also reduces maintenance costs of the crusher or mill 10.
As various changes could be made in the above constructions without
departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all
matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying
drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting
sense.
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