Refining disk

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6394372
  • Patent Number
    6,394,372
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, January 18, 2000
    25 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, May 28, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Original Assignees
    • (Lake City, FL, US)
    • (Clinton, MS, US)
  • Examiners
    • Rosenbaum; Mark
    Agents
    • Heller Ehrman White and McAuliffe
Abstract
A refining disk is provided for use in various kinds of refining apparatus. The refining apparatus comprises juxtaposed disks with refining surfaces on the opposed faces, one disk rotating relatively to the other disk to work on the material therebetween. A typical refiner is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,049,307; however, the invention is applicable to various types of refiners including single rotating disk refiners and counter-rotating disk machines. Disks normally are cast which results in relatively soft low wear resistance that wear out and must be replaced regularly. The disks of this invention are constructed of the hardest wear resistant materials known including metal carbides.
Description




BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to refining machines used to process materials such as rubber, wood, wood chips, cellulose, resins, plastics, vegetable material, food and feed products, and chemicals. More particularly, the present invention relates to refining disks used in refining machines.




According to the present invention, a refining disk is adapted for use with a refining machine to refine a material. The refining disk comprises a base portion adapted to be mounted to the refining machine and a refining portion coupled to the base portion and adapted to engage the material to refine the material. The base portion is made of a first substance, and the refining portion is made of a second substance that is harder than the first substance.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figures in which:





FIGS. 1-5

illustrate a vertical single-disk refining system where a first rotating disk rotates relative to a second stationary disk;





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a refining system having an upper refining disk mounted to a rotating material-feed inlet tube and a lower refining disk mounted to a stationary mounting member, the refining disks having a base portion and a particulate metal carbide refining portion coupled to the base portion, the refining system being configured to allow material to be fed through the inlet tube so that the material is processed (or cut) between the refining portions of the two refining disks;





FIG. 2

is a plan view of the refining system of

FIG. 1

showing the lower refining disk being formed to include four grooves and the material being fed outwardly from a center of the disks through the grooves under centrifugal force;





FIG. 3

is a sectional view taken along line


3





3


of

FIG. 2

showing the material entering the rotating inlet tube and being fed outwardly between the grooves and between the particulate metal carbide refining portions so that the material is refined by the refining disks as the material passes outwardly;





FIG. 4

is an enlarged view of a portion of

FIG. 3

showing the material moving outwardly from a center of the disks so that the material passes between the two grooves of the two refining disks and between the particulate metal carbide refining portions of the two refining disks so that the material exiting from an outer perimeter of the refining disks is smaller than the material entering the refining system through the inlet tube;





FIG. 5

is an enlarged view of the particulate metal carbide refining portions of the refining disks of

FIG. 4

showing each particulate metal carbide refining portion of each disk having a flat surface configured to abut the flat surface of the opposing disk, the refining portions defining cutting surfaces to cut the material as the material passes between the refining disks;





FIGS. 6-8

illustrate the material being cut by the refining disks as the upper disk rotates relative to the lower disk; and





FIG. 9

illustrates a horizontal double-disk refining system where a single rotating disk is positioned between two stationary disks, showing the single disk having two particulate metal carbide refining portions coupled on opposite sides of the base portion and the two stationary disks having only one refining portion which engages the respective refining portion of the rotating disk.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




Referring now to the drawings,

FIG. 1

illustrates a refining system


10


having first and second refining disks


12


,


14


in accordance with the present invention. Refining system


10


is configured to allow refining disks


12


,


14


to process (or refine) a material


20


such as rubber, wood, wood chips, cellulose, resins, plastics, vegetable material, food and feed products, and chemicals. Refining disks


12


,


14


are held together under pressure and rotate relative to one another so that material


20


passing between refining disks


12


,


14


is reduced in size as material


20


moves outwardly from a center of disks


12


,


14


under centrifugal force.




As shown in

FIG. 1

, refining system


10


includes an inlet tube


16


mounted to upper refining disk


12


and a support member


18


mounted to lower refining disk


14


. Inlet tube


16


is configured to allow material


20


to be fed through central opening


34


of upper refining disk


12


. Inlet tube


16


is also configured to rotate so that upper refining disk


12


rotates in a direction indicated by arrow


68


relative to lower refining disk


14


. Of course, inlet tube


16


can be configured to rotate in a direction opposite arrow


68


and/or refining disk


14


may be configured to rotate relative to refining disk


12


, instead of vice versa as previously described.




Support member


18


is configured to hold lower refining disk


14


in place relative to upper refining disk


12


. Support member


18


preferably includes a top surface


19


that blocks material


20


from flowing through central opening


34


formed in lower refining disk


14


. Thus, as material


20


is introduced through inlet tube


16


, material


20


is forced to flow outwardly from a center of refining disks


12


,


14


between upper and lower refining disks


12


,


14


as shown in FIG.


2


.




Refining disks


12


,


14


cooperate to cut material


20


as material


20


moves outwardly between refining disks


12


,


14


, as shown in

FIGS. 3-8

. Each refining disk


12


,


14


includes a base portion


28


and a refining portion


30


coupled to base portion


28


, as shown in

FIGS. 1-5

. Base portion


28


is preferably made from a stainless steel material and is doughnut-shaped, as shown in FIG.


1


. Base portion


28


defines central opening


34


through a center of each refining disk


12


,


14


. Base portion


28


includes a top surface


36


, a bottom surface


38


, an outer perimetal surface


40


extending between an outer perimetal edge


46


,


47


of top and bottom surfaces


36


,


38


, respectively, and an inner surface


42


extending between an inner edge


48


,


49


of top and bottom surfaces


36


,


38


, respectively. Inlet tube


16


and support member


18


are coupled to inner surfaces


42


of upper and lower refining disks


12


,


14


, respectively, as shown in

FIGS. 3 and 4

.




Base portion


28


is also formed to include a plurality of grooves


35


to enable material


20


to be fed between refining disks


12


,


14


. Grooves


35


are formed in top surface


36


of base portion


28


and extend from inner surface


42


toward outer surface


40


. As shown in

FIG. 2

, base portion


28


is preferably formed to include four grooves


35


equally spaced apart and extending at an angle


44


from a center line of disk


12


,


14


. Grooves


35


preferably extend approximately half-way from inner surface


42


toward outer surface


40


and angle


44


is approximately 135 degrees. This configuration is preferable when a slurry rubber material is being processed at approximately 3600 rpm because cutting edges


37


of grooves


35


cut the rubber material to an appropriate size for introduction of the rubber material between the refining portions


30


of the refining disks


12


,


14


. However, the size, number, shape, and angle of grooves


35


can be adjusted as necessary when processing different materials and/or processing at different rotational speeds.




Refining portions


30


of each refining disk


12


,


14


cooperate with grooves


35


to reduce the size of material


20


as material


20


moves outwardly between refining disks


12


,


14


, as shown in

FIGS. 3-8

. Refining portions


30


are defined by a hardened substance coupled to base portion


28


, as shown best in

FIGS. 1 and 5

. The hardened substance can be any material that is sufficiently hard to resist wear while being capable of cutting (or grinding) material


20


. For example, the hardened substance is preferably a particulate tungsten or silicon metal carbide that is welded to base portion


28


. However, the hardened substance can be any metal carbide, diamond, ceramic, or other suitable substance whether particulate, segmented, stranded, or in some other form. The substance can also be welded, glued, fastened, bonded, or coupled in any other way to base portion


28


.




Each refining portion


30


is interrupted by a plurality of bumps


60


extending away from base portion


28


as shown in FIG.


5


. Bumps


60


include a bottom surface


62


coupled to top surface


36


of base portion


28


, a top surface


63


spaced apart from bottom surface


62


, and a perimetal surface


64


extending between bottom surface


672


and top surface


63


. Perimetal surfaces


64


mate with top surfaces


63


to define a cutting edge


65


on each of the bumps


60


. Top surfaces


63


of each refining disk


12


,


14


are preferably flat, as shown in

FIG. 5

, so that top surfaces


63


of each refining disk


12


,


14


abut one another but top surfaces


63


may be configured in virtually any shape.




Cutting edges


65


defined by bumps


60


on the upper refining disk


12


cooperate with cutting edges


65


defined by bumps


60


on the lower refining disk


14


to cut material


20


as upper refining disk


12


rotates relative to lower refining disk


14


, as shown in

FIGS. 6-8

. In addition, as shown in

FIGS. 6-8

, cutting edges


37


of grooves


35


cut material


20


as upper refining disk


12


rotates relative to lower refining disk


14


. As material


20


passes through grooves


35


, the larger pieces of material


20


are cut by cutting edges


37


of grooves


35


. These cut pieces of material


20


are then further reduced in size by having cutting edges


65


of bumps


60


further cut material


20


.




In operation, material


20


flowing through inlet tube


16


enters openings


34


of upper and lower refining disks


12


,


14


. Material


20


then flows outwardly between refining disks


12


,


14


so that material


20


exiting from the outer edges


46


of each refining disk


12


,


14


is smaller than material


20


being fed through inlet tube


16


, as shown in

FIGS. 3 and 4

. Grooves


35


of base portion


28


and bumps


60


of refining portion


30


cooperate to reduce the size of material


20


as material


20


flows between refining disks


12


,


14


outwardly across refining portion


30


.




Grooves


35


enable material


20


to be injected into the refining portion


30


of refining disks


12


,


14


, as shown in

FIGS. 6-8

. As shown in

FIG. 6

, larger pieces of material


20


can flow between refining disks


12


,


14


when grooves


35


of each refining disk


12


,


14


are aligned with one another. Then, as shown in

FIG. 7

, the larger pieces of material


20


that are trapped within grooves


35


are cut by cutting edges


37


of grooves


35


as groove


35


on upper refining disk


12


rotates away from groove


35


on lower refining disk


14


. As shown in

FIG. 8

, grooves


35


break down (or cut) the larger pieces of material


20


so that smaller pieces of material


20


can then be processed by bumps


60


of refining portion


30


. As shown in

FIGS. 5 and 8

, bumps


60


cooperate with one another to further cut material


20


so that material


20


exiting from outer edge


46


of upper and lower refining disks


12


,


14


is sufficiently small. For example, material


20


is preferably a slurry rubber material having rubber pieces that are approximately 2 mm (or 10 mesh) entering the system and which are cut by grooves


35


and bumps


60


so that material


20


exiting the system is approximately 0.25 mm (or 60 mesh).




Grooves


35


and bumps


60


cooperate to cut material


20


as material


20


passes between refining disks


12


,


14


. Refining disks


12


,


14


are held together under significant pressure. For example, when rubber material is being processed, the pressure between refining disks


12


,


14


is approximately 3000 psi. Bumps


60


are made of a hardened substance such as tungsten metal carbide to permit refining disks


12


,


14


to be held under such pressure without prematurely wearing out the refining portion


30


.




As shown in

FIG. 9

refining disks


12


,


14


may be combined with a third refining disk


15


for use in a horizontal double-disk refining system


210


. In the horizontal double-disk refining system


210


, third refining disk


15


is positioned horizontally between refining disks


12


,


14


. Third refining disk


15


is identical to refining disks


12


,


14


except that third refining disk


15


has two refining portions


30


coupled to opposite sides of base portion


28


and third refining disk


15


also has three inwardly-projected mount portions


214


that permit third refining disk


15


to be mounted to a drive rod


216


.




Horizontal double-disk refining system


210


includes a housing (not shown) that extends around refining disks


12


,


14


,


15


and drive rod


216


. Refining disks


12


,


14


are rigidly mounted to the housing so that refining disks


12


,


14


are stationary and material


20


flows through the central openings


34


of refining disks


12


,


14


, as shown illustratively in FIG.


9


. Drive rod


216


extends through one of refining disks


12


,


14


and is coupled to mount portions


214


of third refining disk


15


. Drive rod


216


is used to rotate third refining disk


15


relative to refining disks


12


,


14


. As third refining disk


15


rotates relative to refining disks


12


,


14


, material


20


is forced under centrifugal force to flow through grooves


35


and across refining portion


30


of refining disks


12


,


14


,


15


so that material


20


is reduced in size in a similar fashion as discussed above with regard to the single-disk refining system


10


. Thus,

FIG. 9

is intended to show that a refining disk of the present invention may be used in a variety of refining systems including but not limited to horizontal and vertical refining systems, and single-disk and double-disk refining systems.




The purpose of this example was to determine the feasibility of grinding elastomers with a refining disk comprised of stainless steel and a grinding surface of tungsten.




The stainless steel tungsten coated plate was mounted on the bottom of the grinder and a vitrified grinding stone as commonly used in the art was placed on the top to oppose the steel plate. The grinder was placed into rotation and clean water was allowed to flow into. the grinder. The tungsten coated steel plate and grinding stone were then brought together until the water flow was impeded and the water temperature was elevated between the inlet and exit of the grinder.




For this example, tire rubber pre-ground to about an 8 mesh was feed into the grinder. The rubber traveled between the two plates and was reduced in size. For this example, the exact rate of conversion was unclear but was estimated at about 50%.




This example demonstrated that a refining disk such as a tungsten coated stainless steel plate could be used to grind an elastomer by rotating the refining disk against another surface. The other surface in this case was a grinding stone but could be any type of material that provides a surface such that the refining disk can turn relative to it (i.e., at least the refining disk is capable of turning or alternatively, both the refining disk and the second surface can turn simultaneously and/or in tandem).




Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to certain illustrated embodiments, variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of the invention as described and defined in the following claims.



Claims
  • 1. A refining disk for refining a material, the refining disk comprising a base portion made of a first substance and a refining portion coupled to the base portion and adapted to engage the material to refine the material,the refining portion being made of a second substance that is harder than the first substance, wherein the base portion is defined by an inner surface and an outer surface, and wherein grooves are formed in the base portion starting from the inner surface and extending toward the outer surface, and wherein the refining portion are defined by a plurality of particulate bumps on a surface of said refining portion.
  • 2. The refining disk of claim 1, wherein the first substance is stainless steel.
  • 3. The refining disk of claim 2, wherein the second substance is tungsten.
  • 4. The refining disk of claim 2, wherein the refining portion is welded to the base portion.
  • 5. The refining disk of claim 1, wherein the second substance is a particulate metal carbide substance.
  • 6. The refining disk of claim 5, wherein the second substance is tungsten.
  • 7. The refining disk of claim 5, wherein the second substance is silicon.
  • 8. The refining disk of claim 1, wherein the particulate bumps comprise tungsten.
  • 9. A method for refining a material comprising the steps of: introducing a material between a first refining disk and a second refining disk, each refining disk having a base portion and a refining portion coupled to the base portion,the refining portions being made of a substance that is harder than the base portion and the refining portions being defined by a plurality of particulate bumps on a surface of said refining portions such that the bumps of the first refining disk abut the bumps of the second refining disk, wherein the base portions are defined by an inner surface and an outer surface, and wherein grooves are formed in the base portions starting from the inner surface and extending toward the outer surface, and rotating the first refining disk relative to the second refining disk so that the material is cut by the bumps as the material passes between the refining portions.
  • 10. A method for refining a material comprising:introducing a material between a first refining disk and a surface to refine said material, wherein said refining portion of said disk being made of a substance that is harder than a base portion of said disk, and the refining portion being defined by a plurality of bumps such that the bumps of the refining disk abut said surface, and wherein the base portion is defined by an inner surface and an outer surface, and wherein grooves are formed in the base portion starting from the inner surface and extending toward the outer surface.
  • 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the material is rubber.
  • 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the material is rubber.
  • 13. A refining disk for refining material, the refining disk comprising a base portion made of a first substance and a refining portion coupled to the base portion and adapted to engage the material to refine the material,wherein the refining portion being made of a second substance that is harder than the first substance, wherein the refining portion is welded to the base portion, wherein the base portion is defined by an inner surface and an outer surface, and wherein grooves are formed in the base portion starting from the inner surface and extending toward the outer surface and wherein the refining portion are defined by a plurality of particulate bumps on a surface of said refining portion.
  • 14. A refining disk for refining a material, the refining disk comprising a base portion made of a first substance and a refining portion coupled to the base portion and adapted to engage the material to refine the material, the refining portion being made of a second substance that is harder than the first substance and the refining portion being defined by a plurality of bumps, wherein the base portion is defined by an inner surface and an outer surface, and wherein grooves are formed in the base portion starting from the inner surface and extending toward the outer surface.
Parent Case Info

This application claims benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/116,492 filed Jan. 20, 1999.

US Referenced Citations (8)
Number Name Date Kind
4166584 Asplund Sep 1979 A
4423845 Frazier et al. Jan 1984 A
4767070 Nagao et al. Aug 1988 A
4966651 Olson et al. Oct 1990 A
5238194 Rouse et al. Aug 1993 A
5411215 Rouse May 1995 A
5836531 Maybon Nov 1998 A
6135373 Davenport Oct 2000 A
Provisional Applications (1)
Number Date Country
60/116492 Jan 1999 US