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{{otheruses}}
{{Unreferenced|date=April 2008}}
A '''crusher''' is a [[machine]] designed to reduce large [[Rock (geology)|rock]]s into smaller rocks, gravel, or rock dust. Crushers may be used to reduce the size, or change the form, of waste materials so they can be more easily disposed of or [[recycled]], or to reduce the size of a solid mix of raw materials (as in rock [[ore]]), so that pieces of different composition can be differentiated. Crushing is the process of transferring a force amplified by [[mechanical advantage]] through a material made of molecules that bond together more strongly, and resist deformation more, than those in the material being crushed do. Crushing devices hold material between two parallel or [[tangent]] solid surfaces, and apply sufficient force to bring the surfaces together to generate enough energy within the material being crushed so that its molecules separate from (fracturing), or change alignment in relation to (deformation), each other. The earliest crushers were hand-held stones, where the weight of the stone provided a boost to muscle power, used against a stone anvil. [[Querns]] and [[mortar and pestle|mortars]] are types of these crushing devices. 

==Industrial use==
In industry, crushers are machines which use a metal surface to break or compress materials. 
Mining operations use crushers, commonly classified by the degree to which they fragment the starting material, with primary and secondary crushers handling coarse materials, and tertiary and quaternary crushers reducing ore particles to finer gradations. Each crusher is designed to work with a certain maximum size of raw material, and often delivers its output to a screening machine which sorts and directs the product for further processing. Typically, crushing stages are followed by milling stages if the materials need to be further reduced. Crushers are used to reduce particle size enough so that the material can be processed into finer particles in a grinder. A typical circuit at a mine might consist of a crusher followed by a [[grinder (milling)#SAG mill|SAG mill]] followed by a [[grinder (milling)#Ball mill|ball mill]]. In this context, the SAG mill and ball mill are considered grinders rather than crushers.

In operation, the raw material (of various sizes) is usually delivered to the primary crusher's [[hopper]] by [[dump truck]]s, [[excavators]] or wheeled front-end [[Loader (equipment)|loaders]]. A feeder device such as a [[conveyor]] or vibrating grid controls the rate at which this material enters the crusher, and often contains a preliminary screening device which allows smaller material to bypass the crusher itself, thus improving efficiency. Primary crushing reduces the large pieces to a size which can be handled by the downstream machinery.

Some crushers are mobile and can crush rocks (as large as 16 inches), concrete and asphalt into material as it is driven over material on road surface, thus removing the method of hauling oversized material to a stationary crusher and back to road surface. They are used, for example in road constructions.

==Types of crushers==
<gallery widths=160px heights=130px>
File:Geevor waterwheel stamps.jpg|Cornish stamps used in the 19th century for breaking tin ore
Image:Rock crusher.jpg|A portable rock crusher from the early 20th century
Image:Rock crusher jaws.jpg|The entrance bin of a mine rock crusher
Image:Steinmühle.jpg|Mobile crusher
</gallery>
	
The following table describes typical uses of commonly used crushers:
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Type!!Hardness!!Abrasion limit!!Moisture content!!Reduction ratio!!Main use
|-
|Jaw crushers||Soft to very hard||No limit||Dry to slightly wet, not sticky||3/1 to 5/1||Quarried materials, sand & gravel, recycling
|-
|Gyratory crushers||Soft to very hard||Abrasive||Dry to slightly wet, not sticky||4/1 to 7/1||Quarried materials
|-
|Cone crushers||Medium hard to very hard||Abrasive||Dry or wet, not sticky||3/1 to 5/1||Sand & gravel
|-
|Horizontal shaft impactors||Soft to medium hard||Slightly abrasive||Dry or wet, not sticky||10/1 to 25/1||Quarried materials, sand & gravel, recycling
|-
|Vertical shaft impactors (shoe and anvil)||Medium hard to very hard||Slightly abrasive||Dry or wet, not sticky||6/1 to 8/1||Sand & gravel, recycling
|-
|Vertical shaft impactors (autogenous)||Soft to very hard||No limit||Dry or wet, not sticky||2/1 to 5/1||Quarried materials, sand & gravel
|}

===Jaw crusher===
[[File:Scheme Jaw Crusher.gif|thumb|Operation of a jaw crusher]]
A jaw or toggle crusher consists of a set of vertical jaws, one jaw being fixed and the other being moved back and forth relative to it by a [[cam]] or [[Connecting rod|pitman]] mechanism. The jaws are farther apart at the top than at the bottom, forming a tapered chute so that the material is crushed progressively smaller and smaller as it travels downward until it is small enough to escape from the bottom opening. The movement of the jaw can be quite small, since complete crushing is not performed in one stroke. The inertia required to crush the material is provided by a weighted flywheel that moves a shaft creating an eccentric motion that causes the closing of the gap.

Single and double toggle jaw crushers are constructed of heavy duty fabricated plate frames with reinforcing ribs throughout. The crushers components are of high strength design to accept high power draw. Manganese steel is used for both fixed and movable jaw faces. Heavy flywheels allow crushing peaks on tough materials. Double Toggle jaw crushers may feature hydraulic toggle adjusting mechanisms.

===Gyratory crusher===
A gyratory crusher is similar in basic concept to a jaw crusher, consisting of a concave surface and a conical head; both surfaces are typically lined with manganese steel surfaces. The inner cone has a slight circular movement, but does not rotate; the movement is generated by an [[eccentric (mechanism)|eccentric]] arrangement. As with the jaw crusher, material travels downward between the two surfaces being progressively crushed until it is small enough to fall out through the gap between the two surfaces.

A gyratory crusher is one of the main types of primary crushers in a mine or ore processing plant. Gyratory crushers are designated in size either by the gape and mantle diameter or by the size of the receiving opening. Gyratory crushers can be used for primary or secondary crushing. The crushing action is caused by the closing of the gap between the mantle line (movable) mounted on the central vertical spindle and the concave liners (fixed) mounted on the main frame of the crusher. The gap is opened and closed by an eccentric on the bottom of the spindle that causes the central vertical spindle to gyrate. The vertical spindle is free to rotate around its own axis. The crusher illustrated is a short-shaft suspended spindle type, meaning that the main shaft is suspended at the top and that the eccentric is mounted above the gear. The short-shaft design has superseded the long-shaft design in which the eccentric is mounted below the gear.

===Cone crusher===
A cone crusher is similar in operation to a gyratory crusher, with less steepness in the crushing chamber and more of a parallel zone between crushing zones. A cone crusher breaks rock by squeezing the rock between an eccentrically gyrating spindle, which is covered by a wear resistant mantle, and the enclosing concave hopper, covered by a manganese concave or a bowl liner. As rock enters the top of the cone crusher, it becomes wedged and squeezed between the mantle and the bowl liner or concave. Large pieces of ore are broken once, and then fall to a lower position (because they are now smaller) where they are broken again. This process continues until the pieces are small enough to fall through the narrow opening at the bottom of the crusher.

A cone crushers is suitable for crushing a variety of mid-hard and above mid-hard ores and rocks. It has the advantage of reliable construction, high productivity, easy adjustment and less cost in operation. The spring release system of a cone crusher acts an overload protection that allows tramp to pass through the crushing chamber without damage to the crusher.

===Impact crushers===
Impact crushers involve the use of [[impact (mechanics)|impact]] rather than [[pressure]] to crush material. The material is contained within a cage, with openings on the bottom, end, or side of the desired size to allow pulverized material to escape. This type of crusher is usually used with soft and non-abrasive material such as [[coal]], seeds, limestone, gypsum or soft metallic ores. There are two types of impact crushers: horizontal shaft impactor and vertical shaft impactor.

====Horizontal shaft impactor (HSI)====
The HSI crushers break rock by impacting the rock with hammers that fixed upon the outer edge of a spinning rotor. The practical use of HSI crushers is limited to soft materials and non abrasive materials, such as [[limestone]], [[phosphate]], [[gypsum]], weathered [[shale]]s.

====Vertical shaft impactor (VSI)====
[[File:Scheme vsi crusher.jpg|thumb|Scheme of a VSI crusher with air-cushion support]]
[[Image:T80 7.jpg|thumb|VSI crusher]]
VSI crushers use a different approach involving a high speed rotor with wear resistant tips and a crushing chamber designed to 'throw' the rock against. The VSI crushers utilize [[velocity]] rather than surface force as the predominant force to break rock. In its natural state, rock has a jagged and uneven surface. Applying surface force ([[pressure]]) results in unpredictable and typically non-cubicle resulting particles. Utilizing [[velocity]] rather than surface force allows the breaking force to be applied evenly both across the surface of the rock as well as through the mass of the rock. Rock, regardless of size, has natural [[fissures]] (faults) throughout its structure. As rock is 'thrown' by a VSI Rotor against a solid anvil, it fractures and breaks along these [[fissures]]. Final particle size can be controlled by 1) the [[velocity]] at which the rock is thrown against the anvil and 2) the distance between the end of the rotor and the impact point on the anvil. The product resulting from VSI Crushing is generally of a consistent cubicle shape such as that required by modern SUPERPAVE [[highway]] [[asphalt]] applications. Using this method also allows materials with much higher abrasiveness to be crushed than is capable with an HSI and most other crushing methods.

VSI crushers generally utilize a high speed spinning rotor at the center of the crushing chamber and an outer impact surface of either abrasive resistant metal anvils or crushed rock. Utilizing cast metal surfaces 'anvils' is traditionally referred to as a "Shoe and Anvil VSI". Utilizing crushed rock on the outer walls of the crusher for new rock to be crushed against is traditionally referred to as "rock on rock VSI". VSI crushers can be used in static plant set-up or in mobile tracked equipment.

==Technology==
For the most part advances in crusher design have moved slowly. Jaw crushers have remained virtually unchanged for sixty years. More reliability and higher production have been added to basic cone crusher designs that have also remained largely unchanged. Increases in rotating speed, have provided the largest variation. For instance, a 48 inch (120 cm) cone crusher manufactured in 1960 may be able to produce 170 tons/h of crushed rock, whereas the same size cone manufactured today may produce 300 tons/h. These production improvements come from speed increases and better crushing chamber designs.

The largest advance in cone crusher reliability has been seen in the use of hydraulics to protect crushers from being damaged when uncrushable objects enter the crushing chamber. Foreign objects, such as [[steel]], can cause extensive damage to a cone crusher, and additional costs in lost production. The advance of hydraulic relief systems has greatly reduced downtime and improved the life of these machines.

==See also==
{{commonscat|Rock crushers}}
*[[Compactor]]
*[[Ball mill]] for further reduction to powder
*[[Mill (grinding)]]
*[[Stamp mill]]
*[[Car crusher]]

{{Types of tools}}

[[Category:Power tools]]
[[Category:Mining equipment]]

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