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US 12,766,520 B2Granted
Milling device and process
AssigneeFood Process Engineering Pty Ltd
InventorsAxel Guenther Andre, Bryant Hedley Ham
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A milling device includes a housing having a flow path for conveying feed material through the housing, and a spindle extending into the housing and mounted on bearings that are at least partly shielded from the flow path. A rotor is disposed on the spindle and has two or more blades for impacting the feed material and for driving the feed material about the housing to cause autogenous milling thereof. A wall formation is arranged at a spacing about the spindle and delimits a plenum chamber about the spindle so that the bearings and the spindle are at least partly shielded from the flow path by the wall formation and the plenum chamber.
Claims18
A milling device that includes:
- a housing having a flow path for conveying feed material through the housing;
- a spindle extending into the housing and mounted on bearings that are at least partly shielded from the flow path;
- a rotor disposed on the spindle in the housing, the rotor having two or more blades for impacting the feed material and for driving the feed material about the housing to cause autogenous milling thereof;
- a wall formation arranged at a spacing about the spindle in the housing and delimiting a plenum chamber about the spindle so that the bearings and the spindle are at least partly shielded from the flow path by the wall formation and the plenum chamber;
- the housing having a feed inlet for supplying the feed material upstream of the rotor, and a product outlet downstream of the rotor;
- wherein the wall formation includes a rear wall and a baffle extending from the rear wall toward the spindle and toward the rear surface of the rotor, and the plenum chamber is located at least in part between the baffle and the spindle;
- and
- wherein operation of the rotor creates a pressure gradient in the housing with a reduced pressure zone in a central region of the housing, and a clearance gap between the baffle and the spindle and/or the rotor allows restricted passage of air to be drawn through the clearance gap which in turn draws air into the plenum chamber through an air inlet to generate air flow through the plenum chamber.
5 more elements
A milling device that includes:
- a housing having a flow path for conveying feed material through the housing;
- a spindle extending into the housing and mounted on bearings that are at least partly shielded from the flow path;
- a rotor disposed on the spindle in the housing, the rotor having two or more blades for impacting the feed material and for driving the feed material about the housing to cause autogenous milling thereof;
- a wall formation arranged at a spacing about the spindle in the housing and delimiting a plenum chamber about the spindle so that the bearings and the spindle are at least partly shielded from the flow path by the wall formation and the plenum chamber;
- the housing having a feed inlet for supplying the feed material upstream of the rotor, and a product outlet downstream of the rotor;
- wherein the milling device has a classifying ring that extends inward toward the spindle from the housing, and wherein the classifying ring has an operating position on the housing relative to the rotor, wherein the operating position is adjustable, and wherein the classifying ring has an inclined surface extending from a sidewall of the housing at an angle and away from a rear surface of the rotor.
3 more elements
A milling device that includes:
- a housing having a flow path for conveying feed material through the housing;
- a spindle extending into the housing and mounted on bearings that are at least partly shielded from the flow path;
- a rotor disposed on the spindle in the housing, the rotor having two or more blades for impacting the feed material and for driving the feed material about the housing to cause autogenous milling thereof;
- a wall formation arranged at a spacing about the spindle in the housing and delimiting a plenum chamber about the spindle so that the bearings and the spindle are at least partly shielded from the flow path by the wall formation and the plenum chamber;
- the housing having a feed inlet for supplying the feed material upstream of the rotor, and a product outlet downstream of the rotor;
- wherein the milling device has a first cooling assembly for cooling the spindle extending into the housing, and in turn for cooling a lubricant of the bearings of the spindle, and the milling device includes a first temperature sensor that detects a temperature of the spindle, and a first adjustor for adjusting a flow of a cooling medium through the first cooling assembly based on an output of the first temperature sensor.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.