US733623A - Gate for coal or other pockets. - Google Patents

Description

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED JULY 14, 1903.

J. CAMPBELL.

GATE FOR GOAL OR OTHER POGKETS.

' APPLICATION FILED FEB. 13, 1902.

no MODEL.

NI IIHIWHHHWL WWI-P155555 PATENTED JULY 14, 1903.

J. CAMPBELL. GATE FOR GOAL OR OTHER POGKETS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 13, 1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F0 MODEL.

WITH E5 EEEZ J'HE "cams FEI'ERS co Puma-mac. WASHKNGTONJD.

PATENTED JULY 14, 1903.

J. CAMPBELL. GATE FOR GOAL OR OTHER POGKBTS.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 13, 1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET a.

N0 MODEL.

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rte. 73,623.

UNITED STATES- Patented July 14, 1905;

.IEEEMIAI-i cAMEBELt, OF NEW'roN, MASSACHUSETTS.

GATE FOR COAL ee OFI'HER PocKETs;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 733,623, dated my 14, 1903;

Application filed February 13, 1902. Serial No. 93,888. (No model.) i

To all whom it way concern.-

Be it known that I, JEREMIAH CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newton, in the county of Middle sex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gates for Coal or other Pockets, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in explaining its nature.

The delivery outlets or passages from pockets and similar receptacles for holding coal and other material in bulk have usually been of relatively small area and capacity, especially when the gate has been operable by hand, and this is particularly true of outlets to coal-pockets. It is desirable, however, for the rapid handling of the contents of these pockets that the outlets should be large in area. That they have not been so has been largely due to the fact that no gate has been devised which could be rapidly closed and which in closing developed so little friction that it could be operated by hand, and my invention relates to a gate so organized, constructed, and operated that while permitting the employment of outlets to pockets of large area it serves to quickly close them and without developing undue friction and without liability of cramping or stoppage of any kind by the coal or other material.

I will now describe the invention, in con junction with the drawings, forming a part of this specification, wherein Figure 1 is a view, largely in end elevation, of one type of my improved gate. Fig. 2 is a view thereof in vertical section upon the dotted line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view in vertical section of a modified form of the gate to which reference is hereinafter made. Fig. 4: is a broken section upon the dotted line it a of Fig.

The form of the invention best adapted, in my opinion, for the rapid delivery of large quantities of material from a pocket or hopper is'that shown in Fig. 1, and I will first describe this modification of the invention and.

later the modifications shown in the other figures.

In the drawings the hopper or pocket A of Fig. 2 has a bottom provided with inclined surfaces a a, which come together. The outlet a of the pocket or hopper is in the lower part of the inclined surface a, the lower edge of the opening being in line with the inclined surface a. The opening connects the hopper or pocket A with the passage 13 of the gate. This passage is formed by side plates Z) Z) and the bottom plate b preferably made of cast metal and shaped at the corners to be bolted together and to also be bolted to the under surface of the hopper or pocket. The bottom plate li may have an integral bracket or brace 1) adapted to be bolted to a support, by means of which the gate structure is further secured and steadied in place. The passage B of the gate is preferably of the same size throughout and is continuous and uninterrupted. The lower edge b of each side plate is curved to the arc of the circle upon which the gate 0 is moved to open and close the passage B.

The gate comprises a curved metal plate 0, of a size to close the lower end of the passage B and to extend beyond the side walls sufficiently to be attached by riveting to the segment-hangers O 0 upon each side of the side plates. These hangers are mounted by pivots or studs 0 upon the side plates, the pivots or studs being the centers upon which the curved lower edges of the side plates are constructed and upon which the closing-plate c is movable. These pivots or studs, itis to be noted, are placed slightly off centerthat is, relatively to the top and bottom of the passagewayfor they are placed nearer to the top of the passage-way than to the bottom, with the result that the gate, moving from these pivots as a center, closes up to stop the flow of coal with a forward-drawing motion instead of with a sharp abrupt cut-01f, as would be obtained if the gate moved from a center which had placement nearer the center line of demarcationbetween the top and the bottom of the passage-way. Thus pivoted and moving, as it does, upon the arc of a circle, the gate closes upon the coal with the least degree of friction, for with the outwardly-drawing kind of cut-off it moves with and not against the coal, and so enables it to roll and otherwise accommodate itself to the movement of the gate instead of being cramped and forced back, as would be occasioned if the gate was hung to cut abruptly across the end of the passageway. Each of the hangers C C also forms or has segmental gears c preferably interiorly arranged, as represented in Fig. I.- They extend backward sufficiently far to be always in engagement with the operating-pinions (Z upon the shaft D when the gate is closed. This permits the shaft D to be attached to the under side of the bottom plate b by suitable hangers, as represented in Fig. 2. The shaft D may be turned in any suitable way. I have represented it as turned by hand, and for this purpose it is provided with a drum (1, about which an endless turning rope or chain (1 is wound, which rope extends downward in the form of a loop to any convenient distance. By drawing one side of the rope the shaft D and its pinions are turned to cause the gate to be opened by engagement of the pinions with the curved racks or gears c and by drawing the other side of the rope the rotation of the shaft and gears is reversed and the gate is caused to be moved in the opposite direction. It will be seen that by this means the power for opening and closing the gate is applied at some distance from the center on which the gate is hung and that the hangers thus become levers the centers of which are the fulcrums and the power being directly applied to their outer and free ends.

The rear end of the gate-plate 0 may be turned up to form the lip c for shutting against the outer surface of the bottom plate IF when the gate is in closed position, and thus seal the joint which might otherwise exist there and prevent the escape of fine particles or dust from the passage or hopper.

\Vhen the passage closed by the gate is inclined, the top of it may not be closed, as the contents of the passage and hopper will not fill the passage sufficiently to escape through the open top. This construction is of advan tage, because it permits the interior of the passage and also the opening in the hopper to the passage to be readily reached at any time and without the removal of any part and so that a clearing-rod maybe introduced through it into the passage and hopper and any clogging of the mouth or the passage immediately relieved, this clogging being to some extent unavoidable where large'pieces of bituminous coal are being fed. ()n the other hand, I would say that my invention permits 0f the use of an opening in the hopper or passage of very large area, so that clogging is very much less likely to occur in its use than when the opening and passage are restricted, as is now the case, owing to the ditliculty in the operation of the gate. A gate thus shaped, constructed, and actuated can be operated very quickly and with smaller application of force to both open and close the passage. Its shape and movement upon a curved path reduces the friction of the coal upon it and permits the coal to move, roll, or otherwise accommodate itself to its movement without being cramped or forced by it in its movement, and with the inclined passage the weight of the coal is in part borne by the inclined bottom, and as it does not entirely fill the passage there is an opportunity for it to yield upwardly as the gate is being closed.

In Fig. I have represented 'an application of the improved gate to a passage which extends vertically from an opening in the pocket or hopper. In this structure the passage is made of the plates 6, e, 6 and 6 which are shaped to be bolted together at the corners and to the bottom of the pocket. preferably also shaped to provide a passage which gradually increases in area from the opening in the pocket to its outlet and the plate e is also shaped to form a relief-chamber 62, opening from the passage. The bottom of this relief-passage is represented as curved and the lower edges of the plates are also curved to an arc struck from the center of the pivot upon which the gate is hung. The gate and its hangers are like in construction the gate and hangers of Fig. 1 and it is similarly operated by segment gears or racks and pinions upon an operating-shaft. The operating-shaft has in lieu of the drum of Fig. 1 an operating wheel or pulley a about which an operating draw rope or chain extends. This pulley or wheel is of relatively large size and multiplies the power delivered to the shaft and its pinions.

\Vhile the gate will operate as I have described with some kinds of material, it may be well to provide the passage with the relief extension 0, into which the material mayescape while the gate is being closed, and thus relieve the gate from the friction which might otherwise be caused if the relief were not provided.

I have described the advantages of the invention in conjunction with its construction and operation. I

I prefer that the gearing be located at or near the outer ends of the hangers in order to provide large leverage and that they extend when the gate is closed backward beyond the back edge of the outlet sufficiently to remain in engagement with the gearing which operates them. I also prefer that the gate move on an are which is favorable to the line of movement of material through the passage rather than opposed to it, as by such movement the material bears with less retarding friction upon the gate and the gate tends to free itself more easily from the flowing material in opening and also enters it and closes the outlet with less friction, the accommodation of one to the other being very marked in the operation of the gate and permitting large-sized passages through which very heavy material is rapidly passing to be very quickly opened and closed by a rapid movement of the gate, a result, so far as I am aware, that has not heretofore been accomplished.

My gate is adapted to be used in the trans- They are ICC fer of coal or like material, where it serves to control the outlet of a hopper receiving the deposit of a grab to be discharged into an attendant transfer-car. Inasmuch as the hopper is preferably of sufficient capacity to receive and hold at least two loads of the grab, in order to secure an independence of action between the grab and the transfer-ear it is desirable for the rapid handling of the contents of the hopper that its outlet should be of relatively large area, and which my improved gate is especially adapted to control.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States- 1. An escape-passage having an outlet provided with curved side edges or borders and a gate for opening and closing the same movable in a curved path along said curved edges or borders and having a curved closing plate or bottom, the said gate also having means for preventing, when closed, the escape of dust from the passage from either end of its bottom.

2. An escape-passage having an outlet provided with curved side edges or borders and a gate for opening and closing the same movable in a curved path along said curved edges or borders and having a curved closing plate or bottom and a joint-sealing abutment at the rear end of said closing plate or bottom to close against the side of the wall of the passage adjacent to its rear lower edge.

An escape-passage having an outlet provided with curved side edges or borders and a gate for opening and closing the same movable in a curved path along said curved edges or borders and having a curved closing plate or bottom, the lower edge of which is turned upward to close against the rear wall of the passage upon the closing of the gate.

4. An escape-passage having an outlet provided with curved side edges or borders and a gate for opening and closing the same movable in a curved path along said curved edges or borders, having a curved closing plate or bottom, and suspended segmental hangers, one upon each side of the passage, each of whichhas an integral rack or gear, and a shaft having means for turning the same and pinions to engage said integral segmental gears,

gate for closing and opening said outlet and a relief extension or opening to said passage toward which the gate closes.

6. An escape-passage having an inlet, an outlet larger than the inlet, the passage gradually increasing in size from inlet to outlet, a relief chamber or opening upon the side toward which the gate closes, and a gate for opening and closing the outlet.

'7. An escape-passage having an outlet provided with curved side edges or borders and also having a relief extension upon the side toward which the gate closes having a curved bottom in extension of the curve of the side edges or borders, and a gate for opening and closing the outlet movable in a curved path along said curved surfaces and having a curved closing plate or bottom.

8. An escape-passage having an inlet and outlet made of cast-metal plates having verti-.

cal abutting, bolting-flanges and lateral sus pending-flanges at their upper ends, and one of which plates also has brackets furnishing bearings for a shaft and others of which means for supporting outwardly-projecting studs, hangers mounted upon said studs, a closing plate or bottom for closing the passage-outlet carried by saidhangers and connecting their outer ends, a gearing carried by the hangers, and a shaft supported by the shaft-brackets having means for engaging the gearing and also means for turning it.

9. The combination of an escape-passage having an outlet provided with curved side edges or borders, a gate for opening and closing the same movable in a curved path along said curved .edges or borders having a curved closing plate or bottom and pivoted, suspending-hangers, a curved gearing at or near the outerend of the hangers extending when the gate is closed beyond the end of the passage to then be in engagement with an actuatinggearing, and said actuating-gearing.

JEREMIAH CAMPBELL,

lVitn esses:

F. F. RAYMOND, 2d, J. M. DOLAN.

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