Combination small-scale tub grinder and wood chipper

Comminuting apparatus for comminuting hay, corn, and feed grain materials, comprising:

• a rotary hammer mill having a plurality of hammer means for tearing, grinding, and breaking material to be comminuted, said hammer means being positioned a radial distance outward from a horizontal rotor axis and distributed at angularly spaced distances from each other around said rotor axis to maintain a dynamic balance when said rotary hammer mill is in operation, and rotor drive means for imparting rotary motion to said hammer mill causing said hammer means to rotate at high angular velocity about said rotor axis, the radial extremities of said hammer means as they rotate about said rotor axis defining the surface of a rotor cylinder that has a front end and a back end, the axial length of said rotor cylinder between the front end and the back end being less than the radius of the rotor cylinder;
• tub feeder means adjacent said rotary hammer mill for feeding material to be comminuted into the rotary path of said hammer means, said tub feeder means including hopper means for containing and guiding the material into the rotary path of said hammer means, said hopper means being comprised of a container having a cylindrical side wall with a substantially vertical axis and a radius at least as large as said axial length of said rotor cylinder, an open top end, and a closed bottom end, said hopper means also having a feeder opening through a portion of the bottom and cylindrical side wall with a portion of said rotor cylinder protruding through said feeder opening into said hopper means in such a manner that a vertical plane congruent with the back end of the rotor cylinder is tangential to the cylindrical sidewall of said hopper means and the portion of the circular front end of the rotor cylinder protruding through said opening into said hopper means being a portion of a segment of said circular front end defined by a vertical chord;
• said tub feeder means also havign a rotatable tub positioned over said hopper means, said tub being rotatable about a substantially vertical axis that is an extension of the vertical axis of the cylindrical side wall of said hopper means, and tub drive means for imparting rotary motion to said tub to urge material therein in a rotary motion away from said portion of the circular front end of the rotor cylinder in said hopper means and toward said portion of the cylindrical rotor surface that is in said hopper means.

Hammer mill apparatus for comminuting materials, comprising:

• a rotor assembly, including a horizontal main shaft that defines the axis of rotation of said rotor assembly and a plurality of hammers extending radially outward at the periphery of said rotor assembly;
• a main housing partially enclosing said rotor assembly in a milling chamber;
• rotor drive means connected to said rotor assembly for imparting high angular velocity rotary motion to said rotor assembly;
• tub feeder means adjacent said rotor assembly for feeding materials to be comminuted into said milling chamber, said tub feeder means including a hollow rotatable receptacle positioned over a portion of said rotor assembly not enclosed by said main housing and hopper means under said hollow rotatable receptacle for enclosing the bottom of said rotatable receptacle and for guiding said material toward said rotor assembly, said hopper means having a vertical cylindrical sidewall extending downwardly from the bottom of said hollow receptacle, an open top, a closed bottom, and an opening extending through a portion of said bottom and through a portion of said vertical cylindrical sidewall with an unenclosed portion of said rotor assembly extending through said opening into said hopper means.

Hammer mill apparatus for comminuting fodder, feed grains, wood materials, and the like, comprising:

• a rotor assembly, including a horizontal main shaft that defines the axis of rotation of said rotor assembly and a plurality of hammers in the form of elongated bars extending radially outward at the periphery of said rotor assembly, said hammers being mounted in a plurality of gangs, each gang having a plurality of hammers, said gangs being evenly distributed around the periphery of the rotor assembly to maintain dynamic balance of the rotor assembly, and the hammers of each gang being spaced axially apart from each other;
• a main housing partially enclosing said rotor assembly in a milling chamber;
• rotor drive means connected to said rotor assembly for imparting high angular velocity rotary motion to said rotor assembly;
• feeder means adjacent said rotor assembly for feeding materials to be comminuted into said milling chamber, said feeder means including a substantially planar platform floor positioned adjacent the periphery of the portion of said rotor assembly that is not enclosed by said main housing;
• and
• a combination metering and grinding assembly comprised of a plurality of rigid, spaced-apart grinding fingers extending from under the floor radially into said rotor assembly, said fingers being aligned so that each of the hammers in a gang can pass between two of said fingers, and a plurality of elongated grate bars that extend at an incline upwardly from the ends of said fingers nearest said rotor a sufficient distance to traverse substantially the height of said opening through said sidewall, said grate bars being spaced-apart from each other the same as the spacing between said fingers to allow said hammers to extend between said grate bars into said hopper means.