US1357305A - Thawing material in cars - Google Patents

Description

A. M. ALVORD.

THAW! N G MATERIAL l N CARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I. 1918.

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THAWING MATERIAL IN CARS. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7, I9I8.

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UNITED STATES rATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR M. ALVORD, OF NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TOALVORD AND SWIFT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

THAWING MATERIAL IN CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patent-ed Nov. a, 1920.

Application filed March 7, 1918. Serial No. 221,043.

To all fui/tom muy concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR M. Anvonn, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Rochelle, in the county of lVestchester, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Thawing Materials in Cars; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to improvements in thawing material in cars, and while particularly intended for thawing coal frozen in coal cars may be used for thawing any material that may be frozen in the car.

The usual practice in thawing coal or other material contained in cars is to inject steam into the mass of material by means of a pointed tool having apertures in its sides and connected to a steam hose, but this method is slow and wasteful of steam, since a considerable amount of the latter simply rises through the space between the tool and the material without penetrating and thawing the coal. llt has also been proposed. to run the cars into heated chambers and let them remain until the material therein has thawed out, but this method involves the construction of special buildings, and at best requires considerable time for the heat to warm the entire mass of material.

lt is an object of the present invention to provide a construction in which steam may be supplied at a number of points throughout the body of a car in position to penetrate the entire mass of material therein, so that the latter `may be rapidly and uniformly thawed. This and other objects of the invention are attained by equipping the car with a practically indestructible system of pipes and valves, through which steam may be supplied from an external source. The valves are preferably located at various points throughout the bottom of the car, and are automatically opened by the pressure of the steam so that no manipulation is required, after the piping system has been connected to a source of steam supply. l

The conditions under which such a system will be `used are such that not only is it essential that the elements of the system shall be simple, rugged and automatic, and aiiord a minimum opportunity for injury to and derangement vof the parts; but provision must be made for a selfcleaning and self thawing action of the system. To this end the system of the present invention is such that simple, standard, rugged and interchangeable parts are used and provision is made for an initial cleaning and thawing blowout ofthe system followed by an automatic opening of the inlet valves under the pressure of the heating medium. Preferably, also the inlet valves controlling the passages into the car are restricted, with respect to the piping of the conduit system, so to cause the heating medium to flow into the frozen material at high velocity and pressure.

The particular nature of the present invention will appear more clearly from a description of a preferred embodiment thereof as shown in the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is a plan view of a car; Fig. 2 is an elevational section along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; F ig. 3 is a transverse section along the line 3-3 of lfig` 1, and Fig. l is a sectional view of the automatic valve.

The car shown in the drawings is of the ordinary steel gondola type usedl for carrying coal, ore or other material, and comprise a center sill 1U and the usual holsters 11 for ,ipporting the body of the car, which, Vas is customary in constructions of this kind, is provided with a bottom 12 sloping from each end toward the center of the car and a central sloping portion 13 which serves to deflect material in either direction toward the doors le which are hinged at 15. The particular `construction of the car forms no part of the present invention, and hence need not be describedV in greater detail.

In accordance with the present invention, l provide on each side of the car, and preferably attached to the end sills a pipe 16 running the entire length of the car. One end of each pipe is provided with a valve 17, and a coupling adapted to be connected to a hose through which steam may be supplied from an external source. The other end of the pipe is closed by a cap 18, and preferably the valves and couplings should be arranged at diagonally opposite corners ofthe car as shown most clearly in Fig. 1. Each of the pipes 16 may be given a slight inclination Vtoward the center of the car, in order to provide for the drainage of water of condensation which may be discharged through a steam trap 19 of any suitable construction.

It will be understood, however, that the steam traps may be located at any other appropriate point in the system.

Branch pipes 20 are tapped off of the main pipe 16 valong each side of the car, and at their ends these branch pipes are connected to transverse pipes 21 attached to the under side of the car bottom in any convenient manner, as by means of clamps 22 as shown in Fig. 1. ln the space beneath the central sloping portion 13 of the bottom of the car is a transverse pipe 23 connected to the main pipes 16 on each side of the car by vertical pipes 24. Branching off from the pipe 23 are short pipes 25 which extend toward the sloping sides of this portion 13 of the car bottom.

For controlling the admission of the heating medium to the material within the car, I provide automatic valves 26 of the construction shown in Fig. 4l, and which may be inserted in the various piges of the system at convenient points as indicated to supply suiiicient heat to the mass of material within the car. EachV of the valves comprises a standard cross 27 to which the pipes may be connected, or in case the' valve is used at theend of a pipe, a T may be employed or one of the outlets may be closed with a suitable plug or cap. Into one outlet of the cross isfitted the special valvecasing 28 which is attached to the bottom of the car, preferably in such a manner that the upper end of this casing is flush with the floor of the car. The casing 28 is provided at its upper end with a small valve seat 29, and coperating with this seat is a valveBO mounted upon the end a stem 31 which is guided in a spider 32 located at the lower end of the casing 2S. The lower end of rod 31 is guided in a spider within a valve-seat fitting la inserted into the end of the casing 27. A spring 35 surrounding the upper end of the valve stem, and retained in place between the valve 30 and the spider 32 holds the valve 30 normally against its seat. Attached to the valve stem near its lower end is second valve 36 which Vwhen the valve 30 is in its normal position is raised from its seat on the fitting 34. rlhe construction of the automatic valve is Vsuch that when the steam or other fluid enters the union 27, it willV tend to drive out ll water of condensation, dirt and obstructions through the openings in the spider 33, and to thaw out the valves, if they are frozen. The steam will be ydischarged through this spider until its-pressure within In practice, the last named opening should be sufficiently small so that there will be little or no tendency for material in the car to fall-into this opening as it begins to be thawed under the inhuence of the steam.

Wlhen' a car provided with the improvement of the present invention contains a load of frozen material such as coal, the car will be run to a locality where a source of steam supply may be connected to one or the other of the main feed pipes 16. rlhe corresponding valve 17 is opened and steam allowed to enter the pipe system. After the initial blow-out, and when the pressure in each of the automatic valves reaches the predeterminedamount for which the spring of the valve has been set, say about ten pounds, the valve will open and allow steam to enter the mass of materialV at relatively high pressure, say seventy-or eighty pounds, gradually thawing the same as it works its way upward through the mass. lf during the thawing operation, or at any other time, water or dirt collects in the automatic valve, it will drain out through the spider 33 as soon as the steam pressure is cut off, so that the valve 36 is lifted from its seat, or will be blown out by the steam at the next operation. Any water of condensation which may accumulate in the pipes of the system will ultimately drain into the main feed pipes and be discharged through the traps 19.

YWhile the apparatus has been described particularly in relation to a coal car and depending upon the use of steam as heating medium, it will be understood that itis equally adapted for any kind of cars in which material that may become frozen is transported, and also instead of using steam any other suitable heating medium may be supplied to the pipe system. So far as the valves 26 are concerned, they may be located at any number of points as desired, and it is not intended that their number or their location shall be limited by the showing in the figures.

I claim:

1. 1n a car equipped for thawing out material frozen therein, the combination of a yheating medium conduit system and distribinsaid system-for controlling the admission of the heating medium into the lower 1nterior portion of the car, to thaw out material frozen therein. i

8. In a car equipped for thawing out ma- Cil terial frozen therein, the combination of a heatingmedium conduit system mounted on the exterior of the car and distributed automatic valves in said system communicating with the lower :interior portion of the car for permitting the heating medium to be discharged into the body of the frozen material within the car.

el. In a car equipped for thawing out ma terial frozen therein, the combination of a plurality of casings mounted on the outside of the car and provided with ports communicating with the interior thereof, a valve in each casing for normally closing the port therein, pipes mounted on the outside of the car and connected to said casings for supp lying a heating medium thereto, and means associated with each valve for opening the same when the pressure of said medium reaches a predetermined value.

5. In a car equipped for thawing out material frozen therein, the combination of a plurality of casings mounted on the outside of the `car and provided with ports communicating with the interior thereof, a valve in each casing adapted to cooperate with the port therein, a valve stem slidably mounted in said casing and to one end of which the valve is attached, a spring for holding said valve in position to close the port, pipes mounted on the outside of the car and connected to said ca'sings for supplying a heating medium thereto, and means associated with each valve stem for overcoming the effect of said spring to open the valve when the pressure of said medium reaches a pre determined value.

6. In a car equipped for thawing out material frozen therein, the combination of a heating-medium conduit system, and distributed 'self-cleaning valves connected to the system and opening into the interior of the car beneath the frozen material therein.

'7. In a car equipped for thawing out material frozen therein, the combination of a heating-medium conduit system and distributed Selfcleaning valves connected to the system and opening into the interior of the car beneath the frozen material therein, said valves having a blow-out discharge opening permitting an initial cleaning blowout upon the application of the heating medium to the system.

8. In a car equipped for thawing out material frozen therein, the combination of a heating -medium conduit system, distributed self-cleaning valves connected to the system and opening into the interior of the car beneath the frozen material therein, said valves having a blowout discharge opening permitting an initial cleaning blow-out upon the application of the heating 'medium to the system, and means adapted to open the passages into the car when the pressure of the heating medium in the valves reaches a predetermined value after the initial blowout. Y

9. In a ca-r equipped for thawing out material frozen therein, a heating-medium conduit system mounted on the exterior of the car and distributed valves having restricted velocity increasing outlet openings into the lower interior portion of the car.

10. In a car equipped for thawing out material frozen therein, a heating-medium conduit system mounted on the exterior of the car and distributed normally closed valves having restricted velocity increasing outlet openings into the lower interior portion of the car and means actuated by the pressure of the heating medium for opening said valves automatically.

ll. In a 'car equipped for thawing out material frozen therein, a heating-medium conduit system mounted on the exterior of the car and distributed valves having restricted velocity increasing outlet openings into the lower interior portion of the car and flush with the floor thereof.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

ARTHUR M. ALVORD.

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