US-12623228-B2 - Rotor tip block securing arrangement

US12623228B2US 12623228 B2US12623228 B2US 12623228B2US-12623228-B2

Abstract

A rotor protection plate for mounting on an upper plate of a rotor body of a crusher, in particular a vertical shaft impact crusher, is provided. The rotor protection plate comprises a body having an inner face defining a guide slot that is operably arranged to be in register with a rotor tip block opening defined on the upper plate of the rotor body and spaced apart therefrom to allow for a rotor tip block to be partly inserted into the guide slot during removal of the rotor tip block from, or insertion of the rotor tip block into, the rotor body.

Inventors

Roeland VERWEIJ

Assignees

ORECRUSHER S.A. (PTY) LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20230629

Claims (5)

1 . A rotor arrangement comprising: a rotor body comprising an upper plate and a lower plate, wherein the upper plate and the lower plate each define circumferentially spaced rotor tip block openings, and wherein the circumferentially spaced rotor tip block openings defined by the upper plate and the circumferentially spaced rotor tip block openings defined by the lower plate are aligned so as to form an insertion passage for accommodating at least a rotor tip block therein; and a protection plate for mounting on the upper plate, the protection plate comprising a body having an inner face defining a circumferentially extending guide recess, wherein the guide recess is operably aligned with and spaced from the circumferentially spaced rotor tip block openings defined by the upper plate, with the guide recess being configured to allow for the rotor tip block to be partly inserted thereinto during removal of the rotor tip block from, or insertion of the rotor tip block into, the rotor body.
2 . The rotor arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the upper plate of the rotor body comprises an upper ring which defines the circumferentially spaced rotor tip block openings defined by the upper plate, and the lower plate of the rotor body comprises a lower disc which defines the circumferentially spaced rotor tip block openings defined by the lower plate, with a plurality of rotor wall sections extending between the upper ring and the lower disc, the rotor wall sections defining material outlets therebetween.
3 . The rotor arrangement of claim 2 , wherein the protection plate is arranged to be mounted on the upper ring, with the guide recess being aligned with an upper end of the rotor tip block, wherein in a default configuration, the upper end of the rotor tip block is spaced apart from the guide recess, but when in a maintenance configuration, the rotor tip block is capable to be moved out of a first rotor tip block opening of the circumferentially spaced rotor tip block openings defined by the lower disc towards the inner face of the protection plate so as to occupy the guide recess, with a lower end of the rotor tip block then being tilted away from the lower disc so as to clear the first rotor tip block opening defined in the lower disc, thereby allowing the rotor tip block to be removed from the rotor body, for replacement by a new rotor tip block into the rotor body in a substantially reversed sequence, without having to remove the protection plate from the rotor body.
4 . The rotor arrangement of claim 3 , wherein the rotor arrangement comprises a second protection plate for mounting on the lower disc of the rotor body.
5 . The rotor arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the guide recess is defined by an outer flange and an inner flange of the protection plate, with the outer flange and the inner flange extending from the inner face of the protection plate.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION THIS INVENTION is in the field of impact crushers, and in particular vertical shaft impact (VSI) crushers. More in particular, this invention relates to a rotor assembly for a VSI impact crusher, and in particular to a rotor tip block securing arrangement for securing rotor tip blocks to the rotor assembly. BACKGROUND OF INVENTION VSI crushers find widespread use for crushing a variety of hard materials, such as rock, ore, demolished constructional materials and the like. Typically, a VSI crusher comprises a housing that accommodates a horizontally aligned rotor rotatably mounted on a generally vertically extending main shaft. The rotor is provided with a top aperture through which material to be crushed is fed under gravity from an elevated position. The VSI is an autogenous or semi autogenous impact crusher i.e. the crushing action takes place when the ejected material impacts the build-up of the crushed feed product. The rotor commonly comprises a horizontal upper ring, which defines the top aperture, and a horizontal lower disc. The upper ring and lower disc are connected and separated axially by a plurality of upstanding rotor wall sections that define material outlets therebetween. The top aperture allows the material to flow downwardly into the rotor towards the lower disc, with the material then being ejected at high speed, through the material outlets between the rotor wall sections. A replaceable distributor plate is mounted centrally on the lower disc, and is raised relative to the lower disc to facilitate the flow of material through and out of the rotor. The distributor plate also acts to protect the lower disc from the material feed. Upper and lower horizontal wear plates are fitted to the inside of the upper ring and lower disc, respectively, to guide the material outwardly, through the material outlets between the rotor wall sections. A plurality of vertical rotor tip blocks and related cavity wear plates are arranged around the circumference of the rotor, and extend between the upper ring and lower disc. Typically, a first vertical edge of a rotor wall section is fitted with a vertical rotor tip block, the top and bottom of which are arranged proximate an extending member of the upper and lower horizontal wear plates, respectively, with the second, opposite vertical edge of a rotor wall section being fitted with a cavity wear plate. Thus, the vertical rotor tip blocks and related cavity wear plates alternate with each other around the circumference of the rotor, with a pair of spaced apart rotor tip blocks and cavity wear plates accordingly defining the material outlets between the rotor wall sections. An upper rotor protection plate or ring is typically bolted on top of the upper ring, and is used to keep the rotor tip blocks and cavity wear plates in place. Due to the location and nature of the rotor tip blocks, and of course the abrasive nature of the material feed, the rotor tip blocks need to be replaced relatively regularly. However, at present, the rotor tip blocks are typically securely held in place by means of the bolted rotor protection plate, and thus their replacement requires the rotor protection plate to be unbolted and removed, to allow access to the rotor tip blocks. This is a time-consuming and tedious process, and thus the aim of the present invention is to provide a rotor tip block securing arrangement that will enable the rotor tip blocks to be removed and replaced without having to unbolt the rotor protection plate. SUMMARY OF INVENTION According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a rotor protection or cover plate for mounting on an upper plate of a rotor body of a crusher, in particular a vertical shaft impact crusher, the rotor protection plate comprising a body having an inner face defining a guide slot that is operably arranged to be in register with a rotor tip block opening defined on the upper plate of the rotor body and spaced apart therefrom to allow for a rotor tip block to be partly inserted into the guide slot during removal of the rotor tip block from, or insertion of the rotor tip block into, the rotor body. In functional terms, according to the invention there is provided a rotor protection plate for a rotor body of a crusher, and in particular a VSI crusher, the rotor protection plate comprising a body having an inner face defining a guide slot that is arranged to be aligned with and face an upper end of a rotor tip block fitted to the rotor body, wherein in a default configuration, the upper end of the rotor tip block is spaced apart from the guide slot, but when in a maintenance configuration, the rotor tip block may be moved towards the inner face so as to occupy the guide slot, to facilitate the removal from the rotor body and the replacement of a new rotor tip block into the rotor body, without having to remove the rotor protection plate from the rotor body. The guide slot may be in the form of a recess defined