US2692725A - Centrifuging apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 26, 1954 HENSGEN CENTRIFUGING APPARATUS Filed March 19, 1952 BERNARD T. HENSGEN INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 26, 1954 CENTRIFUGING APPARATUS" Bernard:-

Hens-gem. Chicago, 111., assignom to. Swift: 8a: Gompany,; Chicagm Ill:,- a corporation.

of Illinois Application March 1-9, 1952, Serial No: ZW-A'N) 4-Claims. 1

The present inventionrelat'es to: an apparatus for separating two.- materials that have been divided by centrifugaliforce.

While centrifugalforce.forms a useful tool to divide compounds into identifiable parts, it is often a. difficult' problem to physically displace one of the. parts away from the other with a high. degree of? accuracy; orra degree of: accuracy commensurate with; the. line? of. division that is obtained. For example; when a mixture of whey and curd are. centrifuged in the manufacture of cheese; the: heaviervcurdspacks against the outside wall of the centrifuge drum, while the lighter whey forms. a cylinder inside the curd, and a scoop may be: uesd to pick off; the majority of the rotating whey. However, a residuum of whey will: remain that cannot: be re-' moved with a scoop: without runningthe-risk:

of or actually picking; off: some ofIthe-curd.

The principal. object. of. the present invention is to provide anapparatus for removing this residuum. of the; lighter: fluid: without, at the same. time, taking any of. therheavier material along therewith;

The feature of! the inventionzisthati this-wmaybe accomplished even. though. the inner surface of. the: heavier material forms-shallow interstices within. which lighter material: is pocketed;

Further objects. and? advantages include: a device whichis simpletonmanufacture and mai'ntain; a device'whichziszeasily" operated even: by inexperienced help and which is relatively foolproof; and. a device which may bereadily adapted to automatic, or semi-automatic operation.

Additional objects and advantages will-become apparent fromthe following description, taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a partial section taken at line 22 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a section taken at line 3-3 of Figure 2. The apparatus that I have devised for removing the residuum of the relatively lightweight liquid from the inner surface of a heavier material in a centrifuge sorbs that liquid with an object from which the liquid can subsequently be removed. Of course, in some instances the whole of the lighter liquid may be removed by this apparatus. Preferably that other object is a movably mounted member which may take the form of a roller which contacts the liquid to sorb the same and then rotates to another through. belts! Ial'zinterconnecting: a..pulley I8 on: the: motor shaft an'dta pulley I9 secured to the outerrwalli ofizcylinder H.

A'portion. of: the-bottom of cylinder .l I forms apai'rrof: doors-r2]: mounted on hingesa22. The doors. are normally: held inn. place by a latch 23.

Acpair of: covers lismountedionhirrges 2.6.may beausedlt'o: close thevtop of the circular frame i2 so thatrthe? liquid: throwmoutrof the centrifuge H by the, centrifugal force will be. deflected downwardly andltrapped byabafilezl surrounding: the: centrifuge: cylinden. The bafiie 2! is securedto? thei wall ofi. frame I2 and a gasket 28 providesaa sealbetween: the inner edge of the bailie=2lrandrthe .wallofi cylinder II". The liquid trapped: between the baflie 2.1 and the vertical wall of the: frame- [2 maybe: removed through a drain: connectionzt'fl:

A strainer plate 3| having a plurality of openings 32 therein is secured to the inner wall of the" cylinder: M; a short; distance below the top thereof.

It will be:appa'rent.to.: those skilled". in. the art that. when a mixture; of a: relatively light fluid and aiheavier'materialzis poureddn the rotating majority,- of; the lighterrfiuidr will be thrown offthrough strainer plate 3|, but a thin film 34 of liquid will remain on the inner surface of the heavier material 35. If the mixture that was centrifuged was whey and curd during the course of the cheese manufacture, the majority of the whey would be thrown off with. a thin film 34 of whey remaining on the inner surface of the curd, the heavier material 35.

To remove the remaining whey 34, the covers 25 are opened and a rotary member or roller 38 (see Figure 3) having a covering 39 of an absorbing material, such as cheese-cloth, thereabout is brought into contact with the film of whey. The roller 38 is rotatively mounted on an axle 40 and secured inside the end of a hollow arm 4|, whereby the covering will move about a closed path.

The ends 43 of roller 38 have a plurality of openings 44 therethrough. The open end of arm 4| is shaped to fit as closely as possible about the ends 43 and the periphery of roller 38, as is seen in Figures 3 and 2, respeectively.

As will be seen in Figure 1, arm M is mounted on a stand 45 through a horizontal extension '46. A rack 48 on the side of arm M is engaged by a gear 49 rotated by a hand wheel 50 to provide vertical movement to arm 4|. Horizontal movement is obtained by rotating a gear 52 through a hand wheel 53, and by means of the gears engagement with a rack 3 on horizontal extension E6, the arm ll and roller 38 are moved toward and away from a wall of cylinder II.

A flexible hose 56 is connected to the upper end of arm M and also to a source of reduced pressure, such as a vacuum pump (not shown).

As has previously been explained, after the majority of the whey or other liquid is removed,

The covers The sorbing surface 39 of the roller will begin picking up the liquid. The contact between the periphery of roller 38 and the material within the rotating cylinder ll causes the roller to commence to rotate. The portion of the sorb ing surface 39 of the roller that was in contact with the film rotates to within the end of arm Lil. At that point the air which is being drawn through openings it by the low pressure existing within arm 4!, through its connection 56 with a suitable source of reduced pressure, passes through the clamp sorbing surface picking up moisture and reducing the moisture content of the sorbing material. Continuous rotation of the roller causes every portion of the sorbing surface to be continually picking up liquid while in contact with film 3 4 and discharging liquid into the air being drawn through arm All.

The foregoing description of a specific embodiment is for the purpose of complying with U. S. C. 112 and should not be construed as imposing unnecessary limitations upon the ap pended claims.

I claim;

1. A device for removing the residuum of relatively lightweight liquid from the inner surface of a heavier material in a centrifuge in which the two have been separated, said device including a roller, the surface of which is a sorbing material, and arm means for inserting said roller into said centrifuge with a portion of sorbing surface in contact with said residual liquid, said roller being rotatively mounted on one end of said arm means, said arm means including a vacuum conduit, one end of said vacuum conduit fitting closely about another portion of said sorbing surface, the other end of said vacuum conduit being adapted to be connected to a suitable vacuum source.

2. A device for removing the residuum of relatively lightweight liquid from the inner surface of a heavier material in a centrifuge in which the two have been separated, said device including a hollow rigid roller having a perforate surface and an absorbing covering about said perforate surface, a tubular arm, said roller being rotatively mounted at one end of said arm, said arm at said end fitting about one side of said roller and about the ends of the roller at said side, the other end of said arm having a vacuum line connection thereon, the ends of said roller having openings therein whereby the interior thereof is open to the atmosphere and mounting means for said arm to position said end of said arm within said centrifuge with said covering in contact with said liquid.

3. A device for separating a relatively lightweight liquid and a heavier material including the combination of a centrifuge having a wall against which the material is disposed by centrifugal force with the liquid on the surface of the material, and liquid removal means adjacent said centrifuge, said means including a supporting arm member and a movably mounted member having a sorbing surface movable along a closed path, said movably mounted member being mounted on said arm member, said means being constructed to bring said surface into contact with said liquid in said centrifuge and to transport the sorbed liquid from within to without said centrifuge.

4. A device for separating a relatively lightweight liquid and a heavier material including the combination of a centrifuge having a wall against which the material is disposed by centrifugal force with the liquid on the surface of the material, and liquid removal means adjacent said centrifuge, said means including a supporting arm member, and a rotary member mounted on said arm member and having a sorbing surface, said means being constructed to bring said surface into contact with said liquid in said centrifuge and to transport the 'sorbed liquid from within to without said centrifuge.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Sharples .Apr. 15, 1930 Number

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