US3522891A - Furnace charger - Google Patents

Description

ugl. 4, 1970 E, J, BERK ETAL FURNACE CHARGER 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed July 12. 1968 WEIN.

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INVENTO/ fon/A20 56k( PAUL J Fan/7AM@- @d u 4: ATTORAEYS N m QQ MQ @L 4, 1970 5 J, BERK EI'AL 3,522,891

FURNACE CHARGER Filed July 12, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNE YS United States Patent O M 3,522,391 FURNACE CHARGER Edward J. Berk and Paul J. Fontaine, Chicago, lll., as-

signors to Westinghouse Air Brake Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed July 12, 1968, Ser. No. 744,410 Int. Cl. B25g 27/14 U.S. Cl. 214-21 15 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Shaker conveyor furnace charger positonable to successively charge a plurality of furnaces with meltable materials and into a retracted position out of the way of the furnace charged to be loaded With meltable materials to be charged into a next succeeding furnace. An elongated swivel frame forms the support for a shaker conveyor trough and for the drive mechanism for the trough and is swiveled for movement about a vertical axis. The trough extends along the swivel frame beyond the forward end of the frame and is reciprocably driven in a horizontal plane by the shaker conveyor drive mechanism.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION In carrying out the invention we provide a simple and improved shaker conveyor loader particularly adapted for charging furnaces with meltable materials, in which an elongated swivel frame forms a support and guide for the shaker conveyor trough and is mounted on a base for pivotal movement about a vertical axis into position to successively charge a plurality of furnaces and into a clearance position during the melting period of a furnace, at which time the shaker conveyor trough may be loaded, in which the swivel frame is swung horizontally about its pivotal axis by power and is locked in a selected charge position by additional power means.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved form of furnace charge operating on shaker conveyor principles and arranged with a view toward utmost simplicity in construction and efficiency in opera tion.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved an improved form of furnace charger for successively charging a plurality of furnaces and movable into a clearance position out of the way of the furnaces during the melting or pouring operations, or for loading with a charge for a next succeeding furnace, which is in the form of a shaker conveyor trough supported for reciprocable motion in a straight line on a swivel frame and is moved into its clearance and charging positions by power.

These and other objects of the invention will appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. l is a schematic view of a furnace charger constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention, showing the charger in position to charge a first and then a second furnace and in a clearance position between the furnaces.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the furnace charger shown in FIG. 1 with certain parts broken away.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of the furnace charger shown in FIG. 2 with the foundation shown in section.

FIG. 4 is a partial fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken through the furnace charger shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 with the charger positioned in one of its swing loading positions; and

3,522,891 Patented Aug. 4, 1970 ICC FIG. 5 is a front end view of the furnace charger looking at the charger from the front end thereof, with certain parts removed.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF INVENTION In FIG. l of the drawings we have schematically shown a furnace charger 10 movable about a vertical swivel axis A in position to charge a first furnace B, into an intermediate clearance position, to be loaded with a charge and into position to charge a second furnace C spaced laterally from the furnace B.

The shaker conveyor charger l0 includes an elongated swivel or base frame l1 forming a support for an aligned shaker conveyor trough 12 extending beyond the forward end thereof. The charger also includes a fixed base 13 forming a mounting for the swivel frame 11 on the oor, for movement into its loading and charge positions about the swivel axis A, coaxial with the axis of a vertical shaft 15. The base 13 includes the mounting for the vertical shaft l5 and also includes a foundation for the charger.

The elongated swivel frame 1l is generally shown in the drawings as comprising a pair of parallel spaced beams 16, which may be l-beams and which are connected together by transverse beams 17, also shown as being le beams7 and spaced therealong and suitably connected between the webs of the beams 16.

Certain of the beams 17 form supports for standards 19 for roller frames 2t) supporting the shaker conveyor trough 12 for straight line reciprocable movement. The standards 19 are spaced inwardly of the beams 16 and are connected together at their upper ends by downwardly facing channels 21, and form supports for roller brackets 22 of the roller frames 20. The roller brackets 22 form supports for inwardly extending shafts 23 and rollers 25 journalled thereon and having supporting engagement with laterally spaced bearing plates 26, extending longitudinally of a bottom 27 of the trough 12 and mounted on and depending from reinforcing plates for the bottom 27.

The trough l2 is retained to the rollers 25 by retainer plates 30 extending along the top surfaces of the horizontal legs of angle irons 31. The angle irons 31 are secured to the vertical flanges of a channel 32 on their vertical legs, as by welding or any other securing means and extend outwardly of the vertical legs of said channel. The channel is shown in FIG. 2 as extending for substantially the length of the trough l2. Transverse reinforcement plates 33 depend from the webs of the channel 32 and abut the inner sides of the vertical legs of the angle irons 3l and are welded or otherwise secured thereto to reinforce said angle irons and thereby provide rigid retainers retaining the trough 12 to the rollers 25.

At the front of the swivel frame 11 is a transverse beam 3S extending across the beams 16 and extending thereahove. The beam 35 may be an l-beam and forms a support for rollers 36 supporting the swivel frame 11 for movement about the axis A, and forms a reinforcement for front standards 37 mounted on and suitably secured to the beams 16 and extending upwardly therefrom. The standards 37 form a support for a downwardly facing channel 39 extending across the front of the swivel frame and having a central boss 40 extending upwardly therefrom, forming a support for a roller 41 rotatable about a vertical axis concentric with the lonigtudinal center of the swivel frame l1. The roller 41 is disposed between spaced vertically extending bearing plates 42 extending along support plates 43, 43 depending from a reinforcement plate 29. The bearing plates 42 and roller 41 are shown as extending the web of the channel 32. The roller 4l serves as a guide roller to hold the forward end portion of the trough l2 from lateral shifting movement with respect to the swivel frame 11 during operation of the charger. A similar guide roller -41a is provided adjacent the rear end of the trough to guide the rear end of the trough for straight line movement.

The rollers 36 are mounted on and depend from roller brackets 44 welded or otherwise secured to the bottom flanges of the beam 35 and depending therefrom. The rollers 36 are positioned in angular relation with respect to each other in accordance with the arc of travel of the base frame, to support the front end of the swivel frame 11 and trough 12 for lateral swinging movement along an arcuate track 45, extending along the Hoor and suitably anchored thereto. In FIG. the rollers 36 are shown as supporting the bottom flanges of the beams 16 in vertically spaced relation with respect to the track 45, to accommodate free movement of the base frame about the pivot axis A of the shaft 15.

The base 13 is partially recessed in a pit 46 extending beneath the level of a floor 47 and includes a stationary base plate 48 having an annular bearing 49 mounted on its top surface and supporting an annular plate 50 forming a pivotal support for the swivel frame 11 on the base 13. The base plate 48 is supported on the upper anges of parallel beams 51 recessed beneath the level of the pit 46 in the foundation, and extending across and supported on their bottom flanges on parallel channels 53 extending between longitudinally extending beams 54. The beams 51 are also supported on a plate 55, disposed inwardly of the channels 53 and supported on parallel spaced transversely extending channels 56, which are also imbedded in the foundation. The base plates 48 and 55 form a support for a sleeve 57 extending therebetween and forming a bearing support for the vertical shaft 15. An abutment plate 59 closes the bottom of the sleeve 57. The shaft 15 extends upwardly of the sleeve 57 along an aligned sleeve 60 mounted in and extending upwardly of the base plate 50. A lock plate 63 extends across the shaft 15, and is secured to said shaft as by machine screws 64. Said lock plate may also be secured to a transverse plate 65, extending between the beams 16, and welded or otherwise secured thereto.

The means for swinging the swivel frame 11 about the axis of the shaft is shown in FIG. 2 as comprising a fluid pressure operated cylinder 66. Said cylinder` extends along a depressed portion 67 of the pit 46 and has a piston rod 68 extensible therefrom. Said cylinder is pivotally mounted at its head end to a vertical wall of the depressed portion 67 for movement about the axis of a pivot pin 69, as by a mounting bracket 70 suitably anchored to said wall. The piston rod 68 has vertical pivotal connection with a bracket 72, secured to and depending from the web of an upwardly facing channel 71, extending between the beams 16 and suitably secured thereto. A suitable valve (not shown) may be connected with a source of fluid under pressure to admit fluid under pressure to the head or piston rod ends of the cylinder 66 and pivot the swivel frame 11 and trough 12 about the pivot axis A into the charging positions shown in FIG. 1, for successively charging furnaces B and C, and into a clearance position between the two furnaces shown in this ligure, to provide clearance between the charger and the two furnaces and be loaded with a fresh charge where desired.

The rear end portion of the swivel frame 11 has two spaced oppositely facing channels 73 extending thereacross between the beams 16 and welded or otherwise secured thereto. The channels 73 have aligned ears 74 extending inwardly therefrom providing a mounting for brackets 75 for a fluid pressure operated cylinder 76. The cylinder 76 has a piston rod 77 depending therefrom through the apertured portion of a plate 79, and has a clamping disk 80 secured to the lower end thereof. The plate 79 is adapted to move along the top of an anchoring device 81, shown in FIG. 4 as being longitudinally spaced angle irons 83 imbedded in the foundation and anchored to the foundation as by generally downwardly facing V-shaped anchor bars extending through the vertical legs of said angle irons. A bar 86 imbedded in the foundation is welded or otherwise secured to the vertical legs of the angle irons A83, to rigidity said angle irons and aid in anchoring the anchoring device to the foundation. An anchoring device 81 is positioned to each side of the base frame 11. The anchoring devices 81 are each of the same construction and the spaces between the horizontal legs of the angles 83 extend to opposite sides of the center line of the arc of travel of the piston rod 77 as the charger is swiveled into its operative positions, to enable said piston rod to pass in the space between the horizontal legs of the angles 83 of an associated anchoring device, when the charger is in position to charge either a furnace B or C. The admission of fluid under pressure to the piston rod end of the cylinder 76 will thus bring the clamping disk 80 into engagement with the undersides of the horizontal legs of the angles 83 and clamp the transverse plate 79 into engagement with the top sides of said angles, and rigidly hold the charger in a furnace charging position. Fluid under pressure may be admitted to the head and piston rod ends of the cylinder 76 under the control of suitable valve means, which need not herein be shown or described since it is no part of the present invention.

Referring now to the construction of the shaker conveyor trough 12 said trough is shown in FIG. 5 as being of a generally channel-like form having parallel side Walls 88 extending upwardly from opposite sides of the bottom 27 of said trough. The side walls 88 have upwardly and outwardly ared hopper-like walls 89 secured to the upper end portions thereof and extending for a portion of the length of the trough 12 and cooperating with a rear end closure wall 90 to form a hopper at the receiving end of said trough for receiving and storing a charge to be melted.

The trough 12 has a drive connector 91 depending from the central channel 32 (FIG. 3). Said drive connector is s-hown as being in the form of a pair of parallel spaced plates 93 connected together at their rear ends by an angular abutment plate 94 and a vertical abutment plate 95 dispoosed therebeneath. The vertical abutment plate 95 forms an abutment for a bifurcated connector 96 welded or otherwise secured thereto. An eye 97 of a drive link 99 extends between the furcations of the connector 96 and is pivotally connected thereto as by a pivot pin 100. The drive link 99 in turn is journalled at its rear end on a crank pin 101 of a shaker conveyor drive mechanism 103.

The shaker conveyor drive mechanism 103 is mounted on a base 104 mounted on the vertical legs of the transverse channel 71 and on the top of a forwardly spaced transverse bar 115 extending along the top surface of the plate 50 supporting the swivel frame 11 for movement about the axis of the shaft 15. 'Ihe shaker conveyor drive mechanism 103 includes a housing 106 having a transversely extending vertical bumper plate 105 extending thereacross and spaced rearwardly therefrom. The bumper plate 105 is spaced from the housing 106 as by a pair of vertically spaced horizontally extending abutment plates 107. The bumper plate 105 in turn abuts a bumper plate 109 mounted on the forward ends of two parallel spaced plates 110 mounted between a pair of parallel spaced columns 111. The columns 111 extend upwardly of the beams 16 and are connected together by the plates 110 in a suitable manner. Gusset plates 112, mounted on the top anges of the beams 16 are provided to back up the columns 111 and bumper plate 109 and take the buff and draw forces of the shakes conveyor trough 12, transmitted through the shaker conveyor drive mechanism 103, and to transmit these forces to the shaft 15 and base 13 through the swivel frame 11.

The shaker conveyor drive mechanism 103 may be of any conventional form, so need not herein be shown or described in detail, and is driven from a motor 116 on a base 117 extending across the tops of the columns 111. A suitable drive connection is provided from the motor 116 to the drive mechanism 103, shown as being a flexible drive connection 117 which may be a V-belt drive connection, or any other suitable drive connection.

During operation of the conveyor, the charge may be loaded into the receiving or hopper end of the shaker trough 12 while said trough is in its clearance and idle position between the two furnaces B and C, as shown in FIG. 1. The swivel frame 11 and trough 12 are then moved into discharge relation with respect to a furnace B or C by operation of the hydraulic cylinder 66. Fluid under pressure is then admitted to the piston rod end of the locking cylinder 76 to lock the swivel frame 11 in position on an associated anchoring device 81. The Vmotor 116 is then lstarted and the shaker conveyor trough 12 is driven with a straight line reciprocating conveying action, to progress the charge therein from the receiving end thereof beyond the discharge end thereof into a selected furnace B or C. As the furnace is charged the drive mechanism is shut off and the swivel frame 11 and shaker conveyor trough 12 may be moved laterally into its clearance position intermediate the furnaces C and B, by operation of the fluid pressure operated cylinder 66. The trough 12 may then be loaded with another charge for a next succeeding furnace w-hile idle, and when the next succeeding furnace is ready to be charged, the trough may be angularly moved about the pivot axis A, into charging relation with respect to the next succeeding furnace, for charging this furnace. The charging and loading operations may then be repeated enabling the shaker conveyor trough 12 to be charged during the melting cycles of the furnaces without interfering with operation of the furnaces, and to c-harge a selected furnace as soon as the furnace has been tapped. The furnaces B and C may thus be alternately operated to provide a substantially continuous charging and melting cycle with little if any delays between the melting Cycle of one furnace and the charging cycle of the other furnace. It should be understood, however, that the trough 12 need not necessarily be loaded when in its idle clearance position, but may be loaded at any time consistent with maintaining a desired cycle of charging melting and furnace pouring operations.

While we have herein shown and described one form in which the invention may be embodied, it may readily be understood that various variations and modifications in the invention may be attained without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts thereof.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a laterally positionable shakes conveyor loader,

a fixed base;

a vertical pivot on said fixed base;

a swivel frame horizontally swingable about said vertical pivot relative to said fixed base;

a shaker conveyor drive unit supported on said swivel frame;

an elongated conveyor trough reciprocably supported on said swivel frame;

connecting means between said drive unit and said trough to impart a straight line relatively long stroke shaker conveying motion to said troug-h;

and power means acting between the base and the swivel frame adapted to swing the swivel frame, shaker conveyor trough and shaker conveyor drive unit about said vertical pivot.

2. The shaker conveyor loader of claim 1, wherein anchoring means are provided on said fixed base operable only when said conveyor trough is in a charge position, for anchoring said swivel frame in a selected charge position.

3. The shaker conveyor loader of claim 2, wherein a power operated clamping means is provided to selectively clamp said swivel frame to said anchoring means in the selected charge position of said shaker conveyor trough.

4. The shaker conveyor loader of claim 3, wherein the anchoring means comprises spaced anchoring members disposed at opposite sides of said swivel frame, in which the space between said anchoring members generally conforms to the arc of travel of said swivel frame, a clamping member engageable with said spaced anchoring members, and means bringing said clamping member into clamping engagement with a selective of said anchoring members for clamping said swivel frame in a selected charging position.

5. The shaker conveyor loader of claim 1, wherein the vertical pivot comprises a pivot shaft seated in the said fixed base and forming a thrust bearing post and bumper means are provided between said shaker conveyor unit and said swivel frame for transferring the buff and draw forces to said thrust bearing post into the fixed base.

6. The shaker conveyor loader of claim 5, wherein said power means comprises a fluid pressure operated cylinder and piston having connection with said swivel frame for moving said swivel frame about the said pivot shaft, and positioning said shaker conveyor trough into its charging and clearance positions.

7. The shaker conveyor loader of claim `6,

wherein the shaker conveyor drive unit is mounted on said swivel frame adjacent the rear end thereof, and

wherein the bumper means comprises bumper plates between said shaker conveyor drive unit and said swivel frame to transfer the buff and draw forces of reciprocable conveying motion imparted to said drive mechanism to said thrust bearing post and fixed base.

8. In a furnace charger, a swivel including,

a stationary base structure having a vertical pivot shaft forming a thrust bearing post, and

an elongated swivel frame mounted on said stationary base structure for turning movement about a vertical axis,

a shaker conveyor drive unit mounted on said swivel frame,

means for supporting the forward end portion of said swivel frame for lateral movement into charging and clearance positions,

a shaker conveyor trough extending along said swivel frame and beyond the forward end thereof and having a receiving end, and an opposite discharge end,

means supporting and guiding said shaker conveyor trough for reciprocable movement in a straight line,

a drive connection from said shaker conveyor drive unit to said trough for reciprocably driving said trough with a straight line drive motion, and other means swinging said swivel frame, drive unit and trough about the axis of said vertical pivot shaft to position said trough into a charge position and into a clearance position for receiving a charge.

9. T-he furnace charger of claim 8, wherein the means for swinging said swivel frame and trough for lateral movement about the axis of said swivel comprises a fiuid pressure cylinder and piston means connected between said swivel frame and said base structure.

10. The furnace charger of claim 8,

wherein anchoring means are provided at opposite sides of said swivel frame, for anchoring said swivel frame in a selected charge position, and

wherein a power operated clamping means is provided to clamp said swivel frame to said anchoring means.

11. The furnace charger of claim 10, wherein the anchoring means comprises spaced anchoring members disposed at opposite sides of said swivel frame in which the space between said anchoring members generally conforms to an arc of travel of said swivel frame, a

12. The furnace charger of claim 11, wherein fluid pressure operated cylinder and piston means have connection with said swivel frame for moving said swivel frame about said swivel vertical axis by power, and positioning said shaker conveyor trough into its charging and clearance positions.

13. The furnace charger of claim 12,

wherein the shaker conveyor drive mechanism is mounted on said swivel frame adjacent the rear end thereof, and

wherein bumper plates are provided on said swivel frame to take the buff and draw forces of reciprocable conveying motion imparted to said drive mechanism.

14. The furnace charge of claim 13,

wherein the spaced anchoring members comprise angle irons having spaced horizontal legs, in which the space between said legs conforms to an arc of travel of said swivel frame, and having vertical legs adapted to be imbedded in a foundation,

wherein means are provided for anchoring said vertical legs to the foundation,

wherein a cylinder is mounted on said swivel frame and has a piston rod depending therefrom in alignment with the space between the horizontal legs 30 of said angle irons to pass between said angle irons upon movement of said swivel frame and trough into a charging position, and

wherein a clamping plate is secured to said piston rod for engagement beneath the horizontal legs of said angles to clamp said swivel frame thereto upon the admission of fluid under pressure to said cylinder.

15. The furnace charger of claim 13,

wherein the base structure includes a vertical pivot shaft, and

wherein said bumper plates transfer the buff and draw forces of reciprocable conveying motion to said pivot shaft and base structure through said swivel frame.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,500,520 7/ 1924 Neander 198-125 1,570,085 1/1926 Saxe 198-124 XR 2,848,100 8/1958 Jasper 198-124 XR 3,279,628 10/ 1966 Brouwer et al 214--26 OTHER REFERENCES German printed application D 11,546, September, 1956, 198-125, Braun.

ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Primary Examiner U.S. CL. X.R.

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