US3291305A - Magnetic separator for mixtures of magnetic and non-magnetic material - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 13, 1966 E. J. TENPASETAL 2 3 MAGNETIC SEPARATOR FOR MIXTURES OF MAGNETIC AND NON-MAGNETIC MATERIAL Filed July 1'7, 1965 2 Sheets5h,eet 1 INVENTOR5 EMERSON I TEN/V41 RAYMOND A. mun? BY &

W20 KAN/4M1 Dec. 15, 1966 E. J. TENPAS ETAL MAGNETIC SEPARATOR FOR MIXTURES OF MAGNETIC AND NON-MAGNETICMATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed July 1'7, 1965 FIG 6 INVENTORS EfiffR SON I TEN P4; BY KAY 101 0 A. M T

United States Patent MAGNETIC SEPARATOR FOR MIXTURES 0F MAGNETIC AND NON-MAGNETIC MATERIAL Emerson J. Tenpas and Raymond A. White, Erie, Pa.,

assignors to Eriez Manufacturing Co., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed July 17, 1963, Ser. No. 295,646 8 Claims. (Cl. 209219) This invention relates to magnetic separators and, more particularly, to magnetic separators for removing magnetic materials from mixtures of magnetic material and non-magnetic material.

The device disclosed herein is particularly suitable for removing particles of magnetic material from particles of non-magnetic material.

The magnetic separator disclosed herein has been invented to facilitate magnetic separation and product improvement of magnetic and non-magnetic mixtures. This magnetic separator enables a user to separate, up-grade, and purify magnetic or semi-magnetic products from nonmagnetic products or vice versa.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a means of separating magnetic and non-magnetic components which could not be separated with any other previous practical, continuous, or economical methods.

Another object of this invention is to provide a high purification of materials consisting of high percentages of steel particles to thereby remove any or all non-magnetic particle contamination.

It is another object of the invention to obtain this separation by violently agitating the material by magnetic means to shake and drop out the contamination.

Still another object of the invention is to make use of gravity to facilitate shaking free the non-magnetic particles from the suspended agitating magnetic material.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a mag netic separator capable of handling large volumes of material in the range of 200 tons per hour.

A further object of this invention is to cause a preagitation of the material by magnetic means, using a magnetic drum or roll with polarities of the magnetic elements of the drum at right angles to the direction of material flow.

The repetitive agitation is caused by moving the produuct across multiple poles of a special permanent (or electro) magnetic field. This causes the product to flip and agitate end over end as the product moves across from north to south to north, etc. poles of the magnet.

It is a further object of this invention to vibrate the material fed to the initial conveyor so as to provide a uniform thin flow for maximum separation.

It is also an object to provide a machine having a rotating roll or drum with axial fields and poles to shake and lift the magnetic product to the conveyor belt, thus causing initial separation of non-magnetic materials before the product is subjected to the agitating magnet.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide an improved magnetic separator.

Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a magnetic separating device suitable for removing particles of magnetic material from non-magnetic material and depositing them, respectively, into separate bins.

Still yet another object of the invention is to provide a magnetic separating device which is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, and simple and efficient to use.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangement Patented Dec. 13, 1966 of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a magnetic separating device according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows an optional construction of a feeding device for the magnetic separator;

FIG. 4 shows a conveyor type feeding device for the separator shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a side view of another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is an end view of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 5

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken on line 77 of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the magnet support.

Now with more particular reference to the drawings, the magnetic separator shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a frame 1 made of suitable iron fabrications as shown. A lower endless belt 8 and an upperendless belt 9 are supported on the separator. The lower belt 8 is supported on a lowerconveyor tail drum 7 and a lowerconveyor drive drum 6 which are supported on suitable pulley blocks driven by adrive mechanism 12 through suitable belts.

Theupper belt 9 is supported above the lower belt 8. An upper conveyor drive drum 4 is located intermediate the ends of the belt 8 and the lowerconveyor drive drum 6 is located intermediate the ends of thebelt 9. These conveyor belts rotate in a direction opposite to each other so their adjacent sides move in the same direction and material will fall on the belt 8 from afeeder 15 and be carried under the belt 8. As the material moves under a magnetic concentrator assembly 11, the magnets will lift the material from the belt and carry the material along with the belt to the ends of the magnet assembly where it will drop into amagnetic hopper 2.

The non-magnetic material will be unaffected by the magnets on the concentrator assembly 11 and this material Will fall off of the end of the belt 8 into anon-magnetic hopper 3.

Pillow blocks 10 are slidably supported on thevertical support members 30 and they can be moved up and down by means of setscrews 31 and 32. This increases and decreases the strength of field through the belt. The belt 8 can be tightened by means of setscrews 20.

During operation, the material to be sorted is carried by aconveyor 33 and slides down achute 34 onto thevibratory feeder 15. From here, it is fed at a controlled rate onto the belt 8 where it moves across thedrum 7.

Thedrum 7 has circumferentially spaced fields of alternate polarity around its circumference. These fields may be formed by U-shaped permanent magnets supported inside the drum in a conventional manner with each pole extending from one side of the drum to the other. This arrangement of polarity causes the material to fiip over and over as it moves along the belt 8. Thedrums 7, 107, and 307 could be made in the manner of the drums shown in Patent No. 2,535,719 which shows permanent magnets 8 withpole pieces 10 extending from one side of the drum to the other.

As the material moves under thebelt 9, the permanent magnets of the concentrator assembly 11 which have alternate polarities along the length of the belt and the magnetic poles extending across the belt cause the magnetic material to flip over and over as it moves along between the belts. When the magnetic material reaches the end of the belt 8, it adheres to thebelt 9 and is carried onto themagnetic hopper 2 while the non-magnetic material falls off the end of the belt 8 into thehopper 3.

When the material is fed from thefeeder 15 onto the belt 8, the permanent magnets in thedrum 7 will induce magnetism into the magnetic particles and recondition them by causing them to be attracted to each other. Their behavior is such that they arrange themselves into short strings or slivers. The induced magnetism remains in these strings. Then, as the material moves with belt 8 under the permanent magnets in the concentrator assembly 11, the magnetic strings are automatically aligned parallel to the magnetic lines of force of the permanent magnets. Then it will be observed that as the particles move because of fricton and momentum through the arc shaped magnetic fields of the succeeding magnets, the strings must travel in an end-over-end path, accomplishing the desired agitation, thereby shaking out the occluded non-magnetic particles.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 3, abelt 208 corresponding to the belt 8 in FIG. 1 is shown. This belt is supported on adrum 207 which is a magnetic pulley as shown in FIG. 1. The drum may be tightened by aset screw 220. Material is fed through ahopper 234 and it moves down to avibratory feeder 235 where it is deposited on the belt drum in the same manner as in FIG. 1.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 4, aconveyor 335 deposits material in achute 334 where it moves down into avibratory conveyor 315. From thence, the magnetic material is picked up by abelt 308 and carried along the top of the belt while the nonmagnetic material falls down from the end on thevibratory feeder 315 into a suitable hopper. This action is carried out because adrum 307 has spaced magnets therein as in FIG. 1.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. to 8, the machine has aframe 101 which supports amagnetic hopper 102 and anon-magnetic hopper 103 which are disposed at the discharge ends ofbelts 109 and 108, respectively. Thebelt 109 is supported ondrums 104 and 105 which are, in turn, carried bypillow blocks 110 vertically adjustable for adjusting the angle of thebelt 109 relative to thebelt 108 and relative to framemembers 114. Thebelt 108 is supported ondrums 106 and 107 which may be adjusted in the same manner as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. The drums are driven by asuitable drive mechanism 112 which is illustrated in FIG. 6 and has achain guard 137. Avibratory feeder assembly 115 carries the material from a suitable conveyor through atrough 116 onto thebelt 108.

Thedrum 107 has spaced permanent magnets around the inner periphery thereof in a well known manner with horseshoe magnets extending from one side to the other of the pulley. These permanent magnets may be in the form of horseshoe magnets with each leg of each magnet extending transversely from side to side of the roll so that the magnetic polarity on the outer periphery of the roll alternates from north, south, north, south around the periphery of the roll.

The magnets of a concentrator 111 are supported above the belt with like poles adjacent each other so that the polarity along the belt alternates north to south to north. The magnetic concentrator 111 can be moved up or down or change its spacing from thebelt 109 by adjustingnuts 140 onbolts 141, thereby controlling the strength of the magnetic field in the working area. Thesenuts 140 rest on either side oflugs 142 which are welded tomembers 130.

The foregoing specification sets forth the invention in its preferred practical forms but the structure shown is capable of modification within a range of equivalents without departing from the invention which is to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A magnetic separator for separating magnetic and non-magnetic mixtures comprising:

an upper conveyor and a lower conveyor supported one above the other and closely spaced to each other,

one end of said upper conveyor being disposed intermediate the ends of said lower conveyor,

one end of said lower conveyor being disposed intermediate the ends of said upper conveyor,

magnetic means spaced along said upper conveyor adjacent said lower conveyor,

said magnetic means having poles extending from one side of said conveyors to the other and of alternate polarity along said upper conveyor,

a feeder for feeding material onto said lower conveyor,

and a receptacle for magnetic material adjacent the end of said upper conveyor, said lower conveyor being supported on a drum adjacent said feeder, said drum having spaced permanent magnetic pole means under said lower conveyor spaced adjacent said feeder having like poles extending from one side of said drum to the other.

2. The magnetic separator recited in claim 1 wherein said permanent magnetic pole means comprises a magnetic member having a plurality of horseshoe magnets arranged with the south pole of each magnet toward the south pole of the next adjacent magnet at one side with its north pole toward the north pole of the next adjacent magnet at the other side.

3. The separator recited in claim 1 wherein said upper conveyor is an endless belt supported on spaced drums,

and said lower conveyor is an endless belt supported on spaced drums including said first drum,

one said drum supporting said upper conveyor being disposed approximately midway between a said drum supporting said lower conveyor.

4. The separator recited inclaim 3 wherein said first permanent magnetic pole means comprises spaced permanent magnets on the inside thereof whereby magnetic poles of alternate polarity are disposed around the periphery of said drum.

5. The separator recited in claim 1 wherein said permanent magnetic pole means comprises a magnetic member having horseshoe magnets with legs of like polarity being disposed adjacent each other and the legs thereof extending transversely of said conveyors.

6. The separator recited inclaim 5 wherein said magnetic means has an adjustable means thereon for moving said magnetic means toward and away from said conveyors.

7. A magnetic separator for separating magnetic and non-magnetic mixtures comprising two spaced upper drums and two spaced lower drums,

and upper belt on said upper drums,

a lower belt on said lower drums,

means to rotate said upper drums and said lower drums and to move the adjacent sides of said belts in the same direction,

means to adjust one said drum to bring said belts into proximate relation to each other,

a magnetic member between said upper drums having a portion thereof disposed adjacent the inside portion of said upper belt and adjacent said lower belt,

magnetic means in one said drum supporting said lower belt comprising spaced poles of alternate polarity around said drum,

feeding means at one end of said lower belt, a non-magnetic receiving means disposed below the opposite end of said lower belt, References Cited by the Examiner and a magnetic material receiving means disposed be- UNITED STATES PATENTS low the end of said upper belt opposite said feeding 404,333 5/1389 n et 1 means 5 531,301 12/1894 Buchanan. 8. The separator recited inclaim 7 wherein 5/1949 Dr eschef X means is provided to move said upper belt and said 2535719 12/1950 Bhnd 209*219 lower belt toward and away from each other, HARRY B. THORNTON, Primary Examiner.

and separate means is provided to move said magnetic FRANK W. LUTTER, Examiner.

means toward and away from said upper belt. 10 L. H. EATHERTON, Assistant Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A MAGNETIC SEPARATOR FOR SEPARATING MAGNETIC AND NON-MAGNETIC MIXTURES COMPRISING: AN UPPER CONVEYOR AND A LOWER CONVEYOR SUPPORTED ONE ABOVE THE OTHER AND CLOSELY SPACED TO EACH OTHER, ONE END OF SAID UPPER CONVEYOR BEING DISPOSED INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS OF SAID LOWER CONVEYOR, ONE END OF SAID LOWER CONVEYOR BEING DISPOSED INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS OF SAID UPPER CONVEYOR, MAGNETIC MEANS SPACED ALONG SAID UPPER CONVEYOR ADJACENT SAID LOWER CONVEYOR, SAID MAGNETIC MEANS HAVING POLES EXTENDING FROM ONE SIDE OF SAID CONVEYORS TO THE OTHER AND OF ALTERNATE POLARITY ALONG SAID UPPER CONVEYOR, A FEEDER FOR FEEDING MATERIAL ONTO SAID LOWER CONVEYOR, AND A RECEPTACLE FOR MAGNETIC MATERIAL ADJACENT THE END OF SAID UPPER CONVEYOR, SAID LOWER CONVEYOR BEING SUPPORTED ON A DRUM ADJACENT SAID FEEDER, SAID DRUM HAVING SPACED PERMANENT MAGNETIC POLE MEANS UNDER SAID LOWER CONVEYOR SPACED ADJACENT SAID FEEDER HAVING LIKE POLES EXTENDING FROM ONE SIDE OF SAID DRUM TO THE OTHER.

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