US Patent 6880771 Axially reciprocating tubular ball mill grinding device and method

A tubular vessel is loaded with a combination of grinding media and a material to be ground. The vessel is capped to contain the grinding media and material therein. Grinding of the contained material is effectuated by reciprocating the capped vessel in a direction parallel to its longitudinal axis. The grinding media may comprise either a ball or a slug, and may further utilizing a plurality of balls, perhaps of different sizes. To increase volume, a plurality of vessels may be gathered together into a sample holder. The sample holder is them reciprocated in a direction parallel to the axes of the included vessels.