Log washer

Application filed April 3, 1823.

Serial No. 629,668.

This invention relates to log washers for washing sand, gravel, ores, manganese and other substances for removing clay, dirt and waste matter therefrom.

® The object of the invention is to provide a washer of this character so constructed that a maximum amount of material may he washed with a minimum formation of mud balls.

¹⁰ Another object is to provide an apparatus of this character constructed so that very little water is required for washing the material and yet the material may be handled with speed.

¹⁸ Another object is to so construct an apparatus of this character that the material is carried forward and the entire material both at the top and bottom of the log cut or agitated at every revolution of the log.

*° Another object is to provide a log washer having paddles or blades so mounted as to resist the pull and be held securely against accidental detachment and yet permit them to be readily removed and replaced when ⁸⁵ broken or worn.

Another object is to provide a log washer equipped with paddles so shaped and mounted as to present a cutting edge to the material adapting the apparatus to be run at high ⁸⁰ speed with the use of very little power and avoid the formation of mud balls increasing the capacity of the machine.

Another object is to provide a washer of the class described, the logs of which have 85 thimbles mounted so as to prevent all possibility of them becoming loose and which have the shafts on which the logs are supported so connected with the thimbles that they may be readily taken out and replaced ⁴⁰ without removing the logs.

Another object is to provide a washer of this character which is simple in construction, cheap to manufacture, the parts of as ^which may be easily replaced, and which ⁴⁵ may be operated with minimum power and very economically.

.With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the com⁶⁰ bination , and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within, the scope of what is claimed without 55 departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:—

Figure 1 represents a plan view of a washer constructed in accordance with this invention. eo

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section thereof with parts broken out for convenience in illustration.

Fig. 3 is a detail side elevation of one . of the paddles used in connection with the ap- 55 parahis.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 5 is a detail vertical section through one of the paddles and a portion of one log showing the manner of mounting the pad- 70 dies on the log, and

Fig. 6 is a detail side elevation of one of the bolts used in connecting the paddles and the log.

In the embodiment illustrated, a stockade 75 1. is shown constructed of any suitable material in which the.logs 10 and 20 are mounted and which is designed to-hold the water and the materia! to be treated.

The front end 2 and the rear end 3 of the 80 stockade 1 are constructed of heavy timbers / capable of supporting the logs, the front end being higher than the rear to provide for the elevation of the front ends of the logs for a purpose hereinafter to be described. 85

The two parallel logs 10 and 20 which revolve in opposite directions, turning away from each other are constructed of hollow steel and are exactly alike, hence one only will be described in. detail. Each of these 90 logs has a cast iron thimble 11 shrunken into .each .end thereof and each thimble is provided at its outer end with an annular flange 12 to provide for the riveting of the thimble to the log in addition to its being 95 shrunken therein, so as to avoid all possibility of the thimble, being accidentallv detached from the log. Each of these thimbles is also provided at its outer end with a hub 13 having a keyway formed therein ¹⁰⁰to receive a key 14 for rigidly connecting the supporting' shaft 15, the. shafts of the front end of the machine being longer than those at the rear, the rear shafts being- num£3

1,609,652 the revolving logs agitates and carries the gravel through to a spillway (not shown) in the front end 2 and Avhere the gravel or ore is discharged, Avashed and cleaned.

It is of course understood that the logs 10 70 and 20 may be of any desired length according to the size of the washer and the material to be treated, said logs being preferably about twenty feet long.

These logs are equipped with keyhole 75 slots 22 arranged to register Avith similarly shaped slots 23 formed at the bases 24 of the paddles or blades 21.

The paddles or blades 21 are preferably constructed of cast iron chilled down six 80 inches from the outer end of the blade. These blades are wider at their bases than at their outer ends and are set at an angle of 45° on their base plates 24 as is shown clearly in Fig. 4. These base plates 24 are 65 curved longitudinally to fit the. perimeter of the log as is shown clearly in Fig. 5 and they are fastened to the log'by bolts 25 which are entered through the larger portion of the slots 23 and 22 and then moved down the SO elongated portions 23' and 22' toAvard the paddle 21 and are secured by suitable nuts 26. These bolts 25 have the usual heads 27 at one end. and adjacent said heads the necks 28 thereof are made polygonal to fit in 05 the portions 22' of the slots 22 Avhereby the bolt is to be screwed on. The bolts 25 are each provided with a laterally extending lug 29 Avhich is designed to enter the elongated portion 23' of the keyhold in plate 24 1W as is shown clearly in Fig. 5, the slots 23' being longer than’those 22' to provide for this arrangement and to prevent the bolts from dropping through into the log while the nuts are being screwed on. ¹⁰⁵

Each paddle is mounted on the log in connection with which it is used by three bolts, two of Avhich are arranged on the pulling side of the paddle as is shown clearly in Fig. 1, and the other on the opposed side. HO This connection of the paddles with the logs by means of the extended base 24 secured in the manner above described provides a very rigid union of the paddles with the logs avoiding all danger of their work- Π5 ing loose or being broken off and positions them at an oblique angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the log. While thismeans of fastening the paddles to the logs prevents them from being accidentally de- ¹²⁰tached, yet they may be readily removed and replaced when desired.

The paddles 21 taper toward their outer ends and at their bases are preferably about eleven inches wide, while at their points, ¹²⁵they are five inches, the length of the^: blades being about eleven inches and being set on all their bases 24 at a 45° angle and positioned on the log about two inches apart which provides for the positioning of all ¹³⁰ bered 15' and the purpose of which will be presently described. The hub 13 is bored for a set screw 16 to assist in securing the log and the shaft :is is shown clearly in Fig. 2.

Mounted on the front shafts 15 of the logs 10 and 20 which shaft ends project through suitable bearings in the front end 2 of the stockade 1 are two large gears. 17 and 18 meshing with each other and to which, power is transmitted by a smaller gear or pinion 19. These gears are fixedly mounted on the shaft ends 15 which are preferably constructed of cold, rolled steel.

The shafts 15' at the rear end.of the logs are similarly mounted in the logs but have no gears, said shafts being shorter than the front shafts and journaled in suitable bearings formed in the end member 3.

The mounting of the shafts in the manner above described provides, for the ready assembling and replacement thereof when .they become worn incident to running of the shaft ends in mud and water and this may be accomplished without removing the logs by simply unscrewing the set screws 16 and driving out the shafts from the hubs 13.

These logs 10 and 20 are provided at regular intervals with heavy iron paddles or blades 21 which are set on the logs in spiral alinement, This alinement of the paddles makes two or more complete revolutions around the log in placing them from front to rear. The number of rows of spirals or paddles may be either four, five or six and the blades so arranged and timed that when the logs revolve, the blades have a clearance of two and one-half inches and each blade has another blade arranged a little in advance on the other log set so as to pick up the material dropped from the blade in the rear and thus carry it forward. It will thus be seen that when the material to be treated is dumped in at the back or rear end of the washer on the revolving blades of the logs, it will be agitated and carried forward along and between the blades. These blades, as will be hereinafter more fully described, are so constructed and arranged that the entire material both at the top and bottom of the logs are cut or agitated at every revolution of the log.

The logs 10 and 20 are inclined upwardly from their rear toward their front ends, the front end where the gravel is discharged washed and cleaned; being about sixteen inches, more or less, higher than the rear end where the material is dumped in.

Λ small stream of water is kept running through the washer supplied from overhead jets (not shown) and this Avater together with the slant of the logs forces all the dirt, clay and refuse material out of a small spillway (not shown) formed in the rear end of the apparatus while the forward motion of

1,609,652 the points of the paddles about seven inches apart. These paddles each has a straight cutting edge 21'. This formation of the paddles with tapered narrow points and 6 wide bases decreases the power necessary to operate the yvasher about 50% over the old form of using paddles of uniform width throughout. This construction of the paddles also increases the capacity of the mall) chine about 75%, more or less, without the formation of mud balls.

The construction of the blades causes the thickened enlarged bases thereof to carry about two-thirds of the load while the 16 smaller points carry the balance and allow the water to penetrate the material while being washed, and that part mostly exposed to the water to be washed is delivered to the front of the machine and discharged while 20 the remainder is only about half way through the machine, thus causing a parallel as well as a circular agitation.

Various changes in the form, shape, proportion and other minor details of construc²⁸ tion may be made without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of the claimed invention.