Gearless drive for cement mill

Claim 1

A gearless drive for the drum of a cement mill or the like comprising a low-speed electric motor surrounding said drum, said motor being constituted by an outer stationary stator and an inner rotor of the pole wheel type, and means interconnecting said drum and rotor which include a circumferential array of uniformly spaced studs structurally united with said drum and which project in a radially outward direction therefrom, a corresponding array of uniformly spaced recesses located on said rotor in which said studs are received, and elastic means located between each side of each stud and the corresponding end of the recess for providing a driving connection between said rotor and drum, said elastic means at each side of each stud being constituted by a pair of like elastic members arranged in frontto-front relation, the outer end portions of said elastic members being in contact with each other and the intermediate portions thereof being spaced slightly from each other to establish a driving elasticity in the circumferential direction, and said studs being free to shift radially in said recesses to accommodate thermally produced expansions and contractions of said drum.