US1286538A - Desiccating apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

c. F. COLEMAN.

DESICCATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 6. 19:1.

Patented Dec. 8, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1-.

WITNESSES ATTORNEY C. F. COLEMAN.

DESICCATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION mu) MAR. 6. I911.

Patented Dec. 3, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR ATToRN EY C. F. COLEMAN.

DESICCATING APPARATUS. APPLICAUQN FILED Mn. 6. Ian.

Patented Dec. 3, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 INVENTOR wlTNess sl I y k ATTORNEY cHAnrns r. coLniuAN, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

- nnsIooA'rING ArrAnA'rus.

was.

\ acter wherein is embodied means for treating viscid fluids to the action of steam heated surfaces, in order that the hydric components of the fluid will pass off in a volatile state, leaving a residuum of coagulated or concentrated matter, which is dried, collected and disintegrated by. suitable mechanism for commercial purposes.

A further object is to :position the above mechanism in a vacuum chamber, so that the drying process, to which the substance to be treated is subjected, will be expeditiousl and efficiently carried out, by reason of a owered boiling, oint temperature.

Further objects wil l be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

For a further comprehension of the in vention, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which like characters of reference indicate the same parts, and Wherein- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken .through the evaporating apparatus, constructed in accordance with the principles of the resent invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertica transverse sectional View taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view, the plane of which being indicated by theline 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. t is a horizontal sectional view disclosing the complemental drying mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a detail view taken along the line .55 of Fig. 4.

Figs. 6 and 7 are fragmentary detail views.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, my improved evaporating and desiccat- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dee. 3.,d91l.

Application filed March 6, 1917. Serial No. 152,823.

ing apparatus consists of ahousing 1, the latter being formed from any suitable material, and of any desired proportion, which of ,course will be determined by the capacity or output required of the apparatus. The housing usually embodies removable front andrear Walls 2 and 3,stationary side walls 4, and a top andbottom 5 and 6 respectively, said members defining "an internal drying chamber B. The front and rear walls are" removable, in order that the chamber will be readily accessible. One method for securing thewalls 2 and 3 in position is to equip the same with bifurcatedprojections 7, into which are adapted to be "positioned a plurality of pivotedbolts 8, carried by a permanent part of the housing, hand wheels or nuts 9 being threaded upon. the extremities of the bolts, so as to frictionally retain thewalls 2 and 3 in operative and secured relation with the associatedparts of the housing and to conveniently permit of their removal therefrom. l[n the preferred embodiment'of the invention, apipe 10, or its equivalent, communicates with the interior of the housing, said pipe leading from a suitable form of a suction pump (not shown) which when in operation will serve to exhaust whatever air is in the housing, whereby a vacuum or a partial vacuum will be created therein. By producing a vacuum chamber within the housing a distinct advantage is derived, by reason of the fact that .the boiling temperature of the substance acted upon by the apparatus will be considerably lower than when subjected to ordinary atmospheric pressure, thus hastening the general evaporating process. However, it might be advisable to state at this juncture that the use of the vacuum chamberxis only necessary during the desiccation of certain substances, as other materials may be acted upon under ordinary conditions" I with efficient results, and it will therefore in the outer surface thereof. As above stated the belt is preferably made from metal, as the latter material is not likely to be affected by the chemical action of materials deposited thereon, and, as it will be evident, it will permit of the convenient formed in one of the permanent side walls of I the housing, while the opposite end of the drum is provided with astub shaft 20, retatably mounted in a fixed bearing 21, carried by one of thewalls 4. Steam, obtained from any convenient source, is admitted to the'interior of thedrum 16 by way of the shaft 18, so that the periphery of the drum will be heated by the eifects of the steam, which will in turn impart heat to the retatable belt. Aworm gear 22 is secured upon the shaft 18.exteriorly of the housing, and meshes with 'asimilar gear 23, fixed to thedrive shaft 24, and it will be apparent that when the latter is revolving, similar movement will be transmitted to the drum and its cooperating belt. The condensation of steam which will collect in thedrum 16 may be discharged therefrom in any convenient manner, however, one method by which this can be accomplished is to insert astationary outlet pipe 25 of relatively small diameter into the shaft 18, and it will be apparent that the pressure imparted by the steam upon the collected water will be sufficient to force the latter out of the drum by way of theoutlet pipe 25, as the end of the outlet'pipe is downturned and extends into proximity to the wall of the drum.

The upper drum is preferably mounted in adjustable bearings, in order that the height I of the drum within the housing may be varied to regulate the tension of thebelt 15. This adjustable feature includes afixed shaft 27 extending between the side walls of the housing, and about which arefulerumed arms 28, disposed on opposite ends of thedrum 17. Bearings29 are mounted von the arms and in which is journaled ashaft 30 utilized to support for rotation thedrum 17. In order to regulate the positions of thearms 28,bolt members 31 have their lower extremities pivotally connected with the outer ends of thearms 28, the upper extremities of said bolts passing through openings formed in thetop 5, and are threaded to receive adjustingnuts 32. By regulating the positions of the nuts upon the ends of thebolts 31, the oscillating movement of thedrum 17 may be readily cont-rolled.

Interposed between thedrums 16 and 17 and bearing upon the inner surface of thebelt 15, are a plurality of spacedsteamheated casings 35, preferably formed from thin sheet metal and of substantially the same width as the belt. Steam or any other suitable heating fluid is admitted into thecasings 35 by way of anentrance pipe 36, extending to one of the permanent walls of the housing, said pipe is branched, so as to enter each of thecasings 35 at their upper ends. Steam entering the casings 85 will circulate through the same until condensation occurs and collects upon the bottom of the casing. This collection of. water is removable from the casings by way of anoutlet pipe 38. It will be evident that thecasings 35 will bear upon thebelt 15 upon major surfaces of the latter, and in conjunction with thedrum 16 will heat said belt sufiiciently to evaporate the liquid matter adhering to its surfaces.

As one of the several methods for depositing liquid or a semi-liquid substance upon thebelt 15, I preferably employ a liquidreceivingtrough 40, which is adapted to surround the approximate lower half of thedrum 16. The substance to be desiccated is transmitted to thetank 42 by way of asupply pipe 41, extending into the chamber 13 by way of theside wall 4. The liquid is maintained at a predetermined level in the trough by providing the latter with anoverflow lip 41 which is positioned above the liquid-receivingtank 42. Apipe 43 leads from the tank to a circulating pump, which forces the liquid of the tank to thetrough 40. Thus when thebelt 15 is traveling in the direction of the arrow indicated in Fig. 1, it will collect upon its outer surface a certain quantity of the material contained by thetrough 40, and will convey the latter toward theheating casings 35, in order that the liquid matter contained thereby will be subjected to a process of evaporation, and to thereby enable its residuum to be collected. A leveling blade 45 is adapted to bear upon the outer surface of thebelt 15 at a point immediately above thetrough 40, so that the amount of the substance collected by the belt may be regulated before the latter is exposed to the heat of the casings. The relation existing between the blade 45 and thebelt 15 may be controlledbysuitable screw mechanism 46. It will be evident that the substance carried by the belt will be subjected to the heat of the casings during the major portion of its travel, whereby practically all of the liquid matter contained therein will be evaporated by the heat of the belt.

When the substance is in this semi-moist condition, it is collected from the belt by means of aknife 47, which bears upon the belt at a position substantially contiguous to thedrum 16. The substance scraped off of the belt is discharged into achute 48, and is discharged for further drying into a all] resumesupplementl dryer 49, the latter mechanism are preferablyhollow and are filled with steam to suitably heat the surfaces there- A- vertically journaledshaft 53 is of. mounted within the housing 51, and is provided with abeveled gear 54, which meshes with a similargear 55 carried b a driven shaft 56, for eflecting the rotatlon of'theshaft 53. Fixed upon theshaft 53, and r0- tatable over theshelves 52 are a plurality of disintegratingarms 57 and 58. The arms are provided with obliquely extendingvanes 59 and 60, carried by thearms 57 and 58 re-' spectively. When thematerial is discharged upon theupper shelf 52 by thechute 48, the same is collected by the revolvingarm 57 and is pushed over the'heated surface of said shelf, and is graduallymoved toward the centerof the latter by the obliquity of thevanes 59, so that the substance Will be discharged upon thelower shelf 52 by way of anopening 61 formed in theupper shelf 52. When the material is deposited upon thelower shelf 52 it is again subjected to the revolvin action of oneofthe arms 58,

but in this Instance the material is gradually moved outwardly toward the rim of theshelf 52 by the staggered positions of the vanes upon thearm 58. The movement of the substance upon theshelves 52 will be associatedvanes 60,, as stated before, car

rice the substance upon thelower shelf 52 toward the edge of the latter, whence it is discharged into aduct 62 communicating with the upper surface ofthelower shelf 52. The duct discharges the dried and thoroughly desiccated substance into aconveyer 63, so that the, substance may be discharged from the apparatus for collection. The c011 veyer is rotated by any suitable means, but in this instance amotor 6 1 is employed, havlng abeveled gear 65 fixed to its crankshaft 66.

Thegear 65 is adapted to mesh withgears 67 and 68 carried upon asleeve 69, said sleeve being slidably keyed to the outerend lldll duct 62 will be conveyed toward a substancereceiving receptacle 72, which is removably positioned within acasing 73 depending from the conveyer frame. When the receptacle 72 has been filled to its capacity, a slidingdoor 74 is positioned above the open end of the same so as to prevent the further entrance of material therein, then the lever 71 is operated to cause the 'conveyer to re volve in a reverse direction, which will carry the substance deposited thereon to a similar receiving receptacle disposed on the opposite end of the conveyer frame. By providing the conveyer reversing means and the slidingdoor 74, the apparatus may be continuously operated. without disturbing the con- B and C, as will be clearly understood.

I In conclusion, attention is directed to the forced system of liquid circulation for trans mitting fluid to thebelt 15. It will be noted fluid is conducted to the tank'42 by means i of thesupply pipe 41, leading from any dition of the vacuum within the chambers the flow of fluid through the pipe 11. The

fluid flows from thetank 42 through a pipe 13 to a suitable form of pump81, the latter operating to return the fluid by way of thepipe 82 to thetrough 40. k

This construction is exceedingly important as it prevents the precipitation of the fluid within said trough, provides means for forcibly conducting fluid to saidtrough,

and finally permits the fluid to more readily adhere to thebelt 15. The latter feature is dueto the fact that if the fluid contained by the trough did not circulate, steam bubbles would be created between the portions of the belt engaging with thedrum 16, and the fluid within said trough, this would have the effect of preventing the fluid from properly contacting with the belt. However, by reason of thepump 81, the fluid is continuously circulated, so that the accumulation of the aforesaid steam bubbles will be prevented, thus insuring the unrestricted engagement of the fluid with thebelt 15.

l rorn the foregoing it is thought that the advantages and features of the present invention will be readily understood by those versed in theart, and therefore, a more extended explanation with regard to its minor details will be accordingly omitted.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and patentable is:

1. A. device of the character described comprising a housing, vertically spaced drums revoluble within said housing, an endless belt trained about said drums, a liquid receptacle below the lower drum whereby said belt may dip therein durin its travel, a pair of spaced vertically exten ingcasings disposed between said drums, inlet and out let pipes communicating with said casing, the outer sides of said casings being convex and bearing outwardly against the inner sides of said belt, and means for tightening said belt whereby it willbe held in frictional engagement With said casing.

2. A device of the character described comprisinga housing, vertically spaced drums revoluble within said housing, an endless belt.trained about said drums, a liquid I receptacle below the lower drum CHARLES F. COLEMAN.

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