Patent Application
20230008083
The present disclosure generally relates to a horizontally fed disk grinding system and method for grinding bulk material into a particulate form.
It is generally desirable in many industries to reduce large pieces of solid material to a particulate form. For instance, in managing wood and tree waste, it is desirable to grind stumps, branches, and wood scraps into smaller wood chips. Wood chips are more easily and efficiently transported, stored, and used for a variety of purposes. In other instances, it is desirable to reduce large pieces of waste material, such as plastic, for recycling or disposal. In still other instances, it is desirable to reduce pieces of rock, metal, asphalt, or other extremely hard material, for disposal.
Refiners of various size and operation are generally available for performing this function. One style of refiner includes a refining chamber defined by a sidewall and a bottom floor at one end of the sidewall. An annular ring in the same plane and surrounding the bottom floor is attached to the sidewall and rotates with the sidewall. For instance, a refiner of this style may include a comminuting chamber in which a rotatably-mounted cutter disk with attached blades impacts solid material introduced into the chamber and reduces the material to particulate form.
Some such refiners operate by rotating both the chamber sidewall and the bladed cutter disk, sometimes in the same direction, and sometimes in opposite directions. The rotation of the sidewall imparts rotational motion to the solid material placed in the chamber. As the material in the chamber rotates with the chamber sidewall, the material comes into contact with the rotating cutter disk. The blades of the cutter disk impact the material, thereby cutting, ripping and tearing the material into successively smaller pieces. The annular portion of the bottom of the chamber that rotates with the sidewall typically includes a screened exit through which the material, once refined to a particular size, may pass out of the chamber.
In other traditional larger grinder embodiments, a vertically fed configuration has been employed with a grinding wheel at the bottom of a large container with substantially vertical sidewalls. Such vertical grinding systems have employed “hammers” on the grinding wheel that smash and pound bulk material over and over again until it is broken down into smaller particulate material. The vertical configuration of these embodiments is useful to leverage gravity to push the bulk material towards the grinding wheel. However, these systems have several significant drawbacks. For example, since these system “hammer” the bulk material instead of “cutting” the bulk materials, much more force, and thus much more power is required to operate these systems (e.g., two to four times the amount of energy). Additionally, since such large amounts of force are being used to operate these large vertical grinding systems, the “hammers” on the grinding wheels will occasionally fail, break off the wheel, and go flying through the air. Such projectile broken hammer components can seriously injury or even kill people standing nearby or even a significant ways away from the grinder.
The small number of legacy horizontally fed grinding systems have been relatively unsuccessful since they suffered from difficulties associated with a lack of gravity to advance the grinding material towards the cutter mechanism. Such legacy horizontal grinding systems have also had problems due to a lack of uniform grinding mechanisms. Furthermore, such legacy horizontal grinding systems have often relied on the sharpness of cutter systems, which can often dull quickly when cutting all manner of materials from wood, to plastic, to metal. Some conventional horizontally fed grinding systems also feed material to a single stationary wheel, which limits the size of the feed opening and prevents processing of larger bulk materials.
Notably, all of the subject matter discussed in this section is not necessarily prior art and should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its discussion in this section. Accordingly, any recognition of problems in the prior art discussed in this section or associated with such subject matter should not be treated as prior art unless expressly stated to be prior art. Instead, the discussion of any subject matter in this section should be treated as part of the identification of the technological problem to be overcome, which in and of itself may also be inventive.
One or more embodiments of a portable grinding machine or system may be summarized as including: a trailer; a tray coupled to the trailer; a grind hub coupled to the trailer and structured to rotate about a grind hub axis; a grind ring coupled to the tray and structured to engage the grind hub during operation, the grind ring having an adjustable outlet; a cutter disk coupled to the grind hub and structured to rotate about a cutter disk axis, the cutter disk axis being offset from the grind hub axis; a plurality of plates coupled to the tray and structured to slide along the tray back and forth towards the cutter disk and away from the cutter disk, wherein the plurality of plates includes a first row of plates and a second row of plates, the first row of plates and the second row of plates structured to oscillate relative to each other, where the first row of plates moves towards the cutter disk while the second row of plates moves away from the cutter disk, and where the first row of plates moves away from the cutter disk while the second row of plates moves towards the cutter disk; and a conveyor coupled to the grind hub having a first end and a second end, the first end of the conveyor positioned proximate the adjustable outlet of the grind ring, the conveyor including a belt that transports ground particulate matter away from the cutter disk and grind hub.
The portable grinding machine may further include: the first row of plates pushing bulk materials towards the cutter disk while the second row of plates moves away from the cutter disk, and wherein the second row of plates pushes bulk materials towards the cutter disk while the first row of plates moves away from the cutter disk; the conveyor being rotatable relative to the trailer about the first end of the conveyer in a horizontal direction to move the second end of the conveyer towards a front end of the trailer or towards a rear end of the trailer, and wherein the conveyor is rotatable relative to the trailer about the first end of the conveyer in a vertical direction to change a position of the conveyer from parallel to a ground surface to perpendicular to the ground surface; the tray being a channel including a base and a first sidewall and a second sidewall extending from the base, the plurality of plates coupled to the base of the tray, the portable grinding machine further comprising a plurality of side feeders coupled to the first sidewall and the second sidewall of the tray; and at least one of the plurality of plates and at least one of the plurality of side feeders including a plurality of teeth structured to ratchet a material received in the tray toward the grind hub and the cutter disk.
The portable grinding machine may further include: the grind hub structured to rotate in a first plane and the cutter disk structured to rotate in a second plane that is at an offset angle from the first plane; the first plane being substantially vertical and the second plane being at an offset angle to the first plane between 1 and 10 degrees; a limit plate coupled to the grind hub and positioned between the grind hub and the grind ring; and the grind ring further including a plurality of teeth arranged around an interior circumference of the grind ring proximate the grind hub.
One or more embodiments of a grinding machine may be summarized as including: a grind hub structured to rotate about a grind hub axis; a cutter disk coupled to the grind hub and structured to rotate about a cutter disk axis, the cutter disk axis being offset from the grind hub axis, wherein the cutter disk is structured to rotate about the cutter disk axis while also being structured to rotate about the grind hub axis; a tray including a first row of plates coupled to the tray and a second row of plates coupled to the tray, the first row of plates and the second row of plates structured to oscillate relative to each other and towards the cutter disk and away from the cutter disk to advance bulk material towards the cutter disk; and a grind ring coupled to the tray, wherein the grind ring is structured to engage with the grind hub, the cutter disk, and the grind plate.
The grinding machine may further include: a frame coupled to the tray and a plurality of wheels coupled to the frame; the grind hub having a first side and a second opposite the first side, the grind hub further including a sheave and pulley assembly coupled to the first side of the grind hub, a grind plate coupled to the second side of the grind hub, a first limiter coupled to the grind plate, a plurality of baffles coupled to the grind plate, a second limiter coupled to the plurality of baffles; the sheave and pulley assembly including an axle located proximate a center of the grind hub and a wheel coupled to the grind hub and spaced from the center of the grind hub, the sheave and pulley assembly further including a belt mechanically coupled to the axle and the wheel; the cutter disk being mechanically coupled to the wheel of the gear and pulley assembly with the cutter disk structured to rotate around the center of the grind hub; the grind ring further including a plurality of teeth arranged around an interior circumference of the grind ring proximate the grind hub; the first row of plates pushing the bulk materials towards the cutter disk while the second row of plates moves away from the cutter disk, and wherein the second row of plates pushes bulk materials towards the cutter disk while the first row of plates moves away from the cutter disk; and a conveyor rotatably coupled to the grind hub, the conveyor including a belt that transports ground particulate matter away from the cutter disk and grind hub.
The grinding machine may further include: the conveyor being rotatable relative to the grind hub about a first end of the conveyer in a horizontal direction to move a second end of the conveyer towards a front end of the grind hub or towards a rear end of the grind hub, and wherein the conveyor is rotatable relative to the grind hub about the first end of the conveyer in a vertical direction to change a position of the conveyer relative to a ground surface in the vertical direction; the tray being a channel including a base and a first sidewall and a second sidewall extending from the base, the first row of plates coupled to the base of the tray and the second row of plates coupled to the base of the tray, the grinding machine further comprising a plurality of side feeders coupled to the first sidewall and the second sidewall of the tray; at least one of the first row of plates and at least one of the plurality of side feeders include a plurality of teeth structured to ratchet the bulk material received in the tray toward the grind hub and the cutter disk; and the grind hub being structured to rotate about the grind hub axis in a first plane that is substantially vertical and cutter disk is structured to rotate about the cutter disk axis in a second plane at an offset angle to the first plane between 1 and 10 degrees.
One or more embodiments of a grinding machine may be summarized as including: a body having a grinding portion including a grind hub and a grind ring, the grind hub structured to rotate in a first plane about a grind hub axis, and an inlet portion including a tray coupled to the grind ring; an advancement system coupled to the tray structured to advance bulk material towards the grinding portion; a cutter disk coupled to the grinding portion of the body and structured to rotate about a cutter disk axis in a second plane at an offset angle to the first plane, wherein the cutter disk is structured to rotate about a cutter disk axis while also being structured to rotate about the grind hub axis; and a conveyor coupled to the body, the conveyor including a belt that transports ground particulate matter away from the cutter disk and grind hub.
The grinding machine may further include: a trailer including a frame coupled to the body and a plurality of wheels coupled to the frame; the grind ring being structured to slide to engage the grind hub, the grind ring having an outlet and the grind ring having a plate structured to selectively cover the outlet of the grind ring to vary a size of a particulate material output from the grind ring through the outlet; the grind hub including a grind plate with a center and an outer peripheral edge, the grinding machine further comprising a first limiter coupled to the grind plate and positioned proximate the center of the grind plate and a second limiter coupled to the grind plate and positioned proximate the outer peripheral edge of the grind plate; the grind hub including an outer peripheral edge and a plurality of baffles positioned proximate the outer peripheral edge; the offset angle between the first plane and the second plane being between 1 and 10 degrees; and the advancement system being one of a plurality of plates, a belt conveyor, a chain conveyor, a ram plate, one or more augers, and one or more vibrators.
The grinding machine may further include: the advancement system being a plurality of plates coupled to the tray including a first row of plates structured to push the bulk materials towards the cutter disk while a second row of plates moves away from the cutter disk and a second row of plates structured to push bulk materials towards the cutter disk while the first row of plates moves away from the cutter disk; the conveyor being rotatable relative to the body about a first end of the conveyer in a horizontal direction to move a second end of the conveyer towards a front end of the body or towards a rear end of the body, and wherein the conveyor is rotatable relative to the body about the first end of the conveyer in a vertical direction to change a position of the conveyer from parallel to a ground surface to perpendicular to the ground surface; the tray being a channel including a base and a first sidewall and a second sidewall extending from the base, and the advancement system including a plurality of plates coupled to the base of the tray, the portable grinding machine further comprising a plurality of side feeders coupled to the first sidewall and the second sidewall of the tray; at least one of the plurality of plates and at least one of the plurality of side feeders including a plurality of teeth structured to ratchet a material received in the tray toward the grind hub and the cutter disk; and a limit plate coupled to the grind plate and positioned between the grind plate and the grind ring.
One or more embodiments of a grinding machine may be summarized as including: a body having a grinding portion and an inlet portion, the grinding portion including a grind hub, grind plate, and a grind ring with the grind hub structured to rotate in a first plane, and the inlet portion including a tray coupled to the grind ring; a cutter disk coupled to the grinding portion of the body and structured to rotate in a second plane at an offset angle to the first plane; and an advancement system coupled to the body structured to advance bulk material towards the grinding portion.
The grinding machine may further include: the advancement system being one of a plurality of plates, a belt conveyor, a chain conveyor, a ram plate, one or more augers, and one or more vibrators; the advancement system being a plurality of plates coupled to the tray including a first row of plates structured to push the bulk materials towards the cutter disk while a second row of plates moves away from the cutter disk and a second row of plates structured to push bulk materials towards the cutter disk while the first row of plates moves away from the cutter disk; a trailer coupled to the body and a conveyor coupled to the body, the conveyor including a belt that transports ground particulate matter away from the cutter disk and grind hub; and the conveyor being rotatable relative to the trailer about a first end of the conveyer in a horizontal direction to move a second end of the conveyer towards a front end of the trailer or towards a rear end of the trailer, and wherein the conveyor is rotatable relative to the trailer about the first end of the conveyer in a vertical direction to change a position of the conveyer from parallel to a ground surface to perpendicular to the ground surface.
The grinding machine may further include: the tray being a channel including a base and a first sidewall and a second sidewall extending from the base, and the advancement system includes a plurality of plates coupled to the base of the tray, the portable grinding machine further comprising a plurality of side feeders coupled to the first sidewall and the second sidewall of the tray; at least one of the plurality of plates and at least one of the plurality of side feeders including a plurality of teeth structured to ratchet a material received in the tray toward the grind hub and the cutter disk; and the offset angle being between 1 and 10 degrees; a limit plate coupled to the grind hub and positioned between the grind hub and the grind ring.
The grinding machine may further include: the grind hub including a drive hub with an outer surface, the grinding machine further comprising a drive assembly coupled to the body and including a motor and a belt on the outer surface of the drive hub, the motor structured to rotate the belt to rotate the drive hub; the cutter disk being a first cutter disk, the grinding machine further including a second cutter disk coupled to the grinding portion of the body and structured to rotate; and the second cutter disk being structured to rotate in a third plane at an offset angle to at least one of the first plane and the second plane.
The present disclosure will be more fully understood by reference to the following figures, which are for illustrative purposes only. These non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments are described with reference to the following drawings, wherein like labels refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified. The sizes and relative positions of elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale in some figures. For example, the shapes of various elements are selected, enlarged, and positioned to improve drawing legibility. In other figures, the sizes and relative positions of elements in the drawings are exactly to scale. The particular shapes of the elements as drawn may have been selected for ease of recognition in the drawings. The figures do not describe every aspect of the teachings disclosed herein and do not limit the scope of the claims.
Persons of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the present disclosure is illustrative only and not in any way limiting. Other embodiments of the presently disclosed system and method readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the assistance of this disclosure.
Each of the features and teachings disclosed herein can be utilized separately or in conjunction with other features and teachings to provide horizontal disk grinding system and method. Representative examples utilizing many of these additional features and teachings, both separately and in combination, are described in further detail with reference to attached
In the description below, for purposes of explanation only, specific nomenclature is set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present system and method. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific details are not required to practice the teachings of the present system and method.
Moreover, the various features of the representative examples and the dependent claims may be combined in ways that are not specifically and explicitly enumerated in order to provide additional useful embodiments of the present teachings. It is also expressly noted that all value ranges or indications of groups of entities disclose every possible intermediate value or intermediate entity for the purpose of original disclosure, as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed subject matter. It is also expressly noted that the dimensions and the shapes of the components shown in the figures are designed to help to understand how the present teachings are practiced, but not intended to limit the dimensions and the shapes shown in the examples in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the dimensions and the shapes of the components shown in the figures are intended to limit the dimensions and the shapes of the components.
Beginning with
The orientation of the horizontal disk grinding system 100 enables the “mouth” or infeed opening of the system 100 to be large, (e.g., three feet or greater in some embodiments, four to five feet or greater in more preferred embodiments, six feet or greater in most preferred embodiments), while still being mountable to a street legal trailer so that the horizontal disk grinding system 100 is mobile enough to be easily moved to a job site, such as a site that has large lumber debris to be refined, removed, or both. One reason that vertical grinding systems have been popular is that gravity assists with feeding the grinding material towards the grinding implement. In a horizontal disk grinding system, such as system 100, other methods of advancing the grinding material are utilized because of the lack of gravitational force on the material in the horizontal direction. Past horizontal grinding systems have been attempted that used belts or chains to horizontally advance the bulk material. However, such attempts have been unsuccessful because the belts and chains often break or snag on the bulk material. Additionally, such belts and chains are undesirable because they deposit debris on the ground during the belt or chain cycling process. Such conventional horizontal grinding systems also have smaller infeed openings due to limited cutting performance. The recuperating process of the material input conveyer that oscillates back and forth as well as the cutter disk and grind hub, as described herein, overcomes these technological problems.
The system 100 includes a trailer 102 with a frame 104 and a plurality of wheels 106 coupled to the frame 104. Although not shown, the wheels 106 are rotatably mounted to the frame 104 with one or more axles, hubs, fasteners, and other like structures in a conventional manner. Further, the trailer 102 includes stabilizers 108 at a front end of the trailer 102 for stabilizing the system 100 against vibration and movement and for leveling the system 100 during use. The trailer 102 also includes a tongue and a coupler, such as a channel coupler, a ball coupler, or an A-frame coupler, among others, for removably coupling the trailer 102 to a towing vehicle, such as a truck.
As such, the system 100 is mobile and can be attached to a conventional trailer hitch of a tow vehicle, such as a truck, for transporting the system 100 between selected locations before, during, and after use. In one non-limiting example, the system 100 can be transported via the towing vehicle from a storage location to a job site, and once on the job site, the system 100 can be moved to selected locations around the site that are proximate the material to be ground into particulate form. Once the work is finished, the system 100 can be moved from the job site back to the storage location via trailer 102 until the process is repeated for a new project.
The first position of the output conveyor 118 illustrated in
A plurality of plates 146 are coupled to the tray 134 and are structured to convey material received in the tray 134 from the first end 142 to the second end 144 of the tray 134 and into the grinding portion 114 to be reduced to particulate form by the grinding portion 114. The plurality of plates 146 will be described further with reference to
Further, the grinding portion 114 has an opening 115 that is connected to the second end 144 of the tray 134 with the grinding portion 114 receiving material from the tray 134 through the opening 115. In some embodiments, the system 100 includes flaps 117 coupled to an enclosed portion of the feed tray 134 proximate the opening 115, that can be rotated or manipulated to cover the opening 115. The flaps 117 may be coupled to the enclosed portion of the feed tray 134 only on one side of the flap 117 in some embodiments with the free end extending toward the tray 134 to allow material to pass through the flaps 117. In one or more embodiments, the flaps 117 are coupled to the tray 134 at multiple points. The flaps 117 reduce the risk of injury or harm to operators near the system 100 by preventing particulate material from the grinding portion 114 from being projected through the opening 115 and toward the first end 142 of the tray 134. The number and arrangement of the flaps 117 can be selected and may include only one flap 117, two flaps 117 as shown in
The mulch plate 135 further includes a flange 141 (which may be referred to as a support plate 141, a spacing plate 141, or a protrusion 141) coupled to the mulch plate 135 and extending from the first side 137 of the mulch plate 135. As shown in
The mulch plate 135 also includes a cross bar 145 (which may also be referred to as a support 145 or a joist 145) that extends across an entirety of the mulch plate 135 and beyond outer peripheral edges of the body of the mulch plate 135 to engage the sidewalls 138, 140 of the tray 134. The cross bar 145 is positioned between the first and second sides 137, 139 of the mulch plate 135, and is positioned closer to the second side 139 in some embodiments in order to support the mulch plate 135 on the sidewalls 138, 140 of the tray 134. A centrally positioned hole 147 extends through the mulch plate 135 proximate the second side 139 to assist with moving and installing the mulch plate 135 with a fork lift or other machinery.
A method of grinding bulk material into particulate material and then into mulch thus includes grinding bulk material into particulate material as described herein. Then, the mulch plate 135 is attached to machinery via hole 147 and is installed with the first side 137 inserted into the tray 134 and the second side 139 supported by the sidewalls 138, 140 of the tray 134 via cross bar 145. The mulch plate 135 is uncoupled from the machinery used to move the mulch plate 135 and the particulate material is fed into the tray 134 along a surface of the mulch plate 135 and facing the grinding portion 114. The mulch plate 135 is slanted towards the grinding portion 114 and may feed directly into the grinding portion 114 in some embodiments. Thus, the mulch plate 135 overcomes certain challenges with moving particulate material with the plates 146 described herein by bypassing the plates 146 and a majority of the tray 134 and feeding particulate material more directly into the grinding portion 114 to be reduced to a smaller size or grade, such as mulch in one non-limiting example.
As such, the mulch plate provides additional functionality for the system 100 that is an advantage over conventional systems, namely the ability to grind particulate material into mulch or fine material (i.e., a wider range of output material size overall) with the same system 100. Moreover, the system 100 is portable such that the operator can select to grind particulate material to mulch at the same site location where the bulk material is ground to particulate material, or the operator can transport the system 100 to a different processing location for grinding the particulate material into mulch. Thus, the system 100 provides flexibility for the operator to select from a wider range of output material size as well as the grinding or processing locations, which are distinct advantages over legacy grinders.
With reference to
Further, the plates 146 in each row 146A, 146B may be spaced 14 inches from each other on center or edge to edge with a controllable or adjustable speed through 16 inches of travel. Thus, the total range of travel between the two rows 146A, 146B is 32 inches in some embodiments. It is to be appreciated that the spacing of the plates 146 and the range of travel of each row 146A, 1466 can be selected to more or less than the above values in one or more embodiments. For example, the spacing of the plates may be any value less than 1 inch up to 14 inches and greater than 14 inches up to 28 inches or more. Similarly, the range or travel distance of each row 146A, 146B can be any value less than 1 inch up to 16 inches and greater than 16 inches up to 32 inches or more. In one or more embodiments, the rows of plates 146A, 146B are arranged at an angle to the base 136 of the tray 134 such that the plates form a “V” shape. The angle of the rows of the plates 146A, 146B relative to a horizontal plane including the base 134 may be selected to be any value between and including 0 degrees and 90 degrees. As such, the plates 146 provide a continuous linear taper between the sidewalls 138, 140 and the base 136 of the generally round or curved tray 134 in some embodiments.
In some embodiments, at least one of the plates 146 includes a plurality of teeth 148 coupled to the plate 146 to assist with moving the material. The plurality of teeth 148 may be coupled to a support 150, such as a plate, that is coupled to the selected one of the plates 146 or the teeth 148 may be coupled directly to the plates 146. The teeth 148 and support 150 combination may be referred to herein as an end feeder. In some embodiments, and as shown in
The system 100 may further include a plurality of side feeders 152 coupled to the sidewalls 138, 140 of the tray 134. The side feeders 152 may include a plurality of teeth 154 coupled to a support 156, which may be a plate, coupled to the sidewalls 138, 140. The number and arrangement of side feeders 152 may be selected, but as shown in
In some embodiments, the side feeders 152 move with the corresponding row of plates 146A, 146B and more particularly, the side feeders 152 on the left side of the tray 134 in the orientation shown in
In one or more embodiments, the side feeders 152 are coupled to the sidewalls 138, 140 only at one end of the side feeders 152 and the side feeders 152 are not structured to move with the plates 146. Thus, the other end of the side feeders 152 floats or rests on top of the plates 146 to allow the plates 146 to slide underneath the side feeders 152. In other words, the side feeders 152 are stationary and have one free end that slides over the plates 146 to avoid inhibiting the motion of the plates 146 in some embodiments. The side feeders 152 assist with ratcheting material when a large volume of material is placed in the tray 134 and may cause material to be fed at half of the rate of the plates 146 by preventing backward motion of the material. Thus, the material moves forward relative to the side feeders 152 when the corresponding plates 146A, 146B move forward and the material will be stationary relative to the side feeders 152 when the corresponding plates 146A, 146B move backward. With a large volume of material, the portions of the material proximate the sidewalls 138, 140 of the tray 134 (or the sides of the material volume) may not be moved by the rows of plates 146A, 146B because of the position of the plates 146 at the bottom of the volume of material. The side feeders 152 engage sides of the volume of the material and assist with pushing the material forward via the rows of plates 146A, 146B.
In
The rows of plates 146A, 146B continuously move during operation of the system 100 to ratchet material in the tray 134 forward to the grinding portion 114. For example,
Thus, in
Movement of the bulk material 149 is assisted in some embodiments by the shape and arrangement of the plates 146. As shown in
The end feeders 148, 150 and the side feeders 152 further assist the movement of the material 149. The end feeders 148, 150 engage material at the first end 142 of the tray 134 to prevent material from falling out of the tray 134 during movement of the plates 146 while the side feeders 152 engage sides of the material 149 to assist with moving larger volumes of material 149. In some operational situations where a large volume of material 149 is input to the tray 134, the oscillation of the plates 146 may not exert enough force on the material 149 to move the sides of the material 149 due to the weight of the material 149, or the plates 146 may move the bottom of the material 149 out from underneath the sides of the material 149 which can cause the sides of the material 149 to move away from the grinding portion 114. The side feeders 152 engage the sides of large volumes of material 149 and prevent them from moving away from the grinding portion 114, or prevent the plates 146 from pulling only the bottom of the material 114 forward. As explained above, the side feeders 152 may oscillate with the rows of plates 146A, 146B or may be stationary in various embodiments. Thus, the end feeders 148, 150 and the side feeders 152 enable the system 100 to grind larger volumes of bulk material 149 than conventional grinding systems.
Beginning with
The enclosed portion 162 of the grind ring 160 generally has a hollow cylindrical shape and encloses the tray 134 at the second end 144 of the tray 134 (
The enclosed portion 162 of the grind ring 160 includes an outlet 166 through the body 110 on one side of the enclosed portion 162 facing the grind hub 158. In some embodiments, the outlet 166 defines an outlet of the grind hub 158 and of the grinding portion 114 of the system 100 generally. As explained further below, the size of the outlet 166 is adjustable to vary the output material size. A larger outlet 166 size will allow larger particulate material to be output by the system 100 to the output conveyor 118 while a smaller outlet 166 size will create smaller particulate matter. The output material is transferred to an inlet 170 at the first end 120 of the output conveyor 118 (
In one or more preferred embodiments, the outlet 166 may be adjustable by moving a plate 172 that is positioned adjacent or proximate to the outlet 166. The plate 172 is coupled to the enclosed portion 162 with fasteners and includes a track or channel 174 for adjusting a position of the plate 172 relative to the enclosed portion 162. Adjusting the position of the plate 172 also changes the size of the outlet 166 to provide control over the size of the output particulate matter. As illustrated, the plate 172 slides relative to the grind ring 160 in a lateral or horizontal direction toward or away from the grind hub 158 to selectively control the size of the outlet 166 and the particulate material. In some embodiments, the plate 172 has a similar functionality but slides vertically relative to the grind ring 160. Thus, a user can select the size of the particulate matter output by the system by varying the size of the outlet 166 by adjusting the plate 172. Other concepts for controlling the size of the output material are contemplated herein, such as adjusting a position of the enclosed portion 162 and the tray 134 relative to the grind hub 158, or with a different plate assembly and configuration.
In
In some preferred embodiments, the cutter blades 182 are each arranged at a selected offset angle from a vertical plane through a center of the cutter disk 176. While it is contemplated herein that the selected offset angle may be the same for each cutter blade 182, it is has been found that selecting a different offset angle for each blade 182 improves cutting efficiency. Thus, the blades 182 do not extend vertically from the cutter disk 176 in a straight line around a circumference of the cutter disk 176, but are each at a different angle relative to each other and the cutter disk 176 in some embodiments. In some non-limiting examples, the offset angle of each blade 182 relative to the vertical plane through the center of the cutter disk 176 is less than 1 degree, 1 degree, 2 degrees, 3 degrees, 4 degrees, 5 degrees, 6 degrees, 7 degrees, 8 degrees, 9 degrees, 10 degrees, 15 degrees, 20 degrees, 25 degrees, 30 degrees, or 45 or more degrees. The offset angle may also be positive or negative (i.e., to the right or left of, or in front of or behind the vertical plane) as well as any value between those listed above. The cutter disk 176 may also have any selected number of blades 182 in a selected spacing and arrangement around the cutter disk 176. In some non-limiting examples, the cutter disk 176 includes any number of blades between 1 blade and up to 20 or more blades 182. The blades 182 may each be spaced from each other by an equal distance or by a different distance, or may be positioned adjacent each other.
The offset angle of the blades 182 relative to the cutter disk 176 and to each other improves cutting efficiency because the blades 182 cut a wider swath out of the material 149 as it advances. The orientation of the blades 182 also prevents material 149 from being trapped against the cutter disk 176 and assists with processing larger volumes of material. The blades 182 are also replaceable by manipulating the blade bolt assemblies 184 and replacing the blades 182, which reduces maintenance down time and associated costs. The cutter disk 176 is mechanically coupled to an axle structured to rotate the cutter disk 176, as described further below with reference to
Moreover, the grind hub 158 is structured to rotate in a first plane that is substantially vertical. In this context only, a “substantially” vertical plane means a plane that is within plus or minus 3 degrees of vertical. The cutter disk 176 is coupled to the grind hub 158 at an angle to the grind hub 158 such that the cutter disk 176 rotates in a different plane than the grind hub 158. In particular, the cutter disk 176 rotates in a second plane that is at an offset angle to the grind hub 158 and the first plane between 1 and 10 degrees, or between 1 and 5 degrees, or between 2 and 3 degrees, or more or less. In some non-limiting examples, the angle between the cutter disk 176 and the grind hub 158 is less than one degree, one degree, two degrees, three degrees, four degrees, five degrees, six degrees, seven degrees, eight degrees, nine degrees, or ten or more degrees, inclusive of all values between the whole number integers in the above series.
The cutter disk 176 is arranged at an angle to the grind hub 158 in order to allow the cutter disk 176 to “corkscrew” its way through the grinding material to be ground up. In other words, the cutter disk 176 rotates in a different plane to improve the cutting efficiency of the cutter disk 176 and particularly for large material, such as a large diameter (i.e., a three or four foot diameter) log. If the cutter disk 176 were arranged substantially vertically (i.e., not at an offset angle), an end of the large material to be ground up could become trapped against the cutter disk 176, without the cutter disk 176 being able to work through the material. This would cause the cutter disk 176 to smoke or burn against the end of the material instead of cutting through the material, and thus, would result in the grinding system stalling out. Therefore, while arranging the cutter disk 176 substantially vertical is contemplated here, it has been found that aligning the cutter disk 176 at an angle or offset from the grind hub 158 improves cutting efficiency and particularly for large material.
It is also contemplated herein that the system 100 includes more than one cutter disk 176 to further improve cutting efficiency or processing speed, such as two, three, four, five, six, or more cutter disks 176. Each of the cutter disks 176 may rotate in the second plane described above, or each cutter disk 176 may rotate in their own plane that is at a selected offset angle to the first plane from any of the angles disclosed above. Further, each cutter disk may have the same number of blades 182 in a similar arrangement or may have different numbers of blades 182 per disk with different orientations.
The system 100 further includes a first limiter 184 (which may also be referred to herein as a first limit plate 184) coupled to the grind hub 158. The first limiter 184 includes a base plate 186 and a protrusion 188 extending from the base plate 186. The first limiter 184 is structured to prevent material from being wedged or trapped between the cutter disk 176 and the grind ring 160. The protrusion 188 extends from the base plate 186 at an outermost edge of the base plate 186 and proximate an outermost edge of the grind hub 158 in order to push material away from the outermost edge of the grind hub 158 and the grind ring 160, and towards the infeed tray 134 and the center of the grind hub 158. As shown in
A second limiter 196 (which may also be referred to herein as a second limit plate 196 or a plurality of second limit plates 196) is coupled to the first surface 192 of the grind plate 190. The second limiter 196 is a sidewall or a plurality of sidewalls extending from the first surface 192 and arranged as a plurality of concentric circles. In some embodiments, the second limiter 196 has a different shape or arrangement, such as a spiral or may include different shapes, such as squares, rectangles, triangles, trapezoids, or others. Further, while
The second limiter 196 extends from the first surface 192 and sits behind the cutter disk 176 (
In other embodiments, there are one or more additional cutter disks 176 that are rotatably connected to the grind plate 190 or the drive hub 192, or both, which would each have their own axles and axle holes through the plate 190. The characteristics of the one or more additional cutter disks 176 may be selected according to design factors such as cutting speed, cutting efficiency, output particulate matter size, material processing rate, maximum material input size, and others in some non-limiting examples. Such characteristics of the cutter disk 176 may include, but are not limited to, diameter or size, offset relative to the grind hub 158 and grind plate 190, position relative to a center of the grind plate 190 and the other cutter disks 176, and rotation or spin rate of each cutter disk 176. These characteristics and others of each cutter disk 176 may be the same or different in one or more embodiments.
The grind plate 190 also includes a plurality of baffles 202 (which may also be referred to herein as a plurality of ballasts 202). The baffles 202 are positioned around an outermost edge 204 of the grind plate 190 and are structured to convey the ground material from the grind hub 158 to the outlet described with reference to
The first axle 207, the sheave 208, the second axle 210, the wheel 212, and the belt 214 may be referred to herein as a drive assembly, a sheave and pulley assembly or a gear and belt assembly coupled to the second side 205 of the drive hub 192 and grind hub 158. Further, the first axle 207 is located centrally with respect to the drive hub 192 and the second axle 210 is spaced from the first axle 207 and located proximate an outer peripheral edge 218 of the drive hub 192 in some embodiments. Thus, rotation of the sheave 208 on the first axle 207 is about a central axis through the drive hub 192 along the first axle 207 while the rotation of second axle 210 is about an axis that is spaced from the center of the drive hub 192.
The drive hub 192 may further include one or more second holes 220, such as one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight or more second holes 220 with selected sizes or diameters and positions, in the second surface 206 to provide access to internal components of the drive hub 192 for repair and maintenance. The drive hub 192 may also include third holes 222 that align with first holes 194 in the grind plate 190 for coupling the grind plate 190 to the drive hub 192 to form the grind hub 158.
The cutter disk 176 (
The bearings 232 are an assembly that includes an adjustable bolt and nut assembly 234 coupled to the housing 230 and an arm or plate 236 coupled to the adjustable bolt and nut assembly 234. The adjustable bolt and nut assemblies include the nuts shown in
The bearing pads 238 may be glass-filled Teflon in some embodiments, although other types of bearings or bearing pads such as rollers or ball bearings, among other like alternatives are expressly contemplated herein. As shown in
In operation, and with reference to
Once the loader 246 is parked in the tray 134 on the plate 244, the ramp 240 is raised to the second position shown in
Certain words and phrases used in the specification are set forth as follows. As used throughout this document, including the claims, the singular form “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural references unless indicated otherwise. Any of the features and elements described herein may be singular, e.g., a sensor may refer to one sensor and a memory may refer to one memory. The terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation. The phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like. Other definitions of certain words and phrases are provided throughout this disclosure.
Throughout the specification, claims, and drawings, the following terms take the meaning explicitly associated herein, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The term “herein” refers to the specification, claims, and drawings associated with the current application. The phrases “in one embodiment,” “in another embodiment,” “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” “in other embodiments,” and other variations thereof refer to one or more features, structures, functions, limitations, or characteristics of the present disclosure, and are not limited to the same or different embodiments unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. As used herein, the term “or” is an inclusive “or” operator, and is equivalent to the phrases “A or B, or both” or “A or B or C, or any combination thereof,” and lists with additional elements are similarly treated. The term “based on” is not exclusive and allows for being based on additional features, functions, aspects, or limitations not described, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In addition, throughout the specification, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” include singular and plural references.
Where a range of values is provided, it is understood that each intervening value, to the tenth of the unit of the lower limit unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, between the upper and lower limit of that range and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range is encompassed within the invention. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges may independently be included in the smaller ranges is also encompassed within the invention, subject to any specifically excluded limit in the stated range. Where the stated range includes one or both of the limits, ranges excluding either or both of those included limits are also included in the present disclosure.
Generally, unless otherwise indicated, the materials for making the invention and/or its components may be selected from appropriate materials such as metal, metallic alloys (high strength alloys, high hardness alloys), composite materials, ceramics, intermetallic compounds, and the like.
The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, uses specific nomenclature and formula to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It should be apparent to those of skill in the art that the specific details are not required in order to practice the invention. The embodiments have been chosen and described to best explain the principles of the disclosed embodiments and its practical application, thereby enabling others of skill in the art to utilize the disclosed embodiments, and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Thus, the foregoing disclosure is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and those of skill in the art recognize that many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings.
These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, the breadth and scope of a disclosed embodiment should not be limited by any of the above-described embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.
