Method of controlling the operation of a cone crusher

1. A method of controlling the crushing of material in a cone crusher having an inner crushing shell supported on a crushing head and an outer crushing shell, the inner and outer crushing shells forming between them a crushing chamber, the method comprising the steps of:

supplying material ( 52 ) to a feeding hopper arranged above the crushing chamber;

feeding the material from the feeding hopper to the crushing chamber;

bringing the crushing head to gyrate by means of a drive shaft driven by a drive motor to crush the material in the crushing chamber;

measuring an amount of the material that is present in the feeding hopper; and

controlling, based on the measured amount of material present in the feeding hopper, at least one crusher operating parameter which is chosen from the group of an rpm of the drive shaft and a width of a discharge opening formed between the inner crushing shell and the outer crushing shell.

2. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of controlling, when the measured amount of material present in the feeding hopper falls below a minimum amount, at least one of said crusher operating parameters to increase the amount of material present in the feeding hopper.

3. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said step of measuring an amount of material that is present in the feeding hopper comprises measuring a level and/or a weight of the material present in the feeding hopper.

4. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of controlling, when the measured amount of material present in the feeding hopper exceeds a maximum amount, at least one of said crusher operating parameters to reduce the amount of material present in the feeding hopper.

5. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising measuring the amount of material in the feeding hopper at least once per 5 seconds.

6. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said cone crusher is an inertia cone crusher and further comprising the step of controlling at least one crusher operating parameter comprising controlling an rpm of the drive shaft driving an unbalance bushing to which an unbalance weight of the inertia cone crusher ( 1 ) is mounted.

7. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the cone crusher includes an eccentric sleeve providing the crushing head with a gyratory movement, the step of controlling at least one crusher operating parameter comprising controlling a width of a discharge opening formed between the inner crushing shell and the outer crushing shell.

8. A cone crusher including an inner crushing shell supported on a crushing head, an outer crushing shell, a crushing chamber formed between the inner and outer crushing shells, a motor driving a drive shaft to gyrate the crushing head to crush material in the crushing chamber, and a feeding hopper arranged for feeding material to the crushing chamber, the cone crusher comprising:

a measurement device for measuring the amount of material that is present in the feeding hopper; and

a control system for controlling, based on the measured amount of material present in the feeding hopper, at least one crusher operating parameter which is chosen from the group of an rpm of the drive shaft, and a width of a discharge opening formed between the inner crushing shell and the outer crushing shell.

9. A cone crusher according to claim 8 , wherein the control system includes means for comparing a measured amount of the material present in the feeding hopper to a minimum amount and to control, when the measured amount of material falls below the minimum amount, at least one of said crusher operating parameters to increase the amount of material present in the feeding hopper.

10. A cone crusher according to claim 8 , wherein the control system includes means for comparing a measured amount of material present in the feeding hopper to a maximum amount and to control, when the measured amount of material exceeds the maximum amount, at least one of said crusher operating parameters to reduce the amount of material present in the feeding hopper.

11. A cone crusher according to claim 8 , wherein the measurement device is a level sensor.

12. A cone crusher according to claim 8 , wherein the control system includes means for controlling the rpm of the drive motor to make the crushing head gyrate.

13. A cone crusher according to claim 8 , wherein the control system includes means for controlling a discharge opening control device arranged for adjusting the width of the discharge opening.

14. A cone crusher according to claim 8 , wherein the crusher is an inertia cone crusher, the control system including means for controlling the rpm of the drive shaft and driving an unbalance bushing to which an unbalance weight of the inertia cone crusher is mounted.

15. A cone crusher according to claim 8 , wherein the crusher is a cone crusher including an eccentric sleeve for providing the crushing head with a gyratory movement, the control system including means for controlling the width of the discharge opening.

16. A cone crusher according to claim 15 , further comprising a crushing head shaft piston to which the crushing head is connected, and an associated hydraulic fluid space for adjusting a vertical position of the crushing head, the control system including means for controlling the width of the discharge opening by adjusting an amount of hydraulic fluid in a hydraulic fluid space.

17. A cone crusher according to claim 8 , wherein the measurement device is a weight sensor.