Abstrict An improved impeller and replaceable impeller wear parts for a
rock crusher having a turntable driven by a vertical drive shaft.
The impeller assembly consists of wear pins, wear plates, and block
members and heel plates which are mounted on a removable tray which
may be lifted from the turntable as a unit without removing the
heavy turntable from the drive shaft. Interchangeable wear pins
and wear plates are quickly and easily relocated within the impeller
assembly or replaced. The wear pins are characterized by double
lugs in the top and bottom of projections in a generally cylindrical
metal pin which interlock with cutouts in the wear plates.
Claims I claim:
1. In a rock crusher having an impeller assembly formed with a
circumference mounted on a turntable having a rim which is connected
to and driven by a vertical drive shaft comprising:
a. a plurality of replaceable metal wear pins mounted in said impeller
assembly and each of said pins consists of a generally cylindrical
portion formed with a projection extending therefrom and terminating
in a generally planar end face and said pins terminate at both ends
in generally planar end faces and each end of said projections is
formed with a pair of spaced lug indents; and
b. said wear pins are positioned on a peripheral outer band of
said impeller in groups of three including a head pin and two heel
pins wherein said projections form a T-shape having a stem and a
cross with said stem of said T located on a radial line and said
cross located adjacent said circumference of said impeller, said
pin located on said radial line being designated as said head pin
and said pins located on said cross being designated as said heel
pins.
2. In a rock crusher described in claim 1 comprising:
a. an annular impeller tray detachably mounted on said turntable;
b. a plurality of T-shaped block members connected to said impeller
tray in registration with said planar end faces of said projections
on said wear pins;
c. a landing cone detachably mounted on said turntable covering
the center of said turntable;
d. a plurality of upper and lower wear plates with said lower wear
plates dimensioned to substantially form an annular ring having
segmented rims surrounding said landing cone and covering said annular
impeller tray except for said portions covered by said T-shaped
block members and said wear pins;
e. each of said wear plates are formed with a pair of spaced head
pin lug engaging areas and a pair of spaced heel pin lug engaging
areas;
f. an annular top cover detachably connected to each of said T-shaped
block members; and
g. means for detachably connecting said top cover and said impeller
tray to said turntable.
3. In a rock crusher as described in claim 2 comprising:
a. a metal abrasive resistant heel plate detachably connected to
said T-shaped block member.
4. In a rock crusher as described in claim 3 comprising:
a. an annular ring connected to said rim of said turntable and
projecting upwardly therefrom for retaining said impeller tray and
a portion of said segmented rims of said bottom wear plates.
Description BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to replaceable wear pin members and
a replaceable impeller assembly in impact type crushers.
PRIOR ART
The earliest impact crusher known to Applicant in which rock is
fed to a rapidly turning table mounted on a power driven vertical
axis is Hadsel, U.S. Pat. No. 1857539 granted May 10 1932. The
rock was flung at a high velocity against breaker members positioned
around the periphery of the rotating table. The Hadsel table was
actually a rectangular chute with the rocks fed through an opening
in the center and flung from both ends of the open ended chute.
No wear plates were provided to protect the bottom and top of the
chute.
Morrissey, U.S. Pat. No. 2357843 introduced the circular rotating
table and rectangular vanes mounted on radial lines. Feed material
moved from the center of the table to the outside edge along a radial
straight line path. No buckets were used to throw the feed material
from the table.
Dodds, U.S. Pat. No. 2876387 teaches the use of replaceable parts
in the impeller assembly; recognizing the tremendous abrasion and
wear in the impact crusher. No effort, however, was made to alter
the straight line radial path of the material as it moved from the
center of the table to the periphery.
Wirth, U.S. Pat. No. 2992783 improved the efficiency of the
impact crusher by installing bucket members on the impeller table
so that the feed material was "caught" by the buckets
on the periphery of the table and greater speed was imparted to
the feed material before being thrown against crusher blocks at
high velocity. Wirth also recognized that the feed material became
trapped in the buckets so that new feed material slid or rolled
across the feed material rather than rubbing against the metal buckets
on the impeller wheel. The trailing edge of the bucket was protected
by an abrasion resistant channel member. Abrasion of the table was
probably rapid since there were no protective wear plates to protect
the table and the table could only be rotated in one direction causing
rapid wear on one side of the buckets with little or no abrasion
on the backside of the buckets.
Behnke, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3148840 3154259 3170645 and 3334823
teach the use of removable wear pins placed at the head and tail
of an L-shaped member. The impeller can only be rotated in one direction
thus causing wear on one side of the bucket member. The pins can
be individually removed from the impeller wheel but there is no
provision for lifting the wear parts of the impeller as a single
unit and leaving the heavy lower table attached to the vertical
shaft.
Danyluke, U.S. Pat. No. 3162386 is another example of a unidirectional
table with a different bucket design. When the bucket members are
worn, the entire assembly must be replaced. Further, there is no
way to remove the impeller without detaching the heavy lower table
member from the vertical shaft.
Bridgewater, U.S. Pat. No. 3174697 divides his impeller into
three (3) basic units; namely, a heavy table which attaches to the
rotating hub, a heavy impeller structure which attaches to the table
and which contains blades welded to upper and lower disks and to
one another, and replaceable buckets which are replaceably attached
to the table. When one part of the impeller structure wears out,
the entire impeller structure must be replaced.
Miller, U.S. Pat. No. 3174698 discloses a rotary breaker pin
cage in which the breaker pins are welded between angular plates
or are integrally cast with the plates. Wear or destruction of one
pin results in the total loss of the breaker pin cage.
Behnke, U.S. Pat. No. 3258211 introduced the concept of replaceable
wear pins and wear plates. Behnke retained the triangular buckets
so that the impeller is unidirectional and welded the buckets to
the top and bottom impeller plates so that when one or more buckets
received excessive wear, the entire impeller assembly excepting
only the wear pins have to be replaced. Behnke does not provide
any structure to permit removal of the impeller from the crusher
without removing the heavy circular table from the drive shaft.
While pins can be replaced without removing the impeller, removal
of the impeller and heavy turntable is required to replace the bottom
wear plates.
Wood, U.S. Pat. No. 3578254 is a bidirectional impeller constructed
with reversible and removable triangular shoes. Wood must dismantle
his impeller part by part within the rock crusher to replace parts
which become worn. If the entire impeller is to be removed as one
piece, the heavy bottom turn table must be disconnected from the
vertical impeller shaft.
Wood, U.S. Pat. No. 3652023 placed spacers between the upper
and lower plates to prevent fracturing of the replaceable triangular
shoes. To replace worn parts, the impeller assembly must be disassembled
within the crusher. No tray unit is provided to remove the impeller
from the heavy turn table.
Wood, U.S. Pat. No. 3767127 lightened his triangular shoes by
providing a fixed triangular post interfitting with a V-shaped shoe.
No tray was provided to remove the wear parts of the impeller thus
requiring that disassembly be performed within the crusher. As in
all of the Wood patents, the rock material abrades the surface of
the shoes directly thereby causing greater wear than impellers formed
with material filling buckets.
Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 3873047 discloses a highly complicated
crusher with vertically reciprocating breaker blocks. The impeller
features replaceable hook shaped shoes. In order to replace the
worn parts, the impeller must be disassembled within the crusher
or the entire impeller including the heavy removable hub and heavy
impeller disk must be removed from the vertical drive shaft.
Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 4065063 discloses a uni-directional impeller
with impact shoes which impact and break the rock material as well
as throw it against the breaker blocks. No build up of material
occurs between the impact shoes and the material to be broken. No
provision is made for easy removal of the impeller assembly. The
impeller must be dismantled piece by piece within the crusher.
Burk, U.S. Pat. No. 4126280 utilizes a bi-directional impeller
with impeller vanes. No build-up of material occurs between the
vanes and the material to be broken. No tray is provided to remove
the wear parts from the crusher.
Alford, U.S. Pat. No. 4166585 also discloses a bi-directional
impeller with impeller vanes. Like Burk, supra there is no build-up
of material between the vanes and the material to be broken nor
is a tray provided to remove the wear parts from the crusher.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a single type wear pin which is
interchangeable with all pins used in the impeller.
The wear pins are designed so that they be rotated end for end
to even the wear.
The wear pins are constructed so that they interlock with the upper
and lower wear plates thereby adding to the structural integrity
of the impeller assembly.
No bolts or other type of fasteners are used to connect the wear
pins to the impeller assembly, thereby rendering the adjustment
and interchangability of the pins a simple and fast operation.
The unique shape and arrangement of the pins forms an impeller
vane which traps and retains rock material thereby preventing direct
abrasion of the structure positioning and holding the pins and preventing
abrasion of a substantial portion of the pins themselves.
All of the portions of the impeller which are subject to abrasion
are mounted on a tray-like structure permitting quick and easy removal
from the rock crusher as a single unit without removing the heavy
table from the vertical shaft thereby permitting immediate replacement
with a new rebuilt impeller resulting in a minimum of down time.
The worn impeller can be transported to a shop area for adjustment
and replacement of worn parts.
The impeller of the present invention has a minimum of easily replaceable
parts resulting in an overall efficiency of operation and minimizing
replacement costs.
The wear parts are positioned to protect all structural parts of
the impeller and turntable to insure safe operation of the crusher.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side view of a rock crusher including the impeller
assembly of the present invention with portions removed and in cross
section.
FIG. 2 is a top view of the rock crusher taken along line 2--2
of FIG. 1 with portions removed.
FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the impeller assembly taken
generally along line 3--3 of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of the impeller assembly taken generally
along line 4--4 in FIG. 3 with the top cover removed and portions
of the top wear plates removed.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a single wear pin.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of three of the wear pins shown in
their positions on the removal tray. The pin in the foreground is
shown in phantom line for purposes of clarity.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the three wear pins of FIG. 5 with
a portion of the T-structure in place.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the three wear pins of FIGS. 5
and 6 with the full T-structure in place.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the three wear pins of FIGS. 5
6 and 7 with portions of the adjacent wear plates and the heel wear
plate in exploded position.
FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view of the impeller shown in FIG.
3 in an exploded view.
FIG. 11 is a plan view of a portion of the top and bottom wear
plates.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present invention is for an improvement in a rock crusher 1
generally illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 having an impeller assembly
2 mounted on a turntable 17 which is connected to and driven by
a vertical drive shaft 3. Such crushers are powered by a motor 4
connected to be drive shaft by means such as belts 5. Breaker blocks
6 surround the impeller. A detailed description of the breaker blocks
is set forth in my co-pending patent application entitled ROCK CRUSHER
BREAKER BLOCKS AND ADJUSTMENT APPARATUS, Transaction Number 270336
executed and mailed May 28 1981.
One of the key features of the present invention is the replaceable
metal wear pin 7 which is best illustrated in FIGS. 5-8. The wear
pin is mounted in the impeller and consists of a generally cylindrical
portion 8 formed with a projection 9 extending therefrom and terminating
in a generally planar end face 10. The pin terminates at both ends
in generally planar end faces 11 and 12. Each of the ends of the
projections are formed with spaced lug indents 13 14 15 and 16.
As shown in FIGS. 5-8 the wear pins are positioned on a peripheral
outer band of the impeller in groups of three wherein the projections
9 form a T-shape with the stem of the T located on a radial line
and the cross located adjacent the circumference of the impeller.
The pin located on the radial is designated as the head pin A and
the pins located on the cross are designated as the heel pins B.sup.1
and B.sup.2.
A standard part of every rock crusher of the present type is a
heavy turntable 17 coupled to the vertical shaft by bolts 18. The
turntable is carefully machined so that it is balanced and is an
expensive component of the crusher. The turntable must be protected
from abrasion and it is the most difficult part to remove and to
replace. For this reason, the turntable is protected by other parts
and in the present invention, the impeller assembly is designed
so that it is not necessary to remove the turntable when replacing
various wear parts in the impeller assembly.
The key element in the present invention which permits wear parts
to be replaced without removing the turntable is the annular impeller
tray 19 which is detachably mounted on the turntable. A plurality
of T-shaped block members 20 as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 are connected
to the impeller tray as by welding. The sides of the T-shaped members
register with the planar end faces 10 of the projection on the wear
pins 7. The T-shaped block members may consist of a rectangular
member 21 having a top face 22 flush with the top planar end faces
11 of pins 7. Side blocks 23 and 24 with top end faces 25 and 26
flush with lug indents 13 and 14 are connected to rectangular member
21 as by welding. A rear block 27 is connected to side blocks 23
and 24 and is formed with threaded openings 28 for the receipt of
bolts 29 for attaching heel wear plates 30.
The center portion of the turntable 17 is protected by landing
cone 31 which is releasably connected to vertical shaft 3 by bolts
32. The outer top portion of the turntable and the impeller tray
are protected from abrasion by wear plates 33 which are all identical
and shaped in arcuate segments with cutout portions 34 and 35 to
receive head pins A and cut out portions 36 and 37 to receive heel
pins B.sup.1 and B.sup.2. Preferably the wear plates 33 are formed
with a stepped annular ridge 38.
Ends 39 and 40 on wear plates 33 abut projection 9 on head pins
A and the sides of side blocks 23 and 24. The upper wear plates
33 are dimensioned to form an annular ring surrounding landing cone
31 and to engage the head pin lugs 13 and 14 and the inner lugs
13 of heel pin B.sup.1 and the inner lug 14 of heel pin B.sup.2.
A lower set of wear plates 33 rest on impeller tray 19. The wear
plates 33 interlock with the tops and bottoms of the wear pins.
An annular top cover 41 is detachably connected to each of the
T-shaped block members by bolts 42.
The top cover and the entire impeller assembly is releasably connected
to turntable 17 by bolts 43.
An annular ring 44 is connected to the rim of turntable 17 and
projects upwardly for retaining the rim of impeller tray 19 and
a portion of the outer rim of the wear plates 33.
OPERATION
The turntable may be rotated either clock-wise or counter-clockwise.
Assuming clock-wise operation, feed material enters through cone
45 and lands on landing cone 31. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 10 the
landing cone slopes downwardly from its center and the rocks initially
move by gravity radially outwardly. The feed material slides across
wear plates 33 and picks up rotational speed as it moves radially
outwardly. As the machine is operated, small fragments of feed material
build up between head wear pin A and a rear pin B.sup.1 and fill
the space therebetween approximately as shown by dashed line 46.
Abrasion of the head pin A and projection 9 occurs but the build
up of material between the pins protects the sides of blocks 23
from wear. The feed material slides or rolls across the build up
of material along line 46 and is flung at high speed against breaker
blocks 6. Some abrasion of heel wear pins B.sup.1 occurs, but it
has been found that abrasion of the head pin A occurs more rapidly.
After several hours of operation the direction of the turntable
may be reversed and abrasion of the other side of head pin A and
rear pin B.sup.2 takes places. The ability to reverse the direction
of the turntable and balance the wear on the wear pins enables the
crusher to be operated many more hours before any replacement of
parts is necessary.
Since the impeller rim is only a few inches from the breaker blocks,
the heel plates 30 are abraded and must be replaced occasionally.
When abrasion of the head pin A or the wear plates 22 advances
to the point that continued operation would expose the T-blocks
or impeller tray to wear, the machine is shut down and the lid 47
removed by removing nuts 48 from studs 49.
If an inspection reveals that only a single part has prematurely
broken or worn out, it may be replaced by simply removing bolts
42 and 43 and the top cover 41 removed. If any of the pins have
been broken they may be removed by lifting off the particular top
wear plate segments which holds down the lugs of the wear pin and
simply lifting out the damaged wear pins. The wear pins are not
fastened to the T-blocks 20 or the wear plates by any fastening
means other than the mechanical interlocking of the shape of the
wear plate members as previously described. A new wear pin may be
dropped in place and the wear plates, top plate, and bolts replaced.
In normal operation where several parts must be re-positioned or
replaced, only bolts 43 are removed and the entire impeller assembly
consisting of the tray 19 pins 7 wear plates 33 and T-blocks 20
and cover 41 are removed from the crusher as a single unit. The
heavy turntable 17 and its protective ring 44 are left in the crusher
attached to the vertical shaft 3. A new or rebuilt impeller assembly
may then be dropped into the crusher, the assembly is attached to
the turntable by bolts 43 the lid 47 is replaced and the crusher
may be placed back in operation within a very short time. If the
landing cone 31 has become worn, it may be replaced at this time
by removal of bolt 32. Replacement of the landing cone does not
require removal of the turntable. The worn impeller assembly may
be taken to a shop area where the worn parts are replaced or repositioned.
Rebuilding the impeller in the shop area is easily and quickly
accomplished. The top cover 41 is removed by removing bolts 42.
The top wear plates 33 are removed; exposing the wear pins. Since
the head wear pin A generally wears faster than the heel pins B.sup.1
and B.sup.2 the head and the least worn heel pin may be switched.
Since the bottom wear plates 33 generally wear faster than the top
wear plates, their positions generally may be merely reversed. If
it is seen that either the tops or bottoms of most or all of the
wear pins are wearing, they may be simply rotated 180.degree. end
for end. Thus it may be seen that on many occasions no new parts
need be added to the impeller assembly. Rarely will all of the parts
need to be replaced. The T-blocks and tray will rarely need replaced
unless an operator fails to make a routine inspection and permits
wear of either the pins or wear plates to advance too far.
In the event that annular ring 44 which protects the turntable
becomes worn, the turntable 17 may be unbolted from the vertical
shaft 3 by removing bolts 18. A new rim may be placed on the turnable
and returned to service. |