Rotary centrifugal machine

A rotary centrifugal machine comprising a generally cylindrical enclosure, a generally cylindrical casing structure mounted for rotation within said enclosure around a generally vertical rotational axis;

• a plurality of flexible supports connected to said enclosure for supporting said enclosure and casing structure, drive means connected to said casing structure for rotating said casing structure;
• a plurality of suspension devices disposed at spaced positions around said enclosure for resisting lateral movement of said enclosure due to eccentric movement of said casing structure;
• a load conveyor extending over said casing structure for depositing material into said casing structure;
• said casing structure including a generally cylindrical casing wall and an unloading mechanism including a generally horizontal wall movable vertically within said casing wall for raising material within said casing structure above said casing wall;
• and speed control means for rotating said casing structure at a relatively slow first speed during operation of said load conveyor, and during operation of said unloading mechanism, and for rotating said casing structure at a relatively fast second speed following operation of said load conveyor, and sensing means responsive to predetermined lateral movement of said casing structure for operating said unloading mechanism.

A method of balancing a load of material in a rotary centrifugal structure comprising the steps of:

• rotating the structure;
• sensing imbalance of a load in the structure during rotation;
• releasing the material from within the structure and centrifugally ejecting the material from the structure in all radial directions in response to the sensed imbalance;
• collecting the ejected material while substantially maintaining the material in distributed condition;
• and
• loading the collected distributed material into the structure.

A rotary centrifugal machine comprising in combination:

• a casing structure mounted for rotation around a rotational axis;
• drive means coupled to said casing structure for rotating said casing structure;
• first conveyor means for loading material into said casing structure;
• sensing means for sensing a load imbalance in said casing structure;
• means for unloading material from said casing structure;
• second conveyor means for accepting unloaded material and reloading material into said casing structure;
• and
• control means controlled by said sensing means for operating said unloading means and said second conveyor means.