Integrated diverter and waste comminutor

Details Integrated diverter and waste comminutor Integrated diverter and waste comminutor

1998-04-06

2001-09-04

Eley, Timothy V. (Department: 3723)

Solid material comminution or disintegration

Apparatus

Including means applying fluid to material

C241S046060, C241S236000

Reissue Patent

active

RE037349

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the screening of an effluent having solid matter and the divisions of that solid matter to a grinding unit for purposes of size reduction. As is well known in waste water treatment, there are many environments where large volumes of liquid require initial processing for purposes of coarse screening so that large solid objects are diverted from the effluent stream and their size reduced by a grinding unit. The material, now of a reduced size, is either removed at the point of reduction of re-introduced into the stream for further processing downstream.
This invention is an improvement over the technology disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,346. The '346 patent itself represented a significant improvement over prior vertically oriented belt screens which were typically used in waste water treatment plants for the purposes of removing solids from a liquid flow. Those prior devices thus utilized rakes, belts or the like which moved at an angle generally vertical, and therefore perpendicular to the fluid flow in a vertical plane. This resulted in undesirable hydrostatic effects in addition to propensity of such systems to clog and require a considerable amount of power for purposes of lifting solid materials.
The '346 technology departed from this prior technique by placing a horizontally moving screen directly in the effluent flow with an adjacent macerator (grinder) disposed in that flow to receive solids that were diverted by the screen. Consequently, the screen allowed fluid to pass through it but at the same time presented a barrier for solid matter that could not pass through the screening elements. That solid matter was then diverted to one side of the effluent flow where it was then ground into smaller particles and then those particles placed back into the stream for substantive downstream processing.
A variant of the screening technique utilizing interleaved discs is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,380. The '380 also utilizes a solid grinder placed on one side of the screening unit.
A common deficiency with prior screening systems is that they were powered separately, using drive units separate from that of the grinding unit. In many installations the screen itself need not have that independent source of power. However, in the prior art the screening unit was considered to be a device separate from that of the grinding unit although, once installed they operated as a single system.
Another disadvantage in the prior art is that the placement of the grinding unit relative to the screening unit becomes critical for efficiency in the system. By having separate mounting frames, positioning and proper orientation became difficult to maintain across a matrix of different channel configurations. Prior systems employed internal deflectors inside the screen cylinder to use water flow for the purpose of removing debris from the screen surface and into the cutter. The internal deflector, while functional, added a degree of complication. Moreover, prior systems generally required the use of side rails on the cylinder side of the grinder. The use of the side rail tended to promote the passage of waste material through the grinder without clogging but is an expensive component to such systems.
Additionally, prior art systems tended to utilize screens mounted in separate frames adding additional elements and complicated geared/drive mechanisms.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Given the deficiencies in the prior art it is an object of this invention to provide an integrated diverter and grinder unit that is of simple construction and easily maintained.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide an integrator diverter and grinder unit which has a single drive motor for rotating the diverter and driving the cutter unit.
A further object of this invention is to provide a combined diverter and grinder unit which may be powered either electrically, hydraulically or otherwise and has the ability to position the cutter unit on either side of the diverter unit in an integrated common mounting that, is affixed directly in the waste water channel.
These and other objects of this invention are accomplished by means of an integrated system which utilizes a common mounting structure for both the diverter screen and the grinding unit. Both the grinding unit and the screen are powered by a common drive source, typically an electric motor or hydraulic unit. Preferably the screen is in the form of a cylinder positioned so that its outer circumferential surface is substantially tangential to a circle drawn to circumscribe the elements of an adjacent cutter blade assembly. The screen may be placed at either the right or the left of the grinder unit. Alternatively, a pair of diverter cylinders can be employed with the grinder unit positioned in the center, again with both cylinders driven by a common drive source off the grinding unit.
The preferred drive arrangement utilizes a sprocket set up between the driven grinder shaft and the screen cylinder shaft by means of a chain. An advantage of having a common drive system is that if the grinder is reversed, direction of rotation of the screen will also automatically reverse. This set up eliminates the requirement existing in the prior art for separate motors, motor controls and interfaces between the grinder and the diverter screen.
This invention will be described in greater detail by referring to the drawings and the description of the preferred embodiment which follows.


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Brochure entitled “Dimminutor—Specifications and Dimensions”, 1 page, date unknown (see IDS).
Instruction manual for Type “A” Barminutor Screening and Comminuting Machine, Chicago Pump, 20 pages, date unknown (see IDS).
Brochure for Ecodyne Comminutors, 2 pages, date unknown (see IDS).
Chicago Pump Comminutor Brochure, 3 pages, date unknown (see IDS).
Epco Comminutor Brochure, 4 pages, date unknown (see IDS).
Brochure by TLB Corporation, Comminutors—Treatment Plants, Lift Stations, Boost Systems, 2 pages, date unknown (see IDS).
Brochure entitled “Dimminutor—Open Channel Comminutor”, 3 pages, date unknown (see IDS).
Robbins Myers Brochure entitled “Moyno Pipeliner—Effective Solution to Tough Conditioning Problems”, 2 pages, date unknown (see IDS).
Brochure entitled “Fallova Shredder Co., Inc.”, 3 pages, date unknown (see IDS).
“Screening Equipment Handbook”, by Tom M. Pankratz, 1995, Chapters 8 and 9, one misc. page, and pages 178, 179, 183-196, 200-203.

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