Description:TECHNICAL FIELD:
The present disclosure relates in general to a field of metallurgy. Particularly, but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates crusher assembly. Further embodiments of the present disclosure disclose crusher assembly for crushing materials such as coal.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE:

Quarrying and mining relate to the aspect of removing rock, sand, gravels, or other minerals from the ground. Quarries and mines are also used to excavate minerals, ores, precious stones etc. The materials excavated by quarrying are further processed for providing construction materials to build roads and buildings, delivering vital minerals to agriculture, supporting the generation of electricity etc.

The materials excavated from quarries and mines are processed by using crushing and screening technologies. The excavated materials are initially crushed to smaller sized particles by means of a crusher. The crushed particles are further segregated based on their size in a screening unit. Conventionally, the crushers are broadly classified as impact-crushers, compressing crushers and the like. The conventional crushers may induce higher strain rates in the materials during the grinding or crushing process due to the transfer of complete momentum from the rotating media to the material to be crushed. Generally, the conventional crushers transfer high inertia on to the materials to be crushed to cause fracture. As a result, high stress values are applied on to the material for smaller residence time and the crack growth may happen randomly and non-uniformly crushed material is obtained. The said behavior can be seen typically in crushers which operate on impact phenomena such as hammer mills, ball mills, rod mills, jet mills and the like.

Generally, in coal industry operations hammer mills are deployed for processing coal due to low maintenance and stabilized operations. The hammer mills may be used to crush larger coal particles into finer portions. However, as indicated above the hammer mill induces higher strain rates which are undesirable during crushing of coal. To overcome the above constraint, roller mills are employed in the coal industry in place of impact mills. The roller mills are configured to induce lesser strain than the impact mills. In the roller mills the stresses applied onto the particles are pre-dominantly compressive and rolling in nature which can cause materials to break by the combination of compression and attrition. The roller mills present in the market include both vertical roller mills and horizontal roller mills. Conventional roller mills deploy hydraulic or spring forces in order to press the materials and crush under compression. The crushed materials obtained from conventional mills may have good sphericity as compared to the impact mills due to the forces acting on the particles.

Another kind of roller mill includes toothed rollers which may be used in crushing the particles in that both impact and compression forces are transferred. However, such toothed rollers induce higher magnitude of stress which is similar to those of impact mills. The conventional rollers may produce very fine particles which may affect the process of coal cake making and heating of the cake.

The present disclosure is directed to overcome one or more limitations stated above or any other limitations associated with the conventional arts.

The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

One or more shortcomings of the conventional arts are overcome by an apparatus and a method as claimed and additional advantages are provided through the provision of apparatus and the method as claimed in the present disclosure.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed disclosure.

In one non-limiting embodiment of the disclosure, a crusher assembly is disclosed. The crusher assembly includes a housing defining a crushing chamber. The assembly includes a feeding chute supported on the housing and in communication with the crushing chamber. A plurality of rollers is disposed on respective axis in the crushing chamber. The at least one roller of the plurality of roller is fixedly mounted and adjacent rollers of the at least one roller are synchronously counter-rotatable. An outer circumference of each of the plurality of roller is defined with serrations of pre-defined orientation. The serrations are structured to crush materials fed into the crushing chamber through the feeding chute.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the feeding chute includes a divider plate configured to route the material fed through the feeding chute to each of plurality of crushing zones defined between the plurality of rollers.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the plurality of rollers includes a left roller, a central roller, and a right roller. Each of the plurality of rollers is disposed on respective shafts in the respective axis.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the assembly includes a bearing block coupled to a portion of each of the shafts on either ends.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the adjacent rollers of the plurality of rollers are synchronously counter-rotatable by an actuator. The actuator is a rotary actuator. The actuator is coupled to the adjacent rollers of the plurality of rollers through drive unit.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, each of the plurality of rollers includes an inner shell, an outer shell and a slotted plate configured to connect the inner shell and the outer shell.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the serrations are machined on the circumference of each of the plurality of rollers in the pre-defined orientation. The serrations are surface hardened. The serrations defined on the left roller of the plurality of rollers are oriented clockwise direction. The serrations defined on the right roller of the plurality of rollers are oriented in anti-clockwise direction.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, left half of the central roller is defined with the serration oriented in clockwise direction and right half of the central roller is defined with the serration oriented in anti-clockwise direction.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the assembly includes a gap adjusting mechanism provided in each of the bearing block supporting the each of the plurality of rollers. The gap adjusting mechanism is configured to adjust space between the adjacent rollers of the plurality of rollers. The space between the adjacent rollers defines the crushing zone.

In another non-limiting embodiment of the disclosure, a roller for a crusher assembly is disclosed. The roller includes an elongated outer shell and an elongated inner shell configured to be mounted on respective shafts. Also, the roller includes one or more slotted plates radially connecting the elongated outer shell and the elongated inner shell. An outer circumference of the elongated outer shell is defined with serrations of pre-defined orientations to crush the materials.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, an outer circumference of each of the one or more slotted plates is fixedly connected to an inner circumference of the elongated outer shell and an inner circumference of each of the one or more slotted plates is fixedly connected to an outer circumference of the elongated inner shell.

In yet another non-limiting embodiment of the disclosure, a method for crushing materials by a crusher assembly is disclosed. The method includes feeding materials into a crushing chamber through the feeding chute. The method further includes crushing the materials in a crushing zone defined by a space between at least one roller of the plurality of rollers which is stationary and adjacent roller of the plurality of rollers which are synchronously counter rotating. The materials crushed is disposed from the crushing chamber.

It is to be understood that the aspects and embodiments of the disclosure described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several of the aspects and embodiments may be combined to form a further embodiment of the disclosure.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING FIGURES

The novel features and characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The disclosure itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives, and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures. One or more embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures wherein like reference numerals represent like elements and in which:

FIG.1 illustrates schematic front view of a crusher assembly, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG.2 illustrates a top view of the crusher assembly of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a sectional top view of the crusher assembly of FIG.1.

FIG.4 illustrates a sectional front view of the crusher assembly of FIG.1 depicting a position of plurality of rollers, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG.5 illustrates a perspective view of the roller used in crusher assembly, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS.6a and 6b illustrates magnified view of portion Z and Z1 of FIG. 4 showing orientation of serration on the rollers in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure..

The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The foregoing has broadly outlined the features and technical advantages of the present disclosure in order that the detailed description of the disclosure that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the disclosure. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent processes do not depart from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the disclosure, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present disclosure. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated and make part of this disclosure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure discloses a crusher assembly for breaking or crushing materials such as ores including coal. The objective of the crusher assembly of the present disclosure may be to break or crush the ore in a shear mode by an application of surficial and bodily shear forces. The crusher assembly of the present disclosure enables crushing of particles at slower strain rates and also ensures higher productivity.

According to embodiments of the disclosure, the crusher assembly may include a housing which defines a crushing chamber. A feeding chute may be supported on the housing and may be configured to communicate with the crushing chamber. The crushing chamber among other components may be configured to accommodate a plurality of rollers disposed on respective axis. Each of the plurality of rollers is mounted on respective shafts which extend from one end of the housing to another end of the housing. In an embodiment, each of the plurality of rollers may include an elongated outer shell, an elongated inner shell and one or more slotted plate. The elongated inner shell may be accommodated on the respective shafts. The elongated inner shell may be secured to the elongated outer shell by the use of the one or more slotted plates. In an embodiment, an outer circumference of each of the one or more slotted plates may be fixedly connected to an inner circumference of the elongated outer shell and an inner circumference of each of the one or more slotted plates may be fixedly connected to an outer circumference of the elongated inner shell. In an embodiment, a bearing block may be provided on either ends of the shaft. The bearing block may aid in rotation of the shaft about the respective axis.

The plurality of rollers of the present disclosure includes a left roller, a central roller, and a right roller, each mounted respectively on a left shaft, a central shaft, and a right shaft. In an embodiment, the outer circumference of the elongated outer shell of each of the plurality of rollers may be defined with a serrations. The serrations defined on each of the plurality of rollers may be of pre-defined orientation. For example, the serrations defined on the left roller may be oriented in clockwise direction. Likewise, the serrations defined on the right roller of the plurality of rollers may be oriented in anti-clockwise direction. The central roller may be defined with serrations oriented both in clockwise direction and anticlockwise direction i.e., left half of the central roller may have serrations oriented in clockwise direction and right half of the central roller may have serrations defined in anti-clockwise direction. In an embodiment, the serrations may be defined on the outer circumference by suitable machining process. The serrations may be surface hardened to achieve desired strength suitable for crushing purposes. In an embodiment, a gap adjusting mechanism may be provided in each of the bearing block that are supporting the each of the plurality of rollers. The gap adjusting mechanism may be configured to adjust space between the adjacent rollers of the plurality of rollers with respect to the central roller. The space between the adjacent rollers and the central roller may act as a crushing zone.

The central roller of the plurality of rollers may be locked and act as a stationary roller in application. Likewise, adjacent rollers i.e., left roller and right roller of the plurality of rollers may be configured to be driven by an actuator such as a rotary actuator. In an embodiment, each of the left roller and the right roller may be driven by independent actuators or may be connected to same actuator. A drive unit may be provided between the left roller and the actuator and the right roller and the actuator. In an embodiment, the left roller and right roller may be synchronously counter rotatable by the actuators. For example, the left roller may be driven in clockwise direction and the right roller may be driven in anti-clockwise direction.

In operation, materials may be fed to the crushing chamber through the feeding chute. The materials fed into the crushing chamber may get accumulated at the crushing zones defined between the left roller and the central roller, and the right roller and the central roller. The rotation of the left and right rollers draws the material into the crushing zone. Upon drawing the material in the crushing zone, the serrations on each of the plurality of rollers may induce force on the material to be crushed. In an embodiment, the material may be crushed in a shear mode due to the surficial shear bodily shear forces induced by the serrations. The crushed materials are then disposed from the crushing chamber for further use.

The terms “comprises…. a”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof used in the specification, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that an assembly that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or method. In other words, one or more elements in an assembly proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the assembly.

Henceforth, the present disclosure is explained with the help of one or more figures of exemplary embodiments. However, such exemplary embodiments should not be construed as limitation of the present disclosure.

The following paragraphs describe the present disclosure with reference to FIG(s) 1 to 6b. In the figures, the same element or elements which have similar functions are indicated by the same reference signs. For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the disclosure, reference will now be made to specific embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated methods, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.

The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit application and uses. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding background or summary or the following detailed description. It is to be understood that the disclosure may assume various alternative orientations and step sequences, except where expressly specified to the contrary. It is also to be understood that the specific devices or components illustrated in the attached drawings and described in the following specification are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions or other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments that may be disclosed are not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise. Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be descried referring to the accompanying drawings. While some specific terms of “upper,” “lower,” “below”, “above”, “right,” or “left” and other terms containing these specific terms and directed to a specific direction will be used, the purpose of usage of these terms or words is merely to facilitate understanding of the present invention referring to the drawings. Accordingly, it should be noted that the meanings of these terms or words should not improperly limit the technical scope of the present invention.

A representative crusher assembly [as shown in FIG.1] embodying the concepts of the present disclosure is designated generally by the numeral (100) in the accompanying drawings. The crusher assembly (100), as will be hereinafter described may be adapted for use in a mineral industries for crushing the different materials such as but not limiting to coal. The crusher assembly (100) may also be used in crushing of mineral matters to finer particles. However, the assembly (100) which will in detail be illustrated hereinbelow is not limited to be used in the mineral industries. The assembly (100) of the present disclosure may also be employed in various industries such as electronic waste and the like, with suitable modifications, such modifications are expressly encompassed by the present disclosure.

Further, the present disclosure provides a method for effective crushing/breakdown of materials in a shear mode by application of surficial and bodily shear which will be elucidated hereinafter. In an exemplary embodiment, the material to be crushed may be coal and the same may be used to explain the functioning of the assembly of the present disclosure. However, the said material should not be construed as a limitation of the present disclosure. The assembly (100) of the present disclosure may enhance liberation of the particles of crushed material such as coal, inferior grade coals can be effectively utilized in the coke making application. The introduction of the inferior grade coal in the coal blend may reduce the coke cost.

The assembly and the method of the present disclosure may be effectively and efficiently practiced on a large scale, and processing capacity may be increased by simply increasing in parallel, the size or number of assembly (100) described herein.

The assembly (100) of the present disclosure includes a housing (102). The housing (102) may be configured to house or accommodate various components of the assembly (100). In an embodiment, the housing (102) may be square shaped and resemble a dome but not limiting to the same. Further, the housing (102) may define a chamber within to crush the materials and may be referred to as a crushing chamber (c). The assembly (100) includes a feeding chute (101) supported on the housing (102). In an embodiment, the feeding chute (101) may be provided at a substantially central portion of the housing (102). The shape of the feeding chute (101) may be at least one of a truncated cone or a truncated square. Further, a downstream end of the feeding chute (101) may be defined with a divider plate (101a). The divider plate (101a) may be at least one of triangular prism in shape but no limiting to the same. The divider plate (101a) may be configured to route or direct the material fed through the feeding chute (101) into the crushing chamber (c).

The housing (102) may be connectable to a base frame (106) of the crusher assembly (100) [hereinafter referred to as assembly (100)]. The base frame (106) may be rectangular in shape and may complement the shape of the housing (102). The base frame (106) may be configured to accommodate one or more bearing blocks (105) at pre-defined positions [as shown in FIG.1]. The one or more bearing block (105) may be at least one of cylindrical roller bearing or tapered roller bearing. In an embodiment, the one or more bearing blocks (105) may be slidably connected to the base frame (106). In the present disclosure, three bearing blocks (105) may be provided on the base frame (106) along respective axis. Each of the one or more bearing blocks (105) may be configured to accommodate shafts (108a, 108b and 108c) [best shown in FIG.3]. In an embodiment, the bearing block (105) may hold the shafts (108a, 108b and 108c) in place and serve to reduce friction and allow for smoother rotation of the shafts (108a, 108b and 108c). This cuts down on the amount of energy consumption.

As shown in FIG.3, the shafts (108a, 108b and 108c) may include a left shaft (108a), a central shaft (108b) and a right shaft (108c). The central shaft (108b) may be locked in the respective axis to arrest rotation of the central shaft (108b). The central shaft (108b) act as a stationary/supporting shaft to the adjacent shafts i.e., the left shaft (108a) and the right shaft (108c). In an embodiment, the left shaft, and the right shaft (108c) may be coupled to an actuator (104) through a drive unit (107). In some embodiments, the actuator (104) may be a rotary actuator such as an electric motor. In an embodiment, the drive unit (107) may be at least one of a pulley drive, gear box and the like. The actuator (104) may be configured to synchronously counter-rotate the left shaft (108a) and the right shaft (108b). For example, the left shaft (108a) may be rotatable in a clockwise direction and the right shaft (108c) may be rotatable in the anticlockwise direction. In an embodiment, the left shaft (108a) and the right shaft (108c) may be driven by independent actuators or may be driven by the same actuator. The shafts (108, 108b and 108c) may be configured to accommodate respective rollers of a plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c). Corresponding to the left shaft (108a), the central shaft (108b) and the right shaft (108c) the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10v) may include a left roller (10a), a central roller (10b) and a right roller (10c) [as shown in FIG,4]. In an embodiment, the crushing chamber (c) may be fluidly connected to a material crushing zone. The material crushing zone may be configured to collect the materials crushed in the crushing chamber which will be elucidated in sections of the present disclosure explained hereinafter.

In an embodiment, the assembly (100) includes a gap adjusting mechanism (103) provided in each of the bearing block (105). The gap adjusting mechanism (103) associated with the bearing block (105) may be configured to adjust space between the left roller (10a) and the central roller (10b) and the central roller (10b) and the right roller (10c). The space between the adjacent rollers ((10a, 10b) and (10b, 10c)) may define a crushing zone (z and z’).

Referring now to FIG.5 in conjunction to previous figures, configuration with respect to any one roller of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) will be elucidated. It should be understood that the same configuration may be applicable for other rollers of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c). Hereinafter, the configuration of the roller may be explained with FIG.5. The roller may include an elongated outer shell (2), an elongated inner shell (4) and one or more slotted plates (3). The elongated inner shell (4) may be fixedly accommodated on the shaft (108). The elongated outer shell (2) may be connected to the elongated inner shell (4) by the one or more slotted plates (3). The one or more slotted plates (3) may be configured to radially connect the elongated inner shell (4) and the elongated outer shell (2). In an embodiment, each of the one or more slotted plates (3) defined with a hole at a substantially central portion to accommodate the elongated inner shell (4). A major surface of each of the one or more slotted plates (3) may be defined with slots of predefined shape. The said configuration of the one or more slotted plates (3) aid in reducing the mass of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b, 10c) In an embodiment, an outer circumference of each of the one or more slotted plates (3) may be fixedly connected to an inner circumference of the elongated outer shell (2) and an inner circumference of each of the one or more slotted plates (3) may be fixedly connected to an outer circumference of the elongated inner shell (4). The one or more slotted plates (3) may be secured to the elongated inner shell (4) and the elongated outer shell (2) by at least one of mechanical joining process and thermal joining process such as but not limiting to fastening or welding. In an embodiment, the number of slotted plates (3) may depend on length of the elongated outer shell (2) and the elongated inner shell (4). The said configuration of the roller may be essential for reducing moment of inertia of the roller which in turn enables to impart controlled strain on the materials fed into the crushing chamber (c) which will be explained in later sections of the present disclosure. The said configuration may be employed in the left roller (10a), the central roller (10b) and the right roller (10c).

In preferred embodiment, an outer circumference of the elongated outer shell (2) of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) may be defined with serrations (1) [best viewed in FIG(s) 5a and 5d] of pre-defined orientations. The term serrations (1) here refer to a saw-like appearance or a row of sharp or tooth-like projections defined along the circumference of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c). A serrated cutting edge has many small points of contact with the material being cut. The serrations (1a) defined on the left roller (10a) of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) may be oriented in clockwise direction. Further, the serrations (1c) defined on the right roller (10c) may be oriented in anticlockwise direction. On the outer circumference of the elongated outer tube (2) of the central roller (10) the serrations may be defined in both clockwise and anti-clockwise direction. To exemplify the said configuration, a left half of the central roller (10b) may be defined with the serrations (1b) oriented in the clockwise direction and a right half of the central roller (10b) may be defined with the serrations (1b’) oriented in the anticlockwise direction. In some embodiments, the said configuration of serrations (1) may be defined vice-versa to the above configuration. For example, the serrations (1a) defined on the left roller (10a) of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) may be oriented in anti-clockwise direction. Further, the serrations (1c) defined on the right roller (10c) may be oriented in clockwise direction. A left half of the central roller (10b) may be defined with the serrations (1b) oriented in the anti-clockwise direction and a right half of the central roller (10b) may be defined with the serrations (1b’) oriented in the clockwise. The said configuration on the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) may be best viewed in FIG(s) 5a and 5b. The serrations (1) defined on the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) in pre-defined orientation may be configured to break or crush the material in the shear mode by an application of surficial and bodily shear forces. In an embodiment, the serrations (1) may be defined on the outer circumference of the rollers by mechanical process such as machining. Once, the serrations (1) are machined on the outer circumference of the rollers, the serrations (1) may be subjected to at least one of surface hardening process or case hardening process for longer operation life. The term surface hardening or case hardening refers to treatment of steel by heat or mechanical means to increase the hardness of the outer surface.

In operation, the material may be fed into the crushing zone (c) of the assembly (100) through the feeding chute (101). The divider plate (101a) of the feeding chute (101) may equally distribute materials to each of the crushing zones (z and z’) defined by the space between the left roller (10a) and the central roller (10b), and the right roller (10c) and the central roller (10b). The serrations (1) defined on the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) may draw the material into the crushing zones (z and z’). In the crushing zone (z and z’) the materials get arrested between the serrations (1) of the adjacent rollers ((10a and 10b), (10b and 10c)), thereby breaking/crushing the materials. Further, the crushed materials are discharged from the crushing chamber for further processing.

The crusher assembly (100) of the present disclosure may be configured to crush materials at lower strain rates. This may be achieved by the configuration of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) used in the assembly (100). The productivity of the crusher assembly (100) may be highly dependent on the diameter and speed of rotation of the roller. Conventionally, to increase productivity speed of the rollers of the crusher assembly of a diameter were increased which would induces higher strain rate. In some applications, productivity was increased by increasing the diameter of the roller of the crusher assembly (100) may increase the moment of inertia of the rollers, thereby increasing strain rates. The above problem is eliminated by the configuration of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) of the present disclosure. The productivity of the crusher assembly (100) may increase by using the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) of higher diameter. Although, the diameter of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) of the present disclosure is higher, the configuration of the same reduces moment of inertia, thereby reducing strain rates. The crusher assembly (100) of the present disclosure enhances liberation of the materials such as coal. Due to the enhanced liberation of the materials such as coal, inferior grade coal can be effectively utilized in the coke making application.

It is to be understood that a person of ordinary skill in the art may develop a system of similar configuration without deviating from the scope of the present disclosure. Such modifications and variations may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is intended that the present disclosure covers such modifications and variations provided they come within the ambit of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Equivalents

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding the description may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and/or "an" should typically be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, or C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B."

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated in the description.

Referral Numerals:
Description Reference number
Crusher assembly 100
Feeding chute 101
Divider plate 101a
Housing 102
Gap adjusting mechanism 103
Actuator 104
Bearing block 105
Base frame 106
Gearbox 107
Shaft 108 (a, b, c and d)
Plurality of rollers 10
Left roller 10a
Central roller 10b
Right roller 10c
Serrations 1
Serration on left roller 1a
Serration on central roller 1b and 1b’
Serration on right roller 1c
Outer shell 2
Slotted plate 3
Inner shell 4
Crushing chamber c
Crushing zone z and z’

Claims:We claim:

1. A crusher assembly (100), comprising:
a housing (102) defining a crushing chamber (c);
a feeding chute (101) supported on the housing, and communicating with the crushing chamber (c);
a plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) disposed on respective axis in the crushing chamber (c),
wherein, at least one roller (10b) of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) is fixedly mounted and adjacent rollers (10a and 10c) of the at least one roller (10b) of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) are synchronously counter-rotatable;
wherein, an outer circumference of each of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) is defined with serrations (1a, 1b and 1c) of pre-defined orientation, the serrations (1a, 1b and 1c) are structured to crush materials fed into the crushing chamber (c) through the feeding chute (101).

2. The crusher assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the feeding chute (101) comprises a divider plate (101a) configured to route the material fed through the feeding chute (101) to each of plurality of crushing zones (z and z’) defined between the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c).

3. The crusher assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) includes a left roller (10a), a central roller (10b) and right roller (10c).

4. The crusher assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) is disposed on shafts (108a, 108b and 108c) mounted in the respective axis.

5. The crusher assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1 comprises a bearing block (105) coupled to a portion of each of the shafts (108a, 108b and 108c) on either ends.

6. The crusher assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the adjacent rollers (10a and 10c) of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) are synchronously counter-rotatable by an actuator (104).
7. The crusher assembly (100) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the actuator (104) is a rotary actuator.

8. The crusher assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1 and 6, wherein the actuator (104) is coupled to the adjacent rollers (10a and 10c) of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) through a drive unit (107).

9. The crusher assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) includes an inner shell (4), an outer shell (2) and a slotted plate (3) configured to connect the inner shell (4) and the outer shell (2).

10. The crusher assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the serrations (1a, 1b and 1c) are machined on the circumference of each of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) in the pre-defined orientation.

11. The crusher assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the serrations (1a, 1b and 1c) are surface hardened.

12. The crusher assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1 and 3, wherein the serrations (1a) defined on the left roller (10a) of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) are oriented in clockwise direction.

13. The crusher assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1 and 3, wherein the serrations (1c) defined on the right roller (10c) of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) are oriented in anti-clockwise direction.

14. The crusher assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1 and 3, wherein left half of the central roller (10b) is defined with the serration (1b) oriented in clockwise direction and right half of the central roller (10b) is defined with the serration (1b’) oriented in anti-clockwise direction.

15. The crusher assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1 comprises a gap adjusting mechanism (103) provided in each of a bearing block (105) supporting the each of the plurality of rollers, wherein the gap adjusting mechanism (103) is configured to adjust space between the adjacent rollers (10a,10b and 10b,10c) of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c).

16. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 15, wherein the space between the adjacent rollers (10a, 10b and 10b,10c) defines the crushing zone (z and z’).

17. A roller (10) for a crusher assembly (100), the roller comprising:
an elongated outer shell (2);
an elongated inner shell (4) configured to be mounted on a shaft (108); and
one or more slotted plates (3) radially connecting the elongated outer shell (2) and the elongated inner shell (4),
wherein, an outer circumference of the elongated outer shell (2) is defined with serrations (1a, 1b and 1d) of pre-defined orientation to crush the materials.

18. The roller (10) as claimed in claim 17, wherein an outer circumference of each of the one or more slotted plates (3) is fixedly connected to an inner circumference of the elongated outer shell (2) and an inner circumference of each of the one or more slotted plates (3) is fixedly connected to an outer circumference of the elongated inner shell (4).

19. The roller (10) as claimed in claim 17, wherein the serrations (1a, 1b and 1c) defined on the outer circumference of the elongated outer shell (2) are surface hardened.

20. A method for crushing materials by a crusher assembly (100) of claim 1, the method comprising:
feeding materials into the crushing chamber (c) through the feeding chute (101);
crushing the materials in crushing zone (z and z’) defined by a space between at least one roller (10b) of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) which is stationary and adjacent rollers (10a and 10c) of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) which are synchronously counter rotating; and
disposing the crushed material from the crushing chamber (c).

21. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein the serrations (1a, 1b and 1c) defined on an outer circumference of each of the plurality of rollers (10a, 10b and 10c) crush the materials in the crushing zone (z and z’).