CATALOG NO. 605-R4 Cage Mill PrimerTypes of Cage Mills & some considerations affecting their selection CONTENTS: History Cage Mills And How They Work Crushing By impact & Compression Single-Row Cage Mills, Construction Of Single-Row Cage Mills. Mult-Row Cage Mills Construction Of Multi-Row Cage Mills Internal Feeding, 1 Typical Applications Of ‘Single-Row Cage Mills. 12 Two-Row Cage Mills 13 Four and Six-Row Cage Mills. 4 Impact Bars & Linings, Men have found it necessary to make litle pieces out of big ones—of stone, ore, ice, grain, etc. — since long before history began to be recorded. it was a slow, laborious process for many centuries. With the coming of the Iron Age came the first breakthrough. Then somebody made a too! out of iron —we call it a hammer — and it worked better than any- thing ever had before. It worked so well in fact, that it's still one of the most widely used tools in the world Today, there are many different machines available to make little pieces out of big ones. No matter what the material or how fine the finished product is to be, there is almost certainly some kind of device available that will do the job. One of the most versatile of these machines, and one of the hardest ‘working, is the cage mill. There are several varieties of cage mils, but their similarities are more numerous than their differences. Basically, they all are internally fed impactors that can crush, grind or pulverize many different materials to specified degrees of fineness, Nathan Stedman, of Aurora, Indiana, Is credited with having invented the cage mill (which he called a disintegrator), Stedman's company was granted a patent for his invention in 1894. The drawing he submitted with his petition for a patent is easily recognizable as a cage mill — clearly a primitive machine by today's standards, but the parentage of today's cage mills is unmistakable. Early cage mills were used principally to crush materials that were not par- ticularly abrasive. By 1900 Nathan ‘Stedman had built over one hundred cage mills designed exclusively to crush coal. Many other applications wore discovered, leading to the increased use of cage mills for crushing such products as chemicals, clay and fertilizer materials. Multiple-row cage mills —two, four and six row—were routine. It was not until the 1930's that the true value of cage mills in the production of agricultural limestone and the crushing and benetict ation of stone and gravel came to be realized. At that time, heavy-duty cage mills were built to withstand the abrasion and impact of these applications and the single-row cage mill began to come into its own, ‘Single-row cage mills were used extensively in the building of the pioneering Pennsylvania Turnpike, primarily for the beneficiation of aggregates. Beneficiation is an ele- mentary process, but it still is one of the most widely practiced applications of single-row cage mills. Gravel is passed through the mill and the softer, unde- sirable particles, breaking more readily than the harder ones, are screened or washed away, leaving a hard, high- quality aggregate. History New uses are constantly being discovered for these versatile work- horses, but the nature of cage mills is such that improvements in them tend to bbe gradual and evolutionary instead of dramatic and revolutionary. It'seems appropnate that one of the more significant developments of recent years should have come from Nathan Stedman's company. n 1964, the Stedman Machine Company (incidentally still of Aurora, Indiana) introduced its new King Series of cage mills—a design that makes it practical to use very hard exotic alloys in the crushing parts, thereby ‘opening up still further applications for cage mills, In the 1970's Stedman developed the flared design cage mill which was especially suited to processing wet, tacky. sticky materials without clogging, In 1980, Stedman again was far ahead of the competition in the introduction of the new "G" Serigs line of easy-to-service cage mills. With advanced-design, quick-opening retraction through push button operation, service personnel can changeout wear components in as little as one hour—without disturbing or moving motor, drive or heavy belt drive guard, The "G” Mult-cage mill ine can be applied to effectively crush, grind and pulverize a broad array of abrasive and non-abrasive materials, including wel, sticky types. The latest technology incorporated in these high-efficiency design mills insures greater crushing capacities, finer grinds and cleaner, safer operation,Cage Mills and how they work Cage mills are basically crushers capable of reducing, or disintegrating, many kinds of materials to small pieces. They reduce materials solely by impact. Cage mulls Usually range in size from as small as 18 inches to as much as 72 inches in diameter. However, special orders may range as high as 96 inches in diameter * In general, the larger the mill, the lower the cost of operation when measured against tons of output ‘Atypical cage mill has only one part that moves — the rotor assembly The material to be crushed is fed into the center of the rotor. or cage, through an intake hopper. The massive round bars. of the spinning cage strike the material {and smash it into particles. The particies are then thrown against the cage housing. where they impact against breaker plates, ‘and against other particles. Some larger panicles actually re-enter the cage for eduction a second time. Every impact — against cage bar, breaker plate and other particles— tends to reduce the original matter further, into more numerous and smaller pieces. By the time the material finally escapes trom the cage mill, it has been thoroughly crushed; or, as Nathan Stedman would have said, “disintegrated The crushed. or milled. material is dis- charged from the bottom of the housing — in many applications, onto deflecting plates which absorb the impact and allow the particles to fall at gravity speed The reduced material may then be dropped onto a vibrating screen which will pass the material that has been reduced sufficiently. Larger particles are then recycled through the mill to be crushed finer The wearing parts. principally the breaker plates and the bars, or pins, of the cage. usually are made of manganese steel to withstand abrasion Wear can be controlled to a considerable degree by reversing the direction of the cage penodically Just as much wear takes place. of course, but it's distributed evenly and the lite of the pins and breaker plates can be effectively in creased When the cage and breaker plates finally do wear out, they can be replaced relatively quickly, easily and inexpensively Downtime is minimal For ease of description. we have outlined above the Single cage mill The Multi-cage mill functions in basically the same manner but with the addition of rows of pins in the mill, running in opposite directions. to further refine the product Typical Snale Row Cage Mil Showing Flow of Matera! During Crushing Matera! Ounng Crasning Materal urna Crushing Most materials —probably all the ‘materials that the readers of this primer are concerned with— can be crushed either by impact or by compression, Both methods, of course, apply force to the particle in sufficient measure to cause it to come apart —into two or more pieces. Compression has been described as, the slow application of force to a particle. Itis a pressing or squeezing together. ‘The surfaces between which the particle is compressed subject it to such stress that it breaks. Impact crushing, on the other hand applies force suddenly and quickly. The greater the speed of the crushing surface when it hits the particle or the greater the speed at which the particle is traveling when it strikes a crushing surface, the greater the potential reduction that can take place. ‘Jaw crushers are the oldest compres- sion crushers in use today. Among the designs currently available are double uf Gyratory Crusher Crushing by Impact & Compression toggle, single toggle (overhead eccentric) and machines with two movable jaws. Gyratory crushers are compression ‘crushers with conical heads which move ‘eccentrically or with a gyratory move- ‘ment inside a concave vessel. Typically, they have greater capacity than jaw crushers, but cannot apply as much force. Roll crushers break particles by shear- ing them; alternatively compressing them and passing a ribbon of material through a fixed setting of two counter-rotating cylindrical shells. Impact crushers include hammermils, impactors, cage mills and others. Hammermills strike the feed particles with free-swinging hammers moving at high speeds. Impactors have impellers that are fixed to a rotating drum in a stationary position. Impactors reduce feed stock by striking it, by hurling it against breaker plates lining the housing of the machine and by smashing flying particle against flying particle. Hammer- mills perform the same function with the addition of sizing grate bars in the bottom discharge area. ‘Cage mills, of course, reduce materials by the same combination of multiple impacts. The major difference is that there are no close clearances between the crushing part and the breaker plates. Also, they do not use grate bars, as the principal source of impact in the cage mill is on the pins of the revolving cage. Impact crushing — particularly impact crushing by the proper use of the most suitable cage mill available~has a number of advantages over compression crush- ing. Cage mills produce a more cubical product of consistently high quality, They are capable of a very high ratio of reduction. There is no detectible lessen- ing of quality of the product even atter Jong periods of operation. Cage mills represent, ordinarily, a lower initial investment than most other kinds of crushing equipment and maintenance is relatively easy and inexpensive to perform, hhSingle-Row Cage Mills I cage mills were horses, multh-row machines might be thoroughbreds and single-row mills would be plow horses. Single-row mills, although normally classified as secondary crushers, are designed for hard work; for heavy-duty crushing, frequently of hard and highly abrasive materials, although their versatility makes them valuable for the reduction of many kinds of materials. They are particularly useful in the beneficiation of sand and gravel and in the upgrading and crushing of all kinds of aggregates, ores and coal Single-row cage mills are available in sizes ranging trom 24 to 72 inches in diameter (the dimension refers to the outside diameter of the cage). The housing itself is, of course, considerably larger to allow ample space for the particles to travel freely between the cage pins and the stationary breaker plates. The pins may range in diameter from 4 inches in the smallest machines to 10 inches in the largest In general, the larger the cage mil, the larger the feed size it will accent land the greater the capacity it wll produce. (The largest single-row cage mills will accept feed as large as 18-20 inches.) Capacity also depends upon the speed at which the mill is operated, the feed size and its specific gravity. and the size of the desired product. The largest single-row mills available today have an approximate capacity of 2,000 tons an hour, depending upon all the variables Just noted, Pin spacing is dependent partially upon the size of the feed, but care should be taken not to space the pins too closely. With wider spacing, the feed is thrown from the cage sooner and thus has more ‘opportunity to ricochet back and forth between the cage and the breaker plates and against other particles. The more uniform the feed to the cage mill, the better the service from the mill and from its parts. A cage mill should ‘never be choke-fed. The maximum load should be one that allows the material to clear the cage freely without loading the inside, The optimum method of feeding ‘would be by means of a surge bin discharging to a vibrating feeder to the cage mill itself. Gravity feeding, however, is satisfactory in many applications. FEEDING ‘The size of feed to the cage mill will vary with the size of the mill and the hardness of the feed. Although optimum recirculating load in most applications is 20 to 40 per cent, the recirculating load {s not limited by the ratio of reduction. The recycled load is controlled by a combination of factors including particle mass. hardness and velocity, and by the capability of the machine. operating at a given speed, to break a given size article of given hardness. On trap rock, granite and some other hard materials, the limit may be a product of 100 per cont minus 5/8 inch, or even 3/4 inch. Other materials may be crushed to particles as small as 3/8 inch. A recirculating load as high as 200 per cent or even more would be possible and even reasonable, thereby providing extreme versatility in ‘end-product results. Showing Flow Of Materal During Crushing OPERATION Horsepower requirements can be as high as 2 h.p per ton when crushing certain products at high speed and as low as 1/2 hp. per ton on low-speed beneficiation applications The total load on the cage mill dictates the horsepower requirement that must be met. The spin- ring of the cage mill inevitably produces. certain amount of air volume which ‘must be controlled when crushing dry materials. The smaller the amount of air that is allowed to enter the mill on the intake side, the less air volume there is to be dispelled. A vent from the dis- ‘charge area back to the intake of the mill offers one method of control. Therefore, itis greatly in the interest of the ‘operator to restrict the intake opening as much as possible. The wisest and most efficient use of cage mills depends upon a proper understand- ing of them—of how they're made and what they will do and won't do. The following is an explanation of how a basic single-row cage mill is made. Itall starts with a shatt (1) at one end of which is mounted a sheave (2) and at the other end, a hub. The shaft rotates in two bearings (3) which are mounted on a pedestal (4) attached to a solid, stationary ‘base (5). The cage consists of a center- ‘mounted steel plate (6) around one side cf which are positioned equally spaced massive pins (7), The other ends of the pins are attached to a steel ring, or band. to form (8) a one piece casting for added ‘support and rigidity. A fabricated stee! housing (9) covers the cage with clear- ance between it and the sides of the ‘cage. The housing ends are lined with triangle-shaped breaker plates (10), which give the inside of the housing a corrugated appearance. A hopper (11) attached to the side of the housing allows feed stock to pass through the band side of the cage and drop into the spinning pins, where itis repeatedly smashed by pins, breaker plates and ricochating particles until itis reduced in size and drops through the opening in the bottom of the housing ConstructionMulti-Row Cage Mills Multi-row cage mills were in widespread use before single-row cage mills began. to come into their own in the 1930's. Multi-row machines operate on the same principle that single-row cage mills do and in the same manner; that is, they reduce the material they are fod to predetermined smaller sizes by striking fepeatedty with cage pins and throwing the particles at high speed against each ‘other, against the cage mill housing and against the other pins. Multt-row mills normally consist of an even number of cages: two, four or six The cages are arranged concentrically. with each cage spinning in the opposite direction Irom that of the cage(s) adjacent tot Two motors are required, They are mounted on either side of the mill, where they turn in opposite directions. One, ‘wo of three cages may be mounted on ‘each shatt. ‘& multi-row cage mill employs multiple stages of selective impact reduction. The material to be reduced is fed into the center of the innermost cage, where itis struck by the massive spinning pins and distributed 360° around the cage. Centrifugal force and the impact of the pins causes the material, now reduced to smaller pieces. to pass through the cage into the pins of the next cage, ‘which is spinning in the opposite direc- ton, The farther away from the center ‘cage the particles travel, the more their impact velocity is increased In the process of being thrown from cage to cage. the particles also strike each other, They finally are thrown against tough breaker plates that line the inside of the housing. After many violent contacts with the pins, the breaker plates and each other and with reduction taking place at each contact. the much reduced particles are caught by the outer housing and allowed to drop through the discharge opening in the bottom of the housing Presetting the speed of the cages properly causes the succeeding cages (moving from the innermost outward) to act principally on those particles which have not yet been reduced to the desired size. Particles which have been crushed sufficiently tend to pass through the outer ‘cages without being materially affected ‘Overcrushing or undercrushing thus can bbe effectively controlled by adjusting the speed of the cages. Maximum acceptable feed size ranges. from 1/8 inch in the smallest multi-row ‘cage mills up to 4 inches in the largest, 6 Feed materials can be reduced to cubical particles of practically any degree of fineness desired. i the proper equioment 's used, For instance, multi-row mills are capable of reducing certain materials to ‘as coarse as 1/4” x 20 mesh to as fine as 90 per cent passing 200 mesh In general, the greater the number of ‘cages with which a mill is equipped, the finer itis capable of reducing any specific material Cage pins and breaker plates are made of tough alloys that resist wear, however, should replacement become necessary it'can be achieved relatively easily and inexpensively, with a minimum of down- time. The life of wearing parts can be lenathened greatly by reversing the direction of the cages periodically, caces Two row ‘ft VN Va Four ow 1 tit VV a row Utd nyt ‘Genes MullcRow Gwae Mi The efficient use of cage mills depends upon a proper understanding of them. The multi-row mills, whether two-, four, or six-row, are constructed as explained below. Itall starts with two shafts (1), at one end each of which is mounted a sheave and at the other a hub (2). The shafts rotate in two bearings (3) which are mounted on pedestals (4) attached to a solid stationary base (5). The cage Consists of a center-mounted steel plate (6) around one side of which are posi- tioned equally spaced pins (7). The other fends of the pins are attached to a steel ring or band (8), for added support and rigidity. A steel plate housing (9) covers the cages with clearance between the sides and the cage. The housing is lined with various shaped breaker plates (10), depending on the application. A hopper (11) attached to the side of the housing allows feed stock to pass through the band side of the first cage and drop into the spinning pins, where itis repeatedly smashed by the pins of each row of cages and by ricocheting particles as it escapes by centrifugal force until itis reduced in size and drops through the opening in the bottom of the housing Four-Rlow Cages As Th IW A Cross Sectional View. ConstructionAll multi-cage mills are fed internally; that is, the material to be crushed is dropped into @ hopper from which it travels by chute into the center of the innermost cage. It falls from the chute onto the spinning pins of the cage, which strike the falling pieces of feed and explode them into many smaller pieces. The particles are hurled by centrifugal force from the innermost cage into the pins of the adjacent cage, which is spinning in the opposite direction. Particles that are still too large are struck by the pins of the second cage and reduced stil further. (The reduction process continues thusly through any additional cages that may be part of the machine} The impact velocity of the particles increases as centrifugal force Carries them outward from one cage to the next until they finally strike the mill housing and drop toward the large discharge opening at the bottom of the housing, Controlling the speed at which the cages revolve allows the operator to Control the amount of reduction that takes place, That is, if he speed is properly preset and controlled, the ‘material will be reduced to its desired Size at some point during its trip through the cage mill and then virtually no further reduction will tke place. The selective impact crushing that is a characteristic of multi-cage mills minimizes the amount of oversize and undersize particles to be found in the finished product The design of the cages controls the path that the material will flow through the machine. This makes it possible to concentrate the wear on the pins, which are made of a very high Brinell alloy to ‘give maximum possible service before they finally have to be replaced Internal Feeding Introduced in 1980, Stedman “G" Series. ‘Multi-cage mils feature quick-opening feature for periodic inspection and maintenance, compact, unitized construction, capacities to 1,000 tons-per-hour Electrically operated, quick-opening retractor provides immediate access to critical crushing components; inspection requires about five minutes, complete ‘change-out of wear components one hour or less.‘Normal secondary crushing of gravel limestone, ores, or any friable material. Normally the average feed size is 5” to 8" and the product in one pass would be 60-70% minus 1”. The plus 1” is returned to the mill for further reduction, or can be fed to existing cone. This increases plant ‘capacity and stil results in a highly cubical end product A very extensively used mill for soft stone elimination, beneficiation or up- ‘grading of materials that contain tight or deleterious particles. By precisely setting the actual speed of the cage mil selective impact can be performed on the softer particles without reduction Of the sound particles. A 95-100%, crushed count to meet or exceed state specifications can be achieved with this arrangement. The mill is usually run at a higher speed to produce the additional fines required for material compaction for base specifications, NORMAL SECONDARY CRUSHER BASE MATERIAL Considered the standard of the fertilizer industry is a two-row cage mill for in process” and shipping units. Usually required is a minus 6 mesh plus 16 mesh product {rom "sticky" material. A two-row ‘cage mill will give high yields in the 6 x 16 mesh range without buildup. Special rubber liners prevent buildup of D.AP. triple super, urea and similar materials. Field proven in maior brick plants as the main crusher for wet, sticky shale and clay, Extremely high yields in the required minus 8-10 mesh range with minimum fines. High capacities with minimal recycle load relieves screens and maximizes plant capacity. Whether the feed is wet or dry, clay and shale plant capacity can be increased 75-10% by adding the cage mill. Simply run the oversize from the screens to the added cage mill and discharge back on the muller discharge belt. Used for many variations of products Such as feed supplement, asphalt grit and manufactured sand. Shown with take-off for mineral filler or mine dust. Screen opening sizes and air separator settings can be changed along with mill speeds to give a wide range of product-variation capability For single products the screen ‘or the separator can be eliminated. Naturally in a wet plant a washer would be substituted for the separator "BRICK AND CLAY PLANT einTypical Applications of Four- and Six-Row Cage Mills ‘deal for making agricultural limestone, ppre-grinding to increase ball mill capacity. ‘Any application that requires high ‘capacity and maximum fines in a one-pass ‘operation from either dry or wet material can benefit from a four-row unit. Proven for pre-grind to superfine grind mills in coal transfer and gasification processes. High reduction ratios with ‘maximum fines. Coal preparation for coke ovens and related uses. Versatility is unlimited due to interchangeability of cages. Fines can be controlled because of the selective crushing principle of the multi-row. .TION e ‘Awide variation of multiple products is feasible as shown here. Since the selective crushing impact principle is ‘maximized (4 cages running in opposite Girections at high speed) with this arrangement, products as fine as 85% minus 200 mesh are practical. Maximized impact settings enable the four-row mill ‘Rot to "size lock" on oversize particles; therefore, all oversize from the separator can be returned to the crusher for single Product operation if demand requires. some 4 LOABOUT He Sixrow mills can be run at high speed for a high reduction ratio resulting in fine products. At slow to medium speeds (5000 F.P.M.-9000 F.PM.) grinding is ‘minimized. Because the material is in complete, suspension, mixing action is, 100% resulting in a “complete continuous mix” In selecting a cage mil, it is necessary to first determine the material to be crushed—as opposed to merely specify ing a cage mill's size and capacity. Pins for standard duty machines are nor- ‘mally supplied as shown in figure "B” design. This cage mill design features shouldered ends which give maximum strength to small diameter pins. They also provide for easy in-plant maintenance. Depending on the specific application, special alloy metals can be supplied as required, Figure “C" shows how bars for heavy duty and severe abrasion mills are de- signed and built to allow for maximum wall thickness and wearing surtace util- izing large-diameter sleeves, These sleeves can be furnished in chromes and other alloys. This design provides for maximum interchangeably for various proven and non-proven sieeve materials. Figure “A” shows how pins in Figure “8” are assembled for a complete cage assembly. 1. Rubber: Recommended for extremoly sticky materials and works best when some oversize material is present to vibrate the specially designed form. 2. Stainless Steel: Best used where corrosive and/or high temperature Conditions exist or where corrosive characteristics exist in the actual feed material. Type 304 is standard. Others available. 3. Ni-Hard: Proven through many years of field service to be unequaled during processing a severly abrasive material and a semi coarse product. 4, Abrasion Steel: Standard of the industry for minimum replacement cost and simplicity. Can be used for non-abrasive or abrasive material and is very acceptable when producing a fine product. Impact Bars & Linings ua S=S @& LININGS AVAILABLE FOR YOUR SPECIAL APPLICATIONInstallation throughout the World ‘Stedman Machine Company for ove grinding equipment on a world-wide the past century has supplied crushing and, TEST PLANT - Select the perfect crusher for your application Jman has one ofthe finest testing facilities available. With over 178 years of experience, many materials already have test INDIANA reports on file, Whether hard granite, gravel, imestone, coal, metal or raw garbage, call us for a comparison report or to schedule testing with our selection of full size equipment. For a tul-scale test, 800-1200 lbs. of your feed material will be requited. 55 gallon drums are the most suitable container for shipment and should be clearly marked with your company name. Best routing is to Cincianatl, Ohio, and then through Alkins Lines, Inc. to Aurora, Indiana. Ship prepaid to: Stedman Machine Company, clo Test Center, 108 Indiana Ave., Aurora, IN 47001 Originator ofthe Cage Mil STEDMAN MACHINE COMPANY * 129 Franklin ledman-machine.com * Wab Site: http://www -stedman-m Printed in USA Catalog No. 605-RA Copyright 1996, St Company