US1271710A - Automatic furnace-grate. - Google Patents

Description

(I. A. HORN.

AUIOMATIC FURNACE GRATE APPLlCATlQN FILED JUNEZ. 1917- Patented July 9, 1918.

6. SHEETS-SHEET l.

5] vwewfoz Patented; July 9, 1918.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mw. WW

CTflHO/W.

3% @Hozweqd $2.

C. A HORN.

AUTOMATIC FURNACE GRATE,

' APPLICAHON FILED JUNE 2. 1917. I 1,271,710. Patented July.9,1918.

V I 6 SHEETSSHEET 3.

mix cam C.'A. HORN. AUTOMATIC FURNACE GRATE. APPLICATION FILED JUN E 2. I917.

Patented July 9, 1918..

6 SHEETSSHEET 4.

. 5] wvewf o'a %1 Quays mu f, H 0777/.

C. A. HORN.

AUTOMATIC FURNACE GRATE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2.1917.

Patented July 9, 1918.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

C.- A. HORN.

AUTOMATIC FURNACE, GRATE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2. I9I?- Patented July 9 1918.

6 SHEETSSHEET 6.

UNETED @ATENT l FFEQE,

CHARLES A. HORN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOB OF ONE-FOURTH T0 1V. EVERET. BUNDLE, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, AND ONE-FOURTH TO HAROLD E. LOM- BARID, 0F BLOOMFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

AUTOMATIC FURNAGE-GBATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 2, 1917. Serial No. 172,416.

To alt whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES A.\TIORN, a subject of the German Emperor, residing at Voodhaven, in the borough and county of Queens, city and State of New York, have invented certain'new and useful Improvements in Automatic Furnace- Grates, of

which the following is a full, clear, and

exact description.

This invention relates to furnace grates, and 1ts chief object is to provide a grate adapted to burn any and all kinds and gradesof coal, bituminous or anthracite, at. will. Another object is to provide a self stfiing grate capable of stoking the fuel over the surface of the grate in an effective man- :ner, and, if desired, at a rate diminishingfrom front to back for the purpose of keepstances. Another object is to provide an automatic grate which will discharge the ash, clinkers, and other refuse, without the use of water-backs and special dump-plates or the like. Still another object is to provide an automatic grate which will agitate the fuel bed, thereby facilitating the passage of air and preventing the formation of a cindercrust, which latter,.as is well known, is apt to confine the heat to such an extent as to cause injury to the gratetops. To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features of construction and combinations of elements hereinafter described.

In carrying out the invention in the preferred manner I provide a series of parallel rock shafts extending acrossthe'grate area, the series being inclined downwardly at a suitable angle from front to back, that is, from the intake end of the grate to the rear or discharge end. Each rockshaft carries a carrier-bar (on which the' grate-tops are mounted) and each bar is so arranged as to lie normally over the rockshaft immediately in front. Each rockshaft also carries one or more devices which, when the shafts are rocked in the proper direction, can lift the superposed carrier-bars and move the same toward the rear, thereby raising the fuel bed and moving "it to the rear. The mechanism for rocking the shafts is constructed to cause the carrier-bars (and, of course, the grate- .t'ops thereon) to return to normal position in succession, from front to rear.

the carrier-bar at the front first swings back, then thesecond from the front, and so on. By this method the fuel bed is not permitted to fall back, bodily, to or nearly to, its

former position. Instead, the grate-tops slip back under the fuel, leaving theentire -bed in practicallv the position to which it was'moved by the simultaneous movement ofthe grate-tops. In short, the grate-tops return to home position like a receding wave from front to rear. As the wave travels a like wavetraverse's the fuel bed, thereby agitating the fuel and breaking up the bed more or less. Atthe rear of the grate the described rearward movement of the fuel bed projets its rear portion, composed of ash and other refuse, over the edge of the ashpit, thus permitting the 'refuse to fall into the latter. Means ar 'alsqprovided by which the stroke or extent of movement of any carrier-bar or bars can be varied. For

example, the stroke may diminish from frontto rear, so that the fuel-travel will be less rapid at the back. In this way t is easy to thicken the fuel bed toward the rear of the grate, to compensate for the consumption of the fuel; it being readily understood that with a uniform travel the amount of unconsumed fuel at the rear would be much less than at the front: x

The embodiment thus briefly outlined is illustrated vin the annexed drawings, in which- Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section on the planeof line 1-1 in Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the grate, with parts broken away and with most of the That is,

Patented 51113 9, 1918.

bottom of the fuel hopper. Referring to the drawings, chiefly Fig. 1,

grate-tops removed to show theunderlying parts. 7

Fig. '3 is a front view of the furnace, showing the external parts of the grate Operating mechanism.

Fig. 4: is a detail plan View, showing por-J tions of several grate-top carrier-bars and such-parts of the actuating mechanism as are imm'ediately connected therewith. This figure also shows a number of the grate-tops in place on their respective carrier-bars. Fig.5 is a detail section illustrating the movemntof the carrier-bars and the grate tops thereon.

carrier-bars, for example giving the rear carrier-bars less throw than those at the front. v

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional ,view, on the same plane as Fig. 1, illustrat ng the function of the means for determining the diiferential throw of the carriage-bars.

Fig. 8 is a detail cross section of several grate-tops, on the plane indicated by the line 8 in Fig. 5, illustrating the method of spacing the grate-tops apart for the passage of air between them to the fuel above. In this,

Fig. 11 is a detail perspective view of one of the spacers or spacing saddles used between the grate-tops to space the same apart on the carrier-bars.

Fig. 12 is a detailed plan view of one end of the sliding grid-valve or gate used in the 10 designates the fire or combustion chamber of the furnace, having a roof 11 and at its' front, just below theroof, a mouth 12 for the introduction offuel. The fuel is supplied from a hopper 13 extending across the combustion chamber above the mouth. The hopper may be divided into several coinpartments by walls 14: which, being integral with or firmly connected to the vertical rear wall and inclined front wall of the hopper,

aid the latter wall in resisting outwardly or downwardly exerted stresses, as do also the fins 15 on the outside. The bottom of the hopper is formed with a plurality of parallel slots 16 extending longitudinally of the furnace, and above the hopper bottom is a transversely sliding grid 17 (Fig. 12) having similar slots 18. Then the grid slots,

are in registry with the hopper slots 16 the fuel can pass downwardly upon the horizontal guide-plate 19," The grid is provided Fig. 6 is a detail view of one form of device for differentiating the throw of the at one end with an actuating bar 20 for connection with any suitable means, (not shown), actuated by hand or by power, to

shift the grid back and forth continuously or at proper intervals. If desired the grid can be provided with agitating fingers, as 21, Figs. 7 and 12, to agitate the fuel and so prevent arching over the grid.

, mental gears 24, by which it can bereci rocated longitudinally of the furnace. he gears named are fixed ona transverse shaft- 25, which can be rocked continuously or at suitable intervals by any convenient mechanism" for the purpose. Preferably this mechanism should be such as will permit regulation of the speed of the pusher plate, and of the intervals between reciprocations thereof, within certain limits. Inasmuch as this mechanism is no part of the present invention it is deemed unnecessary to illustrate the same herein.

The fuel falling from the hopper 13 upon the aide late 19 is pushed rearwardly ed the atter by the pusher plate 22) and upon the coking-plate 26, where the fuel, being exposed to the heat of the fire, may undergo more or less coking. The guide-plate and the coking-plate are fixedly mounted on a transverse rockshaft 27. When thepusher plate is retracted, say about to the position; shown in Fig. 7 the shaft/27 can be rocked counterclockwise by any convenient means, not shown, thereby lifting the coking-plate for kindling or inspection of the fire and for slicing, raking, or any "other work on the fuel bed that may be required. The fire can also be observed through inspection doors 26, 26 in the sides of the setting. At its rear the coking-plate rests on the rear ortion of a transverse dead-plate 28 whic is provided with a groove on its underside to fit down upon a transverse rib 29, thus permitting the dead-plate to swin up and down on the rib as a pivot as the %ront edge of the dead-plate resting on the first transverse series of grate-tops, rises and falls.

A scraper 30, of'heavy sheet-metal bent to. inverted V-shape, is. mounted loosely on the pusher-plate 22 and in a transverse groove at the bottom of the hopper, to. prevent fine bits of fuel from working out on the pusher plate. The transverse rockshafts 31', Figs. 1, '2, 4, and 5, are mounted in the longitudinal side and center frames 33. The shafts are preferablyall in the same plane, which is infrom left to right as seen in Fig.1, Each shaft is provided with a plurality of arms or brackets 34, extending forwardly, that-is,

clined downwardly from front to; rear, or Y toward the fuel-inlet end of the furnace,

and supported by roller-bearings 32, Fig. 5,

bearings 36, Fig. 5, a plurality of collars 37 having ownwardly extending actuating arms 38, and forwardly extending lifting lugs or fingers 39, and the carrier-bars 35 immediately above are provided with downwardly and forwardly extending fingers 40, resting on the the lugs 39. As will readily lie-apparent from Fig. 5, the center of gravity of each carrier-bar and the associate brackets 34 and fingers 40 is in front of the shaft on which they are mounted, with the result that the fingers 40 rest by gravity on the lugs 39 and hence will follow the movements of the latter at all times.

The grate-tops 41 are preferably of elongated'form, rounded ed at their ends, and are provided at their front ends with downwardly .open notches or recesses 42 to fit down loosely upon the upper edges 43 of the carrier-bars 35. The grate-tops are arranged side by side on the carrier-bars, forming a plurality of transverse series. The rear edge of the rearmost series, that is, the rear ends of the rearmost grate-tops, rest loosely on a transverse end frame 44, which forms the front edge of the passage 45 leading downwardly to the ashpit or hopper 46, while each series infront of the rearmost overlies-the series immediately in rear, as clearly shown in F ig. 1. In other words,-the grate-tops overlap from front to rear downwardly, but,

as indicated in Fig. 2, they are preferably in longitudinal alinement. The grate-tops 41 are of suflicient depth to form a well defined series of steps, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

I As will be seen fromthe foregoing, my improved grate is composed, speaking generally, of a plurality of transverse gratesections or units. In the present embodiment of the invention each section or unit of the stoking grate includes a suitably mounted carrier-bar 35 and a plurality of grate-tops 41 arranged side by side thereon.

For the purpose of actuating the arms 38 to raise the lugs 39 and so swing the carrier-; bars 35 and grate-tops 41 upwardly and rearwardly, said arms are pivotally connected to a series of actuating links or bars 47 Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, extending forwardly through a horizontal series of slots in the furnace front-plate 48. At their front ends, outside of the front-plate, the links are provided with slidably adjustable crossheads 49, resting on roller-bearing guide-rollers 50, (Fig. 7) mounted on a transverse shaft 51 supported by forwardly extending brackets 52. In rear of the shaft 51 is a transverse camshaft 53 having two series of cams 54 for cooperation with the aforesaid crossheads to reciprocate the same and the links 47, there by actuating the grate-top carrier-bars in the manner described. In the embodiment illustrated the primary edges of all the cams, that is the edges that first engage the crossheads, are in transverse alinement, but the cams of each series are of successively greater angular extent from the innermost cams (54) outwardly, as clearly shown in Fig. 7, so that all the crossheads will be advanced simultaneously but will be retracted in succession as the cams pass, thereby causing the grate-top carrier bars to swing forwardly anddownwardly in succession from the front of the grate to the rear; it being understood, of course, that the inner crossheads (Fig. 2) are connected to the first.

shaft 31, the second crossheads to the next shaft 31, and so on.

The cams 54 of each series can be made as separate parts, fixed individually on the shaft in any convenient manner, but they are more conveniently made integral with each other in the form of a single casting. The cam-shaft is rotated continuously by any convenient and suitable mechanism, manual or power-driven, not shown, per

mitting the speed to be varied at will.

Above the links 47 and in rear of the crossheads 49 is a transverse shaft 55, equipped with two series of stroke-regulating arms or stops 56 (Figs. 1 and 7), one series for each series or set of crossheads, each stop being arranged to cooperate with, and limit the.

rearward movement of, its respective crosshead. The stops are successively longer from the innermost outwardly, toward the sides of the furnace, as clearly indicated in Fig. 7. Hence when the stops are swung from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 7, or to any intermediate position, the rearward (rightward) movements of the crossheads are successively less from the innermost crossheads outwardly, with the result that the upward and rearward movements of the grate-tops 41, by which movements the fuel is fed over the grate to-' ward the rear or lower end of the same, are successively less from front to rear. It is clear that the extent of rearward movement of each crosshead, and hence of the corresponding transverse series of grate-tops, depends, other conditions being the same, upon the radial lengths of the stops from the axis of the shaft 55, nd that these dimensions can be varied as may be necessary or desirable to suit the conditions for which the particular furnace is designed. The stops of each series may be separate fromeach other and secured individually on their shaft, but they are more conveniently made integral with each other in the form of a single castv as shown in Fig. 6.

I l8 shaft-55, carrying the stops 56, is adusted to the proper position by any convenient mechan1sm, as for example a segmental Worm gear" 57, Fig. 2, fined on the shaft and meshing with a worm (not shown) on a short shaft 58, Fig.- 2, which is mounted in a bracket 59, on the shafts 53, 55, and is rotated by a handwheel 60. A. worm and:

Worm-gear mechanism is advantageous in that it not only enables accurate adjustment to he made by hand but also itself serves to securely hold the shaft and stops in any pos sition of adjustment. 7

When the stops 56 are in the position shown in Fig. l thecrossheads are'in transverse alinement, The revolving earns 54 will therefore engage andadv'ance (toward the left) all the crossheacls simultaneously and,

hence will raise and move rearwardly all the gratetops 4-1 simultaneously. ff, however, the stops are in, say, the position shown in Fig. 7, the innermost crcssheads will be advanced first and will be moved the maximum distance, thereby raising and shifting rearwardly to the maximum extent the forward'transverse series of grate-tops il. The

. next crossheads will he engaged by their respective cams'amoment later and the extent of their forward (leftward) movement will he correspondingly less, with'a corre spending efi'ect upon the movement of their respective series of grate-tops. in like man-v the fuel rearwardly over the grateat de creasing speed; In this way the consum tion of fuel can be compensated for andt e thickness of the'fuel bed kept substantially uniform from front to rear. readily understood, the rate of decrease of y the vertical and horizontal motion of the fuel-feeding."wave can be varied at any time, whether there is a fire on the grate or not, by adjusting the stops 56 as already de:

scribed.

An edect similar to that produced by the employment of the stops 56 as described can he obtained by placing the crossheads 4:9-successively farther out on the ends of the links, as will be readily understood. This differ- As will be ential mitted y the use of set-screws, as 49* to fasten the crossheads on the links. The chief purpose of having the crossheads adjustable is to permit them to be lined up readily at any time. A

The grate-top carrier-bar 35 at the extreme front of the grate is not rocked by cams 54, and hence the only movement imparted to the extreme front series of gratetops is a slightrocking, on the supporting edge of thecarrier-bar, produced by the up ward movement of the next series of grate tops. This rocking of the. extreme front series of grate-tops gives a slight swinging movement in the dead plate 28, since the rear edge of the "latter rests on said series of %ositioning of the crossheads is per grate-tops, which movement is imparted to the coking-plate 26, the lower and rear edge of which rests on the rear of the dead plate.

Air for natural draft can be admitted to the air-chamber 61, Fig. 1, below the grate, by opening the inspection and cleaning doors 62 in *the furnace front, Fig. 3. Air for mechanical draft is supplied through ducts 63, at each side of the aforesaid doors, by means of a fan or blower, notshown.

Thedistribution of airthrough the grate to the burning fuel is a highly important 7 factor in conjunction with the varying rate of feed of the fuel over the grate. In the preferred embodiment 'of the invention the air that reaches the fuel bed from below comes through spaces between the grate tops at the sides thereof. Preferably there are no other air openings in the grate, and accordingly I prefer to have the'grate-tops narrow in proportion to their length, so that air openings in the grate-tops themselves will not be needed to keep the temperature of the grate-tops down to a safe point. In' lieu of or in conjunction with bosses or projections (not shown) on the sides of the grate-tops to space the same apart I prefer.

to employ removable spacers 64 (Figs. 8, 9 and 11) between the grate-tops, in the form of inverted V-shaped members straddling the upper edges of the carrier-bars 35.

These spacers may all be of the same width or transverse thickness as in Fig. 8, in

which case, as will be evident, the air spaces will beuniform throughout the grate; or

they can be of different widths, for example as in Fig. 9, thus, making corresponding dif 1 ferences in the areas of the air-openings. It

will therefore be seen that by using spacers of the proper widths the individual airopenings can be given any area desired, from zero up to any reasonable limit, 80 also, by proper distribution of spacers '0 different widths more air can be admitted at one part of the grate thanganother, thus giving any desired air-distribution In order to insure proper positioning of the spacer on the carrier-bars, and to prevent displacement of the spacers, especially in cleaning the grate, kindling the fire, or in raking, slicing, or other hand work on the fire, the grate-tops are provided With lateral recesses 65, at the points Where they rest on the carrier-bars and the spacers are shaped to fit into these recesses, as clearly indicatedin Figs. 5, 8 and 9.

A certain amount of air can be admitted above the coking-plate 26, Figs. 1 and 7, through a space 66, between the front of the roof 1'1 and the vertical rear wall of the fuel-hopper 13, which air will be pre-heated by heat reflected from the roof before mixing with the gases distilled from the fuel.

The invention is shown embodied in a furnace for heating a steam boiler (indicated'by the water-tubes 66), but it is not limited to such use.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the construction herein specifically illustrated and described, but can be embodied in other forms without departure from its spirit as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an automatic furnace-grate, in combination, a plurality of transverse gratesections or units, and mechanism for giving the same in succession from front to rear of the furnace a combined vertical and horizontal movement of reciprocation, whereby the fuel-bearing surface of the grate is given a wave-like motion traveling from front to rear.

2. In an automatic furnace-grate, in combination, a series of transverse shafts, a transverse carrier-bar mounted on each shaft and extending forwardly toward the next adjacent shaft, devices on each shaft for cooperating with the carrier-bar which is mounted on the next rearward shaft to swing the same on the axis of its shaft, and

mechanism for actuating said devices.

3. In an automatic furnace-grate, in combination, a plurality of transverse grate-sections or units, and means for simultaneously and uniformly moving the grate sections or units from an initial position upwardly and toward the rear of the grate and causing the same to return to initial position in succession from front to rear of the grate;

,4. In an automatic furnace grate, in combination, a plurality of transverse gratesections or-nnits, pivotal supporting means for the grate-sections or units permitting the same to be moved by gravity to a lower and forward position, and mechanism for raising the grate-sections or units and movig the same in unison to anupper and rearward position and then releasing them in succession from front to rear of the grate to permit their return by gravity to their lower and forward position.

5. In'an automatic furnace-grate, a grate- 4 mon warc ly therefrom, a grate-top carrier-ban the brackets, and a plurality of grate-tops mounted on the carrier-bar.

6; In an automatic furnace-grate, a gratesection or unit comprising a transverse sup porting shaft, a plurality of brackets mounted on the shaft and extending forwardly therefrom, a gratetop carrier-bar arranged in front of the shaft and fixed on the brackets, and a plurality of grate-tops mounted on. the carrier-bar.

7. In an automatic furnace-grate, a grateseotion or unit comprising a transverse supporti 1g shaft, a plurality of brackets sited on the shaft and extending forarranged in front of the shaft and fixed on the brackets, a plurality of grate-tops mounted on the carrier-bar, and mechanism for swinging the carrier-bar about the axis of the shaft.

8. In an automatic furnace-grate, in combination, a plurality of transverse shafts, grate-top carrier-bars arranged to swing upon the axes of the shaft each carrier-bar being arranged adjacent to and above the shaft next in front of its own shaft, actuating fingers fixed on each carrier-bar and extending downwardly therefrom in front of the shafts over which the carrier-bars are arranged, actuating arms extending downwardly from the shafts and having lugs cooperating with the said fingers to raise the same and thereby swing the carrier-bars upwardly and re'arwardly, and mechanism for rocking said arms on the axes of their shafts.

9. In an automatic furnace-grate, in combination, a plurality of transverse grate-sections or units; and mechanism for giving each grate-section a combined vertically and horizontally reciprocatory movement; said mechanism including a plurality of forwardly extending reciprocatory links connected to the grate-sections at their rear ends, and means for causing the links to be advanced simultaneously and retracted successively.

10. In anautornatic furnace-grate, in combination, a plurality of transverse gratesections, or units each capable of combined vertically and horizontally reciprocatory movement, a plurality of forwardly extending reciprocatory links connected at their rear ends with the respective grate-sections to actuate the same, and a transverse series of cams adapted to normally advance the links simultaneously and permit the same to he retracted in succession.

11. In an automatic furnace-grate, in combination, a plurality of transverse grate-sections or units each capable of combined vertically and horizontally reciprocatory movement, a plurality of forwardly extending reciprocatory links connected at their rear ends with the respective grate sections to acto restrict the rearward movement of the, crossheads and links and hold the former: successively farther from the primary edges of the cams whereby the links will be advanced. and the gratesections actuated in success-ion when the cams are operated.

12. In an automatic furnace-grate, in combination, a plurality of transverse grate-sec tions or units each capable of combined vertically and horizontally reciprocatory movement, a plurality of forwardly extending reciprocatory links connected at their rear ends with the respective grate-sections to actuate the same, a .crosshead'fixed on the forward 7 end of each link the crossheads being in transversealinement when the links are in their rearmost positions, a plurality of cams of successively greater .angular extent but having their primary edges in transverse alinement to normally engage and advance all the crossheads-simultaneously, aseries of stroke-limiting stops adapted. to restrict the rearward movements of the crossheads and hold the same successively-farther from'the alined primary, edges of the cams, and means for shifting the stops into and out sively in the other direction.

afix my s gnature. 75

tive position.

of opera- 1 13. In an automatic furnace-grate, in combination, a plurality of forwardly and rear- Wardly movable transverse grate-sections or units, a plurality of forwardly extending links connected at their rear ends to the respeetive grate-sections to actuate the same,

means for-causing the links to move for:

wardly and rearwardly, a shaft extending across-the links at the front'thereof, and a plurality of stroke-limiting stops fixed on the shaft to limit the rearward movements thereof. a

' I 14. In an automatic furnace-grate, in con1- bination, a plurality of movable transverse grate-sections or units, a plurality of for- 'Wardly extending actuating links connected at their rear ends to the grate-sections a plurality of crossheads fixed on the front ends of the links, means cooperating with the crossheads to cause the same and the links tomove forwardly and rearwardly, and a plurality of guide-rollers under the cross heads to support the same.

.15. In an automatic furnace grate, in combination, a plurality of transverse=gate-sec tions'or units capable of combinedvertically and horizontally reciprooatory movement, a plurality of cams, and aplurality of links connected with the grate-sections to actuate the same and having means to cooperate with the cams for actuation. thereby, said cams andmeans'b'eing adapted to move the links simultaneously in one direction and succes- In testimony whereof I LES A. HORN,

Images