ADC CONE CRUSHER INFORMATION
Cone Crushers — an Introduction
This section of the Aggregate Designs Corporation web
site is intended to inform the reader about different aspects of cone crushers.
They are sometimes called gyratory cone crushers. Cone crushers crush rock
between two conical surfaces called the mantle (lower movable surface) and the
concave liners above. These surfaces do the actual crushing and are constructed
of high manganese steel. Cone crushers can be used in a primary crushing role
but are typically seen more often in a secondary or tertiary position. There
are two types of cone crushers with respect to the pay product size: stand head
and fine head cone crushers. Fine head cone crushers have a reduced-size
opening and so can't take as large of feed material but can produce a finer
output product. Crushing action is achieved by the eccentric movement of the
lower portion of the main shaft. The mantle is connected to this main shaft.
The gyrating action of the main shaft causes the gaps between the mantle and
liners to change dimension and perform the actual crushing.
Part 1 — Components of a
Cone Crusher
Cone Crusher Manganese Mantle
The mantle is one of the actual crushing surfaces in the cone crusher
It is the one that moves in a rotary pattern driven by the counter shaft to
crush rock between itself and the immobile liners. The mantle doesn't
actually rotate; rather it moves in a circular pattern due to an eccentric lobe
on the main shaft.
Cone Crusher
Concave Liner (Manganese)
The concave cone liners are the other surface that does
actual crushing. The liner is shaped like an inverted cone (big side down)
with the upper side have an opening that will accept the material to be crushed.
These are also made of durable manganese for long life.
Main Shaft
The main shaft is what the mantle is mounted to and is
supported by bearings at its base and right below the mantle. It is driven
by spiral bevel gears from the counter shaft. It does not rotate, rather
it is housed in a frame that does rotate. The bearings in this frame are
put off-center, creating the oscillatory motion. Depending on the model
the ring gear may be located at the bottom or top of the main shaft.
Cone Crusher Counter Shaft
This shaft transfers rotary motion into the
cone crusher. On the exterior end of the shaft is a sheave, on
the interior side is a pinion gear that drives the eccentric main
shaft housing. These assemblies are often lubricated with a
oil bath system with a cooling mechanism.
Input Sheave/Flywheel
The exterior end of the counter shaft has a V-groove
sheave on it. Around 6 V-belts can be used to turn the countershaft.
The mass of the sheave helps to keep the cone crusher gyrating, but its mass
isn't as critical as that of a jaw crusher. Electric motors are typically
used to turn this sheave with 200 electrical horsepower being typical.
Cone Crusher
Bearings: Main & Counter
These are typically tapered roller bearings in an oil
bath lubrication system. The alloys of these can often contain lead due to
its effectiveness in lubrication retention.
Cone Crusher
Springs
Part of the safety mechanism to prevent damage to a cone
crusher during operation are large springs that put downward pressure on the
upper frame (the one holding the liners). Should some piece of
non-crushable piece of material enter the cone the springs can allow the liner
half to rise and prevent damage.
Cone Crusher
Protection: Hydraulic Cylinders
Hydraulic cylinders (typically actuated by noble gasses
like nitrogen vs hydraulic oil) can collapse the springs and allow uncrushable material to exit the
cone. This can be automatically actuated should the cone stop motion
during operation.
Cone Crusher
Beveled Gears
This gear set translates the horizontal rotary motion of
the counter shaft into the vertical rotary motion of the main shaft. They
are typically forged and cut for strength and low noise.
Top Cell Liners
Material to be crushed enters the cone chamber through
something called the top cell, which is typically lined with manganese liners.
A device called a rotary feed distributor is sometimes added to the top cell to
distribute the input material evenly throughout the bowl. When feeding a
cone from a screen the rock obviously is always entering the crushing chamber on
one side of the bowl only, the rotary feed distributor slings the materials
around both side of the cone head, filling the crushing chamber more evenly
resulting in potentially a better wear pattern and even better gradation from
the full choke fed feed chamber.
Part 2 — Important Considerations for
Cone Crushers
Cone Crusher
Mantle Diameter
Cone crushers come in different sizes depending on
desired production output rates. This size also determines the maximum
diameter of input material the cone crusher can handle.
Fine vs Standard
Head Size
This has to do with the clearance built into the mantle
in terms of its distance from the liners. Fine heads have less clearance
and can produce a finer output product while standard heads allow for a larger
output product.
Remote Adjustment in Cone Crushers
Remote adjusters in cone crushers are a quite valuable
feature, often adding $100,000 to $150,000 to the price of a unit. They
allow for "on-the-fly" adjustment of the mantle/liner clearance distance.
If you don't have this feature you must stop the crusher and adjust it with
wrenches. Some manufacturers included this as a standard feature.
Part 3 — Cone Crusher Illustrations *
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Cutaway view of a Cone crusher. Click on the
picture to open a separate window with a larger view |
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Another cutaway view of a cone crusher. Click on the
picture to open a separate window with a larger view |
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Animated view of a cone crusher operating.
V-belts that drive counter shaft via sheave omitted for clarity |
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* Trademarks and photos are
property of their respective companies
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Crushers
