This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. Â§119(e) from provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/076,627 filed on Jun. 28, 2008, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for grinding materials into fine particles. More particularly, it relates to those apparatus methods in which a basket mill is used.

2. Background Art

A basket mill is a machine used to reduce the particle size of slurries. Typical uses are for the manufacture of paint or ink where pigment particles must be reduced to microscopically small sizes.

Such mills can accommodate a wide range of volume depending on the volume and viscosity of the slurry to be processed. Typical volumes range from 0.5 liter for a table-top mill to as much as 40 liters for a full manufacturing mill.

Referring to FIG. 1, such machines typically have a process vessel 10 mounted to a dolly-like structure shown generally as 12 having four casters 14, so that process vessel 10 may be moved along a shop or other floor when grinding apparatus in accordance with the prior art, or according to the invention, as described below with respect to FIG. 2, is withdrawn upward from process vessel 10. Similarly the process vessel can be supplied without casters and therefore maintained in a fixed position. In general, a basket 16 is loaded with a large number of small beads (not shown). A mixture of the material being ground and the small beads are stirred by agitator discs or pins 18, which extend radially from a rotating agitator shaft 20. The beads typically can be from 0.5 mm to 6 mm in diameter. The beads can be made of various materials including glass or steel or ceramic. These beads are collectively known as â€œgrinding mediaâ€ , and are well know in the art.

Thus, the agitator shaft 20, which has radially arranged discs or pins 18, is immersed into the grinding media and stirs the bead mass while a slurry 22 of the material being ground is introduced. It is the movement of the beads impacting against the particles of the material being ground which acts to reduce the particle size. This process is also known as â€œwet grindingâ€ . The basket 16, together with its contained grinding media, is immersed into a process vessel 10, which contains the slurry 22.

The slurry 22 is made to flow into the top of basket 16 through its generally open top 24 at 25. The beads are retained in the basket while allowing the slurry to pass through because the sidewall 26 and bottom wall 28 of the basket 16 are actually made of a screen material. In effect the container resembles a large basket, thus the name â€œbasket millâ€ .

Generally, there have been two designs of basket mills. In a first design, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the agitator shaft 20, driven to rotate by a suitable drive assembly 30 including a motor and an appropriate speed control for the motor has, mounted at the bottom of the drive shaft, an impeller 32 which serves, when it rotates with the agitator shaft 20, to draw slurry into the top of the basket 16, as illustrated by arrow 33. In another design (not shown), the bottom of the basket is closed, and one or more separate impellers are mounted alongside the basket.

In either of these prior art designs, the flow of slurry 22 into the basket 16 is dependent on the action of the impeller. The first type of machine, described above with respect to FIG. 1, is generally preferred due to the presence of the center-mounted impeller 32, but has numerous maintenance problems. Since the same shaft is use for both the agitator discs or pins 18 and the impeller 32, a stabilizing bushing 34 is required where the agitator shaft 20 passes through the bottom of basket 16. The bushing 34 is immersed in the grinding media mass. The attack of the grinding beads on the bushing 34 leads to frequent bushing replacement, because the bushing 34 is repeatedly worn by the action of the grinding media inside the basket. Further, the impeller 32 and agitator discs or pins 18, mounted on the same shaft 20, by necessity, must spin at the same speed.

With the separate propellers of the second design, the propeller is separate, so there is no need for the bottom mounted bushing of the first design which is under constant attack by the action of the grinding media However, the offset nature of the propeller does not provide the better flow, and control over the flow of material as in the first design.

Accordingly, there is a need for a better apparatus, and a method for its operation, which permits precise control of flow, without significant maintenance difficulties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide basket mill in which the flow of slurry through the basket is precisely controlled.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a basket mill that does not require extensive maintenance.

It is another object of the invention to provide a basket mill wherein the process vessel may be used as a simple disperser.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a basket mill in which grinding of particles may be accomplished with reduced energy consumption.

The inventor has determined that the basic design of the prior art, as illustrated in FIG. 1, prohibits optimum efficiency, because the optimal rotational speed for the agitator assembly is not generally the same as that for the impeller. In this prior art device, the operator must strike a balance with the result being that the speed chosen is not the best for either purpose.

Thus the above objects and others are achieved in accordance with the invention by the agitator assembly being spun at an optimum and particular speed suited to the material being processed. In addition, the impeller is optimally spun at a particular speed independently of the agitator. The speed of either of these elements is determined by the slurry viscosity and specific gravity. In accordance with the invention, the agitator elements are driven by a first shaft and the impeller is driven by a separate second shaft, which is coaxial with the first shaft. The impeller shaft can spin inside a separation tube within the agitator shaft.

By virtue of the separate adjustability of the two critical speeds, the operator can choose separate optimal shaft speeds for both functions, each speed being the best to achieve the desired results.

In addition to the advantages of the new design as described, there are further advantages.

- 1. There is no stabilizer bushing in contact with the grinding media, thus greatly decreasing required maintenance.
- 2. Furthermore, with the new design, the machine can be operated as a simple disperser by spinning only the impeller shaft without starting the main grinding media agitator shaft. This is useful since it eliminates a prior step in the process where the slurry must first be mixed in a separate disperser machine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and other features of the present invention are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is cross sectional view of a prior art apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of apportion of an apparatus in accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a cross-sectional view of a basket 46 and related apparatus incorporating features of the present invention. Although the present invention will be described with reference to the single embodiment shown in the drawing, it should be understood that the present invention can be embodied in many alternate forms of embodiments. In addition, any suitable size, shape or type of elements or materials could be used.

Basket 46 may be utilized for grinding slurry 22 in a process vessel 10, as in FIG. 1. However, the structure is different than that of FIG. 1, as described below. A tubular agitator shaft 48, having pinned discs 49 extending radially therefrom to agitate the mixture in the basket 46, is rotated by a first electrical motor 50, within a drive assembly 31. Motor 50 has a shaft 51 and a pulley or gear 53 mounted for rotation with shaft 51. Pulley or gear 53 may be connected to shaft 48 by a belt or chain 52, respectively. An electrical speed control apparatus 54 controls the speed of rotation of motor 50, and therefore that of shaft 48. Shaft 48 has a planar cover 56 at its top to which a separation tube 58 is welded. Separation tube 58 is affixed to structural elements 60 of basket 46, supporting a lower wall screen 62. Separation tube 58 extends through an internal stabilizer bushing 64, which because of its position within separation tube 58, is not in contact with the grinding media and slurry within basket 46. Stabilizer bushing 64 receives within its internal opening, an impeller shaft 66, on which is mounted an impeller 68, positioned just below screen 62, so that when impeller 66 rotates, it causes slurry 22 to be drawn from the bottom of basket 46, into a process vessel 10 (FIG. 1) in which basket 46 is disposed. The other end of impeller shaft 66 extends through a bushing 70 in planar cover 56 to a second electrical drive motor 72 which rotates impeller shaft 66 at a speed determined by a second speed control apparatus 74. Thus, the rotational speeds of agitator shaft 48 and impeller shaft 66 may be independently controlled by input command or control values to speed control apparatus 54 and speed control apparatus 74, respectively. The rotational speed for grinding due to rotation of agitator shaft 48 can be optimized for a given slurry and the manner in which it is to be ground. Independently, the rate at which slurry is drawn into an opening 75 at the top 76 of basket 46, and thus circulated back out through bottom screen 62 and sidewall screen 63 is controlled by the separate rotational speed of impeller 68.

This independent rotational speed control has the advantage of optimizing the process of grinding the particles in the slurry to produce the best possible average particle size and size distribution, while, with proper adjustment, minimizing the amount of energy needed to grind the material. Further, as noted above, the invention has the advantages of not requiring a stabilizer bushing in contact with the grinding media, thus greatly decreasing required maintenance. In addition, the apparatus can be operated as a simple disperser by spinning only the impeller shaft without starting the main grinding media agitator shaft, thus eliminating a prior step in the process where the slurry must first be mixed in a separate dispersing machine.

It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances, which fall within the scope of the appended claims.