US1070922A - Mechanical feeding apparatus for shaft blast-furnaces. - Google Patents

Description

F. S. SANDERSON MECHANICAL FEEDING APPARATUS FOR SHAFT BLAST FURNACES.

APPLICATION FILED 00123, 1911.

1,070,922, Pa tented Aug; 19, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

IIIII-IIIIIH! 6 Witnesses: [nventofi W W210i JJ'd rzdemwv Atorvwys COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 120., WASHINGTON. I:v c.

F. S. SANDERSON. MECHANICAL FEEDING APPARATUS FOR SHAFT BLAST FURNACES. APPLIOATION FILED 0OT.23, 1911.

1 70,922, Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Abtorrzeya COLUMBIA PLANOCIRAPH cO.,WAsHINn1'aN. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK SEABORNE SANDERSON, OF MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, AS-

SIGNOR TO THE MOUNT LYELL MINING AND RAILWAY QOMPAN LIMITED, OF

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA.

MECHANICAL FEEDING APPARATUS FOR SHAFT BLAST-FURNACES.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FPEDERIOK SEABORNE SANDERSON, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at No. 60 Queen street, Melbourne, in the British State of Victoria, Commonwealth of Australia, formerly of Queenstown, Tasmania, engineer and draftsman, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mechanical Feeding Apparatus for Shaft Blast-Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for charging or feeding ore or other material at the requisite point or position to the throat of shaft blast furnaces and the like. 7 i

The improvements consist mainly of the introduction into mechanical furnace feeders of a series of movable adjustable charging or feeding plates upon which the furnace charges are placed or dumped, and over which charging or feeding plates a mechanically operated sliding framing carrying pusher plates is arranged as shown and described in my United States Patent No. 879,839, which serve to move the furnace charge along the surfacerof the aforesaid adjustable charging plates and push it over their free edges into the furnace shaft. The said charging plates also serve the purpose of distributing i. e. locating the components of the charges at desired points on the upper surface of the smelting column.

Theimmediate result of the introduction of these improvements has not been merely a saving of labor but the emancipation from p p the stupidity, carelessness, recklessness and bias of the feeders who are always diflicult to control. The furnace campaigns have been very much lengthened and there is no doubt that, if hand feeding or some other of the ordinary methods of mechanical feeding were again resorted to in which the materials are dumped en masse into the top of the furnaces the length of our campaigns would be cut in two, and the furnaces would not run so well.

The improvements will now be fully described aided by a reference to the accompanying sheets of drawing in which Figure 1 is a side sectional view of the invention as arranged at one side of a furnace shaft, and, Fig. 2 a half plan of the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 23, 1911.

Patented Aug. 19,1913. Serial No. 656,169.

same as arranged at both sides of the furnace shaft, while, Fig. 3 is a side sectional view on a larger scale of the details of the charging plate, adjusting gear and pusher plates, and, Fig. 4 a plan of same.

In my invention the adjustable charge or feed plates A are arranged at either side of the furnace throat or opening B, above the top of the smelting column, and accessible to the means used to supply the charges or smelting mixture desired to be fed into the furnace. The edges of the plates A nearest the furnace opening, may coincide with the edges thereof, or may be adjusted to reach over said edges into the furnace shaft to any desired position above the smelting column.

The aforesaid charging plates A, which form an important part of the apparatus, may be of steel, iron, or other suitable material, and may be water cooled if necessary, said plates A. may either consist of a single plate or be built up of a series of plates suitably secured together, and of a size depend ent upon the size of the furnace opening. Each set of charging plates A is supported upon a number of rollers 0, preferably in the manner shown in the drawing, in such a position that a forward or backward adjusting' movement may be given to them by operating the ends D of the screws D which are situated beneath the outside edge of the plates. It will be seen that each set of plates may be moved toward the center of the fur nace equally on each side, or on one side more than on the other, as the smelting operation may require, also that such movement or adjustment may be performed while the furnace is in blast.

The mechanically operated pushing appliance is similar to the one forming part of my United States Patent No. 879,839, and it is built up of two parts, tied together by rods J, which lie under the charging floor, each part of the pushing appliance consist.- ing of a movable metal frame work E arranged on either side of the furnace throat, thus making a connected rectangular frame work. These frames are constructed preferably of the form shown in the drawing, each frame is built up rigidly of angle iron, steel or other suitable material, one part of the frame being connected to the piston rod of a hydraulic ram F as shown, or other suitable mechanism which will push and pull it alternately forward and backward over the surface of the above mentioned feed plates A. This framework l) is supported upon rollers ti and two or more flan ed wheels H, the latter being placed outside of the area covered by the frame proper and carried on lateral extensions of the back stays of the frame, the wheels H are for the purpose of guiding the movement of the frame and run on fixed guide rails l in a direction transversely of the furnace.

The front beam of each framework E is parallel, with the furnace opening, and has a continuous line of narrow plates, blades or scrapers K, which are also similar to those described in my prior United States Patent No. 879,839, the said scrapers being attached to itby hinges L, and resting on an angle iron bearer L in such a manner as to form an unbroken line of inclined shovel or push blades, each plate having the necessary play upward off the feed plate A. Said push plates are hung at a suitable an gle to the charging plates, which they just touch.

The two frames being coupled together, are operated conjointly, but in an alternate manner, so that, while one frame with its set of push plates, is propelling the charge toward the furnace on the one side, the other frame and set of push plates are being withdrawn and so that when the limit to travel is reached. one frame has pushed its charge into the furnace and the other frame has receded. In this manner the next charge intended to be placed into the furnace may be spread out on the empty feed plates opposite and be pushed into the furnace on the reversal of the operating mechanism. In the event of the inside edge of the feed plates being run into a position a greaterdistance within the furnace shaft than is accessible by the stroke of the push plates, a narrow ridge of material will be left near the edge of the plate, but a new charge coming on will push this forward over the edge of the feed plate, so that no irregularity of any moment occurs in the feeding of the furnace.

The combination of the mechanical feeding device and the adjustable feed plate herein described permits of controlling the distribution of the various materials charged into the furnace in every manner possible by hand feeding, with the saving of labor and the insurance of greater reliability and certainty, and in a more effective and accurate way than is possible by cmitrivances that dump, or slide, the charge direct into the furnace, without careful dropping over a fixed edge. There is no possibility of the material shooting into the furnace beyond its mark, and tluis reaching a different point from that at which it is intended to be placed or fed.

The above mentioned apparatus permit-s of charging the smelting mixture evenly along the entire length of the furnace or in any quantity at any point alongside of or away from the long walls of the furnace or of feeding of any single component of the furnace charge into the furnace wherever it is desired to place it. The action of the pushing device is constant, and does not admit of variation being purely mechanical. The adjustment of the feed plates however, is directed by, and variable, according to observation of behavior and distribution of the falling material as it reaches the top of the furnace column, and this introduces the necessary pliability into the system of feeding, most important for a perfect control of the feeding operation. Also, by moving the plates nearer to or farther from the center of the furnace the formation of ridges and gullets may be controlled and even be wholly avoided, and the distribution of the coarse and fine particles of the charges regulated in a suitable manner.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1-- 1. In a mechanical ore feeder for blast furnaces, the combination of a series of push plates or scrapers, assembled in front of each oppositely located furnace feed opening, each line of push plates being supported by hinges upon a frame carried on wheels which support the said frame above the charging floor, the said frame being capable of being worked to and from the furnace feed openings by hydraulic ram mechanism, devices for moving said charging floor relatively to the mouth of the furnace so as to control the distribution of the charge during the operation of the hydraulic ram mechanism.

2. In a mechanical ore feeder for blast furnaces, the combination of a series of push plates or scrapers assembled in line one in front of each oppositely located furnace feed opening, each line of push plates being supported upon a frame carried on wheels which convey said frame above the charging floor and about the furnace, and means for recim'ocating said frame to and from the furnace feed opening, manually operated devices for moving said charging floor relatively to the mouth of the furnace opening so as to control the distribution of the charge during the operation of the reciprocating means.

3. A mechanical ore feed for furnaces, the combination of a charging floor, plates assembled in. parallel lines one in front of each oppositely located furnace opening, said plates being hinged to suitable movable f'ames, wheels attached to said movable frames for conveying said frames above the charging floor and about the furnace by rods connecting said frames together, and In testimony whereof I have signed my hydraulic mechanism for reciprocating said name to this specification in the presence of 10 frames to am} from the furnace feed opentwo subscribing Witnesses.

in s, devices or moving said char 'in floor rel afively to the mouth of the furnace open- FREDERICK SEABORNE SANDERSON' ing so as to control the distribution of the Witnesses:

charge during the operation of the hy- MEDLINGTON BoDYcoMB,

draulic mechanism. W. J. S. THOMPSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

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