Axially reciprocating tubular ball mill grinding device and method
AssigneeMonsanto Technology LLC
InventorKevin L. Deppermann
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A tubular vessel is loaded with a combination of grinding media and a material to be ground. The vessel is capped to contain the grinding media and material therein. Grinding of the contained material is effectuated by reciprocating the capped vessel in a direction parallel to its longitudinal axis. The grinding media may comprise either a ball or a slug, and may further utilizing a plurality of balls, perhaps of different sizes. To increase volume, a plurality of vessels may be gathered together into a sample holder. The sample holder is them reciprocated in a direction parallel to the axes of the included vessels.
Claims39
A ball mill, comprising:
- a tubular vessel for containing grinding media and a material to be ground, the tubular vessel having an axis;
- and
- a drive mechanism that induces a linear reciprocating movement of the tubular vessel substantially along the axis of the vessel to grind the contained material by moving the grinding media back and forth within the tubular vessel.
A ball mill, comprising:
- a sample holder comprised of a plurality of vessels, each vessel having a tubular configuration and a longitudinal axis about which an interior for performing ball grinding is defined;
- and
- means for reciprocating the sample holder in a direction substantially parallel to axes of the plurality of vessels within the sample holder.
A ball mill vessel, comprising:
- a cylinder having a longitudinal axis and a bore extending from a first end of the cylinder along the longitudinal axis and terminating prior to a second end of the cylinder to form an integral cap at the second end;
- and
- a cap including an insert portion sized and shaped for insertion into the bore at the first end of the cylinder.
A ball mill vessel, comprising:
- a tube having a longitudinal axis and an opening extending from a first end of the tube to a second end of the tube;
- and
- a first cap to cover the first end of the tube;
- and
- a second cap to cover the second end of the tube.
A ball mill grinding method, comprising the steps of:
- loading a vessel with a grinding media and a material to be ground, the vessel having a longitudinal axis;
- capping the vessel to contain the grinding media and material;
- and
- reciprocating the capped vessel containing the grinding media and material to be ground in a direction substantially along the longitudinal axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.