US3327853A - Screen - Google Patents

Description

June 27, 1967 w. E. BIXBY 3,327,853

S GREEN Filed Dec. 9, 1963 I INVENTOR. WALLACE E. BIXBY Hi5 AT RNEYS United States Patent assignor to Wedge Ohio, a corporation of Filed Dec. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 328,935 1 Claim. (Cl. 209395) This invention relates to an industrial screen of the type suitable for use in de-watering, and sizing and related operations carried out on coals, various ores and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved screen construction wherein the spacing between the wire elements of the screen is established and permanently maintained with exceptional accuracy.

' In the processing of coal and various ores as well as certain vegetable materials, various operations, such as de-watering operations, are carried out over screens which retain certain matter while passing other matter. Frequently, the success of such operations depends upon an accurate maintenance of the screen porosity and in such operations, particularly when the screen is to be vibrated, inaccuracies in the screen porosity, as determined by the separation between parallel wire elements in the screen, are a frequently encountered problem.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved screen construction.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved screen construction wherein the separation between parallel wire elements in the screen is accurately established and permanently maintained.

Other objects and advantages reside in the construction of parts, the combination thereof, the method of manufacture and the mode of operation, as will become more apparent from the following description.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a wire element of the type used in assembling screens embodying the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of an assembly of wire elements of the type shown in FIGURE 1 resulting in a screen embodying the present invention.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view illustrating a portion of the wire element of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view illustrating one operation in the fabrication of a screen embodying the present invention.

Referring to the drawing in greater detail, FIGURE 1 illustrates a wire element formed of initially cylindrical wire 10, which has been looped at spaced intervals to form loops 12 therein. After the loops 12 have been formed in the wire, the wire is shaped between suitable die elements which, with an application of pressure, flatten the opposite sides of the wire element, as illustrated at 14, 16 and 18, while establishing outwardly projecting protuberances 20 intermediate the flattened sides 14 and 16 and intermediate the flattened sides 16 and 18. While not clearly apparent in FIGURE 1, diametrically opposite sides of the wire element are simultaneously formed in the same fashion, whereby protuberances 20 are formed on both sides of the wire element 10.

As the dies shape the sides of the wire element 10, the loops 12 are also flattened. In this forming operation, the cross-over portions 22 in the loops are compressed to a thickness which substantially equals the separation between the lateral extremities of the protuberances 20. Thus, the thickness of the wire element at the crossover points 22 in the loops 12 is substantially the same as the thickness of the wire element 10 at the protuberances 20.

The flattened portions 14, 16 and 18 on one side of the wire element 10, are inclined with respect to the corresponding flattened portions 14, 16 and 18 on the opposite side, as clearly illustrated in FIGURE 4, Thus, the opposite sides of the wire element 10 converge in the downward direction or more specifically in the direction of the loops 12. The protuberances 20, however, do not converge in the same fashion. Thus, the outer surfaces of the protuberances 20 on opposite sides of the wire element are parallel, these surfaces occupying planes which are substantially parallel to the planes occupied by the opposite surfaces of the flattened loops 12.

At the same time the opposite sides of the wire element 10 are flattened to form the sections 14, 16 and 18, the initially circular wire element is so confined between the forming dies that the upper and lower surfaces thereof are also flattened, as clearly appears in FIGURE 3. However, the formation of the protuberances 20 reduces the upward and downward displacement of the metal in the vicinity of the protuberances. Accordingly, traces of the original circular configuration of the material forming the wire elements remain above and below the protuberances 20. As best illustrated in FIGURE 4, this results in a pronounced groove or depression 24 in the bottom surface of the wire element 10 extending transversely between the protuberances 20 therein, this depression being somewhat rounded and merging into the lower portions of the protuberances 20. Similarly, relatively shallow, rounded depressions 26 appear in the upper surface of the wire element 10 at the tops of the protuberances 20 therein.

FIGURE 3 illustrates an assembly of a plurality of Wire elements 10, formed as described, upon transverse supporting rods 30 passing through the loops 12 in the wire elements. In such assembly the transverse support rods 30 support the loops 12 in juxtaposed relation and thereby align the protuberances 20 on one wire element with the corresponding protuberances on the adjacent wire elements. The looped portions in the parallel wire elements 10 are pressed together by peening the ends of the support rods 30 in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 3.

Since the thickness of the wire elements at the crossover points 22 substantially equals the thickness of the wire elements at the protuberances 20 the outer surfaces of the protuberances 20 are brought into substantial contact as a result of the contact between the adjacent loops 12. The protuberances 20 thereby establish a uniform spacing between the wire elements throughout the length thereof.

In accordance with the present invention this uniform spacing is permanently established and maintained by welding the adjacent wire elements together. As illustrated in FIGURE 5 this welding is accomplished in an arc welding process wherein a welding rod 32 is passed through a welding gun 36 and deposited in the grooves 24 in the underside of the wire elements 10 in the form of a ribbon 34. In this operation the rod 32 is heated by an electrical arc established between the wire elements 10 and the welding gun 36. In the preferred practice of this welding process the arc is shielded by an inert shielding gas delivered to the welding gun through the tube 38.

While not illustrated in FIGURE 5, the assembled wire elements 10 may be supported for welding in a suitable vise structure which compresses the aligned protuberances 20 so as to establish intimate contact therebetween and thereby positively establishes the spacing between the wire elements as the weld ribbon 34 is applied.

While the drawing illustrates wire elements 10, each of which has only two loops therein, and further illustrates an assembly of only seven wire elements side by side, it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that such illustration is merely representative of the much larger screen assemblies actually employed in the trade. Thus,

in a typical industrial screen the Wire elements 10 may be eight feet long, may have successive loops therein spaced six inches apart, and may be assembled on transverse support-rods three feet long.

Although the preferred embodiment of the device has been described, it will be understood that within the purview of this invention various changes may be made in the form, details, proportion and arrangement of parts, the combination thereof and mode of operation, which generally stated consist in a device capable of carrying out the objects set forth, as disclosed and defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a screen structure, an array of substantially linear wire elements disposed in spaced and parallel relation, each wire element in said array having a plurality of pairs of axially spaced lateral protuberances integral therewith, the protuberances of each pair being aligned on diametrically opposite sides of the Wire element integral therewith, said wire elements each having axially extending top and bottom surfaces between which said opposite sides extend, said bottom surface of each Wire element having axially spaced depressions therein, said depressions being disposed at axial intervals corresponding to the axial intervals between said pairs of protuberances and underlying said pairs of protuberances, the sides of adjacent Wire elements in said array confronting one another and the protuberances of the confronting sides of each pair of adjacent wire elements being aligned and contacting one another, said depressions in said Wire elements thereby cooperating to define grooves traversing said array, and a plurality of weld ribbons traversing said array, said weld ribbons being each disposed in a different one of said grooves, each said weld ribbon engaging each Wire element in said array and thereby fixedly attaching said wire elements one to the other in a spaced relation determined by the lateral extent of said protuberances from the sides of said wire elements.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,729,197 9/1929 Whann 210499 X 2,690,265 9/1954 Bixby 209395 X 3,074,554 1/1963 Mullins 209393 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,102,336 5/1955 France. 1,026,251 3/ 1958 Germany.

486,186 5/ 1938 Great Britain.

HARRY B. THORNTON, Primary Examiner.

L. EATHERTON, Assistant Examiner.

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