# US 2008/0185466 A1 · Solids reduction processor > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2008/0185466 A1 - Document ID: US20080185466A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 11/423,522 - Filed: 2006-06-12 - Published: 2008-08-07 - Earliest claimed: 2005-06-17 - Assignees: Dynacorp Engineering Inc. - Inventors: Wendell E. Howard - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20080185466A1 ## CPC - B02C 13/20: with two or more co-operating rotors - B02C 13/04: with beaters hinged to the rotor; Hammer mills - B02C 13/28: Shape or construction of beater elements - B02C 13/282: Shape or inner surface of mill-housings - B02C 2013/2808: {the beater elements are attached to disks mounted on a shaft} - B02C 2013/2869: {Arrangements of feed and discharge means in relation to each other} - B02C: CRUSHING, PULVERISING, OR DISINTEGRATING IN GENERAL; MILLING GRAIN ({household tools and machines for pulverising foodstuffs, e.g. coffee and spice mills A47J42/00; pharmaceutical mortars A61J3/02; mechanical processing of refuse and garbage B03B9/06; dressing mould materials by grinding B22C5/04}; obtaining metallic powder by crushing, grinding or milling B22F9/04; {recovery of plastics by disintegrating B29B17/00; crushing raw materials in starch making C08B30/02; beaters for papermaking D21D1/02; crushing devices specially for transport in mines E21F13/002; slag crushing devices F23J1/00; fuel milling devices in combustion apparatus F23K1/00; household devices for crushing coal F24B15/02; ice disintegrating devices F25C5/02}) ## Abstract A solids reduction processor has a pair of opposed parallel rotor assemblies which are rotationally driven in opposite directions to pulverize solids dropped into the processor. Each assembly comprises a shaft, disc sets removably secured to the shafts, and circumferentially spaced sets of outwardly projecting hammer members removably secured to the disc sets for limited pivotal movement relative thereto. Operational abrasion of the shafts and discs is substantially reduced by virtue of the hammer sets on each rotor assembly being axially aligned with the hammer sets on the other rotor assembly. Additionally, since all of the discs from may be removed from their shafts, individual discs may be replaced without the necessity of replacing the whole rotor assembly. Particle reduction efficiency within the processor housing is increased by the use within the processor housing of top and side-mounted breaker bars having particle impact surfaces sloped both horizontally and vertically. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A solids reduction processor comprising: a housing having an inlet opening for receiving solid material to be reduced in size and an outlet opening through which size-reduced solid material may outwardly pass; a rotor assembly supported within said housing in a parallel relationship and being operative to impact and reduce the size of solid material received in said housing, said rotor assembly including a shaft, a longitudinally spaced series of disc structures coaxially mounted on the shaft, and a circumferentially spaced series of hammer members mounted on each disc structure for rotation relative thereto about an axis parallel to the length of the shaft, each hammer member having an outer end portion projecting outwardly beyond the periphery of the disc structure and being transversely enlarged in a direction parallel to the length of the shaft so that circumferentially spaced peripheral portions of the disc structure act as abutments for the outer hammer end portion to limit the available rotational arc of the hammer member; and a drive system for rotating said rotor assembly. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The solids reduction processor of claim 1 wherein: each disc structure includes a spaced pair of discs between which an inner end portions of a plurality of said hammer members are pivotally mounted. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The solids reduction processor of claim 1 wherein: the available rotational arc of each hammer member is sized to prevent it from pivoting into engagement with any circumferentially adjacent hammer member on its associated disc structure. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The solids reduction processor of claim 1 wherein: said rotor assembly is a first rotor assembly, said solids reduction processor further comprises a second rotor assembly parallel to and substantially identical to said first rotor assembly, and said drive system is operative to rotate said first and second rotor assemblies in opposite directions. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The solids reduction processor of claim 4 wherein: the hammer members mounted on each disc structure form a hammer set, and the hammer sets on said first and second rotor assemblies are aligned with one another in a direction parallel to the axes of the shafts of said first and second rotor assemblies. ### Claim 6 A solids reduction processor comprising: a housing having an inlet opening for receiving solid material to be reduced in size and an outlet opening through which size-reduced sold material may outwardly pass; a rotor assembly supported within said housing and being operatively rotatable to impact and reduce the size of solid material received in said housing, said rotor assembly including a shaft, a longitudinally spaced series of disc structures rotationally locked to said shaft and being axially movable along its length for selective removal therefrom, hammer members removably secured to the disc structures in circumferentially spaced arrays thereon and projecting outwardly past their peripheries, a series of spacer members coaxially mounted on said shaft in an interdigitated relationship with said disc structures and being axially removable from said shaft, and a retaining structure removably associated with said shaft in a manner preventing axial movement of said disc structures and said spacer members relative to said shaft; and a drive system for operatively rotating said rotor assembly. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The solids reduction processor of claim 6 wherein: each of said disc structures includes a spaced apart pair of coaxial, annularly shaped discs rotationally locked to said shaft by a spline connection. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The solids reduction processor of claim 7 wherein: said shaft has an axially extending exterior surface groove thereon, each of said discs in said pair thereof has a radially extending interior edge groove therein, and said spline connection includes key members received in said shaft groove and said disc grooves. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The solids reduction processor of claim 7 wherein: said spacer members have annular configurations, each spacer member coaxially circumscribing said shaft and being positioned between an adjacent pair of said discs. ### Claim 10 (depends on 6) The solids reduction processor of claim 6 wherein: said shaft has an axially spaced pair of annular exterior surface grooves thereon, and said retainer structure includes a pair of diametrically split annular retainer plates removably secured to adjacent axially outer disc structure side surfaces and having radially inner portions received in said annular exterior surface grooves. ### Claim 11 (depends on 6) The solids reduction processor of claim 6 wherein: said rotor assembly is a first rotor assembly, said solids reduction processor further comprises a second rotor assembly parallel to and substantially identical to said first rotor assembly, and said drive system is operative to rotate said first and second rotor assemblies in opposite directions. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The solids reduction processor of claim 11 wherein: the hammer members mounted on each disc structure form a hammer set, and the hammer sets on said first and second rotor assemblies are aligned with one another in a direction parallel to the axes of the shafts of said first and second rotor assemblies. ### Claim 13 A solids reduction processor comprising: a housing having an upper inlet opening for receiving solid material to be reduced in size, a lower outlet opening, vertically separated from said upper inlet opening, through which size-reduced solid material may outwardly pass, a top wall portion and a side wall portion extending downwardly from said top wall portion; a rotor assembly supported within said housing between said inlet and outlet openings and being operatively rotatable about a generally horizontal axis to impact and reduce the size of solid material received in said housing, said rotor assembly including a circumferentially spaced series of hammer members having outer end portions which, during operative rotation of said rotor assembly, rotate through a circular path; a drive system for operatively rotating said rotor assembly; and a breaker member supported within said housing on one of said top and side wall portions and positioned to be struck on an impact surface thereof by solid objects thrown from the rotating hammer members in an ejection direction generally parallel to a line tangential to said circular path and transverse to said impact surface. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The solids reduction processor of claim 13 wherein: said impact surface is sloped in both horizontal and vertical directions. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The solids reduction processor of claim 13 wherein: said rotor assembly is a first rotor assembly, said solids reduction processor further comprises a second rotor assembly parallel to and substantially identical to said first rotor assembly, and said drive system is operative to rotate said first and second rotor assemblies in opposite directions. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The solids reduction processor of claim 15 wherein: the hammer members mounted on each disc structure form a hammer set, and the hammer sets on said first and second rotor assemblies are aligned with one another in a direction parallel to the axes of the shafts of said first and second rotor assemblies. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The solids reduction processor of claim 13 wherein: said breaker member is positioned generally below said rotor assembly. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The solids reduction processor of claim 13 wherein: said breaker member is positioned generally above said rotor assembly. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The solids reduction processor of claim 15 wherein: said breaker member is positioned adjacent said first rotor assembly, and said impact surface is oriented to be impacted by solid material thrown generally horizontally from the hammer members of said second rotor assembly. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The solids reduction processor of claim 19 wherein: said breaker member is operatively supported on said top wall portion of said housing. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The solids reduction processor of claim 20 wherein: said impact surface is angled relative to said top wall portion of said housing. ### Claim 22 A solids reduction method comprising the steps of: providing a solids reduction processor comprising a housing having an inlet opening for receiving solid material to be reduced in size and an outlet opening through which size-reduced solid material may outwardly pass, a rotor assembly supported within said housing in a parallel relationship and being operative to impact and reduce the size of solid material received in said housing, said rotor assembly including a shaft, a longitudinally spaced series of disc structures coaxially mounted on the shaft, and a circumferentially spaced series of hammer members mounted on each disc structure for rotation relative thereto about an axis parallel to the length of the shaft, each hammer member having an outer end portion projecting outwardly beyond the periphery of the disc structure and being transversely enlarged in a direction parallel to the length of the shaft so that circumferentially spaced peripheral portions of the disc structure act as abutments for the outer hammer end portion to limit the available rotational arc of the hammer member; and a drive system for rotating said rotor assembly; introducing a solid material into said inlet opening; and operating said solids reduction processor to reduce in size the received solid material and discharge the size-reduced solid material through said outlet opening. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The solids reduction method of claim 22 wherein: said introducing step is performed by introducing into said inlet opening a solid material selected from the group consisting of clinkers, limestone, coal and fly ash. ### Claim 24 (depends on 22) The solids reduction method of claim 22 further comprising the step of: connecting the outlet opening of said solids reduction processor to the inlet opening of a second solids reduction apparatus. ### Claim 25 (depends on 24) The solids reduction method of claim 24 wherein: said introducing step is performed by introducing into said inlet opening of said solids reduction processor a solid material selected from the group consisting of clinkers, limestone, coal and fly ash. ### Claim 26 (depends on 24) The solids reduction method of claim 24 wherein: said connecting step is performed by connecting the outlet opening of said solids reduction processor to the inlet opening of a ball mill. ### Claim 27 (depends on 24) The solids reduction method of claim 24 wherein: said connecting step is performed by connecting the outlet opening of said solids reduction processor to the inlet opening of a second, substantially identical solids reduction processor. ### Claim 28 A solids reduction method comprising the steps of: providing a solids reduction processor having a housing having an inlet opening for receiving solid material to be reduced in size and an outlet opening through which size-reduced sold material may outwardly pass, a rotor assembly supported within said housing and being operatively rotatable to impact and reduce the size of solid material received in said housing, said rotor assembly including a shaft, a longitudinally spaced series of disc structures rotationally locked to said shaft and being axially movable along its length for selective removal therefrom, hammer members removably secured to the disc structures in circumferentially spaced arrays thereon and projecting outwardly past their peripheries, a series of spacer members coaxially mounted on said shaft in an interdigitated relationship with said disc structures and being axially removable from said shaft, and a retaining structure removably associated with said shaft in a manner preventing axial movement of said disc structures and said spacer members relative to said shaft, and a drive system for operatively rotating said rotor assembly; introducing a solid material into said inlet opening; and operating said solids reduction processor to reduce in size the received solid material and discharge the size-reduced solid material through said outlet opening. ### Claim 29 (depends on 28) The solids reduction method of claim 28 wherein: said introducing step is performed by introducing into said inlet opening a solid material selected from the group consisting of clinkers, limestone, coal and fly ash. ### Claim 30 (depends on 28) The solids reduction method of claim 28 further comprising the step of: connecting the outlet opening of said solids reduction processor to the inlet opening of a second solids reduction apparatus. ### Claim 31 (depends on 30) The solids reduction method of claim 30 wherein: said introducing step is performed by introducing into said inlet opening of said solids reduction processor a solid material selected from the group consisting of clinkers, limestone, coal and fly ash. ### Claim 32 (depends on 30) The solids reduction method of claim 30 wherein: said connecting step is performed by connecting the outlet opening of said solids reduction processor to the inlet opening of a ball mill. ### Claim 33 (depends on 30) The solids reduction method of claim 30 wherein: said connecting step is performed by connecting the outlet opening of said solids reduction processor to the inlet opening of a second, substantially identical solids reduction processor. ### Claim 34 A solids reduction method comprising the steps of: providing a solids reduction processor having a housing having an upper inlet opening for receiving solid material to be reduced in size, a lower outlet opening, vertically separated from said upper inlet opening, through which size-reduced solid material may outwardly pass, a top wall portion and a side wall portion extending downwardly from said top wall portion, a rotor assembly supported within said housing between said inlet and outlet openings and being operatively rotatable about a generally horizontal axis to impact and reduce the size of solid material received in said housing, said rotor assembly including a circumferentially spaced series of hammer members having outer end portions which, during operative rotation of said rotor assembly, rotate through a circular path, a drive system for operatively rotating said rotor assembly, and a breaker member supported within said housing on one of said top and side wall portions and positioned to be struck on an impact surface thereof by solid objects thrown from the rotating hammer members in an ejection direction generally parallel to a line tangential to said circular path and transverse to said impact surface; introducing a solid material into said inlet opening; and operating said solids reduction processor to reduce in size the received solid material and discharge the size-reduced solid material through said outlet opening. ### Claim 35 (depends on 34) The solids reduction method of claim 34 wherein: said introducing step is performed by introducing into said inlet opening a solid material selected from the group consisting of clinkers, limestone, coal and fly ash. ### Claim 36 (depends on 34) The solids reduction method of claim 34 further comprising the step of: connecting the outlet opening of said solids reduction processor to the inlet opening of a second solids reduction apparatus. ### Claim 37 (depends on 36) The solids reduction method of claim 36 wherein: said introducing step is performed by introducing into said inlet opening of said solids reduction processor a solid material selected from the group consisting of clinkers, limestone, coal and fly ash. ### Claim 38 (depends on 36) The solids reduction method of claim 36 wherein: said connecting step is performed by connecting the outlet opening of said solids reduction processor to the inlet opening of a ball mill. ### Claim 39 (depends on 36) The solids reduction method of claim 36 wherein: said connecting step is performed by connecting the outlet opening of said solids reduction processor to the inlet opening of a second, substantially identical solids reduction processor.