US527452A - Traveling-grate furnace - Google Patents

Description

. 3 Shee ts I. H. RICHARDS.

TRAVELING GRATE FURNACE.

' No. 527,452. PatentedOot. 16, 1894.

Wzhn 688 as [12 Wanton:

No Model.)

it ess es:

P. H. RiOHARD'S.

TRAVELING GRATE FURNACE;

' Patented Oct. 16, 1894 3 Sheets-8heet 2.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

I. ERICHARDS. TRAVELING GRATE mamas. l

, UNITED STATES PATENT ()F-FICE.

FRANCIS II. RICHARDS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR. TO ECKLEY B. COXE, OF DRIFTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

TRAVELING-GRATE FURNACE.

PECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,452, dated October 16, 1894.

Application filed duly 14, 1894. Serial No. 517,552. (Nomodeld To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State 1 5 of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Traveling-Grate Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to traveling-grate [O furnaces, and has special reference to that class of furnaces in which an endless traveling grate or traveling furnace-floor is employed for supporting and imparting a'continuous traveling movement to the fuel, and means are employed for supplying air to the fuel during its traveling movement at varying pressures at successive points in its course of travel.

In furnacesof this class as heretofore organized, it has been customary to provide a series of successive air-blast chambers intermediate to the upper and lower runs of the traveling grate, and to provide means for supplying air to the successive chambers 2 5 at varying pressures, as described, for instance, in Letters Patent of the United States, No. 499,716, granted to Eckley B. Coxe, June 20, 1893, to which reference may be had.

i The object of my present invention is to provide, in connection with a furnace of this class, an endless traveling furnace-floor or grate comprising a series of transversely-disposed fioor-sections or beams each having a series of air-spaces or air-supply openings;

5 also to provide an air supply chamber having 'an outlet contingous to several of said sections, and to provide, in connection with the floor-sections comprising the furnacefloor or grate, slide-valves or gates having 0 air-spaces or openings therein adapted for registering with the air-spaces or openings of the floor-sections; also to provide means for automatically shifting the slide-valves or gates of the floor-sections for independently 5 regulating the effective area of the openings through each section during the traveling movement of the furnace-floor, to increase or decrease the supply of air to the fuel at successive points in thetraveling movement bustion.

thereof as required to properly regulate com In the drawings accompanyingand forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a sectional plan view of a furnace embodying my present improvements, parts thereof being 55. broken away to more clearly illustrate the construction and arrangement of certain details thereof. Fig. 2 is asectional sideelevatiou of said furnace, a portion of the traveling fur: mace-floor being shown in end elevation, while other portions thereof are shown in longitudinal section. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section of the furnace, taken in line a -a, Fig. 2, looking toward the left hand in said figure; and Figs. 4, 5, and" 6 are cross: sectional views of a portion of one side of the furnace, on an enlarged scale, illustrating the operation of one ofthe regulating-valves in connection with one of the floor-sections, said figures showing three successive posi- 7o tions of said valve with relation to the floorsectiomwhich positions are assumed by said valve at successive points in the traveling movement of the grate. Fig. 7 isa diagrainmatic view of the two valve-operating camtracks, showing their relative relation to a straight line coinciding with the line of travel of the furnace-floor.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures. a

. The framework for carrying the operative parts of the furnace mechanism and also for protectingsaid mechanism and preventing the efflux of the air-blast, isshown having the usual inclosing walls at the sides and ends thereof, whichf'may be. of the construction shownand described in the Patent No. 499,716 hereinbefore referred to. The side-walls are designated in a general way by 2 and 4, respectively, and the furnace-chamber, desigo nated by C, is shown covered by a reverberatory arch or roof, A, at the rear end of which the boiler (if one is used) will be'located. A portion only of the rear endof the furnace is shown. The frontand backwalls are desig- 5 nated by 6 and 6', respectively, and the usual bridge wall is designated by 7. At the for- The furnace is shown provided with an endless traveling furnace-floor, or grate, designated in a general way by G, the upper run of which constitutes the fuel-supporting run. This furnace-floor is shown supported on and driven by chain-wheels, 12 and 14, at opposite ends ofthe furnace-chambeniwhich wheels are carried by shafts, 13 and 15, respectively, supported in any suitable bearings carried by the framework of the furnace structure.

As a means for imparting a traveling movement to the furnace-floor, the shaft 13 is shown provided at one end thereof with a wormwheel, 40,.which meshes with a worm,41, carried by a driving-shaft, 42, supported in bearings, l3 and 43', which shaft is provided with a pulley, 44, by means of which the same may berotated by means of a belt (not shown) driven from any suitable source of power.

In the preferred form thereof herein shown, the traveling furnace-floor consists of a series oftransversely-disposed' floor-sections, designated in a general way by g, pivotally-connected together as at 8' to form, practically, an endless chain or chain-grate, which is carried,as before stated, by the forward and rearward chain- wheels 12 and 14, respectively; theupper and lower runs, and 11, respect ively,of the furnace-floor or grate being herein shown supported upon rollers, and 20,respectively, which rollers are preferably carried upon transverse'shafts, 21 and 21', supported for rotation in hearings or sockets, 22 and 22', herein shown formed upon the two plates 23 and 23', which will preferably constitute the inner faces of the side-walls of the furnace-chamber.

Each floor-section of the series of floorsections, which comprise the furnace-floor is herein shown consisting of two parts, or members connected together preferably for sliding movement the one relatively to' the other,one of which parts constitutes the main body-portion, or, as it will be hereinafter termed, the floor-beam, 25, and the other of which constitutesavalve,26. The floorbeam 25, which is of oblong construction and supported transversely of the furnace-chamber, is shown havinga series of air-supply openings, 25', therethrough, through which air may be admitted to the fuel supported upon said floor-beamg and the slide-valve 26 hasa series of air-supply openings, 26,,therethrough, in position and adapted for registering with theopenings in they beam 25.. The floor-beam is shown having two side-walls and a fuel-supporting wall, and the slide valve is shown supported for sliding movement'between the two side-walls of the floorbeamin close proximity to the fuel-supporting wallof said beam, and is of'a, length approximatelyequal to thelength of. said beam. At

opposite ends of the slide-valve are frictionrollers, 27 and 27 respectively, which, at the upper run of the fuel-carrying floor, bear against oppositely-inclined valve-operating tracks, or cams 28 and 28, respectively, preferably formed integral with the two sideplates 23 and 23, as most clearly illustrated in Figs. 1, 3, 4:, 5 and 6 of the drawings. The working-faces of these cams will, in practice, be parallel to each other and will be of such inclination at different portions thereof and will bear such relation to a straight line coinciding with the line of travel of the furnace' floor as to cause a variation in the position of the slide-valves with relation to the floorbeams at different points in the length of the furnace-chamber during the traveling movement of the furnace-floor, to thereby increase the effective areas of' the air-supply openings of someof the floor-beams and'decrease in proper proportions the efiective areas of the air-spaces of others of said floor-beams, thus.

regulatingthe' effective supply of air. to the fuel supported upon the floor at successive points as required in the traveling movement thereof. In the drawings each floor-section is shown independently carried at its opposite ends by links, one at each end, of an endless chain somewhat after the manner of chain-grates heretofore made.

Asa means for supplying air to the fuel supported upon the upper run of the furnacefioor, I have provided an air-chamber, J, which is located below the upper run of said floor and has an open end contiguous to said upper run, said chamber having its walls preferably constructed of sheet-metal bent to proper form and secured in any suitable manner to the side-plates 23 and 23', said chamber being most clearly shown in Figs. 2 and3 of the drawings. This chamber is suppliedwith air from an air-supply pipe, J, which, in turn, may be supplied by a blower, or air-pump, (not shown,) in the usual manner Inpractice, an air-pressure will be maintained in the air-supply chamber J somewhat in excess of the maximum pressure required for the fuel at any given point in the length of the furnace-chamber, and this pressure is regulated at successive points in the length of the fuel-carrying run of the furnace-floor by increasing or decreasing the effective areas of the air-supply openings through the floor-sections, permitting thereby of greater or lesser volumes of air to pass through said ICC IIO

air-supply openings, and consequently varysuccessive fuel supporting grate sections,

each of which has a series of air-spaces or out1et-openings, a valve connected with each grate-section in position for closing the airspaces, means for supplying air to the fuel supported upon said grate-sections, means for imparting a traveling movement to the grate, and means for operating the successive valves of the grate-sections during the trav cling movement thereof to open or close the air-spaces of each section and bring them to predetermined areas at given points in the travel of the grate, substahtially as described and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a furnace of the class specified, the combinationwith the f urnace-chamber and its inclosing walls, of a traveling furnacefloor having air-supply openings therein and carrying valves contiguous to and adapted I for varying the eifective areas of said openings, means for supplying air to said open-,

ings, means for imparting a traveling movement to the furnace-floor, and means in position and adaptedfor operating the valves during the traveling movement of the furnace-floor to bring the outlet-openings of said furnace-floor to predetermined areas at given points in the travel thereof, substantially as described.

4. In a furnace of the class specified, an endless traveling furnace-floor comprising a multiplicity of perforated floor-sections connected together to form substantially an endless chain-grate, slide-valves carried by said floor-sections and having perforations adapted for registering with the perforations of said floor-sections, and means for automatically imparting a sliding movement to said valves, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a furnace of the class specified, the combination with the furnace-chamber and its inclosing walls, of a perforated endless traveling furnace-floor carrying valves con-.

tiguous to the perforations thereof, means for imparting a traveling movement to said furnace-floor, and fixed cams or inclines for operating said valves during the traveling movement of the furnace-floorto bring the perforations to predetermined areas at given points in the travel of said furnace-floor, substantially as described.

6. In a furnace of the class specified, the combination with the furnace-chamber and its inclosing walls, of a traveling furnace-floor comprising a series of transversely-disposed connected floor-sections having air-supply openings therethrough, a valve carried by each of said sections in position for closing the openings therethrough, means for imparting a traveling movement to thefurnace-fioor, and fixed cams adjacent to and adapted for operating the several valves of theseveral floor-sections dnrin g the traveling movement of the furnace-floor to bring the air-supply openings in said sections to predetermined areas at given points in the travel of the fur race-floor, substantially as described.

7. In a furnace of theclass specified, the combination with the furnace-chamber and its inclosing Walls, of an endless traveling furnace-floor supported at opposite ends of said chamber upon rollers and comprising a series of transversely-disposed floor-sections having each a series of air-supply openings, means for imparting a traveling movement to the furnace-floor, a slide-valve carried by each of said sections and having rollers at opposite ends thereof, a fixed cam adjacent to each end of said sections in position to be engaged by the rollers of the valves and adapted during the traveling movement of the furnacefioor to slide said valves longitudinally of their respective sections to increase or decrease the area of the air-supply openings at predetermined points in the travel of the furnace-floor, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

8. In a furnace of the class specified, the combination with the furnace-chamber and its inclosing walls, of an endless fuel-supporting traveling furnace-floor having air-supply openings therein and carrying valves contiguous to and adapted for varying the areas of said supply-openings, means for imparting a traveling movement to said furnace-floor, and means for automatically operating said valves during the traveling movement of said furnace-floor to bring the airsnpply openings to predetermined areas at given points in the travel of said furnace-floor, substantially as described.

9. In a furnace of the class specified, the

combination with the furnace-chamber and its inclosing Walls, of an endless traveling furnace-floor carried upon rollers substantially as described, and having air-supply openings therein, and carrying valves in position and adapted for varying the efiective areas of said openings, an air-supply chamber located intermediate to the upper and lower runs of said furnace-floor and having an open end contiguous tothe air-supply openings, means forsupplying air to said air-chamber at the maximum pressure required, means for imparting a traveling move ment to the furnace-floor, and means for antomatically operating said valves during the traveling movement of the furnace-floor to vary the areas of the air-supply openings at predetermined points in the travel of said furnace-floor to thereby reduce the effective air-supply at certain points in the length of the furnace-chamber, substantially as described. I

10. In a furnace of the class specified, the

combination with the furnace-chamber and areas of said openings, an air-supply chan1- 1 her located intermediate to the upper and lower runs of said furnace-floor and having an open end contiguous to the air supply openings, means for supplying air to said chamber at the maximum pressure required,

supported upon said furnace-floor at the'req-.

uisite points in the length of the furnacechamber, substantially as described.

11, In a furnace of the class specified, the combination with the furnace-chamber and its inclosing walls, of a perforated endless traveling furnace-floor carrying valves contiguous to the perforations thereof, means for imparting a traveling movement to said furnace-floor, two fixed oppositely-disposed cams located one at each side of the furnacefioor in the path of travel of the valves and having oppositely-inclined tracks adapted for automatically changing the positions of the valves relatively to the perforations of the furnace-floor to increase or decrease the elfective areas of the perforations at predetermined points in the travel of said f u rnacefioor, substantially as described.

12. In a furnace of the class specifie d, the combination with the furnace-chamber and its inclosing walls, of two side-plates located one at each sideof the furnace-chamber, and having inwardly-projecting oppositely-disposed valve-operating tracks, a perforated endless traveling furnace-floor carried upon rollers at opposite ends of the furnace-chamber and having the upper and lower runs thereof supported by rollers carried upon shafts supported in hearings or sockets formed in the side-plates, valves carried by said furnace-floor contiguous to and adapted for closing said perforations and carrying rollers at opposite ends thereof in position for engagement with the valve-operating tracks, means for supplying air below the upper run of the furnace-floor, and means for imparting a traveling movement to said furnacefloor, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

13. In a furnace of the class specified, the combination with the furnace-chamber and its inclosing walls, of a traveling'furnace-fioor comprising a series of connected floor-sections or transversely-disposed floor-beams each having two side-walls and a perforated fuel-supporting wall, a sliding valve located between the side-walls of each floor-section contiguous to the perforated fuel-supporting wall, means for imparting a traveling movement to said furnace-floor, means for supply ing air below the valves of said furnace-floor, and valve-actuating cams adjacent to each end of and adapted for operating said valves 14:. In a furnace of the class specified, the V combination with the furnace-chamber and its inclosing walls, of valve-operating tracks fixed at opposite sides of said furnace-chamber, and a perforated furnace-floor supported for traveling movement between said tracks and having slide-valves in bearing engagement with said tracks, substantially as described.

15. In a furnace of the class specified, the combination with the furnace-chamber and its inclosin g walls, of two oppositely-disposed valve-operating tracks having inclined adjacent faces in parallel lines, a traveling furnace-floor located between said tracks and comprising a series of transversely-disposed floor-sections having air-supply openings, slide-valves carried by saidsections contiguous to said supply-openings and having rollers at opposite ends thereof in bearing-contact with the valve -operating tracks, and means for imparting a traveling movement to said furnace -floor whereby the valves, through the medium of the tracks, are operated to vary the areas of the air-supply openings of successive sections to vary the-effective air-supply to the fuel carried by said furnace-floor, at successive points in the travel thereof, substantially as described.

16. In a furnace of the class specified, a

traveling furnace-floor having air-supply openings therein, in combination with oppositely-inclined valve-operating cam-tracks 10- A cated one at each side of said furnace-floor in a plane corresponding to the plane of travel thereof, valves in sliding engagement with said furnace-floor and located between, and in bearing-contact at opposite ends with, the said cam-tracks, an air-blast apparatus located below, andin communication with, said f urnace-floor, and means for imparting a traveling movement to said furnace-floor and, through the medium of the cam-tracks, to simultaneously operate successive valves in varying degrees to bring the air-supply openings of the furnace-floor to varying areas at predetermined points in the travel thereof, substantially as described.

17. In a furnace of the class specified, the combination with the furnace-chamber and its side-walls, of two opposite horizontallydisposed valve-operating tracks secured one to each side-wall of the furnace and having IIO oppositely-inclined working-faces, a perfo rated furnace-floor supported for traveling parting a traveling movement to the fu rn'acefloor and at the same time imparting a sliding movement to said valves, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

18. In a furnace of the class specified, the combination with the furnace-chamber and its inclosing walls, of a traveling furnacefioor comprising a series of floor-sections each section consisting of two longitudinally-disposed perforated members connected together for sliding movement one relatively to the other, means for imparting a traveling movement to said furnace-floor, and means for automatically imparting a sliding movement to one member of each floor-section relatively to the other member of each floorsection, substantially as described.

19. In a furnace of the class specified, a traveling furnace-floor mechanism comprising a series of connected floor-sections, each section of which consists of two members connected together for sliding movement one relatively to the other and each having airsupply openings adapted for registering one with the other, means for imparting atravelin g movement to said furnace-floor, and cams in position and adapted for impartingasliding movement to one member of each floorsection relatively to the other member thereof, substantially as described.

20. In a furnace of the class specified, the

traveling movement to said sections simnltaneously, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

21. In a traveling furnace-floor, a series of perforated floor-sections having openings in the ends thereof and each havinga perforated slide-valve adjacent to the perforations of said floor-section, the ends of which slidevalve extend through said end-openings of the floor-section and bear against the valveoperating inclines or cams, and the inclines or cams for operating said valves, substantially as described.

FRANCIS II. RICHARDS.

Witnesses:

FRED. J. DOLE, EMMA G. FOWLER.

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