Claims
- 1. A grinder for use in grinding soft material from material which comprises a mixture of soft material and hard material, comprising:
- a housing having an inlet and an outlet;
- an orifice plate located at the housing outlet;
- an advancing arrangement for moving the mixture of material through the housing toward the orifice plate;
- a rotatable knife assembly located adjacent a surface of the orifice plate;
- a hard material collection arrangement for collecting the hard material and for discharging the hard material to the exterior of the orifice plate;
- collection structure located downstream of the orifice plate and defining an internal collection cavity for receiving the hard material discharged to the exterior of the orifice plate;
- a discharge conduit mounted to the collection structure and defining an internal discharge passage in communication with the collection cavity, the discharge passage being defined by at least one wall;
- a rotatable flighted discharge auger disposed within the discharge passage of the discharge conduit for advancing hard material through the discharge passage from the collection cavity; and
- a plurality of radially spaced axially extending flutes formed in the discharge passage wall, wherein hard material located within the plurality of flutes is moved along the plurality of flutes upon rotation of the discharge auger;
- wherein the discharge auger is sized and the discharge passage dimensioned such that the outermost extent of the discharge auger flighting is in close proximity to the at least one wall of the discharge passage, to cooperate with the at least one wall of the discharge passage to define a rotating flow path for discharging hard material therethrough.
- 2. The grinder of claim 1, wherein the plurality of radially spaced axially extending flutes are formed in the discharge passage so as to be equally spaced about the periphery of the discharge passage wall.
- 3. The grinder of claim 1, further comprising an expansion chamber located downstream of the discharge passage into which the discharge passage and the plurality of flutes open.
- 4. The grinder of claim 3, wherein the discharge auger extends into the expansion chamber past the downstream end of the discharge passage.
- 5. The grinder of claim 1, further comprising a chamber formed at the upstream end of the discharge conduit located upstream of the discharge passage and into which the discharge passage and the plurality of flutes open.
- 6. A grinder for use in grinding soft material from material which comprises a mixture of soft material and hard material, comprising:
- a housing having an inlet and an outlet;
- an orifice plate located at the housing outlet;
- an advancing arrangement for moving the mixture of material through the housing toward the orifice plate;
- a rotatable knife assembly located adjacent a surface of the orifice plate;
- a hard material collection arrangement for collecting the hard material and for discharging the hard material to the exterior of the orifice plate;
- collection structure located downstream of the orifice plate and defining an internal collection cavity for receiving the hard material discharged to the exterior of the orifice plate, the collection cavity including an axial passage having a plurality of radially spaced axially extending flutes formed therein;
- a discharge conduit mounted to the collection structure and defining an internal discharge passage in communication with the collection cavity axial passage, the discharge passage being defined by at least one wall; and
- a rotatable flighted discharge auger extending through the collection cavity axial passage and into the discharge passage of the discharge conduit for advancing hard material through the discharge passage from the collection cavity;
- wherein the discharge auger is sized and the discharge passage dimensioned such that the outermost extent of the discharge auger flighting is in close proximity to the at least one wall of the discharge passage, to cooperate with the at least one wall of the discharge passage to define a rotating flow path for discharging hard material therethrough;
- a plurality of radially spaced axially extending flutes formed in the discharge passage wall, wherein hard material passes through the flutes upon rotation of the discharge auger; and
- a chamber located between the collection cavity axial passage and the discharge passage through which the discharge auger extends, wherein the plurality of flutes in the collection cavity axial passage and the plurality of flutes formed in the discharge passage wall open into the chamber.
- 7. The grinder of claim 6, wherein the chamber is formed at the upstream end of the discharge conduit.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/778,010 filed Oct. 17, 1991, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/654,942 filed Feb. 13, 1991, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,829.
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Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
778010 |
Oct 1991 |
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Parent |
654942 |
Feb 1991 |
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