Universal finisher and separator

Claim 2

A universal finishing and separating machine, the combination comprising enclosed abrading compartment means, said abrading compartment means being a torus shaped compartment with a continuously curved surface, aperture means for loading and unloading material requiring finishing and media for acting on the material to be finished into and out of said compartment, vibrator means for vibrating said compartment to effect the finishing of said material, and means including said abrading compartment and said vibrator means for causing said material to continually move during the vibrating process.

Claim 3

The combination of claim 1 wherein said vibrator means is located along the central axis of said toroidally shaped compartment with arcuate top and bottom sections and substantially in the plane of the compartment.

Claim 4

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 2 wherein said abrading compartment is mounted on resilient means that comprise conically shaped helical springs.

Claim 5

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 2 including mOunting means for supporting the vibrator means, said mounting means comprising enabling means for moving said vibrator means along said central axis to vary the mode of vibration.

Claim 6

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 4 wherein said enabling means comprises an arcuate circumferential clamp member, said clamp member terminating in aligned spaced apart flange plates, and screw means for adjusting the distance between said flange plates to thereby enable moving said vibrating means within said circumferential clamp member.

Claim 7

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 2 wherein said vibrator means comprises a shaft, internal eccentric weights surrounding said shaft, a bottom balance weight surrounding said shaft and a top balance weight surrounding said shaft, and means for moving said balance weights relative to said internal eccentric weights and relative to each other for thereby further varying the mode of vibration.

Claim 8

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 6 wherein means are provided for varying the speed of rotation of the vibrator means and thereby vary the frequency of vibration and thus further vary the mode of vibration.

Claim 9

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 1 wherein horizontal screens are provided, said screens mounted in said compartment in vertical layers, the topmost screen having the largest apertures therein and the bottommost screen having the smallest apertures therein whereby material loaded onto the topmost screen in said compartment is graded when the smallest of the material falls to the bottom and the largest held in the topmost screen.

Claim 10

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 8, wherein media is provided on each of said screens for grinding material placed on said screens for grinding said material on each of the screens whereby said material is ground to a size determined by said bottommost screen.

Claim 11

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 9 wherein the media between the screens is larger than the apertures of the upper and lower screens and wherein there is sufficient media between the screens whereby the upper screen acts as a pressure plate to expedite the grinding process.

Claim 12

A universal finishing and separating machine, the combination comprising an enclosed torus shaped compartment with a continuously curved surface, said compartment being mounted on resilient members to enhance vibrations, aperture means for loading and unloading material requiring finishing and media for acting on material to be finished into said compartment, vibrating means for vibrating said compartment to effect the finishing of said material, said vibrating means being substantially in the plane of said compartment, motor means for driving said vibrator means, said motor means and said vibrator means being nonconcentric, and said compartment shaped to surround said vibrating means so that said vibrating means is centrally located relative to said compartment but is accessible without opening said compartment.

Claim 13

A universal finishing and separating machine, the combination comprising an enclosed torus shaped compartment with a continuously curved surface, said compartment being mounted on resilient members to enhance vibrations, aperture means for loading and unloading material requiring finishing and media for acting on material to be finished into said compartment, vibrating means for vibrating said compartment to effect the finishing of said material, said vibrating means being substantially in the plane of said compartment, motor means for driving said vibrator means, said motor means and said vibrator means being nonconcentric, and said compartment shaped to surround said vibrating means so that said vibrating means is centrally located relative to said compartment but is accessible without opening said compartment.

Claim 14

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 11 wherein mounting means are provided for supporting said vibrating means and wherein said mounting means enables moving said vibrator means along a vertical axis to vary the mode of vibration.

Claim 15

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 12 wherein said mounting means comprises an arcuate circumferential clamp member surrounding said vibrating means, said clamp member terminating in aligned spaced apart flanged plates, means for adjusting the distance between the flanged plates to thereby enable moving said vibrating means vertically along said vertical axis.

Claim 16

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 13 wherein said vibrating means comprises shaft means, internal eccentric weights surrounding said shaft means, a top and a bottom balance weight surrounding said shaft means, means for moving the baLance weights relative to each other and relative to said internal eccentric weights to further vary the mode of vibration.

Claim 17

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 14 wherein means are provided for coupling said shaft to a drive motor, and means for changing the speed of said drive motor to vary the frequency of vibration and thereby further vary the mode of vibration.

Claim 18

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 15 wherein solid means are provided for coupling said vibrator means to said enclosed compartment.

Claim 19

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 16 wherein said aperture means comprises a lower egress aperture for removing said media and a side aperture for removing the finished material.

Claim 20

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 17 wherein means are provided for separating said finished material from said media.

Claim 21

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 18 wherein said aperture means comprises ingress means and egress means and wherein bulkhead means are provided for separating said ingress means from said egress means.

Claim 22

A universal finishing and separating machine, the combination comprising an enclosed toroidally shaped compartment having an arcuate top and bottom, said compartment being mounted on resilient members to enhance vibrations, aperture means for loading and unloading material requiring finishing and media for acting on material to be finished into said compartment, vibrating means for vibrating said compartment to effect the finishing of said material, said vibrating means being substantially in the plane of said compartment, motor means for driving said vibrator means and being non-concentric therewith, said compartment shaped to surround said vibrating means so that said vibrating means is centrally located relative to said compartment but is accessible without opening said compartment, said enclosed compartment resting on a plurality of conically shaped springs which acts to reinforce and support the vibrations of said vibrating means, mounting means enabling the movement of said vibrator means along the vertical axis to vary the mode of vibration, said mounting means comprising an arcuate circumfrential clamp member surrounding said vibrating means, said clamp member terminating in aligned spaced apart flanged plates, means for adjusting the distance between the flanged plates to thereby enable moving said vibrating means vertically along said vertical axis, said vibrator means comprising shaft means, internal eccentric weights surrounding said shaft means, a top and a bottom balance weight surrounding said shaft means, means for moving the balance weights relative to each other and relative to said internal eccentric weights to further vary the mode of vibration, means for coupling said shaft to a drive motor, means for changing the speed of said drive motor to vary the frequency of vibration and thereby further vary the mode of vibration, means for coupling said vibrator means to said closed compartment, said aperture means comprising a lower egress aperture for removing said media and a side aperture for removing the finished material, means for separating said finished material from said media, said aperture means comprising ingress means and egress means, bulkhead means for separating said ingress means from said egress means, said means for separating said media and said finished material comprises screen means, said screen means comprising a bias screen, a horizontal screen, a vertical screen defining an edge of said horizontal screen, the mesh on said screens being sufficiently large to enable said media to drop therethrough but sufficiently small to entrap said finished material, said bias screen providing a path for said finished material to ride to said horizontal screen, and said horizontal screen leadinG to said side egress aperture and said vertical screen entrapping said finished material to ensure that the finished material is forced through said side egress aperture.

Claim 23

A universal finishing and separating machine, the combination comprising an enclosed toroidally shaped compartment having an arcuate top and bottom, said compartment being mounted on resilient members to enhance vibrations, aperture means for loading and unloading material requiring finishing and media for acting on material to be finished into said compartment, vibrating means for vibrating said compartment to effect the finishing of said material, said vibrating means being substantially in the plane of said compartment, motor means for driving said vibrator means and being non-concentric therewith, said compartment shaped to surround said vibrating means so that said vibrating means is centrally located relative to said compartment but is accessible without opening said compartment, said enclosed compartment resting on a plurality of conically shaped springs which acts to reinforce and support the vibrations of said vibrating means, mounting means enabling the movement of said vibrator means along the vertical axis to vary the mode of vibration, said mounting means comprising an arcuate circumfrential clamp member surrounding said vibrating means, said clamp member terminating in aligned spaced apart flanged plates, means for adjusting the distance between the flanged plates to thereby enable moving said vibrating means vertically along said vertical axis, said vibrator means comprising shaft means, internal eccentric weights surrounding said shaft means, a top and a bottom balance weight surrounding said shaft means, means for moving the balance weights relative to each other and relative to said internal eccentric weights to further vary the mode of vibration, means for coupling said shaft to a drive motor, means for changing the speed of said drive motor to vary the frequency of vibration and thereby further vary the mode of vibration, means for coupling said vibrator means to said closed compartment, said aperture means comprising a lower egress aperture for removing said media and a side aperture for removing the finished material, means for separating said finished material from said media, said aperture means comprising ingress means and egress means, bulkhead means for separating said ingress means from said egress means, said means for separating said media and said finished material comprises screen means, said screen means comprising a bias screen, a horizontal screen, a vertical screen defining an edge of said horizontal screen, the mesh on said screens being sufficiently large to enable said media to drop therethrough but sufficiently small to entrap said finished material, said bias screen providing a path for said finished material to ride to said horizontal screen, and said horizontal screen leadinG to said side egress aperture and said vertical screen entrapping said finished material to ensure that the finished material is forced through said side egress aperture.

Claim 24

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 20 wherein means are provided for raising said biased screen to cause said material to avoid said side aperture.

Claim 25

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 21 wherein said means for raising said bias screen comprises hydraulic cylinder means, shaft means extending from said hydraulic cylinder and attached to said bias screens for moving said bias screen responsive to the action of said hydraulic cylinder.

Claim 26

The universal finishing and separating machine of claim 1 wherein means are provided for pressurizing said abrading compartment.