By Adhesion, Electric Field Force, Specific Gravity, Or Chemical Change Patents (Class 241/79.1)
  • Patent number: 6612444
    Abstract: An apparatus for recovering a desired fraction of a raw material bearing the desired fraction has a vessel or cell defining a treatment chamber therein, with an inlet into the chamber for introducing a slurry of raw material to be treated into the chamber. An attrition zone is defined in a portion of the chamber proximate the inlet in the flow path of material introduced into the chamber, the particles being caused to impact against each other in the attrition zone to cause attritioning thereof. A floatation zone is defined in a distal portion of the chamber, in flow communication with the attrition zone, in which attritioned particles from the attrition zone can be contacted with gas bubbles to form a froth phase separated from the slurry by a slurry-froth interface such that the desired fraction is either selectively taken up into the froth phase by the gas bubbles or selectively left behind in the slurry. An outlet from the chamber for the froth phase is present.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2003
    Assignee: General Signal Corporation
    Inventors: Mark Norman Paul Craddock, Michael Roy Kilner, Warren Wentworth Dale
  • Patent number: 6595445
    Abstract: A coffee grinder assembly with a housing containing a pair of hoppers for containing coffee beans with a pair of hopper outlet chutes, or grinding chamber inlet chutes for feeding beans into a grinding chamber where the beans are ground by powered grinding discs or blades and then passed to a removable brew basket via an outlet chute with an outlet end that is in communication with a negative ion generator that ionizes the air in the outlet chute through which the ground coffee and chaff pass on their way to the brew basket to electrically neutralize the chaff to reduce chaff dispersion due to electrostatic repulsion of positively charged chaff.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2003
    Assignee: Food Equipment Technologies Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael J. Fagan, Marek K. Kwiatkowski, Wit Gavin Niesiolowski
  • Patent number: 6581858
    Abstract: Components of crushed fluorescent lamps are conveyed pneumatically from a lamp crusher housing to a cyclonic hopper and enter tangentially into the hopper adjacent its upper end. The components include heavy glass particles and caps which are allowed to drop by gravity into a separator housing where they are separated from each other and discharged into different storage containers. Lighter glass particles and dust are recirculated from the upper end of the hopper back to the crusher housing. A vacuum source draws dust and vapors pneumatically from the bottom of the hopper and introduces them tangentially into a cyclone filter housing where particulate matter is allowed to drop into a dust collector. This vacuum source also draws lighter dust and vapors from the upper end of the cyclone filter housing to a dust and mercury filter. Mounted in the crusher housing is a paddle element which rotates adjacent lamp crusher blades and mechanically sweeps lamp components towards the crusher housing outlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2003
    Assignee: Dextrite, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph W. Deklerow, Otto Muller-Girard
  • Publication number: 20030111568
    Abstract: A mill for producing finely divided particulate material copmrising a mill housing, a rotor adapted to rotate within the housing, an inlet for stock and an outlet for the finely divided particulate material, the rotor having at least one hammer, the hammer moves in direction of hammer travel and passes into close proximity with a miling surface to finely divide material at the milling surface during each rotation of the rotor, while during a major portion of the hammer travel the hammer is spaced away from any surface, the speed of the hammer through it's travel, position of the hammer, rotor, milling surface and relative dimensions of the hammer, rotor and milling surface being, such that during operation an air flow with the finely divided particulate material entrained therein is generated within the housing opposite the direction of hammer travel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2003
    Publication date: June 19, 2003
    Inventors: Arthur Lodewyk Coert, Raymond Lawrence Towers
  • Patent number: 6568612
    Abstract: A waste disposal apparatus comprising a crushing means for crushing waste including a circuit board into fragments, and a circuit board sorting means for sorting fragments of the circuit board from the fragments of the waste crushed by the crushing means through eddy current sorting or gravity concentration so as overcome a difficulty in separation between nonferrous metals. With this arrangement, lead contained in the circuit boards can be sorted and separated without being diffused, and further, the volume of fragments of the circuit boards adapted to be mingled into fragments of other waste such as nonferrous metals and plastics can be decreased. Thus, even though waste including circuit board is directly crushed by the crushing means, thereby it is possible to enhance the quality of recovered valuables.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2003
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Aoki, Masakatsu Hayashi, Tsutomu Hasegawa
  • Patent number: 6561445
    Abstract: A hulling apparatus that can improve hulling efficiency and hulling roll durability. A first air nozzle and a second air nozzle to cool surfaces of hulling rolls by blowing compressed air thereto are provided at a vicinity of the hulling rolls of the hulling apparatus. Consequently, a hardness of a rubber layer at the surfaces of the hulling rolls can be prevented from being lowered. Thus, hulling efficiency and hulling roll durability can be improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2003
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Yamamoto-Seisakusho
    Inventors: Soichi Yamamoto, Waichiro Matsuda, Futoshi Ohta, Toshiaki Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 6547171
    Abstract: The ball mill is of the type including: a rotary drum (11, 12, 13) having a horizontal axis (XX′) and each end of which is supported by a journal (14, 15) which terminates it and through which passes an axial tube (41) around which it delimits an annular duct (35), a vertical pipe (6) discharging in the vicinity of the journal at the level of a guide member (31) for directing material to be pulverized from the pipe towards the drum, and an outlet duct (36) communicating with the annular duct for ejecting from the drum the mixture consisting of the gas and the pulverized material. Each journal contains a rigid helicoidal Archimedes screw structure (32) fixed to it and turning with it about the tube, when the drum rotates, which tube is a rigid immobile gas injector tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2003
    Assignee: Alstom
    Inventor: Daniel Fontanille
  • Patent number: 6543709
    Abstract: The invention relates to a classifying mill with a housing configured for containing a stream of particulate material. A particulate material feed inlet is associated with the housing for introducing the particulate material into the housing. A milling assembly is disposed within the housing and configured for grinding the particulate material into fines and oversize particles. A classifier comprising a classifier rotor is disposed within the housing and below the milling assembly. A fines output at the underside of the classifier is configured for extracting the fines from the classifier, and an oversize particle collector at the underside of the classifier is configured for extracting the oversize particles from the housing. The classifying mill is arranged such that the particulate material stream extends downward from the feed inlet, through the milling assembly, and subsequently through the classifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: Hosokawa Micron Powder Systems
    Inventors: Ching-Chung Huang, Robin T. Voorhees
  • Patent number: 6543710
    Abstract: Fluidized-bed opposed jet mills, configured as separator mills, and provided with easy accessibility so that the interior space can be easily cleaned with little effort. The separator wheel is formed together with the bearing unit and the actuator unit as one component, which is detachably attached to the grinding container and can be moved relative to the grinding container by kinematic devices in such a manner that the separator wheel can be removed from the grinding container upward through the discharge outlet for finely ground material, while the discharge device for the finely ground material remains connected to the grinding container. In this manner, the separator mill can be easily assembled and disassembled by the user and the separator mill becomes easily accessible for thorough cleaning. This is particularly advantageous when the material to be ground is changed frequently, as is the case in the pharmaceutical and chemical fields.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: Hosokawa Alpine Aktiengesellschaft & Co. OHG
    Inventors: Georg Konetzka, Hermann Eder
  • Patent number: 6537385
    Abstract: The method for manufacturing alloy powder for R—Fe—B type rare earth magnets of the present invention includes a first pulverization step of coarsely pulverizing a material alloy for rare earth magnets and a second pulverization step of finely pulverizing the material alloy. In the first pulverization step, the material alloy is pulverized by a hydrogen pulverization method. In the second pulverization step, easily oxidized super-fine powder (particle size: 1.0 &mgr;m or less) is removed to adjust the particle quantity of the super-fine powder to 10% or less of the particle quantity of the entire powder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2003
    Assignee: Sumitomo Special Metals Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Katsumi Okayama, Naoyuki Ishigaki, Shuhei Okumura
  • Patent number: 6530534
    Abstract: Apparatus and method of comminuting materials are provided. In one embodiment, the comminution/drying apparatus comprises a comminution/drying cyclone having an input and an output, a blower having a blower output connected to the input of the comminution/drying cyclone, a material feed connected to the input of the comminution/drying cyclone, and a separation cyclone having an inlet connected to the output of the comminution/drying cyclone, the separation cyclone having a material discharge and an air outlet. In another embodiment, the comminution apparatus comprises a comminution cyclone having an input and an output, a blower having a blower output connected to the input of the comminution cyclone, a material feed connected to the input of the comminution cyclone, and a wet filtration system having an inlet, a material discharge and an air exhaust, the inlet of the wet filtration system connected to the output of the comminution cyclone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2003
    Inventor: Bobby Joe Farmer
  • Patent number: 6527206
    Abstract: A method for processing mixed waste in a continuously operating processing plant comprising a plurality of successive stations which are connected to each other by means of at least one conveyor segment and wherein the mixed waste material is processed in at least one step of the inventive method and/or conveyed along at least one conveyor section, whereby the particles in the stream of mixed waste are accelerated at least in one transfer site between a conveyor section or one transfer site between two conveyor sections. Also disclosed is a processing plant for implementing said method and buffer silos which are used in the plant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2003
    Assignee: “der Gruene Punkt”, Duales System Deutschland AG
    Inventors: Alfons Wuebbels, Josef Koetting
  • Patent number: 6497023
    Abstract: An apparatus for forming a metal feedstock from waste metal products is disclosed. The apparatus includes devices for: crushing the metal products into pieces; magnetically separating sheet-shaped ferrous scraps and ferrous cast blocks from the crushed pieces; placing the cast blocks between the sheet-shaped scraps to make a sandwich structure; and pressing the sandwich structure to form a metal feedstock.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2002
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Takano, Tetsushi Yonekawa, Yoshihiro Ogawa, Takashi Okada
  • Patent number: 6491242
    Abstract: Malleable material, such as manure, and municipal sludge, food waste, and the like, is dried and the average particle size of the material is reduced in a simple and effective manner without the use of an external heat source. The material with a first moisture content and average particle size is fed into an air stream, and the speed of the air flow with entrained particles is increased so that it is super-cyclonic, typically have a bullet profile with a substantially zero velocity at the periphery of the air flow and a velocity of about 400-500 mph at the center of the air flow. The material is then caused to be reduced in particle size by material to material collisions in one or more cyclone-shaped vessels with retention air-affecting inlets at bottom portions thereof, and the speed of the air flow with entrained material is ultimately reduced so that substantially the entire flow is below super-cyclonic speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2002
    Assignee: GulfTex Environmental Services LLC
    Inventors: H. Clay Dingee, IV, David Watson, John E. Teague
  • Patent number: 6464155
    Abstract: A process for the comminution and dehydration of animal waste and/or parts by feeding the animal waste and/or parts into a cyclonic, dehydrating comminuter facilitates the further processing of the comminuted and dehydrated animal waste discharged from the comminuter. Both the comminuted and dehydrated material and the air flow discharged from the cyclonic comminuter are sterilized to remove pathogens therefrom. The rate at which the animal waste and/or parts material is fed into the cyclonic comminuter. is directly related to the moisture content of the comminuted and dehydrated material discharged from the material discharge opening of the comminuter. Preferably, the moisture content of the discharged material is in the range of 25% to 35% to facilitate the pelletizing of the discharged material after being sterilized. Other precesses, however, can require the drying of the discharged material to about 10%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2002
    Inventors: Forrest L. Robinson, Willis R. Campbell
  • Patent number: 6460789
    Abstract: An automatic food waste processing system includes: a conveying apparatus for removing salt and bad odors by supplying washing water, and for facilitating withdrawal of foreign materials; a crushing apparatus for effectively crushing the food waste while separating and removing the metallic material; a drying apparatus for drying the food waste and removing bad odors during the drying process; a cutting apparatus for cutting the dried food waste into feed chips and for separately collecting sludge; and washing water removing apparatus for enabling the automatic washing of the inner portion of the system. The food waste processing including a series of different waste processes enables manufacturing of feed chips from its by-products and processing of larger amount of food waste without environmental pollution or contamination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2002
    Assignee: AT & G Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Se-Heon Oh
  • Patent number: 6457659
    Abstract: A grinding plant comprising: a high-pressure roller press for crushing raw material into fragments; a static cascade sifter for shifting the fragments from the high-pressure roller press into fine fragments and coarse fragments, the coarse fragments being returned to the high-pressure roller press; and a separator for separating the fine fragments from the static cascade sifter into fine product fragments and less fine reject fragments, at least some of the less fine reject fragments being returned to the static cascade sifter without first pasing through the high-pressure roller press.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2002
    Assignee: Ssangyong Cement (Singapore) Limited
    Inventors: Jian Ling Yang, In Young Lee
  • Patent number: 6446888
    Abstract: An improvement to the conventional grinding mill and separator designs which facilitates the use of larger diameter grinding surfaces and additional numbers of grinding rollers by equalizing the gas velocity around the grinding rollers and journal with the gas velocity employed to fluidize the feed particulate material. A plurality of peripheral vertical static separators are located about the grinding chamber and above the grinding rollers to provide an increase in the cross-sectional area of the grinding mill vertical shaft, thereby reducing the gas velocity around the grinding rollers and journal. The peripheral vertical static separators are configured with a trapezoidal sectional area, such that oversize particulate material falling into the peripheral vertical static separators is redirected into the grinding chamber, resulting in an increase in the number of grinding chamber material introduction points.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2002
    Inventor: Robert M. Williams, Sr.
  • Publication number: 20020092938
    Abstract: The invention relates to a classifying mill with a housing configured for containing a stream of particulate material. A particulate material feed inlet is associated with the housing for introducing the particulate material into the housing. A milling assembly is disposed within the housing and configured for grinding the particulate material into fines and oversize particles. A classifier comprising a classifier rotor is disposed within the housing and below the milling assembly. A fines output at the underside of the classifier is configured for extracting the fines from the classifier, and an oversize particle collector at the underside of the classifier is configured for extracting the oversize particles from the housing. The classifying mill is arranged such that the particulate material stream extends downward from the feed inlet, through the milling assembly, and subsequently through the classifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 9, 2001
    Publication date: July 18, 2002
    Inventors: Ching-Chung Huang, Robin T. Voorhees
  • Patent number: 6415999
    Abstract: A cutting mill has a cutting rotor and a rotatable sizing means, arranged together with the cutting rotor in a common housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2002
    Inventor: Roland Nied
  • Patent number: 6412716
    Abstract: A process for the comminution and dehydration of municipal sludge waste by feeding the municipal sludge waste into a cyclonic, dehydrating comminuter facilitates the further processing of the comminuted and dehydrated sludge material discharged from the comminuter. Both the comminuted and dehydrated sludge material and the air flow discharged from the cyclonic comminuter are sterilized to remove pathogens therefrom. The rate at which the municipal sludge material is fed into the cyclonic comminuter is directly related to the moisture content of the comminuted and dehydrated material discharged from the material discharge opening of the comminuter. Preferably, the moisture content of the discharged material is in the range of 25% to 35% to facilitate the sterilization of the discharged material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2002
    Inventors: Forrest L. Robinson, Willis R. Campbell
  • Patent number: 6394371
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for comminuting and drying material utilizing a closed-loop cyclonic system including a cyclonic comminution chamber, and further incorporating heated or dried air for desiccation of the material, as well as reducing the air pressure of the system to provide enhanced drying of the material. The present invention further contemplates to a cyclonic mill system configured to fiberize and dewater cellulose and other materials in a highly efficient and cost effective manner. The present system employs indirect heat drying and fiberizing for the continuous drying and processing of moist cellulose (i.e., paper) material by cyclonically agitating same in a hot air flow via a specially designed cyclonic mill, which is configured to effectively dewater and decimate wet cellulose material from a variety of sources for form fiberized cellulose material suitable for thermal insulation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2002
    Assignee: Superior Technologies LLC
    Inventor: Harris J. Ribardi
  • Patent number: 6390396
    Abstract: An apparatus for crushing waste metal products includes a rotor having crushing means on a periphery thereof and a casing enclosing the rotor. The casing has an inlet and an outlet for products to be crushed. An exhaust gas from the casing is partly returned to the inlet of the casing by a circulator. The rest of the exhaust gas is ventilated and processed by an exhaust processor. An oxygen concentration is monitored in a gas pathway of the circulator to control the gas concentration in the casing. If the oxygen concentration is high, a water shower sprays into the casing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2002
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Takano, Tetsushi Yonekawa
  • Publication number: 20020056770
    Abstract: A apparatus for crushing waste metal products includes a rotor having a crushing device on a periphery thereof and a casing enclosing the rotor. The casing has an inlet and an outlet for products to be crushed. An exhaust gas from the casing is partly returned to the inlet of the casing by a circulator. The rest of the exhaust gas is ventilated and processed by an exhaust processor. An oxygen concentration is monitored in a gas pathway of the circulator to control the gas concentration in the casing. If the oxygen concentration is high, a water shower sprays into the casing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2001
    Publication date: May 16, 2002
    Inventors: Hiroshi Takano, Tetsushi Yonekawa
  • Patent number: 6375103
    Abstract: A cost efficient single-drive particulate material pulverizing and classifying mill capable of operating at high efficiencies and able to conveniently produce selectively sized particles from a wide variety of materials during milling operation without restructuring the mill configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2002
    Assignee: Hosokawa Micron Powder Systems
    Inventors: Ching-Chung Huang, Robin T. Voorhees
  • Patent number: 6360975
    Abstract: A single cylindrical chamber has a drive shaft rotatably mounted therein and extending along substantially the entire length thereof. This drive shaft is rotatably driven by a motor at a speed of 2000-5000 rpm, this speed being chosen so that the natural resonant frequency of the various components of the system is at least three times this rotation speed. Solid dry coarse particles to be comminuted which may be of coal, limestone/dolomite, cement or lime are fed into the chamber. Pressurized air is fed into the bottom of the chamber which in conjunction with a stationary velocity head provides uplifting pressure for driving the air and particles upwardly in the chamber. The upwardly driven particles are first driven through a plurality of rotors which are driven by the shaft and provide a centrifugal force which forms them into a vertical toroidal fluid bed that allows increased tonnage production and comminutes the particles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2002
    Inventor: Ernest Csendes
  • Patent number: 6342539
    Abstract: An apparatus separates a substantially metallic portion from a substantially non-metallic portion or constituent components of at least one electrical product, comprising a plurality of crushing machines, such as a first crushing machine and a second crushing machine and a separating machine. The first crushing machine crushes the at least one electrical product to create at least one crushed electrical product. The first crushing machine has a first screen affixed thereto to regulate a first flow of the at least one first crushed electrical product from the first crushing machine. The second crushing machine crushes the at least one first crushed electrical product to create at least one second crushed electrical product. The second crushing machine has a second screen affixed thereto to regulate a second flow of the at least one second crushed electrical product from the second crushing machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2002
    Assignee: Resource Concepts, Inc.
    Inventor: Ray Chapman
  • Patent number: 6338446
    Abstract: A metallic coating layer is removed at least partly from scrap metal pieces having a core and the coating layer on the core. The coating layer has a lower melting temperature than the core. The scrap metal pieces are agitated in a container with abrading elements so as to cause multiple collisions, whereby the coating layer is at least partly removed. During the agitating the container temperature is a temperature T in the range Ts(coat)<T<TL(core) wherein Ts(coat) is the solidus temperature of the coating layer and TL(core) is the liquidus temperature of the core. The agitation may be by rotationally tumbling or shaking the scrap metal pieces and the abrading elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2002
    Assignee: Corus Aluminium Walzprodukte GmbH
    Inventor: Adrianus Jacobus Wittebrood
  • Patent number: 6276619
    Abstract: A method and system for producing an animal bedding material from recycled waste paper, and including one or more chemical additives. The base material is fiberized, and the chemical additives may include: pesticides, disease immune additives (medicines), ammonia inhibitors, fire retardants, or other additives, depending on the characteristics desired of the final product. At least one of the additives is applied as a liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2001
    Assignee: Cellulose Technologies Group, Inc.
    Inventors: William N. Turk, Marvin Johnson
  • Publication number: 20010013559
    Abstract: A hulling apparatus that can improve hulling efficiency and hulling roll durability. A first air nozzle and a second air nozzle to cool surfaces of hulling rolls by blowing compressed air thereto are provided at a vicinity of the hulling rolls of the hulling apparatus. Consequently, a hardness of a rubber layer at the surfaces of the hulling rolls can be prevented from being lowered. Thus, hulling efficiency and hulling roll durability can be improved.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2001
    Publication date: August 16, 2001
    Inventors: Soichi Yamamoto, Waichiro Matsuda, Futoshi Ohta, Toshiaki Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 6250576
    Abstract: An apparatus for producing glass sands by a method which includes the steps of crushing glass articles to convert them into fine fragments so as to form glass fragments, then agitating finely crushed glass fragments to eliminate sharp portions while at the same time forming glass fragments into glass sands with a predetermined granular configuration, then sieving foreign materials which have been entrapped into glass sands formed in a granular configuration, while at the same time sorting out glass sands according to their grain sizes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2001
    Assignee: Kaneto Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yoshinori Harada
  • Patent number: 6250575
    Abstract: A system and method for reclaiming backing material from waste carpet or other products includes a chopper capable of handling large pieces of waste carpet, at least two grinding or granulation steps to reduce the size of the waste carpet pieces and to dislodge carpet fibers from the remaining material, and at least three separation steps to remove the dislodged fibers; one of the separation steps involves vibratory screening. Backing material reclaimed in this manner has a relatively low contamination level, and is suitable for reuse as carpet backing with little need for the addition of virgin backing material. The system and method further provide for the extrusion of the reclaimed backing material for use as new carpet backing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2001
    Assignee: Terra Technologies Inc.
    Inventor: David Wayne White
  • Patent number: 6217442
    Abstract: A grain processing apparatus is used in one embodiment for debranning grain to remove the bran. In another embodiment, it is used as a mill for milling flour. The processor includes a cylindrical drum with an internal rotor having a set of impeller rods. The grain is loaded into the drum and is withdrawn as debranned kernels or flour as treatment proceeds. Bran removed from the grain is withdrawn through a vacuum discharge at the top of the apparatus. The grain is either discharged through a grain discharge or, where it is to be milled, it is withdrawn through the vacuum discharge as flour. The relatively coarse bran can be separated from the flour using a sifter. The air flow withdrawing the flour from the drum is drawn into the drum at the bottom, through a venturi and a valving arrangement. This cools the inlet air and maintains the temperature of the drum at an acceptable temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2001
    Inventor: Arnold Schmidt
  • Patent number: 6199778
    Abstract: Systems and processes of the present invention for recycling glass fiber waste into glass fiber product include a supply of scrap glass fibers having a mean average length of less than about 5 millimeters; a crusher having at least one pair of rotatable rollers which rotate at essentially the same speed, the rollers having intermeshing protuberances for crushing scrap glass fibers passing therebetween; and an air separating device for separating a first portion of crushed glass fibers having a mean average length of less than about 3 millimeters from a second portion of oversize glass fibers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 1996
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Assignee: PPG Industries Ohio, Inc.
    Inventor: Curtis L. Hanvey, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6193178
    Abstract: A waste disposal apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a crushing device for crushing the waste; a ripping device for ripping the waste; a sieving device having an upper mesh and a lower mesh for sieving out the larger waste blocks and the smaller waste blocks respectively by means of vibrating; an initial separation device for sieving out the smaller waste blocks separated from the lower mesh by employing a number of gates and utilizing the fact that different kinds of waste are different in specific gravity and thus having different immersion depth in the water; a cutting device for cutting the waste blocks with lower specific gravity; an advanced separation device for further sieving out the cut waste pieces; and a strainer device for sieving out the fined waste. By utilizing this apparatus, the purposes of saving power, reducing operation and maintenance costs, and lowering the failure times in a waste disposal process are realized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2001
    Inventor: Steven Tse
  • Patent number: 6179231
    Abstract: A cylindrical chamber has a drive shaft rotatably mounted therein and extending along substantially the entire longitudinal extent thereof. This drive shaft is rotatably driven by a motor at a speed of 1,500-10,000 rpm. Solid particles to be comminuted which may be of coal, limestone/dolomite, cement or lime are fed into the chamber. Pressurized air is fed into the bottom of the chamber. Uplifting pressure for driving the gas and particles upwardly in the chamber may be provided by pressurized gas fed in through a tangential inlet in conjunction with a stationary velocity head. The upwardly driven particles are first driven through a plurality of short arm rotors which are driven by the shaft and provide a centrifugal force which comminutes the particles. The particles are then driven through a plurality of semi-permeable screens which are rotatably driven by the shaft and further comminute the particles. High apex flow enhancers are installed along the walls of the chamber to enhance the fluid flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2001
    Inventor: Ernest Csendes