Spin breaking process

Claim 2

A process as defined in claim 2 wherein said axis of revolution may gyrate within restricted limits while the bowl-shaped element is rotating.

Claim 3

A process as defined in claim 1 wherein the bottom and impact zone of the surrounding annular trap chamber is autogenously lined with saId solid material being processed, and wherein said autogenous lining is held in place by gravity.

Claim 4

The process defined in claim 1 wherein the rotating speed of said bowl-shaped element is sufficient to impart radial centrifugal forces for particles centrifuged at the inside point of maximum diameter of the bowl shaped element of more than one hundred times the force of gravity.

Claim 5

The process as defined in claim 1 wherein solid material removed from the surrounding annular trap chamber is screened, classified and oversize are recycled back into said bowl-shaped rotating element in closed circuit.

Claim 6

The rpocess as defined in claim 1 wherein the axis of the bowl-shaped element is substantially vertical.

Claim 7

The process as defined in claim 1 wherein the direction of rotation of the bowl-shaped rotating element is reversible.

Claim 8

The process as defined in claim 1 wherein the surrounding annular trap chamber is swept by a current of air to remove fines.

Claim 9

A process for comminution of solid materials which combines the operations of intermediate and fine crushing with grinding in one apparatus in which the comminution is accomplished with a single moving part in contact with the said solid material, said process comprising the steps of: providing a bowl-shaped element rotating on its axis of revolution, its inner surface autogenously lined with said solid material, gyro-stabilized by providing a bearing assembly which allows the axis of revolution to deflect within restricted limits so that said axis of revolution may gyrate and so that said bowl-shaped element may precess as a gyroscope. supplying the inside of said bowl-shaped rotating element with pieces and particles of solid material ranging in maximum size classified as feed for intermediate crushing, accelerating said pieces of solid material to such high rotational velocities about their own centers of gravity that internal centrifugal force within such pieces exceeds their tensile strength, and fracture is obtained along zones of weakness within the pieces themselves, simultaneously grinding the smaller particles with the larger pieces between themselves and the autogenous inner lining of the bowl-shaped rotating element during acceleration, providing a stationary surrounding annular trap chamber, autogenously lined, in the path of material projected from the said bowl-shaped rotating element, impacting the projected material into the autogenous lining of the annular trap chamber to accomplish further crushing and grinding by shear and compression as the kinetic energy of the projected material is expended in deceleration, removing the comminuted material from the annular trap chamber, classifying the comminuted material into a fine ground product and a coarser oversize, removing the fine ground product for beneficiation, and returning the coarser oversize to the inside of said bowl-shaped rotating element for further comminution.

Claim 10

The process as defined in claim 10 wherein the annular trap chamber is swept by a current of gas such as air to remove the fines for subsequent classification.

Claim 11

The process defined in claim 10 in which the rotative speed of the bowl-shaped element is sufficient for a peripheral speed at the inside bowl lip of more than one hundred feet per second.

Claim 12

The process of claim 10 in which the axis of the bowl-shaped rotating element is substantially vertical.

Claim 13

The process of claim 10 in which the direction of rotation of said bowl-shaped element is reversible.

Claim 14

A process for comminution of solid materials which loads pieces of said solid material as ties, and accomplishes fracture in tension along zones of weakness, said process comprising the steps of: providing a bowl-shaped element rotating on its axis of revolution, its inner surface autogenously lined with said solid material, gyro-stabilized by providing a bearing assembly which allows the axis of revolution to deflect within restricted limiTs so that said axis of revolution may gyrate, and so that said bowl-shaped element may precess as a gyroscope, supplying the inside of said bowl-shaped rotating element with pieces and particles of solid material, accelerating the pieces and particles of solid material by frictional contact with said autogenous lining to such high rotative velocities about their own centers of gravity that centrifugal force within the pieces of solid material exceeds their tensile strength along zones of weakness, and the pieces are pulled apart.

Claim 15

The process as defined in claim 15 in which unlike minerals or crystals aggregating the said solid material are liberated one from another by being pulled apart at grain boundaries.

Claim 16

The process as defined in claim 16 in which the said solid material is mica ore and the mica is defoliated and pulled from the gangue by imposed tensile forces as a result of centrifugal acceleration of the individual pieces of ore.

Claim 17

A process of autogenous comminution of solid materials, said process comprising the steps of: providing a bowl-shaped element rotating on its axis of revolution, with its open end facing upward, lining the inner surface of said bowl-shaped element autogenously with said solid material, holding said autogenous lining place with centrifugal force, providing a surrounding annular trap chamber with a flat bottom, or with a bottom sloping less than the angle of repose of the solid material in process of comminution, holding said autogenous lining in place by gravity, supplying a feed of said solid material to said bowl-shaped rotating element, accelerating pieces of said solid material by frictional contact with the inner surface of the autogenous lining of said bowl-shaped rotating element to high rotative and spin velocities in their path out of the bowl-shaped rotating element, crushing and grinding said solid material as a result of said acceleration by centrifugally induced tensile forces and by compression and shear in the process of acceleration in the bowl-shaped rotating element, and by impact of the material projected from the lip of the bowl-shaped rotating element into the autogenous lining of the stationary surrounding annular trap chamber, in the process of deceleration, removing the comminuted solid material from the annular trap chamber.

Claim 18

The process as defined in claim 18 including the steps of classification of the comminuted material into oversize and undersize returning the oversize to the bowl-shaped rotating element, removing the undersize.

Claim 19

A process for reducing the power requirements in comminution of solid material whose tensile strength is substantially less than compressive strength, said process comprising the steps of: providing a bowl-shaped element rotating on its axis of revolution, its inner surface autogenously lined with said solid material. supplying the inside of said bowl-shaped rotating element with pieces and particles of said solid material, accelerating the pieces of said solid material by frictional contact with the autogenous lining of said bowl-shaped rotating element to such high rotative velocities about their own centers of gravity that centrifugal force within the pieces of solid material exceeds the tensile strength of the material itself, thus, effecting fracture be tensile stress which requires less power than fracture by compressive stress, autogenously crushing and grinding said solid material without expending power in abrading manufactured linings and manufactured grinding media, providing a surrounding annular trap chamber, autogenously lined to collect the material projected from the lip of the rotating bowl-shaped element, decelerating said projected material in said trap chamber, removing the comminuted solid material.

Claim 20

The process as defined in claim 20 wherein energy is conserved by: providing a flywheel ring intergal with the open end of said bowl-shaped rotaTing element, and providing a bearing assembly for the rotating bowl-shaped element which allows the axis of revolution to deflect within restricted limits so that said axis of revolution may gyrate, and so that said bowl-shaped element may precess as a gyroscope.

Claim 21

A process for reducing size and weight of apparatus for a given capacity in autogenous comminution of solid materials by increasing the speed of comminution and increasing the speed of removal of the comminuted material from the comminution zone, said process comprising the steps of: providing a bowl-shaped element rotating on its axis of revolution, rotating at such a speed that a particle centrifuged at the inner surface at the lip of said bowl-shaped element is acted upon by centrifugal force greater than one hundred times gravity, its inner surface autogenously lined by particles of centrifuged solid material, and which said bowl-shaped element is gyro-stabilized by providing a bearing assembly which allows the axis of revolution to deflect within restricted limits so that said axis of revolution may gyrate, and so that said bowl-shaped element may precess as a gyroscope, accelerating the pieces and particles of solid material by frictional contact with the autogenous lining of said bowl-shaped rotating element to high rotative and radial velocities such that fracture is attained by exceeding the tensile strength of the pieces of solid material by centrifugal force of their individual rotation, and by attrition, abrasion and impact between themselves and against the autogenous lining of the bowl-shaped rotating element, the pressure of contact of said pieces against said autogenous lining being multiplied by the radial centrifugal forces generated in their spiral path out of the bowl-shaped rotating element, ejecting the pieces of solid material from and out of the bowl-shaped rotating element at high speeds by means of centrifugal force, providing a surrounding annular trap chamber to quickly decelerate the projected material by impact into an autogenous lining of said solid material resting at its angle of repose on the bottom of said annular trap chamber, and removing said comminuted material by free fall from said annular trap chamber.