Nov- 16, 1943-
G. w. RATHJENS
2,334,217
SEPARATING MATERIAL, SEGREGATING MATERIAL AND CONTACTING MATERIAL
Filed Oct. 4, 1940
4 Sheets-Sheet l
7
(-3. H7199 THJE/Ms,
Nov. 16, 1943.
5. w, RATHJENS Y
2,334,21 7
SEPARATING MATERIAL, SEGREGATING MATERIAL AND CONTACTING MATERIAL
.Filed Oct. 4, 1940 ,
4 Sheets-Sheet 2
(Ittorncg
Nov. 16, 1943. '
G.‘ w. RATHJENS
2,334,217
SEPARATING MATERIAL, SEGREGATING ‘MATERIAL AND CONTACTING MATERIAL
Filed Oct. 4, 1940
4 Sheets-Sheet 5
Nov. 16, 1943.
G, w. RATHJENS
2,334,217 '
SEPARATING MATERIAL, SEGREGATING MATERIAL AND CONTACTING MATERIAL
Filed 001:. 4, 1940
4 Sheets-She'et 4
uNmhwmI
3
6. H4164 THJE/Vs,
Patented Nov. 16, 1,943
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2,334,217
' UNITED 'MsTArEjs
‘
SEPAKATING
‘2,334,211
‘MATERIALS,'*SEGREGATING'
~
MATERIALS,‘ AND CON'IACTINGE"I‘MATERI-'v
ALS.
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‘ George w, Rathjens,‘ SaltlLake City‘, Utah
‘1 Application‘october 4, 1940, SerialrNo'. 359,783
*8 chains. ‘('01. ans-1a)‘;
This invention‘relates to’a method and appara- ‘
tus ‘for separatin‘gmaterials, segregating‘ mate‘
rials and contacting non-coherent ‘materials'ca
pable of being dispersed in a‘?uid. Forces are de
By this means aplane of shear is developed with—
#'in ‘the-material mass, the location of- this plane of '
shear being'determined ‘by vari'ou's’factors‘.
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' ‘"The‘motion of the said surfaces is reciprocative
and develops the signi?cant shear-‘intermittently,
not continuously, that‘is to‘say, only‘on the back
ward‘stroke.‘ ~Thede‘gre'e of change in packing of
th‘eTpar'ticles immediately in front of the auxiliary,
surface; orith‘e'number of particles being: brought
rials are utilized, is novel. " I
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In separating different‘ materials from one an 10' :into‘contact with saidrauxili'ary surface, is great
other, such for example, as precious metals ‘from I er during that unit of time in which shear is ef
fected in the mass, than during the portion oftime
alluvial sands or gravel's, I have discovered that
Veloped whose underlying principles are'similar
in some respects to‘tho'se disclosed in my‘United
States Patent No. ‘2,097,422, but the manner ‘in
which the force or forces acting upon the mate:
the nature or degree of packing between ‘and ‘
among the different“ particles of which the mass
is composed,'plays an important part. By close-i
ly. controlling the tenden'cyto pack, new "results in
the various . separating, segregating‘ and ‘contact
ing operations are attained‘. The invention‘con
templates the employment of a nu'mber'of inter- ‘
‘when such shear is not being developed. ‘ ’ l
In‘theadrawings,»
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‘ . ‘Fig.1 is a‘ diagram representing in vertical sec
:tion takenlalongthe line‘ of action, approximately '
‘a dispersion of. material“ particles ratjthe beginning
ofa cycle‘of reciprocative motiony‘
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"I ‘t Fig. 2,.a v'diagramsimilar tovFig.‘ 1, but repre-Y'
related vibratory forces among which,'~'“at-least e20 senting approximately the further dispersion of one force stands’ characteristically apart, since it
‘ can be de?nitely controlled.
This characteristic
force-has a vertical component which acts in a di- '
rection counter to the force of gravity.
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i The material to be operatedupon‘is advanta
geously caused to advance along‘ a‘main or “pri
mary surface because of ‘the vibratory =motion
thereof, until at‘the properpoint, at least aipor
‘ tion ofthe advancing materialisintercepted by ,
~ anwauxiliary or secondary surface which‘isain- 'r
clined. relatively to the vertical, ‘and slopes uD- ‘
wardly and forwardly with respect to the advanc
the particles after the motion cycle has reached a
'point‘ a-frac'tiomlessithan"one-half ‘a motion;
. . Fig.4, a diagram similar toFigs; 1 andf2,l?but ‘
‘representing‘approximately the packing of parti
cles‘in a'triangular zone of action after ‘a fraca
tional cyclic motion‘v greater than one-half a cycle
,has occurred;
material.‘v
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The material has'impressed upon‘its constitu
ent'particles, “a :certainv directional forcevwhich ;
causes the particles to move along and‘ over the
main surface, and in so doingto meet and contact
the auxiliary surface or surfaces. J Because‘of the
resistance oifered by. the auxiliary surface or ‘sur
faces to the moving particles, the material is com- .
pacted. In consequence. of all the‘forces acting
upon them, the particles immediately in front of
an auxiliary surfacebecome packed to a greater
or lesser degree. The fact of this packing; how
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‘ Fig.15, ‘an elevation, partly in l0ngitudinal,.ver
ticaLsection taken on- theline _5-‘-5, Fig. 6. through
a machinesuitable for practicing the process;
I, , ig.~_6, a'plan, partlyjinhorizontal-section, tak
enontheline6-¢-6inFig.5;
. 1;“
V Fig. '7, a fragmentary‘horizontal‘sectioi1,tak—
en on theline 14-1, Fig. 5, drawn to anenlarged
scale;
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Fig, ,8,’ a vertical section taken on the line 87-8,
9, ‘a’vertical section taken on the line 9+9,
ever, does not mean that the particles are entirely . -:
Fig. 15,idrawnmto approximately the same scale as
deprived of mobility. but on the contrary, the tend
ency to pack in reality assists ina continual‘re
‘Figs. 7‘ and _8, the screen and parts intheback
assortment of the frontal particles of the material
mass, and also in a corresponding consolidation of.
other portions of the material. » Such consolida- u
,groundbeing omitted;
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. Fig‘. ‘10, a longitudinaLvertical sectionsimilar
f to Fig. 5, but showing a machine of 2 somewhat
different ‘construction; I,
tion is brought about by moving the material along
Fig.- )ll, agplan of an individual
the ‘main surface. and bringing itv into » contact
with the‘ auxiliary surface which has , its , sig
.,Fi_g,_10, drawnjto an enlarged scale;
. ni?cant motion in a directionacountert to the. di-.
reotion of motion ‘of the material in a half ,cyclai.
V
particles, and showingalso, a- compound auxiliary
@surface instead of the simple auxiliary'surface ‘of
-Figs.>1to,3;.
ing
;
in vertical ‘section; represent
.ing ;a disposition ‘off-forces, acting‘ upon: certain
. - Fig.4; a diagram
v
‘
pan of
- v
F‘figs. 12>and 13, ,verticalsections takenrespec
tively on the lines »l_-2—-l2qand l3e—'l‘3;in' Fig-.ll;
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2,334,217
Fig. 14, another construction of the ri?ie pan
in the portion enclosed 'by the broken line I4 in
Fig. 12, drawn to an enlarged scale.
over the main surface, the line of Ireciprocative
7 Referring to the drawings, the line 20-20 in
Figs. 1, 2 and 3, represents a datum plane. The
' numeral 2| denotes a main or deck surface which
0
force must have a horizontal component, and the
direction of travel of the material over the main _'
surface, must be towards the acute angle formed
by the intersection of the line of action of the
is preferably substantially plane and is disposed
reciprocative force with its horizontal component,
the said acuteangle being located above the
to move upand down, in suitable relation .to. thev
horizontal component.
datum pane N advantageously: ' in 1 rarallellismi
with“.
.
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-. In’ actual Practice the auxiliary surface 22 is
.10 limited inv its upward extent, and its upper edge
.
. In Fig. 1, the main surface 2| is shown in cor,
incidence with the datum plane 20-40.
naturally transverse to the line of reciproca
tion. In being reciprocated, the said transverse
In Fig. 2. the main surface slicwncazftet" _ vupper edgemoves along the line of reciprocation,
has descended from the datum"planev .a; :distance?
thereby genera-ting a surface that may con
corresponding to less than one-half a cycle of 15 veniently be called a surface of “shear.” If the
motion.
said transverse upper edge is substantially
InvFig. 3, the main surface is shown ‘in’ a posi- '
tion where it has completed moreithanloneehalf
a cycleof motion and where it is on itsway back
to the initial position in the datum plane.
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/'Ihc.mainsuriace 2.1! vinterscctc-ri; bran auxii
iary nine-surmise; 22; which. disposed. :in. other
straight‘, the‘ surface of shear is plane, and may ,
be..-'cal?ed: a. “shear plane.” In Figs. 1 to 3, the
line 24 indicates the trace of such a shear plane.
Theterm “shear” is derived from the fact that
the upper edgecf the auxiliary surface, because
of the inertia of the. mass, of material, shears
than a vertical: :pcsiticn, but so. .thatrit slopes
through the particles in- Which-‘it is submerged. I
. upwardly in the direction’ iii-motion of material
II1§BParatineand;/Qr segregating-materials. the
particles. trawling; ‘.cmer' at e: main surface and 52.5 sheanplane. auxiliary surface, and: the main. sur
forms an obtuse-angled riilicepoclsetmirhe ‘main
faceintFies. '1: to 3.-tcgether, usually- de?ne; a
and; auxiliary surfaces arclavreferably?xed ‘ire-la
‘ tively to ‘each; other andmovc-a's‘a ,un'it; ‘mus
unitis. necipmeated along a line-whichais located
archer angular relationship to: =both; themain
surfaceandthe
The main surface
auxiliary
,21 at zero2
surface.
hour- coincides
1 I
. with
the datum;plane-2.0-..—;2.0 invFig. I1‘. AtJzem hour
plus a fraction of‘ a cycle less-‘than. oneeha'lf of
‘prismatic zone of triangular acl‘QSB-S??tioll, and; it
is__,in this ‘zone, that the- principal characteristic
actions
are
manifested.
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, In using; the invention. ‘for contacting purposes,
such as passingecld particles, including very ?ne
5.615;: overamalgam plates, the amalgam plates
are advantageously placed so. that the-planes
thercef. are substantially coincident or parallel,
said ‘cycle, the main surface @M: twill-{have .ria?with the line‘ of; action of the. appliedforce. In
descended’ in: a backward ‘stroke-townie position
may, the gold: is; caused to merely skim over
shown-in
'2: "Sincejthe- auxiliary: surface; 22 '
the-amalgam: surface; and yet to effectively con
is normally ?xed inre'lation to-iihem-ain: surface,
tact theecme,
accomplishing- perfect amal...
the auxiliary. surface,
a-backwand strioke-v ‘will
carnation-slime .eoldwzithout causing the mercury
have moved’ from the‘ position
Fig'. 1"to
1 40
te-l‘f?euri’
' position ZZ'Yin'Fig. 2'.
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~. hiss, 51th 14. illustrate apparatus for carrying
auxiliary
The unit;
surface
moves.in
along
a downstroke
‘the’
'lfbrwheneby'
is caused‘ to
- cut through amassof material particles 21~Ialong
invention: into practica'a certain construc- . I‘
tion'hcingshown in Figs. 5. andr?, andanother
in Fig. 10. t The one in Figsklii and 6' comprises
.» thesrline Z4‘. Inethisportionof zt'hegcycle, materials
the reciprocating cxmtainer'or sluice-30 Whose
immediately above-the main surfaoearetdescend- ‘
“bottom. 32!; *1 provides the- main surface 2=I'--l.
‘snarled apart from one-another along the main
surfacearefa pluralityv of ri?ies which provide
.ing, many. ofthem verticallyr- The action of the
auxiliary surface in its downward and backward
movementis to. interceptithose particles in its
zonev of: influence rsoaas ‘to pack‘ "the-"material
' ,closer- and‘. at the same time 'to1sub;i'ect"theipar
theauxiliary' surfaces 22-4. 7'
.
~ .ifI‘heis-luice is. mounted for reciprocation along
the line .ofaction “as indicated by the ‘double
pointed :ai'row'l?; and‘ is supported on the flex‘
ible vibrators 35 and 35, the vibrators being in
tnrnisupported. on the ‘base members-31'.“ Recip
> ' The vertical arrows? 28in Fig} 4' represent'ithe 5.5 nocator-y-motion maybe imparted to thersluice
ticles which are being ‘brought intoicontact‘with
such auxiliary surfaces, to the action or the forces
represented ‘by lines=2=5-and~25—-l' inFig. 4.1
resultants o-fiall- forcesacting/vertically: on the '
particles'during that vportion ‘of-the‘ cycle- ln~ which
the forces~25 and 25l—..l;~-also‘aot ‘on tthe"!"s‘ajlrie
particles.
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‘In'Fig. 3 are- represented the positions of the
main surface and ‘the auxiliary’ surface éitfthe
any'suitabl'e ‘means, for example, a centrii.L 7' ‘
fugally actuated‘, reciprocatory motivating unitv
!3B.%,".of"'which there are several Well known and
commercially available ‘types in everyday use.
The-particular'unit illustrated‘ in Figs. 5 and 6
comprises; centrifugal weights 39 and 40 disposed '
time/in ‘the-cycle which is equalrto zero hounplus
‘to revolve ‘around theirespective centers H and
a fraction of a cycle greater ‘than one-haflff‘ It
will be noted that during'this'portion of the cycle,
other.
while thehuxiliar‘y- surface is again jinovipg-u-p
ward and forward; the forces; 25' and v‘25-4 in
Fig. 4, are not being developed with respect ‘to
the partieleimniedia-tely adjacent or contacting
‘ the auxiliary surface.
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The forces 25 and 25-__|-,1actei“gj on‘ the particle
because of the obstructing nature of “the auxiliary
or barrier surface ?lk'canbereducedto zero; or
- they» can, be‘ increased at will- from the zero value,
< until their5'di-reetion- is horizontal.
In order to cause material ‘particles to move
42,: the Weights. 'being?intergeared. with each
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The mechanism ‘of- the reciprocatory- motivat
ing‘unilt3 is'usually enclosed in- a ‘casing #3, which
in turnimay belrigidly mounted on the sluice 30,
las-lindci':a'rted at“, and receive-its power from a
'
byiqneans- of the respective pulleys if!
andi'il?gland the belts 49. f The motor may be
rigidlymountéd on a stationary frame 53 ex
?tending‘upwardly- from the base-*mem-bers 3-1.
It isadvantageous‘that a line 5|‘ which connects
the-“centersoff the» motor and‘ the reciprocatory'
motivating unit- to? "one another, should make
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2,334,217
shortarc about, the ‘axis of. the motor shaft ‘52,
The .b'acks‘1B‘-l ofv the ri?lepan‘s may slope
upwardly‘as required, and be provided with ad
justable and removable .riiiles ‘l9, adjustment be
this’ are is substantially"equivalent'to ‘a short ,
ing effected for example, by ‘r‘neansof. bolts 11
substantially a right angle with the line‘ ‘of. ac- >
tion 32 so that, while the center'M‘describes a
tangent described by the point ref-‘intersection v5 in‘conjunction with slots 8|, In the event that
the inclination of ri?le;faces,~which constitute
between lines. 32 and 51".; The belts may betené
sioned by means .of a spring takerup 53,;
The length of a-stroke of, the reciprocating
auxiliary surfaces, as hereinbefore referred to,
1 ‘should require to be changed, wedge-shaped bars
sluice is governed. by the total weight of the sluice.
may be used. Wedges, such as theone at.88 of
10 different angular. magnitudes may be ‘ supplied,
including itsliveload, relative to'the centrifugal
weights of the reciprocatory.motivating..unit.
and a great variety of slopes be therebybbtained»
Each wedge may provide ‘two different slopes,
one when the small part of the wedge is. at the
This means that in‘ designing.a,machine,qthei
dead and live Weights of thersl‘uice, the rate of
speed of the reciprocation, and the effect of-the
bottom as indicated‘in Fig. 14, and'another when
centrifugal weights must all be ‘correlated with 15 the same wedge is inverted ‘(not shown).
onea'nothenf.
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Referring »to Figs. 6 and 9,, the purpose of lon- .
gitudinal partitions such as the one at 62, which
.
The sluice in the present instance is'designed
for. handling placer sands ‘and gravels, and to
divides the sluice into separate. compartments, is
to provide for‘ emergencies occurring. at times
such as water, indicated at 54, which submerges‘ 20 when‘ a sluice is used in conjunction withplacer
mining dredges. 'Such dredges' are‘ frequently
the rif?es- including the, auxiliary surfaces 22--l‘.
subject .to considerable listing, ‘and when that
The. depth of'the water may be regulated by an
adjustable over?ow device 56, which is provided ~ takes place, the liquid tends all to run to one side
this end forms a co'ntainerfor a suitable. liquid 1
of the sluice. - By providing the longitudinal par
with adjustable side-plates 57 and a cover .58.
The overflow device discharges into a trough 25 titions, the liquid is kept from running to the
59 which conveys the. overflowing matter to any
one side,‘ since it builds up .‘i‘neach compartment
suitable point of disposal (not shown)'.
somewhatjas indicated. by the broken lines '90.
While only one partition 62 is shown‘, it is to be
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Optional features of the sluice ‘include .the
understood that in a sluice of considerable width,
screen or other perforated grid 60, 'andcne or
more longitudinally extendingpartitions B2, vby 30 it may be advantageous to use two or more longi-‘
means of which latter the sluice is divided into a
tudinal
partitions.
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..,An important consideration in the invention,
is that the speed of operation shall be extremely
ments 63, the‘jpurpose of the partitionappearing
rapid, since otherwise, the‘ auxiliary surfaces
In operation, the material to be separated may 35 hereinbefore described,‘ cannotfunction properly.
I ?x-the minimum speed of reciprocation at a
be brought to the. machine by‘means of a con
rate such that in a down-stroke, the liquid in" the
veyor indicated ‘in broken lines' at 64.‘ The con
container must descend 'at least faster thanwould
veyor may ‘discharge .intofa hopper K55,v from
be its fall in'the same ‘down-‘stroke because'of
which the material is discharged upon the screen
6i] along ‘which, in the‘present instance, the rela -4,0 the action of gravity alone.‘ ‘ In other words, the
distancethat the liquid, and therefore the auxil- ‘
tively coarse material is propelled in the direc
iary or‘ packing surfaces also,‘ falls in a down
tion of the arrow‘, 61, "while the ?ner material
stroke, must‘be at'least ‘equal ‘to '1/2gt2.
passes through the screen and drops into the‘
plurality of longitudinally extending compart
presently.
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body of liquid 54).
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‘ It is also important in the invention, thattall
- undue vibration be eliminated, and to this end
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Because. of the peculiar. vibratory motion and
a high rate of reciprocation ‘imparted to 'the
I have evolved a'high speed reciprocatory system
sluice, as more fully explained. hereinafter, cer- ‘
in which the formation of moments or couples
tain portions of the material beingtreated, ac
cumulate in fro-ntoffthe auxiliary surfaces 22-!
is practically overcome; This system is described '
in accordance“ with the principles explained. in '
connection with Figs, 1 to 4, andcertain other
portions ‘of the material pass overthe ri?les and
emerge at the point 68, being there joined‘by such
portions as pass over the'screen‘ 60. From the
point 68 the rejected‘portions'are discharged ‘
from the sluice at the point 69.
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‘Make-up water may’advantageouslybe sup~
plied from a.‘ tank '10 and'be fed to the sluice
through the pipe 'H controlled for example, by
a valve 12 having its discharge at ‘13. .After the
machine has been running‘ a certain length, of
time ‘sui?cientj to collect the desired product in “
front of the auxiliary surfaces 22—|, this prod
uct may be flushed out through the stop-cocks
seywhich discharge‘into the trough 59,_‘and be
recovered at a suitable point.-
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The apparatus shown in FigsQlO to 14, intro
duces various differences in details of construc
tion. In this case;'the‘bottom 14‘ of the vibra
tory sluice 15', is substantially‘level instead of
sloping as in the'case ‘of the ‘sluice in Fig. 5, and
is provided‘vwith removable rif?e pans 76, these
being rigidly fastened in the‘sluice‘by means of
bolts 18 which extend‘through the‘bottom of ‘the
sluice.
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in an‘ application for U. S. "patent whose ?ling
date is even with that of the‘ present application.
The fundamental consideration in this recipro
catory system is that the center of gravity of ‘the ‘
dead ‘load of the sluice, is calculated separately
from the center of‘ gravity of the live] load there
of, and that the resultant center of gravity ‘of
both the dead and live loads, shall be located in
the ‘line of action of the appliedlmotive force.
‘An important consideration of the invention is
to give the proper value to the gravity eifectof
to
the live load during ‘its reciprocation.v;I have
‘ discovered that . when high speeds of reciproca
tion, are attained, such as those necessary. to
'cause the liquid medium to descend in a down
stroke a distance greater than 1/2gt2,'the live load
during reciprocation exerts only a fractional part
of its actual weightupon the container. There
fore, inlocating ‘the center of gravity of the‘live- ,
loadmasafl have‘ found‘that it is necessary‘to
re‘gardj ‘thisjmass as‘ being held in‘fsuspension, ‘
therebyreducin‘g its weight ‘effect to ‘as little as‘
one-'third,"or even less, of the weighteffect of the
normally static'live-loaclweight. This procedure
makes a veryperceptible change in the location
of the dynamic or liveiloadcenter of gravity from
that'of‘the‘ static live-loadcenter of gravity.
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25334317
:The' location'offthe live-load- center oifgravity
may‘ be: arrived. at empirical'ly,rthat isto say, by
said' deck‘ surface ‘so ‘as-to undercut advancing
materials and form ' an< obtuse-angled rime
cut-‘andetry procedure, * and highly ‘satisfactory
rcsults'obtainedi _'
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Barriers 9f, Figs.~ 5 and 6',- extending .trans- f‘.
versely of the" screen or 'p'erforate'd'surface 66,
may advantageouslybe provided for packing at
given points, they advancing material} particles
larger than“ the openings in the screen‘ or perfo
surface, makingv an acute angle with said deck
surface, the said‘mat‘erialsbeing thereby caused
rated surface, the packing being‘ intermittently
changedbecause of; the reciprocating motion al
ready‘ described herein.
‘
to advance across ‘said deck surface againstzthe f
‘acute angle and, upward slope of said.‘ auxiliary ‘
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ri?ie-surface, and the upper 'edge of said auxih
iary ri?e-surface being-thereby caused to gener;
ate-‘a shear plane through the said materials at
for'con?ning the outward splashtof the contents
thereof during operation.
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Brie?y summarizing the method of the inven
tion, amaterialr capable of being dispersed in a
liquid, is 'fed .onto‘a main surface‘ or deck" sub,~
merged by the liquid. The material is advanced
in serrated paths along the submerged surface‘ to
a given point, and during its advancing-travel is
subjected-to. certain separative and/or segregative
in?uences, because of the peculiar reciproc'ative
motion‘ imparted to the submerged surface. The
each down-stroke of the container,‘
along a line having both a vertical and a hori
zontal component at least so rapidly that‘ the
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'2‘. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the
said means‘ for reciprocating the containerjis
effective to move the container so rapidly that
the liquid medium contained thereby descends in
a down-stroke a distance at least equal to‘, 1@9132. ‘
3. Apparatus‘ according to claim 1, wherein the ~
formation of'the serrated paths- is‘ fully set forth =
in U. 8-. Patent No. ‘21,097,422; -The peculiar" mo
tion: is the result of reciprocatnigtth'e surface‘
pocket; ‘means-for reciprocatingvth'e container
in. tip-strokes and down-strokes, alternating one
with another, and‘ along'a line having a vertical
component ~and a- horizontal component'gand
which slopesupwardly-in the same direction‘ as
the upward slope of the said auxiliary riliie-1
line of action of the said means for reciprocating
the container passes substantially through the
combined centers of gravity of the dead load and . >
of the livev load, inclusive of’ thev said liquidv
medium.
.
4. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the
vertical is equal to the aforesaid 1/29't2. Arriving ,30 said auxiliary rif?e-surface is substantially par
allel with the line of
‘at the given point, certain desired portions of the
material are intermittently packed against a bar
rier or auxiliary surface which intersects the
main surface and is inclined upwardly‘ in the
direction'of advance of. the material.
The aux‘- ‘
iliary surface is also subject to the said peculiar
reciprocative motion.
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The reciprocating motion causes a continual
change in; packing of. the material, the expression
force.
action of the applied motive
5. Apparatus for separating; segregating, and 1
contacting materials capable of being dispersed
, within a liquid medium, .including in combina
tion, a container adapted to con?ne a liquid me:
dium and having a deck surface disposed to be '
submerged by the" said liquid medium; means for
reciprocating the container in up-strokes' and
“change in packing” .being used to denote. a 40 down-strokes, alternating one with another, and '
along a line havingla vertical component and a
change in the number of solid units in unit vol
horizontal component, and which makes an acute
ume of material, either plus or minus-snore open
angle with the said deck surface, the said mate-,
packing if mi-nus-~-'closerv packing if plus. ~The
rials being thereby caused to advance'across said
zone of packing action is bounded at-le'ast‘ par
deck surface in the direction of the upward slope
tially by an imaginary shearing surface; and a
of said line‘ of reciprocation, the said line of ac
surface of maximum packing. The novel pack
ing result is _accomplished because the tendency
of the different material particles is to ascend the
inclined, auxiliarysurface in characteristically
different degrees.
'
'
'
In the instance of Fig. 10;‘ the motivating unit
88 is somewhat di?'erent from the one shown in
Fig. 5, but effects a similar result, being rigidly
mounted at ill on the sluice 15; This motivating
unit includes the centrifugal weightslli and. 83-,
and may be driven from a stationary motor‘ M.
‘Thetlevelrof- the l'iquidilSv may be maintained
substantially _'constant by providing the overflow
opening 86.
.
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_
I
tion of the said means for reciprocating the con
tainer passing substantially throughthe com
bined centers of gravity‘ of the dead load and of
the live load, inclusive of the'said liquid medium.
6. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the
center of gravity‘ of the live' load is considered
from the standpoint of the effective weight of
the live load duringrates of reciprocation such
in Cl ‘ that the liquid medium descends in a down-stroke
a distance greater than 1(quiz.
_'7. Apparatus for separating, segregating, and
contacting materials capable of being dispersed
within a liquid medium, including in combina
tion, a container adapted to con?nea liquid me
'lg'he line of action 81 of the motivatingforce is 60 dium and having a'deck surface disposed to be
substantially perpendicular‘ to the line 89 which
submerged by the said liquid medium; an auxil- ‘
joins the centers of the ‘motivating unit and
iai'y
ri?le-surface which intersects the said deck
motor in ‘its mean position.
Having fully described my‘inv'ention what I
claim vis:
'
‘
r
_
‘
‘ 1"; Apparatus for separating,‘segregating, and
contacting materials capable ‘of being dispersed
withina liquid medium, including in combination,
a container adapted to con?ne aliquid medium
andh’aving a deck surface disposed to be sub
mergedf‘by the said liquid medium; an auxiliary
rif?e-surface whi'ch‘int'ersects the said, deck sur
' I face, intermediate the boundary edges thereof, in
an acute ‘angle and ‘slopes upwardly relative“ to 4'
surface, intermediate the boundary edges thereof,
in an acute angle and slopes upwardly relative
to said deck surface so as to undercut advancing
materials and form an obtusevangled ri?le pocket;
means for reciprocating the container in up? _
strokes and down-strokes, valternating one with
another, and alongaline having a vertical com- »
ponent' and a horizontal component and, which
slopes upwardly in the same direction as the
upward slope of the said auxiliary ri?l'e-surface, _
making an acute angle with saiddeck surface,
the said'materials being thereby caused toad-7'
2,334,217
vance across said deck surface against‘the acute
angle and upward slope of said‘auxiliary ri?le
surface, and the upper edge of said auxiliary
ri?le-surface being thereby caused to gener
ate a shear plane through the said mate
rials at each down-stroke of the container,
5 ,
live load being considered from the standpoint of
> the e?ective weight of‘ the live load during rates
of ‘reciprocation such that the liquid medium de
scends in a down-stroke a distance greater than
1/2gt2.
the line of action of the said means for
8. Apparatus according to claim '7, wherein the
said auxiliary ri?e-surface is substantially par
reciprocating the container passing substantially
allel with the line of action of the applied motive
force.
through the combined centers of gravity of the
dead load and of the live‘load, inclusive of the 10
said liquid medium, the center of gravity of the
GEORGE W. RATHJENS. ‘